Stanzas of BhanuSingha
(Based on “Bhanusingher Podaboli” By Rabindra nath Thakur & translated by Swastik Roy)
Joydev, the poet nearly mesmerized Rabindranath as a child. Then Vidyapati with that unique “Brojobuli” of his set a deep musical note in the heart of the teen aged poet, not with his hymns of luminous passion but with the unperceived expressions and the sonic resonance of the Sanskrit language. Walking upon those waves and rhymes and resonance, the poet inside Tagore got the first glimpse of that universe, resonating with rhymes and rhythm, some of which he understood, some he not. Thus was born Bhanusingha, the juvenile poet. But are those all meaningless passion where only the sonic quality prevails? Tagore himself has said, the embryo, a secret deep inside the heart of the seed, like secrets lying beneath the surface, still unexplored, that attracted him toward the vaishnava lyric poetry. The intricate feeling of afterlife and the meaning of those secrets that were unveiled……. We find eternity only in our love. Even this realization of the eternal within the limits of life is only a different manifestation of the same love. Here lies the fundamental belief of all Vaishnava sects. But, whatever is there in the stanzas of BhanuSingha, it is the underlying foreplay and expression of that love.
(Flute Plays)
(Song) O beloved, come, come to the bower of flowers / ehere Krishna’s flute lazily fills the air / O fawn-eyed beauty with lovely smile you are draped in blue and flowers are in your heart / come, come to the bower flowers . in this silver night, with fragrant flowers the moon is shininh bright over the singing birds. Uncountable flowers have bloomed in the Bokul tree and bumble-bees are humming on them. Look O beloved, look at those love filled eyes of Krishna of Krishna praised by even the moon. Come, come all lovers, we’ll go to meet Krishna and like all those maidens BhanuSingha also worships those black feet.
The bowers of Vrindavana are now overflowing with the tune from Krishna’s flute; the moonlit night is amazed with fragrant flowers, with the chirping of the birds and with the humming of the bumble-bees. In every heart of every vrindavana girl, there is the anxious waiting for those dark eyes,”Come, come O lovers, we will go to see Krishna” and the one who responds to that call is Sri Radhika, with all her passion for Krishna.
The Poet GovindaDas says,
The temple gate is strong and locked /The muddy road at night is hard to trot /Heavy rain has / put the darkness under blue veil/ The lady must meet her lover and never fail/The frequent bursts of thunder can never scare the heart / tender eyes glow when lightning torn the darkness apart / GovindaDas finds such love utterly unjust / deserting home and braving danger on her part.
(Song) O beloved, the night is deep and dark / dense clouds are gathering in the rainy sky / o feeble lady, how’ll you make your way to the bower / river jamuna is swelling with the storm and thunder / even the scared trees are shivering in fear / the bower is dark with dark trees under the dark clouds / O love struck lady can you tell why is he calling you with his flute in this foul weather.
It is Radha’s tread on the road impassable. But in the night resonating with the sound of rain, she must not fail in her tryst. Whenever her eyes filled with tears, the chariot of her beloved came and stopped at the doorsteps of her heart. She can never ignore the call of her love. Defeating all obstacles on her way, she reaches the bower for her tryst.
(Narration with Sitar in the background)
But in this bower of love, now is the time for the first downpour of a long night of pain, there comes Pranosakhi, with the news of her unsuccessful tryst. Lyricist GyanDas Said:
My eyes pines for thy beauty, my heart mesmerized by thee / each blood cell of mine is craving for each blood cell of thee / for a touch of thou heart pines the heart of mine / even my soul is restless to get the love of thine. My friend, what more shall I say /what is decided by love that is my way / my heart never stops worshipping thou grace / tell me what shall I do to make thee impress / I can never express the pleasure a glance of his brings to me / my body is aching for the touch of a glance of thee
(Song) Listen, listen O lass, you are roaming from bower to bower, but ther is no Krishna, put those garland down it has no more use, / the flowery branches are wavering in the wind with the hum of the bumble-bees / the river Jamuna is flowing lazily with some soft aquatic music / though the moonlit night is so beautiful, yet the garland of tryst hangs heavy in the burning heart of the forlorn lady / the friends hold her by her hands / and those beautiful lips shiver as to ask why the cuckoo is still singing in the bowers / whenever a light breeze shakes that cloth end of yours / she eagerly turns her head to the way expecting her beloved / and Bhanusingha the poet says if Krishna isn’t ther a bower can never be a bower.
