Sri Ramakrishna Sarada- The Divine Play (adaptation from Swami Sampurnananda's Tamil Work)

The Tamil Book 'Sri Sarada Deviyin Suvaiyana Charitam' is probably the first book of poetry in Tamil on Holy Mother Sarada Devi. This is an attempt to consider the Life of Holy Mother along the same lines as Swami Saradanandaji considered Sri Ramakrishna's Life - as a play of Bhava. These 150 Plus poems consisting of 1500 plus lines were written in Lalgarh between 2003 December - 2004 January, during Mother's 150th Anniversary. They have come out in book form now during Swami Vivekananda's 150th Anniversay in 2012 - 2013. 

The following is a (very) rough translation of some of the first 22 poems. Hopefully the rest will follow.

May Mother be gracious to all of us !

1. 

I bow down to Thee Mother !
Thou art for ever, beginning-less and endless
Thou art Time, pervading unto minutest  moment
Thou art the Boundless Being
Thou filleth the Vast Space
With diverse Worlds and them with
Variegated  beings, who throb
In diverse moods and tones.
Thou Create, Nurture and End their Play.
 I bow down down to Thee, My Mother!

2.
Walking by the Banks of Kasai
As a dear little girl,
You shamelessly asked to wear on your arms
A pair of conch-shell bangles
You did merry mischief, not paying your dues,
Asking the poor seller to take it from 'My Father, the King',
Who, being a daughter-less wretch, became enraged,
 Smote him hard, and said, 'show the Girl now
     or else .. '
Hearing the piteous entreaties of the bangle seller,
Thou did show thy beauteous pair of hands
Springing out from the waters,
Adorned with fairy white  bangles.
Oh, mind, look at those waters , sparkling sands !
You might get a glimpse of Her, if luck be with you.

3.
He to whom, the gods of heavens go 
   with their troubles
Goes He to Her, when he is in a fix.
He  will bless me here 
to write this poem.
A spring of honey he will shower 
He with Radha at his side !

4.
The Great Primordial Shakti
who took very many forms as
Vach the Vedic Rishi, 
as Gargis, Maitreyis of Upanishads,
as Sita, Her Life and Soul in Rama,
Radha, the Lovelorn, Love burst,
Mother Maria The Immaculate,
as Goda, Mira, numberless such forms,
Male and Female,
Who is praised in heaven and earth,
that Great Shakti,
out of boundless Grace
as if embodying Herself in a limited body,
covering our being and binding our vision
 with her wondrous Maya
Plays Her enchanting play!
Let's see that with devotion!

5. In the boundless ocean of Brahman,
    By the cooling breeze of Bhakti
    diverse Divine Forms appear 
    Singly, in twos, threes or more
    Wise would see them, 
    others slowly wake up.
    In the present age,
    As Ramakrishna Sarada,
    Two in One, One in two
    They have come 
     To show us the way
      to us, roaming direction-less
       in dense woods.
      
     The one who came,
       Virtuous deeds many
         must have been done
           in Her two house-holds,
            in Kamarpukur and Jairambati,
       the one who answered to the name 'Ma',
       Her story shall we narrate here. 

6-9
     Great fortune Earth had
     To see the Primal Source of All
      Crawl as a baby on its lap
      Great and immaculate was
      Shyamasundari Devi
      Who carried in her womb
      Mother of all mothers.
      Virtuous was Ramachandra
      the father of little Sarada
      Cozy, colourful, was Jayarambati
      Mother's Own Village
      Adorned by the sparkling lace Amodar,
      Green fields, lotus pools, big and small,
      Healthy, hard-working, good folks,
      Temples, gods were duly honoured,
       Graceful dances, joyful plays,
      Such were the stuff that 
      Mother's Jayarambati was made of.

10. Unto good times came the Eternal Time
      The Birthday of all birthdays arrived
      Kali (the dark times) had kali and went away
       Satya Yuga (the good times when Truth prevails) 
       Came truly good
       The Mother of all mothers came unto the Earth
        Descended the divine band 
          that takes food 
             to the very mouth 
              of  unspeaking hunger
        Margazhi the Holy month 
          became holier.
        On a cold Thurday
        Seventh day of the Dark fortnight 
        December 22, 1853,
        The Resplendent Moon,
        Blemishless, in Fullnes, 
        descended into the dark Earth 
         as the Star Uthiram 
           proudly shone along

        Way opened up 
          for the lad Gadadhar 
              nearby

        A conch boomed 
          its auspicious soft strains,

        'Peace be unto you,
            mothers and children!'

