Two Songs of Tagore – VI

Translator’s note:

The first of the two songs translated here, namely, “Jodi jhɑːḍero meghero mɑːto āmi dhāi”, is a Bangla transcreation, if not exactly a translation, of three mantras taken from the Rig Vedic hymn “यदेमि प्रस्फु॒रन्निव दृतिर्न ध्मातो अद्रिवः। मृ॒ळा सुक्षत्र मृ॒ळय॥” etc. (Maṇḍala 7, Sūkta 89, Ṛk-s 2,3, and 4) by Rabindranath Tagore. The poet’s genius reflects in the lush lyricism that he was able to infuse into this Bangla rendering of the Rig Vedic mantras. He had composed it primarily as a song, setting it into a characteristic Bengali kirtan tune, which was meant to be performed at the congregations and on specific auspicious days at the Ᾱdi Brāhmo Samāja. The poet had also put a sublime tune to the original mantras of the source-hymn (Rig Veda 7.89) using the mellifluous scales of the devotionally charged Raga Yaman-Kalyan. In a similar manner, Tagore had translated several other mantras from the Vedas and offered verse translations, songs, and singable mantras rendered in deeply contemplative tunes, which have not only enriched the vast literature and musical corpus of his mother’s language, Bangla, but have also drawn fresh generations of his countrymen nearer to the Vedic literature and traditions.  

The second one of these two translated songs, titled “Bājilo kāhāro bīnā” has been classified as a lyric poem/song belonging to the category of ‘Prem’ (Love), as per the system of categorisation followed in Gitabitan, Tagore’s exhaustive collection of song lyrics. It is interesting to note the permeability of these apparently different categories and the continuity with which the preceding category of ‘Puja’ (Worship) merges into the immediate next, ‘Prem’. “Bājilo kāhāro bīnā” is a remarkable example of this spirit of permeability wherein the essence of the song is easily felt by the reader/listener/singer to be both love and divine worship at the same time – elements that amalgamate to give rise to Bhakti.   

Jodi jhɑːḍero meghero mɑːto āmi dhāi

If ever I rush like the storm cloud, with a heart so restless,

Then O Lord! Have mercy, have mercy, have mercy on me!   

O Blameless One! I, poor and fallen, am on the brink of sinning –

Lord, have mercy, have mercy, raise me up mercifully!

Amidst waters do I dwell, and yet parched of thirst I die –   

Lord, have mercy on me, fill my heart with nectar mercifully!

Bājilo kāhāro bīnā

Whose Veena is it, that rang out in the sweetest of tones,

            Upon my discreet, newly-blossomed life?

Like the morn’s lotus, my heart opened out

            To be offered at whose matchless pair of feet?   

All pleasing sights, all the sweetness awaken,

            From moment to moment filling my heart with delight.

Whence does the breeze bring this new awakening,

            And causes to remove the veils of this life?

My heart feels countless pangs through the joys and sorrows,

            I know not the words that can express them all.

My desire rumbles through the three worlds on this day,

            The woods and the rivers quiver in the throes of that feeling!