Budhapa by Dandriyal: Marvelous Description of Old Age in a Garhwali Poem

Critical and Chronological History of Modern Garhwali (Asian) Poetry –-60 H

                    Literature Historian:  Bhishma Kukreti

 

   There is no human being in this earth who never talks or who never thinks about  Old Age . There is no art, science or philosophy which, did not discuss about Old Age .

         Biologists as Morris Rockstein (Ph.D) sates in his article The Biological Aspects of Aging  (The Gerontologists , 1968)  that aging implies certain quantitative , rather than qualitative changes but not completely so . Morris further discusses that the aging brings  changes which  bring decrease in the skin, muscles, nervous system, skeleton, senses, etc

  Psychologists   watch old age from various views and styles. Psychologist confirm that during old age the person feels either accomplishment or failure and experience conflict between despair vs integrity .

    From cultural angle . each culture interpret old age differently and even individual interprets old age differently too.

   Various societies emphasize on aging differently in terms of social positioning to old aged people, quality of life, health, social exclusion , providing social security either by social norms or constitutional norms etc

 Each country has different regulation for taking care of old aged persons.

 Artists of different subjects or art perceive old age differently . Old age phenomenon is so sensitive and inspiring that artists as Leonardo de Vinci , Lorenzo De Medici, Michelangelo  thousand of sculptures all over world  of all eras created art about showing old age

In every philosophy and religion, there serious discussion about old age .

    In every language, there are quotes and sayings about old . Oscar wild says , “  The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young” .

 In literature, in every language and in each field of literature old age has been favorite subject for literature creators specially the poets of all languages discussed old age with their perception.

         Robert Browning’s small poem about old age is very positive and he paid importance to hope.

                   "Grow old along with me!

                    The best is yet to be,

                    The last of life, for which the first was made"

Mathew Arnorl depicts old age as morose portraits and poetically speaking brings detachment emotion of pathos rapture

        "  It is to spend long days
         And not once feel that we were ever young.
           It is to add, immured
               In the hot prison of the present, month
                 To month with weary pain. "

    Lord Byron details old age as mirror of  the past in his verse as

  

                 "What is the worst of woes that wait on age?

                    What stamps the wrinkle deeper on the brow?

                  To view each loved one blotted from life's page,

                    And be alone on earth, as I am now."

The poem of Edwin Leibfreed explains old age as winter of the life

"When life's summer grows to winter

And its roses fade and fall;

When in vain we try to hinder

Death's commissioned right to all;

When on white lips there's a last kiss

And we see her face no more,

Then it is to know what love is,

Waiting on a foreign shore."

"Hennery Wordsworth Longfellow explains old age as

Time has laid his hand

Upon my heart, gently, not smiting it,

But as a Harper lays his open palm

Upon his harp, to deaden its vibrations"

The poets and philosopher  W B Yeats  illustrates old age as regret 

"When you are old and gray and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep; "

An Iraqi Poet Buland Al-Haidary wrote a very interesting poem on Old age  

“Another winter,
And here am I,
By the side of the stove,
that a woman might dream of me,
That I might bury in her breast
A secret she would not mock;
Dreaming that in my fading years
I might spring forth as light,
And she would say:
This light is mine;
Let no woman draw near it.”
“-Here,
By the side of the stove,
Another winter,
And here Am I,
Spinning my dreams and fearing them,
Afraid her eyes would mock
My bald, idiotic head,
My greying, aged soul,
Afraid her feet would kick
My love,
And here, by the side of the stove,
I would be lightly mocked by a woman.-“
“-Alone,
Without love, or dreams, or a woman,
And tomorrow I shall die of the cold within,
Here, by the side of the stove.-“

The poems  In View of fact "of  A. R. Ammons, "Forgetfulness" of Billy Collins, " Age " by Robert Creeley,"Terminus" by Ralph Waldo Emerson,"An Old Man’s Winter Night" created by Robert Frost,  "Affirmation" versed by Donald Hall,"I Look into My Glass" of poet Thomas Hardy,"   First gesture "by Julia Kasdorf,"Touch Me" by Stanley Kunitz, are the poems on old age with different temparament and different emotions

