Shivpreet Singh

People say I am singing songs, but what I am really doing is weaving a garland of oneness. I am weaving Guru Nanak's garland. This new composition is based on an inspiring couplet by Guru Nanak which I have not heard anyone else sing:

Kaaya komal phul gun nanak gupas maal
Eni phooli rau kare avar ki chuniye daal

I pluck delicate flowers of actions from my own body and weave this garland
These are the flowers that my love appreciates, what other branch should I pluck from?
- Guru Nanak

Poetry: Guru Nanak & Guru Angad

Raag: Shudha Basant

Taal: 20 beat cycle (taal Arjun)

Saxophone: Prasant Radakrishnan

Music: Shivpreet Singh

Lyrics:

Kāiā kūmal phul guṇ Nānak gupas māl.

Ėnī fulī rao kare avar kė cẖuṇīah dāl. ||1||

- Guru Nanak

Nānak ṯinā basanṯ hai jinĥ gẖar vasiā kanṯ.

Jin ke kanṯ ḏisāpurī se ahinis firėh jalanṯ. ||2||

- Guru Angad

Meditation on Some of the Words

Kāiā means body and kūmal could mean either soft (or compassionate) or leaf. Phul guṇ means flowers virtue. On my soft body there are flowers of virtue. These are the flowers that my love appreciates, what other branch (other than my body) should I pluck flowers from (for offering as prayers).

Indeed, this perspective offers a beautiful lens through which to view our inner growth. Our virtues, like temporary blossoms, grace the landscape of our character, imparting their delicate beauty and fragrance. As we cultivate these virtues, they become the building blocks of our character, shaping the essence of who we are.

These virtues continue to shine throughout our life, through its ups and downs. I am reminded of Robert Frost's lines about why he prefers leaves over flowers - because they continue to be compassionate at night: Leaves compared with Flowers.

The Garland of Guru Nanak

These compositions are in continuation of the garland that Guru Nanak weaves. To weave this garland the flowers come to me. Fortunately, these are some of the most beautiful flowers that can be found ... the flowers from rare poetry from Guru Nanak and Guru Angad who shared these flowers with each other in Kartarpur in a love filled meditative evening after the daily toil of farming ... the flowers of raag, in this case raag basant, the flowers of musicians around the world who inspire me, in this case Carnatic Saxophonist Prasant Radhakrishnan who's beautiful music you can find here, ... the flowers of rhythm, in this case a rare 20-beat cycle (Arjun taal). While I can these flowers mine, but they are as well yours ... to be enchanted with and to be inspired from. This garland is mine but in essence it is every seekers.

All of us seekers have Guru Nanak's opportunity of weaving a garland in our life. Each day we breathe on this earth, we have the opportunity to weave a new flower into the ever-growing garland of oneness. Just as a flower perfumes its surroundings, our best actions imbue the world with a fragrant essence of kindness. And kindness, like Guru Nanak says, is the basis of spirituality. These kind-bodied flowers (kaaya komal phul gun), our compassionate actions, inspire others to do good by their aroma, and in that way. However, unlike flowers that spurt in our gardens, they never die. They constitute the lasting imprint we leave behind, our legacy that transcends time.

For those who wield the power of words, such as poets like Rabindranath Tagore or Walt Whitman, their poems about oneness become the exquisite flowers that grace this garland. With eloquence and artistry, they weave verses that evoke emotions, capturing the essence of the human experience. Similarly, singers like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Bhai Mardana express their innermost sentiments through melodic blooms, their songs resonating with the hearts of listeners, spreading joy, solace, or inspiration. Composers like Mozart and Ravi Shankar, too, contribute to this floral tapestry, their compositions like intricate petals that intertwine harmoniously, creating symphonies that touch the souls of those who encounter them. And let us not forget the artists, who paint, sculpt, and create with passion, their art pieces becoming vibrant flowers that capture the imagination and evoke profound emotions.

Throughout the seeker's life, he continues to weave these flowers in this garland, each one a testament to our unique gifts and passions, and equally our borrowed learnings that the seeker gives his own touches to. With each act of creation, each thoughtful deed, the seeker contributes to the ever-evolving beauty of the garland. The essence of this garland, composed of these flowers with boundless beauty, is what ultimately shapes our legacy. It is a reflection of the compassion, beauty, and creativity we infused into the world.

Dear seeker, as we embark on this journey of existence, let us carry within us the awareness that our life can be the garland of the beautiful flowers of our actions. With every petal we add to the garland, we contribute to a more compassionate and vibrant world, ensuring that our legacy remains forever intertwined with the interconnectedness of all things. Let us embrace the opportunities that arise to spread kindness, understanding, and love and with every choice we make, may we be mindful of the impact it has on others and the world at large.

In this way, may our life become a radiant bouquet, an inspiring garland, a testament to the beauty that can unfold when we infuse our best compassionate actions. As the bouquet grows, let its fragrance linger in the hearts of those we touch, and let it inspire others to nurture their own unique flowers. May the legacy of humanity continue to flourish in the light of Guru Nanak and inspire generations yet to come about oneness.

