Jun 19, 2015

Divulge your face now

এবার   অবগুণ্ঠন খোলো
Ebar obogunThono kholo (audio link) 


Divulge your face now.
As the magic of opaque clouds and soft shades in the forests
complete their loot.
Reveal your soul-secrets with whispers of the night, 

Shiuli-fragrant, vivid in mature moonlight.
Allow your tearfulness to marry a demure smile,
a rendezvous, somehow unfold in the flute-like savory Madhabi wilderness.
Discover a new rhythm of love: tryst, intermittent with yearning
to dance by, in the dewy breeze, in the florid web of shade and light.

Jun 17, 2015

Through whom did you send your garland

কার হাতে এই মালা তোমার পাঠালে
Kaar haatey ei mala tomar pathaley

Through whom did you send your garland
In this dawn of a spring day
Your name etched in its colours
Your rhythm in its fragrance
I wear that garland as a crown
In this dawn of a spring day
Your song arises in the sky
In the breeze of this spring day
O how did you string my name in your melody
Weave it secretly into your song
In this dawn of a spring day

I make a wish in solitude

কামনা করি একান্তে
Kamona kori ekante

I make a wish in solitude
May peace and joy shower down on the world
May sin, envy, sorrow sink into oblivion
May all creatures find refuge at your feet
There where fear has no place

It is time to go now

ওরে, যেতে হবে, আর দেরি নাই
orey jete hobe aar deri noy

It is time to go now
The sun is about to set
Your friends have all gone ahead

Finish your play on this stage of life
Darkness draws near
Who do you turn back and look for?

New actors appear on this stage with a new play
Come away from there, lest they throw brickbats

Set down the load you’ve been holding close to your heart
Move on to a new land, build there a nest anew
Start afresh with a new play

Jun 16, 2015

Girl of fifteen

ওগো তুমি পঞ্চদশী
Ogo tumi ponchodoshi (audio link)

Girl of fifteen,
touching the fullness of moon
a hint of a smile alights your dreaminess.
sudden wild tweets solemnize your juvenescence
your slumber, fragrant with
the first fresh watery buds of monsoon
and your heartthrobs become the whispers of a forest.
An untenable melancholy shades your mind,
like a dark blue rainy horizon
as tears gather in your eyes.

Jun 15, 2015

O my oarsman of the raft of monsoon clouds

ওগো আমার শ্রাবণমেঘের খেয়াতরীর মাঝি
Ogo amar srabonmegher kheyatorir majhi

O my oarsman of the raft of monsoon clouds
Unfurl your sails in the tearladen eastern breeze
My distracted heart gazes on
Her burden is not all that heavy
Just one spray of Kadamba flowers

The playmate of my morn who was with me
I ask myself if you know her whereabouts
Your song as you row brings to my mind her eyes
My sobs ring out in the sky filled with ache

O the Lord of my life

ওগো আমার প্রাণের ঠাকুর
Ogo amar praaner thakur

O the Lord of my life
Your love has made you ruthless
You will not let me be inert
So in my heart through night and day
A severe tune plays

O the Lord of my life
Let the ache I feel for you
Be made sweet
My search for you
My pain for you
Makes me cry
Driving comfort away

You come quietly to that shore of death

ওই মরণের সাগরপারে চুপে চুপে
Oi moroner sagorpaare

You come quietly to that shore of death
You O Lord who enchants the world
You come in the form of a dream

My tears called out to you throughout the day
They swirled around tripping over obstacles
I was locked up in a dark well
You O Lord who enchants the world
You come today in the form of a dream

I see the dark cascade of your hair
The locks bejewelled with bright stars

The sky is filled with the pathos of song
It pulsates at your feet with the chirp of crickets
The incense of flowers suffuse my hymn
You O Lord who enchants the world
You come today in the form of a dream

