Kabir poems translated by rabindranath tagore. Page:One Hundred Poems of Kabir 2022-10-10
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Kabir was a 15th century mystic poet and saint who is revered in India to this day. His poetry, which was written in Hindi, has been translated into many languages, including English, by a variety of scholars and poets. One of the most well-known translations of Kabir's poems was done by Rabindranath Tagore, a Nobel laureate and one of the most celebrated poets and writers in India's history.
Tagore's translations of Kabir's poems bring the mystic's work to a wider audience, allowing readers who may not be familiar with the original Hindi to still experience the depth and beauty of Kabir's poetry. These translations also serve as a testament to Tagore's own poetic prowess, as he was able to capture the essence and spirit of Kabir's poetry while still maintaining its meaning and significance in the English language.
Kabir's poetry is known for its spiritual themes and focus on the divine, and Tagore's translations do justice to this aspect of the poetry. In his translation of "The Weaver," Kabir speaks of the unity of all beings and the interconnectedness of the universe, stating that "all creatures, high and low, are but threads in the eternal loom." Tagore's translation conveys this message with a sense of reverence and awe, bringing the reader closer to the divine through the words of the poem.
In addition to its spiritual themes, Kabir's poetry also deals with issues of social justice and the plight of the marginalized. In "The Beggar," Kabir addresses the issue of class divide and the unequal distribution of wealth and resources in society. Tagore's translation conveys the sense of frustration and anger that Kabir expresses in the original poem, highlighting the injustice of the situation and calling for change.
Overall, Tagore's translations of Kabir's poems are a valuable contribution to the world of literature and provide a glimpse into the spiritual and philosophical ideas of a mystic poet who has had a lasting impact on India's cultural and religious landscape.
One Hundred Poems of Kabir Translated by R. Tagore & E. Underhill 1962 Hardcover
It took in Ramanuja's preaching the form of an ardent personal devotion to the God Vishnu, as representing the personal aspect of the Divine Nature: that mystical 'religion of love' which every- where makes its appearance at a certain level of spiritual culture, and which creeds and philosophies are powerless to kill. Francis, that ghostly symphony which filled the soul of Rolle with ecstatic joy. Waver no more, think only of the Beloved; Set not thy heart on the worship of other gods, there is no worth in the worship of other masters. We have also had before us a manuscript English translation of 116 songs made by Mr. The well-known legend of the beautiful courtesan sent by the Brahmans to tempt his virtue, and converted, like the Magdalen, by her sudden encounter with the initiate of a higher love, preserves the memory of the fear and dislike with which he was regarded by the ecclesiastical powers. LVI H E is the real Sadhu, who can reveal the form of the Formless to the vision of these eyes: Who teaches the simple way of attaining Him, that is other than rites or ceremonies: Who does not make you close the doors, and hold the breath, and renounce the world: Who makes you perceive the Supreme Spirit wherever the mind attaches itself: Who teaches you to be still in the midst of all your activities.
Its members, known as Kabir panthis, are estimated to be around 9. The hills and the sea and the earth dance. This eternal distinction, the mysterious union-in-separateness of God and the soul, is a necessary doctrine of all sane mysticism; for no scheme which fails to find a place for it can represent more than a fragment of that soul's intercourse with the spiritual world. They believe in ten Avatars ; but no Avatar can be the Infinite Spirit, for he suffers the results of his deeds : The Supreme One must be other than this. Next, he is protected from the soul-destroying conclusions of pure monism, inevitable if its logical implications are pressed home: that is, the identity of substance between God and the soul, with its corollary of the total absorption of that soul in the Being of God as the goal of the spiritual life.
Kshiti Mohan Sen's text, and a prose essay upon Kabir from the same hand. Where the ring of manifold joys ever dances about Him, there is the sport of Eternal Bliss. Translated by the Author. Kabir, being of Moham- medan birth, was outside the authority of the Brahmans, and technically classed with the Sufis, to whom xviii KABIR'S POEMS great theological latitude was allowed. It is impossible to say of their author that he was Brâhman or Sûfî, Vedântist or Vaishnavite. Sing with gladness, and keep your seat unmoved within your heart.
There love-songs resound, and light rains in showers; and the worshipper is entranced in the taste of the heavenly nectar. When its load was light, the pan of the balance went up: now it is full, where is the need for weighing? So thorough-going is Kabir's eclecticism, that he seems by turns Vedantist and Vaishnavite, Pantheist and Transcendentalist, Brahman and Sufi. He Himself is Brahma, creature, and Maya. KABIR'S POEMS 13 XIII II. A great religious reformer, the founder of a sect to which nearly a million northern Hindus still belong, it is yet supremely as a mystical poet that Kabîr lives for us. Living in bondage, I have set myself free : I have broken away from the clutch of all narrowness.
