Sunday, September 19, 2010

Bharath ek khoj - title track

I was a nursery kid when I used to hear this song. All I knew to do after the program was to jump up and clap.  I had perceived it as the most sacred hymn which all the humans in the room were obligated to listen with utmost possible silence. Never did I understand the meaning then, now I found a translation for the track from wiki.

The following is the lyrics of the track that is played at the beginning of each episode.
This first stanza is in Sanskrit (Rig Veda, Book 10, Hymn 129)

नासदासीन्नोसदासीत्तादानीं नासीद्रजो नो व्योमापरो यत |
किमावरीव: कुहकस्यशर्मन्नम्भ: किमासीद्गहनं गभीरं ||

nāsadāsīn no sadāsīt tadānīṃ nāsīd rajo no vyomāparo yat |
kimāvarīvaḥ kuha kasya śarmannambhaḥ kimāsīd ghahanaṃ ghabhīram ||

Srishti se pehle Kuch nahin thaa
sat bhi nahin, asat bhi nahin
Antariksh bhi nahin, aakaash bhee nahin thaa.
Chhipaa thaa kyaa, kahaan, kisne dhaka thaa?
Us pal to agam, atal jal bhi kahaan thaa.

Srishti kaa kaun hai kartaa?
Kartaa hai va akartaa
Oonche aakash mein rahtaa.
Sadaaa addhyaksh banaa rahtaa.
Wohee sach much mein jaantaa..Yaa nahin bhi jaanataa
Hain kisi ko nahin pataa,
Nahin pataa,
Nahin hai pataa, nahin hai pataa.

Following is the lyrics of the track that is played at the end of each episode. Again, the first stanza is in Sanskrit and it fades as the Hindi song begins.

हिरण्यगर्भः समवर्तताग्रे भूतस्य जातः पतिरेकासीत ।
स दाधार पृथ्वीं ध्यामुतेमां कस्मै देवायहविषा विधेम ॥

Voh tha hiranya garbh srishti se pehle vidyamaan.
Vohi to saare bhoot jaatee ka swami mahaan.
jo hai astitvamaana dharti aasmaan dhaaran kar.
Aise kis devta ki upasana kare hum havi dekar?

Jis ke bal par tejomay hai ambar.
Prithvi hari bhari sthapit sthir.
Swarg aur sooraj bhi sthir.
Aise kis devta ki upasana kare hum havi dekar?

Garbh mein apne agni dhaaran kar paida kar,
Vyapa tha jal idhar udhar neeche upar,
Jagarth Devon ka ekameva pran bankar,
Aise kis devta ki upasana kare hum havi dekar?

Om ! Srishti nirmata swarg rachaiyta purvaj rakhsa kar.
Satya dharma palak atul jal niyamak raksha kar.
Phaili hain dishayen bahu jaisi uski sab mein sab par,
Aise hi devta ki upasana kare hum havi dekar,
Aise hi devta ki upasana kare hum havi dekar.

An extended version of the above was played only in the Final episode of Bharat Ek Khoj - this was like a concise summarisation of the entire history in one big episode.

Srishti se pehle sat nahin thaa, asat bhi nahin
Antariksh bhi nahin, aakaash bhee nahin thaa.
Chhipaa thaa kyaa, kahaan, kisne dhaka thaa?
Us pal to agam, atal jal bhi kahaan thaa.
Nahi thi mritiyu, Ji Amarta bhi nahi,
nahi tha din, raat bhi nahi,
Hawa bhi nahi, Saans thi swyamev phir bhi,
Nahi tha koi kutch bi, Param tatva se aalag, ya pare bhi.
Ommmmm,
Karm bankar beej pehla jo Uga,
Kaam bankar woh jaga.
Kaviyo, Gyaniyo ne jana,
Asat aur Sat Ka nikat sambandh pehchana

Pehle sambandh me - Hiranya ..... neeche, Param tatva Uspar,
Upar ya neeche.
Vah tha bata hua. Purush aur Stree bana Hua.

Upar .......
Neeche ......
Shristi yeh bani kaise,Kisse, aayi hai kahan se.
koi kya jaanta hai, Bata Sakta hai.
devaoo ko nahi gyan, Ve aye shijan me kyon.

Srishti kaa kaun hai kartaa?
Kartaa hai ya vikartaa?
………….


