Subramania Bharati

[arasi]

As human beings, when we speak of aruL (grace), I would imagine it to be an ongoing process. Grace of God is a continuing thing for us as we live on earth. In that sense--not considering SaraNAgathi as a finale or a gesture, it is a state of mind for me. Grace continues to be there, if only we focus on it. Thus, while we get grace (fleeting and recurring, in our feeble perception), it is only fitting that we praise what is divine over and over again. We don't stop singing praise!
mahakavi,
I do not mean to say that 'vAzhththiDuvOm' alone is correct. For all I know, it could be a typo. Still, I do not see anything wrong with the word...

[mahakavi]

nolo contendere!

[ragam-talam]

Interesting Bharatiyar song, rendered by Rajkumar Bharathi.
nalla kAlam varugutu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLB4LOpWxlo

Btw, towards the end of this song, there's mention of 'Malayala Bhagavati' - wonder why.

[vasanthakokilam]

Nice and powerful rendition. Devi, Bagavathi are all invocations of Bharathi's favorite (ishta) devine entity Sakthi: http://hindusaktha.jagaddhatri.com/bagavathi.html

[arasi]

VK,
With bArati's universal view about everything--it is not surprising that Sakti to him comes from everywhere! By the way, the vEdapuram here refers to Pondycheri.
An aside: someone you know from pANdi nADu narrated this song as a kuDu kuDup pANDi in a school skit, reciting it as a true kuDukuDup PANDI

[erode14]

A.V.K. Rajasimman, disciple of of shrI O.V.S and bro-in-law of shrI O.S.T., sings on 10.9.08, a concert with the compositions of bhArathiyAr in the music academy . He is also a popular bhAgavathar in the sampradhAya bajanai...

http://www.musicacademymadras.in/2008-w ... Sep08.html

[ragam-talam]

Devi, Bagavathi are all invocations of Bharathi's favorite (ishta) devine entity Sakthi:

VK, my question was more on why he chose Malayala bhagavathi, not Tamizh devi. I was trying to find out if there was any special significance in the context of this song.

[ragam-talam]

Sikkil Gurucharan sings mostly Bharatiyar songs in this concert:
http://www.sangeethamshare.org/tvg/UPLO ... URUCHARAN/

[rshankar]

Sikkil Gurucharan sings mostly Bharatiyar songs in this concert:
http://www.sangeethamshare.org/tvg/UPLO ... URUCHARAN/

LOL at gaNapti tAyai instead of gaNapati tALai!

[rshankar]

A very touching and moving article:
http://www.hindu.com/fr/2008/09/26/stor ... 070400.htm

[arasi]

Look at him! His arm around her shoulder--and thoes were bygone days! balE pANDiyA! Sollilum Seyalilum enbadu unakkE tagum!
Bravo, bArati! You were a pANDiyan who practiced what you preached

[arasi]

I don't believe I'm reviving this thread after two and a half years!
Rajesh,
Thanks for suggesting that I should post the sanskrit translation of the poem 'pAyum oLi nI enakku' here. There is a thread in the Sahitya thread about this song and Ravi has done a lovely translation, as he always does.
I request one of you to give the dEvanAgari version of it here since I don't know how to.
This is from a book published in 1963 by Srirama Desikan, a scholar in sanskrit . It was a novel attempt of course, half a century ago to translate from tamizh to sanskrit--and not the other way round!

BhArati's pAyum oLi nI enakku rendered in sanskrit:

tvam mE prabhA drushTiraham tavAsmi
svayam madhu tvambhramarastavAham I
vaktum na shaktOsmi tava prabhAvam
pIyUsha rUpE! nabhasaha prakASE! II

vINA mama tvam, tava chAsmi hastaha
hArO mama tvam, tava ratnamasmi I
tvannEtrakAntih paritaha prabhAti
hE krushNamAtaha! sthirajIvanA tvam II

vrushTirmama tvam tava chAsmi kEkA
tvam mE jalam pAtramaham tavAsmi I
gnAnaprakASO vadanE tavAsti
lAvaNya rUpE! madhurE! hi krushNE! II

tvam chandrikA mE jaladhistavAham
tvam mE svarastE madhugAnamasmi I
ruchyAvarA tvam suvimruSyamAnE
mannEtratArE! hyamrutAyamAnE! II

tvam mE sugandhaha kusumam tvAham
tvam SabdavAchyastvahamasmi Sabdaha I
kim vA vadEyam tava dEha kAntim
priyE! phalE! svAdyatamE cha krushNE! II

prItir mama tvam tava chAsmi kAntaha
tvam mEsi vEdattava chAsmi vidyA I
ruchisva rUpE! varajIva rUpE!
mamapriyE!nAda mayE manOgnyE II

prANA mama tvam chAsmi nADyaha
sampanna mamatvam nidhirasmi tubhyam I
avAchya rUpE! cha suvarNarEkhE!
hE mandahAsE! paripUrNa bhOgE! II

tArA mama tvam chAsmi sOmaha
vIryam mam tvam vijayastavAham I
bhUsvarga lOkasthita sarva sowkhya-
sanghAta rUpE! madhrE! nu krushNE! II

Please make corrections. Thanks!

