Radha’s Diet Therapy: Part II
In my
previous blog: Radha’s Diet Therapy: Part I, I had translated the
Sambalpuri song, and had mentioned a similar Odia song rendered by Prafulla Kar.
In this blog, I share my translation of the Odia song along with brief
comments.
Thus Sang Radha
Odia Song: Boile
Radhika…[i]
(Translation
by Prasanna Dash)
Have you any
remedy,
O Dooti,
For my unbearable
malady,
To soothe
the pangs of separation?
What
measures have you tried,
O Radha,
Why no
medicine works on you,
Tell me of
anything you need,
A favourite
dish, maybe?
O Dooti,
Please fetch
forthwith
Kunja
Binodia kanji,
Fried green
banana rounds
from the fruit
of the plant
Near the Kadamba
tree,
A raita made
of Narayana janhi,
Patitapabana
dali,
Gobinda-Gopala
khechedi,
Garnished
with ghee in Hari’s name;
Serve all
these delicacies
On the
leaf-plate from which Madhusudana ate,
Include in remembrance
of Mukunda,
A portion of
ukhuda with diced ginger, and
Mohan-bhog
for which I pine,
Lastly, a
slice of Krushna kagezi lemon
To revive my
palate;
After this
soul-satisfying meal,
For my
siesta,
Spread a
Ghanashyama quilt
White and
soft as lia.
Make haste,
O Dooti,
Fetch all
these items
To get me
over my nausea,
For me to
once again
Savour the sight,
smell, and taste
Of Krushna,
life, and food.
That will
cure my fever,
Says Purna
Rama Bihari.
***
Odia Song and Sambalpuri Song
The lyricist
for the Odia song is Purna Rama Bihari, and that for the Sambalpuri song is
Gobinda; the singer and composer for the former is Prafulla Kar, and for the
latter the singer is Fakir Pattanaik and the composer is Raghunath Panigrahi.
Which of
these two songs is the original? Both these songs were released by Saregama
India Ltd – the Odia song on 09/01/1988, and the Sambalpuri song on 25/05/1995.
Hence, possibly, the Sambalpuri song is an adaptation from the Odia song.
Odia Song: Brief Comments
The song is
a complex prayer. The dishes desired by Radha are incidental to the song - the
gentle, playful waves of a deep ocean as it were; Radha’s love for Krishna and her
reverence for Vishnu constitute the essence of this prayer. Radha fondly
recalls the following names – Kunja Binodia, Narayana, Patitapabana, Gobinda, Gopala,
Hari, Madhusudana, Mukunda, Mohan, Krushna, and Ghanashyama; of which a few
apply to Krishna, and the others are the names of Vishnu.
Madhusudan’s Leaf-plate
Significantly,
Radha asks Dooti to serve all these dishes she had ordered on Madhusudan’s
plate, either a khali – a leaf-plate, or a piece of plantain leaf. Why from
Madhusudan’s plate? Being so much in love with Krishna, she knows that the
dishes she has sought are also her lover’s favourite dishes, and imagines him
to materialise (Krishna could appear and disappear at will!) and feast upon it.
Also, a married woman eats uchhista only if it be prasad offered to God, or
from her husband’s plate. Radha is Sri or Lakshmi incarnate and for her Krishna
is God, lover, and husband. That is why she desires to partake her meal from Madhusudan’s
plate, after he has eaten.
Radha’s viraha: temporary or permanent?
Is the
viraha temporary or permanent? The lyricist gives no clue.
While Krushna
was at Gopa, sometimes he neglected Radha who suspected him of favouring one or
more Gopis, and was torn by jealousy and anguish. However, Krishna always
managed to placate her, once placing her lotus-like feet on his head to seek
forgiveness: dehi pada pallavam udaram!
_MET_DP335788.jpg)
Radha with her confidant, pining for Krishna, Gita Govinda illustration, Kangra style, ca 1775-80.
(Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)
But Krishna
left Gopa for good, never to return, and the separation for Radha was traumatic
and permanent. How did Radha come to terms with her eternal grief? How else but
by imagining Krishna’s presence everywhere and in everything around her
including in the dishes she ate?
Krishna
deserted her physically, but there was nothing Krishna could do if she
visualised him in her mind’s eye every moment of her life, and felt his
presence in every pore of her body and in every thought in her mind. Krishna
could not deny to a devotee, so very much in deep love with him, his eternal
togetherness, the Maha Rasa that is the Ultimate Bliss.
Where is Krishna?
Is he at
Gopa, Mathura, or Dvaraka? Is Radha an ordinary gopi besotted with Krishna, or
is she Lakshmi who resides permanently in Vishnu’s heart? Does she suffer the
sorrow of separation from Krishna like an ordinary woman, or does she realise
that Krishna, being Vishnu, is all the time with her?
This song is
a prayer, and does not attempt to discuss these complex philosophical issues.
Radha sings her prayer in her own style and the audience may make their own
inference while recalling what God Himself had told Narada:
naham
tisthami vaikunthe
yoginam
hrdayesu va
tatra
tisthami narada
yatra
gayanti mad-bhaktah
In this
song, Radha, a devotee, sings her soulful prayer.
[i] Odia Song: Boile Radhika…
Lyricist – Purna
Rama Bihari
Lyrics
Source: You Tube song uploaded by Saregama India Ltd,
Singer &
Composer – Prafulla Kar
Released on –
1988-01-09
Link for the
song: https://youtu.be/RNZ1lDpvHmY?si=_go5r5l59jDZpxr5
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