Sri Ramanavami poem

Seesam to poem #4

Last month with chaitra suddha navami nearing my parents asked me to write a poem on Lord Rama.

So, I tried to show one reason why Rama is revered as God-incarnate on earth by taking a slightly circuitous route. In the first line, his not being worried about losing riches because embodiment of riches (his Grihalakshmi, who indeed is SriLakshmi's avatar) is by his side. In the second line, his not being worried about facing demons or difficulties becuase the one with anantha tejas (anantha is another name for Adi sesha, who took Lakshmana's form and it is in his shadow that Lord Vishnu sleeps) is by him like a shadow. In the third line, him taking on a mightier enemy with confidence that the primal destructive force (Rudra, whose deity portion is attributed to Lord Hanuman) is by his side.

In the end, with such supreme forces by his side, it is no wonder that the world bowed to this Great man. Here is the poem and the original Telugu seesam below.

Untold riches within his reach, disappeared one morning,
causing him nary a whit of discomfiture
The embodiment of all heavenly riches, his only yearning,
Was by his side, his happiness assured

Countless demons and innumerous obstacles beseiged
causing him not a bit of trepidation
The one who follows him like a shadow, beseeched
To be by his side, Ah, a brother's elation

Faced an enemy infinitely muscled and powerful while unjust
sprung in him not a hint of doubt
The incarnation of the immortal destructor, a presence blest
Was with him, the root of enemy's rout

Surrounded by such celestials, the  Scion of Sun dynasty
Was revered as God on earth, the Universe bowed to him justly

సీ. ఎనలేని సంపద లొనగూడి నట్లుండి, మాయమై పోయినన్ మథనపడడు
సిరులదేవతవంటి సీతమ్మ తోడుగా నడచిన చాలని నమ్మియుండి
వేవేల రక్కసుల్ వెనువెంట నిక్కట్లు వేగాన మూగినన్ వెతలబడ డ
నంత తేజు డనుజు డంతటన్ నీడగా నిలచిన మేలని నెమ్మదించి

తే. పోరు కుద్బలుఁ గెలువంగ పూనివచ్చె
శత్రుభీకర రుద్రుండు మిత్రు డనుచు
ననిమిషాంశపు పరివార మటులయుండ
పుడమియం దాత డవతార పురషుఁ డయ్యె

మ. పరికింపన్ సిరిరూపు సీతయన, శ్రీప్రాణేశ్వరుం డాతఁడే
అరయం దమ్ము డనంత రూపుడన, నయ్యక్షాని కం డాతఁడే
చిరజీవుం డనుమయ్య రుద్రుఁడన, నా శ్రేష్ఠాత్ము నిష్ఠాతఁడే
స్థిరపూజ్యుల్ పరివారమై చనుట జేజేపట్టె ముల్లోకముల్

Ponniyin Selvan

What can I say about the One
The mighty Raja Raja Chozhan
Depicted so well by Kalki's pen
In a work you could read again n again
That goes by the name Ponniyin Selvan

 Ponnyin Selvan - completed

I picked up Ponniyin Selvan on a whim.  Following my interest in historical fiction, Kindle showed Ponniyin Selvan on my recommendation list. I knew it was a 5 volume set and a significant investment of time. The fact that the first two books were available on Kindle Unlimited pushed me towards it - and Pavitra Srinivasan's translation, a few pages in, ignited my interest immensely. Only later after reading other translations did I realize how wonderfully she has preserved what I perceive as the original tone of Kalki's work. The original work was serialized in a magazine and I, to some extent, experienced reading the book in a serialized form owing to the incomplete checks I did prior to embarking on the project. I only saw 2 volumes of Pavitra Srinivasan's translations and blithely assumed that all other volumes would also be available. Only upon finishing the first two did I realize that Pavitra was still working on the third volume. I began searching all over for the other three volumes and quickly stumbled upon Indra Nelameggam's translation - the first part of third volume - available freely on the internet. I downloaded it to my kindle and read it. My appreciation of Pavitra's nuanced translation grew thousand fold upon reading Indra's underwhelming work. Sometimes, when translating works pertaining to a particular period in history set in a geography known for its linguistic achievements, a language with immense historical signficance, it is best to leave some form of the original words as they were, not only to retain the flavor of the original work but also to allow the user to get into the book's atmosphere. At the sametime, some amount of sensitivity is called for. Calling Thevarams as Psalms is a ridiculous way of translating. There were more such jarring examples, but I won't get into those. Suffice to say that I could not go any further than that first part and did not have the heart to go for any more freely available translations. Then I came across CV Karthik Narayanan's translation on Kindle. I started again at the first part of Volume 3 and ploughed on. The going was much better with CVKN's pen. His translation was far more balanced and mature. Somehow, I am still partial to Pavitra's translations and will come back to those when they are available.

