[Translation] Saeed Rahi's Tum Nahin, Gham Nahin Sharaab Nahin

 

 

This ghazal is a long time favourite of mine mostly for it's spectacular rendition by Jagjit Singh.  

Original:

Tum nahin, Gham nahin sharaab nahiN
aisi tanhaayi ka jawaab nahiN
gaahe gaahe ise paDha kije
dil se behtar koi kitaab nahiN
jaane kis kis ki maut aayeee hai
aaj ruKh pe koi naqaab nahiN
wo karam oongliyoN pe ginte haiN
zulm ka jinke kuch hisaab nahiN

 

Source: http://lyricstranslate.com/en/Jagjit-Singh-tum-naihin-gham-nahin-sharaab-nahiN-lyrics.html#ixzz3cxv0H9RQ

 

Translation  

 

If it weren't for you, there would be neither pain, nor the need to drink 
Such loneliness too would have no parallel

 

Recall this time and again
There's no book greater than the human heart.

 

Those visited by death - of them we know not,
Today, the spirit gleams forth, veil lifted

 

Those who carry no record of their tyranny  

Bewail the paucity of favours.

 

 

 

[Translation] Alarshara Parithapam

 

 

 This is a mesmerizing padam by the multi-talented king-composer Maharaja Swati Thirunal of Travancore, a contemporary of the great musical triumvirate — Shyama Sastri, Thyagaraja, and Muthuswami Dikshitar. Where the triumvirate shaped the architecture of Carnatic music, Swati Thirunal brought to it a courtly refinement and literary sensibility all his own — composing with equal ease in Sanskrit, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi, moving fluently between devotion and desire. That he left this world at just thirty-three years of age is one of Carnatic music's great tragedies. One can only wonder at the incredible possibilities, had he lived on. 

 This padam was written for the celebrated danseuse in his court, Suganda Valli, whom he addresses here by the epithet Kalamozhi — the sweet-voiced one. Set in raga Suruti, whose warm, lingering phrases seem made for longing, the song is a masterclass in viraha — love-in-separation. A nayika speaks to her sakhi, her confidante, pouring out her anguish as evening falls. Every element of the natural world — the setting sun, the mountain breeze, birdsong, moonlight — conspires against her, turning beauty into torment. And then, in the final charaṇam, Swati Thirunal does what he always does: the lover's plea dissolves seamlessly into a devotee's prayer to Padmanabha, the Lotus-eyed, the Lotus-naveled — and we realize the yearning was always, at its deepest level, sacred.

 I have attempted a translation that stays close to the original word order and imagery, trying where possible to echo the meter and cadence of the Malayalam. Any translation of poetry is an act of loving imperfection — but I hope this conveys something of the original's beauty.

pallavi
alarshara paritApam colvatin-nalivEni pANi bAlE

anupallavi
jalaja bandhuvumiha jaladhiyilaNa yunnu malayamArutamETTu mama manamatitarAm bata vivashamAyi sakhi

caranam 1
valarunnu hrdi mOhennOmalE taLarunnu mama dEham kaLamoLi
kusuma vATikayatiluLa vAyoraLi kulAravamatiha kELpatu madhi kAmadhini dAnamayi sakhi

caranam 2
shashyum cenkanalAyi samprati sUna sharaNummE ripuvAyi shashadharanErmukhi
sarasanODini melle bhrshAtayatAmmAm akhila shucamAyE kathayAshu sudati nI

caranam 3
jaladhara sadrsha sObhanenkAntan shrI jalajAkSanabja nAbhan kalayati kimu kOpam
kAruNya veTinjnyuLLilamalam bata tAmasEna kimiha jAvanmama sAdhayEpsitam

(Lyrics Courtesy:  ww.swathithirunalfestival.org/compositions/alarsara-paritapam)

Translation 

 

 Pallavi

The flower-arrows' anguish — how shall I tell of it, 

O gentle-handed maid with dark serpentine tresses?

Anupallavi

The lotus' friend descends into the ocean, 

The Malaya breeze begins to stir — 

Alas, sakhi, my heart is rendered 

Utterly, utterly helpless.

Caraṇam 1

Desire swells within my heart, O tender one, 

My body grows languid, Kalamozhi — 

From the fragrant garden rises

A resounding bee hum -that

Bestows a deepening anguish 

 Upon the fevered mind, O sakhi.

Caraṇam 2

The moon itself has turned to burning coal, 

The flower-arrows, once my refuge, are now my foe — 

O moon-rivaling face, O tender-glanced one, 

Gently, deeply, this torment wracks me — 

All has become but sorrow, all 

Tell me swiftly, O fair-toothed one, tell me.

Caraṇam 3

My lord, radiant as the dark rain-cloud, 

The glorious Lotus-eyed, the Lotus-naveled — 

Does he still hold his anger? I plead 

For mercy — enough, enough within this heart — 

Alas, what use this long delay? 

While I yet live, fulfill my heart's desire, I pray.

 

Here is a link to a mesmerizing rendition by Sreevalsan Menon

 

[Translation] Bharathiyaar: Aasai Mugam Marandu

Aasai Mugam Marandu

Original:
Aasaimugam marantho pochey,
Idhai Yaaridam solven adi thozhi;
Nesam marakavillai nenjam,
Enil Ninaivu mugam marakalaamo;

Kannil theriyuthoru thotram,
Athil Kannan azhagu muzhuthillai
Nannu mugavadivu kaanil, andha
Nallavalla sirippai kaanom;

Oivu mozhithalum illamal
Avan uravai ninaithirukkum ullam
Vayum uraipathundu kandai
Andha maayan pughazhinai eppodum

Kangal purinthuvitta paavam
Uyir Kannan urumarakkalachu
Pengalinidathil idu pole
Oru pedamai munbu kandathundo?

Thenai maranthirukkum vandum
Oli sirappai maranthuvitta poovum
Vaanai maranthirukkum payirum
Indha vaiyam muzhuthumillai thozhi

Kannan mugam maranthuponal,
Intha Kangal irunthu payan undo;
Vanna padamumillai kandai,
Inni Vaazhum vazhi ennadi thozhi;

Translation:

Oh! I have forgotten my dear love's face my friend,
Tell me, with whom should I share this lament-
The heart though has not forgotten its fondness
Then why did my memories let me down?

The form that I perceive before me,
Has not in sum all his beauty;
In those eyes set in that beauteous visage
I find not his sweet winsome smile!

My heart ceaselessly dwells on our relationship-
Haven't you noticed my constant talk
about that illusionist?

But a sin committed by my eyes
Has caused his disappearance from memory
Have you detected such folly
In other women my friend?

Was there ever a bee that spurns honey?
A flower that disdains sunlight?
Or a crop that ignores rain?
Any place else in this world?

If I could forget Kannan's face
Of what further use are these eyes?
Alas! I don't even possess a picture
How do I live out the rest of my life, in this state, my friend?