আমরা সবাই রাজা (Tagore) - lyrics and translation
“We Are All Kings”
আমরা সবাই রাজা (Āmrā Sobāi Rājā, i.e. “We Are All Kings”) is a song by Rabindranath Tagore, apparently composed in 1910.
You can listen to a rendition here:
Several translations into English already exist: [1][2][3]. They all differ a bit from each other, and in my opinion none of them are as close in meaning to the original as they could be. So, I present my translation below.
A few quick notes on my Bengali transliteration scheme, for those who can’t read Bengali:
s, ś, ṣ correspond to the Sanskrit-derived Bengali letters স্, শ্, ষ্ (i.e. स्,श्, ष् in Devanagari), but in reality all three are almost always pronounced as ś (close to English “sh”) in Bengali.
When b appears in parenthesis as (b), it is silent.1
The distinction between short/long vowels (i/ī and u/ū) is retained to reflect Bengali spelling conventions, although in practice the language has basically lost this distinction.
As usual, some grammar/vocabulary notes are included at the end of the post.
আমরা সবাই রাজা আমাদের এই রাজার রাজত্বে
āmrā sobāi rājā āmāder ei rājār rājot(b)e
We are all kings here in our king’s kingdom
নইলে মোদের রাজার সনে মিলব কী স্বত্বে?
noile moder rājār sone milbo kī s(b)ot(b)e?
Otherwise, would we join our king in having rights?
—
আমরা যা খুশি তাই করি, তবু তাঁর খুশিতেই চরি
āmrā jā khuśi tāi kori, tobu tā̐r khuśite cori
We do as we please, but in his happiness we wander,
আমরা নই বাঁধা নই দাসের রাজার ত্রাসের দাসত্বে
āmrā noi bā̐dhā noi dāser rājār trāser dāsot(b)e
We are not bound, not in the inflictions of a slave king’s slavery
নইলে মোদের রাজার সনে মিলব কী স্বত্বে?
noile moder rājār sone milbo kī s(b)ot(b)e
Otherwise, would we join our king in having rights?
—
রাজা সবারে দেন মান, সে মান আপনি ফিরে পান
rājā sobāre den mān, se mān āponi phire pān
The king gives respect to all, that respect returns to his own life
মোদের খাটো করে রাখে নি কেউ কোনো অসত্যে
moder khāṭo kore rākhe ni keu kono asotye
No one has belittled us and kept us in any untruths
নইলে মোদের রাজার সনে মিলব কী স্বত্বে?
noile moder rājār sone milbo kī s(b)ot(b)e
Otherwise, would we join our king in having rights?
—
আমরা চলব আপন মতে, শেষে মিলব তাঁরি পথে
āmra colbo āpon mote, śeṣe milbo tā̐ri pothe
We will go our own way, finally we will meet his path,
মোরা মরব না কেউ বিফলতার বিষম আবর্তে
morā morbo nā keu bipholotār biṣom āborte
We will not die in some unbearable fruitless whirlpool
নইলে মোদের রাজার সনে মিলব কী স্বত্বে?।
noile moder rājār sone milbo kī s(b)ot(b)e
Otherwise, would we join our king in having rights?
Some notes on grammar and vocabulary:
In the end-of-line rhyming, this song makes use of three Sanskrit-derived nouns with the ending -tva, which indicates a state of being: rājatva (kingdom), svatva (rights), and dāsatva (slavery).
সনে (sone) is a poetic variant of সঙ্গে (soṅge), meaning “with” (cf. Hindi के संग)
নইলে (noile) is apparently a contraction of না হলে (nā hole)2, and can be used as a conjunction meaning “otherwise.”
A few poetic first-person pronoun forms are used: মোদের (moder) = “our”, and মোরা (morā) = “we.”
As we will see in the song, this occurs when a Sanskrit word involving the conjunct -tv- is borrowed into Bengali, which has no v/w sound. Bengali always substitutes b for v/w, but -tb- is hard to pronounce, and thus the b is just dropped (but is retained in spelling).
nā means “not,” and hole is the conditional form of the verb hāoyā (“to be”).