Night Poem by Kesav Venkat Easwaran
Night
Rig Veda Translation by Ralph T.H. Griffith, (1896) , at sacred-texts.com
Introductory:
Prof. Ralph Thomas Hotchkin Griffith (1826-1906) was a Scholar of Indology. He held the position of Principal at the Benares College in British India. He translated the Vedic Scriptures in Sanskrit into English language.
I am glad to reproduce here Griffith’s translation of the 127th hymn of Chapter 10 of Rig Veda-titled Night- adding my explanatory notes, for the benefit of serious readers who are interested in the wisdom beauty and truth of Vedic Scriptures
Vedic Hymns are considered to be compiled by some disciples of certain 'Maha Rishis' (Great Perceptors) who ‘perceived’ numerous Rays of Knowledge in their 'Tapas' (Brain Storming Meditations) back some 5000 years. Therefore, these hymns are the property of the entire world
Night
1. With all her eyes the Goddess Night looks forth approaching many a spot:
She hath put all her glories on.
2. Immortal, she hath filled the waste; the Goddess hath filled height and depth:
She conquers darkness with her light.
3. The Goddess as she comes hath set the Dawn her Sister in her place:
And then the darkness vanishes.
4. So favour us this night, O thou whose pathways we have visited
as birds their nest upon the tree.
5. The villagers have sought their homes, and all that walks and all that flies,
even the falcons fain for prey.
6. Keep off the she-wolf and the wolf, O Urmya, keep the thief away;
easy be thou for us to pass.
7. Clearly hath she come nigh to me who decks the dark with richest hues:
O Morning, cancel it like debts.
8. These have I brought to thee like kine. O Night, thou Child of Heaven,
accept this laud as for a conqueror.
Explanatory Notes:
1. All her eyes- the comprehensive coverage night provides
2. Notice the wisdom and beauty in the expression ‘waste’. ‘All that is bad’ is implied.
Night has its own light- ‘the knowledge’ it provides
4. Notice the bird analogy there - beautiful and true
6. The wolves-The evil arising out of both sexes.
Urmya- Light current
Thief- Temptation
7. Cancel like debt- every dawn calls for fresh action
Hours days and months- these are all measures of time, we 'cut to size' according to our convenience. What are the basic measures of Time Immortal?
Dawn and Dusk- together they tear a leaf out of every life as the Wheel rotates. This knowledge of the ancestors is well enlightened in this hymn.
May 11th 2009
Dear Easwaran Sir, You are doign a qwonderful job by bringing out wonderful creations of our great sages, what they have experienced si conveyed thorugh veda's to the younger generastions and so on.... It is a pity that we dont know our values as we often ahve to listen to some on else to know the greatness of our literatures and science. In the name of so many phobies we prefer to ignore the great works of our ancestors who gave us a great culture and civilization that we often boast off with out knowing any thing what is init. You are doing a commetable work by bringing out beautiful thoughts of out Rishi's well done and looking foreward for more such excavations. Pranams Satheesan Rangorath
Thanks for coming up with such beautiful chapters from our epics... coincidently only today i ws having this conversation with someone about 'Light and Darkness'. thank you very much fr enlighting us with such pieces..
Kesav, your Vedic Hymn gave me much thought. The Goddess of Night is a force for good, yet to western eyes, dark is thought as full of evil thoughts, and light as full of truth. Because of this many children grow up with a fear of darkness. I prefer to think I have the Goddess of the Night to look over me. A lovely hymn. thank you. I have kept a copy. Bob
deep, the inner passion of man's feeling of creation, world..... and the maker of everything that exist.... a reflection of emotion and faith of where the fate of every creature destined... unending relationship between a powerful being and man ...all of what is being reveals is just a finger tips of what the Vedic scripture foretold....a 10++++++
thanks for translating this extraordinary discription of night.i is a wonderful imagination and the reality merged into one.
Thank you Kesav for this very educative and brilliant translation of the sacred texts of the Rig-veda..The Goddess of the Night conquers darkness with her Light - is both illuminating and thought-provoking.. I take it to my favourites as it is a piece that needs to be read and re-read often...10+++++
This is written very well and has enormous depth. It makes the reader stop and think. A '10! ' Kesav. Great job! Best Wishes, Marilyn
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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6/6/2024 8:37:50 AM # 1.0.0.1119
In my opinion, this is true for this planet, the ancients' only perspective on such matters. Time, is a relative being, only 'captured' when we apply constraints. Time is more appropriately called 'Space-Time, ' since they coexist. Our planet dents the fabric of space-time and thus certain physical laws arise, time being one. This is a beautiful hymn, yet another attempt to explain the world and our existence.