Translation

The lyrics are only in Hindi because the Sanskrit lyrics are sung again in Hindi. The Universe has been generally used for Hindi word Srishti but that is not an accurate translation because Srishti means everything including the Universe and the heavens and the entirety of existence i.e. all-encompassing existence, thus 'all things' is used to refer to Srishti. Note that although it is easy to assume that there is a gender and/or personality associated with the Entity being referred in the lyrics, actually the lyrics go to great length in keeping the language gender and personality neutral. That is why we refer to the Entity using That and It throughout.

Goodness(being) did not exist before all things came to be
Evil(nonbeing) did not exist either
The atmosphere did not exist as well
The sky too was not present
Was anything hidden? Where?
Who had covered it?
At that moment
Unmoving, strong ocean was not there either

Who is the doer of all things?
Is that a doer or non-doer?
Living in the high skies?
Always plays the part of the leader?
Only that knows the truth
Or maybe that does not
No one knows really, No one knows
No one knows really, No one knows

That was the golden womb ever present before all things came
That is the great lord of all the elements
That is the presence through which the land and the skies materializes
Which God like that should we worship by offering ghee?

The skies are lit with its strength
The earth is established with greenery and prosperity
Heavens and Sun are also established
Which God like that should we worship by offering ghee?

It materialized fire in its womb to give birth
There was water here and there and up and below
Out of which only life awoke
Which God like that should we worship by offering ghee?

Om! (Incantation) That maker of all things, that architect of the heavens, our ancestor protect us
That enforcer of truth and dharma, that regulator as mighty as the ocean, protect us
That vastness stretched across all directions, everywhere and in everything
We should keep praying to God like that by offering ghee
We should keep praying to God like that by offering ghee

DVDs of all 52 episodes of the serial are available for online shopping in the doordarshan website archives and also in this link for Rs.2300.You can also watch all episodes of the serial at http://watchbharatekkhoj.blogspot.com/

The book "The Discovery of India" by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru is available in almost all the book stores.

2 comments:

  1. The wording and translation given on this website is full of errors. It seems that the website owner has copy-pasted it from somewhere because many websites give identical errors.

    A reasonably accurate wording (Hindi lyrics) is given on this website http://archive.prahaar.in/collag/69217.txt

    With minor corrections it should read as below:

    सृष्टी से पहले सत् नहीं था
    असत् भी नहीं
    अन्तरिक्ष भी नहीं
    आकाश भी नहीं था
    छिपा था क्या?
    कहाँ?
    किसने ढका था?
    उस पल तो
    अगम अतल जल भी कहाँ था? ।।१।।

    नहीं थी मृत्यू
    थी अमरता भी नहीं
    नहीं था दिन
    रात भी नहीं
    हवा भी नहीं
    साँस थी स्वयमेव फिर भी
    नही था कोई कुछ भी
    परमतत्त्व से अलग या परे भी ।।२।।

    अंधेरे में अंधेरा-मुँदा अँधेरा था
    जल भी केवल निराकार जल था
    परमतत्त्व था सृजन-कामना से भरा
    ओछे जल से घिरा
    वही अपनी तपस्या की महिमा से उभरा ।।३।।

    (The stanza number 3 above is not heard in all the versions but is there in the original rendering.)

    परम मन में बीज पहला जो उगा
    काम बनकर वह जगा
    कवियों ग्यानियों ने जाना
    असत् और सत् का निकट संबंध पहचाना ।।४।।

    फैले संबंध के किरण धागे तिरछे
    परमतत्त्व उस पल ऊपर या नीचे?
    वह था बँटा हुआ
    पुरुष और स्त्री बना हुआ
    ऊपर दाता वही भोक्ता
    नीचे वसुधा स्वधा
    हो गया ।।५।।

    सृष्टी यह बनी कैसे?
    किससे?
    आई है कहाँ से?
    कोई क्या जानता है?
    बता सकता है?
    देवताओं को नहीं ग्यात
    वे आए सृजन के बाद
    सृष्टी को रचां है जिसने
    उसको जाना किसने? ।।६।।

    सृष्टी का कौन है कर्ता?
    कर्ता है वा अकर्ता?
    ऊँचे आकाश में रहता
    सदा अध्यक्ष बना रहता
    वही सचमुच में जानता
    या नहीं भी जानता
    है किसी को नहीं पता
    नहीं पता
    नहीं है पता ।।७।।



    ReplyDelete