I DREAMED A DREAM (From Nachiar, the Tamil poetess.)

[Article 22269 of soc.culture.tamil:
Newsgroups: soc.culture.tamil
From: SANKARAN@Meena.CC.URegina.CA (Sankaran, Sam)
Subject: Bharati Translations - nAchchiyAr thirumozhi]

Here is another one of Bharati's translations of nAchchiyAr, followed by
the transliteration of the original.

Source: AGNI... p. 25



             I DREAMED A DREAM
        (From Nachiar, the Tamil poetess.)



I dreamed a dream, O friend!

He fixed 'To-morrow' as the wedding day. And He, the Lion, Madhava, the
Young Bull, whom they call the master of readiness, He came into the hall of
wedding decorated with luxuriant palms. I dreamed a dream, O friend!

And the throng of the Gods was there with Indra,
the Mind Divine, at their head. And in their shrine
they declared me bride and clad me in a new robe of
affirmation. And Inner Force is the name of the Goddess
who adorned me with the wedding garland.
I dreamed a dream, O friend!

There were beatings of drums and blowings of the
conch; and under the canopy hung heavily with
strings of pearls He came, my lover and my Lord, the
vanquisher of the demon Madhu, and grasped me by
the hand. I dreamed a dream, O friend!

Those whose voices are blessed, they sang the
Vedic songs. The holy grass was laid all round the
sacred fire. And he who was puissant like a war-elephant
in its rage, He seized my hand and we paced round the Flame.

       ( End of Translation)

These four stanzas are excerpted from the "poem"  with the first line,
"vAraNam Ayiram choozha valam vanthu" under the title "mAyavan thannai
maNancheyyak kaNda thooya naR kanavaith thOzhikkuraiththal." Bharati
chose stanzas 2,3, 6 and 7 for the translation. Their transliteration
follows:

 
na^q vTAv m]em[fB naqidfD
pa^q kMK priCAdpf pnftbfkIzf
Ekaqri matv[f Ekavinft e[[fpa[f Orf
ka^q p
       
(in Madurai Transliteration) 

nALai vathuvai maNamenRu nALittu
pALai kamuku parisutaip panthaRkIzh
kOLari mAthavan kOvin^tha NnenpAn Or
kALai pukuthak kanAkkaNtEn, thOzhI! nAn.

558 in^thira NnuLLitta thEvar kuzhAmellam
    van^thirun thennai makatpEsi man^thiriththu
    man^thirak kOti yutuththi maNamAlai
    an^thari sUttak kanAkkaNtEn, thOzhI! nAn.

561 maththaLam kotta varisaNGkam nin RUtha
    muththutaith thAmam nirai thAzhntha panthaRkIzh
    maiththunan nampi mathusUthanan vanthu ennaik
    kaiththalam paRRak kanAk kaNtEn, thOzhI! nAn.

562 vAynallAr nalla maRaiyOthi manthiraththAl
    pAsilai nANaR patuththup parithivaiththu
    kAysina mAkaLi RannAnen kaip paRRi
    thIvalam seyyak kanAkkaNtEn, thOzhI! nAn.

End of Transliteration).

Note the beauty of the last stanza. In the last line the 'ethukai' or
'first word rhyme' is misplaced. But you won't even notice it unless you
are looking for it! That is the hallmark of not just the superior, but the
great, poet. Someone like Shakespeare who slips accent on the first syllable
in a group of lines written in iambic pentameter ( five feet to a line,
accent on the second syllable in each foot);
 Breathes there a man with soul so dead
 Who to himself hath not once said
 "THIS is my own...."

In the first two lines above accent is on the second syllable of each foot, but
in the third line accent is on the first syllable THIS. But a reader is so
carried away by the beauty of both the words and the idea, she/he hardly
notices it. nAchchiyar in smoothly shifting from vA(ynallar)...,
pA(silai)..., kA(ysina)... to 'thee', i.e., from the "AkAram" to the "EEkAram"
just mesmerizes us with the beauty of her words and ideas that we are hardly
distracted!



YE OTHERS(From Nachiar, the Tamil poetess.) 


[Article 22635 of soc.culture.tamil:
Newsgroups: soc.culture.tamil
From: SANKARAN@Meena.CC.URegina.CA (Sankaran, Sam)
Subject: Bharati Translations - nAchchiyAr thiruvAymozhi]

Source: AGNI... pp. 26-27
                            YE OTHERS!
                 ( From Nachiar, the Tamil poetess)

  Ye Others cannot conceive of the love that I bear for Krishna.
And your warnings to me are vain, like the pleadings of the mute
with the deaf. The Boy who left his mother's home and was reared
by a different mother -- Oh take me forth to His city of Mathura,
where He won the field without fighting the battle, and leave me there.

