The Ornament
Rabindranath Tagore
Beautiful indeed, the ornament on your arm
Studded with a multitude of stars –
Riveted with gems, gilded, coveted, I see -
Formed with rainbow-hued art.
Your blade looks even more bewitching, sketched from
The crooked lightning bolt up high
As if the blood from Garuda’s wings bloodies the
Sun’s afterglow in a combust sky.
Like final awakening before the end of life
Great scorching pain sets me on fire
Incinerates in a moment, all that is mine
Sharp terrible awareness dire.
Beautiful, indeed, that which severs my form
Studded with a multitude of stars –
Your blade, O Lord Vajrapani, adorned
With culmination’s ultimate art.
A Translation of "Shundoro bawte tawbo angada khani"
Translator’s Note :
The word angad has two meanings – one is an arm ornament, the armlet or baajubandh; the second meaning is “that which relieves or provides succour or deliverance to the body, the anga”.
The poet intended both meanings to come out. My guess is that he intended to draw us in with the deceptively gentle armlet, and gradually allowed the deeper, more powerful, even violent, imagery to reveal itself.
#prayer #Tagore #translation
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