In the seclusion of your fountainhead

তোমারি ঝরনাতলার নির্জনে
tomari jhornatolar nirjone
(audio)

I know not when
My clay pot got filled to the brim
In the seclusion of your fountainhead

The sun sets down behind the hills
The geese take flight in which beyond
My mind drifts as I quietly listen
To the plaintive gurgling of the waters
In the seclusion of your fountainhead

I’ve wandered far and wide throughout the day
Hunting high and low for my daily needs
I’ll worry no more if they were met or not
Now I’ve come to the land that lies beyond all wants
To the banks of the never ending flow
I’ll partake of the wealth you give surpassing all needs
In the seclusion of your fountainhead

- circa 1918

The pure lotus smiles

অমল কমল সহজে জলের কোলে
*Omolo komolo shohoje jolero kole

The pure lotus smiles
in the lap of waters.
It does not look for its home
vainly, on the ground.

I will blossom with
the same grace
in your heart.
Flowers of devotion
blossom without
a shadow of a doubt.

I shall not ask the way
never ask another.
I shall simply be at ease
wherever I may turn.

When I am at your home
in the sky
your endless flow
will kiss me.
Your wind will be my friend
and hug me all around.

unawares, I heard a clarion call

অকারণে অকালে মোর পড়ল যখন ডাক
*Awkarone okaale mor porlo jokhon daak (audio: Debabrata Biswas)

I don't know why, unawares, 
I heard a clarion call
when I lay down and softly slumbered.
I found the world wonder-struck 
in a starry starry night.
Nature lay still in dark encumbered.

My dear ones, anxiously they cried,
'how will you see through the night?'
I answered, 'I could travel 
with my own light,
I have with me 
the flame of rich amber.'

The more the lamp burned 
it left me confounded
the brightness blinding me of all reason
casting shadows and fallacies around me 
figments of truth lost me my vision.

The more I hustled with my pride
the more I lost my sight
The wind blew and blew again
and down went the light.
On my way, it riddled me with treason.

All at once, branches struck my face
all at once, my lamp had died out.
I found I had lost my trail
long ago, in haze.
I found the night black and looming large.

I wept in sorrow, crying out in shame,
'I have in me nothing left to claim,'
and as I turned, He had come my way,
my friend of life, in all my misadventure.

*An attempt has been made to restore the original rhythm

How do you strum your fire-strings

অগ্নিবীণা বাজাও তুমি কেমন ক'রে
 Ognibeena bajao tumi kemon kore (audio: Dwijen Mukhopadhyay)

How do you strum your fire-strings
so the sky shivers with starlit songs?

You touch my pain similarly,
and spark my fresh creations.

You strum my heart, because it sings,
and use all of it, my teacher.

Your melodies flash and blaze in me,
birth new stars that seem to be
ignited with the deepest hurt.

I’ve dug out a path in my heart

আমি হৃদয়েতে পথ কেটেছি
ami hridoyete poth ketechhi
(audio)

I’ve dug out a path in my heart
In hope that you will come that way
And so it throbs weighed down with pain
It trembles with a violent quake

You travel the paths paved with pain
Your feet kiss and comfort all ache
And so I seek you with my tears
Forevermore through all my days

I fear not the deluge of tears
I fear it no more
Tugging at me with deathly force
It will take me over the seas
I will drift across to the shore

The gale sings with an anxious note
As it blows towards you in this storm
Let my raft sink, I’ll jump right in
And be swept to your feet
To be saved at your feet

- 23rd August 1914

Nothing has come of it

কিছুই তো হল না
kichhui to holona
(audio)

Nothing has come of it
All the tumult
The laments of despair
The endless stream of tears
The heartache and the agony

I fail to find peace within
I have not what I wished for

I loved and was loved in return
And I haven’t stopped loving
Yet what is this emptiness

- April 1881

The sails of my song billow in the wind

হাওয়া লাগে গানের পালে
hawa laage gaaner pale
(audio)

The sails of my song billow in the wind
Oarsman, do sit at the helm
Eager to be untethered
The raft of my life dances
To the rhythm of the breeze

Gone has day to make way for night
Not a mate I have with me at the wharf

Unleash all chains, set me afloat
Embark I will in luminous starlight
Melodious a tune surges forth
At this hour of setting sail

- 20th March 1914

Your breeze unbridled

তোমার খোলা হাওয়া
Tomar khola hawa
(audio)

Unfurling sails to your breeze unbridled
Unfastening my boat from its moors
Tearing away all its tethers
I am willing to sink and go under

The morning goes by in vain
Dusk too follows in its wake
Do not, o please do not keep me
Chained to the shore

