Dimock E.C. Jr. , Jahan R. Bengali Vaisnava Lyrics. A reader for
advanced students. - The University of Chicago, 2006. - 196 p.
The purpose of this book is twofold. It is first of all a teaching text, the aim of which is to familiarize the student of Bengali with a style of poetry and a form of the Bengali language which exerts a powerful influence on the culture of Bengal even today. Bengalis are proud of the Vaisnava lyrics, and, we feel, rightly so. We cannot consider therefore that a student is well trained in Bengali studies until he has read and understood these lyrics in their original form. But a second purpose has to do with the fact that a parallel volume has been prepared for the Hindi lyrics of Surdas. The reader can compare the introductions, texts and translations of the two books and see for himself where the unique qualities and where the similarities of the two Vaisnava traditions lie. A great deal has been said about the unity and diversity of Indian culture. Here we attempt to present a case study on which documented statements can be made. Since the purpose of the book is primarily didactic, we have not felt it proper to be too interpretive in our translations. These translations are intended only to aid the student in understanding the poems. It will I hope be noticed that in many cases the translations indicate that there is a real potential poetry even in English; poetic renderings however are beyond both our intent and our capacities. If a suggestion of poetry comes through in English, we shall be more than satisfied. Even if an understanding is gained of the beauty of the lyrics in Bengali, we shall have accomplished what we set out to do. As is suggested in the Introduction, the textual questions of proper reading, of authorship, of manuscript, and so on, are very involved. Such questions we have also considered to be beyond our purpose. At the risk, then, of criticism of our scholarly standards, we have given the readings of the poems which come to us through the standard printed texts listed in the Bibliography. We of course realize that in many cases a poem which has one signature in a particular manuscript may have been shown by more recent scholarship to be the work of an entirely different poet. But establishment of text is a work of technical scholarship, and as such has no immediate place in a teaching manual.
The organization of the book is straightforward enough. We have given an introduction, designed to help the reader understand the religious and historical background of the lyrics, as well as certain technical points in regard to meter, language, and inteal structure. The texts are given in Bengali on the left-hand page, with linguistic notes on difficult passages and mode Bengali equivalents for older Bengali or Brajabuli words. On the right-hand page are the translations, with whatever cultural notes apply to the particular poem.
The poems selected and translated are but a tiny fraction of the total corpus of Vaishnava lyrics. The authors have therefore chosen the examples on purely personal grounds: we have selected those poems which we like best. The only other criterion has been that we have tried to take a representative lyric from each of the main divisions of the corpus as these divisions occur in Bengali anthologies. Some readers may therefore object that some of the finest lyrics may have been omitted. All we can do is confess this possible flaw.
For help in preparation of the book, we are indebted to Mrs. Arati John, who advised us at many points and typed the Bengali texts, Mrs. Julia Martin, who has typed the English parts of the book, and to various patient friends and colleagues at the South Asian Languages Program of the University of Chicago, with whom we have consulted, argued, and discussed readings and interpretations.
The purpose of this book is twofold. It is first of all a teaching text, the aim of which is to familiarize the student of Bengali with a style of poetry and a form of the Bengali language which exerts a powerful influence on the culture of Bengal even today. Bengalis are proud of the Vaisnava lyrics, and, we feel, rightly so. We cannot consider therefore that a student is well trained in Bengali studies until he has read and understood these lyrics in their original form. But a second purpose has to do with the fact that a parallel volume has been prepared for the Hindi lyrics of Surdas. The reader can compare the introductions, texts and translations of the two books and see for himself where the unique qualities and where the similarities of the two Vaisnava traditions lie. A great deal has been said about the unity and diversity of Indian culture. Here we attempt to present a case study on which documented statements can be made. Since the purpose of the book is primarily didactic, we have not felt it proper to be too interpretive in our translations. These translations are intended only to aid the student in understanding the poems. It will I hope be noticed that in many cases the translations indicate that there is a real potential poetry even in English; poetic renderings however are beyond both our intent and our capacities. If a suggestion of poetry comes through in English, we shall be more than satisfied. Even if an understanding is gained of the beauty of the lyrics in Bengali, we shall have accomplished what we set out to do. As is suggested in the Introduction, the textual questions of proper reading, of authorship, of manuscript, and so on, are very involved. Such questions we have also considered to be beyond our purpose. At the risk, then, of criticism of our scholarly standards, we have given the readings of the poems which come to us through the standard printed texts listed in the Bibliography. We of course realize that in many cases a poem which has one signature in a particular manuscript may have been shown by more recent scholarship to be the work of an entirely different poet. But establishment of text is a work of technical scholarship, and as such has no immediate place in a teaching manual.
The organization of the book is straightforward enough. We have given an introduction, designed to help the reader understand the religious and historical background of the lyrics, as well as certain technical points in regard to meter, language, and inteal structure. The texts are given in Bengali on the left-hand page, with linguistic notes on difficult passages and mode Bengali equivalents for older Bengali or Brajabuli words. On the right-hand page are the translations, with whatever cultural notes apply to the particular poem.
The poems selected and translated are but a tiny fraction of the total corpus of Vaishnava lyrics. The authors have therefore chosen the examples on purely personal grounds: we have selected those poems which we like best. The only other criterion has been that we have tried to take a representative lyric from each of the main divisions of the corpus as these divisions occur in Bengali anthologies. Some readers may therefore object that some of the finest lyrics may have been omitted. All we can do is confess this possible flaw.
For help in preparation of the book, we are indebted to Mrs. Arati John, who advised us at many points and typed the Bengali texts, Mrs. Julia Martin, who has typed the English parts of the book, and to various patient friends and colleagues at the South Asian Languages Program of the University of Chicago, with whom we have consulted, argued, and discussed readings and interpretations.