Jiboner Hisab, means "the accounts/calculation of life".
This article is just an attempt of English translation of this beautiful Bengali poem.
I didn't have the fortune of 'studying/learning' my mother tongue at school, but was taught by my mother at home just to make sure we knew how to read&write in our mother tongue.
So I don't know many Bengali poems.
However my wife being educated properly in Bengali, suddenly blurted out this poem casually and it caught my ears!
It is very interesting to see how the Bengali poems of children used to convey such deep meanings.
There are so many such poems which are being lost and replaced slowly with modern ones.
I guess its the same in all states of India like I also noticed in Andhra Pradesh/Telangana. They have had such nice poems for children that just the poems itself teach so many things.
This is an excellent poem by Sukumar Ray, trying to teach us two aspects.
The first is a warning of pride, of our little knowledge and the second one asks us to prioritize things in life with great care.
Notes:
Below explanation might help you understand the poem better.
The poet names the scholar using the phrase "Bidye Bojhai Babu Moshai" , meaning scholar overburdened by knowledge.
An anna (or ānā) was a currency unit formerly used in India and Pakistan, equal to 1⁄16 of a rupee.
4 anas is 25 paisa(or 25% of one rupee)
8 anas is 50 paisa(or 50%)
12 anas is 75 paisa(or 75%)
16 anas is 100 paisa,one rupee(or 100%)
PC:Internet.
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জীবনের হিসাব
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বিদ্যে বোঝাই বাবু মশাই চড়ি শখের বোটে
মাঝিরে কন, “বলতে পারিস সূর্য কেন ওঠে?
চাঁদটা কেন বাড়ে কমে? জোয়ার কেন আসে?”
বৃদ্ধ মাঝি অবাক হয়ে ফেলফেলিয়ে হাসে,
বাবু বলেন, “সারা জীবন মরলিরে তুই খাটি,
জ্ঞান বিনা তোর জীবনটা যে চারি আনাই মাটি!”
A scholar gets on a boat for a joy ride.
"O boatman, do you know why the Sun rises?
Do you know the reason of the Moons waxing and waning?
Do you know what causes the High tides?"
The elderly boatman just laughs in surprise.
The scholar said "You have just wasted your life working like an ass!
Without knowledge, your life is wasted by FOUR ANAS!"
খানিক বাদে কহেন বাবু, “বলত দেখি ভেবে
নদীর ধারা কেমনে আসে পাহাড় হতে নেবে?
বলত কেন লবন পোরা সাগর ভরা পানি?”
মাঝি সে কয়, “আরে মশাই অত কি আর জানি?”
বাবু বলেন, “এই বয়সে জানিসনেও তা কি?
জীবনটা তোর নেহাত খেলো, অষ্ট আনাই ফাঁকি!”
After a while, the scholar speaks again:
"How does the flow of the river bring it down the hills?
Why is the ocean filled with such salty water?"
The boatman replies:
"Oh sir, I don't know much"
The scholar states again:
"Don't you know even this much in this age?
You have wasted your life by EIGHT ANAS!"
আবার ভেবে কহেন বাবু, “বলত ওরে বুড়ো,
কেন এমন নীল দেখা যায় আকাশের ঐ চূড়ো?
বলত দেখি সূর্য চাঁদে গ্রহন লাগে কেন?”
বৃদ্ধ বলেন, “আমায় কেন লজ্জা দিছেন হেন?”
বাবু বলেন, “বলব কি আর বলব তোরে কি, তা,-
দেখছি এখন জীবনটা তোর বারো আনাই বৃথা।”
The scholar questioned again after some moments:
"Old man, do you know why the sky is blue?
What causes the Solar and Lunar eclipses?"
The old man replied:
"Why are you embarrassing me, oh sir?"
The scholar stated again:
"There is nothing more for me to say. I see that your life is wasted by TWELVE ANAS!"
খানিক বাদে ঝড় উঠেছে ঢেউ উঠেছে ফুলে,
বাবু দেখেন নৌকাখানি ডুবল বুঝি দুলে।
মাঝিরে কন, “একি আপদ ওরে ও ভাই মাঝি,
ডুবল নাকি নৌকো এবার? মরব নাকি আজি?”
