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.
***
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
***
Post-script
Rahim's Books on Astrology
Why Rahim wrote his dohas in Brij bhasha and Avadhi?
ATTENDANT LORDS by T.C.A.Raghavan
The book is available at Amazon/Kindle.
A fantastic commentary interspersed with brilliant rendering of the iconic Dohas
ReplyDeleteMust go viral in the larger interest of the nation. Thanks for your excellent effort!!
Very educative description on poet Abdul Rahim...Thanks for your write up as we Eastern India people know very less of these great writers.
ReplyDelete