Dr Sanjukta’s poignant English translation of Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Dharmamoho’ on DifferentTruths.com unveils dharma’s illusions, urging intellect over blind ritual.
Rabindranath Tagore’s Bengali poem, Dharmamoho, date of publication 1908. It was written during the tumultuous days of the first Bengal Partition. A translation in English.
In the garb of Dharma, when
Illusion traps someone
That blind one just kills and is killed
Even the atheist is blessed by God
He does not flaunt his dharma at all
With great respect, he ignites
The light of the intellect
He does not follow the scriptures
But desires human welfare
He who attacks as heretical all other religions
He insults his own.
In the name of the father, he kills his own child
Following rituals, he defies the law
In the prayer room, he raises a blood-smeared flag –
In the name of God, he worships the devil
Shame and disgrace of many ages
Barbarism’s sickening irony
Those who found refuge within dharma
They are imprisoned within heaps of garbage…
I can hear the bugle of the tempest
Shiva, the Lord of time, arrives with his sammarjani[1]
The one who can liberate is made the central pillar
The one who can unite will become the sword against discord
The one who can bring love from the source of divine nectar
In his name, the earth will flood out the currents of poison
The boat with holes will sink as it tries to cross over –
Yet who is it they blame in anger
O Dharmaraj! Destroy this dharma craze
Save all those who have no sense of what religion is
The altar for prayers is wet with blood
Break it, break it today, get rid of it forever
Let the thunder strike the prison of dharma
Bring forth to this unfortunate country,
The light of knowledge.
Endnote:
[1] Sammarjani: cleansing mop. Sanskrit word.
Picture design by Anumita Roy
Dr Sanjukta Dasgupta is a poet, short story writer, critic, and translator. She was a General Council of Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, member and the Convenor English Advisory Board Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. She is the President of the Intercultural Poetry and Performance Library, Kolkata and has twenty-six published books. Her poems have been translated into German, Serbian, Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, Kashmiri, and Tamil.
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