There’s no council without wise old,
Nor old that vouch dharma nor virtue,
No virtue, truth would not uphold,
Nor truth free from fraudulent hue!
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Translation |20.10.2024|assembly, old, virtue, truth, trickery
Poet’s note: Sanskrit has thousands of verses of wisdom called Subhashhitam. This verse is taken from Mahabharata, Sabha Parva. Draupadi was molested in the royal court despite the presence of wise old people like Bheeshma, Drona, Vidur, and Kripacharya. They were all talking about dharma while allowing such a thing to happen. (What Draupadi said is valid; what Duryodhan argued is also not invalid…) The transliteration of the Sanskrit verse follows:
Na saa sabhaa yatra na santi vriddhaah,
vriddhah na te ye na vadanti dharmam |
Dharmah na vai yatra cha na asti satyam,
satyam na tat yat chhala na anu-viddhyam ||
Tomes of scriptures, too much to know,
Too little time, woes, strife on toe,
Track what lies at the core,
Of crux, crucial from lore,
Swans do as from water milk draw.
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Translation |16.10.2024| scriptures, knowledge, time, woes, essence, milk, water
Poet’s note: Sanskrit has thousands of verses of wisdom called Subhashhitam. Even in ancient time in India it was felt that there was too much to know, too much to read/memorise, time is just not enough, and many a snag in the way. What should then be done? Focus on what is of essence, just as a swan separates milk from water (this is a poetic imagination/metaphor). The transliteration of the Sanskrit verse follows:
Aneka shaastram, bahu veditavyam,
alpah cha kaalah, bahavah cha vighnaah |
Yat saara-bhootam tat upaasitavyam,
hamsah yathaa kshheeram iva ambu madhyaat ||
A poem not at proper time said--
Though wisdom so well said, gets slighted.
Like Vedas by an aged wife read
In privacy, say, of nuptial bed.
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Translation |16.09.2024| poem, wrong time
Poet’s note: Sanskrit has thousands of verses of wisdom, ‘words well said’. This one is taken from my selection of translations. Here is the first of the twain. It talks of a verse not at the right time said. The next one talks about something said at the right time and place. The examples given to illustrate the point are quite striking and humorous. The transliteration of the Sanskrit verse follows:
Avasare na cha yat uktam subhaashhitam, tat cha bhavati haasyaaya |
Rahasi praudha vadhoonaam rati samaye, veda paatha ive ||
A RATTLING RHYME
Hannah McCustopha, married to Mustapha,
Couldn’t stop chattering, just like her dear Mama.
Yat ta ta Ya ta ta, Na ta ta Na ta ta.
That was the cause of Ma’s parting from her papa.
The feminine side of the family McCustopha,
Famous for talking from New York to Omaha.
Tourists came just to hear them from near and from far.
Tra la la Tra la la, Tra la la Tra la la.
Mustapha finally, tired of her repertoire,
Stowed her away in the trunk of a motor car,
With plenty of food and some tea in a samovar,
And paid a cab driver to drop her in Dacca.
There should have been peace evermore for Mustapha.
But, sadly, he hasn’t achieved it so far.
For every night in his dreams he hears Hannah.
Ya ta ta Ya ta ta, Na ta ta Na ta ta
11th March 2020
A Rattling Rhyme contest
Sponsor - Nina Parmenter
__O thou lowly hunter,
Let no glory may ever grace
Thee for endless years-- still later,
To have slain, and so merciless
A pair of swans in love embrace.
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Sanskrit:
ma nishada pratishtham tvam
agamah shashvatih samah |
yat krauncha mithunat ekam
avadhih kama-mohitam ||
Sage Valmiki was so moved when he saw a hunter’s arrow killing a pair of swans lost in love embrace that a shloka (verse) came up to his tongue as above. Enraged, he cursed the hunter. And this inspired him to write the epic Ramayana. He is considered as adi kavi, the first or the oldest known poet. Ramayana happened even before Mahabharata. ____________________________________
Happenings | 22.02.2019 |