Any attempt to translate and at times offer new interpretations of any work, especially poetry, from the language in which it was originally written is a daunting and daring task. And translation of hymns to the divine, in this case the divine offerings in verse by Andal to Lord Ranganatha, from ancient chaste Tamil with its own unique idioms, syntax and cadences into English, a language with European ancestry differing markedly from the Dravidian tongue, poses a greater challenge. Many occidental scholars and linguists have translated oriental works, in particular Indic novelists and poets from regional languages into English. Those who have read for example the translations of Sanskrit or Kannada or Bengali poets and authors into English or the translation of nature poets like Wordsworth or Keats or Shelly into an Indian language will affirm that the translation suffers in conveying the flavours and intensity of emotions of the original. They lose something of the essence which is indescribable.
And Hymns to the Supreme or temple deities present additional difficulties while embarking on merely translating chem. Those of us who heard Andal's verses in our childhood while visiting Shri Vaishnavite Temples along with our parents can still hear them echoing resonantly in our inner beings. We ever understood the meaning but like the Vedic chants, hymns churches with the deep ringing of church bells or the early morning Azans from mosques they cast a spell on us and transport us to a mystical world beyond our comprehension.
But one day when we are fortunate to grasp the meaning of those chants and verses when we grow up, and when those incomprehensible words which we heard as children are invested with meaning, we discover to our unbounded joy that their beauty is enhanced manifold because of their profundity.
That said who can deny the immeasurable value of translations and fresh interpretations of the world's literature into the various languages of the world! Civilisations have flourished only through the winds of cross fertilisation of ideas and cultural currents blowing across continents and countries through the ages. The Rigveda says "Let noble ideas come to us from all directions."
In this context Indu's offering of a bouquet of Andal's verses is a laudable labour of love.
Andal the only female poet saint in the Sri Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism, belongs in a way to the Bhakti and Sufi movement of tenth and eleventh centuries and alongside the pantheon of Meera and Kabir.
In the Meera bhajans for example, similar to Andal's hymns, the emotions of dissolving into Krishna, the longing to be united with him and the choice of words and phrases for passionate love are similar and characterised by attributes where God is both a person and principle both Saguna and Nirguna.
Vedas (1213)
Upanishads (507)
Puranas (633)
Ramayana (758)
Mahabharata (371)
Dharmasastras (167)
Goddess (516)
Bhakti (251)
Saints (1547)
Gods (1307)
Shiva (389)
Journal (181)
Fiction (62)
Vedanta (381)
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Visual Search
Manage Wishlist