Singing to the Goddes s This page intentionally left blank Singing to the Goddess Poems to Kali and Uma from Benga l Rachel Fell McDermott OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRES S 2OO1 OXFORD Oxford Ne w York Athens Aucklan d Bangko k Bogot a Bueno s Aires Calcutt a Cape Town Chenna i Da r e s Salaam Delh i Florenc e Hon g Kong Istanbu l Karachi Kual a Lumpur Madri d Melbourn e Mexic o City Mumba i Nairobi Pari s Sa o Paulo Shangha i Singapor e Taipe i Toky o Toront o Warsa w and associated companies in Berlin Ibada n Copyright © 2001 by Rachel Fell McDermott Published by Oxford Universit y Press , Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 1001 6 Oxford i s a registered trademar k o f Oxfor d Universit y Press , Inc. All rights reserved. No par t of thi s publication may be reproduced , stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without th e prior permission of Oxfor d Universit y Press. Library of Congres s Cataloging-in-Publication Dat a McDermott, Rachel Fell. Singing to the goddess : poems to Kali and Uma from Bengal / Rachel Fel l McDermott. p. cm . Includes index. ISBN 0-19-513433-8—ISBN 0-19-513434-6 (pbk.) 1. Kali (Hind u deity)—Poetry. 2 . Parvati (Hindu deity)—Poetry . 3. Devotional poetry , Bengali—Translations into English. 1.Title . PK1714.5.E5 M33 7 200 0 891.4'4104083829452114—dc21 99-08818 9 135798642 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free pape r For Narendra Nath Bhattacaryy a and Minati Kar Sakta experts mentors friends This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments Singing t o the Goddess: Poems t o Kali an d Um a from Bengal derives its lifeblood fro m its muc h large r companio n volume , Mother o f My Heart, Daughter o f My Dreams: Kali an d Um a i n th e Devotional Poetry o f Bengal (Ne w York: Oxford Universit y Press, 2001). All of th e Sakt a poems excerpte d an d discusse d in th e latte r book, plus man y others , are presented i n ful l her e wit h minima l introduction s s o a s to create a n accessibl e antholog y tha t ca n b e used , especiall y fo r undergraduat e courses bu t als o fo r inspirationa l reading . Although al l o f th e peopl e who m I thanked in the larger book are in some ways responsible for this book as well, here I woul d lik e t o singl e ou t thos e whos e expertis e ha s been particularl y helpfu l t o me in the arduous but ultimatel y delightful task of translation. Institutionally, I a m indebte d t o Harvar d University—t o Professor s Joh n B . Carman an d Diana L. Eck, who supporte d and guided m e in spite of th e fac t tha t poetry to Kali is particularly relished by neither th e Sr i Vaisnava nor th e north In - dian Saiv a tradition—an d t o th e university' s Fran k Kno x Travelin g Fellowship . Other funding that enable d m e t o liv e in Calcutt a for two year s and to complet e my dissertatio n was provided b y th e Fulbright-Hay s Doctora l Dissertatio n Re - search Abroad grant and the Institut e of Internationa l Education Fulbrigh t award, both administere d in Calcutta by Dr. Uma Dasgupta and the offic e o f th e Unite d States Educational Foundation i n India , and by the Charlott e W Newcomb e Fel - lowship. To all of thes e granting agencies I am most grateful. In the year s since re - ceiving th e Ph.D. , during whic h I decided t o expan d th e projec t fro m a narro w emphasis upon the poetry o f Kamalakant a Bhattacarya to include all of th e poet s in th e 250-yea r literar y tradition, I extend warm thank s to Barnar d Colleg e for a travel stipen d an d t o Professo r Iren e Bloom , chair o f m y department , who gra - ciously allowed m e t o rus h off t o Calcutt a for ten day s each fall , partially to con - sult m y Sakt a poetr y mentor s durin g th e Kal i Puj a festivities . Mos t recently , the editors a t Oxford Universit y Press , especially Cynthia Read , Theodore Calderara , MaryBeth Branigan , and Nancy Hoaglan d deserve thanks for their shepherding of this book throug h th e various stages of publication . Special gratitude goes to Mar - garet Case for her super b job o f manuscrip t editing. But let me return t o the poetr y itself . My interes t began with my parents. I re- member a s a chil d at bedtim e listenin g to m y fathe r rea d ou t passage s fro m Th e Gospel o f Sri Ramakrishna. These included Sakta poems sung to th e sain t by his dis- ciples, which frequentl y sent him int o an ecstatic mood. I always wanted my father to ge t throug h thes e poetry excerpt s as fast a s possible. To me the y seemed ful l o f flowery Englis h an d inscrutabl e meanings; I wa s fa r mor e intereste d i n Rama - krishna's conversation s and jokes. Ramprasad an d Kamalakanta , in othe r words , were househol d names , and I thank my parents, and Swam i Nikhilananda's formal English translations, for introducing m e to them at such a young age. Although m y husband Scott views the Sakta poetry i n a light similar to that of Rachel the child, he has selflessly supporte d me an d this project, and much credi t for its completion belongs to him . In Calcutta , London, and Ne w York, I hav e had severa l mentors an d teachers, and the help of all of the m stand s behind and within th e lines of poetry containe d in thi s book. My Bengal i teacher s in Calcutt a in 1988-1990 , Kesabcandra Sarkar of th e Ramakrishn a Missio n Institut e of Cultur e an d Aditi Sen of th e American Institute of India n Studies, read with me , helped familiariz e me with th e elliptical style of th e eighteenth - t o nineteenth-century Sakt a poetry genre , and corrected my initial literal translations. Since 199 3 I have also received help an d advice, par- ticularly in decodin g languag e usage s and images not foun d in any dictionary, by Hena Basu in Calcutta, Professor Partha Mitter in London, and Professors Jeffrey J. Kripal and Clinton B. Seely in the United States. However, ther e are two scholars whose help towers above that of everyon e else, whose guidanc e and willingness to revie w an d correct m y work hav e been foun - dational t o whateve r succes s thes e Bengali-to-English translation s might hop e t o obtain. Professors Narendra Nat h Bhattacaryya of Calcutt a University an d Minat i Kar of Visvabharati University ar e intellectual giants in the fiel d o f Sakt a interpre- tation. From them I have learned as much about kindness as I have about the intri- cacies o f Goddess-centere d poetr y conventions , an d thi s boo k i s gratefull y an d fondly dedicate d to them . viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Contents Introduction Pathways to the Sakta Poetry: Sources, Precedents, and Influences 3 Poets for the Goddes s 7 Family Resemblances: Sakta Padavall as Bhakti Poetry 1 1 The Challenge s and Choices i n Designing an Anthology 1 2 Notes o n Transliteration,Translation, and Word Definition 1 4 The Poems Kali among the Corpses : Poems of Battl e 1 9 The Cosmi c Goddes s of Transformation 3 8 The Magician' s Daughter and Her Playfu l Deceptions 4 7 "What Kind of Mother Are You?" Cries of Complaint 52 Petitioning th e Compassionate 6 6 "Oh M y Mind!": Instructing the Sel f 7 6 Prioritizing Paths : Tantra, Devotion, and Ritua l 9 2 The Experienc e o f Kundalini Yog a 10 3 In Defiance of Deat h 11 8 Adoring the Daughter : Agamani and Vijay a Poem s for Uma 12 3 NOTES 153 A GUIDE TO SELECTED NAMES, TERMS, AND TEXTS 173 DISCOGRAPHY 181 INDEX OF POEMS BY AUTHOR AND FIRST LINE (ENGLISH) 183 INDEX OF POEMS BY AUTHOR AND FIRST LINE (BENGALI) 187 Photographs follow page 46 This page intentionally left blank Singing to the Goddes s This page intentionally left blank Introduction Pathways to the Sakt a Poetry: Sources, Precedents, and Influences The Bengal i schola r SasibhusanDasgupta, in commenting upo n th e Goddess-cen- tered devotiona l poetr y traditio n o f Bengal , onc e remarke d tha t althoug h i t was not surprisin g to fin d Uma , th e lovel y wif e o f Siva , softened and humanize d b y the touch o f devotion , the effect s o f tha t touch upo n Kal i were astonishing .