The Poetic Skill of Sankaradeva

Sankaradeva’s writings command a poetic excellence and sublimity that may be equaled by few in any great literature of modern times.

Though in a modern Indian language, the Kirttana hardly lacks the majesty and sereneity of Sanskrit. Sankaradeva combines transparence with terseness of language so much so that his translations run parallel to the original Sanskrit verse:

Na Ganga na Gaya Setum na kasi na ca Puskaram
Jihbagre vartate yasya Harirityaksaram dvayam
[Sanskrit]

Hari hena ito, duguti aksar, jihbā agre thāke yār
Gangā Gayā Kāsi Puskar Setuk jāibāka nalāge tār
[Assamese]

Another rendering of the same sloka:

Yāhār mukhat thāke Hari hena nām
Gangā Gayā Kāsi Puskarato nāhi kām

His poetic skill is displayed very admirably in his translation or what may be more correctly called, transcreation. Here is another example:

The famous vedic utterance:

Srinvantu visve Amritasya putrah
Vedahametam purusam mahantam
Aditya varnam tamsah parastat
Tvameba viditvadi mrityumeti
Nanyah panthah vidyate ayanaya.etc.

has been rendered by Sankaradeva as:

divyadhāma yata amrita santāna save
sunā sunā hai sāvadhāna
jānicho nischaya mai timira atita sei
jyotirmaya purusa mahāna
jānile mānava yāka, vidhira kinkara guce
nathākiba maranara bhaya
kahilo dhurupa sāra mrityu bhaya taribāra
ānapantha āru nāi nāi

'timira atita sei' for 'tamsah parastat', and 'jyotirmaya purusa mahāna' for 'purusam mahantam aditya varnam' and finally of 'āru nāi nāi' for 'Nanyah panthah vidyate ayanaya' are beautiful poetic articulation of the spirit of the original.