Late Surachandra Sinha, father of poet
Champalal Sinha, did give his own explanations to around nine to 10 poems of his son. The explanations of some of
the poems have been retrieved so far.
Teir ruphanor bhitore (In her beauty) is
one of the poems that had been explained by late Sinha. Poet Champalal Sinha
and his father were complementary even when the son was just a child insofar as
intellectual skill and quality are concerned. It was through his son, with a gifted
power of conception, that late Sinha studied the religious scriptures meant for
sadhaks that he had inherited from his preceptor, Guru (late) Vidyapati Sinha
of Bangladesh. In the process, the poet acquired knowledge that was generally
not expected of a teenager. Theirs was a cottage redolent of spiritualism
with their round-the-clock conscious
breathing (the ajapa japa). The poet has got accolades from various quarters
for the depth of his poems and his way of presenting them, words chosen to
convey the message he wants to give to his readers and his unique art of
keeping the central idea concealed in a web of words by leaving only one or two
keys for readers to grasp . His diction and technique make the task of the
translator truly Herculean in the real sense of the term. When a poem or any
other literary work is translated into another language, the translator has to
see that the import of the original is not lost. He/she should challenge the
cliché that a book or a literary work loses something in translation, no matter
how successful he/she is.
A verse from ‘Naishabdar Buke Mi Chetan
Satta’ by Champalal Sinha
Translated and annotated by Ramlal Sinha
In
her beauty
(Teir
ruphanor bhitore)
I’d a snooze in her beauty.
Redolent of floral fragrance
Is the lustre of her craft,
Her breasts cradle an art
That glorifies the glory of
An encounter like the wish
Of the night with a zest for life
And her exclusive lustre.
Often she’s wont to play
A game of shredding
Of arts and crafts, and
When that engrosses her,
Her smile speaks
Of an antique design,
I then become studious
And go through thoroughly
Syntactic details of lovemaking.
With the hope of some ‘realities’
That could be left out there
When I look at the white valley
A white hot breeze wafts along,
Lashes me thoroughly,
Makes me an analytical chemist;
I penetrate at ease the mystery
Of the chemistry of fire and water,
The mystery of the Creation
Only conveys deep reverence
Of the encounter, crystal clear!
Hints
given by late Surachandra Sinha:
(1) Breasts: The chest. The poet sees God
as his fiancée.
(2) Her: For many poets, God becomes
someone very close to them like she, he, fiancé, fiancée, friend and the like.
(3)
Arts and crafts: The mystery of the Creation.
(4) Her smile: In common parlance, the
smile of the fiancée of the poet. The spiritual meaning is ‘being witness to
the divine qualities of God’.
(5) An antique design: The process of
creation. The spiritual meaning is ‘the sacrosanct details of the
Creation’.
(6)
Syntactic details of lovemaking:
Sexology (rotitattva) in common parlance. The hidden meaning is
spiritual details of sadhan-bhojan.
(7) A snooze in her beauty: The poet
immersing himself in the lustrous beauty of God.
The lustre of her craft is/Redolent of
floral fragrance: Communing with God is
possible through the five rudiments and their corresponding senses – sight,
smell, taste, touch and sound. Thus one can guess where and in what form God
is.
(8) Encounter: Sexual encounter in common
parlance. The spiritual meaning is to overcome the trying situations that a
sadhak confronts.
(9) White valley: Not explained. Explanation is fraught with
the risk of infringement of the sacrosanct details of the text.
(10)
When I look at the white valley... Crystal clear: The readers need to
feel it through their individual soul-searching exercise in accordance with the
guidance of their gurus. Laying such a text bare is forbidden.
Explanation
by the translator:
The hints given by late Sinha are enough
for one to appreciate the sacrosanct content that fades into the woodwork of
the poem. The poet treads quietly and cautiously a sacrosanct area by
explaining details of the shadhan-bhajan vis-Ã -vis the secrets of the Creation
under the cloak of his deftly accomplished woodwork that is strong enough to
lead the reader (audience) to a superficial world. The superficial and the
spiritual meanings of the poem are poles apart from each other. For a man of
good humour, the woodwork of the poem is not opaque enough to conceal the
spiritual meaning of the poem. Late Sinha, a sadhak, was a reader of good
humour indeed.
The hints speak volumes about the fact that
the poet is in love with God whom he sees as his fiancée. While the apparent
meaning of the poem leads one to all worldly pleasure, the spiritual meaning
therein leads a man of good homour to the sacrosanct reality of the love
between Prokriti (Mother Nature) and Purusha (cosmic male) who can be
represented by any pair of fiancé and fiancée of mortal beings.
As interpreted by late Sinha, words like
‘breasts’ and ‘she’ render one unable to
see the wood for the trees — hat the poet considers God as being very close to
him like his fiancée. In fact, for many poets, God may be their fiancé,
fiancée, friend and spouse. They consider God to be very close to them, and so
He is no different from them.
With the phrase ‘arts and crafts,’ the poet
keeps the sacrosanct mystery of the great Creation under the cloak of
craftsmanship of a seemingly mortal fiancée. In fact, for many of us, the
mystery of the Creation is inexplicable because of our ignorance or lack of
awareness of ourselves and God.
By the phrase ‘antique design’ the poet
wants to give the sacrosanct details of the Creation. How close the poet is to
his ‘fiancée’ or God can be gauged from the very fact that he can read every
smile or wink of his sweetheart.
As indicated by the poet’s father, the
phrase ‘going through the syntactic details of lovemaking’ means the very
activities of God or His game of the Creation makes him curious enough to
unearth the reality. In fact, sexology (rotitattva), according to Vaishnavism,
is a sacrosanct area where there is no room for any carnal desire. By the word
‘encounter’ the poet means a devotee’s encounter with the six passions of mind
– kama (lust), krodha (anger), lobh (greed), moho (attachment) and mada or
ahankara (pride), and his victory over them or the sort of activities a devotee
does to make that happen. Rampant Westernisation has made Indian society
deviate from the path it is supposed to follow leading to increasing sexual
crimes.
Late Sinha was silent on ‘white valley’ as
he sought to avoid any infringement of the sacrosanctity of the area and so do
I. This is an area that readers (audience) need to understand through soul
searching exercise under the tutelage of their gurus. To
be concluded
Courtesy:
Seven Sisters Post
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