[Pratyaksham Bala]

A casual attempt. Hope most of the words are correct!

त्वं मे प्रभा दृष्टिरहं तवास्मि
स्वयं मधु त्वं भ्रमरस्तवाहं I
वक्तुं न शक्तोस्मि तव प्रभावं
पीयूष रूपे ! नभसहा प्रकासे ! II

वीणा मम त्वं , तव चास्मि हस्ताः
हारो मम त्वं , तव रत्नमस्मि I
त्वन्नेत्रकान्तिः परितः प्रभाती
हे कृष्णमातः! स्थिरजीवना त्वं II

वृष्टिर्मम त्वं तव चास्मि केका
त्वं मे जलं पात्रमहं तवास्मि I
ग्ज्ञानप्रकाशो वदने तवास्ति
लावण्य रूपे ! मधुरे ! ही कृष्णे ! II

त्वं चन्द्रिका मे जलधिस्तवाहं
त्वं मे स्वरस्ते मधुगानमस्मि I
रुच्यावरा त्वं सुविमृश्यामने
मन्नेत्रतारे ! ह्यमृतायमाने ! II

त्वं मे सुगन्धाः कुसुमं तवाहं
त्वं शब्दवाच्यस्त्वहमस्मि शब्दः I
किं वा वदेयं तव देह कान्तिं
प्रिये ! फले ! स्वाद्यतमे च कृष्णे ! II

प्रीतिर मम त्वं तव चास्मि कान्ता:
त्वं मेसि वेदत्तव चास्मि विद्या I
रुचिस्व रूपे ! वरजीव रूपे !
ममप्रिये ! नाद मये मनोग्न्ये II

प्राणा मम त्वं चास्मि नाद्या:
संपन्न ममत्वं निधिरस्मि तुभ्यं I
अवाच्य रूपे ! च सुवर्णरेखे !
हे मन्दहासे ! परिपूर्ण भोगे ! II

तारा मम त्वं चास्मि सोम:
वीर्यं मम त्वं विजयस्तवाहं I
भूस्वर्ग लोकस्थित सर्व सोव्ख्य -
संघात रूपे ! मध्रे ! नु कृष्णे ! II
.

[arasi]

Thanks P Bala!

[rshankar]

Arasi - it is lovely, but, call me biased if you will, it doesn't trip off the tongue like the mahAkavi's original ....

[Ranganayaki]

I will look at the whole thing later, but I notice that the "Paayum" has not been translated into the sanskrit.. I feel that being part of the title of the poem and such an important word in the first line, it needs to figure in the translation. May be not in the exact same terms, but some kind of impressive adjective for the "prabha" is needed. Just my two cents. But folks, I think we (I, especially) need to remember that a translation can ALMOST NEVER be as good as the original. After all the original inspiration came to the original writer in that language, and the translator is lucky if he can manage even shadow of that. A good translation is a lucky thing, I think. I don't know how hard this translator was trying to be poetic. I agree with Shankar at this point.

[arasi]

Ravi,
You do know that I'm very much with you in the biased group
I thought this would draw a few more to Bharati--the non-tamizh speaking ones. In the Intro, V.V. Giri (former president of India) says the same, but a translation into hindi is more useful, I'd think.

[Pratyaksham Bala]

Translation of a verse.

It is wonderful if the translation is done as a verse, subject to the poetic rules, and without diluting/distorting the meaning. The expression or conveyance of the meaning is equally important.

Even then, the impact will be lost if there is improper structuring. For Dohas In Hindi, for example, there is a letter-count. In Tamil, there are edugai-monai-iyalbu as well as chandas rules. In Sanskrit we have a good number of chandas and letter-counts. Additional important requirements are the flow and the beat.

Subject to all these restrictions, difficulties and expectations, if one can succeed in a verse-to-verse translation, that will surely earn a 'wow!' not only to the original poet but also to the translator.

Example: Shri A.K. Ramanujam and his English translations of Tamil and Kannada poetry.

[Sivaramakrishnan]

I suggest music lovers to read a highly informative feature on Bharati in SRUTI magazine (Sep 2011 issue).