Lu Yu a Chinese poet of twelth century wrote an outsatnding poem on aging in carefree mood .Wang Wei  a Chinese poet of seventh  century did create poem on old age based on Buddhist philosophy

"Nature" crafted by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,"Late Ripeness" of Czeslaw Milosz,"Hail and Farewell" versed by Charles Reznikoff,"Tired with All These, For Restful Death I Cry" written by William Shakespeare are reamrkable pieces of verses about old age

Hungarian poet Gyula Illyes wrote apoem on old age which is slightly similar to yeats.

The poems as ---" A su Retrato” a Spanish poem by Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz,Like as the Waves Make Toward the Pebbled Shore" by William Shakespeare,"Young men dancing, and the old" versed by Thomas Stanley, "Tithonus" written by Lord Alfred Tennyson,  " Do Not Go Into That Good Night created by Dylan Thomas take the readers to think seriously about the aim of life

In japan , many Zen oriented poems on old age are written by various poets at various era

"The Descent" by William Carlos Williams, " After Retirement , After Reading Lear" written by David Wright, "Sailing to Byzantium" by William Butler Yeats, "Written In a Carefree Mood" created by Lu Yu, "Warning" versed by Jenny Joseph and many more are marvelous examples of poems about ‘Old Age’ . No doubt every poet perceived old age differently .

The follwing poem of a Japanese poetMuso Soseki  is fine example of Buddhist philosophy on old age 

"Old Man in Retirement"  (A Japanese Poem)

By Muso Soseki  

I stop worrying about anything
 I give up activities
  I'm full of my life

I no longer
 go to the temple
  evening and morning
If they ask me
 “What are you doing
  in your old age?”

I smile and tell them
 “I'm letting my white hair
  fall free.”.."

 The famous Arabic poet Ibn Daher describes Old Age as

You can not prevent  Allah's Will to make us Old

bBut perhaps he will reward us for enduring Old Age

          The Noble Lauret a Polish poet CzeslawMilosz also wrote fine poetry on old age

     Swami Chinmay transformed the sayings of Lord Buddha about old age  into a poem as :

The glorious chariots of the kings wear out;
the body also comes to old age;
but the virtue of good people never ages;
thus the good teach each other

              Great Poet (Mahakavi) Kanhaiyalal Dandriyal depicts old age philosophically, spiritually rather than just the transformation of physical body. As person Kanhaiyalal Dandriyal was very religious person too and his religious spirituality shines in his each verse. The functionality of the poem is towards various directions as conflict, reflecting contrast and ironies of life. The poem definitely is preaches too  directly or indirectly. The poem opens many truthful facets of life and many times the poem creates detachment too.  Kanhaiyalal Dandriyal depicts various ups and downs in life to carry a human life. The great poet shows the mirror to all whether the person is teen aged,  young, mature or an old person that the end is death.  Dandriyal differentiates between  the acts through code of conducts and acts due to greed or ego with perfect narration  using least quantity of words. For describing old age, the great poet took instances and characters  of Mahabharata, Ramayan, Puran and classic poems of Sanskrit for narrating  modern aspects of social security, the frustration of not achieving, the living aspirations, a animal instinct to protect the genes, and inability of all  human beings  to stop aging and death too .

Kanhaiyalal Dandriyal used various figures of speeches to make understand the serious subject. His words, symbols, phrases make a clear image of subject as per perception of the poet .