I keep awake through night and day
For the One who will steer my boat
While the waves toy with me
Keep tossing me around

The storm I will befriend
Fearing not the frown of its brow
O, let me go, let me now go
I’d breathe a sigh of relief
If only I could find a gale

From dawn to dusk

সকাল-সাঁজে ধায় যে ওরা নানা কাজে
shokal shanje dhay je ora nana kaaje

From dawn to dusk they rush about
Engaged in many a chore

It is only I who sit, lost in my thoughts
Picking out thorns from the road
Awaiting the One, I gaze on
Thorns prick my sole,
Dust soils my frame,
I die of shame
As dawn passes into dusk


- 7th Apr 1914

It is now time for me to go

আমার যাবার সময় হল
Amar jabar shomoy holo
(Audio)

It is now time for me to go
Why hold me back do you?

Do not entangle me
With the strand of your tears
In attachments of affection

My life of leisure comes to end
Do withdraw your beseeching look
Do not call out to me
I must now hasten on

Hear, o hear their cries of distress

সকাতরে ওই কাঁদিছে সকলে
shokatore oi kandichhe shokole

Hear, o hear their cries of distress
Whisper words of hope O Father
Tell each one of good times to come
Herald happy tidings to every soul

They live in dread and disquiet
Clinging on to their slightest hope
Lost is the little they possess
Hearts refusing to be consoled

In pursuit of happiness
They wander helter skelter
Chasing mirages in this desert

Hours slip by, play comes to an end
Descends the darkness of dusk
Weeps the anxious heart
Quivering in fright

What will be? O Maker!
What will come of it all?
Where, if at all is peace?
Bequeath yourself to us
Satiate all expectation
Come into our embrace

- circa 1883

Why keep me in cosy comfort

সুখে আমায় রাখবে কেন
shukhe amay rakhbe keno
audio

Why keep me in cosy comfort
Keep me O Lord in your own lap
Comfort! Let it go up in smoke

Let the ground beneath my feet fall apart
You will then hold me tight
And cradle me in your arms

Let the deluge dance into my dwelling
If you sweep me away into the waters deep
I do not seek deliverance

I have succumbed, lost all my fear
Your victory is my own triumph
If I am caught, it is you then I can cling on

- 24 August 1914

From fear to fearlessness

ভয় হতে তব অভয়মাঝে
Bhoy hote tawbo abhoymajhe
(Audio)

Away from fear
into your fearlessness
Deliver me to a new birth
From dearth to undying richness
From doubt to the abode of truth
From insensate inertia
Into a life anew

From my wish to your will
From my welfare to your service
That seeks the well-being of all
From the many entanglements
To the one bond that unifies
From joy and woe
To the cradle of peace
Deliver me from myself Lord
Into your very arms
Arousing me to life anew

- 1899 on the occasion of his birthday

All that I have O Lord

আমার যা আছে আমি সকল দিতে পারি নি
Amar ja aachhe ami shokol

All that I have, O Lord
I could not surrender it all
My guilt, fear, honour and disgrace
My joys, woes and contemplations

Many a screen between us
Myriad the layers and veils
Thus I weep and wander so
Thus I cannot make you mine
Thus remains my pain within

Joy there is none in what I have
It makes me cry, it makes me brood
If I can get you by giving it up
Why can’t I still let it all go?

I yearn to give up all I have
And make you Lord, my own

- circa 1886 (age 25)

The heart yearns while the eyes remain downcast

প্রাণ চায় চক্ষু না চায়
praan chaay chokkhu na chaay
(audio1 - Srikanta) (audio2 - Kanan Devi)

The heart yearns while the eyes remain downcast
What an impasse your bashfulness has brought you to!
The beauteous one comes knocking only to return
For whom then is this futile adornment?

Not a word emanates from you
Burns a blaze in silence within
A bitter smile plays on your lips
While your heart sobs in its frailty

The garland feels like a nettle
Your bed besieged by thorns
On the coast of sweet union
Stricken to the core by eternal estrangement

Flows a cascade of eternal joy

বহে নিরন্তর অনন্ত আনন্দধারা
bahe nirantar ananta anandadhara (audio)

Flows a cascade of eternal joy
Everlasting and endless
Echoes in the boundless beyond
A sound sans beginning sans end
Awaken the sun, moon and stars
So uncountably infinite

In this kingdom of His creation
So unique and complete in itself
Reigns the Supreme One
The Greatest Emperor of all

In awe-struck amazement
In unblinking wonder
Bows the universe at His feet
Countless His devotees
Stunned into spellbound silence

Every day I shall bow to you

আজি প্রণমি তোমারে চলিব 
 Aji pronomi tomare (audio: Sagar Sen)

Every day I shall bow to you
master, in all my worldly tasks.
Hold my gaze in my heart.