The dark night has passed

ওই পোহাইল তিমিররাতি
Oi pohailo timir raati

The dark night has passed
The glimmer of a new dawn appears on the eastern sky
In this life and youth, in the heart and all around
Awakens a beauty beyond compare, a sweet radiance

Who sent this beautiful day to stir us from sleep
Awakening the universe in utter delight
You shower auspicious blessings
Spreading the word of joy
You who are the eternal companion

Jun 14, 2015

I will lay down on the ground beneath your altar

ওই আসনতলের মাটির 'পরে লুটিয়ে রব
Oi ashontoler maatir pore

I will lay down on the ground beneath your altar
Let the dust at your feet besmear me

Why bequeath honour and push me away
Do not distract me thus throughout my life
Pull me down to your feet in disgrace
Let the dust at your feet besmear me

I will stay behind all your wayfarers
Give me a place below all others
So many rush to partake of your grace
I will not ask for anything, I will merely gaze
I will be happy with whatever is left at the end

There, the light can be seen

ওই আলো যে যায় রে দেখা
Oi aalo je jaay re dekha

There, the light can be seen
A streak of gold in the eastern sky of your heart
Is your fear now gone
Will there now be triumph?
Has the dark writing on the sky been effaced

Who is it there, standing alone
On the shore of your heart
Keep aside everything
And lift your gaze to him
Bow down at his feet in silence

My heart, when you awoke not

আমার মন যখন জাগলি না রে
Amar mon jokhon jaagli na re

My heart, when you awoke not
Your beloved came at your door
The sound of his retreat
Stirred you awake from sleep in the darkness

Laying my raiment on the floor
I pass the midnight hours alone
His flute rings out in the dark
My eyes do not see him

The one you evaded
Can your eyes now find him?
However much you roam the roads
How will you now find him
The one you let go from your home

Another translation for English rendition by Anandamayee Majumdar

My Soulmate came to me
You my mind, were fast asleep!

You listened to her footsteps walk away
as you sat up in the dark
You my mind, were in the dark.

On the earth, I lay awake
lonely in my night-stay.
Her flute plays in the night
as she hides from my eyes.
You my mind, were fast asleep!

The one you have turned aside
can you see her with your eyes?
Now as you wander, can you find
the one that you've left behind?
You my mind, were fast asleep!

(another version by Anandamayee)

Your love had arrived
While your heart slept on.
In the darkness
You sensed the footsteps fade out
A moment too late.

The companion
Present in your slumber
Resonates in your passionate call,
Yet, defeats your vision,
Concealed beyond a melody

Can the soul be sighted,
The one you evade?
The one you forgot to welcome,
How could you find outside?


All have come with such hope

এসেছে সকলে কত আশে দেখো চেয়ে
Eshechhe shokole koto aashe

All have come with such hope
Do take a look O Lord
They all call out to you
Do come near, among us
We will enclose you all around
We will revel in festivity
We will plunge into a sea of joy

Jun 10, 2015

My heart is painted with the colour of dusk

এবার রঙিয়ে গেল হৃদয়গগন সাঁঝের রঙে
Ebar rongiye gelo hridoygogon

My heart is painted with the colour of dusk
My thoughts are soaked in the colour of dusk
I have a premonition
The wayfarer will come home at the end of day
The colour of dusk will make complete
The auspicious moment of homecoming

The breeze from the sea into which sinks the sun
Lulls me with each moment into lassitude
When the wayfarer comes to my door
Bearing the scent of jasmine flowers
I will be stirred awake from my sleep
Awash in the colour of dusk

My sorrow has sailed across a boundless sea

এবার দুঃখ আমার অসীম পাথার
Ebar dukkho amar oshim pathar

My sorrow has sailed across a boundless sea
It has now come to rest at your feet
And found the essence of joy

For so long have my tears flowed, unbridled
Why they flowed, I had not a clue
Who strung them together today
In a garland of teardrops for you

Your evening star beckoned to me as darkness descended
My heart pined for you but could not find a voice
For so long was it silent in bashful shame
It sings out today at your touch
Like a string on the Veena you play

