Star-Trekking in Shaka Samvat 1945

(3 min read)

Dear Reader,

You are very precious to me. Disregarding the social media seductress in her many avatars (WhatsApp, Facebook, You Tube, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and many others), you have indulged me by reading some of my very prosaic, dull, and drab blogs, and some of you have been so generous as to convey your appreciation, too. That is why I have written this blog with your benefit and welfare in mind.

Ramnarayan Panchang 2023

You possibly belong to the vanishing tribe of serious readers, and I guess you have a ‘To Read’ list, like your ‘TO DO’ list, but less threatening.  I recommend inclusion of Ramnarayan Panchang (रामनारायन पंचांग) 2023 of Lala Ramswarup Ramnarayan & Sons (called RP hereafter) Jabalpur, World’s only Panchang published regularly for the last 90 years, as asserted by the publisher!

Why RP?

A fair question. Why, indeed, when you manage your life well without any panchang? And why RP?

Before proceeding further, I solemnly declare that I am not a Distributor/Stockist/Commission Agent/Marketing Manager/Seller of the company which publishes RP. My recommendation is entirely for your benefit.

What is a Panchang?

Of course, you know that. Panchang, aka Panchangam, Panjika or Panji, is an almanac based on our astronomical and astrological heritage.

Since there are at least thirty regional panchangs, you may be familiar with your regional panchang, and may not have heard of Lahiri Panchang of the north, Khadiratna Panji of Odisha, Madan Gupter Panjika of West Bengal, and others.  Suffice to mention that panchang is far more detailed, and hence indisputably superior to the Gregorian calendar, an unfortunate remainder of our colonial past.

 

(Image Credit: Wikicommons Images - Unknown Author

Fabric Hindu calendar/almanac corresponding to Western years 1871-1872. From Rajasthan)

USP of RP

RP is no ordinary panchang.  Once you read it, you would agree that it is indeed special.

RP may look thin with a mere twelve pages (front and back pages are counted as one page), but it is a mini encyclopaedia. You would find an amazing range of information in it.

In addition to the routine Month-Date-Day format of the Gregorian calendar, RP provides you details of Tithi, Nakshatra, Festivals, Vrats, Graha Sthiti, Shubh Muhurt, and Rashiphal.  

RP also thoughtfully provides on each page: 1. Thought for the Month; 2. Two boxes with Pragmatic Tips for households (Ex- set your AC at 25 degrees centigrade to save on your electricity bill); 3. Two columns for date-wise ‘Doodh ka hisab’ (and a योग row to derive the monthly total), and Laundry; and 4. A blank box for miscellaneous use.  

RP’s Thought for the Year is:

इस वर्ष का विचार

सुख चाहिये तो

            एडजस्ट करते रहिये

         या एडजस्ट होते रहिये।

 

How should you use RP? Once a month is over, do not mechanically flip the page to display the current month on the wall; read the back page. In fact, once you buy RP, you should sit down, and first read the back pages – all twelve of them – preferably in a single sitting. The tithis, nakshatras, tyohars and vrats will come when they will; but why not benefit by reading the back page right away?

Know Your RP Quiz

Only if you have read the back page of Month November would you know of जागरूक बनो प्रतियोगिता, a simple Quiz – just find 5 missing words in the given sentences, which are picked from the articles in RP. Last date for submission of entry is 31 August. Hurry, there still is time to join the contest! Eleven 1^st prizes of INR 5000 each, to be won through a lucky draw. Winners would be informed by Post, and no contestant may call in this regard, and those who call would be automatically disqualified!

Travel Advisory: दिशाशूल विचार

 As you are aware, travel on a particular day of the week to a particular diga (direction) may be auspicious or inauspicious, and it is prudent to avoid travel in the contra-indicated diga. RP is cognisant that people today travel more frequently than ever before, and may not always have the luxury of advance planning. What choice does one have if Boss convenes a physical meeting at New Delhi tomorrow at 9.30 AM?

RP offers necessary tips to annul the disha-shula. An easy-to-do method is to make a deemed departure at an auspicious hour for which you need to move a book or notebook or a piece of cloth, anything you would take with you for your trip, move it from its appointed place and keep it in a different place, but remember to pack it in your bag when you leave for your journey. The disha-shula stands neutralised.

Another easy method to cancel the baneful impact of disha-shula is to eat (or drink, as the case may be), before your departure, milk on Monday, gud on Tuesday, udad dal on Saturday (if taking an early morning flight, you must ask your husband to cook it the previous evening and keep it in the fridge. Just so you do not forget to eat the dal before departure, you could put your deemed departure item near the fridge.) Now you have two remedies for a single disha-shul!