I was listening and meditating upon this beautiful ghazal by Faiz Ahmed Faiz, beautifully composed by Mehdi Hassan. It is one of my favorite ghazals of Mehndi Hassan which I first heard in a ghazal baithak at my uncle's home in the late 80s.

People used to asked Mehdi Hassan, ‘Mehdi bhai, please sing the badalo bahar ghazal for us.’ He used to tell them it is "bad-e-naubahar" to which they would reply, ‘We don’t understand it but it is really good’. Here is an attempt to expand the aura of this beautiful ghazal by providing a better understanding of it through multiple translations.

"Gulon Main Rang Bhare" is a love poem, in which the poet expresses his feelings of longing and desire for his beloved. The first couplet is arguably the most beautiful. The poet starts with a request: "Colors are filling the flowers, the spring breeze blows the atmosphere. O love, why don't you come so the business of the garden can continue?". Love is not a business, it is not an occupation. But the poet is preoccupied with his love. The color filling the flowers, and the spring breeze blowing gently is beautiful - but it seems empty without the love. So, the poet requests the love to come so spring can be spring, and flowers can be flowers.

Lyrics and three translations are given below. I love the one by Mustansir Dalvi the best. It is truly compact and innovative. I wrote a poem inspired by this which I excerpt here:

A Breeze of Spring in Fall

- After Faiz Ahmed Faiz

I like to think of the garden
as a place with its own timetable,
a bureaucrat of blossoms and weeds
negotiating with the breeze of spring,
petals posing as unsigned documents
awaiting the flourish of love's approval.

Lyrics of Gulon Mein Rang Bhare

The following lyrics include all the seven couplets of the ghazal. The 6th couplet was usually not sung by Mehndi Hassan; one of the translations does not include it.

gulon mein rang bhare, baad-e-naubahaar chale

chale bhi aao ki gulshan kaa karobaar chale

qaffas udaas hai yaro, sabaa se kuchh to kaho

kahin to bahr-e-Khudaa aaj zikr-e-yaar chale

kabhi to subh tere kunj-e-lab se ho aagaaz

kabhi to shab sar-e-kaakul se mushkabaar chale

bada hai dard ka rishtaa, ye dil garib sahi

tumhaare naam pe aayenge gam gusaar chale

jo ham pe guzari so guzari magar shab-e-hijraa

hamaare ashk teri aaqabat sanawaar chale

huzoor-e-yaar hui daftar-e-junoon ki talab

girah mein leke garebaan kaa taar taar chale

maqaam ‘Faiz’ koii raah mein jachaa hii nahiin

jo kuu-e-yaar se nikale to suu-e-daar chale

Gulon Main Rang Bhare Translated by Mustansir Dalvi

Like the new breeze of spring

that grants blossoms their hue,

come forth love, grant the garden

leave to go about its business.

This birdcage is forlorn.

Call upon the gentle wind, friends

to petition the Lord, if it will,

to speak of my beloved.

Let the dawn, for once, arrive

through the archway of your lips.

Let the dusk spread its perfume

like musk from your tresses.

This impoverished heart

is privileged to suffer

and, hearing your name,

to swell, leaving comfort behind.

What is done is done

but, sundering night,

know that your passing

is adorned with our tears.

So insatiable is my vehemence

to be in your presence, my love,

I bunch up my shirt in a knot

and rip its collar to shreds.

No destination along the way

has any appeal for Faiz,

a step away from his beloved’s street

is a giant leap to the gallows pole.

Translation of Gulon Mein Rang Bhare with Vocabulary

1. Gulon mein rang bhare baad-e-naubahaar* chale

Chale bhi aao ke gulshan** ka kaarobaar chale

गुलों मे रंग भरे, बाद-ए-नौबहार चले

चले भी आओ कि गुलशन का कारोबार चले

Let the breeze of a new spring, flow and Fill the flowers with colours

Please do come so that the garden can get on with its daily business

Gul गुल گل = flower

shammaa parvaanaa hon ke Gunchaa o gul

zindagii kis ko raas aa.ii hai #Shakeel badayuni

baad-e-naubahaar बाद-ए-नौ-बहार

بادِ نوبہار =breeze of new spring

Baad= here it means breeze , wind, air but also means afterwards , subsequent )

Gulshan , गुलशन

گلشن = garden/ rose garden

ai nau-bahaar-e-naaz terii nikhaton* kii KHair (*khushbu)

daaman jhaTak ke nikle tere gulsitaan se ham #Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi

Kaarobaar ,कारोबार , کاروبار = business, affair, kaamkaaj

kaarobaar-e-jahaan sanvarte hain

hosh jab be-KHudii* se miltaa hai Jigar Moradabadi ( Being besides Oneself, Intoxication, Rapture, Senseless)

