Poetry of Light: Three Languages, Three Religions

Happy Deepavali/Diwali! Diwali is popularly known as the “Festival of Lights” — in fact, the word dīpāvali means “row of lamps” in Sanskrit. Deepavali has always been one of my favorite festivals — for me, it marks the beginning of the “holiday season”, with Thanksgiving and Christmas following. I have fond memories of my mom making a rangoli in front of our house, lighting sparklers with my family in the chilly Seattle fall weather, and putting up our Christmas lights (which I guess we should call Diwali lights?) — not to mention delicious food! At my university, we celebrate Diwali with a public puja in our university’s chapel (which I conducted last year!) and a separate celebration with dinner, sparklers, and performances.

This year, I’m co-president of our South Asian Students Association, which puts on the annual Diwali function. Our celebration is in two days, which means I have plenty of other work I could be doing, but instead… I want to share some South Asian devotional poetry (is anyone surprised?).

The following poems are in three different languages (Tamil, Punjabi, and Bengali) and come from three different religious traditions (Hinduism, Sikhism, Islam) but they all deal in different ways with the idea of light, which is what Diwali is all about! I hope you enjoy these poems, and that the light of Diwali guides all our efforts in the year ahead.

Tamil

The following poems come from a major Tamil text called the Nālāyira Divya Prabandham (Sacred Collection of 4,000 Verses). The Divya Prabandham is an anthology which contains Tamil poems by twelve poet-saints of the 7th-9th centuries CE, who were all all devotees of Vishnu. These poet-saints are called Āḷvārs, means “those who are immersed deep” in love for Vishnu. The Divya Prabandham was compiled by the 10th-century Vaishnava theologian Nathamuni, and its verses are still popular today, sung in musical performances and temple rituals.

This first poem is by the first āḷvār, Poygai Āḷvār, who is believed to have lived around the 7th-8th centuries CE. Scholar Vasudha Narayanan writes that in this poem, Poygai “sang that he was lighting a lamp of adoration and weaving a garland of adoration for Vishnu”. This poem begins on a grand scale, in which the whole world is a lamp lit for Vishnu. The following translations are by Vasudha Narayanan; you can listen to a recitation of this poem here.

வையம் தகளியா வார்கடலே நெய்யாக
வெய்ய கதிரோன் விளக்காக – செய்ய
சுடர் ஆழியான் அடிக்கே சுட்டினேன் சொல் மாலை
இடராழி நீங்குகவே என்று

vaiyam tagaḷiyā vār-kaḍalē neyyāga
veyya kadirōn viḷakkāga – seyya
suḍar āzhiyān aḍikkē suṭṭinēn sol mālai
iḍar-āzhi nīngkugavē enḍru

With the earth as the lamp
the sweeping oceans as the ghee,
and the sun with its fiery rays
as the flame,
I have woven a garland of words
for the feet of the Lord,
who bears the red flaming wheel,
so I can cross the ocean of grief.