Choughadia

Our ancient astrologers were not content with calculating the planetary positions for the day or the night. Since the planets were always in motion, they provided ghadi, a unit of time measurement, which divides each day (6AM to 6PM) into 8 blocks of 90 minutes each. Ditto for each night (6PM to 6AM). That gives the user 16 ghadis for a 24-hour period, and each ghadi falls into one of the two broad and seven sub-categories – Auspicious (अमृत, शुभ, लाभ , चर), and Inauspicious ( उद्बेग , रोग , काल).

It just struck me that none of the several books I have published has become a bestseller, and the reason must be astrological. Serves me right for not publishing my books on auspicious tithis.

To make amends, I am publishing this blog on an auspicious date and time. I am confident this will be read by more readers than any of my previous blogs. How may that happen? Since I have posted it an auspicious tithi and hour, the fingers of each reader would be guided, without the reader being conscious of the act, to forward it to five or more of their contacts!

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Disclaimer

I am more than a little surprised by the early feedback from some of my readers; one rushed to Amazon to buy a copy of RP, another searched in vain for a digital copy to read the stuff on RP’s back-page, and yet another thought the Hindu Panchang picture in my blog was from RP. These readers seemed to have missed my veiled but gentle satire on panchang dependence in general and on Ramnarayan Panchang in particular. Hence this disclaimer.

1.     I have NOT recommended for you to buy a copy of RP. If you are a panchang user, the one you have is as good. Further, most local Dailies and Astro-channels on TV provide ‘Aaj ka Panchang’, and several Apps and portals provide free astrological services. Make a Google Search, and you would find prokerala.com, drikpanchang.com, and many others.

2.     Do NOT participate in ‘Know Your RP Quiz’. I have no idea if it is an authentic, verifiable contest.

3.     Do NOT waste your time reading the back-pages, and even the front pages of RP if you have no interest in astrology.

4.     The painting in my blog is in public domain, sourced from wikicommons images, and not from RP.

5.    I neither recommend reference to panchang to manage your life, nor do I recommend purchase of RP or any other panchang.

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Books by the Author

P.K. Dash has published the following books:

Short story collections:

Tell A Tale and Other Stories

Invisible Poet and Other Stories

The Mysterious Ladies and Other Stories

Fiction

Kathapur Tales

Essays

Pink Diamond and Other Essays

Self-Help

How To Be an Author in 7 Days: A Beginner’s Guide to Self- Publishing

Story books for children:

Cave of Joy: Anand Gufa

Two Tales, Three Tellers: A Fairytale & A Fable

Poetry

RIVER SONG and Other Poems

Songs of Soil: Selected Poems of an Unschooled Bard: Padma Shri Haladhar Nag

O Krishna, O Son! Yashoda’s Sublime Song of Sorrow

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Note: Print copies of these books, except Pink Diamond and Other Essays, are available at amazon.in, notionpress.com, and flipkart.com. Ebooks are available at Amazon Kindle.

 

Thus Spoke Rahim

Why this Blog?

Scholars of Hindi literature have written extensively on Rahim. Why then am I, a non-Hindi speaking person with modest familiarity with Hindi literature, writing on the poet? Because Rahim fascinates me, and I guess others may also enjoy his poetry.

Target audience for this piece is the non-Hindi speaking person who may not be familiar with Rahim, and to encourage her to read or listen to his dohas.  

Abdur Rahim Khan-e-Khanan

Why is Rahim, a medieval poet, still popular today, nearly four hundred years after his death, even though he was no full-time poet?  

Abdur Rahim Khan-e-Khanan (1556-1627) was one of Akbar’s navaratnas. Turkish by birth, Muslim by faith, Hindustani by heart, a valiant warrior, victorious sipahsalar, and highly-ranked statesman; he was also a scholar, polyglot, and a versatile author who wrote on the sidelines of his hectic life. He drank deep from the multi-cultural milieu of his times, and his creative genius soared above the limitations of religion, culture, language, and status. His poetry, drawing from his wide-ranging lived experience, speaks of his inclusive world-view and humane outlook.

Rahim Dohavali

Among his many works, the most popular are his dohas which speak in the idiom of common people, and use metaphors and stories familiar to them.

