(Transliterate version in English of the original Bengali poem Krishna by Sabyasachi Deb)

Krishna

Ranesh Ray

Oh! Kauravas, my salute to you all,
I do not mourn neither I grief
Your silence does not annoy me.

Grandfather, Veeshma, pardon me,
I am not in myself to bow to you
Neither to let you know my gratitude
And you Karna, my hatred for you blooms full.
Oh! my dears, husbands five,
Arjuna, the bravest of braves,
Mighty Veem, Nakul, Sahadev
And the great sanctimonious Yudhishthira
I bow down to your feet,
My salute to all of you.

I am not omniscient, know little,
Born from the fire of oblation,
Your destination path
Not in my vision to walk;
It is an audacity for me,
Husband Yudhishthira ,
To shed judgement on you.
You have no perversion
Righteousness is your saviour,
Remained always religious
Sin could never touch you,
Be grateful to your God.
Bheemshen, I loved you not
So, expect no reciprocation from you.

My only question to you, the beauty of beauties
My dearest husband, Arjuna, the loveliest,
Was Duryadhan’s chest more a difficult target
Than the shadow of the eye of the fish up above
Under the water beneath,
Tell me the truth, it is not love
It was your pride of virility that you were after,
Winning Panchali was only the pretext.

I know, it is my question in vain,
You do not have an answer to it
As you have no heart for love.

Since your childhood
You have only high aspiration
Bravo’s lust for earth and the fairies,
You, the worshiper of beauty;
Your greed for power empowered you
with the only motto,
To deprive Kauravas of their heredity right
To grab power from Dhritarashtra
You are only provoked for the best
Made available in the land;
My Arya, the great,
Your only vision is the beauty of the virgin
Lust for her,
You, the greedy Dhananjoy,
You often change your focus
From one lady to another like your predecessors,
Used to move from one forest to other
To hunt new pasturage.
In this gathering today I have come to know:
A woman is only the associate of greed and lust
For a few hours for a man.
All we, the garland of gems, thousands of maids
Ivory of the elephant
The horses sent for travel and me,
the daughter-in-law of King Pandu,
We all stand on the same rope in wait;
The same scenario that I witnessed
In my father’s land
The traders of greed and lust
Used to bring with them the food
Long queue of the starved with greedy look,
They all were the near relation of my husband.

Today we are being sold out
Those who are gifting us out
They establish their right
By taking oath to protect us
Bind me and us in ritual
The holly thread binds us
In the heart of love.

Not only in this lust blooded house
Much before I was made known
I have to disown my desire
I have no wisdom of mine;
Arjuna, with my first sight
I offered my heart to you,
But the big brother lion heart, the religious fame,
Was the first to embrace my body.
When water from the new-year fountain used to flow down
From the minar of heaven
My heart cried for you
But my urge was denied
Someone else whom I did not desire
Used to take me away
You longed not for me but someone else.

I have nothing to pray, nothing to beg
The elderlies of Kurus
May repent in vain
The big brother of Pandavas
May wait for a holy hour,
The reign of religion will be founded on earth,
You Bheem, please keep mum
Nakul Sahadev keep utmost faith on the elderlies,
And Arjuna go inside the house
Your lover must be waiting to be groomed in bed.

No grief no shame; in this palace
I only know, it is not love, nor right
Women are made only to meet the need
And I realized no difference is there
Between the religious Yudhisthira and the mighty Bheem
Between the lover Arjuna and greedy sons of Dhritarashtra.

I don’t demand justice
No remedy I hanker for,
The luxury garments
If Dushashan snatches it away
May plunder it, I do not cry.
The beasts are dancing round
On the board of immersion,
I do not look at it.
I am not hearing the sound of cry
The fearless cry of the unworthy and the powerless,
No bow and arrow
I bring back the memory of my birth, the fire of oblation.

I am not Draupadi nor I am Panchali
Am I only the chosen bride of the Bharat lineage!
I am Krishnaa, a tribute in the worship, a woman.