Madhushala
One evening, I was reading Madhushala by Harivansh Rai Bachchan. Many lines from the poem seemed very different to me than their plain literal meanings. For example, I pick three stanzas:
मदिरालय जाने को घर से चलता है पीनेवला,
'किस पथ से जाऊँ?' असमंजस में है वह भोलाभाला,
अलग-अलग पथ बतलाते सब पर मैं यह बतलाता हूँ -
'राह पकड़ तू एक चला चल, पा जाएगा मधुशाला।'। ६।
A person on the path to spirituality may get confused after seeing so many religions and so many sects - all of them claiming to be the "true path" shown by "the true lord". What will the learner do, especially in case the multiple paths have some very different traits? Here, the poet tells - "Catch any one of the paths and just keep going. You will reach your destination." Since the destination is “one” while the paths can be many, it doesn't really matter which path we are on. All paths would lead to the same truth, if one walks properly.
बिना पिये जो मधुशाला को बुरा कहे, वह मतवाला,
पी लेने पर तो उसके मुह पर पड़ जाएगा ताला,
दास द्रोहियों दोनों में है जीत सुरा की, प्याले की,
विश्वविजयिनी बनकर जग में आई मेरी मधुशाला।।२४।
There would be many fence-sitters who would be sceptic towards religions and spirituality. They would not believe in things without even trying them out. The poet calls all such people as naive and remarks that they would be spell bound if they first drink a bit from the spiritual reservoir of dharma. Goals of dharma remain the same for all, whether they are rich or poor and all of us worship the same God. Therefore, our dharma is a kind of equaliser and it unifies and levels all worldly differences.
एक बरस में, एक बार ही जगती होली की ज्वाला,
एक बार ही लगती बाज़ी, जलती दीपों की माला,
दुनियावालों, किन्तु, किसी दिन आ मदिरालय में देखो,
दिन को होली, रात दिवाली, रोज़ मनाती मधुशाला।।२६।
In these lines, the poet tries to show us the constraints in and smallness of rituals. The festivals that we celebrate come only once every year. Holi comes only once; Diwali comes only once a year. But for a devotee, there is no special day or night to submit him/herself to God. The path to spirituality has no special days, times or place - unlike ritualistic religion. Therefore, we should not remain bound by ritual-based religions and we should celebrate our bhakti anytime, anywhere.
I don’t know if I made much sense; but on afterthoughts, I liked the manner in which a very different meaning came out of this famous poem.
- Rahul
मदिरालय जाने को घर से चलता है पीनेवला,
'किस पथ से जाऊँ?' असमंजस में है वह भोलाभाला,
अलग-अलग पथ बतलाते सब पर मैं यह बतलाता हूँ -
'राह पकड़ तू एक चला चल, पा जाएगा मधुशाला।'। ६।
A person on the path to spirituality may get confused after seeing so many religions and so many sects - all of them claiming to be the "true path" shown by "the true lord". What will the learner do, especially in case the multiple paths have some very different traits? Here, the poet tells - "Catch any one of the paths and just keep going. You will reach your destination." Since the destination is “one” while the paths can be many, it doesn't really matter which path we are on. All paths would lead to the same truth, if one walks properly.
बिना पिये जो मधुशाला को बुरा कहे, वह मतवाला,
पी लेने पर तो उसके मुह पर पड़ जाएगा ताला,
दास द्रोहियों दोनों में है जीत सुरा की, प्याले की,
विश्वविजयिनी बनकर जग में आई मेरी मधुशाला।।२४।
There would be many fence-sitters who would be sceptic towards religions and spirituality. They would not believe in things without even trying them out. The poet calls all such people as naive and remarks that they would be spell bound if they first drink a bit from the spiritual reservoir of dharma. Goals of dharma remain the same for all, whether they are rich or poor and all of us worship the same God. Therefore, our dharma is a kind of equaliser and it unifies and levels all worldly differences.
एक बरस में, एक बार ही जगती होली की ज्वाला,
एक बार ही लगती बाज़ी, जलती दीपों की माला,
दुनियावालों, किन्तु, किसी दिन आ मदिरालय में देखो,
दिन को होली, रात दिवाली, रोज़ मनाती मधुशाला।।२६।
In these lines, the poet tries to show us the constraints in and smallness of rituals. The festivals that we celebrate come only once every year. Holi comes only once; Diwali comes only once a year. But for a devotee, there is no special day or night to submit him/herself to God. The path to spirituality has no special days, times or place - unlike ritualistic religion. Therefore, we should not remain bound by ritual-based religions and we should celebrate our bhakti anytime, anywhere.
I don’t know if I made much sense; but on afterthoughts, I liked the manner in which a very different meaning came out of this famous poem.
- Rahul
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