You are housed within me
Remind me you are here.
When sinful thoughts seek me out
let them die in reprimand.

In all confusion all day long
play your music on and on.
I shall meet others on my path,
remind me that you are there.

Moment by moment
in all I see and all I speak
in all my tasks and all I think
make wholesome melodies with my heart.

A guiding star lights a deep dark night

নিবিড় ঘন আঁধারে   জ্বলিছে ধ্রুবতারা
Nibiro ghono aa(n)dhare jolichhe dhrubotara (audio: Srabani Sen)

A guiding star lights a deep dark night.
Do not surrender, my wavering mind!

Bleak with misery, don't stop your song.
End the phantom, realize your light.

Keep your power and an endless faith.
Keep your love for this beautiful earth.

Whether sad or happy, walk in sync.
Fill your heart with the heavenly drink.

I am aware of your boundless love

তুমি যে আমারে চাও 
Tumi je amare chao
Audio: Debabrata Biswas

I am aware of your boundless love
Your poignant desire, for me.
I am aware, why, even so
You make me cry.

I can comprehend
Why you hide,
Ensconcing your face
In mazes of light and shade,
Evoking your call
During my earthly errands
Through ethereal, vibrant tunes

After the bartering of hearts
Is done for the day
After we have exchanged
Every song,
I understand, why you sail away
In the last craft of twilight.

The small world I live in

অল্প লইয়া থাকি 
Olpo loiya thaki tai
Audio: Subinoy Roy

In the small world I live  in
My losses, deprivations
Seem fateful.
I mourn the smallest sacrifice
That comes my way.

I am like the river-shore
That tries to own
Every passing drift
Yet the waves come up to me,
Break my heart, and heave away

What I may have
And what I may not
Are all riches for you to keep
Why can't I see, nothing is lost
In your prodigious cosmos?

How many moons and suns
You contain, my lord,
How many grains and atoms
Are in your command,
And yet, nothing is ever lost
However small
In your safekeeping.

Won't the little that I lose
Find a space to fill, too,
In your magnum opus,
At your grand seat?

My heart heard a whisper

নিশীথে কী কয়ে গেল মনে 
Nisheethe ki koye gyalo mone
Audio: Hemanta Mukherjee

My heart heard a whisper
Maybe in my wakefulness,
Maybe, my slumber
It was dark.

As I travel, or pause,
My day meshed in hustle,
Chores, judgements,
Tumble down my path

Yet, the secret speaks to me
In silence, ever so often,
Like a chant, like a dream.

I am unsure
If this feels like a strange hurt
If it is a chill of fear
Or victory

I listen to the quiet voice
Echo, 'Stop here,'
In swerving tunes, whisper,
'Far you go!'

Could it be
A resonance in my heart
Or the sky ladling songs?

I wonder if you have come to me

তুমি কি এসেছ মোর দ্বারে
Tumi ki eshecho mor (audio)

I wonder if you have come to me
In quest of my sleeping heart.

Your call wakes blossoms
on winter trees.

It clears path for
verdant grass yet unseen
to move the earth.

With the call dawn appears
showers light
responds to you
from the great unseen.

Who do you look for

কার মিলন চাও বিরহী
Kar milono chao birohi
Audio: Suchitra Mitra

Who do you look for
as if you lost your love.
Who do you look for
in a wild world.

You try to find him
in shades and puzzles
strange and unseen.
See His Master's feet
touch your lotus heart
in beauty and light.

Here you are, my Beauty!

এই লভিনু সঙ্গ তব
 Ei lobhinu shongo tobo (audio)

Here you are, my Beauty!
My limbs are blessed,
My heart is humbled
I am transformed!

My eyes unfold
with the dawn in wonder.
Sweetness spreads with the wind
in my inner sky.

My heart blooms with your touch.
Your presence fills me with joy.
Give me rebirth.
Many lives in one, my Beauty!

Timeless friend, strength and peace

চিরবন্ধু চিরনির্ভর চিরশান্তি
Chirobondhu chironirbhoro chiroshaanti (audio: Dwijen Mekhopadhyay)

Timeless friend, strength and peace
there is so much wellness in your world
in all my life, my companion.
Your love rains down on my heart
it is here you live.
Songs celebrate you in your world
moment by moment, day and night. 

(another version by Rumela)

You are O Lord forever

My friend, my guide, my peace

You are forever the source of well-being

The constant companion my whole life long

O Lord of my heart

You are the fountain of love forever

Your world sings your glorious song 
Forever through night and day

Tonight my beloved is up

জাগে নাথ জোছনারাতে 
jaage natho jochona raate (audio)

Tonight my beloved 
is up in the moonshine.
Come and meet him, dear heart.
Do not close your eyes.