Jun 7, 2015

One day he will recognise her

একদিন চিনে নেবে তারে
Ek din chine nebe tare

One day he will recognise her
She who uncared for is diffident and shy

The radiance of the youthful sun will dispel the dark shroud
The dark fog of illusion will not conceal her anymore
Recognise her, he will

Let her wreathe a garland today
A garland of her tears from sorrowful nights
He will come one day, lift her garland to his bosom
She who remains ever unknown
Let her light her lamp for that moment of revelation
Recognise her, he will

You sit alone, lost in thought

একলা ব'সে একে একে অন্যমনে
Ekla boshe eka eka onnomone

You sit alone, lost in thought
You let float the lotus flowers
One by one into the water
For no rhyme or reason
You seem to have forgotten
It was me who had plucked the flowers in the morn
And left them at your feet for no reason
Unmindfully, you picked them up when you left

One after another my days in this way
Will be plucked and torn at your hands
They will scatter and get lost
And when they will all be gone
As you keep at your play, languid and heedless
Maybe then a tinge of pain will cloud the evening for no reason
A drop of tear will film the eyes, unmindfully

Jun 6, 2015

This nest of dark soil

এই-যে কালো মাটির বাসা
Ei je kaalo maatir basha

This nest of dark soil, this verdant earth of joy
This is where we rove, in darkness and light
Much like a dream

In her heart, hidden from sight
Is a heavenly realm of pain
Luminous with sadness

The one who pines for you
Sits there alone
Her heart calls out your name
Every now and then

When sadness unites you two
Then will be the realm of joy
Overflowing with bliss

Jun 5, 2015

This veil will lift

এ আবরণ ক্ষয় হবে গো ক্ষয় হবে
E aboron khoy hobe go

This veil will lift, it will lift
This mind and body will fill
With a sublime joy

My eyes will be free of illusory shadows
My heart will bloom with flowers
You O Lord will triumph over this life
My blood will pulse to the rhythm of the universe
My heart will beat with exuberant lifeforce
It will quiver to the strings of your lute
It will sway with your garland of stars
It’s desires will scatter and dissipate

This veil that clouds me

এ যে মোর আবরণ
E je mor aboron

This veil that clouds me
Can vanish in a trice
A breath can blow it away
If you will it so

If I lie on the earth
With my face in the dirt
You stay awake at the door
Is this your pledge?

Awaken me with the sound of your chariot
Come in all your glory
Be gone my slumber
May I know you as my Lord
Let me rush to the door
And surrender myself at your feet

This necklace of gems and stones is not for me

এ মণিহার আমায় নাহি সাজে
E monihar amay nahi shaaje

This necklace of gems and stones is not for me
It hurts to put it on, it pains to tear it off
My words get stuck, I lose my tune
My mind is in a dilemma
It cannot focus on work

And so I sit and muse
If I could give you this necklace
I would be free
You welcome me with a string of flowers
I feel embarrassed to show my face
Ashamed of my necklace of gems and stones

Where does this path go, o where

এ পথ গেছে কোন্খানে গো কোন্খানে
e poth gechhe kon khane

Where does this path go, o where
Who knows, who knows
Beyond which mountain, beside which sea
Staring ahead in what foreboding
Who knows, who knows

Who goes to and fro on this path
Who knows, who knows
What is her voice like
How does she smile
Who does she search for
Who knows, who knows

Jun 2, 2015

What is this eagerness on earth

একি আকুলতা ভুবনে
Eki aakulota bhubone

What is this eagerness on earth
What is this restlessness in the air
What is this sweet pleasantness
That drifts beneath the space beyond
The moon beams down such a smile
The flowers spray such a fragrance

All creatures of this universe awaken
In such heartfelt love today
From where does a caress of pleasure
Stroke the blue canopy above
The flowers and forests thrill in delight
A soft melody from a flute rings out
My heart blooms with beautiful dreams