Friday, July 3, 2020

Kannadasan Poem

Kannadasan was an atheist and later became a believer. I remember he wrote the following lines in a poem:

I was an atheist.
But He was not afraid of me.
I became a believer.
But I cannot find Him.

I recently had a chance to read a poem in Tamil written by Late Kannadasan. I thought I would translate that. But, of course, we cannot convey the real meaning of the words from the original language into a translated language. OK, here is the translation of that poem.

Are you afraid? Are you agitated?
Is your mind distressed?
Turbulence in life?
Thousand things will happen in life.
Tragedy in almost all entrances.
Whatever may be the cause of suffering
Just worrying will not make them go away.
If you have a heart to bear anything.
You will have peace of mind until the end.
Make the poor mind a big mansion.
Compose poem day and night.
And Dedicate all days from tomorrow to God.
And find peace for the rest of your life.
There are millions of people suffer more than you.
Think of that and seek content.

I think Kannadasan covered almost the whole Bhagvat Geetha in this one poem. We all know Bhagvat Geetha says:

Stabilize your mind.
Do your duty with detachment.
Surrender to God.

16 comments:

  1. Good translation. Mayakkama thayakkama song from sumaithangi. I still remember this you told me long back that kannadasan once said, "Sri Ranganathanaiyum Thillai Natarajanaiyum beerangi kondu pilakkum naal ennalo". You further said, the same kannadasan after becoming a believer in God wrote Arthamulla indhu madham.

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    1. Thanks for your comments. I am glad you still remember. For those who do not know Tamil, this is my translation of what I told Gowri long time back.

      Athiest Kannadasan wrote: I cannot wait for the day to destroy with a powerful bomb the Mahavishnu living in Sri Rangam and Natarajar (Shiva) living in Chidambaram. The same Kannadasan wrote, after he became a believer, a book titled "Arthamulla Hindu Madham" (Meaningful Hindu Religion")

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  2. Thanks for the translation for those who don't understand Tamil. Infact I wanted to request you to translate.

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    1. Thanks Gowri. You thought and I did that. Anytime for you.

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  3. Thank you for this SG....I am going to take it as God's message for me via you....this couldn't have come at a better time....how true that at any given point in time someone is suffering worse than you....I really appreciate this timely blog.....

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    1. Thanks for your comments Dee. I am glad this blog post was of some help to you.

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  4. A very meaningful poem. You are right, these are universal truths, which we get to read and hear in different forms in different places.
    Two lines I liked the most are:
    Just worrying will not make them (problems) go away.
    There are millions of people suffer more than you.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Pradeep. I liked these two lines too, especially just worrying and do nothing will not solve the problem.

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  5. Everything is relative. And nothing is permanent.

    Excellent message in that translation, could u link to the Tamil poem too?

    Destination Infinity

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    1. Thanks for your comments Rajesh. Here is the Tamil version:

      http://www.junolyrics.com/lang-tamil-page-lyricsdetails-lyricsid-130719100602-lyrics-Mayakkamaa-Kalakkamaa.html

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  6. Wonderful .I think I should learn more about these.

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    1. Thanks for your complements Shilpa. I appreciate it.

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  7. Thanks for the poem...He was a true legend

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  8. True, in a few lines, he has described some of the essence parts of the Gita.You have done it meaningfully,SG.

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