Introductory Note

Jana or Jani as she called herself, Janabai as she is known more formally, was a 13th C Marathi bhakti (devotional) poet. An orphan of the lowest caste, she went into domestic service with a family of tailors, while still very young. But this was no ordinary family, their son whom Jana helped raise, grew up to be the extraordinarily gifted poet-saint Namdev (1270?-1350?). Jana accepted him as her spiritual mentor and later became a bhakti  poet herself, even though like many of her fellow bhakti poets, she never learnt to read or write. Namdev spent much of his life wandering the country as a mendicant-minstrel, but the spiritual bond between the two remained strong. According to legend, Janabai and Namdev died at exactly the same instant, so determined was she to not survive him by even a split second.

The Grindstone

My lovely grindstone

how sweetly it spins

as I sing your praise.

Come to me, Lord.

Twin poles of World and Spirit

are the smooth wooden handles

my five fingers grasp by turns.

Come to me, Lord.

My twelve or sixteen friends

all domestics like myself

gather in groups to praise you.

Come to me, Lord.

Mother-in-law father-in-law

and brother-in-law all join me

to sing your praise, my husband*.

Come to me, Lord.

The grindstone of life

grinds me down like grain.

I gather and pack the flour.

Come to me, Lord.

Spirit heats the vessel

the scum of sin boils over

the broth of virtue clears.

Come to me, Lord.

As the grindstone stops, says Jana

so will I one day. When I go

my fame I'll leave behind.

Come to me, Lord.

__________

*To address God as "husband" is a common conceit in bhakti poetry, here given a biographical twist in that the "in-laws" referred to are probably Namdev and his parents.

Note: The regular, rhymed quartrains of this lyric mimic the smooth rotations of the grindstone. Each stanza has alternating lines of eight and six syllables, the last being the refrain. A 'circular' rhyme-scheme  is employed: aaab cccb dddb etc. I was only able to retain the barest minimum of this formal structure. Also impossible to replicate was the word-play in the final stanza. The Marathi word for grindstone jaté, when used as a verb, becomes the feminine form of "(I) will go". This, in the original, sparks the meditation on death. To compensate this loss and clarify meaning, I added the phrase "As the grindstone stops".

When Jani sweeps the floor

When Jani sweeps the floor

her Lord gathers up the dirt.

When she lifts the wooden pestle

he cleans the mortar stone.

He doesn't stand on dignity

he collects cow-pats* by her side.

When she goes to fetch the water

her Lord follows after.

_____________

*Dried cow-pats, more economical and easier to obtain than firewood, were used as fuel.

Mother died. Father died.

Mother died. Father died.

You'll have to look after me, Lord.

I am your child don't reject me.

Your dull-witted servant I am

let me shelter at your feet.

I have no friend but you

who else can protect me?

Don't test me any further

life has worn me down

says Jani to her Lord

who is the Life of life.

_____________

A storehouse of sins

A storehouse of sins

I seek refuge at your feet.

Do what you want with me

save or destroy me.

Says Jani there is but one

Lord of this universe, you.

_____________

As I mill and pound the grain

As I mill and pound* the grain

Lord, I'll gladly sing your name

This I'll make my daily task

as I mill and pound the grain.

You are mother father brother sister

Lord, you are my only friend.

All my thoughts rest at your feet

says the maidservant of Nama.**

As I mill and pound the grain

Lord, I'll gladly sing your name.

__________________

* Millet and sorghum, used to make cheap bread, were hand-milled; rice was pounded with a pestle to de-husk it.

**diminutive for Namdev