Tagore’s Ode to Radha

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore was an ardent devotee of Krishna and has composed a lot of poems in his praise. Unfortunately, not many of his poems about Krishna have been popularized. The first collection of 22 poems composed by Tagore at the age of 16 in 1877 were all on Krishna. He composed these poems in Brajabuli (a mixture of Bengali and Maithili) which was popularized by medieval Maithili poet Vidyapati. This collection was titled “Bhanusimha Thakurer Padabali” meaning “the poems of Bhanusimha Thakur” and was published in several issues of Bharati Magazine in 1884. One of the poems from this collection along with its English translation is being shared below:

Sajani sajani Radhika lo dekh abhooN chahiya

Mridula gamana Shyam aaway mridula gaan gahiya

(Radhika, o Radhika, dear my friend, look now, lo!

Comes Shyam, with gentle gait, gentle song, so)

Pinaha jhatita kusumahaara pinaha neel aangiya

Sundari sindoor daykay siNthi karaha rangiya

(Make haste! This garland, this blue veil, don

O great beauty! Sindoor do you, now, put on –

Colour your siNthi, with red, blood-red!)

Sahachari saba nache-nache milana geet gaayo ray

Chanchala manjira-raba kunjabhavana chhayo ray

(Friends all! Let’s dance with joyous tread

And sing songs of union, melodious songs that reverberate in forests!)

Sajani aba ujara mandira kanakadeepa jaliya

Surabhi karaha kunjabhavana gandhasalila dhaliya

(This lonely grove, brilliant with lamps of gold

Perfume, friends, with spray of scents)

Mallika chameli beli kusuma tulaha balika

GaNtha juthi gaNtha jaati gaNth bakulamalika

(Girl! Pick blooms of chameli, beli and mallika.

Thread juthi, thread jati, thread buds of bakula.)

Trishita nayana Bhanusingha kunjapathama chahiya

Mridula gamana Shyam aaway mridula gaan gahiya

(With eyes athirst does Bhanusimha look, and say, lo!

Comes Shyam, with gentle gait, gentle song, so!)

(Note: The translation of the poem was published by Arindam Banerjee in Google groups)