Mirabai's poems

[Guest guest]

> >

> > Mine is the Dark One, who dwells in Braj.

> > Friend, marriages of this world are false, they

> are wiped out of

> > existence.

> > Wed my indestructible one, whom the serpent,

> death, cannot devour.

> > My Beloved dwells in the heart, I’ve seen the

> source of all bliss.

> > Mira’s God, indestructible joygiver, your

> slavegirl seeks your feet.

> >

> > ~ Mirabai

>

 

How did you come up with the Euro symbol (€) when you

meant to type ' or ". One of Microsoft's little

mysteries

 

Keval's recommendation for English translations of

Mirabai:

 

"The Devotional Poems of Mirabai", by A.J. Alston

(Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1980). May be out of

print, or you may have to go to India to find it

 

I've never read Mirabai in the original Hindi, though

I have some of Mirabai's poems on tape, sung by

Bollywood bhajan artist Lata Mangeshkar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Windows is mysterious.. yeeess!

 

Keval dear, thank you for bringing up the translation, I love Mira so, and

saw a Mirabai book and upon looking, it had the worst translation ever! A real

discredit to Shyam's poetess. If you don't *feel* the poems of Mira, you have a

bad translation.

 

one more:

 

Guide this little boat

over the waters,

what can I give you for fare?

Our mutable world holds nothing but grief,

bear me away from it.

Eight bonds of karma

have gripped me,

the whole of creation

swirls through eight million wombs,

through eight million birth-forms we flicker.

Mira cries. Dark One

take this little boat to the far shore,

put an end to coming

and going.

 

http://www.geocities.com/ganesha_gate/mira.html

 

 

In a message dated 8/9/03 7:12:52 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

Ammachi writes:

 

<< How did you come up with the Euro symbol (€) when you

meant to type ' or ". One of Microsoft's little

mysteries

 

Keval's recommendation for English translations of

Mirabai:

 

"The Devotional Poems of Mirabai", by A.J. Alston

(Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1980). May be out of

print, or you may have to go to India to find it

 

I've never read Mirabai in the original Hindi, though

I have some of Mirabai's poems on tape, sung by

Bollywood bhajan artist Lata Mangeshkar. >>

[Guest guest]

>

> Keval dear, thank you for bringing up the

> translation, I love Mira so, and

> saw a Mirabai book and upon looking, it had the

> worst translation ever! A real

> discredit to Shyam's poetess. If you don't *feel*

> the poems of Mira, you have a

> bad translation.

>

 

Of course the best way to appreciate Mirabai is to

read her writings in the original Hindi. Likely not

an easy task even for a Hindi speaker, as Mirabai's

16th century Hindi would be as archaic-sounding as

Shakespeare's English to a 21st century reader.

Alston's translations are quite good. For a buck and

a half (Rs. 60) I can't complain Books in India

are dirt cheap. And the price is printed on the cover

so there's no need to haggle.

 

Keval