When an engineer friend sent an audio of the transcript of the original version of great Hindi poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar‘s masterpiece Rashmi Rathi, this gave an idea to writer Vivekanand Jha to translate it into English, for there was hardly any English translation available of the poem.
A cover of Dinkar’s Rashmi Rathi
However, the challenges in translation were stupendous, for scores of words forming part and parcel of the stanzas, did not lend themselves amenable to equivalent words in Hindi. “Naturally, I had to do a lot of mental callisthenics for translating the stanzas to their most equivalent translation into English,” he says. Jha’s approach towards translation was exclusively “altruistic” as he intended that the English readers too should get the essence of the allegorical stanzas of Rashmi Rathi. He was indeed overwhelmingly concerned that his English translation should catch the essence of the poem, otherwise, it would result in the distortion of the quintessential part of the very significance of the timeless stanzas itself. He also tried to follow the rhythm to the most possible extent it was feasible. “Nevertheless, the nuances of linguistic wavelength, had its asymmetries setting the English translation a bit asunder,” he says.
Following is an excerpt from the translated edition of Rashmi Rathi:
No More Entreaties, it will be a battle now!
If you dispense justice, please give the half,
whereas, even if you have constraints in this, just allot five villages,
keeping the entire land with you!
We will eat happily, and even bear the burden of our relatives.
Duryodhan failed to concede the same
while failing to obtain the blessings of society!
On the contrary, he went on fastening the Supreme Lord,
The infinity sought to be captured in finite terms!
When the forces of destruction are unveiled,
all his conscience and scruples too, die in the process!
Lord gave His clarion call,
He expanded His configuration!
The surroundings began trembling viciously,
Lord said with a gushing sense of retribution:
“Enlarging the chain, fasten me, O Duryodhan! Beholding the sky embedded in Me;
The wind emanates from Me;
The entire sound of the cosmos disappears in Me;
The entire world is immersed in Me;
Even the nectar or ambrosia blossoms in me;
The forces of death and destruction, too, hang with Me;
The radiant Dawn is My potent spear;
The vast expanse of the bosom of the earth;
My colossal hands have encircled the atmosphere;
My giant feet have encircled the phenomenon of
trancendentalism; the planetary juxtaposition, all co- exist inside my mouth!
Behold the concept of infinity within the finite existence of Mine,
visualise the universe in Me!
All living and non-living, creatures by the description of syllable by syllable;
The perishable human as an immortal being;
Crores of suns and moons;
Crores of oceans;
Crores of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva;
Crores of rivers, wealth of all dimensions;
Crores of Rudras, crores of Lords of Death;
Crores of Lokpalas, stretch out the size of your chain, to fasten all these;
Yes, yes, Duryodhan fasten them!
The earth, the world beneath it;
Behold the millions of worlds yet to be born;
Behold the beginning of this world;
Behold the upcoming war of Mahabharata, which is replete with corpses;
Identify where you are;
Behold the vast expanse of the sky above My head;
Behold the limitless world beneath My feet;
Behold the past, present and future in my fist;
Behold My unfathomable vastness;
Every species is born in Me;
They eventually return in Me, too;
The fire traces its descent from My tongue;
The wind is born in my breath;
Where My glance is cast, Creation begins smiling;
The moment I close My eyes, the mourning, death and destruction begins;
You have come to fasten me, have you brought the chain as big as to fasten Me?
If your mind genuinely intends to fasten Me, first fasten the infinite sky;
He who cannot harness the gold, how come he fasten Me?
You refused to listen to the words of wisdom;
Abysmally failed to recognise the price of friendship!
Now, I too am conveying My final resolve, before leaving!
No more entreaties;
It will be a battle now;
Either life will triumph, or death and destruction shall envelop!
The planets will clash, and the towering inferno will engulf the Earth;
The hood of Seshnag will tremble;
The catastrophe of the worst degree will open its mouth;
Duryodhan, the battle will be of such degree and magnitude which will never be duplicated again!
Brother will be matching against brother,
The poisonous arrows will be released from the quiver, the Satan will be savouring their moments of ecstasy!
The men’s hundreds of bad omens will explode,
and finally, you will be blown into smithereens,
and will be held as the begetter of this unparalleled violence!”
The entire assembly stood petrified, with the courtiers terrified,
either they were silent or unconscious!
Only two men: Dhritarashtra and Bidur, appeared to be happy and blissful; fearlessly they cheered with the invocation: ‘ Hail to the Lord’.