Now coming to the 5 volumes, they are "First floods", "The cyclone", "The killer sword", "The crown" and finally "The pinnacle of Sacrifice". Of all the books, I found the first one the most satisfying. It brought back fond childhood memories of reading Chandamama stories and such. It laid the foundation stone for my interest in the series, that did not waver much after reading subsequent books.

Kalki Krishnamurthy is adept at portraying human emotions, the frailities of human nature, internal conflicts and the problems they create at one level, and the political strife, the majesty of great warriors, the intelligence and survival instincts of those holding important positions in great empires at another level. Also, his books contain some wonderfully independent and intelligent women - in fact, the key character that drives the narrative towards the doomsday that every reader would pray not happen, is an extraordinarily beautiful woman that does not have historical backing but only Kalki's fertile imagination to thank for her existence. The hero is not always right, he does not always win, he is beset with self doubt and the brave warrior he is, he quavers at times when faced with insurmountable odds. Fate, that propels all lives forward, with nary a care of any individual's comfort is shown as it should be - the all powerful and uncontrollable thing that shapes lives of people and kingdoms. The intrigues and people caught in the web, their helplessness, the exaperation of people trying to do good, all these are captured very well. 

I have become a big fan of Kalki's works. Thinking of picking up his other translations soon.

PS: Realized later that this post would not be complete without heartfelt thanks to pustaka team (http://pustaka.co.in), their timely publication of Book 5 Volume 2 ensured that I got the book soon after I finished Volume 1.

4 Incarnations of Lord Vishnu

This one was an interesting problem in its original form. Using మూడు (Three), ఆరు (Six), ఏడు (Seven), పది (Ten) one has to write a verse about itihaasa, puranas, Ramayana or Mahabharata. And the meaning of the words should not signify the numbers they stand for.

My response: I wrote a seesa padyam with each of the 4 lines signifying Third, Sixth, Seventh and Tenth incarnation of Lord Vishnu and at the same time took care not to use the words as cardinal numbers. Translating the original poem into English would not bring out the word play to the same extent, so to demonstrate what was done - I chose a different path in English. I used the words "Three", "Six", "Seven", "Ten" and embedded them in the poem below - but none of those appear as numbers. So, three appears in "zenith reeking" and so on. You can find the other numbers easily.  The first part covers Third incarnation, Varaha avatara. The second one covers, Sixth and Seventh avataras - Parasurama and Rama. The third part is Kalki, while the last lines reveal the trick in the lines above.

Original Telugu poem is also pasted below.

At the zenith reeking deathly demonic powers
He appropriated one day many a sacred book
As though an answer to Brahma's fervent prayers
The lord restored them eviscerating the crook

Virtuosi, xenos to him were the kings of the land,
Carried on a murderous spree decimating'em all,
To the king of kings eventually, a boon so grand,
Begot him a son causing Great Ravana's fall

Mother earth grieves, man's sins and evil intentions
Growing everyday, a burden crushing her very heart
For a brighter future, in the last of his incarnations,
Ending Kali, Comes the One, heralds a brave new start

O the learned ones, the embedded numbers above you knew
Signify the virtuous births in the ages gone by of Lord Vishnu

దత్తపది - మూడు, ఆరు, ఏడు, పది. ఈ పదాలు సంఖ్యాపరంగా కాకుండా వాడి పద్యము వ్రాయాలి

నా పూరణము - విష్ణుని అవతార సంఖ్యలు వాడుతూ..