2. Qafas* udaas hai yaaron sabaa** se kuchh tau kaho

Kahin to bahr-e-Khuda*** aaj zikr-e-yaar chale

कफ़स उदास है यारों सबा से कुछ तो कहो

कहीं तो बह्र-ए-खुदा आज ज़िक्र-ए-यार चले

The prison is sad, friends ask the breeze to say something

At least somewhere for God’s sake, let there be discussion of the beloved

Qafas क़फ़स قفس = cage, prison ( emphasis on ‘f’)

qafas mein jii nahiin lagtaa kisii tarah

lagaa do aag koii aashiyaan men #Altaf Hussain Hali

Sabaa सबा صبا = a gentle breeze

KHush-buu pighalte lamhon kii saanson mein kho gaii

KHush-buu kii vaadiyon mein sabaa le gaii mujhe

#Iffat Zarrin

Bahr e Khuda बहर-ए-ख़ुदा بہر خدا = khuda ke liye, for God’s sake

zikr-e-yaar ज़िक्र-ए-यार ذکرِ یار = mehboob ki baatein , mention of the beloved

maahaul saaz-gaar karo main nashe mein huun//

zikr-e-nigaah-e-yaar karo main nashe mein huun

Ganesh Bihari ‘tarz’

3. kabhi tau subah tere kunj-e-lab* se ho aaghaz**

Kabhi to shab sar-e-kaakul se mushakbaar *** chale

कभी तो सुब्ह तेरे कुन्ज-ए-लब से हो आगाज़

कभी तो शब् सर-ए-काकुल से मुश्कबार चले

At least once let the morning start from the corner of your lips ( a gentle morning kiss/touch)

At least once let the night be filled with the musky smell of your tresses

Kunj e lab कुन्ज -ए-लब کنج لب = kunj=corner. Lab =lips here it refers to a smile or a touch/ kiss

سرِ کاکل Sar e kakul सर-ए-काकुल = tresses

आग़ाज़ AaGaaz beginning, commencement,start, genesis

Ibtidaa* ishq kii hai dekh ‘amaanat’ hushyaar

ye vo aaGaaz** hai jis kaa ko.ii anjaam nahii.n (both mean beginning, start, commencement but aaghaaz also used for genesis #Amaanat Lukhnavi

Aaghaaz karna= Commence, Start

Aaghaaz hona= start

Din ka aaghaaz = start of day

Mushk-baar मुश्क-बार مشکبار = scented like musk

kah sabaa vo khulii hai zulf kahaa.n

tujh me.n buu mushk-naab* kii sii hai ( smell of pure, unadulterated musk )

#Sher Mohd Imaan

4. Jo hum pe guzri so guzri magar shab-e-hijraan*

Hamaare ashk** teri aaqibat*** sanwaar chale

जो हम पे गुज़री सो गुज़री मगर शब्-ए-हिजरां

हमारे अश्क तेरी आक़िबत संवार चले

Whatever befell me, I endured but at least on the night of separation

My tears adorned your future

Guzri — ‘z’ not ‘j’

Shab e hijraan शब-ए- हिजरां شبِ ہجراں = the night of separation ( shab = night| hijr = separation)

Ashk अश्क اشک ( k not q ) = aansoo, tears

Aaqibat आक़िबत عاقبت = the end, conclusion , future life

And aaqabat (conclusion, future, future life, life after death, other world),

http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/conclusion

future 2) other world 3) life after death 4) conclusion

5. huzuur-e-yaar huyii daftar-e-junuun* kii talab

girah men le ke girebaan kaa taar taar chale

हुज़ूर-ए-यार हुई दफ़्तर-ए-जुनूँकी तलब

गिरह मे लेके गरेबां के तार-तार चले

The beloved has summoned me to her court with my documents of infatuation

I have only my torn to tatters collar, which I take tied in a knot

Daftar e junuun دفتر جنوں = literally multitude of frenzy/ but here documentation of infatuation

Roz-e-hisaab jab mera pesh ho daftar-e-amal

Aap bhi sharmsaar ho, mujh ko bhi sharmsaar kar #Iqbal

daftar didn’t originally mean office .It was a colloquial term 4 file/folder The clerk looking after them in govt offices was called daftari, a Class IV position in govt offices.

girah गिरह گرہ = here it means a knot, but is also used for one-sixteenth of gaz(yard)

the famous song “dil ki girah khol do, chup na baitho koi geet gao”.

girebaan गरेबां گریبان = literally means the collar,the opening of breast portion of a garment

apne girebaan mein jhank kar dekho = self introspection

chaak-e-garebaan = collar torn to bits in amorous frenzy.

Girebaan-geer= adj.: accuser, one catching by neck or collar, plaintiff

aashiq hain magar ishq numaayaa’n nahiin rakhte

ham dil kii tarah chaak girebaan nahiin rakhte Bekhud dehalvi

kaanTon ko bhii ab baad-e-sabaa chheD rahii hai

phuulon ke hasiin chaak girebaan se guzar ke #Ali Jawwad Zaidi

6. Maqaam* Faiz koi raah mein jacha** hi nahin

Jo ku e yaar*** se nikle to su e daar**** chale

मक़ाम फैज़ कोई राह मे जचा ही नही

जो कू-ए-यार से निकले तो सू-ए-दार चले

No place attracted Faiz, en-route

After leaving the Beloved’s lane he headed for the gallows

Maqaam मक़ाम مقام = dwelling,occasion,place,position ( here place)

