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Mediaeval Poetry
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MUKTABAI Translated from Marathi by Arun Kolaikar
the zoom ant swallowed the sun the barren woman begot a son a scorpion went to the lower depths shesha bowed to him with a thousand heads
a pregnant fly delivered a kite baving seen it all m ukta .smiled
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JANABAI
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i eat god i drink god i sleep ' on god i buy god i count god ideal with god god is here god is , th~re, void is not devoid of god
god is withIn god is withoJl,t,o 0' , and moreover ' there's ' god to spl!re
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see the void , above the void , on the, top of it 'tpere's a void the first void is red it's called the lower void the higher void is white the middle void is grey but the great void is blue it contains only itself jani was struck
with wonder when she heard the silent bell
NAMP.EO in the beginning is the ant mouth of the triple river is the mouth of the ant in darkness '" is the ant inflames a ' wick -of water lights a lamp of soot in the wake of the ant ·· · •. all of' ·the sky follows ·" the world of our making's her dropping i pursue that ant i, visnudas nama
unlock the ant with my guru
RECASTIN GS FROM
KABIR
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ATvind Krishna MehTotra
the other.', wife ia a knife
Be careful of women of gold these perfumed mistresses
do not embrace her limbs
Never sit by them alone eve n if one be your mother
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in the chamber of her, eyes on the bed of her pupils having drawn the eyelid-<:urtain i 'II woo her
A wife is satisfied only by h- r husband; like a tiger is by flesh, not grass.
This arbour of thorns will enclose yÂŁu, this ignited bu<h will burn.
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Don'l keep lingering says Kabir in a land of aliens, in a world made of paper a drop may melt.
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let love be the love of the moon-maddn'd bird flashing its dead eye round the moon
show me the road lead me till there or between two river~ make me a little hut or leave your race on my body's parchment
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you be pauper or prince or the mendicant-saint, once you have come you must then end riding his throne one reaches the grave, the other is in irons bound . and limps towards it
THE AFTERWORD: I hope there's a scholar/reviewer who is already snooping around these recastings, smacking his lips, all set for the kill. I hope someone rushes excitedly to Kabir's oeuvre and comes back with the headline THESE DAMN THINGS DONT EXIST THERE. In aU probability they don't . Yet. Between Kabir and me stand five centuries. and any number of vulgar nnslations of his poetry - mainly Tagore's and Bankey Behari's. All these and more bad,to be melted, purified, and cast again. So Kabir beaao living in the nineteen seventies, I in the fourteen 'hundredâ&#x20AC;˘.
The kings shall go, so will their pretty queens, courtiers and all the proud ones shall go. Pundits chanting the Vedas shall go, and go will those who listen to them. Masochist yogis and bright intellectuals shall go, go the moon and sun and water and wind. Thus says Kabir only those can remain whose minds are tied to the rocks .
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VASTO o sage, nose ploughing scripture, unravel This: The dumb speak holy text to the world. The deaf nod their heads and testify To wisdom. The blind thread pearls; Look! A necklace of dark eyes and Shimmering stones. Now alligators Lie heavily captive in nets. Fish Slither up trees. Floods plunge Through the nets to wet the highest Leafage. Sage, ten elephants Trip lightly upon a camel's back; Like speedy ships the lame give chase; In a handless arm the cripple Grips a bridle. You read and you read, But your students twiddle thumbs. I, Vasto Visambhar, know it all too plainly In experience is integrity. The rest Is quicksand and imagery.
Translated from Gujarall . by Gieve Patel
My gait obeys no logic. Doubtless, .. It is age. Grace, if at all, Will have" t",·descend . .... 1- take , . The Ma'ster',/" word for support, '" ", ..<' .. ' . ... . . But can wheeze' and 'piaWe on my 6Wn~> . cc ....:. ,', Easy, easy, we shuffle along. ~ :. :':. ;.. . .:.';: .. -"~ . c~.:"~~::.:. No doubt; 0 yes, if -is home '. , .., . . :-- ).... . :c·> "
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From now; ' suminder myself to '. ~'~, .' Flocks of children, to endless .. _, Mi·nistration. Abounding affec.th;m , :"'&,~'I'';' ,: i' ; q'~'l~ h. : ;1 ' .. Between I ·and 'the world. ' NO\~ " " This is my notion of the Return : W'oven and wrapped into God's sleeping bag, .. Nights and days-trip lightly over. Extinguished Before"Dea.th's i(rrival, ·you are Nothj'ngperishlible: " I, ' Yasta Visambhar, Coinplete and One; Proclaim: The Will of God is done. •
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The Ocean of God sweep. cf~~'ritc;oss 足 Holy I~xl. No penance, no pilgrimage; ,Wind lind water have their say. Sweeping ~~ross Systems, the tides will countenance No nectar of words, no necklace of beads. One clean sweep across the agony of mao . One across the philosopher's whine. The Music of Enligjlten'!lent is smashed. The sexual Dualities are trampled. The Ocean asserts Uniformity. That Which ever was remains forever: A self-sustained Perfection. Now listen To Vasta, listen to him: Perfection, self-revealed.
( Translator's Note: I am indebted to Suresh Joshi for interpreting to me the original 18th century text. G. P. )
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• Central Spread (Line-cu;) : Bhupe!" Khakhar Las/-page (zinc) : Jyoti Bhatt All other Lino-cuts including the cover based on Tantr;c motifs are 'by Vinodray Patel.
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Spafc donations in this Dumber' " i Dynamo Dilectrics. Baroda ... 2 Bharaf Linde'r pv~. Ltd., .Baroda. 3 ChikiLLld. ·BoJ!jPH, c .,." , .. :~:, 4 Mercury Paints and Varnishes, Ltd., Bombay. S Ushak~Dt Mehta : In memory of Dbairendra Mehta.
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September-October 1970, Year, I, Nos, 11-12. Editors : Gulam Sheikh, Bbupen Khakbar 4 Residency Bungalow Universi.ty Office Compound Baroda' 2. Gujarat India.
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Published by bulam Sheikh from 4 Residency Bungalow, University office Componnd, Barodil-2 and printed by A. N. Joglekat at , , 3-A. ASsociatps, 4-5 Laxmi Estate, Babucharaji Road, ilaroda.
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