Upendra Bhanja. Image credit- Wikipedia.org

Trans. from the Odia original by: Amrita Chowdhury & Ujaan Ghosh

CANTO ONE

Glory, glory, glory to Rama,ⁱ
who made Janak content,
who is well-versed
in granting delight to Shiba,
whose arms forever grace the sword.

And his face, which has no parallel,
bears all the signs of beauty.
He who is endlessly praised by gods,
the poet will never be able
to paint with words. 

He who has vanquished his mightiest foe,
upturned his royal parasol and left
his kingdom in woe,
whose radiance exceeds the thousand rays of the Sun
who had filled the monkey clan with joy
it is to his lotus feet,
this mind of mine, of Bhanja Birabara,
like a bee, remains devoted. [1-6]

The mellow tune of this song adds to its beauty
and rhetoric adds to its form.
Those who listen to its sounds will be enchanted.
Those who understand its words will relish it.

Keeping in mind that the letters ‘ra, ra, la’
are considered similar in the rules of grammar,
for goodness and in clear conscience,
I compose this song.

If explained, even the stupid
can understand its emotions.
But to the wicked,
it will taste like a mango
tastes to a donkey.

The bee’s leftover is cherished at par
with the nectar adored by gods,
so will the erudite cherish this.

This sweet composition will
enamor your minds.
O’ the erudite, with your ears,
drink its essence. [7-13]

One day in Kailash,
Gauri was sitting alone,
happily playing pasha by herself,
when from her consciousness,
was strangely born
a girl whose beauty was unequalled
in all three worlds.

The mother of the world had wished
and this ethereal beauty was born,
how can it go to waste?
The one born of Uma,
how can one praise?

Like a pearl born from an oyster,
she has been born from her wishes
and duly named Banchabati.
Thence, together they sat and played. |14-18|

At this time, Parbati heard
the thunderous beat of the kettle-drum
and sorrow filled her mind,
“If Shiba’s eyes fell on this beautiful one,
his love for me will be destroyed
but it will be wrong to destroy
even a poisonous tree
that one has sown.

Alas, this world is but
 a place for our play.
She must remain in a dense forest
for a while, and in her next life,
relish a man’s company.”  |19-22|

She ordered a secondary goddess
who took her to a dense forest
and built her a house.
Keeping her inside, she said,
“You will perish
 as soon as you cross the threshold.

The man who accepts your hand
will become your husband
after he gets your body.”
Saying this, she disappeared
Banchabati remained in that enchanted house. |23-26|

A year passed by…
A young Kshatriya named Prabhakar
was maintaining austerities
to acquire the greatest of women.

In summer, he withstood the five fires.
In monsoon, he forsook his house
and withstood wind, rain and hail.
In winter, he dipped in the waters
and slept naked on earth.

Every day, he would worship an image of Shiba.
All his good deeds began to accumulate,
and he grew restless
to glimpse the lord of Kedar. |27-30|

He traveled to the inaccessible forest,
where he saw a bejeweled house
and wondered,
“The male celestial singer or the female
who is it that resides here?”

He spotted a woman in the courtyard.
Her smile belittled
the radiance of the moon.
Her eyes moved like deer
and her eyebrows arched like bows.

Her nose shamed the parrot,
the girth of her waist, the lion cub
and her lips, the rising sun.

“Does she have no bad quality?”
He wondered,
“A glimpse of her is equal
to the attainment of the heavenly pleasures.”

Her feminine form lingered on his eyes.
He thought of the graceful one as his beloved.
His wagtail like eyes remained on her.

He kept chanting Rama but in plural
and felt Mara’sⁱⁱ rage
in the middle of his being
with his arrows striking him there
as if with an intent to kill. |31-39|

Thus, he prayed to him,
“I want Rati
but you think I desire your wife.ⁱⁱⁱ
Is it why you have become my enemy?
You don’t seem to know
your way around the lexicon.
For, even a word like Bidhu has multiple meanings
such as moon, camphor and Bishnu." |40|

At this moment, she glanced at him.
It was like one who is born blind
had suddenly acquired sight.
Her thighs quivered with passion
and the hairs on her body
stood up like the kadamba’s petals.

Her eyes quickly reeled in his love
like a fishhook reels in a fish.
The one with beautiful braids
now became a fisherwoman,
as she pulled his gaze towards her bosom
and kept it with herself
like a fish is kept in a basket. |41-43|

He folded his palms and addressed her,
“O, the tender hearted one
who is replete with rasa,
shower your kindness on me.
You whose body glows like burnt gold
I have only met
having maintained my austerities.