جچا जचा jacha = liked

Kuu e yaar कू-ए-यार کوئے یار = yaar ki gali , lover’s street

kitnaa hai bad-nasiib ‘zafar’ dafn ke liye

do gaz zamiin bhii na milii kuu-e-yaar me.n

yaaro kuu-e-yaar kii baate’n kare’n

phir gul o gul-zaar kii baate’n kare’n

Akhtar Shiraani

Suu e daar सू-ए-दार سُوئے دار = towards the gallows ( suu-e = towards / suu = evil, bad |

daar = gallows as here but also means house ,place )

ham na iisaa na Sarmad* o Mansur(name of a Sufi saint who was hanged for saying “I am God”)

log kyuu.n suu-e-daar le ke chale (* hanged for heresy by Aurangzeb) #Naushad Ali

Another Translation of Gulon Mein Rang Bhare

gulon mein rang bhare, baad-e-naubahaar chale

chale bhi aao ki gulshan kaa karobaar chale

The flowers need to flush with color,

The winds need to blow in the change,

Love, would waft in like the spring?

The flowers, they need to bloom again.

qaffas udaas hai yaro, sabaa se kuchh to kaho

kahin to bahr-e-Khudaa aaj zikr-e-yaar chale

The cage around us is still, and silent,

Please, speak of kindness into the breeze

For god’s sake, fill the quiet around us,

With beautiful descriptions of my lover.

kabhi to subh tere kunj-e-lab se ho aagaaz

kabhi to shab sar-e-kaakul se mushkabaar chale

Someday, somewhere, my day will start

From the corner of your smiling lips,

Someday, somewhere, my day will end

With the heady perfume of your hair.

bada hai dard ka rishtaa, ye dil garib sahi

tumhaare naam pe aayenge gam gusaar chale

The bond that pain forges is strong,

Though we, alone, have broken, weak hearts,

But we will wait, in anticipation of you,

Your call pulling us through the haze.

jo ham pe guzari so guzari magar shab-e-hijraa

hamaare ashk teri aaqabat sanawaar chale

What we have felt, and we have borne,

Will end as this evening of separation will,

Maybe my tears will drip on your soul,

And washed it clean for your next life.

huzoor-e-yaar hui daftar-e-junoon ki talab

girah mein leke garebaan kaa taar taar chale

We welcomed them as friends, but their

Greed was a vast, unquencing thirst,

And they tied us up, preparing our bodies

For how they carved us out into pieces.

maqaam ‘Faiz’ koii raah mein jachaa hii nahiin

jo kuu-e-yaar se nikale to suu-e-daar chale

Unfortunately, Faiz could not find any

Solace in this exiled wanderings, home

Was nowhere to be found, nor love, and

So, I chose to find death at the gallows.

Continuing to do more readings and listening about flowers this spring. The eye of the flower are seen as beautiful, kind and compassionate. Be like that flower says this buddhist song by Ani Choying Dolma. Lyrics, translation and an insightful essay below. Enchanting!

Phool ko aakha Ma

Ani Choying Dolma

Transliterated Lyrics in English

Phul ko aakha ma, phulai sansaara

Kaada ko aakha ma, kaadai sansara

Jhulkincha hai chaya, bastu ansaara

Chitta suddha hos mero, boli buddha hos

Mero paitala le, kirai namaaros

Ramro aakha ma khulcha, ramrai sansara

Kaada ko aakha ma, kaadai sansara

Taha taha jun dekhu, kalo raatai ma

Jiwan sangit sunu ma, sukha patai ma

Sanglo man ma khulcha hai, sanglai sansara

Kaada ko aakha ma, kaadai sansara

Phul ko aakha ma, phulai sansara

Kaada ko aakha ma, kaadai sansara

Meaning in English

In the eyes of a flower, the world appears as a flower

In the eyes of a thorn, the world appears as a thorn

The shadow is cast according to the (size of the) object

Let my heart be pure, (let my) speech be (like) Buddha’s

Let my feet kill not a single insect

A good world opens in the eyes of the good

(Let me) see the sparkling moon on a black night

Let me listen to the song of Life, even in Dried leaves

A limpid world opens in a limpid heart

Vocabulary

Phul (फूल) = Flower

Kaada (काँडा) = Thorn

Chaya (छायाँ) = Shadow

Bastu (वस्तु) = Object; Thing

Ansaara (अन्सार) = Variation of anusar, meaning ‘according to’

Chitta (चित्त) = Mind; 'feeling’ heart

Suddha (सुद्ध) = Pure; Unadulterated

Boli (बोली) = Speech

Paitala (पैताला) = Sole; Feet

Jun (जून) = Moon

Jiwan (जीवन) = Life

Sanglo (सङ्लो) = Limpid; Transparent (Usually a quality of water)

Analysis

This song is very beautiful in lyrics, richly composed of and highly meaningful. I have just sketched a rough meaning out of it, because translations alone cannot do justice. So, the first ’phulko akha ma…’ bascially means that the world which we perceive to be is how we perceive ourselves. That means, a 'flower’ will see the world as being a 'flower’ whereas a thorn will see it as thorny. Then, the lines 'jhulkincha hai chaya…’ means that our mark on this world is made by the amount of contribution we do, hence the 'Shadow’ is cast according to the size of the object. By doing good work, we cast a 'good shadow’.