মাঝি শুধায়, “সাতার জানো?” মাথা নারেন বাবু,
মূর্খ মাঝি বলে, “মশাই এখন কেন কাবু?
বাঁচলে শেষে আমার কথা হিসেব করো পিছে,
তোমার দেখি জীবন খানা ষোল আনাই মিছে।”
Suddenly there was a storm and the waves were growing higher!
The scholar could feel the boat being tossed by the waves and spoke to the boatman:
"Oh boatman What kind of danger is this?
Is the boat going to sink?
Am I going to drown and die today?"
The scholar nodded his head in negation when the boatman asked:
"Do you know to swim?"
The boatman then stated:
"How can you accept defeat now sir?"
"Anyways, you can do the remaining calculation of my life later if you survive. But now is see that your life is wasted to a full SIXTEEN ANAS!"
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Srila Prabhupad uses this story in a slightly modified way to warn us from becoming proud of our material knowledge and not value spiritual knowledge, which is actually required to cross the material ocean.
Lecture by Srila Prabhupad to Technology Students (M.I.T.) -- Boston, May 5, 1968
There is a nice story. You'll appreciate it. In India, especially in Bengal, there are many rivers. The land is full of rivers. Because it is on the bank of the Bay of Bengal, all rivers are falling. Therefore Bengal, the land of, especially the east Bengal, is full of rivers.
One student of technology was going home, and he was on the boat.
So the student was asking the boatman, "Do you know what are the stars?"
The boatman said, "Sir, we are ordinary boatman. What do we know about these stars?"
"Oh. Then your fifty percent of life is wasted, useless."
Then he was asking, "Do you know what are these trees?
Do you know any science of botany?"
He said, "Sir, we are ordinary laborer. What do we know about botany?"
"Oh. Then seventy-five percent of your life is useless."
In this way the student of technology was asking the boatman,
"Do you know this? Do you know that?"
And he said that "I am ordinary man. What do I know all these things?"
Then all of a sudden there was a black cloud, and there was storm, and the river began to be inflated, and the boatman said, "My dear sir, do you know swimming?"
"Oh," he said, "no."
Then he said, "Then your cent percent knowledge is spoiled.
Now you have to go down to the river. Your life is finished."
In this way they dropped in the river, and the technological student, because he did not know how to swim, so the storm and the waves grabbed him.
One student of technology was going home, and he was on the boat.
So the student was asking the boatman, "Do you know what are the stars?"
The boatman said, "Sir, we are ordinary boatman. What do we know about these stars?"
"Oh. Then your fifty percent of life is wasted, useless."
Then he was asking, "Do you know what are these trees?
Do you know any science of botany?"
He said, "Sir, we are ordinary laborer. What do we know about botany?"
"Oh. Then seventy-five percent of your life is useless."
In this way the student of technology was asking the boatman,
"Do you know this? Do you know that?"
And he said that "I am ordinary man. What do I know all these things?"
Then all of a sudden there was a black cloud, and there was storm, and the river began to be inflated, and the boatman said, "My dear sir, do you know swimming?"
"Oh," he said, "no."
Then he said, "Then your cent percent knowledge is spoiled.
Now you have to go down to the river. Your life is finished."
In this way they dropped in the river, and the technological student, because he did not know how to swim, so the storm and the waves grabbed him.
The idea is that we are making progress, certainly, in technology, in economics, in so many other departments of human necessities.
But Bhagavad-gītā says that real problem of this world, or real problem of our life, it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9).
If you are intelligent enough, then you should see the real problem is birth, death, old age and disease. Janma means birth, and mṛtyu means death. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā. Jarā means old age, and vyādhi means disease.
So actual material problem is this, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi.
But Bhagavad-gītā says that real problem of this world, or real problem of our life, it is said in the Bhagavad-gītā, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi-duḥkha-doṣānudarśanam (BG 13.9).
If you are intelligent enough, then you should see the real problem is birth, death, old age and disease. Janma means birth, and mṛtyu means death. Janma-mṛtyu-jarā. Jarā means old age, and vyādhi means disease.
So actual material problem is this, janma-mṛtyu-jarā-vyādhi.
