Today's Beautiful Gem: `Vande Maataram (Mother
I Bow to Thee!)',
by Bankimchandra Chatterjee, transcreation by Aurobindo Ghose.
(Part II)
tumi
vidyA tumi dharma tumi hRdi tumi marma tvaM hi prANAh: s'arIre bAhute tumi mA s'akti hRdaye tumi mA bhakti tomaraI pratimA gaDI mandire mandire vande mAtaram tvaM hi durgAdas'apraharaNadhAriNI kamalA kamaladalavihAriNI vANI vidyAdAyinI namAmi tvAm namAmi kamalAM amalAM atulAM sujalAM suphalAM mAtaram vande mAtaram s'yAmalAM saralAM susmitAM bhUSitAM dharaNIM bharaNIM mAtaram vande mAtaram |
Thou
art wisdom, thou art law, Thou our heart, our soul, our breath, Thou the love divine, the awe In our hearts that conquers death. Thine the strength that nerves the arm, Thine the beauty, thine the charm. Every image made divine In our temples is but thine. Mother, I bow to thee! Thou art Durga, Lady and Queen, With her hands that strike and her swords of sheen, Thou art Lakshmi lotus-throned, And the Muse a hundred-toned. Pure and perfect without peer, Mother, lend thine ear. Rich with thy hurrying streams, Bright with thy orchard gleams, Mother, I bow to thee! Dark of hue, O candid-fair In thy soul with jewelled hair, And thy glorious smile divine, Loveliest of all earthly lands, Showering wealth from well-stored hands! Mother, mother mine! Mother sweet, I bow to thee Mother great and free! |
Note: This song, the first stanza of which has been given the
status of
our national song, occurs in the novel `Anandamath (Abbey of
Bliss)'. The
central theme of the novel is the sanyaasi rebellion of the
1770s.
Bhavaananda, one of the ascetics, reveals to Mahendra, a new
disciple the
mystique of the group's mission. Bankimbabu is perhaps modern
India's
first novelist of repute. The English rendering by Aurobindo is a
fine
example of transcreation, as opposed to translation. Thanks to Dr
Nandy.
Om s'aantih: Peace! - J. K. Mohana Rao.
<:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:>381<:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:><:>