SĀKET: An English Transcreation — A Devotional Epic Reimagined

SĀKET: An English Transcreation — A Devotional Epic Reimagined

SĀKET: An English Transcreation — A Devotional Epic Reimagined

Between Translation and Revelation

In the evolving landscape of modern Indian English literature, SĀKET: An English Transcreation by Anand Kumar Ashodhiya stands as a rare and ambitious literary achievement. Inspired by Sākēt, the celebrated Hindi epic of Maithili Sharan Gupt, this work is not a literal translation but a poetic transcreation—a rebirth of ethical and devotional consciousness into the dignified cadence of English blank verse.

Ashodhiya positions himself at a unique literary confluence: the moral grandeur of Milton and the spiritual lyricism of Tagore. The result is a Miltonic–Tagorian devotional epic that transcends linguistic boundaries while remaining firmly rooted in India’s civilizational ethos.

The Epic Vision

Structured across eight Cantos, SĀKET traces the moral arc of the Rāmāyaṇa—from the harmony of Ayodhya to the redemptive solitude of exile. The poem privileges dharma as conscience, not conquest; restraint over triumph; endurance over spectacle.

“Let Beauty rise from service as from soil,
and Love be law, and law the heart of Love.”

Here, Rāma’s greatness lies in ethical restraint, and Sītā’s divinity in luminous endurance. The epic elevates dharma into poetic consciousness—transforming moral discipline into a form of beauty.

Language, Structure, and Style

Written in English blank verse, the poem adopts a solemn, meditative rhythm reminiscent of Paradise Lost, while retaining the tenderness and spiritual clarity associated with Gitanjali. Each Canto opens with an invocation, followed by contextual prose and sustained poetic movement—allowing accessibility without sacrificing epic depth.

Sanskritic resonances—Dharma, Sākēt, Rāma, Sītā—are carefully woven into the English idiom, ensuring cultural authenticity alongside universal readability. Symbolism drawn from Vedic and Bhakti traditions—the forest as prayer, exile as renunciation, love as law—anchors the poem in India’s moral imagination.

Comparative and Cultural Significance

SĀKET occupies a distinctive place in comparative literature:

• Like Milton, it affirms moral will and ethical freedom
  
  

• Like Tagore, it sanctifies beauty as devotion
  
  

• Like Maithili Sharan Gupt, it transforms myth into moral philosophy
  
  

This synthesis gives rise to a humanist devotional epic, where art and ethics coalesce into a single spiritual inquiry.

The inclusion of appendices, glossary, and contextual notes enhances its academic value, making the book suitable for scholars of comparative literature, Indology, and translation studies.

Book Details

Title: SĀKET: An English Transcreation
Inspired by: Sākēt by Maithili Sharan Gupt
Author: Anand Kumar Ashodhiya
Publisher: Avikavani Publishers
(Self-publishing imprint of Anand Kumar Ashodhiya)
Place of Publication: Shahpur Turk, Sonipat, Haryana, India
ISBN: 978-93-5469-845-3
Edition: First Edition, 2025
Presented by: Anand Kumar Ashodhiya for Avikavani Publishers

About the Author

Anand Kumar Ashodhiya is a poet, translator, literary critic, and cultural preservationist, widely known for his work in Hindi, Haryanvi, and English. A retired Indian Air Force Warrant Officer, he brings disciplined craftsmanship and ethical clarity to his literary pursuits.

As the founder of Avikavani Publishers, Ashodhiya is committed to preserving India’s folk and classical traditions through modern literary expression. His body of work includes epic poetry, folk raginis, critical reinterpretations, and English transcreations aimed at a global readership. His writing consistently explores themes of dharma, cultural memory, social conscience, and moral lyricism.

Conclusion

In an age marked by fragmentation and ethical uncertainty, SĀKET: An English Transcreation restores the forgotten harmony between beauty and virtue. It reminds readers that dharma is not imposed law, but love disciplined—and that devotion is not ritual, but moral awakening.

Through this work, Ayodhya emerges not merely as a city of myth, but as a state of being—a moral geography where duty becomes love, and love becomes dharma.