 సీ. ఘనుని బిల్వ నసుర కాలమ్ము మూడుట, కంజున కొకప్రక్క కష్ట మూడు
గండ్రగొడ్డలి పడి క్షత్రియు లారుట, వంగిన వంశము లంగలార్చు
నోడింప పదునాలు గేడులు పట్టుట, రణభూమి రావణు రాణు లేడ్చు
తిమిరము సమయింప దివినుండి దిగునట, కలిని వీడుకొలుపఁ దిలకు డొకడు

తే. మొదటి పాదమున జెలఁగు మూడు గాను
ఆపయిన పదపడి వచ్చు నారు గాను
పిదప తెలియు నేడును పదియు వరుసఁ
దరచిచూచిన హరి యవతారసంఖ్య 

4 Krishnas

I haven't mastered the 5-foot iambics of the sonnet yet, but trying my hand at it by translating my last week's poem on 4 Krishnas.

The problem: Duryodhana has a sneaking suspicion that Karna has switched sides. Describe his feelings in a metrical verse of your choice.

My response was: There are 4 key personages in Mahabharata with Krishna in their name - Draupadi the dark one (hence the female Krishna), Krishna bhagawan, Arjuna the dark one (hence Krishna), Krishna Dwaipaayana (Veda vyasa born on a dark island). Using these names, I tried to describe Suyodhana's feelings. Here you go, the original Seesa padyam in Telugu is also below.

Thanks to Dhanikonda Ravi Prasad garu, for triggering such an interesting thought..

Krishna the enhancetress, turned him an ingrate
To cavort as her sixth prince consort
He slips away, leaving Suyodhana the Great
How Alas, did he succumb to the deceiving thought?

Krishna the deceiver, fanned his avarice
Isn't the vast and mighty Anga sufficient?
Krishna, once the eunuch, caused him agonies
Were his later exploits with Siva so effulgent?

Krishna the recluse, is he part of this too?
Did his barbs of condescending righteousness
Pierce my friend's armour and so he flew
To the other side with false Dharmic sense

Krishna, darkness thy name, enveloped me from all sides
Your blackdeeds twisted my friend, fie! to switch sides

సీ. అక్కటా వగలాడి కా కృష్ణ కారవ వరుఁడైన సుఖమంచు భ్రమసినాడొ
అంగదేశము చాల కా కృష్ణు మాయలం బడి లోభనమ్ముల సడలినాడొ
అలనాటి ఆడంగి యా కృష్ణు పాశుపతాస్త్రపు కథలకు నడలినాడొ
అడవులం జీవించు నా కృష్ణు నెచ్చటో కలసి నా కెదురేగ కదలినాడొ
తే. కృష్ణ శబ్దమ్ములోనున్న కితవ మేమొ
నలుపు చీకట్లు వ్యాపించెఁ నాల్గు దిశలఁ
కర్ణు డావల బోయనే కష్ట మొదవెఁ
గృష్ణ వర్ణాభిధానలు కీడు సలుప

Yogi Adityanath

Here is the first of my Seesam to Poem series

"Hoisted him up on the hotseat
A Yogi sprung from anonymity
Administrations and ministrations cleat
For a large state, what a pity!

Saffron robes in the highest office
By god, do they even fit in there
The one who owns a religious edifice
Is a CM, for those who care

Come tomorrow will he shine
Will he clean up the crime and grime
Standing up and showing some spine
To wash away the apathy and the slime"

That we can't see, that we won't say
Our job is to break news anew everyday

సీ. పట్టమున్ గట్టిరి పదవి చేపట్టంగ యోగిపుంగవునకు యోగ్య తేది
మంత్రిగా నిల్పిరి మంత్రముల్ చదువుట నేర్చినవానికి నేరు పేది
కార్యాలయంబుల కాషాయవస్త్రంపు టధ్యక్షుఁ కార్యంబు లరయు టెట్లు
హిందువై గర్వింబుచిందించువానిని ముఖ్యమంత్రిగ తలమోయు టెట్లు

తే. సుంత వ్యవధినిచ్చి పనులఁ గొంతచూచి
చర్చజేయఁగ మా కంత సమయమేది
తొందరించి బురదజల్లి తొలగిపోయి
క్రొత్తవేటకు జనుటె ఆసత్తిమాకు