  Of no avail now is modesty; for all the neighbours have known
this fully. If you would indeed heal me of this ailing and 
restore me to my former state, then know ye this illness will go
if I see Him, the maker of illusions, the youthful one who measured
the world. Should you really wish to save me, then take me forth to 
His home in the hamlet of the cowherds, and leave me there.

  If the rumour spreads over the land that I have run away with 
Him and gone the lonely way, leaving all of you behind, my parents,
relations and friends, the tongue of scandal ye can hardly silence
then. And, He the deceiver, is haunting me with His forms. Oh, take
me forth at midnight to the door of the cowherd, Nanda, whose son 
is this maker of havoc, this mocker, this pitiless player; and leave me there.

  Oh grieve not, ye mothers. None can know this strange malady
of mine. Of the colour of the blue sea is a certain youth -- the
gentle caress of his hands will heal me, surely.
  On the bank of the waters He ascended the Kadamba tree and He
leaped to his dance of war, on the hood of the snake. Oh, take me
forth to the bank of that lake and leave me there.

   There is a parrot out here in this cage of mine that ever calls
out his name saying, " Govinda, Govinda. " In anger, I chide it and
refuse to feed it. "Oh thou," it then cries at its shrillest, "Oh, thou
who hast measured the worlds !" I tell you, my people, if ye really 
would avoid the top scandal in all this wide country, if still ye
would guard your weal and your good fame, then take me forth to His
city of Dwaraka, of high mansions and decorated turrets; and leave me there.

                 (End of Translation)

Transliteration of original in Adami:

                     12 maRRiruntheer

 '\btsIthara_nirun^thuzhis seluththivIr e_nai,' e_nak
         kOthai thamarkkuk kURi_ya thu_nipu

         e_NsIrkkazhi_ne_tilAsiri_ya viruththam
           (n^Atha_nAmakkiri_yai rAkam - Athi thALam)

617 maRRiru_n ththIrka_t kaRi_yalAka
      mAthava n^e_npathO ra_nputha_n_nai
    uRRiru_n thE_nuk kuraippathellAm
      Umai_ya rO_tu sevi_tarvArththai
    peRRiru_n thA_nai _yozhi_yavEpO_yp
      pErththoru thA_yil vaLarn^tha_nampi
    maRporu_n thAmaR kaLama_tain^tha
      mathuraip puRaththe_n_nai _yu_yththi_tumi_n.

618 n^A_Ni _yi_ni_yOr karumamillai
      n^Ala_ya lArum aRin^thozhin^thAr
    pA_Ni_yA the_n_nai marun^thuse_ythu
      pa_N_tupa_N _tAkkavuRuthirAkil
    mA_Ni _yuruvA _yulakaLan^tha
      mA_ya_nai kA_Nil thalaimaRi_yum
    A_Nai_yAl n^Ire_n_naik kAkkavE_N_til
      A_yppA_tik kE_ye_n_nai _yu_yththi_tumi_n.

619 'than^thai_yum thA_yumuR rArum_niRkath
       tha_nivazhi pO_yi_nAL!' e_n_numsollu
    van^thapi_n n^aippazhi kApparithu;
       mA_yava_n van^thuruk kA_t_tuki_nRA_n
    kon^thaLa mAkkip parakkazhiththuk
       kuRumpuse_y vA_nOr maka_naippeRRa
    n^an^thakO pAla_n ka_taiththalaikkE
       n^aLLiru_tka_N e_n_nai _yu_yththi_tumi_n.

625 kU_t_tilirun^thu kiLi_yeppOthum
      'kOvin^thA! kOvin^thA' e_nRazhaikkum
    U_t_tuk ko_tAthu seRuppa_nAkil
      'ulakaLa_n thA_n'e_n Ru_yarakkUvum
    n^A_t_til thalaippazhi _ye_ythi_yuNGkaL
      n^a_nmai _yizhan^thu thalai_yi_tAthE
    sU_tu_yar mA_taNGkaL sUzhn^thuthO_nRum
      thuvarA pathikke_n_nai _yu_yththi_tumi_n.

        \etEnd of Transliteration)