Today is the 126th birth anniversary of one of the greatest of Mother India's sons - Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
Most of us know him for his participation in the freedom struggle: his work as a student in Pune, with "Abhinav-Bharat" and as a member of India House in England; inspiring Madan Lal Dhingra to assassinate Curzon Wyllie; heroic escape from the boat near Marseilles, France; his famous court case and the double life-imprisonment; life in Andaman; and all.
Many know him for working to remove social evils of untouchability by opening Patita-Pavana temples, and cafes for the Hindus of all castes.
And of course there are his eternal poems.
Let's look at one of his poems: "अनादि मी अनंत मी .."
It reminds us that the basic rasa in Savarkar's poetry was the veer-rasa.
The background of this poem is thus: Savarkar was kept in the solitary confinement at the infamous Cellular jail in Andamans. The treatment given to the prisoners was inhuman. To further torture him mentally, the jailor had given him a special cell. It was all dark and cold, with a small window. And the only scene visible from that window was of the gallows. The jailor was trying to tell Savarkar that only way out of here is through death. Notwithstanding any of these, his veer soul sang out :
अनादि मी अनंत मी अवध्य मी भला |
मारिल रिपु जगति असा कवण जन्मला ||ध्रु||
I have no beginning, no end. I cannot be killed. That enemy who would kill me is not yet born
अट्टहास करित जाई धर्मधारणी
मृत्युसीच गाठ घालू मी घुसे रणी
I shall enter the war field with a mighty laughter.
I shall enter the war field to fight the death itself.
अग्नि जाळी मजसी ना खड्ग छेदितो
भिउनी मला भ्याड मृत्यु पळत सुटतो
The fire cannot burn me, the sword cannot cut me.
The coward death runs away at my sight.
खुळा रिपु तया स्वये
मृत्युच्याच भीतीने भिववु मजसी ये ||१||
And this foolish enemy is trying to scare me by the fear of death !!
लोटी हिंस्र सिंहाच्या पंजरी मला
नम्र दाससम चाटिल तो पदांगुला
If you push me into the cage of a fierce lion, he will start licking my feat, like a slave.
कल्लोळी ज्वालांच्या फेकशी जरी
हटुनी भवति रचिल शीत सुप्रभावती
If you throw me in the flames of fire, they themselves will move away and a cool radiance will encircle me.
आण तुझ्या तोफाना क्रूर सैन्य ते
यंत्र तंत्र शस्त्र अस्त्र आग ओकते
Bring on your cannons, your fierce army, machinary, technology, or fire-throwing weapons -
हलाहला त्रिनेत्र तो
मी तुम्हासी तैसाची गिळुनी जिरवितो ||२||
Just like the trinetra (Lord Shiva) swallowed the deadly poison halaahala, I shall swallow you up and crush your arrogance.
...
On the birth anniversary of the veer, I pray to the God to give me the strength to be a veer like him in all the situations, to be as dedicated to the cause as he always was.
...
There have been so many politically motivated attempts to malign the name of this veer, even after independence. But he and his sacrifice has swallowed up the enemy and crushed their arrogance again and again.
His work, his fame is definitely अनंत.
And मारिल रिपु जगति असा कवण जन्मला ?
Where is the enemy who can kill the Savarkar-Spirit ?
...
स्वातंत्र्यवीर विनायक दामोदर सावरकर की जय !!
भारतमाता की जय !!
PS: The translation provided is based on my tiny knowledge. Kindly give liberal comments wherever a modification is required.
