Cilika: A Romantic Poetic Art

Cilika: A Romantic Poetic Art is the metrical Sanskrit rendering with English translation by Dr. Kshirod Chandra Dash (b.1954), the Akademi Award winning Sanskrit poet of India who is popular for his Sanskrit lyric Tarunyasatakam. He is an author, translator, research-visionary and literary critic who retired from Odisha Education Service as Head of the Department of Sanskrit, B.J.B Autonomous College (Utkal University), Bhubaneswar in the year 2012. Each of the translated stanzas of the Cilika portrays beauty and voices love for nature (external and internal), and captivates the heart of the audience. With numerous Sanskrit lyrical gems and patriotic songs published to his credit, his Sanskrit-translation of Gandhiji's autobiography Mama Satya-prayoga-katha is a noteworthy contribution to the domain of Sanskrit literary art.

The Cilik kavya is composed by Kavivara Radhanatha Ray (1848-1908 A.D), the father of modern Odia poetry. It is unique in the history of Odia literature as it reflects the cultural, political, and aesthetic heritage of the Odishan landscape. Here the soul of nature is unified with the poet that creates the intense experience of poetic joy. The poem celebrates the captivating beauty of the lake Cilika in a novel way that brings together the romantic traditions of the East and the West. Though the poem is Wordsworthian in its theme, the spirit and images inherit the influence of Valmiki, Kalidasa, and Jayadeva.

Kavivara Radhanatha Ray (1848-1908), the father of modern Odia poetry composed this famous lyrical kavya in odia. Its metrical Sanskrit rendering by me with the same title was published in the year 1991 and received Kendra Sa hitya Akademi translation prize/honour (National Academy of Letter, New Delhi) for the year 1996. This book is a very significant achievement of the poet that explores Odisha's rich sources of beauty in nature. It is taught as a course book for Odia subject in most of the Odishan Universities and ac ademic Institutions for last few generations. Now the pop ularity of this Sanskrit metrical version inspired me to give this book a wider public outreach through English transla tion. This Sanskrit text in addition to English translation is also enriched with anvaya (prose order of the sanskrit stan zas), padatika (foot notes), tippani (notes: grammatical), labdasagrahah (glossary), slokānukramani (presentation of the first line of each stanza in alphabetical order) which may render the readers' access easy to the text. The musical measure of the original text also have been taken care of for its apt appropriation in the Sanskrit renderings. Keeping the wider literary aspect in view few changes have been admin istered in the Sanskrit text and few typological and inadver tent errors have been weeded out.

Transparent translation is seldom beautiful and beau tiful translation is seldom transparent. To bring parity be tween both the ends is a very hard task for the translator. The present translation also keeps this aspect in view. I shall consider my humble efforts successful provided the readers enjoy the contents of this literary art with regard to the poets own voice as follows-sundare trptira avasada nahin/yete dekhuthile nua disuthain.

trpter vibhangam nahi yati ramye/ drsta'pi lobha navatam vidhatte (tr. Sanskrit).

There is no end to contentment in beauty. The beauty, experienced earlier, presents ever refreshing appearance.