     The Great Poet Dandriyal successfully could create the emotions as grief, awe, detachment, remorse, depression, anxiety, delusion, illusion, agitation, stupor, dejection, eagerness, epilepsy, insanity, death, deliberation, stunning, tears in the poem ‘Budhapa” (old Age)

The style in Budhapa poem is free and near to prose type poetry

The great poet is always master of using simple and understandable words, phrases, examples, symbols to make serious subject very easy for all 

    बुढापा

मिल जनम ल्हें

ये संसार क अंत मा

अर सब्बुं  चै पैलि

यान मि

सब्ज्यठ्यु बि छौं

अर निकाणसो

झणि कब बटे

येई ढुंगम बैठ्युं छौं

यई ढुंग मुड़ी

एक संहिता च

एक नक्शा च

सैन्वार , उकाळ अर

उंदार को तिराहा च

यखम बटे  सब कुछ देखी सकदा तुम 

वो द्याखो ..

जैकी सिर्गितिम छिन 

उफरदी कूम्प  
हैंसदा फूल

नाचदा नौन्याल

य सैन्वार च

अर द्यखणा छ्याँ 

यीं तड़तड़ी  उकाळ तैं

उचयीं  गौळी

अधिती तीस तैं

बस्ता बोकी जांद नौन्याळ तैं

एक हांक तैं पिछान्दा तरुणु तैं

गृहष्टि क ....

बोझ मुड़ी रड़दा अद्कुडू तैं

यो यीं तरफ जख

लम्डदा ढांगा गौड़ी भैंसी

कथगै अभाग मनिख

रड़दा डांग झड़दा पत्ता

फ्ल्दी मारदा छिन्छाड़ा

भ्यटेंदि बौंळी  

अर झणि  कख जाणे कैबे मा

अटगदा बटवै दिखेंदन

या च उंदार

जु पट रौल पौन्छंद

एक हैंकु

बाटु बि च

 अमर पथ

जैक दुछव डि

सत्कर्म का

डाळ छन

पर उपकार से

जनम्यां  फल छिन

पुरुषार्थ का

पसीना से धुईं ढुंगी छिन

परिश्रम्युं की

पैतुल्युं से पवित्र हुईं धूळ   च  

ये रस्ता फर हिटदिन

भाग्य तै संवरदा  कर्मबीर

सर्वस्व त्याग करदा सिद्ध

जु म्वरद स्यू होंद अमर

यई त च अकल़ाकंट  

किलैकि मि 

म्वरण  णि चांदु

द्यखण चांदु ....

अपण ह्तुन रळयाँ बीजूं तैं

अन्गर्दा उफ़रदा फुल्दा फलदा

बचपन नचदै कुदद मरद

जवानी ह्न्सदै ख्यल्द

पर मि ..

उगससी भरि भरी बि 

बचण चांदु 

अजी तैं 

बच्युं छौं 

कथगा दों 

मिन ययाति बणि   

नौनो मैं ज्वनी मांग   

च्यवन बणि

यौवन खुणि तरसणु रों

दवाई खाणु रों

कैकयी की खातिर

राम तै बणवास दे

राम तैं रावणन

कै दिने घुल्याल

पर मि अबी तैं

बाटु निहळणु छौं

चिट्ठी बि ऐ रामै

चिट्ठी रसां तैं 

पुच्छणु  छौं

मि स्वार्थ मा अन्धो

धितरास्ट्र छौं

जैक लडिकुकि

हरेक महाभारत मा

कटघळ लगणि रै

फजला ब्यखुन तार आणे रैं

संजय नौ नौ ल्हेक बथाणु रै

मि टक्क लगैक सुणणु रों

हुन्गरा देणु रों

युधिष्ठर क दियां

पेंसनपट्टा क सार फर

मेरी लाटी आशा गांधारी

ल्हसौं क ऐंच चैढी बि

आम लिमाणि च

म्यारा चौछडि

रिटणि छिन समल़ोण

लौंकणु च भय भ्रम

खुदेणु च पराण

दगडि देणि  च चिंता

दिखेणी च चिता

(अन्ज्वाळ कविता संग्रह पृष्ठ ११५-११७ )

 Copyright @ Bhishma Kukreti Mumbai; 2016

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