Listening to this love-struck Radha’s love-struck heart fills with fear. Vidyapati says,
When will this wailing cease / how long the pains of love will be the only thing to please / when will the moonlight shine upon those flowers / when’ll bumble- bees come and play in lotus bowers/ how long will my beloved take to ask for my love / when’ll he put his hands on my breasts like dove / how long will he take to make me sit on thy lap / if the desires of heart will ever quench
The burning sensation in Radha’s heart is actually created by that selfless love, and in the love of juvenile BhanuSingha this love got a new lease of life. That’s why in Vidyapati’s words, he stringed together a garland of pain with the thread of this tune of love in his heart
(Song) My friends, my suffering knows no limit / in this season of love, in this month of rain / it is raining hard all around restricting vision / my heart is throbbing for my beloved Krishna / staying away from him in this season of love is breaking my heart to pieces.
Radha can never express the pains of love she carries in her heart. Even Mother Nature who supports all life seems mercilessly cruel to the misfortunes of this poor lover lady. Like the river swelled after the rains are over, the pains of destitution hangs heavy over Radha’s heart. But still her love is not ready to accept defeat. The chariot of love runs through the desert of silence forlorn in her heart. For this restlessness of her love, her heart loses all strength and becomes numb, but in her heart she becomes more determined. She will offer even her life to the destitute temple of love without her beloved. It will be her journey for the final tryst of her life through the dark lanes of death.
(Song) O death thou are my love, my Krishna / you are dark as the clouds with dark matted hair / like red lotus is thou hands and red are lips thine / that merciful hand of yours you reduce the sufferings of life with the ambrosia of desire devine / O death, you are my love, my Krishna / O death, Krishna is thy name / that heartless Krishna forgot me forever / thou will never deny me of thy favor / restless Radha is suffering much / eyes shade tears longing for thy touch. / Come, come O death, thou art my constant companion the other half of my life / you take the pain out of everything whenever I strife/ I’ll take thee in my embrace, my eyes will close looking at thee / keeping my head on thy lap I’ll go to sleep / come, come O death./ never will you forget me / never will thy leave / your heart will always be on mine and mesmerizing is the touch of thee / never you will break the heart of mine like that flute in some forest faraway / as Radha, Radha it calls night and day / the time is up and now I’ll go to thee and alleviate you from all the sufferings of loneliness / now is time for my tryst with you. / Overpowering all the obstacles on my way. / the sky is overcast, shadowy is the ground beneath / rumbling are the clouds and frequent lightning strikes / even the great trees are scared and shaken tonight / the path is desolate and impassable how can I go to thy tryst / I’ll go alone in my tryst / if my beloved Krishna is there then what for should I scare / The poet BhanuSingha says disgrace to Radha for such restless mind of her / She is in love with death though Krishna is still there.
Here is her selfless sacrifice in the great oblation of love. She paid with her life for her love. The flute of Krishna plays from the other side of the ocean of pain.
The trees and vines started to rain beautiful flowers / as the enchanted tune from his flute reached the bower / the daughter of the sun is absorbed by that flute / and the waves in the river took the opposite route.
(Flute in background)
Lolita bisakha listen to music enchanted / Radha listens to the call the flute secreted / they never know the direction only listen spellbound / it plays somewhere and echoes all around.
(Song) my home is deserted in this night of rain / in the bower with the wet breeze the lovely lady is in pain / the river Jamuna is singing melodiously and stars are in the sky / the murmur of the trees, the sound of the spring / the forest orchards are all flowering. / she is staring the forest path with eager eyes / dejected in love only braiding a garland with flowers nice / suddenly she looked up and threw aside the wreath / O my friend, there comes my Krishna, please hold your breath / the flute plays in faraway forest in this night restless / along with sings the Jamuna with her dancing waves / BhanuSingha says, listen O Krishna, waiting is thou beloved / eager to drink the ambrosia for the tune your flute played.
