Ritual songs and folksongs of the Hindus of Surinam

79 Birahās i [The Hague in the Netherlands, party from Meerzorg, and Nieuw Nickerie, 1967]
The definition of a Birahā¹

nā birahā ke khetī bāṛī (re joṛā)
nā birahā lage ḍār
[nā birahā (phare) ḍār]
[nā birahā (phale) ḍār]
birahā hai ika desa ke bhąvarā
jina ke kaṇṭha bäitha jāta
(jisa ke kaṇṭha basi jāy)
(köī birahā ke na pāye pār)
(nā birahā ke pār)
(nā köī pāve pār)

There is no cultivation (or) gardening of (a) birahā;
Nor (does) the birahā grow (fructify) on a branch.
The birahā is a bumblebee of some country,
On the throat of whomsoever² it sits
[On the throat of (whomsoever)³ it sits]
(No one finds the limit⁴ of a birahā).
(There is no end⁴ to the birahā).
(No one finds the limit⁴ (thereof)).

1 The variants of the song itself provide an example of the changeability of the birahā. Other versions: Grierson (J.R.A.S. 1886: 235); K. Upādhyāya ('54: 93) identical with Grierson; (H.S.B.I. Kanäujī: 415 with reference to the songs of washermen, the dhobīs).

2 Plural.

3 Singular.

4 Literally, the other shore.