Then the lines ’chitta suddha hos….’ means that no evil should remain inside her/us. Our mind should be free of any contamination and our speech should be like Buddha’s (pure and loving). We should not harm the innocent or basically anyone, even unknowingly. The lines ’taha taha jun…’ means that, even in the pitch darkness of night, we can still admire the bright shine of the Moon. That means, we can still find happiness and hope even when outcomes look dark. 'Jiwan sangit sunu…’ basically means we can still hear the sound of life, even in dead, inanimate things like dried leaves. Similarly, hope can be found in hopeless situations.

In the Eyes of a Flower

by Max Ediger

In the eyes of a thorn, the world looks like a thorn.

In the eyes of a flower, the world looks like a flower.

- From Phoolko Ankaama

These simple but provocative words were penned by Tibetan Buddhist nun Ani Choying Dorlma. Ani Choying was born in 1971 in Kathmandu, Nepal to Tibetan exiles. When she was 13 years old, she joined a Buddhist monastery to escape a physically abusive father. In the monastery she learned Buddhist chants and discovered that she has a skill and deep love for music. Phoolko Ankaama is one of the many songs she has written and sung. A recording of the song, along with a translation of the words is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLggOXZwfOA.

As a nun in a Buddhist monastery, Ani Choying soon discovered that women do not have many opportunities to play leadership roles in a very patriarchal society, even in the monasteries. She resolved to devote her life to working for transformation of the traditional patriarchal society of Nepal and to help women achieve their full potential. It has not been an easy struggle, but Ani Choying is a flower and thus sees the world around her as a flower, filled with beautify and potential. She works tirelessly for a more just society and she challenges us to do the same.

The question the song asks us is an important one: Are we a thorn or a rose? Do we see the world as violent, heading for total destruction and filled with dreadful terrors? Or do we, despite all of the dangers erupting around us, see signs of hope and beauty? The way we see the world reflects what is in our heart according to Ani Choying.

It is not difficult to become a thorn in our world today. We are daily assailed by news reports of wars and rumors of wars. Any act of terrorism, or perceived terrorism, gets major coverage from the mass media. We get limitless detail of the act itself, the damaging results, and the person or persons who allegedly perpetrated the act. We are constantly warned of what might happen, what “they” are planning against us, and even how our own country is heading toward destruction. The pressure to become a thorn and to see the world around us as a thorn is a heavy weight to carry around all day.

Living in Asia for more than 40 years now, I have had the privilege of meeting a great number of people who live amidst much violence, yet see the world as a rose. Muslim friends in Indonesia have stood up against the fundamentalists of their faith to defend and protect Christians because they believe that Christians and Muslims can become true sisters and brothers. Buddhist friends in Thailand have linked arms to stand between political factions in conflict to call for peace and calm, knowing that nonviolence is much more powerful than the threat from guns and clubs. A Christian friend in Indonesia has joined action with Muslims and people of other faiths to work tirelessly for an end to serious conflict in his area because he believes that the Community of God is truly possible. These friends do these courageous act because they see in everyone, even the “enemy,” a person loved by God and therefore part of their own family.

I am always encouraged by these friends to see the world as a rose. They help me set aside my fears and my assumptions of others. I am blessed to have had the opportunity to meet them and to work with them. They also challenge me not to be overwhelmed by all the negative news coming from the mass media, but rather to go to the people and see the hope for a beautiful world through their eyes.

In our country guns seem to have become the symbol of safety. This need for more and more guns suggests a deep fear of the other, a fear that results in our seeing the “other” as a thorn, a danger to our security and our wellbeing. It is this thorn inside us which results in the world looking as a thorn. Eradicate the fear and the world will slowly begin to look like a rose.

The world we live in was created by a God of love. After completing creation, “God looked over everything God had made;…it was so good, so very good!” (Genesis 1: 31) God created the world as a rose and God has given us responsibility to care for that rose in order to preserve its beauty and its reflection of God’s Kingdom. Do we see that world as a rose or as a thorn?

Beauty that stays versus beauty that is transient. Three poems to ponder upon -

Percy Shelley - "The flower that smiles today"

The flower that smiles to-day

To-morrow dies;

All that we wish to stay

Tempts and then flies.

What is this world’s delight?

Lightning that mocks the night,

Brief even as bright.

(see below for entire poem and analysis)

Ghalib - Hai Kis Kadar

hai kis qadar halāk-e-fareb-e-vafā-e-gul

bulbul ke kārobār pe haiñ ḳhanda-hā-e-gul

है किस क़दर हलाक-ए-फ़रेब-ए-वफ़ा-ए-गुल

बुलबुल के कारोबार पे हैं ख़ंदा-हा-ए-गुल

How fatal

is her false loyalty!

The nightingale thinks the rose

is smiling, he thinks that she

is interested while she

laughs at his

deeds

(see below for entire poem and meanings)

Guru Tegh Bahadur (Raag Basant) - Kahaa Bhuleyo Re Jhuthe Lobh Laag

ਬਸੰਤੁ ਮਹਲਾ ੯ ॥

बसंतु महला ९ ॥

Basanṯ mėhlā 9.

Basant, Ninth Mehl:

ਕਹਾ ਭੂਲਿਓ ਰੇ ਝੂਠੇ ਲੋਭ ਲਾਗ ॥

कहा भूलिओ रे झूठे लोभ लाग ॥

Kahā bẖūli▫o re jẖūṯẖe lobẖ lāg.

