Songs of Kabir (New York Review Books Classics)

I first read Robert Bly's adaptations of Tagore's translations years ago. I still like that little book but was pleased to find The Bijak of Kabir translated by Linda Hess and Shukdev Singh. That is an excellent book: scholarly and accessible. I later found The Mystic Songs of Kabir translated by G.N. Das, which is bilingual. Also, Kabir by Prabhakar Machwe which has some translations but is part of the Makers of Indian Literature series and tries to give the "essentials" about Kabir.So why bother with another book of translations? Well, besides the flippant that one can never have enough Kabir, I knew Arvind Krishna Mehrotra was the editor of Arun Kolatkar, a poet I admire, and I wanted to see what his translations sounded like. I found a very lively voice which makes Kabir sound very contemporary. Not just in his thought but the very words that Mehrotra used. At first, I was surprised that dreadlocks and thugs showed up in Kabir, but then I realized that Mehrotra was introducing a Kabir that is still alive in modern India. Not many poets can claim an actual cult that has lasted five hundred years, sainthood, or that their poems can be recited by various members of today's society (not just scholars). No wonder Mehrotra makes him so current.I also thought that Mehrotra's commentaries after some of the poems helped explain the imagerywhich is not always clear (Kabir lived roughly the same time as Villon whom scholars are still trying to figure out). I certainly recommend this book to any readers who wish to enjoy Kabir's thought. Mehrotra starts the book with Kabir's upside-down poems, which really sets the tone for the rest of the book. Overall, the Americanese that Wendy Doniger mentions in her preface makes Kabir accessible to us in these times we live in.

Kabir was one of the greatest poets in history. Relatively unknown in the west, he is revered in India by both Muslims and Hindu for his great insight into human nature and the relationship of humanity to God.

Excellent translation- words flow easily to the 21st century reader. Best version of Kabir’s poems I’ve read (says Kabir, of course).

"The songs of Kabir" is a small collection of translated poems accompanied by two informative introductions.The problem with reading a translation is self-evident: the essence of expression is necessarily altered.I would suggest that translators and their publishers provide a link where the reader can listen to a talented speaker recite some of the verses in the original language. While this will not match the experience of a native speaker, it will assist in conveying a sharper sense of the poet's work.This selection emphasizes Kabir's use of upside -down, topsy-turvy, language to present puzzle like revelations which are open to interpretation. Basically, Kabir's "astonishing sights" are listings of images which we would not normally regard as real in the physical world-- "fish spawning in the treetops"--but which have the effect of enlarging the scope of what is real.Kabir's intent is to wake us to a reality which we do not normally notice:"But I am wasting my timeSays Kabir.Even death's bludgeonAbout to crush your headWon't wake you up."The translator employs modern slang and references to convey a sense of Kabir's insights. Some of the expressions used are not really translations; they are interjections construed to add a contemporaryreference for the modern reader, to make the old, new:"To tonsured monks and dreadlocked RastasTo idol worshippers and idol smashers,To fasting Jains and feasting ShaivitesTo Vedic pundits and Faber poets...":Kabir urges the ultimate reality of Rama; in effect, all of the material world is not material:"Parents,children, wife,You'll leave them behind.You must be mad says KabirNot to sing of Rama."Some may regard it as amusing that in an era where poets are disregarded, Kabir's voice yetasserts the primacy of verse and devotion. I would argue that these translated poemsare at least as interesting as the average app for a new gadget.

Toilet paper

Kabir was never more accessible. In this reading, the Introduction and Preface give insight into who Kabir might have been and what he left us in words that long for union with God. So glad not to have an e-book version of these precious odes which in Merodha's interpretation are calls to action. Very inspiring and well-organized selection.

This is a book full of wisdom. One can read only two or three pages at a time and learn a lot. The English translation is very well done.

The translator presents her collection of Kabir in English as sort of a lifetime's personal project and it shows in having Gerard Manley Hopkins from the 19th century as an epigraph to a Kabir poem (centuries earlier) and not real organization to the sections by theme, and notes at the bottom that should have been end notes. Robert Bly's translations are better, and Bly is a master English poet, which is why his poems present and explosive radical spirit, and poems in English to live with. I am glad however for these two: "To each is own, Kabir says. / I've thrown my lot in with Rama." (Awesome, and well said in contemporary English).

Making centuries-old poetry written in a distantly related language seem relevant to contemporary English-speakers is a tough challenge indeed. Mehrotra has succeeded brilliantly.The book itself is also well-designed.