A loose collection of lines from {Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu} {poems, songs, ghazals} that have captured my crude attention.
| Original | Translation | Source |
|---|---|---|
| हो खुद से रूबरू, मन दर्पण तक लै तू। |
Come face to face with yourself, Look into the mirror that is your heart. |
These lines appear in a song called Hass Nache Le, written by Shellee (Shailender Singh Sodhi) and sung by Shahid Mallya in the movie Udta Punjab. |
| उदयाचल मेरा दीप्त भाल, भूमण्डल वक्षस्थल विशाल, भुज परिधिबंध को घेरे हैं, मैनाक मेरु पग मेरे हैं। [...] अम्बर में कुंतल जाल देख, पद के नीचे पाताल देख, मुट्ठी में तीनों काल देख, मेरा स्वरूप विकराल देख। |
The radiant peak of dawn is my glowing forehead, The vast earth spans across my chest, My arms encircle the endless horizon, The Mainak and Meru mountains are my feet. [...] Behold the sky entwined in my locks, The underworld beneath my feet, In my fist, observe all of time, Witness my fierce, colossal form. |
These lines are from the Hindi poem कृष्ण की चेतावनी (Lord Krishna's Warning) written by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar. It is part of his book called रश्मिरथी (Rashmirathi). Here, Krishna, angered by Duryodhana's attempt to bind him in chains, speaks these lines while revealing his divine cosmic form, symbolizing the vastness and omnipotence of his being, which encompasses the entire universe. |
| शब-ए-फ़िराक़ में की है मैंने नींद से बात, के अब तू क्यों नहीं आती है मुझ ग़रीब के पास? तो हँस के बोली, के तू ही बता दे कमबख़्त, मैं तेरे पास रहूँ या तेरे नसीब के पास? |
In a night of longing, I spoke to sleep, "Why don't you come to this poor soul anymore?" She replied, smiling, "You tell me, you wretch, How can I simultaneously be with you and your fate?" |
These lines are from a song titled, यूँ मेरे जुनून की, sung by Attaullah Khan Essakhelvi. |
| इधर झूम के गाए ज़िंदगी, उधर है मौत खड़ी, कोई क्या जाने कहाँ है सीमा, उलझन आन पड़ी। |
Here, life sways and sings, There, stands death still, Nobody knows where the boundary lies, That's the great dilemma. |
These lines appear in a song called "तू प्यार का सागर है" [You (referring to God) are an ocean of love] in the Bollywood movie सीमा [limit/boundary]. I like how the songwriter subtly included the word सीमा in these lines, which is also the name of the movie as well as the lead female character in it. |
| जब मेरे हाथ थे रोई हुई नम आँखों पर, उसने जाते हुए मुड़ कर मुझे देखा होगा। [...] गुलशनपरस्त हूँ, मुझे गुल ही नहीं अज़ीज़, काँटों से भी निभाह किए जा रहा हूँ मैं, यूँ ज़िंदगी गुज़र रहा हूँ तेरे बग़ैर, जैसे कोई गुनाह किए जा रहा हूँ मैं। |
When my hands were over eyes still damp from tears, She must've turned to look at me one last time. [...] As a true lover of the garden, Not only are the flowers dear to me, I continue to live with the thorns as well, But the way I am living my days without you, Feels like I’m committing a sin, again and again. |
Taken from the gazal song "याद करके तू मेरे प्यार को रोता होगा" [Perhaps the memories of my love still make you cry] sung by Attaullah Khan Essakhelvi. The lyrics are profound and just as moving as they were 19 years ago when I first heard them. |