DBNL . Usharbudh Arya, Ritual songs and folksongs of the Hindus of Surinam

16 Telvān2 [Paramaribo, 1967]

I.
ke na more bovale rā̈ī sarasöiyā ke na ho perāve karavā tela ho
II.
kekare kakahiyā maį mą̄ga są̄vāraų kekare sędure suhāg
III.
bābā more bovale rā̈ī sarasöiyā mātā perāve karavā tela ho
IV.
bhäujī kakahiyā maį mą̄ga savāraų harijī ke sędure suhāga.
 
(prabhujī ke...)

Who (among)3 my (relatives) sowed the rāī4 mustard and who presses the bitter5 oil?

II.

With whose comb shall I part my hair (and) through whose vermilion the suhāg6 (shall come to me)?

[p. 65]

III.

My father sowed the rāī mustard and mother has the oil pressed.

IV.

I shall part my hair with (my) bhäujī's1 comb, and through glorious hari's2 vermilion the suhāg (shall come to me).

2De Klerk mentions the telvān only in connection with hardī and cumāvan ('51: 145) of the bride. He has missed the ceremony before the worship of the drum (p. 138) in which the näunī oils and parts the hair of the mother of the bride or the bridegroom and places vermilion (sindūr) in the parting. In the absence of the näunī, a woman relative may perform the action. The same may also be done at the maṭkor spot (d.Kl. p. 139).

3na in the text appears to be only metri causa.

4A sort of black mustard.

5Kaṛvā tel, the usual term for mustard oil.

6The marital auspiciousness and good luck. The vermilion in the parting of the hair is the symbol of suhāg.

1Brother's wife. Because she is a suhāgin, the lady blessed with marital fortune, the comb that makes the parting in her hair would magically bring the same auspiciousness to the singer.

2Hari, Lord Viṣṇu, or prabhu, God and master - the husband. It is he who is the agent of the marital status, hence his vermilion brings the suhāg.