Ode to Krishna: Urdu Poetry Brings Out Kanhaiya’s Inclusive Spirit

(This piece was first published on 24 August 2019 and is being reposted from The Quint's archive's on the occasion of Janmashtami. This is part of Rakhshanda Jalil’s exclusive weekly column titled ‘Hindustani Awaaz’)It’s that time of the year again... the two handsome kadamb trees in my neighbourhood are in full glory. They have been preparing themselves for months now; shedding their old, worn leaves for glossy new ones. The few remaining fruits leftover from last year have almost all dropped to the ground, creating a slushy, pulpy mess these past few weeks.Tiny green balls began to peep through the foliage in July. By August, their size increases; soon they will transform from spiked table-tennis sized balls to closely-packed orange flowers in dense globe-shaped clusters, resembling moti choor ke laddu. But that stage is still a while away. For now, I am content to gaze upon the handsome tree and recite these lines from Subhadra Kumari Chauhan, that so many of us first encountered in school Hindi textbooks:Yeh kadamb ka perh agar Ma hota Yamuna teereyMai bhi uspe baith Kanhaiya banta dheerey dheereyThe child-god Krishna, his playfulness and his leela (a divine play of aesthetics), have been the subject of a great deal of Urdu poetry.Happy Krishna Janmashtami 2019: Puja Vidhi, History & SignificanceKrishna & The Kadamb Tree: What’s The Link?Across much of North India, the kadamb is associated with Lord Krishna and with Janmashtami around the corner, on 24 August, the resplendent tree fills my mind with images of infant Krishna, of his birth on a tumultuous rain-filled night, of his dalliance with Radha and the gopis under the sweet, scented shade of this very tree, of Krishna climbing the kadamb to hide the clothes of the gopis on its branches while they bathed – all of this brought alive through countless songs and lyrics, and embedded in the popular imagination as jewel-bright cameos.The child-god Krishna, his playfulness and his leela (a divine play of aesthetics), as also his mohini (ability to enchant) and the sage counsel he gives to a distressed warrior in his role as partha-sarthi, the friendly charioteer of Arjuna, have been the subject of a great deal of Urdu poetry.‘Janam Kanhaiya Ji’ by Nazeer Akbarabadi (1740-1830) is redolent with the flavours of Braj.While Maulana Hasrat Mohani is his most ardent and best-known admirer among the Urdu poets, of whom more later, there are numerous poems on different facets of Krishna’s life and personality, such as: Har ki Taarif Mein by Nazir Akbarabadi; Krishn aur Radha ki Mulaqat by Munnawar Lakhnavi; Krishn Kanhaiyya by Hafeez Jallundhari; Sri Krishn by Seemab Akbarabadi; and two others bearing the same title by Nihal Seoharvi and Munshi Banwari Lal Shola — and most recently, Aur Phir Krishn ne Arjun se Kaha by Kaifi Azmi; and Brindavan ke Krishn Kanhaiya Allah Hu by Nida Fazli.Not to mention, the numerous versions of the Gita in Urdu, the most notable being the elegaic Dil ki Gita by Khwaja Dil Muhammad published in 1944. Krishna is the Heart of India: A Muslim’s Ode on JanmashtamiJanam Kanhaiya Ji: ‘Ab Nand Ke Ghar Ki Baat Suno’To begin with, let us look briefly at the long and lyrical poem on the birth of the blue god, entitled Janam Kanhaiya Ji (‘The Birth of Kanhaiya ji’) by Nazeer Akbarabadi (1740-1830). Redolent with the flavours of Braj, it tells the story of the birth of a baby boy to Devki and Vasudev at a time when they are imprisoned in their home by Devki’s tyrannical brother, of Vasudev crossing the swollen Jamuna river to take the baby boy to safety in the home of Nand Baba, exchanging his infant daughter with Krishna:...Ab Nand ke ghar ki baat suno waan eik achambha yeh thehraJo raat ko janmi thhi ladki aur bhor ko dekha to ladka....Sab naari aayin Gokul kii aur paas padosan aa baithiinKuchh dhol manjire laatii thhii, kuchh geet jachha ke gaatiin thhiin...Also by Nazeer there’s Har ki Tareef Mein, listing the many attributes of the beloved god:Main kya kya dasaf kahuun yaaron uss shyaam baran auvtari keSikshan, Kanhaiya, Murlidhar, Manmohan, Kunj Bihari keGopal, Manohar, Saanwaliya, Ghanshyam, Atal Banwari keNandlal Dulare, Sundar Chhab, Brij Chandr Mukut Chhalkari ke...