MONK UPAGUPTA
The monk called Upagupta -
Once upon a time he was fast
asleep
under the wall of Mathura
city.
The city lights were blown
off with the wind
All doors of the township
were shut.
The evening stars of the Sravan–sky were
covered under dark clouds.
Someone’s foot with her anklet
suddenly
resounded on his chest.
The startled monk woke up
from sleep
In a moment disappeared his
dreamy state.
The bright light of her lamp,
rudely struck
his kind beautiful eyes.
The courtesan of the town was
going on a love tryst
inebriated with the spirit of
her youth.
Dressed
up in a blue outfit,
her bells were making a sweet
jingling sound.
Inadvertently, when she trod
on the body of the monk,
Basavadatta stopped.
Holding the lamp, she could
see the tender fair beauty of his
A smiling, unruffled, young
face,
His eyes gleaming with rays
of kindness,
Over his shining forehead,
there was a glow of calm tranquil peace.
The woman spoke in a gentle
voice casting a shy look.
Forgive me – please – you
callow youth
Kindly accompany me to my
house.
The ground underneath is
rough and hard, it can’t be your bed.
The monk replied in a kind
voice, “You the charming one,
My time has still not come.
Thou
blessed one, go wherever you are going –
When
the time is right, I myself will come to your grove.
Suddenly, a rainstorm with
flashes of lightening
opened its wide mouth
The lady was totally shaken
with fear.
The blowing sound of the terrible
affray was filling the air
The thunder in the sky, in a
cruel joke
unleashed a loud roaring
laughter.
At a later date….
The year hasn’t ended yet,
the chaitra-evening has come
The wind was restless and
blowing freely
Buds have appeared on
branches of trees
Bakul, Parul and Rajanigandha have blossomed
in the royal garden.
From a great distance, comes
with the wind, the sweet tune of the flute.
There is no one left in town:
all residents have gone to the pleasure-grove
to celebrate the festival of
flowers.
Seeing the city totally
deserted, silently smiles, the full moon of night.
In the lonely road under the
light of the stars, the monk is the lone passer-by
Overhead there is the avenue
of trees
The cuckoo is cooing again
and again
At long last, has the night’s
love-tryst eventually arrived for him?
Beyond the city limit went
the ascetic, near the outer boundary wall.
He came and stood by the side
of the moat,
near the shade of the mango -
grove.
He wondered who that woman
was, lying on her side right under his feet.
She was gravely ill with
pustules of small-pox spread all over her body.
The dark stain of the disease
has blackened her skin
The people carrying her
beyond the moat of the city
have thrown her away and shunned
her poisoned company.
The monk sat down and lifted
her afflicted head upon his own lap.
On her parched mouth, he
poured water
and chanted mantra over her head.
With
his own hand, he then smeared her body with cool sandal paste.
The buds were falling, the cuckoo
was cooing, the night was full of stars
“Who are you, oh my kind saviour,”
asked the woman. The monk replied,
“The moment of truth has
arrived tonight and here I am Basavadatta”
Dr DEBIDAS RAY.
English translation of
Rabindranath Tagore’s poem entitled ‘Abhisar’
Published in SANCHAYITA,11th.ed,
2010, p341- 343.
Original Bengali poem first
line : sannyasi upagupta
Published in THE VISVA-BHARATI
QUARTERLY
August 2017 pp1-2.
