7 Sohar Ulārā ii [Paramaribo, 1962]
Celebrations at Kṛṣṇa's birth7
I.
nanda ghara bāje badhaiyā lāla ham suni ke āye
O suni ke āye suni ke āye
nanda ghara... ...
II.
kahavą̄ kanhaiyā tore janama bhaye haį
III.
kahavą̄ bāje badhaiyā lāla hama suni...
[p. 54]
IV.
mathurā kanhaiyā tore janama bhaye haį
V.
gokulā bāje badhaiyā lāla hama... ...
VI.
candā bhi āye surajū bhī āye
VII.
are āye nau lakha tārā lāla hama... ...
VIII.
jalase mę nāce sukuvą̄ri maiyā
[jalase mę nāce (sukuvą̄ra daiyā)]
IX.
gokulā mę nāce kanhaiyā lala hama... ...
I.
At Nanda's home congratulatory music is being played;1
I have just heard and come, dear!
At Nanda's home...
II.
Where has your birth taken place, O Kṛṣṇa?2
III.
Where is the congratulatory music being played?
I have heard...
IV.
In Mathurā has your birth taken place, Oh Kṛṣṇa,3
V.
In Gokula the congratulatory music is being played.
I have heard...
VI.
The moon came and the sun also came;4
VII.
O, nine hundred thousand stars came.
I have heard...
VIII.
In the session the tender-limbed mother is dancing;
IX.
(And) in Gokula dances Kṛṣṇa.
I have heard...
7Line I. Cp. Grierson (J.R.A.S. 1884: 233).
1Here there may be some confusion as to which is the refrain, ‘at Nanda's home...’ or ‘I have heard...’. In fact it is customary in singing to take either half first, and so the lines may be sung in this way also: ‘ham suni ke āye - Nanda ghara bāje badhaiyā, lāla ham suni ke āye’.
This is also the case with many other songs.
This is also the case with many other songs.
2Kanhaiyā, colloquial, diminutive form of Kṛṣṇa.
3This is obviously a reference to Kṛṣṇa's birth in a prison in Mathurā and his being taken away immediately to be brought up with the foster-father Nanda in Gokula. This also makes it possible for the foster-mother in Gokula to be dancing in the celebration of the child's birth. In the variant ‘sukuvą̄ra daiyā’, however, the meaning is ‘in the session the tender-limbed father is dancing’. See line VIII.
4As deities.