‘Krishn Kanhaiyya’ by Hafeez Jallundhari is a long love lyric, eminently sing-able in its melodious invocation of Krishna’s beauty.Modi to launch renovation of Sree Krishna temple in BahrainKrishn Kanhaiyya: ‘Duniya Se Nirala, Yeh Bansuri Wala’Krishn Kanhaiyya by Hafeez Jallundhari is yet another long love lyric, eminently sing-able in its melodious invocation of Krishna’s beauty and the sheer magnetic pull of the flute-playing cowherd of Gokul:Ai dekhne walonIss husn ko dekhoIss raaz ko samjhoYeh naqsh-e-ḳhayaliYeh fitrat-e-aaliYeh paikar-e-tanvirYeh Krishn ki tasvirMa.ani hai ki suratSan.at hai ki fitratZahir hai ki masturNazdik hai ya duurYeh naar hai ya nuurDuniya se niralaYeh bansuri walaGokul ka gvalaHai sehr ki eajazKhulta hi nahin raazKya shaan hai vallahKya aan hai vallahHairan huun kya haiIk shan-e-ḳhuda haiBut-ḳhane ke andarKhud husn ka but-garBut ban gaya aa karWoh turfa nazzareYaad aa gaye saareJamuna ke kinareSabze ka lahaknaPhulon ka mahaknaGhanghor ghataeinSarmast havaeinMaasum umangeinUlfat ki tarangeinWoh gopiyon ke saathHathon mein diye haathRaqsan hua BrijnathBansi mein jo lai haiNasha hai na mai haiKuchh aur hii shai haiIk ruh hai raqsaanIk kaif hai larzaanIk aql hai mai-noshIk hosh hai madhoshIk ḳhanda hai sayyalIk girya hai ḳhush-halIk ishq hai maghrurIk husn hai majburIk sehr hai mashhurDarbar mein tanhaLachar hai KirishnaAa Shyam idhar aaSab ahl-e-ḳhusumatHain dar pa.e izzatYe raaj dulareBuzdil hue saareParda na ho tarajBekas ki rahe laajAa ja mere kaaleBharat ke ujaleDaman mein chhupa leWoh ho ga.i an-banWoh garm hua ranGhalib hai duryodhanWoh aa ga.e JagdishWoh miT ga.i tashvishArjun ko bulayaUpdesh sunayaGham-zad ka ġham kyaUstad ka ġham kyaLo ho ga.i tadbirLo ban ga.i taqdirLo chal ga.i shamshirSirat hai adu-sozSurat nazar-afrozDil kaifiyat-andozGhusse men jo aa jaa.eBijli hi gira jaa.eAur lutf par aa.e ...Julius Naheef Dehelvi’s ‘Krishn-Kanhaiya’ stresses on the all-inclusive love that Lord Krishna has for everyone.Podcast | Urdunama: How ‘Mukhtasar’ is Our View of LifeSri Krishn: ‘Preet Ke Geet’Sri Krishn by Seemab Akbarabadi talks of the preet ke geet (the songs of love) and plays with the idea of cosmic ‘play’, of playing with the colourful spring of love:Huwa tulooh sitaron ki dilkashi le karSuroor aankh mein, nazron mein zindagi le karKhudi ke hosh udaane basad niyaaz aayaNaye pyalon mein sehba-e zindagi le karFiza-e dehr mein gaata phira woh preet ke geetNishat khaiz-o sukoon rez bansuri le karJahan-e qalb sarapa gudaaz ban hi gayaHar ek zarra muhabbat ka saaz ban hi gayaJamal-o husn ke kafir nikhar se khelaRiyaz-e ishq ki rangeen bahar se khelaWith its internal rhyme and alliterations, Nida Fazli’s ‘Brindaban ke Krishn Kanhaiya Allah Hu’ makes Krishna a votary of inclusiveness.Then there’s Julius Naheef Dehelvi’s Krishn-Kanhaiya brimful with adoration for Kanhaiya, which literally means a beautiful, adorable boy. Interestingly, the poem stresses the all-inclusive love that Kanhaiya has for everyone, that makes no difference between ‘apne-paraye’:Jo sun leta hai gosh-e-dil se afsana Kanhaiya kaWoh ho jaata hai sachche dil se divana Kanhaiya kaNazar aati hai jis ko ḳhvab mein vo surat-e-dilkashWoh apna dil bana leta hai kashana Kanhaiya kaSurur-o-kaif ki milti hai us ko lazzat-e-da.imLaga leta hai honton se jo paimana Kanhaiya kaTum apna haath phailao zara saaqi ki mahfil meinKi banta ja raha hai aaj paimana Kanhaiya kaKisi par band hone ka nahin mai-ḳhana-e-ulfatChale aao khula rahta hai mai-ḳhana Kanhaiya kaKanhaiya ki mohabbat mein jo jaan par khel jaata haiUsey sab log keh dete hain divana Kanhaiya ka‘Nahif’ apne paraiey sab isi ke dil mein rahte hainSab apne hain nahin koi bhi begana Kanhaiya kaKrishna: A Votary Of InclusivenessInvoking Him by His many names — Gobind, Radha Kishan, Gopal, Radha Raman, Madhav Murari, Mukut Dhari Madan Gopal and so on — Munshi Banwari Lal Shola in Sri Krishan talks of the combination of many qualities within one Form:Tu hii khaliq hai kaun-o makaan kaTu hii razzaq hai ha runs-o jaan kaAlag kab tujh se teri guftagu haiGharaz ik tu hi to hai tu hi to hai...Hailing the arrival of Krishna the messiah, Nihal Seharvi employs the sort of metaphysical imagery one associates with Sufi mysticism in this nazm, also entitled Sri Krishan:Intizar-e