Sumita translates the song “Jakhon porbe na mor paayer chinnho ei baate,” by Rabindranath Tagore, exclusively for Different Truths. Tagore contemplates the impermanence of life and the insignificance of individual existence in the grand scheme of the universe.
The time when there won’t be any imprints
of my footprints left on this path;
when no longer will I ply my sailing boat;
on this riverbank; anchor on this pier.
when no more shall I buy and sell,
no more shall I give and take:
when I will be done with buying and selling;
I will be done with giving and receiving.
No more shall I be coming and going
on this arena of people’s gathering;
if, at that time, you wouldn’t remember me
it won’t matter
it would hardly matter.
Looking at the stars, if you don’t beckon me;
it won’t matter, hardly it would matter.
When dust will settle in the strings of the Tanpura,
thick dust will pile up on the Tanpura.
When the creepers of thorns
will climb over the doors;
the flower garden will wear robes
that are laden with thick grasses;
will get wholly covered up ,
as if in seclusion, as if in renunciation!
And all four sides—the embankments
of the body of still water,
too will get covered up
with mosses:
Then, it would hardly matter,
if you remember me not.
And,
if you wouldn’t look up at the stars, then
and wouldn’t call me; it won’t matter, then.
Then, the lyre will go on playing,
at the same theatre-venue;
tuned in similar fashion, the same rhythm,
the same sound patterns.
Days will go by, days will pass by;
the days will pass as
they are passed now.
The piers will be stacked up
with the boats tied up in a row.
the cows will graze,
the cowherds
will play in the meadows over there;
then, too, hadn’t you remembered me
hadn’t you beckoned me –
gazing at the stars;
It won’t be of any consequence.
It would be of a matter of no importance.
Who says that I won’t be there that morning!
In all the sports I will be there participating!
You will call me by a new name,
I will acquire a new name and form
will tie me (the new me) with a new bond;
holding out your arms!
I will keep coming and going;
I will come and go—me—that eternal self
that belongs to all time—the fullness of my being.
Below is the original poem by Rabindranath Tagore
Jakhon porbe na mor paayer chinnho ei baate,
Aami baaibo na mor kheyatori ei ghaate,
Chukiye debo becha kena,
Mitiye debo go, mitiye debo lena dena,
Bandho hobe aana gona ei haate -
Takhon aamay naaiba mone raakhle,
Taarar paane cheye cheye, naaiba aamay daakle.
Jakhon jombe dhula taanpuratar taargulay,
Knaatalata utthbe gharer dwaargulay, aaha,
Phuler baagan ghano ghaaser porbe sojja bonobaaser,
Shayola ese ghirbe dighir dhaargulay -
Takhon aamay naaiba mone raakhle,
Taarar paane cheye cheye naaiba aamay daakle.
Takhon emni kore baajbe bnaashi ei naate,
Kaatbe din kaatbe,
Kaatbe go din aajo jemon din kaate, aaha,
Ghaate ghaate kheyar tori emni se din utthbe bhori -
Chorbe goru khelbe raakhal oi maatthe.
Takhon aamay naaiba mone raakhle,
Taarar paane cheye cheye naaiba aamay daakle.
Takhon ke bole go sei probhate nei aami.
Sakol khelay korbo khela ei aami- aaha,
Notun name daakbe more,
bnaadhbe notun baahu-dore,
Aasbo jaabo chirodiner ei aami.
Takhon aamay naaiba mone raakhle,
Taarar paane cheye cheye naaiba aamay daakle.
Picture design by Anumita Roy
Sumita Bhattacharya is an honours graduate in English literature from Calcutta University, a former subeditor in Northern India Patrika and NCZCC, Allahabad, Translator Fellow (IIAS, Shimla). She translated in English the “Veda Mimamsa, Volume 1” by Srimad Anirvan. Her articles were published in The Times of India, Pioneer, and the Bulletin of the Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture.
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