Ballad, poem translation, poems on human experience and any other inspiration.
(Original poem by Bharaithyar)
Strike the victory drum – Strike it,
Strike the victory drum.
We vanquished the ghost of trepidation –
We split the serpent of falsehood, drank away its life;
To absorb the entire celestial world like elixir,
We embrace the life of profundity.
(Original poem by Bharaithyar)
Stay liberated –
Like this little sparrow
In eight directions, it flies and roams,
Into the air, it ascends; swims rapidly through,
In measureless abundance lay,
The sky awash in light, is the nectar it savors
You stepped into eternity
Left me in time’s purgatory
I tore up my past –
It was tangled with memories of you
Future petrifies me because of the void you left within
A thousand abysmal days have trudged by,
Tell me my son,
What should I do with my time?
(Original poem by Bharaithyar)
On the wings of the raven Nandhalala1 – is manifest
The black of your hue, Nandhalala;
In all the trees that come into vision, Nandhalala – is manifest
The green of your hue, Nandhalala;
In every sound that is audible, Nandhalala – resonates
The music of your song, Nandhalala;
(Original poem by Bharaithyar)
Permeating wind O, Kannamma1 –
Musing over your love makes me ecstatic
Elixir fount your lips,
Moon soaked brimming eyes,
Smelted to purest gold – your body;
In this world, for as long as I live –
You satiate my mind, precluding distractions
Transforming me into a celestial being, right here (on earth).
You are my jubilant life O, Kannamma –
All of my time, is in your devotion,
By banks of the sacred river, on the southern corner,
In the garden of Champaka1 (flowers),
Should I wait, you promised to come in the moon
Accompanied by a friend(chaperone).
You broke your word O, Kannamma!2
My heart is atremble!
Everywhere I look – your semblance
Emerge in everything;
Subramaniya Bharathi, was a 20th century Indian, Tamil poet. He wrote poems in Tamil language which is rich in literature and like most of its contemporary languages, such as Sanskrit or Greek, only the scholars could savor its richness and beauty, which made it difficult for the ordinary person to read and comprehend.
So he wrote poems in a simplified version of Tamil without compromising the richness of the language. Thus anyone with literacy in Tamil could enjoy these poems, without requiring a degree in Tamil literature.
His poems carried a certain amount of energy because his passion runs through them all vividly, as it spans the spectrum of human experience.
Why build an exquisite veena1,
Only to be heedlessly cast-off into dust?
Tell me O! Sivasakthi2 –
You, (who) created me with a scintillating mind
Grant me fortitude
To devote my life in welfare of this State
Tell me O! Sivasakthi – Would you let me
Become a burden to this land?
That neither has the need to coddle the other emotionally
Where one is at ease with the other as with oneself;
Is when the uttered word become redundant,
In the land of timelessness, atop tall spindly hills,
Lived the unhappy queen with a porous heart
A heart that retained no mirth, nor lingering happiness;
It is rumored, she was human once,
That she lived like any other modern woman –
Family, career and all
It is said that she ran away from all this,
‘Cause, she suffered from terrible sins.