Bhava Lila :

11. There is a State of Being called Bhava
       Good for us if we know it
       On the Great Ones who take the form 
         of a human being
        is seen this layer of Bhava
        Heaven and Earth, they see as One
        Binding our eyes with multiple folds,
         they play with us, kidding us along.
        They take to our ways, our guises,
         To show us to walk the road well.
         Many such great ones 
           walked ahead of us.
         Great gains be for us
         Considering the Two before us
         A river of nectar flows between
         This divine duo's lives.
          The other day, 
           Elder brother Saradananda
           Witnessed the Bhava of One.
           Here in this narration,
           Mother's Bhava is sought 
             to be unlocked.

12.  Bhavas She put on with an easy assurance
       Flip-flop she would, She the Self-Willed
       Flower-Fruit or Fruit-Flower, cared she not.
       As Ramakrishna together wore 
       The Bhava of a pure Sadhaka Bhakta
         and that of an Avatara
        So did Sarada
        
        He was Guru to the Sadhika Sarada,
         the object of  her meditations,
         the Guru whose divine Form 
          glowed in her heart day and night.

        She the sadhika engrossed in 

          the joy of repeating His Name

        Was the Divine Mother Kali whom

          the Bhakta Ramakrishna adored.

   Glory be to the Sangha Guru - 
   May your light flood the Earth !
   Glory be to the Mother of the Sangha!
    Thy Grace filleth the Earth !
       

 15. At Shantinath Shiva temple
        Came Sarada when she was three
        Beaming with peace and grace
        She was seated in the hands of an 
             elderly lady.
        A fair was on and so was a programme 
           of songs, dance and drama.
        
   16. As Sarada rolled her eyes 
             and looked around,
         'Whom do thy eyes looketh for ?
            Thy groom? Tell us, who is he ?'
         Readily her tender hands didst stretch 
            and show the sinless Gadadhar.
         The fingers that pointed
          Did a ring of light wrap around them ?
           The sting so tied, 
             did Gadadhar happen to notice?

19.  Enter, we shall, into the play of Bhava !
       See the play between the Lord and Sakthi!
        'All the World is my chidren' said She.
        Showed that day, Her First Child.
         He the Guru of All, said later
         'There she waits, the marked one, 
            the disciple'
         Consider this, O my mind,
           Do it well
          Death will be defied, 
           the cess-sea of worldliness will dry up.
            Living Waters will flow in
             Eternity will be attained.

21. All that which befell 
       a 19th century village girl in India 
        came upon Sarada too. 
      A picturesque village. 
       But no great comforts.  
      Vast, virgin, lands and sky. 
       But sister Sarada
       had not many games to play. 
      Green, green grasses. 
       She's neck deep in water 
        cutting some for the cattle. 
      Open spaces, so much, to wander about 
        but no. she is with her mother 
         tending the hearth fires. 
       Loving siblings to play with. 
        Yes she  played
          but more an elder sister 
           and mother to them.

        Thus did she put on 
          a human village girl act.

22. When she did her chores 
        a girl looking exactly like her 
         came to help her. 
      She came out of the Blue 
        and disappeared into the Blue. 
      Compare with the 
        Divine Play of Krishna.
      Compare with Chandi 
        who became many and One. 
      Like the Gopis had each a Krishna 
       we now each have our own Mother Sarada.

23. Hard austerities must have done they,
       Who got themselves born as Siblings of Sarada
        They played with their Sister
        In their home, in the fields,
        Learnt Life from her, She the Compassionate one,
        She shone like a translucent flower
        Amidst weeds and dirt

24. Reaching the age of five,
      With thy beloved, you linked arms, high !
      Stopping thy lispings and little plays
       Entered though into the fields with heavy lays.
       Done with playing mother to puppets of wood and sand,
        took  us up, mud-born of this vast land ?
        Play, thou doest with me this day
        Happy, smug in thy lap, I lay.
       
25.  Merciful grass to the mouths of dumb bovines
       Fraternal moori to the hands of siblings
       A full  meal, cool 
       to quench the burning labour at noon
       A helping hand to the mater, 
         feeding one to the pater,
       a take here, a hold there, 
                              everywhere
       giving, protecting it
       Thou didst move about!
       Why didst thou?
       To show us to work how?

26. Moved by Thy abundant mercy
       seeing the masses dumbed down 
          into materialistic mire
      Did you deign to dim your glory 
        and  chose to live within our sights,
         us of such low vision 
           in order to save us from ourselves?
       Did you choose deem it the right time 
         to link your arms with Him
           your Playfellow from Kamar Pukur,
             As He cried to the Kali in you ?