''Bhanusimha Thakurer Padabali'' (, ; lit. ''The Songs of Bhanushingho Thakur'') is a collection of

Vaishnava Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, '' Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along wit ...

lyrics composed in

Brajabuli Brajabuli (), is an artificial literary language popularized by the Maithili poet Vidyapati. His Brajabuli lyrics about the love for Radha Krishna is considered to his best of works. Other poets emulated his writing, and the language became estab ...

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

. It was published in 1884. These lyrics, which were earlier brought out in several issues of ''Bharati'' magazine, were first anthologized in 1884. Later, Tagore described composing these songs in his reminiscences ''Jiban Smriti''. Rabindranath Tagore wrote his first substantial poems titled Bhanusimha Thakurer Padabali in

under the pseudonym Bhānusiṃha at age sixteen. The anthology has 22 songs out of which only nine exists in ''Swarabitan'' (Vol. XXI), collection of notations of Tagore's music.

Background

Young Tagore was attracted to the Maithili poems collected in ''Prachin Kavya Samgraha'', edited by

Akshay Chandra Sarkar Akshay Chandra Sarkar () –was a poet, an editor and a literary critic of Bengali literature. Biography He was born at Kadamtala, Chinsurah, headquarters of Hooghly District of Bengal in British India on 11 December 1846. He died on 2 Oct ...

and Sarada Charan Mitra. From Sarkar he learned of

Thomas Chatterton Thomas Chatterton (20 November 1752 – 24 August 1770) was an English poet whose precocious talents ended in suicide at age 17. He was an influence on Romantic artists of the period such as Shelley, Keats, Wordsworth and Coleridge. Alth ...

, “a young boy who used to imitate the ancient poets”. Inspired by this example, Tagore prepared himself to be a “second Chatterton”. The first song "Gahana Kusumakunja-majhe" was probably composed in 1877. No manuscript survives, except of the song "Gabhir Needame Abasha Shyama Mama", which was probably written in

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

in 1878. It is difficult to put these songs in chronological order. Some songs, like "Marana Re, Tunhu Mama Shyamasamana", "Ko Tunhu Bolabi Moye" and "Aaju Sakhi Muhu Muhu" were composed much later. ''Bhanusimha Thakurer Padavali'' was published on 1 July 1884. It was dedicated to

Kadambari Devi Kadambari Devi ( born Matangini Gangopadhyay; 5 July 1859 – 21 April 1884) was the wife of Bengali playwright, musician, editor and painter Jyotirindranath Tagore, daughter-in-law of Debendranath Tagore and sister-in-law of Rabindranath Tag ...

, Tagore's sister-in-law who was eager to see the poems published, but committed suicide in 1883.

Theme

The ''Bhanusimha'' poems chronicle the romance between

Radha Radha (, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. In scriptures, Radha is mentioned as the avatar of Lakshmi and also as the Prak� ...

and

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

which is a traditional theme of Indian poetry. The poet sought connection with divinity through appeal to nature and the emotional interplay of human drama. He repeatedly revised the poems over the following seventy years.Stewart & Twichell 2003, p. 95Stewart & Twichell 2003, p. 7 Song VIII of ''Bhanusimha Thakurer Padavali'':

Songs

''Bhanusimha Thakurer Padavali'' has 22 songs altogether, which includes: *"Boshonto aoulo re" ("বসন্ত আওল রে") *"Shunoho shunoho balika" ("শুনহ শুনহ বালিকা") *"Hridoyoko shadh mishaolo hridoye" ("হৃদয়ক সাধ মিশাওল হৃদয়ে") *"Shyam re, Nipoto kothino mon tour" ("শ্যাম রে, নিপট কঠিন মন তোর") *"Sajani sajani radhika lo" ("সজনি সজনি রাধিকা লো") *"Bodhua, hiya 'por ao re" ("বঁধুয়া, হিয়া 'পর আও রে") *"Shuna shokhi, bajoto bashi" ("শুন সখি, বাজত বাঁশি") *"Gohono kushumokunjo-majhe" ("গহন কুসুমকুঞ্জ-মাঝে") *"Shotimiro rojoni, shochokito shojoni" ("সতিমির রজনী, সচকিত সজনী") *"Bojao re mouhan bashi" ("বজাও রে মোহন বাঁশি") *"Aju shokhi, muhu muhu" ("আজু সখি, মুহু মুহু") *"Shyam, mukhe tobo modhur odhorome" ("শ্যাম, মুখে তব মধুর অধরমে") *"Shojoni ga" ("সজনি গো") *"Badoroborokhono nirodogorojono" ("বাদরবরখন নীরদগরজন") *"Modhobo, na koho adorobani" ("মাধব, না কহ আদরবাণী") *"Shokhi lo, shokhi lo, nikoruno Madhob", ("সখি লো, সখি লো, নিকরুণ মাধব") *"Bar bar shokhi, baron koronu" ("বার বার সখি, বারণ করনু") *"Hom jobo na robo shojoni" ("হম যব না রব সজনী") *"Morono re" ("মরণ রে") *"Ko tuhu boulabi mouye" ("কো তুঁহু বোলবি মোয়") *"Shokhi re, pirit bujhobe ke" ("সখিরে, পীরিত বুঝবে কে") *"Hom shokhi darido nari" ("হম সখি দারিদ নারী") The last song (that's in Swarabitan (no. 21) "Sundori Radhe Aowe Boni" (সুন্দরি রাধে আওয়ে বনি") was written by poet Govindadas. Rabindranath composed the tune and later Indira Devi added the notations.

References

External links

''Bhanusimha Thakurer Padabali'' in Bengali on Wikisource
{{authority control Poetry collections by Rabindranath Tagore Rabindra Sangeet Bengali-language literature Bengali poetry collections 1884 poems 1884 books