In his time and ours
|
Omar Khayyam, the man, seen in fresh light
|
Omar Khayyamana
Padyagalu
By Dr. N. Jagadish
Koppa
Ladayi Prakashana, Gadag,
Rs. 50
Omar Khayyam is no
stranger to Kannada
readers. We have had
writers like D.V. Gundappa
and Govinda Pai rendering
the rubayat
(quatrains) of the great 11th
Century Persian Sufi poet
and philosopher in a stylised,
pre-modern Kannada.
More recently, S. Balu Rao
has translated them directly
from Persian, with an accent
on being faithful to the original
text.
Jagadish Koppa has chosen
to do a free-wheeling
translation of Khayyam, by
retaining the spirit of each
quatrain, but not its fourline
format. This mode of
translation, he says, is an effort
to "directly reach the
hearts of this generation of
readers in simple Kannada".
The translator, who is
himself a poet, achieves this
goal quite successfully. The
51 translated poems (he
does not call them "rubayat",
having changed the
format) make for an easy
and accessible reading. For a
reader already familiar with
Khayyam, there are no sparkling
new interpretations
and surprises, though.
The more interesting part
of the book is the elaborate
introduction Jagadish
writes to the slim volume,
placing Khayyam in two
contexts: that of his own
time in 11th Century Persia
and of our time marked by
religious animosity. Not
many of us, whose knowledge
of Khayyam begins and
ends with rubayat, know
that he was a renowned
mathematician, philosopher,
astronomer and scientist.
He is recognised as the
author of one of the most
important treatises on algebra
before modern times
and as a man who introduced
some radical reforms
in the calendar system. The
immense popularity of
Ruyayyat, thanks to Edward
Fitzgerald's translations in
19th Century, have virtually
eclipsed his significant
works in all other areas. Jagadish's
introduction gives
us a more rounded picture
of Khayyam.
Jagadish also places him
in a tradition of religious
movements that rebelled
against orthodoxy, be it Sufi
sects or the Vachana movement
in Kannada. He says
that these approaches to religion
did not negate the value
of human life in this
world, in pursuit of the other-
worldly. Interestingly, as
Jagadish points out, the
genesis of Vachana movement
in Karnataka roughly
coincides with the times of
Khayyam. These inclusive
traditions, he says, hold a
special relevance to us in
these times marked by
intolerance.
Unclear
What could have added to
the value of this book is a
more elaborate note on the
chosen mode of translation.
Jagadish acknowledges
Fitzgerald's English translation
as the source and says
that he is also indebted to
earlier translations into
Kannada. But it is not clear
if his primary source was
Fitzgerald alone, or also other
renderings into English,
especially because the English
poet's translation has
often been criticised as reflecting
more of the translator,
and less of Khayyam
himself.
BAGESHREE S.
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