‘MUN RE
TU KAHE NE
DHIR DHARE’ SAID
SAHIR
My memory tells me that about a decade ago there was a poll
conducted by Outlook magazine among the
music critics to list the top ten Hindi cinema songs. And, in that list Sahir Ludhyanvi written, Roshan composed and Rafi
rendered; “ mun re tu kahe ne dhir dhare vo nirmohi moh na jaane jinka moh kare….” From the film ‘Chitralekha’ was on the
top of the list. Well; these lists keep coming out periodically and one must
not lament the non inclusion of many great songs, but this particular song is
to be accorded respect for its sweet sombre
mood and the philosophy which it proposes.
(The
story of the film is about
a King played by Pradeep Kumar a dancing
girl , Meena Kumari and the spiritual Guru played by Ashok Kumar.
Pradeep Kumar falls in love with the dancing girl and there is this conflict in
his mind between duty and love. Ashok
Kumar is the ideal person seemingly free of attachments and propagates shunning
of material attachments, but he too is swayed by the charm of the dancing girl,
who becomes his disciple. The film’s subtext is about leading a normal life and
suggesting that spiritualism is the highest stage of materialism ; conveying
that it is useless to abandon material comforts prematurely because your
desires are not satisfied.)
The song
opens with :
“Mun re tu kahe na dhir dhare
Vo nirmohi moh ne jaane jinka moh kare “
In the song
the King ( Pradeep Kumar ) is talking to himself consoling his wandering and restless mind ( mun ) that it
should not lose patience as the other person ( the lady ) is free from
any attachments ( moh)
The first
stanza moves the idea ahead :
“ Is jeevan ki chadti dhalti dhoop ko kisne
bandha
Rang pe kisne pehre dale
Roop ko kisne bandha
Kahe ye jatan kare
Man re tu …..”
Now he talks
about the flux of time, stating that no one can control the movement of sun ,in
the sunrise and sunset life moves , nothing is permanent implying that his
sorrows too shall pass and so would the time tell on the age of the beauty. The
color of the skin along with the beauty shall fade as they cannot be caged and
held captive ( roop ko kisne bandha). Therefore we should not try hard (
jatan ) to resist change as
impermanence is inevitable. The implication is that we should contain our pride
and vanity as time tests all.
The second
and the last stanza sums up the thought :
“ Utna hi upkar samaz
koi , jitna saath nibha de
Janam maran ka mael
hai sapna
Ye sapna bisra de
Koi na sang mare
Mun re tu kahe na dhir…..”
Here he
further tells his mind ( mun ) that whatever time one has
spent with one’s partner should be considered as favour( upkar ) and this utopian
thought of staying together life long ( janam maran ka mael ) is a dream
which should be abandoned . One should count one’s blessings !
To sum it this is a deeply philosophical song
of Sahir who as a poet was quite adept at it. The core thought is that there is
no use being attached to anything as it is impermanent . As long as there is
association make the best of it and consider that as blessing . At the same time this beauty of
which the beauteous are so proud shall wither with time , therefore why such
attachments?
The song
rings a familiar bell and one is reminded of Keats’ lines from ‘An
Ode to a Nightingale’:
“ where beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes
Or new love pine at
them beyond tomorrow “
कोई टिप्पणी नहीं:
एक टिप्पणी भेजें