Translation by
Suchitra Pattnaik
Email : suchitrapattnaik@yahoo.com
Phone : +91 9937092811
Original poem in Odiya by Raghunath Das

Oh! Who is she,
Crying so loud and mourning,
So desperately she pleads?
Panchavati shudders,
Overwhelming all and the Lord.

Who is she, whose tears roll,
Smudging each leaf,
It leaves impressions
of despair and woes?

And, what is it, exploding in the sky,
It thunders such obscenity?
Imperiously it disrupts
The forest and it’s total sanctity.

Oh, it is the Pushpak chariot
Fleeing it comes, flying from the north
Sita sits aggrieved in Ravana’s clutch
Lamenting, crying - holding unto truth.

It is Ravana, in disguise he comes,
Clad as Brahmin, snatches Sita away
Helpless, she cries – ‘Rama’, ‘Rama’
And Rama, far away.

All these tears and torment
Is it all in vain??
Are we all, so inert and dead?
No voices heard and no protests,
It is injustice - that seems to prevail.

Can I really fight, against might
So little power that I have? No, I must…
My invincible soul soars,
Against injustice it roars.

I am Jataayu, the eagle –
set to fight
I know, Ravana, I won’’t match your might,
I may or may not win, but fight I must.
It’s my will that I trust.

Injustice, I want slain and stopped.
That is the solace to Sita and the just.
That is my victory..So fight I must.

Lower your chariot you scoundrel!
Stop at once! Else a battle and you bleed
With my nails – so honed.

Don’t you dare to ignore.
Here is the first blow
Of the eagle, unknown, so obscure
And your blood will flow.

See! The great king of Lanka
Lifts his sword and snips my wing.
Scattered in the sky are my blood drops
Each is a seed of truth, again to blossom recompensing.

I shall still obstruct – wing I’ve yet another
Easy it will not be,
Ravana, to go past me.
Evade you can’t, you invade me,
It is my protest, you shall have to bear
Despite being the king
You had to fight me, ”Just a bird”.
That, you have to hear.

Gone are both my wings now.
Let it be ……No worries….
I shall remain an inspiration prime,
For posterity- willing to fight. In all time.
‘Valmiki ‘shall write –
This eagle had fought, much before Rama
And fought all alone,
Arm less, against twenty arms,
An army in one - just one bird
A wing for truth, A wing for justice
Ready to soar ever,
Jataayu gives up never.