Doha is a couplet, a petit poem with a single powerful theme or thought; an ideal poetic form for the awfully busy man of the world that Rahim was, and much loved by the common man who was equally busy in chores of daily life and with little time or aptitude for scholarly, lengthy literary works. That is why Rahim’s dohas became viral during his time and became as popular as the sayings of Kabir, his predecessor; and Tulsidas and Surdas, his contemporaries.

I have selected a few dohas which most appealed to me, given below along with a brief translation:

Delicate Bond of Love

      रहिमन धागा प्रेम का, मत तोड़ो चटकाय।

टूटे से फिर न जुरै, जुरै गांठ पड़ जाय।।

Do not thoughtlessly snap the delicate string of love; once broken, it is difficult to mend, and even when mended, the knot would always remain.

Water, the elixir of Life

रहिमन पानी राखिए, बिन पानी सब सून।

पानी भए न ऊबरै, मोती मानुष चून।।

Conserve Water, for there is nothing without it; neither the beauty of a pearl, nor precious human life, nor the essential ingredient to make food (chun is atta or flour; the poet may also have meant chuna, the ingredient for construction, which needs water.)

King of Kings

चाह गई चिंता मिटी, मनुआ बेपरवाह।

जिन को कछु न चाहिए, वे साहन के साह।। 

Once the clutches of ambition and desire are severed, the mind is free from all worldly worries; those who seek nothing are the king of kings.

Perilous path of Love

चढ़िबो मोम तुरंग पर, चलिबो पावक मांहि।

प्रेम पंथ ऐसो कठिन, सब कोउ निबहत नाहिं।

The path of Love is tough, and not for the lily-livered; for it involves riding a horse made of wax through a raging fire.

Worry and Pyre

रहिमन कठिन चितान ने, चिंता कोधित चेत।

चिता दहति निर्जीव को, चिंता जीव समेत।।

Do not be subdued or subjugated by your worries, for the funeral pyre incinerates a corpse, but worry burns a living being. A clever word-play – in Hindi, चिता and चिंता are differentiated by only a bindi, i.e., the anuswar mark.

Ram, the Saviour

गहि सरना-गत राम की, भवसागर की नाव।

रहिमन जगत उधार कर, और न कछु उपाव।।

Seek shelter of Ram, the saviour of the world. He, alone, is the boat to cross the ocean of life, there is no other way.

Rahim was a Muslim, but he had no hesitation in singing the glory of Ram.

Ram in Chitrakoot

चित्रकूट में रमि रहे, रहिमन अवध नरेस।

जापर विपदा पड़त है, सो आवत यहि देस।।

Ram, King of Awadh, took shelter in salubrious and plentiful Chitrakoot, for this is the land where those in distress seek solace.

As per a legend, when Rahim was impoverished and could not practice his habitual charity, a person appealed to him for help. Rahim wrote this doha and sent it to the king of Rewa with the person seeking charity. The king granted one lakh rupees to the courier.

Neglect and Hurt

पावस देखि रहीम मन, कोइल साधे मौन।

अब दादुर वक्ता भए, हम को पूछत कौन।।

At the advent of the rains, koel falls silent. Where frogs are eloquent, koel is not honoured in that assembly.

Rahim achieved heights of power and recognition, and also suffered humiliation and neglect. Maybe he penned this autobiographical doha during his bad days.

Forgiveness

छिमा बड़ेन को चाहिए, छोटेन को उत्पात।

का रहीम हरि को घट्यो, जो भृगु मारी लात।।

An immature person may be intolerant and vengeful, but it behoves the mature and large-hearted to forgive lapses by others. Bhrigu rishi kicked Vishnu on his chest, but that did not hurt or offend God or diminish His stature.

Vishnu and Bhrigu

There is a puranic story about this. Once an assembly of rishis asked Narada: who is the greatest of the trinity – Vishnu, Shiva, or Brahma? Narada, the clever diplomat, assigned the task to Bhrigu to go meet all the three and submit his opinion. Bhrigu met Brahma and Shiva and was disappointed. When he went to meet Vishnu, the Lord was in deep slumber, and did not rise to welcome the rishi. Offended and enraged, Bhrigu kicked Vishnu on his chest who woke up and asked, ‘O, Rishi, does your foot hurt?’ He massaged Bhrigu’s foot, and honoured the guest by permanently imprinting his footmark as Bhrigu vallari on His chest!

But Mahalakshmi was not as generous, and she cursed, ‘O brahmin, I reside in the Lord’s heart. Since you kicked me, may all your progenies be poor for ever.’