Bloomed are the beautiful flowers the bumble-bees hum in the bower
The respected ladies all elegant, walking in gait stately and pleasant
The thick growth of tuft of hair garlanded with flowers fair
Moving like the bird restless collyrium in those eyes’ darkness
At last Radha’s hard times turn into auspicious moments. Her friend comes with the good news and the assurance of tryst with her beloved,
(Song) Radha, Radha, O beloved of mine / look their comes Krishna with slow steps and singing the name of thine / blue is the his wreath, blue is his dress / put that beautiful vermillion in your head before embrace / dance, dance my companions and sing the song of tryst / and overflow the bower with music as the rain is creating the mist / burn the golden lamp with oils fragrant and overwhelm the bower with the smell of it / O girl, pluck all kinds of flowers and braid garland with thee / look their comes Krishna with slow steps and singing the name of thee /
Today, Radha’s happiness knows no bounds. Her eternal Madhava has come to her. To her beloved it is her coveted sacrifice. In radha’s life of desolate love, it is the advent of new spring. At last her wondering love has reached the destination of a shadowy nest.
(Music)
Today, in this rain, the lover’s eyes meet each other / the cuckoo sings incessantly in the bower / the heart dalliance with the pleasures of youth nad the body is getting numb/ in this moonlit night the heart is eccentric / bondages are there no more and no more disgrace is there / those words of love make thou body shiver with pleasure / as the moonlight shivers the flowery bower / the breeze is wavering the cloth-ends to the ground / after hearing that sweet voice thou anklets make no more sounds / thou eyes are filled with tears and casted down / and the lotus buds are tottering with the wind / the tufts of hair comes down to thy cheek / and the flowers braided in wreaths settle down thy feet / BhanuSingha dies along with those falling flowers / with the quiet Jamuna in the moonlight and the flowery bowers.
After so many days my beloved has come / it will make me die if I can’t meet him / that much I suffer only being a lady / it must have cracked something stony / the unfortunate girl spent her life in misery / it would be better if he had stayed in Mathura. / but I don’t care for such pain / my wellbeing depends only on you / and today when I meet you my love / the treasure I have lost has returned to me / let the cuckoo come and sing / let the bumble-bees start humming / let the sweet breeze blow, / let the moon come to the sky at night / Chandidas says by the order of the god / all suffering gone in pleasant love-making.
This way the stanzas of Bhanusingha closely follows the golden chariot of love, though to some extent absent mindedly. This mesmerized quest for beauty and love never ended for Rabindranath, even when he reached the sunset of his life, Tagore recollected these lyrics and Baishnava stanzas.
The night is rain-soaked with frequent thunders / then a dream occurred to me.
Or even sometimes he did remember those stanzas by GovindaDas, in his mind and meditation of love, Radha always stays in Krishna’s heart and rabidranath identifies her as the eternal beloved, and when and where these hearts meet, a new melody is created.
O Krishna, after a day of pleasure of loneliness, now your flute quenches the thirst of my love / how can you play such music that penetrates my heart and soul / as if a melodious arrow has pierced my heart to make my body numb and my eyes forlorn / for a long, long time I have pined for thee / o beloved of mine I lost all my hopes to see thou again / that every day I died with the arrows of loneliness striking my love tortured heart/ but now thou flute makes my heart restless, my eyes are filling with tears of joy with that beautiful tune of your flute / I wish if I cood cool my heart in river Jamuna, I wish I keep you’re your feet on my heart / at when I die rhat beautiful face of yours will sooth my bereaved soul , / I wish to melt my heart with with that melody of yours in this moonlit bower with the chirping of the birds and nocturnal flowers / Thou heart on this earth / pine always for radha’s heart / and Bhanusingha pines for the love of yours.
END
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