Why do you wander lost, O mortal, attached to falsehood and greed?

ਕਛੁ ਬਿਗਰਿਓ ਨਾਹਿਨ ਅਜਹੁ ਜਾਗ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

कछु बिगरिओ नाहिन अजहु जाग ॥१॥ रहाउ ॥

Kacẖẖ bigri▫o nāhin ajahu jāg. ||1|| rahā▫o.

Nothing has been lost yet - there is still time to wake up! ||1||Pause||

ਸਮ ਸੁਪਨੈ ਕੈ ਇਹੁ ਜਗੁ ਜਾਨੁ ॥

सम सुपनै कै इहु जगु जानु ॥

Sam supnai kai ih jag jān.

You must realize that this world is nothing more than a dream.

ਬਿਨਸੈ ਛਿਨ ਮੈ ਸਾਚੀ ਮਾਨੁ ॥੧॥

बिनसै छिन मै साची मानु ॥१॥

Binsai cẖẖin mai sācẖī mān. ||1||

In an instant, it shall perish; know this as true. ||1||

ਸੰਗਿ ਤੇਰੈ ਹਰਿ ਬਸਤ ਨੀਤ ॥

संगि तेरै हरि बसत नीत ॥

Sang ṯerai har basaṯ nīṯ.

The Lord constantly abides with you.

ਨਿਸ ਬਾਸੁਰ ਭਜੁ ਤਾਹਿ ਮੀਤ ॥੨॥

निस बासुर भजु ताहि मीत ॥२॥

Nis bāsur bẖaj ṯāhi mīṯ. ||2||

Night and day, vibrate and meditate on Him, O my friend. ||2||

ਬਾਰ ਅੰਤ ਕੀ ਹੋਇ ਸਹਾਇ ॥

बार अंत की होइ सहाइ ॥

Bār anṯ kī ho▫e sahā▫e.

At the very last instant, He shall be your Help and Support.

ਕਹੁ ਨਾਨਕ ਗੁਨ ਤਾ ਕੇ ਗਾਇ ॥੩॥੫॥

कहु नानक गुन ता के गाइ ॥३॥५॥

Kaho Nānak gun ṯā ke gā▫e. ||3||5||

Says Nanak, sing His Praises. ||3||5||

A critical reading of Percy Shelley’s poem

Percy Shelley (1792-1822) was, along with Lord Byron and John Keats, one of the second-generation Romantic poets who followed Wordsworth and Coleridge – and, to an extent, diverged from them, having slightly different ideas of Romanticism. ‘The Flower That Smiles Today’, sometimes titled ‘Mutability’ (though Shelley, confusingly, wrote another poem called ‘Mutability’) is one of Shelley’s most widely anthologised poems, so we thought we’d share it here, along with a brief analysis of its language and meaning.

The flower that smiles to-day

To-morrow dies;

All that we wish to stay

Tempts and then flies.

What is this world’s delight?

Lightning that mocks the night,

Brief even as bright.

Virtue, how frail it is!

Friendship how rare!

Love, how it sells poor bliss

For proud despair!

But we, though soon they fall,

Survive their joy, and all

Which ours we call.

Whilst skies are blue and bright,

Whilst flowers are gay,

Whilst eyes that change ere night

Make glad the day;

Whilst yet the calm hours creep,

Dream thou—and from thy sleep

Then wake to weep.

‘The Flower That Smiles Today’, in summary, is a poem about the brevity of all things – all hopes, desires, and delights the world has to offer are short-lived and doomed to die. Everything is fleeting and transitory. This argument had been made before Shelley made it: consider Robert Herrick’s famous seventeenth-century poem ‘To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time’. Indeed, Shelley’s opening lines seem to be a conscious reworking of Herrick’s: where Shelley writes ‘The flower that smiles today / Tomorrow dies’, Herrick had written that ‘this same flower that smiles today / Tomorrow will be dying.’

percy-shelley-flower-that-smiles-todayIn the second stanza, Shelley laments that virtue or decency, friendship, and love are all rare and delicate: even once you have gained them you cannot guarantee they will last. (Shelley himself held to a philosophical view of love whereby, if you didn’t feel an intensely passionate love for someone any longer, you should leave them and be with the person you’re meant to be with; this goes a long way towards explaining his messy home life.) Yet Shelley affirms that we survive the deaths of these things: friendship, love, virtue. We have to go soldiering on, but at least we’re still alive.

In the third stanza, Shelley argues that, while we have this dreamy world of joy and delight, we should seek to enjoy it, before we ‘wake to weep’ when it’s all over. The dream analogy is a nice touch: we usually aren’t aware that we are in a dream, and are passively carried along by it. It’s only when we wake that we realise we’ve been had. Shelley’s message appears to be that we cannot control these things – they are greater than us – so all we can do is to enjoy them while they last.

