ó Kosal go Magadh
ar an slí ar ais
ó Mhagadh go Kosal
cuirtear an cheist chéanna air -
an ag dul
ó Mhagadh go Kosal atá tú,
nó ag teacht
ó Kosal ar do shlí chuig Magadh?
Deineann sé iarracht
an cheist a sheachaint, á rá,
Cén difríocht a dhéanfadh sé?
Ach bíonn ceisteanna áirithe ann
nach féidir a sheachaint -
is é sin má théitear
chomh minic sin
trí Kosal ar do shlí chuig Magadh,
trí Mhagadh ar do shlí chuig Kosal
An cheist is tábhachtaí
ná seo -
cá bhfuil do thriall?
Agus ansin an cheist -
cé atá a lorg agat
in Kosal agus Magadh?
Is ansin -
Kosal i dtosach
nó Magadh?
Is é firinne an scéil
nach bhfuil a fhios ag éinne.
Cén fáth a dtéann sé
ó Mhagadh go Kosal,
ó Kosal go Magadh,
arís is arís eile?
Cén fáth
na radhairc chéanna
arís is arís eile?
Cén fáth a mbéiceann sé
Up Kosal!
agus é ag gabháil trí Mhagadh
agus Up Magadh!
agus é ag gabháil trí Kosal?
ar úrdhúnta briste Kosal
cén fáth bratacha gioblacha Mhagadh
a ardú?
Nuair nach dtagann freagra
ó éinne,
tosaíonn sé féin ar nós cách
ar bhreith ar dhaoine is iad
ag dul thar bráid is ag fiafraí díobh -
An ar do bhealach
chuig Magadh trí Kosal atá tú,
nó ar do bhealach
chuig Kosal trí Mhagadh?
Shrikant Verma
COMING AND GOING
Whenever he wentfrom Kosal to Magadh,
on the way back
from Magadh to Kosal
everyone asked him the same thing—
are you going
from Magadh to Kosal,
or are you coming
from Kosal to Magadh?
He tried to evade the question
by saying,
What difference will it make?
But some questions
can’t be evaded—
especially when we pass
so often
through Kosal on our way to Magadh,
through Magadh on our way to Kosal.
The most important question
is this—
Where are you going?
Then the question—
Who are you looking for
in Kosal and Magadh?
And then—
Will Kosal come first
or Magadh?
The fact is
that no one knows.
Why does he go
from Magadh to Kosal,
from Kosal to Magadh,
over and over again?
Why does he repeat
the same scenes
over and over again?
Why does he shout
slogans for Kosal
while passing through Magadh,
against Magadh
while passing through Kosal?
On the broken bastions of Kosal,
why does he raise
the tattered flags of Magadh?
When there’s no answer
from anywhere,
he too joins the ranks
of those who catch hold
of every passer-by and ask—
Are you on your way
to Magadh through Kosal,
or are you on your way
to Kosal through Magadh?