 

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प्रेम के सौ रंग

प्रेम के सौ रंग

प्रेम के सौ रंग

आधुनिक हिंदी लघुकविता

लेखक: आनन्द कुमार आशोधिया

कुछ कृतियाँ केवल पढ़ी नहीं जातीं—वे भीतर उतरकर सोच की दिशा बदल देती हैं। “प्रेम के सौ रंग — आधुनिक हिंदी लघुकविता” ऐसा ही एक संग्रह है, जो प्रेम को केवल भावनात्मक अनुभूति नहीं, बल्कि सामाजिक, नैतिक और आत्मिक उत्तरदायित्व के रूप में स्थापित करता है।

लघुकविता: लघु में विराट की साधना

आधुनिक समय में लघुकविता सबसे चुनौतीपूर्ण विधाओं में से एक है। सीमित पंक्तियों में विचार की पूर्णता, भाव की तीव्रता और अर्थ की गहराई—तीनों को साध पाना सहज नहीं। आनन्द कुमार आशोधिया इस चुनौती को सधे हुए शिल्प और अनुशासित शब्द-संयम से सफलतापूर्वक निभाते हैं।

इस संग्रह की प्रत्येक कविता दस पंक्तियों के भीतर एक संपूर्ण अनुभव रचती है—कहीं वह प्रेम है, कहीं त्याग, कहीं राष्ट्र के लिए बलिदान, तो कहीं आत्मबोध की शांति।

प्रेम की व्यापक परिभाषा

यह संग्रह प्रेम को केवल नायक–नायिका के सीमित दायरे में नहीं बाँधता। यहाँ प्रेम के अनेक रंग उभरते हैं—

• देश-प्रेम: सैनिक के त्याग और वर्दी में निहित गर्व

• वात्सल्य प्रेम: माँ की निःस्वार्थ ममता

• सामाजिक प्रेम: समाज के प्रति उत्तरदायित्व

• आध्यात्मिक प्रेम: आत्म-साधना और करुणा

इस दृष्टि से “प्रेम के सौ रंग” प्रेम को भावना नहीं, बल्कि कर्तव्य और चेतना के रूप में प्रस्तुत करता है।

बिम्ब, भाषा और संवेदना

भाषा सरल है, किंतु भाव-संप्रेषण गहन। कवि द्वारा प्रयुक्त बिम्ब—‘बलिदान की लौ’, ‘वर्दी में गर्व’, ‘शांति का स्वर’—सीधे पाठक के हृदय से संवाद करते हैं। यह संग्रह दिखाता है कि आधुनिक कविता शोर नहीं, सार्थक मौन से भी बोल सकती है।

पुस्तक विवरण

• पुस्तक का नाम: प्रेम के सौ रंग — आधुनिक हिंदी लघुकविता

• लेखक: आनन्द कुमार आशोधिया

• ISBN: 978-93-344-5526-7

• प्रथम संस्करण: नवम्बर 2025

• प्रकाशक:
  स्वप्रकाशित — आनन्द कुमार आशोधिया
  “Avikavani Publishers” इम्प्रिंट के अंतर्गत

• प्रकाशन स्थान: शाहपुर तुर्क, हरियाणा

लेखक के बारे में

आनन्द कुमार आशोधिया समकालीन हिंदी साहित्य के एक संवेदनशील कवि, लोक-संस्कृति संरक्षक और साहित्यिक विश्लेषक हैं। भारतीय वायु सेना में दीर्घ सेवा के बाद उन्होंने साहित्य को सामाजिक उत्तरदायित्व और सांस्कृतिक संरक्षण का माध्यम बनाया।
उनका लेखन लोक और आधुनिकता के बीच सेतु रचता है—जहाँ कविता केवल सौंदर्य नहीं, बल्कि विचार और विवेक का साधन बनती है।

निष्कर्ष

“प्रेम के सौ रंग — आधुनिक हिंदी लघुकविता” यह प्रमाणित करता है कि आज की कविता में अब भी आत्मा है, दिशा है और समाज से संवाद करने की शक्ति है। यह संग्रह उन पाठकों के लिए विशेष है, जो कविता में केवल भावना नहीं, चेतना की खोज करते हैं।