The first stanza of Shelley’s poem in particular repays close analysis. There are long ‘i’ sounds at the ends of five of the seven lines, but also internally too (‘smiles’, ‘Lightning’), with the ‘light’ peeping out from ‘delight’ playing off the miserable darkness of ‘night’, and that flash of light glimpsed between them, in the word ‘Lightning’, being almost electrifying in its force at the start of the line. The world’s pleasures are as brief as a flash of lightning, but how exhilarating to experience!

‘The Flower That Smiles Today’ (or ‘Mutability’, as some anthologies have it) depicts Shelley’s ideas about worldly pleasures in an effective and memorable way. It might be productive to analyse this poem alongside something like Herrick’s, which was written in a very different, though equally turbulent, period of English history. One wonders how much that turbulence fed into the poems’ message, to enjoy fleeting joys before they’ve flown.

Ghalib's Ghazal - hai kis qadar halāk

hai kis qadar halāk-e-fareb-e-vafā-e-gul

bulbul ke kārobār pe haiñ ḳhanda-hā-e-gul

āzādī-e-nasīm mubārak ki har taraf

TuuTe paḌe haiñ halqa-e-dām-e-havā-e-gul

jo thā so mauj-e-rañg ke dhoke meñ mar gayā

ai vaa.e nāla-e-lab-e-ḳhūnīñ-navā-e-gul

ḳhush-hāl us harīf-e-siyah-mast kā ki jo

rakhtā ho misl-e-sāya-e-gul sar-ba-pā-e-gul

ījād kartī hai use tere liye bahār

merā raqīb hai nafas-e-itr-sā-e-gul

sharminda rakhte haiñ mujhe bād-e-bahār se

mīnā-e-be-sharāb o dil-e-be-havā-e-gul

satvat se tere jalva-e-husn-e-ġhuyūr kī

ḳhuuñ hai mirī nigāh meñ rañg-e-adā-e-gul

tere hī jalve kā hai ye dhokā ki aaj tak

be-iḳhtiyār dauḌe hai gul dar-qafā-e-gul

'ġhālib' mujhe hai us se ham-āġhoshī aarzū

jis kā ḳhayāl hai gul-e-jeb-e-qabā-e-gul

Additional unpublished shers from this ghazal -

dīvānagāñ kā chāra faroġh-e-bahār hai

hai shāḳh-e-gul meñ panja-e-ḳhūbāñ bajā.e gul

mizhgāñ talak rasā.ī-e-laḳht-e-jigar kahāñ

ai vaa.e gar nigāh na ho āshnā-e-gul

How murderous is the false faith of the rose!

The nightingale's doings amuse the rose.

Celebrate the breeze's freedom: everywhere lie broken

The meshes of the net of desire of the rose.

[I now think it should be "desire-net" instead of "net of desire"]

Deceived, everyone fell for its wave of color.

Oh, the lament of the bloody-voiced lip of the rose!

How happy is that drunken one who, like the rose's shadow

Rests his head on the foot of the rose.

Spring creates it for you, it's my rival

The perfume-like breath of the rose.

They make me ashamed before the spring breeze

My cup without wine, my heart without desire for the rose.

Your jealous beauty appears in such glory that

It's mere blood in my eyes, the color of the charm of the rose.

Even now, deceived, thinking it to be you

The rose runs recklessly after the rose.

Ghalib, I long to embrace her

The thought of whom is the rose on the dress of the rose.

More on this ghazal: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ghalib/080/80_01.html

Sunflower Poems

I visited my uncle's house last weekend for a family gathering. The first one during this pandemic. His backyard opens into the hills and noticed that there were so many stalks of dead sunflowers. Tall, dark and dead. I thought of a sunflower poem by William Blake I had just recently read and bumped into Allen Ginsberg's Sunflower Sutra. I was obviously reminded of the Buddhist Lotus Sutra.

Ah! Sun-flower

William Blake

Ah Sun-flower! weary of time,

Who countest the steps of the Sun:

Seeking after that sweet golden clime

Where the travellers journey is done.

Where the Youth pined away with desire,

And the pale Virgin shrouded in snow:

Arise from their graves and aspire,

Where my Sun-flower wishes to go.

Sunflower Sutra

by Allen Ginsberg

I walked on the banks of the tincan banana dock and sat down under the huge shade of a Southern Pacific locomotive to look for the sunset over the box house hills and cry.

Jack Kerouac sat beside me on a busted rusty iron pole, companion, we thought the same thoughts of the soul, bleak and blue and sad-eyed, surrounded by the gnarled steel roots of trees of machinery.

The only water on the river mirrored the red sky, sun sank on top of final Frisco peaks, no fish in that stream, no hermit in those mounts, just ourselves rheumy-eyed and hung-over like old bums on the riverbank, tired and wily.

Look at the Sunflower, he said, there was a dead gray shadow against the sky, big as a man, sitting dry on top of a pile of ancient sawdust–

–I rushed up enchanted–it was my first sunflower, memories of Blake–my visions–Harlem

and Hells of the Eastern rivers, bridges clanking Joes greasy Sandwiches, dead baby carriages, black treadless tires forgotten and unretreaded, the poem of the riverbank, condoms & pots, steel knives, nothing stainless, only the dank muck and the razor-sharp artifacts passing into the past–

and the gray Sunflower poised against the sunset, crackly bleak and dusty with the smut and smog and smoke of olden locomotives in its eye–

corolla of bleary spikes pushed down and broken like a battered crown, seeds fallen out of its face, soon-to-be-toothless mouth of sunny air, sunrays obliterated on its hairy head like a dried wire spiderweb,

leaves stuck out like arms out of the stem, gestures from the sawdust root, broke pieces of plaster fallen out of the black twigs, a dead fly in its ear,

Unholy battered old thing you were, my sunflower O my soul, I loved you then!

