No Matter the Way Be Unknown

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For a lyrical recital of the poem, click here.

No Matter the Way Be Unknown

Poem in Hindi, by Mahadevi Verma

English Translation by Vinay Dharwadker

The Chhayavaad Generation: An era of Neo Romanticism in Hindi literature, particularly poetry. Spans a period around 1914 – 38.

Features: an upsurge of romantic and humanist content; renewed sense of the self and personal expression; leaning towards themes of love and nature; individualistic reappropriation through mysticism expressed in a subjective voice.

The Chhayavaad poets had a twin message: to others, they urged the need to hold on to a goal, whatever be the agony in the path towards it; about themselves, they also had the same message, to hold on to a goal. But for them, the goal was clear – to reach the presence of God. 

Mahadevi Verma (1907 – 87) is one of the four pillars of the movement, the others being Jaishankar Prasad, Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala', Sumitranandan Pant. Her poem ‘Nihar’ (Mist) is recognized as a notable work in this movement.

She is best known as an outstanding Hindi poet, and was a freedom fighter, woman's activist and educationist from India. She is widely regarded as the "modern Meera" (where she is compared to Meera Bai, the 16th century Hindu mystic poet).  Her prose writings too have been recognized as unique in Hindi literature.

She was the Principal, and then the Vice-Chancellor of Prayag Mahila Vidyapeeth, a woman's residential college in Allahabad. She was awarded India's highest literary award, for lifetime achievement, the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 1979, followed by the Jnanpith Award in 1982. She was the recipient of the Padma Bhushan in 1956 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1988.

The Original (Hindi)


No Matter the Way Be Unknown
no matter the way be unknown, the spirit solitary
no matter darkness, like the new moon’s enshroud
in kohl-touched tears today wash this gathered cloud
other eyes do not cry –
pupils lightless, lashes dry-
amidst a hundred lightnings here
lamplight danced, although this gaze was watery.

others’ may be the feet that retreat;
others’ that leave resolve to thorns and own defeat-
these feet that measure immortality,
pledged to pain, incensed with creativity,
by their propagation will secure
in darkness dawn’s golden tapestry.

others’ will be the biography whose elements
will merge with nothingness in dust its monument
that on which destruction falls today
I walk on everyday,
a continuum on pearls,
a fete of sparks, jubilant, feiry.

even if you send an embassy of laughter,
of spring, that makes the leaf-fall-dark of angry
forehead softer-
you will find this breast unflustered,
anguish-water, dreams’ lotuses clustered;
know this unity in solitude
in separation is binary:
no matter the way be unknown, the spirit solitary.

The idea of the poem in a nutshell

The poem is the narration of a solitary walker, treading upon unknown paths. It contrasts the speaker with others, who retreat from the path amidst adversity and defeat. The speaker's feet measure immortality, and has the touch of creativity. Be it pain or laughter, the solitary walker is not affected. It is like the unity of the binaries - the water of misery in which are the clusters of lotuses. At the end of this solitary walk through unknown ways, these two join as a unity. 

Analysing the poem:

no matter the way be unknown, the spirit solitary

no matter darkness, like the new moon’s enshroud

in kohl-touched tears today wash this gathered cloud

other eyes do not cry –

pupils lightless, lashes dry-

amidst a hundred lightnings here

lamplight danced, although this gaze was watery.

The poem speaks of a journey. The traveller is all alone. The path is unknown, and it is a stormy night. But the tears in her eyes wash off this darkness. Unlike certain others who do not cry and have no light in their eyes, the solitary traveller sees a light dancing, through her watery gaze, with the help of a hundred lightnings. This lamplight that dances before her shows her the way. 

 others’ may be the feet that retreat;

others’ that leave resolve to thorns and own defeat-

these feet that measure immortality,

pledged to pain, insensed with creativity,

by their propagation will secure

in darkness dawn’s golden tapestry.

There are travellers who go back from their journey; their resolve to move on is dropped when they face failures in their mission, or thorns on the path. But for the solitary traveller, her feet moves to eternity. She is committed to move on amidst pain. Her steps become creative and at the end of this darkness she comes out with the golden tapestry of dawn.

 others’ will be the biography whose elements

will merge with nothingness in dust its monument

that on which destruction falls today

I walk on everyday,

a continuum on pearls,

a fete of sparks, jubilant, feiry.

Those who have dropped their onward journey will have nothing to record of their lives. But the solitary traveller has a life which is victorious and vigourous, bringing her rewards of pearls.

 even if you send an embassy of laughter,

of spring, that makes the leaf-fall-dark of angry forehead softer-

you will find this breast unflustered,

anguish-water, dreams’ lotuses clustered;

know this unity in solitude

in separation is binary:

no matter the way be unknown, the spirit solitary.

Changes of seasons will not affect the solitary traveller. The misery of autumn (fall) may be followed by the laughter of spring. Travel through the waters of pain will take her on, with a vision of clustered lotuses – her ultimate goal to be united with the divine. Her travel and her goal remain as two separate entities: like the water of anguish and the cluster of lotuses. But it will be united at the end, when the solitary traveller becomes one with the divine.

The Revolutionary, Devout Female

Mahadevi Verma's poem fits in well with the Chhayavaad note. The mention of kohl may indicate the traveller to be a woman; hence the poem can be taken as a philosophical reflection of the poet herself. In the Indian context of her age, it is strange to think of a woman travelling alone, especially at night. She doesn't hide the pain and misery on the way. The difficulties have made her eyes wet with tears. But her goal, to be united with the divine, has inspired her to move on till she reaches the goal. 

The beauty of contrasts

Right from the start, there is a note of contrast:

  • The journey for the solitary narrator has a goal, but the way is unknown.
  • She contrasts herself with some other travellers: her tears turn out to be a lamp in her path, but their eyes are lightless. They drop their journey when they face difficulties, but her travel reaches the goal at dawn.
  • Her travel has a note of adventure and victory, but the history of others is not worthy enough to be recorded.
  • The travel may be through contrasting seasons, of spring or autumn.
  • The journey is through waters of anguish, but the goal is a cluster of lotuses.
  • The contrast ends when the solitary traveller becomes one with the divine.  

The English Translation

The poem is translated from Hindi to English by Vinay Dharwadker. 

Dharwadker was born in Pune in 1954, and was educated at St Stephen’s College, Delhi University, and the University of Chicago. He has authored a book of poems, and has involved as editor of anthologies and collections. He has published translations of modern Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Punjabi poetry, as well as essays on literary theory, translation studies and Indian English literature.

The English translation of the poem stays closer to conventions of the source language.  Hindi. The translator has brought in a pattern of rhyming which marks the end of each section: “watery – tapestry – feiry – solitary”. This attempts to bring in a natural rhyming pattern that relates to the system followed in the original. The translation is mostly line-by-line. This, and the attempt to follow the metrical conventions of the original helps to connect the translation with the original. The native user of English may find the flow of ideas and arrangement of words to be slightly strange. However, the translator sticks to a method where the translation is closer in style to the original than the target language. 

Through this translation, a brilliant specimen of Indian poetry, noted for its features such as philosophical loftiness, model of the Chayavaad, and representative of the elevated female mind of the land, is thrown open to the world. 


Prepared by
Jacob Eapen Kunnath

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