26 मार्च 2022

A Battlefield Song

where is the lion?
when will he come?

I do not have a turquoise-mane
my turquoise-mane is the forest of Ganden burial ground,
the deer and doe living in that forest
and the lonely sun of the Himalayan sky.

this head is lonesome like a barren land
these hands are lonely like a banner
and the window on the wall of time is forsaken.

on the fingertips of a writer
the dazzling flame of a stone’s life stories,
carries all miseries of the river
a moment at the crest of a ship’s flag.

I do not have a turquoise-mane
my turquoise-mane is a bright torch
burning in the pitch darkness of night
with its handles like a warrior’s hands—
a desolate snow mountain,
blessed by the sun and moon.

like a pillar, the ancestors are desolate,
the naro in the records of ancestors renounced
even the palace gate in my dream is deserted.

a symphony carries the melodies of aspirations
from the sunlight of southern horizon
and disturbs the silence of Drakmar,
the sacred mountain of royal lineages.

where is the lion?
when will he come?

20 मार्च 2022

Murderer

you agitated my rivers
blighted flower buds
fouled the sweet-scented air
harassed the birds of the land arrayed in turquoise petals

you ripped the ropes of my old tent
spoilt the firewood of my earthen hearth
set toxic leaves on fire and
inscribed evil spells on the flags erected outside my gate

you crushed the horns of my wild yaks
scraped vulture bones for flutes
and agonised horses with chained hooves

in this land of incessant hell
should I still, intently, receive atonement
from you, the incarnation of evil?

---Tashi Rabten

15 मार्च 2022

City of Faith

As well as Buddhism and Christianity
Some gods dig water channels like Allah
Some are the Holy Marys pushing wheelchairs in the park
Where ghosts thrive, gods thrive too
As shadow follows the light
Where light shines strongest you feel secure warmth
But don’t fear the places where ghosts roam
Sometimes the city’s depths are lighter than its surface
This is the advance of civilization.

---Tien Huan-chun

14 मार्च 2022

हमारा कालेज का बचुआ

जब से एफ. ए. फेल हुआ,
हमारा कालेज का बचुआ |

नाक दाबकर सम्पुट साधै,
महादेवजी को आराधै,
भंग छानकर रोज़ रात को
खाता मालपुआ |

वाल्मीकि को बाबा मानै,
नाना व्यासदेव को जानै,
चाचा महिषासुर को, दुर्गा
जी को सगी बुआ |

हिन्दी का लिक्खाड़ बड़ा वह,
जब देखो तब अड़ा पड़ा वह,
छायावाद रहस्यवाद के
भावों का बटुआ |

धीरे-धीरे रगड़-रगड़ कर
श्रीगणेश से झगड़-झगड़ कर,
नत्थाराम बन गया है अब
पहले का नथुआ |

हमारे कालेज का बचुआ |

3 मार्च 2022

The Testament

Dig my grave and raise my barrow
By the Dnieper-side
In Ukraina, my own land,
A fair land and wide.
I will lie and watch the cornfields,
Listen through the years
To the river voices roaring,
Roaring in my ears.

When I hear the call
Of the racing flood,
Loud with hated blood,
I will leave them all,
Fields and hills; and force my way
Right up to the Throne
Where God sits alone;
Clasp His feet and pray…
But till that day
What is God to me?

Bury me, be done with me,
Rise and break your chain,
Water your new liberty
With blood for rain.
Then, in the mighty family
Of all men that are free,
May be sometimes, very softly
You will speak of me?

Taras Shevchenko

Translated by E. L. Voynich, London, 1911

1 मार्च 2022

HOHENLINDEN

On Linden when the sun was low,
All bloodless lay the untrodden snow,
And dark as winter was the flow
Of Iser, rolling rapidly.

But Linden saw another sight
When the drum beat, at dead of night,
Commanding fires of death to light
The darkness of her scenery.

By torch and trumpet fast arrayed
Each horseman drew his battle blade,
And furious every charger neighed,
To join the dreadful revelry.

Then shook the hills with thunder riven,
Then rushed the steed to battle driven,
And louder than the bolts of heaven

Far flashed the red artillery.
And redder yet those fires shall glow
On Linden's hills of blood-stained snow,
And darker yet shall be the flow
Of Iser, rolling rapidly.

'Tis morn, but scarce yon lurid sun
Can pierce the war-clouds, rolling dun,
Where furious Frank and fiery Hun
Shout in their sulphurous canopy.

The combat deepens. On, ye brave,
Who rush to glory, or the grave!
Wave, Munich, all thy banners wave!
And charge with all thy chivalry!

Ah! few shall part where many meet!
The snow shall be their winding-sheet,
And every turf beneath their feet
Shall be a soldier's sepulchre.

--- Thomas Campbell (1777-1844)