Full text of "One hundred poems of Kabir, tr. by Rabindranath Tagore assisted by Evelyn Underhill"
So, when I give up passion, I see that anger remains ; And when I renounce anger, greed is with me still ; And when greed is vanquished, pride and vainglory remain ; When the mind is detached and casts Maya away, still it clings to the letter. There are in his universe no fences between the "natural" and "supernatural" worlds; everything is a part of the creative Play of God, and therefore--even in its humblest details--capable of revealing the Player's mind. Where dwells that Supreme Spirit, and how does He have His sport with all created things? Kabîr says: "But who knows whence the Word cometh? You have left your Beloved and are thinking of others : and this is why all your work is in vain. Whose name do you sing, and on whom do you meditate? By RUD- YARD KIPLING. There the Unstruck Music is sounded ; it is the music of the love of the three worlds. O my friend, what have you done with this life? If there be ignorance, then knowledge must die.
Songs of Kabîr: Translated by Rabindranath Tagore 1915
Tell your beads, paint your forehead with the mark of your God, and wear matted locks long and showy: but a deadly weapon is in your heart, and how shall you have God? The musk is in the deer, but it seeks it not within itself: it wanders in quest of grass. In those amongst them who develop psycho-sensorial automatisms these parallels between sense and spirit may present themselves to consciousness in the form of hallucinations : as the light seen by Suso, the music heard by Rolle, the celestial perfumes which filled St. The swan has taken its flight to the lake beyond the mountains ; why should it search for the pools and ditches any more? His fate has been that of many revealers of Reality. Kabir says, "Thou hast united Thy heart to my heart, O Fakir! He is the Mind within my mind : He is the Eye within mine eye. Ramananda had brought to Northern India the religious revival which Ramanuja, the great twelfth- century reformer of Brahmanism, had initiated in the South. There the Unstruck Music is sounded; it is the music of the love of the three worlds.
This seems to have happened in 1495, when he was nearly sixty years of age ; it is the last event in his career of which we have definite knowledge. INTRODUCTION xxxi of pleasure and pain," Kabir finds them governing the creative acts of God. Hence their 1 NO. He is immersed in all consciousness, all joys, and all sorrows; He has no beginning and no end; He holds all within His bliss. XXVII I T is the mercy of my true Guru that has made me to know the unknown; I have learned from Him how to walk without feet, to see without eyes, to hear without ears, to drink without mouth, to fly without wings; I have brought my love and my meditation into the land where there is no sun and moon, nor day and night.
Tagore's translations are of trance- like beauty. He seems to have remained for years the disciple of Ramananda, joining in the theological and philosophical arguments which his master held with all the great Mullahs and Brahmans of his day; and to this source we may perhaps trace his acquaintance with the terms of Hindu and Sufi philosophy. Here is pure water before you; drink it at every breath. Thence- forth he appears to have moved about amongst various cities of northern India, the centre of a group of dis- ciples ; continuing in exile that life of apostle and poet of love to which, as he declares in one of his songs, he was destined " from the beginning of time. Kabir says : " Listen to me, my friend! But the servant Kabîr has appraised it at its true value, and has wrapped it with care in the end of the mantle of his heart. Unless you see, you believe not: what is told you you cannot accept. You have slept for unnumbered ages ; this morning will you not wake? Kabîr says, "O Sadhu! Therefore fthe whole apparatus of piety, Hindu and Moslem alike the temple and mosque, idol and holy water, scriptures and priests were denounced by this inconveniently clear-sighted poet as mere substitutes for reality, dead things intervening between the soul and its love The images are all lifeless, they cannot speak : I know, for I have cried aloud to them.
How many are there who know the meaning of that word? The unstruck drum of Eternity is sounded within me ; but my deaf ears cannot hear it. Kabir says : "It is the sport of the 20 KABIR'S POEMS Unattainable One : look within, and behold how the moonbeams of that Hidden One shine in you. The gates of the sky are opened, the temple is revealed : I meet my husband, and leave at His feet the offering of my body and my mind. Kabir says : " O brother! Because my Lord is absent, I start up and tremble with fear. Your Lord is near: yet you are climbing the palm-tree to seek Him. There the woods of spring are a-bloom, and the fragrant scent "He is I" is borne on the wind: There the bee of the heart is deeply immersed, and desires no other joy. And who has ever taught love to find bliss in renunciation? Kabîr says: "O my loving friend! Hear from me the tidings of this great truth! As the seed is in the plant, as the shade is in the tree, as the void is in the sky, as infinite forms are in the void— So from beyond the Infinite, the Infinite comes; and from the Infinite the finite extends.
