By Govinda Das
Ghosha: O’ Soul Govinda Gopala You’ve set, O my Kind-Heart, the game of Maya Pada : A house was made with care and hope for the living That house was blown away while it was storming O Mind, make the house and fasten the door Leaving your home the others’ you cry for Rafters are set in rows for the ridge two beams fixed Twenty posts in all are firmly pitched It is dark for walls raised on all four sides Nine doors are fastened on all nine sides At nine points are nine sentries on guard Within is sitting Hari, the all-cheering God There is a woman that house to manage One who stays away from her is a great sage And there is a river that flows so fast Across two birds Time and Timeless stay perched That pair of purple birds with the bluish-black wings Have never ever come across as hatchlings The swan has flown away leaving behind its feathers On the sands of the Jamuna that body also weathers Says this the slave Govinda again and again But the feet of the Guru no ways remain
Translated by Nirendra Nath Thakuria
Govinda Das, an Assamese poet of the 18th century.
Nirendra Nath Thakuria, retired Associate Professor of English, is a translator.