The silence of the moon,
the muteness of the stars
are musical.

The earth and the sky 
are fully awake
with Beauty.

Shower your sun on the sightless

অন্ধজনে দেহো আলো
Ondho jone deho alo
audio: Maya Sen

Shower your sun on the sightless
Lavish your breath on the dead.
You are a magical river of love,
let your grace water my heart.

My breath has been sapped,
my eyes turned to ice,
move me to tears
with your loving bliss.

Embrace he, who lost you
contain the confused heart.
Refresh my thirst
with your nectarine tenderness.

I found you once
but I lost you with my indifference
When did I fall asleep?

As I rise, all is dark.
I can not divulge my tears,
I have failed to soothe my thirst.

For eternity,
I have not heard you speak
I have sorely missed
your loving voice

Will you accept my suffering,
and show up,
will you surprise my lonely heart?

Each moment, master

প্রতিদিন আমি, হে জীবনস্বামী
Protidino ami he jeebonoshami
audio: Kanika Banerjee

Each moment, master

with an easy bow
I shall face you
as I stand.

Under the sprawling sky
in solitude and simplicity
with  tears and humility
I shall face you
as I stand.

In the human conundrum
in many errands
among everyone
I shall face you
as I stand.

When my task in your world
is all over and done
alone and silent
I shall face you
as I stand.




(another version by Rumela Sengupta:)

Each day I’ll stand in front of you
O Lord of my life
I’ll stand in front of you with folded hands
O Lord of this world

Beneath your boundless blue skies
With humble heart and tearful eyes
I’ll stand in front of you in secluded solitude

In this world of myriad shades
Beyond the shores of action and activity
Amidst the multitudes that throng your world
I’ll stand in front of you face to face

When my work in your world is done
O King of kings
I’ll stand in front of you alone in silence

Sweet yet is separation

বিরহ মধুর হল আজি মধুরাতে
birawho modhuro holo aaji (audio)

Sweet yet is separation
In this night so enchanting
Plays a melody profound
Strumming the pain deep within

An anxious thirst
A restless yen
A desire invisible
Pervades this Poornima night
And deludes my perception
With a piteous mirage

Adrift on a balmy breeze
A fragrance from far beyond
Wanders into my being
Tosses, turns, twirls around
A wayfarer lost and forlorn

Whose plaintive voice do I hear?
In the music of murmurs
To the rhythm of rustles
The sweet symphony of leaves
Tinkles with it my anklet
Pulsating to the same beat

(another version by Anondo)

A heartache sweet with sorrow
A night flushed with moonlight
To catch a fleeting glance
sleepless eyes
are easily deceived

A sinuous fragrance from faraway
weighs down the breeze
My journey is lost in trance

Whispering webs of leaves
brings alive a lyrical message
with a beat
Ankle-bells rebound within

This world of happiness

আনন্দলোকে মঙ্গলালোকে
Anondoloke Mongolaloke (audio)

This world of happiness
This world of well-being
Grace it with your presence
You who are the ultimate truth
You who are the ever beauteous

Your majesty manifests
Across the vast firmament
Like an anklet studded with
Precious stones and prized jewels
Lies the cosmos at Your feet

The sun, moon, stars and planets
With eagerly anxious haste
Bask in Your iridescence
Soak Your boundless radiance

Cascades of your soft sweet grace
Gush forth and deluge the earth
In a kaleidoscope of
Flowers and leaves
Songs and sonnets

Life flows on ever anew
Your compassion caressing
Our lives from cradle to grave

Love, affection and mercy
Piety, hope, faith untold
Mellow and soften our souls
A downpour of sweet solace
You rain to pacify pain

What festivities and joy
Reign forever in Your realm
The world sings Your glory great
In fearless refuge at Your feet
You who are our treasure and wealth
You who encompass all of this earth

Another translation meant for rendition of the song in English  by Anandamayee 
youtube link of english rendition here

In the land of joy, in the heart of love
I see your seat, true, exquisite.

Glory, love light up
sky and beyond.
The universe
bedecked with stars
at your feet.

Sun and earth
moon and stars
dancing to the beat
Drinking light,
Bathing light,
Immortality.

Fountain spring,
Splendor green,
Streaming creation,
beats, bowers
songs, flowers
vibrant melodies.

Night and day
Life in sway
Re-invigorated
Compassion,
Your motion
Life and decease.

Tenderness
Love and grace
Reverence, devotion
Touch me here, touch me now
with serenity.

Celebration,
Jubilation,
Dear universe
Abundance, your way of dance
in tranquility.