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NISWARTHI UDYOGA PARVA

NISWARTHI UDYOGA PARVA

NISWARTHI UDYOGA PARVA

An English Translation
A Metrical Rendering of the Udyoga Parva in the Haryanvi Folk Tradition

Book Details

• Title: Niswarthi Udyoga Parva
  
  

• Original Hindi Work: Niswarthi Udyoga Parva
  
  

• Original Author: Ashok Kumar Jakhar “Niswarthi”
  
  

• English Transcreation: Anand Kumar Ashodhiya
  
  

• Publisher: Avikavani Publishers
  (Self-publishing imprint of Anand Kumar Ashodhiya)
  
  

• Place of Publication: Shahpur Turk, Sonipat, Haryana, India
  
  

• ISBN: 978-93-5525-694-2
  
  

• Edition: First Edition, 2025
  
  

• Presented by: Anand Kumar Ashodhiya for Avikavani Publishers
  
  

About the Book

NISWARTHI UDYOGA PARVA: An English Translation is a significant literary and cultural work that brings together the classical ethical vision of the Mahabharata and the living folk-poetic tradition of Haryana. This volume offers a metrical English transcreation of the Udyoga Parva—the Book of Effort—rendered originally in the Haryanvi folk–bhajan style by Ashok Kumar Jakhar, known by his pen name “Niswarthi” (The Selfless).

The Udyoga Parva occupies a pivotal position in the Mahabharata. It marks the moment when all possibilities of peace and diplomacy have been exhausted, and righteous effort stands on the threshold of inevitable war. Rather than presenting this parva merely as a historical or political failure, Niswarthi reinterprets it as a profound meditation on selfless action (Niswartha Karma)—the moral duty to act rightly without attachment to outcome.

The Folk–Epic Synthesis

The defining literary achievement of this work lies in its folk–bhajan structure. By casting the philosophical and diplomatic tensions of the Udyoga Parva into rhythmic, devotional compositions, the original author transforms epic discourse into an accessible and performative form. The bhajan metre allows the epic to be sung, remembered, and lived within the oral cultural spaces of Haryana—village baithaks, satsangs, and community gatherings.

This approach democratises classical literature, bringing epic ethics out of scholarly exclusivity and into the collective consciousness of the people.

An Act of Cultural Transcreation

The English rendering by Anand Kumar Ashodhiya is not a literal translation but an act of cultural transcreation. The challenge lay in preserving three essential elements simultaneously:

1. The ethical depth of the Mahabharata narrative
   
   

2. The devotional bhava of the bhajan tradition
   
   

3. The metrical rhythm and oral cadence of Haryanvi folk poetry
   
   

Ashodhiya’s transcreation succeeds in maintaining the musical flow, moral gravity, and epic momentum of the original, making the work accessible to global readers while remaining faithful to its regional soul. The translation serves as a cultural bridge, introducing international audiences to a uniquely Haryanvi interpretation of the Mahabharata.

The work is also deeply rooted in parampara, respectfully dedicated to the translator’s cultural guru, Late Paleram Dahiya Halalpuriya, affirming its authenticity within the living folk tradition.

Cultural and Literary Significance

This volume stands as:

• A regional contribution to the global Mahabharata tradition
  
  

• A documentation of Haryanvi folk epic practice
  
  

• A model of ethical literature grounded in selflessness and duty
  
  

• A resource for scholars, performers, and cultural historians
  
  

It confirms that India’s regional poetic traditions are not relics of the past, but vibrant, evolving carriers of epic wisdom.

About the Translator

Anand Kumar Ashodhiya is a poet, cultural documentarian, translator, and publisher, and the founder of Avikavani Publishers. A retired Indian Air Force Warrant Officer, he has devoted his post-service life to preserving and reinterpreting Indian folk and classical traditions through literature.

His work spans Hindi, Haryanvi, and English, with a special focus on epic reinterpretation, folk poetics, and cultural transcreation. Ashodhiya’s translations are marked by ethical sensitivity, metrical discipline, and deep respect for oral traditions, making regional literature accessible to wider national and international audiences.

“Niswarthi Udyoga Parva” is not merely a translation—it is a testament to selfless effort, cultural continuity, and the enduring moral voice of the Indian epic tradition.

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