In his English translation of the Hanuman Chalisa, Vikram Seth gives the Chalisa back to those of us who have always loved it and presents it as it should be known and understood to those who are not familiar with it and to those who have been persuaded to misunderstand it.

Representational image: A person dressed as Hanuman for a Ramlila performance. Photo: Satish Krishnamurthy, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

I cannot think of anything better in these times of upheaval and distress than the Hanuman Chalisa given to us in English by Vikram Seth. It was waiting for me when I came home from giving a Ramayana lecture one evening and my heart soared, as if Hanuman himself had come to tell me not to worry, to let him take over the weight of my discomforts and the troubles of the world. He is, after all, the sankata-haran, “crisis dispeller,” as Seth defines him in translation. 

The Hanuman Chalisa, Vikram Seth, Speaking Tiger, 2024.

Seth’s translation is pitch perfect – this is no small achievement with a text written in tight couplets with a strict metrical scheme, a text with rhyme and rhythm and a text that is well-known and well-loved. Seth talks extensively in his interviews about the difficulty of confronting the falling, ‘feminine’ metres of the original and finding something equally aurally compelling for the English. You scarcely notice this for Seth’s Chalisa is smooth, bouncy, exuberant, playful, reflecting the sweetness of Hanuman’s nature. But Seth has also found the numen that suggests the presence of divinity and is able to share the overwhelming sense of love and devotion with which the poem is imbued. 

The Chalisa is attributed to the Awadhi poet Tulsidas, whose grand composition is the Ramcharitamanas, the story of Lord Ram composed in the 16th century. Tulsidas was a Hanuman bhakt, believing that it was the strong, courageous and big-hearted monkey who was the doorway to Ram’s infinite grace and all-consuming love. For all that Tulsi’s Manas is steeped in devotion to Ram, it is this lyrical and joyous incantation that celebrates the marvellous monkey who is both the paradigmatic bhakt and a metaphor for the human soul’s relationship with the divine. Ram’s perfection might be intimidating, but Hanuman is accessible to everyone – the Chalisa expresses this openness more than any other text.

Source: https://thewire.in/

Full article: https://thewire.in/books/reclaiming-the-hanuman-chalisa-a-timeless-poem-for-turbulent-times-reborn-in-translation