“Lalan’s Songs” Translated by Averi Saha
From Bengali
I Where shall one run and seek refuge When devoured by the beast of the mind? I try to fasten it secure in rhyme But lo! It breaks free every time Rising with a ferocious roar Scares away my bird of mind. If one ends it before the End What beast can touch you, what fiend? As the dead cannot die another Death Immortality is such an end. Until this death, we are living corpses, So, with soul anchored at the master's feet, Like a moth drawn to the flame, Lalon is drawn to his doom. II The three frenzied come together by the river Don’t you go anywhere near, beware! Beware! One, overcome with madness Gives up his caste for the casteless, Then chanting the name of Hari Falls to dust and swoons. Don’t you go anywhere near, beware! Beware! Another, carries and pours away water In a half coconut shell, In the company of the tranced, you’ll surely get entranced, Mark my words. Don’t you go anywhere near, beware! Beware! Lalon dreads to utter The name of the possessed Choite, Nite, Adwayi Are the names He takes. Don’t you go anywhere near, beware! Beware!
Lalon, also known as Lalon Shah and Lalon Fakir and titled Fakir, was a prominent Bengali Baul saint, mystic, poet and social reformer.