My most favourite Rahim Doha

My most favourite Rahim doha is part of a legend, conveys a beautiful thought, and tells us about Rahim’s fabled charity owing to which he was considered an avatar of Danvir Karna.

Gang Kavi, a contemporary, once sent Rahim the following doha:

सीखे कहाँ नवाबजू, ऐसी देनी देन।

ज्यों-ज्यों कर ऊंचा करो त्यों-त्यों नीचे नैन ॥

O, Royal Donor, when you raise your hand to give in charity, your eyes are invariably lowered. Pray tell me the reason for your strange behaviour.

Rahim replied with the following doha:

Charity with Humility

देनहार कोऊ और है, भेजत सो दिन रैन्।

लोग भरम हम पर करें, याते नीचे नैन ॥

The benevolence flows endlessly from the One Above, I lower my eyes in embarrassment since people mistake me as the giver.

This famous doha features in a beautiful song by Anup Jalota.

Sanskrit Shloka

Rahim composed several Sanskrit shlokas, including Madanastakam, celebrating Krishna’s beauty and irresistible charm which drew the infatuated Radha and other gopis to Vrindavan for Rasleela.

One of his shlokas is:

रत्नाकरोस्ति सदनं गृहिणी च पद्मा,

किं देयमस्ति भवते जगदीश्वराय ।

राधा ग्रूहीतमनसे मनसे च तुभ्यं,

दत्तं मया निजमनस्तदिदं गृहाण ॥

O, Lord of the Universe, you reside in the opulent abode of Ratnakara (Varuna, the wealthy Lord of the Seas), and Padma (Mahalakshmi) is your spouse; what may I, then, offer you? Since you have lost your heart to Radha, please accept my own heart which I offer to you.

बरवे (भक्तिपरक)

बन्दौ बिघन-बिनासन, रिधि-सिधि-ईस ।

निर्मल बुद्धि-प्रकासन, सिसु-ससि-सीस॥

An invocation to Vighna-Vinashaka Ganesha, the husband of Ridhi and Sidhi, and son of Shiva, the one whose head is adorned with the Moon.

Rahim is one of the 99 names of Allah, and as a Muslim he was forbidden to pray to any other god; but his inclusivity did not find it odd to respect Hinduism and its gods.

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Resources

·      Bharatiya Sahitya Ke Nirmata: Rahim – by Vijayendra Snatak, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.

·      Rahim Ratnavali -Edited by Pt. Mayashankar Yagnik, Sahitya Seva Sadan, Kashi

·      Hindi Sahitya Ka Itihas – Acharya Ramchandra Shukla, Nagari Pracharini Sabha, Kashi

·      Rahim Ke Dohe – Swami Anand Kulshresth

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Post-script

Rahim's Books on Astrology

Shri Dinesh Shankar Mathur, an esteemed senior colleague, pursues astrology as a hobby since the last several decades, and has published ten books on astrology including one in English, all of which are available on Amazon. After reading my blog, he shared this note:

'Rahim was a competent astrologer too! He wrote two books on astrological subjects-Khet Kautukam and Dwatrimshadyogavali. I could manage to lay my hands on a Hindi translation of the first one. I am attaching it. The second is perhaps not available in print.'

He also shared with me a PDF of Khetakoutukam by Rahim with a Hindi commentary by Pt. Dinanath Jha Jyotishacharya, published by Choukhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Varanasi, 1983.

Rahim begins his book by this mention: 'pharasiyapadamishritagranthah khalu panditeih krutah purveih' (Several scholars have previously composed books in Sanskrit mixed with Pharsi, and my book continues that tradition.)

Why Rahim wrote his dohas in Brij bhasha and Avadhi?

My friend C.P.Singh mentions that Rahim wrote in Brij bhasha and Avadhi keeping in mind Akbar's lack of literacy (he never got the opportunity to study!). He did not wish to embarrass Akbar with his scholarly compositions. Later, Akbar himself encouraged Rahim to write in Sanskrit and Arabic. Rahim translated Babur's autobiography from Turkish to Persian (Bakeyat Babri).

ATTENDANT LORDS by T.C.A.Raghavan

Currently reading this amazingly well-researched book on Bairam Khan and his son, Abdur Rahim by T.C.A. Raghavan, India's Former High Commissioner to Singapore and Pakistan. He has a Ph.D. in History from JNU, was schooled in Bhopal, and his father, T.C.A.Srinivasa Varadan was a 1948 batch IAS officer in MP Cadre.

The book is available at Amazon/Kindle.

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