• Parabaas
    Parabaas : পরবাস : বাংলা ভাষা, সাহিত্য ও সংস্কৃতি
  • পরবাস | Translation | Poem
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  • Four Songs of Lalon Phokir : Lalon Phokir
    translated from Bengali to English by Carol Salomon





    I have not seen her1 even once--
    my neighbor
    who lives in the city of mirrors
    near my house.

    Her village is surrounded
    by deep boundless waters,
    and I have no boat
    to cross over.
    I long to see her,
    but how can I reach
    her village?

    What can I say
    about my neighbor?
    She has no hands, no feet,
    no shoulders, no head.
    Sometimes she floats high up in the sky,
    sometimes in the water.

    If my neighbor only touched me,
    she would send the pain of death away.
    She and Lalon are in the same place,
    yet five hundred thousand miles apart.



    1 Bauls hold women in high esteem. They are essential to the male practitioner's success in sadhana. This is one of Lalon's many songs that secretly refer to the sadhika (female practitioner) or to the sahaj manus (natural person) within her.

    Published December 25, 2007



    অলংকরণ (Artwork) : Nilanjana Basu
  • I have not seen her... | Who wants to go... | This time search... | When will I be united...
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