The grime was no man’s grime but death and human locomotives,

all that dress of dust, that veil of darkened railroad skin, that smog of cheek, that eyelid of black mis'ry, that sooty hand or phallus or protuberance of artificial worse-than-dirt–industrial– modern–all that civilization spotting your crazy golden crown–

and those blear thoughts of death and dusty loveless eyes and ends and withered roots below, in the home-pile of sand and sawdust, rubber dollar bills, skin of machinery, the guts and innards of the weeping coughing car, the empty lonely tincans with their rusty tongues alack, what more could I name, the smoked ashes of some cock cigar, the cunts of wheelbarrows and the milky breasts of cars, wornout asses out of chairs & sphincters of dynamos–all these

entangled in your mummied roots–and you standing before me in the sunset, all your glory in your form!

A perfect beauty of a sunflower! a perfect excellent lovely sunflower existence! a sweet natural eye to the new hip moon, woke up alive and excited grasping in the sunset shadow sunrise golden monthly breeze!

How many flies buzzed round you innocent of your grime, while you cursed the heavens of your railroad and your flower soul?

Poor dead flower? when did you forget you were a flower? when did you look at your skin and decide you were an impotent dirty old locomotive? the ghost of a locomotive? the specter and shade of a once powerful mad American locomotive?

You were never no locomotive, Sunflower, you were a sunflower!

And you Locomotive, you are a locomotive, forget me not!

So I grabbed up the skeleton thick sunflower and stuck it at my side like a scepter,

and deliver my sermon to my soul, and Jack’s soul too, and anyone who’ll listen,

–We’re not our skin of grime, we’re not our dread bleak dusty imageless locomotive, we’re all golden sunflowers inside, blessed by our own seed & hairy naked accomplishment-bodies growing into mad black formal sunflowers in the sunset, spied on by our eyes under the shadow of the mad locomotive riverbank sunset Frisco hilly tincan evening sitdown vision.

More: https://www.gradesaver.com/allen-ginsbergs-poetry/study-guide/summary-sunflower-sutra

Lotus Sutra

What is the Lotus Sutra from https://www.nichiren.or.jp/english/teachings/sutra/

The Lotus Sutra is one of the most important sutras in Mahayana Buddhism and was likely written down between 100 B.C. and 200 A.D. Already well known in India, the sutra became more famous and influential when it was translated into Chinese by Kumarajiva in the year 406. After Chih-i founded the T’ien-T’ai School in China, based on the teaching expounded by this sutra in the sixth century, it was considered one of the canonical sutras of Chinese Buddhism. After the T’ien-T’ai School of China was introduced to Japan by Saicho and became the Tendai Sect, the Lotus Sutra became loved as literature among the people.

The sutra is named the Lotus Sutra because the lotus symbolized the oneness of cause and effect, specifically the cause of aspiring to enlightenment (Buddhahood) and the effect of attaining it, since the lotus is a flower that blooms and seeds at the same time. It also symbolizes the purity of Buddhahood, blooming in the midst of our ordinary lives just as the lotus blossoms in muddy pond water.

The Sunflowers

Mary Oliver

Come with me

into the field of sunflowers.

Their faces are burnished disks,

their dry spines

creak like ship masts,

their green leaves,

so heavy and many,

fill all day with the sticky

sugars of the sun.

Come with me

to visit the sunflowers,

they are shy

but want to be friends;

they have wonderful stories

of when they were young –

the important weather,

the wandering crows.

Don’t be afraid

to ask them questions!

Their bright faces,

which follow the sun,

will listen, and all

those rows of seeds –

each one a new life!

hope for a deeper acquaintance;

each of them, though it stands

in a crowd of many,

like a separate universe,

is lonely, the long work

of turning their lives

into a celebration

is not easy. Come

and let us talk with those modest faces,

the simple garments of leaves,

the coarse roots in the earth

so uprightly burning.

Lyrics:

Meditation on Some of the Words

The Garland of Guru Nanak

Lyrics of Gulon Mein Rang Bhare

Gulon Main Rang Bhare Translated by Mustansir Dalvi

Translation of Gulon Mein Rang Bhare with Vocabulary

Another Translation of Gulon Mein Rang Bhare

Imagine by John Lennon

Transliterated Lyrics in English

Meaning in English

Vocabulary

Analysis

In the Eyes of a Flower

Percy Shelley - "The flower that smiles today"

Ghalib - Hai Kis Kadar

Guru Tegh Bahadur (Raag Basant) - Kahaa Bhuleyo Re Jhuthe Lobh Laag

A critical reading of Percy Shelley’s poem

Ghalib's Ghazal - hai kis qadar halāk

Ah! Sun-flower

Sunflower Sutra

Lotus Sutra

The Sunflowers

SHIVPREET SINGH

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