Poems by Subramania Bharati

Freely rendered into English.
By S. PREMA, B.A. (Hons)

(1)

FREEDOM

When will this thirst for freedom slake?
When will our love of slavery die?
When will our Mother’s fetters break?
When will our tribulations cease?

Wasn’t there another Bharat
Reared by our noble Aryan race?
Lead us, Aryan, to victory!
Is’t right we remain slaves?

Are famine and disease alone our share?
For whom, then, are the laurels and fruits?
Will you abandon us, your suppliants?
Can the mother cast her child aside?

Brave warrior! Aryan Lord!
Thou destroyer of the demon-race,
Where is your dharma? Isn’t yours the duty
To revive us, and chase Fear away?

(2)

INVOCATION TO FREEDOM

Mother, those that hungering seek thy grace

And offer to thee their life and love,
Howbeit consigned to dungeons here,
They’d qualify for a place in Heaven.

Those unvisited by your grace, Mother,
Must exult in being slaves;
Albeit inhabiting palaces,
They breathe the air of prison cells.

Winning your grace through heroic deeds
Many Western peoples now live a new life;
They’ve achieved all, being always ready
To make the supreme sacrifice.

Alas, born in a hapless land
Which remembers not the glories lost,
Knowing the power of your grace, Mother,
How best may I propitiate thee?

I call these Light! Nectar of the brave!
Preserver of the righteous!
Destroyer of suffering and deceit!
I call for the descent of your grace.

(3)

INDIAN REPUBLIC

Long live the Republic of Bharat!
Victory to the Republic of Bharat!

Thirty crores of people share
This commonwealth of ours;
A marvel Republic
Without an equal in the world.
Long live the Republic

Shall we see henceforth the greed
Of one man seizing another’s bite?
Shall one see unmoved
The spectacle of another’s pain?
Shall we revel in sensuality,
Or tolerate the selfish life?
Long live the Republic

Spacious fields and generous springs
Enrich this mighty land;
Plentiful is her gift of fruits,
Abundant the harvest of corn;
Numerous are the gifts,
Perennial the flow.
Long live the Republic

We shall now lay down the law
And die to preserve it–
We’ll rather send the world up in flames
Than suffer one man to starve.
Long live the Republic

This is what Lord Krishna said:
‘I live in all living things.’
Bharat will show the world the way
Of all attaining the Life Divine.
Long live the Republic

We are of the same caste and race,
We are children of Bharat all;
We are equal in law and stature,
And every one is Bharat’s King!
Long Live the Republic