Please blossom your smile
and fulfill my desires.
Weakened, enfeebled and troubled,
am I
by the arrows of Madan
O, the one with slanting glances,
attend to my prayer
and offer me protection.” |44-47|

She made her acceptance
known through her glances.
The rasik, in turn,
understood his rasika’s desires.

The one who bears the bow and arrows of flower
now searched for the young lovers
who had met in that solitary place.
His arrows that had many targets,
now were aimed only at their hearts.

Desiring his company,
the passionate one with a slender waist
approached him.
Fate had stopped the beautiful one
from crossing the threshold,
but she disregarded it in her passion
to hold him in her embrace. |48-54|

As she kissed his lotus face
with her sun-like lips,
life left her being.
Seeing her in this state,
he began blowing air unto her ears.

He cried, “Alas! I must witness her die
before my death.”
As tears drenched his face,
an oracle sounded, 
“O, jewel amongst men,
leap into the point
where Ganga meets the sea.
You will be reborn as a prince
and she will be your wife.
Don’t cremate her body,
leave her as it be.”

Taking solace from these words,
he proceeded to Banga,
and jumped into Gangasagar. |55-60|

There was a great city named Kanchi
in the land of Karnat.
There was a king named Shashishekar
and his chief queen was named Shashirekha.
Together, they observed many vows
to beget a son
and pleased the Lord of Kashi.

Thence, her belly began growing
like a taintless moon in the sky.

The son thus born
had the calmness of the moon
and the radiance of the Sun
and was fittingly named Chandrabhanu.

He was akin to Brahma
when it came to the Bedas and Bedanta.
He was akin to Shib in grammar
and to Narad in music.
He was akin to Kama in Kamashastra
and to Ganesh in poetry.

He was akin to Brihaspati in jyotish,
to Surya in horse-riding
and to Bhairab in speed.
 He was akin to Arjun in archery
and to Bhim with the mace.

He was as generous as Karna
and as impassioned as the Kuru king.
He was as mighty as Bali
and as dharmic as Yudhishthir
but none could compare to his beauty.

He became a close friend
to the minister’s son Gunanidhi,
the astrologer’s son Basantak,
the merchant’s son Purandar
and the pandit’s son Rutudhwaj.
Day and night,
the four never left his company. |61-70|

O, the beautiful Rama and Krushna
bedecked with the peacock feather,
O, Radhapati whose
beautiful smile destroys sins,
fulfill the wish
of Birobar Upendra Bhanja
that this song will be complete. |71-72|

Note:

This translation is the first canto of Kabi Samrat Upendra Bhanja’s Labanyabati. The poem narrates the romance of the Karnat prince Chandrabhanu and the Ceylonese princess Labanyabati. Some scholars believe that it was the poet’s homage to Sri Harsha’s Naishadacharit as it bears a semblance to its structure of the lovers’ meeting, their separation through divine intervention and their ultimate reunion.

This canto is particularly significant in its evaluation of Hinduism’s philosophical and religious traditions. Here, he interprets two important stories from the Skanda Puran. The first, taken from the Kedar Kanda, is about Shiba and Parbati playing a game of dice which had a significant bearing on the world. Here, he depicts Parbati creating a woman to play the game with her. However, as soon as she hears Shiba approach, she becomes aware of the cosmic consequences. The second is a reevaluation of the story of Ganesh’s birth. The more widespread variation acknowledges Bishnu’s assistance in his creation whereas there is another variant in which Parbati creates him by herself. After his birth, when Shiba enters his house, Ganesh refuses him. An enraged Shiba kills him and later restores his life. Upendra Bhanja retells this event in the story in the creation of Banchabati. However, he chooses the less popular variant. The goddess, wanting to stop the same cycle of events, removes her from harm and gives her to a secondary goddess.

That he tells a story of creation giving agency entirely to women centuries ago is rather remarkable. And it appears especially so when we see it in contrast to contemporary reinterpretations of epics which still carry the shortsightedness of colonial Hinduism. He provides an effective manual on how to retell older stories in socially responsible ways. It is both his deep knowledge about literature and his questioning mind, which preserves the older tales and makes him one who has transcended eras. His works will teach many aspiring poets and authors to critically engage while borrowing from within our traditions.

ⁱ The first two verses contain a simultaneous narration.  Displaying his literary finesse, Upendra Bhanja praises both Sri Rama and Parashurama. It speaks to multiple audiences at the same time. For example, Janaka sukhada can be interpreted for Rama, as pleasing the king Janak (by marrying Sita), and for Parashurama, as one who delighted his father (by killing his mother). Artaballabh Mohanty, in his commentary and edition of the text, argued that this verse simultaneously praises Balaram (who pleases the people).
 
ⁱⁱ Kamadeb
ⁱⁱⁱ Rati refers to desire, and is also the name of Kamadeb’s wife.