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Post by Nityānanda dāsa on Jan 23, 2022 10:35:24 GMT -6
Brief Intro - This composition by Narottam Das Thakur is found in a larger book containing many unknown or less popular songs of Narottam. This particular song is approximately 108 verses.
Mostly he is famous for his Prem Bhakti Chandrika and Prarthana. I hope to do a little something to get these other songs out there too. As I continue to learn Bengali, I'm sure there will be lots of errors. I will post my translation work here and hope to receive some feedback/corrections and I will go back to amend and correct my work. Thank you in advance and I hope this is of some use!
Jai Nitai! Jai Gaur!
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Post by Nityānanda dāsa on Jan 23, 2022 10:36:12 GMT -6
Texts 1-3
শ্রী শ্রী বৈষ্ণবেভ্যঃ নমো নমঃ।
śrī śrī vaiṣṇavebhyaḥ namo namaḥ |
I bow to all the vaishnavas.
আনন্দে বলহ কৃষ্ণ ভজ বৃন্দাবন।
ঠাকুর বৈষ্ণবের পায়ে মজাইয়া মন।।
ānande balaha kṛṣṇa bhaja vṛndāvana |
ṭhākura vaiṣṇavera pāye majāiyā mana || 1 ||
ānande – in joy; balaha – speak/say/chant; kṛṣṇa – Krishna; bhaja – worship; vṛndāvana – Vrindavana; ṭhākura vaiṣṇavera – of the respectable vaishnava; pāye – step by step; majāiyā – having drowned/engaged; mana – mind.
Having engaged the mind, following in the footsteps of the vaishnavas, blissfully chant “Krishna” and worship (in) Vrindavan!
বৈষ্ণব ঠাকুর বড় করুণার সিন্ধু।
ইহলোক পরলোক দুই লোকের বন্ধু।।
vaiṣṇava ṭhākura bara karunāra sindhu |
ihaloka paraloka dui lokera bandhu || 2 ||
vaiṣṇava ṭhākura – respectable vaishnavas; bara – big/large; karunāra – of mercy/compassion; sindhu – ocean; ihaloka – world of the living; paraloka – world of the dead; dui – two; lokera – people; bandhu – friend.
The vaishnavas are great oceans of compassion/mercy. They are a friend to people in this life and the next.
বৈষ্ণব জানিতে নারে দেবের শকতি।
কেমনে জানিব মুঞি শিশু অল্প মতি।।
vaiṣṇava jānite nāre debera śakati |
kemane jāniba muñi śiśu alpa mati || 3 ||
vaiṣṇava – vaishnava/devotee; jānite – to know; nāre – having no/not; debera – of the gods; śakati – energy/power; kemane – where/how; jāniba – I will know; muñi – sage/ascetic; śiśu – child/instructions?; alpa – little; mati – intelligence/memory.
How will I know the vaiṣṇavas, being a less-intelligent student of the sages, when the powerful gods don’t know them?
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Post by Nitaidas on Jan 24, 2022 12:23:07 GMT -6
Thanks, Nityananda Dasji, for posting this and please continue to do so. I offer a few suggestions for your translation. Mostly you have done a great job. You are advancing well in your studies of Bengali. Kudos! Texts 1-3 শ্রী শ্রী বৈষ্ণবেভ্যঃ নমো নমঃ। śrī śrī vaiṣṇavebhyaḥ namo namaḥ | I bow to all the vaishnavas. আনন্দে বলহ কৃষ্ণ ভজ বৃন্দাবন। ঠাকুর বৈষ্ণবের পায়ে মজাইয়া মন।। ānande balaha kṛṣṇa bhaja vṛndāvana | ṭhākura vaiṣṇavera pāye majāiyā mana || 1 || ānande – in joy; balaha – speak/say/chant; kṛṣṇa – Krishna; bhaja – worship; vṛndāvana – Vrindavana; ṭhākura vaiṣṇavera – of the respectable vaishnava; pāye – step by step; majāiyā – having drowned/engaged; mana – mind. Having engaged the mind, following in the footsteps of the vaishnavas, blissfully chant “Krishna” and worship (in) Vrindavan! means in or on the feet and ṭhākura vaiṣṇavera means "of the (a) Vaisnava saint." With majāiyā it means "fix your mind on the feet of a Vaisnava saint" literally "merge your mind." Of course following in the footsteps is a good thing, too. But it is not expressed here. You know we Vaisnavas have foot-fetishes. We reimagine them into lotuses, and bow to them, touch them, and drink water used to wash them. When we do our Guru-mantra we should also envision the feet of our gurudev on the thousand-petaled lotus of our heads. Thus we are fixing our minds on the feet of our gurudevs, our Vaisnava saints.  What is "student of the sages" here? muñi means "I" It is an older, poetic form of Ami. So "I am a child of tiny intellect." And in the first half it is more accurate to say "The power of a god is not able to know a Vaisnava." It is more idiomatic, however, to say something like "The gods have no power to know a Vaisnava," stretching the literal Bengali a little. Other than these small things you have done an excellent job. Keep up the good work.  |
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