Suno Draupadi – English Translation of Pushyamitra Upadhyay Poem
Meta Description: Suno Draupadi is a powerful Hindi poem
on the theme of atrocities against women. It uses the disrobing of Draupadi in
the epic Mahabharata as the symbol for exploitation of women. In the background
of the Kolkata doctor murder case, it is imperative that everyone reads
Pushyamitra Upadhyay’s poem.
Digressing from Bollywood Translations with Suno
Draupadi
The Original Hindi Poem Suno Draupadi by Pushyamitra Upadhyay
Intent and effectiveness necessarily get
lost in translation, so I present Pushyamitra’s original work first.
Suno Draupadi! Shastra
uthalo ab Govind na aayenge…
Chhodo mehandi khadga
sambhalo
Khud hi apana cheer
bachalo
Dyut bichhaye baithe
Shakuni,
…Mastak sab bik
jayenge
Suno Draupadi! Shastra
uthalo ab Govind na aayenge…
Kab tak aas lagaogi
tum, bike hue akhbaron se
Kaisi raksha mang rahi
ho Duhshasan darbaron se
Swayam jo lajjaheen
pade hain
Ve kya laaj bachayenge
Suno Draupadi! Shastra
uthalo ab Govind na aayenge…
Kal tak keval andha
raja, ab goonga-behra bhi hai
Honth sil diye hain
janata ke, kanon par pehra bhi hai
Tum hi kaho ye anshru
tumhare,
Kisko kya samajhayenge?
Suno Draupadi! Shastra
uthalo ab Govind na aayenge
The English Translation of the Poem Suno Draupadi
Listen Draupadi! Take
up arms, now Govind will not come…
Leave the henna,
rattle the sword
You take on the
barbaric horde
In the game plan of
the Shakunis
… each head is sold
for a sum
Listen Draupadi! Take
up arms, now Govind will not come…
For how long will you
depend on editors who sell news for a dime
How can you expect
safety from governments that support crime
Your kith and kin
rendered impotent
How will they get you
freedom
Listen Draupadi! Take
up arms, now Govind will not come…
The rule was only
blind till now, it has become deaf and dumb
Our voices have been
gagged; our emotions have been made numb
Will these tears ever
fetch any sympathy
For your repeated
martyrdom?
Listen Draupadi! Take
up arms, now Govind will not come…
The Relevance of the References to the Epic Mahabharata in
Suno Draupadi
Pushyamitra’s poem includes explicit and
implicit allusions to the episode of the attempted disrobing of Draupadi in
King Dhritrashtra’s court. I have not been able to include all of them in my
translation because I did not want to dilute the tempo of the poem. However,
these references need to be recognised to understand their relevance even
today.
· ab Govind na aayenge: In the Mahabharata, Draupadi invoked Govind
to come to her rescue and he did. This facility is no longer available.
· cheer: Cheer refers to the end of the sari that Duhshasan pulled to try and
disrobe Draupadi.
· dyut bichhaye baithe Shakuni: The game of dice was rigged by Shakuni to
ensure Yudhishthir’s defeat. Today there are plans and procedures in place that
vitiate investigations and allow the perpetrators to go free.
·
Duhshasan
darbaron se: Duhshasan
literally translates as bad governance and this pun is used to describe the
administration of the day.
·
swayam
jo lajjaheen pade hain: The
Pandava brothers had already been staked and lost and were now slaves of
Duryodhana without any honour left. The same way, the family of the victim is
helpless, both in prevention of the atrocity or in procurement of justice.
·
kal tak
keval andha raja: This is a
reference to the bling king, Dhritrashtra