jalwa-e haq mei thha toor-e zindagiDeen-e aadam bhool baitha thha shaoor-e zindagiAagahi se hal na hota thha muamma-e hayaatTishna abr-e karam thha yaani sehra-e hayaat....No one can match the ardour of Maukana Hasrat Mohani, a practising Muslim, for Hazrat Shri Krishna Alaihi Rahma.With its internal rhyme and alliterations, Nida Fazli’s Brindaban ke Krishn Kanhaiya Allah Hu makes Krishna a votary of inclusiveness, an all-embracing wholeness in which everything from the Ganga to the Gayya (the cow), the maulvi and the mazdoor come together:Bansi Radha Gita gayya Allah huThode tinke thode daane thoda jalEk hi jaisi har gaurayya Allah huJaisa jis ka bartan vaisa us ka tanGhatti badhti Ganga mayya Allah huEk hi dariya niila piila laal haraApni apni sab ki nayya Allah huMaulviyon ka sajda pandit ki pujaMazduron ki haiyya haiyya Allah huA Muslim’s Ardour For ‘Hazrat Shri Krishna Alaihi Rahma’And, finally, no one can match the ardour of Maukana Hasrat Mohani, a practising Muslim, a panch-waqta namazi (one who prays five times), one for whom worship of any deity is kufr, yet whose ardour for Hazrat Shri Krishna Alaihi Rahma ('The Venerable Shri Krishna Blessed be His Name') knew no bounds. Of the vast amounts of poetry on his beloved Krishan ji maharaj, here’s a small sample:On the worship of beauty:Maslak-i ishq hai parastish-i husnHum nahin jaante aazab-o-sawaab(The path of love leads to the worship of beautyI know neither reward nor punishment)On the boo-i uns (‘the fragrance of oneness’) that permeates all paths of love, be it leading to Mecca, Barsana, Medina, Mathura, Ajmer or Nand Gaon:Irfaan-e ishq naam hai mere maqaam kaHaamil hun kis ke naghma-i nai ke payaam kaMathura se ahl-i dil ko woh aati hai boo-i unsDuniya-i jaan mein shor hai jis ke dawaam kaLabrez-i noor hai dil-i 'Hasrat' zahe naseebEk husn-i mushkfaam ke shauq-i tamaam ka(The name of my destination is Love's KnowledgeThe message of whose melodious flute I carryThe scent of Oneness wafts from Mathura to the people of heartAnd suffuses the living worldIt is Hasrat's good fortune that his heart is brimful with the radianceAnd love of that musk-scented Beautiful one)‘Mann Tose Preet Lagai Kanhai’The classical poet of the ghazal finds refuge in the more rustic, more real Awadhi to express his feelings for Kanhai thus:Mann tose preet lagai KanhaiKahu aur kisurati ab kaahe ko aayiGokul dhundh Brindaban dhundhoBarsane lag ghoom ke aayiTan man dhan sab waar ke 'Hasrat'Mathura nagar chali dhuni ramaye(My heart has fallen for you, KanhaiHow can it think of anyone else now?I searched for him in Gokul and in BrindavanI even went till Barsana looking for himHaving sacrificed everything for him, I HasratAm now going to set up my abode in Mathura)‘Mathura Ka Nagar Hai Aashiqui Ka’When this poet-politician from Mohaan in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh is locked in Yervada Central Jail in Poona by the colonial government, he speaks of his longing to go to Mathura to celebrate Janamashthami thus:Mathura ka nagar hai aashiqui kaDam bharti hai arzu issi kaHar zarra-e sar-zamin-e GokulDaara hai jamaal-e dilbari kaBarsana-o Nand Gaon mein bhiDekh aayein hain jalwa ham kisi kaPaigham-e hayaat-e jaavidaan thhaHar nagma-e Krishn bansuri kaVoh noor siyah ya ki 'Hasrat'Sar-chashma farogh-e-aagahi ka(Mathura is the city of loveAll my desires are centred on itEvery particle of the dust of GokulPossesses loveliness and comelinessEven in Barsana and Nand GaonI have seen that certain someone's splendourWhose message of reality is eternalAs is every note from Krishna's fluteLike a dark radiance or is it HasratLike a spring of water gushing knowledge)(Rakhshanda Jalil is a writer, translator and literary historian. She writes on literature, culture and society. She runs Hindustani Awaaz, an organisation devoted to the popularisation of Urdu literature. She tweets at @RakhshandaJalil. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)

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Ode to Krishna: Urdu Poetry Brings Out Kanhaiya’s Inclusive Spirit

The child-god Krishna, his playfulness and his ‘leela’, have been the subject of a great deal of Urdu poetry.

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Topics: Janmashtami Urdu poetry Ghazal