Ritual songs and folksongs of the Hindus of Surinam

[p. 141]

80 Birahās ii [Various sources]
Some Sumirans

sumir gāve rām ke sumira to bhaiyā lachaman
ki sumir gāve sakala jahān, ki bhaiyā re sumir gāve sakala jahān
ek to maį sumiraų apane māta pitā ke bhaiyā
jin kara kokhiyā lihina avatār

bīra bakhānaų mahābīra ke jo parabata para ḍąṛa kīnha
siyā khojana ke kārana sanghaṛī lankā dahana kara dīnha
to niścaya prema pratīta se binaya ham kariya sanamāna
tina ke kāraja sakala subha ū to siddha karata hanumāna

svara bina mile na surasatī aba gura bina milata na gyāna
are hansa bina motī nā mile more bhayavā cāhe lākhǫ tu karahu payāna

pahale guru ke hama gāyę jina guru racata jahāna
sāre sriṣṭi racāya ke bhā̈ī phir sab mę rahe bāsa

pahile maį sumiraų onkāra bhagavān javana racale haį sakala jahāna
taba sumiraų maį dharatī mātā ke suno bābū ho, jin ke ṭhaiyą̄ bhüiyą̄ sarani hamār
taba sumiraų maį māta pitā ke suno srotā gana
javana posa kara karale sayān

sumiraų surasati ke nām pūrana kar deyo merā kām
devā jībhiyo pai kariyo mukām, cārudatta jībhiyo pai a kariyo mukām

[p. 142]

G

I.

bäiṭhe ā kara diyava digambara pīr paigambar more mātā

II.

aba rakhiya re lāja hamār

III.

hai toro sarana mātā gāva birahavā mātā baravā na vākya hamār

IV.

aur surasatī hą̄ sumirana karaų terā

V.

bäiṭho more kaṇṭha dhujā pai karo ḍerā

pahile maį sumiraų apane guru kā, apane guru kā
ai mātā aba jina guru racyau jahāna
are pānī se guru binda racata haį o bhaiyā
aba racā alakhapuriyā nirabān

(One) remembers¹ and sings of Rāma, and remembers (and sings of) Lakṣmaṇa, too.
(One)² remembers and sings (of) the whole world -² yes, O brother, (one) remembers and sings of the whole world.
First²³ I remember my mother and father, O brother,
(From) whose womb (I) have taken incarnation.⁴

I narrate (about) Hanumān the brave⁵ who did dippings⁶ on the mountain.
(And) who, for the purpose of searching for Sītā, O companion, burnt down (the city of) Laṅkā.
Certainly,² with a feeling of love I make (humble) request (and pay) my respects - (to Sītā) for whom I did all the pious deeds,

1 Remembering, here, connotes paying homage.

2 The terms ki, to, aba, are are used as stobhas. In A. III, however, to emphasizes ‘first’.

3 Literally, ‘one’, not ‘first’.

4 Birth, which is a form of incarnation for the soul.

5 Or, I term Hanumān brave.

6 Daṇḍ karnā: to do exercise; perhaps the reference is either to his realisation of strength before jumping across the ocean to Laṅkā or to his bringing a peak of the Himālayas with the curative herbs.

[p. 143]

IV.

(I) all whose good undertakings may Hanumān (thus pleased) fulfil.

Sarasvatī¹ cannot be obtained without (good) tune² (and), now,³ knowledge cannot be had without a guru.^4
3Without a swan pearls cannot be had,⁵ my brother, even if you make a hundred thousand advances.⁶

First I sing of the Guru⁷ - the Guru who has created the world;
(He Who) after creating the whole creation remains pervading in all.

First I remember the God, Oṃ,⁸ who has created the entire world.
Then I remember the mother earth, - listen, O friend,⁹ whose (aspects of) Ṭhaiyą̄ and Bhüiyą̄ are my refuge.
Then I remember (my) mother and father, - listen, O groups of listeners, -
(The mother and father) who nourished (me) and made (me grow into an) adult.

I remember the name of Sarasvatī. Fulfil (O Sarasvatī) my undertaking.
God(dess), make (your) abode on (my) tongue; (asks) Cārudatta:¹⁰ make (your) abode on (my) tongue.

1 It may be translated here as knowledge, eloquence and poetic ability.

2 Perhaps the singer has, metri causa, confused the order of words and really means: ‘The tune (or poetic and musical ability) cannot be obtained without (the grace of the goddess) Sarasvatī’.

3 See page 142, note 2.

4 Preceptor.

5 Perhaps the reference is to the legend that swans eat pearls.

6 Or (S. prayatna), efforts.

7 God, the Preceptor.

8 The sacred syllable as the name of God.

9 Bābū, used as a term of respectful familiarity.

10 The name of the composer.

[p. 144]

G

I.

The gods, the sky-clad ones,¹ pīrs and prophets², (and) my mother (goddess),

II.

(I pray to you all:) keep my honour.

III.

(It) is (by taking) refuge with³ you (that) I sing the birahā; mother, do not confuse my sentence(s).

IV.

And, oh Sarasavatī, I do remembrance⁴ to you -

V.

Sit, make your camp on the flag of my throat.⁵

First I remember my Guru, my Guru -
Oh mother (goddess), the Guru who has created the world.
The guru creates bindu⁶ out of water, O brother;
(And he) has⁷ created the nirvāṇa of the imperceptible city.⁸

1 Perhaps Śiva or the Jaina Tīrthaṅkaras of the Digambara school, although the latter seems unlikely.

2 The Muslim term paigambar is used.

3 In the text, the genetive case is used.

4 See page 142, note 1.

5 The tongue, probably.

6 Reference to the haṭhayoga doctrine according to which a yogi creates the drop (bindu) of amṛta (nectar of immortality) through a process of absorbing the seminal fluids into the system. These doctrines have come to the folk singers through a tradition of Gorakhnāth and Kabīr etc.

7 See page 142, note 2.

8 Alakh (S. alakṣya: the Imperceptible God) is the call of some sects of sādhus. It is also possible that the term here is a corruption of alakāpurī, the city of heaven.