Artists
Musicians featured in this piece are:
Douglas Perry – tenor (M.K. Gandhi)
Christopher Keene – conductor
New York City Opera Orchestra & Chorus – orchestra and chorus
Music and libretto by Philip Glass & Constance DeJong, adapted from the Bhagavad Gita. Produced by Kurt Munkacsi & Michael Riesman, recorded 1985. Closing scene of Satyagraha (opera premiered September 5, 1980, Rotterdam); this recording released on the Satyagraha studio album (CBS Records, 1985) and later collected on Songs from the Trilogy (1989).
“Evening Song” closes Satyagraha, Philip Glass’s opera loosely based on Mahatma Gandhi’s early years developing nonviolent resistance in South Africa — the second installment of his “Portrait Trilogy,” alongside Einstein on the Beach and Akhnaten.
Philip Glass – Evening Song Lyrics
The Sanskrit text of “Evening Song,” the conclusion of Act III of Satyagraha:
sribhagavan uvaca:
Bahuni me vyatitani
Janmani tava carjuna
Tanyaham veda sarvani
Na tvam vettha paramtapa
[Ajo ‘pi sann avyayatma
Bhutanam isvaro ‘pi sam
Prakrtim svam adhisthaya
Sambhavamyatmamayaya]
Yada yada hi dharmasya
Glanir bhavati bharata
Abhyutthanam adharmasya
Tada ‘tmanam srjamyaham
Paritranaya sadhunam
Vinasaya ca duskrtam
Dharmasamsthapanarthaya
Sambhavami yuge yuge
BG IV, 5-8
Literal translation:
“The Blessed Lord spoke:
Many of my births have passed away,
And also the births of thee, Arjuna.
I know them all;
Thou dost not know them, Scorcher of the Foe (Arjuna).
Although I am birthless and my self imperishable,
Although I am the Lord of All Beings,
Yet, by controlling my own material nature,
I come into being by my own supernatural power.
Whenever a decrease of righteousness
Exists, Descendant of Bharata,
And there is a rising up of unrighteousness,
Then I give forth myself,
For the protection of the good
And the destruction of evil doers;
For the sake of establishing righteousness,
I come into being from age to age.”
To listen to other songs from the Teleskop 14 program and the full program, click here.