Vande Maataram
Posted on: August 15, 2010
“Vande Mataram” is perhaps the oldest of all the patriotic songs of India. It was written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (1838-1894) as a part of his novel “Anand Math” in the 19th century. This song became a national song among many nationalists, and it so alarmed the British rulers that this novel was banned.
Though the novel was originally written in Bangla, the song “Vande Matram” is almost fully in Sanskrit. Only those familair with Sasnkrit may be able to understand the meaning of the song. Thankfully, the words of the song have become so well known that many people have begun to understand the meaning of the song as well. Several people translated the song into various languages. Aurobindo Ghosh, a revolutionary leader, translated this song into English and his translated is regarded as the most authentic English translation of this song.
A Hindi movie called “Anand Math” was made in 1952 and the movie contained this song “Vande Matram” as well.
Here is this song “Vande Matram” from the movie “Anand Math”. The song is sung by Lata. The song, as mentionec above, was written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Music was composed by Hemant Kumar.
The movie only contained a few stanzas of the entire song written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Here are the lyrics of the movie version of the song as well as the translation (by Aurobindo Ghosh).
Audio – Lata, Hemant Kumar
Video – Lata, Hemant Kumar
Audio – Hemant Kumar version
Video – Hemant Kumar version
Song-Vande Mataram (Anand Math) (1952) Singer-Lata, Lyrics-Bankimchandra Chatterji, MD-Hemant Kumar
Lyrics
vande maataram
vande maataram vande maataram
vande maataram vande maataram
vande maataram vande maataram
vande maataram vande maataram
vande maataram
vande maataram vande maataram
vande maataram vande maataram
vande maataram vande maataram
vande maataram vande maataram
sujalaam suphlaam malayajashiitalaam
shasya shyaamalaam maataram
vande
sujalaam suphlaam malayajashiitalaam
shasya shyaamalaam maataram
vande maatram
vande maataram vande maataram
vande maataram vande maataram
vande maataram vande maataram
vande maataram vande maataram
shubhra jyotsna pulakit yaaminim
phull kusumit drumdalshobhinim,
aaa aaa
shubhra jyotsna pulakit yaaminim
phull kusumit drumdalshobhinim,
suhaasini sumadhur bhaashhini
sukhdaam varadaam maataram
vande maataram vande maataram
vande maataram vande maataram
vande maataram vande maataram
vande maataram vande maataram
sapta koti kanth kal-kal ninaad karaale
nisapta koti bhujaidhruta kharakaravaale
sapta koti kanth kal-kal ninaad karaale
nisapta koti bhujaidhruta kharakaravaale
able ken maa et bale
bahubal dhaarinim namaami taarinim
ripudalwaarinim maataram
vande maataram
vande maataram vande maataram
vande maataram vande maataram
vande maataram vande maataram
vande maataram vande maataram
aaa aaa aaa aaa
aaa aaa aaa aaa
aaa aaa aaa aaa
————————————
Translation by Sri Aurobindo Ghosh
————————————
Mother, I bow to thee!
Rich with thy hurrying streams,
bright with orchard gleams,
Cool with thy winds of delight,
Dark fields waving Mother of might,
Mother free.
Glory of moonlight dreams,
Over thy branches and lordly streams,
Clad in thy blossoming trees,
Mother, giver of ease
Laughing low and sweet!
Mother I kiss thy feet,
Speaker sweet and low!
Mother, to thee I bow.
Who hath said thou art weak in thy lands
When the sword flesh out in the seventy million hands
And seventy million voices roar
Thy dreadful name from shore to shore?
With many strengths who art mighty and stored,
To thee I call Mother and Lord!
Though who savest, arise and save!
To her I cry who ever her foeman drove
Back from plain and Sea
And shook herself free.
12 Responses to "Vande Maataram"
August 15, 2010 at 1:45 am
Atul, you haven’t posted the song. (just a gentle reminder).
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August 15, 2010 at 1:51 am
Thanks for pointing it out. Now I have provided the link.
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August 17, 2010 at 2:13 am
It is not sanskritized bengali, but just sanskrit – except for the on eline “able ken maa et bale”.
Quite a few words in the transcription are missing the vowel -a at the end. Such as in the line
phull-a kusumit-a drum-a dal-a shobhinim
I know Hindi drops these word ending vowels, which stay in Telugu, which makes singing a bit easier.
BTW, was jana-gaNa-mana used in any movie? Most of the time only one verse is sung, while it has (I think) three verses at least.
Can’t quite make out what “When the sword flesh out in the seventy million hands” means. And not to quibble with Tagore, but –
And seventy million voices roar Thy fierce name from shore to shore?
makes more sense. dreadful is used here in the sense of fear-inducing, but one would normally understand it as disgusting. Words have diffrent meanings in different contexts.
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August 17, 2010 at 2:15 am
oops, I said Tagore, instead of Aurobindo Ghosh. I feel even more uneasy.
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December 13, 2011 at 9:48 pm
Atul ji,
The line after sapt kti kanth……..should start with dwisapt koti bhujai…..
Actually,it means sapta koti kanth means 7 crore people and dwisapt koti bhujai….means 7×2=14 crore hands…..
I hope Krishna ji now understands well.Further,shore to shore means eastern coast to western coast of Bharat,i.e. entire India.
-Boodhemiyan,Saudi Arabia
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January 26, 2012 at 5:07 pm
Most of us were not even born then but brought up on this powerful rendition by Lataji – Soul Stirring… AWSOME !
Is there any recording of the full song – as written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay ?
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August 15, 2017 at 12:23 am
!! Vande Maataram …!!!
Wishing you all a very Happy Independence Day …!!!
Many thanks for this post Atul ji.
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August 15, 2017 at 9:52 am
The song is lip-synced by Geeta Bali.
This female character was supposed to be working as male in the script only. With the turban hiding her hair Geeta Bali looked very fresh and lovely.
D Samant
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
August 15, 2010 at 1:43 am
This might actually be a Sanskritized Bengali called shadubhasha. I double checked with this wiki entry before posting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengali_language
I’ve always loved this song and all its variations (the Raag Desh version is nice too. Then there is another version I used to have that I like even better. And a Telugu movie had a very nice rendering.)
Sanskrit is a beautiful soulful language. There is no language I like more.
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