All the rest

All the rest is the speculation of schoolboys for schoolboys.

~ Ulysses (Scylla and Charybdis)

These pages contain my notes from things unrelated to work.

Avdhoota, yugan yugan hum yogi

13 Dec, 2017

As a general rule, I find mysticism very tiring. I do not have the patience for Yoga and all that surrounds it and I avoid god-men like toothache. I do, however, make many exceptions, and this poem by Kabir, is one of them.

I first heard it sung by Kumar Gandharva and that is probably the reason why it has stayed with me. That, and the fact that, on some days, solipsism makes a lot of sense.

अवधूता, युगन युगन हम योगी
आवैना जाय, मिटैना कबहूं, सबद अनाहत भोगी 

सब ही ठौर जमात हमरी, सब ही ठौर पर मेला
हम सब माय, सब हैं हम माय, हम है बहुरी अकेला 

हम ही सिद्ध, समाधि हम ही, हम मौनी हम बोले
रूप सरूप अरूप दिखाके, हम ही में हम तो खेलें 

कहे कबीरा जो, सुनो भाई साधो, नाही-न-कोई इच्छा
अपनी मढ़ी में आप मैं डोलूं, खेलू सहज स्वइच्छा ।

~ कबीर

Here’s a rough translation for those who don’t read Devanagari.

O mystic, I have been here forever,
I did not come and I'm not going,
I feed on the eternal word, I will sustain forever.

Where ever I am, I am with my people,
Where ever I am, there is a multitude,
I am with all and all are with me,
I am very alone.

I am the proof and I am consciousness,
I have no words and I speak,
All I see, I have shown myself.

Listen, as Kabir says, I wish nothing.
In my hut, I entertain myself,
with simple games,
that I want me to play.

My translation, obviously, does not capture the essence of the poem. To do that, you need to listen to Kumarji sing it.

An die Musik

21 Dec, 2017

An die Musik

Du holde Kunst, in wieviel grauen Stunden,
Wo mich des Lebens wilder Kreis umstrickt,

Hast du mein Herz zu warmer Lieb' entzunden,
Hast mich in eine beßre Welt entrückt,
In eine beßre Welt entrückt!

Oft hat ein Seufzer, deiner Harf' entflossen,
Ein süßer, heiliger Akkord von dir,
Den Himmel beßrer Zeiten mir erschlossen,

Du holde Kunst, ich danke dir dafür,
Du holde Kunst, ich danke dir!

~ Franz von Schober (D547 F. Schubert)

Here’s a translation in my Duolingo German

To Music

You lovely Art, in how many dark hours,
When I am surrounded by life's despair,

Have you enkindled my heart with your warmth,
Have you carried me away to a better place,
to a better world, transported!

How many times has a sigh of your harp,
a sweet, divine harmony from you,
unlocked the heavens for me.

You, lovely Art, I thank you for it,
You, lovely Art, I thank you!

All of this reads quite pedestrian. Then, Schubert picks it up, and entrückts us to some place else.