2 Jewels from the Goldmine called Shiva Bavani

When it comes to descriptions of feats of Shivaji Maharaj, no one comes close to the fantastic descriptions given by Kavi Bhushan. These Veer Ras poems capture your imagination, and once you get hang of the written language(Braj), you cant help but read in awe of both Shivaji Maharaj and Bhushan. Shivaji Maharaj is described by so many adjectives and pseudonyms that I will run out of time writing them all. His is a personality that inspires everyone even today. We need to absorb the essence of Shivaji Maharaj and act accordingly, that is sufficient to set straight the falling standards of cultural life in our country. Shivaji Maharaj can only be called as a Yugapurusha. 

On the other hand, Bhushan inspires awe for his brilliance. The metaphors, personifications, comparisons from vedas, puranas, mahabharat and ramayan that he uses to build the character of Shivaji Maharaj takes your breath away. Ive never read such rich and ornate poetry. Saraswati herself resides in Bhushans poems. 

Recently I was reading a collection of 52 chhands (poems) of Bhushan which is titled Shiva-Bavani. 52 verses on Shivaji. The descriptions I found in the text are amazing. Im sharing two of them in this post- verse 38 and 39. Bhushan uses some stories from Puranas which a reader may not be familiar with, so I will try to explain the background of the comparison where needed.

Most of the words are Sanskrit/Sanskrit inspired and/or not commonly used, I have provided the meaning of those words. The translations are obtained from a translation of Shivabavani by Pandit Harishankar Sharma,  Publishers: Ramprasad and Bros., Agra. Ive provided phonetic version of the verses, as obtained from Google translate to make it easier for those who cannot read devnagari script.

Anyway, here goes:

सक्र जिमि सैल पर अर्क तमफैल पर बिघन की रैल पर लम्बोदर देखिये|

राम दसकंध पर भीम जरासंध पर, "भूषन" ज्यों सिन्धु पर कुम्भज बिसेखिये||
हर ज्यों अनंग पर गरुड़ ज्यों भुजंग पर कौरव के अंग पर पार्थ जो पेखिये|
बाज जो विहंग पर सिंह ज्यों मतंग पर म्लेंच्छ चतुरंग पर सिवराज देखिये||

साक्र = इंद्र; सैल=पर्वत; अर्क=सूर्य; तमफैल=अंधकार; बिघन=विघ्न; दासकंध=रावण; सिन्धु=समुद्र; कुम्भज=अगस्ती; हर=शिव; अनंग=कुबेर; पार्थ=अर्जुन; बाज=ससाणा; विहंग=पक्षी; मतंग=हत्ती; चतुरंग=हत्तीदळ; घोडदळ, पायदळ व रथदल असलेले चतुरंगी सैन्य.

Sakra jimi saila para arka tamaphaila para bighana kī raila para lambōdara dēkhiyē
Rāma dasakandha para bhīma jarāsandha para bhūṣaṇa jyō sindhu para kumbhaja visēkhiyē
Hara jyō anaṅga para garuṛa jyō bhujaṅga para kaurava kē aṅga para pārtha jyō pēkhiyē
Bāja jyō vihaṅga para sinha jyō mataṅga para mlēn̄ccha caturaṅga para sivarāja dēkhiyē

Sakra(Indra) tackling mountains[1], Sun tackling the darkness and Ganesha tackling obstacles,

Like Ram killing Ravana, Bhim killing Jarasandh and Agasti swallowing the sea in one gulp[2], 

Like Shiv annihilating Kubera, eagles ruthlessly attacking serpents, and Arjun defeating the Kauravas

Like a bird that flees when pursued by a falcon or the same act done by an elephant on seeing a lion, in Similar way, the fourfold[5] army of the Mlencchha run away at the sight of Shivaji .

इंद्र ज्या प्रमाणे पर्वतावर, सूर्य ज्या प्रमाणे तिमिरावर, व लंबोदर ज्या प्रमाणे विघ्नावर,

 राम रावणावर, भीम जरासंधावर, किंव्हा अगस्ती जसा समुद्रावर, 

शंकर जसा मदनावर, गरुड जसा भुजंगावर किंवा अर्जुन जसा कौरवांवर, 

काकोल जसा विहंगावर, केसरी जसा मतांगावर तुटून पडतो, 

त्याच प्रमाणे हा शिवाजी राजा चतुरंगी म्लेंच्छसेनेवर तुटून पडतो.

वारिधि के कुंभ भव घन बन दावानल, तरुन तिमिर हू के किरन समाज हैं|

कंस के कन्हैया कामधेनु हू के कंटकाल कैटभ के कालिका बिहंगम के बाज हैं||
भूषन भनत जम जालिम के सचीपति, पन्नग के कुल के प्रबल पच्छीराज हैं|
रावन के राम कार्तबीज के परसुराम दिल्लीपति दिग्गज के सेर सिवराज है||

वारिधी=समुद्र; कुंभ=अगस्ती; दावानल=वणवा; तरून=घोर; कंटकाल=काटेरी कुंपण; कैटभ= एक असुर ज्याचा कालीने वध केला; जम=यम; जम जालिम= वृत्रासुर; सचीपति=इंद्र; पन्नग= नाग; पाच्छीराज= गरुड; कार्तबीज=सहस्रार्जुन;

Vāridhi kē kumbha bhava ghana bana dāvānala, taruna timira hū kē kirana samāja haiṁ|

Kansa kē kanhaiyā kāmadhēnu hū kē kaṇṭakāla kaiṭabha kē kālikā bihaṅgama kē bāja haiṁ||

Bhūṣana bhanata jama jālima kē sacīpati, pannaga kē kula kē prabala pacchīrāja haiṁ| 

Rāvana kē rāma kārtabīja kē parasurāma dillīpati diggaja kē sēra sivarāja hai||

Like Agasti is to the sea[2], Clouds are to a forest fire, and sun rays to darkness,

Like Krishna was to Kans, like a thorny compound for Kamadhenu, Like Kali for Kaithab[3] and falcons to birds,

Like Indra is to Vrutrasura[4], Eagles are to serpants, Ram is to Ravan and Parshuram is to Sahasrarjun, in similar way, Shivaji is the lion and is sworn enemy of the nobles sitting in Delhi.

समुद्रास अगस्ती, वणव्यास जलाधी अन तिमिरास प्रकाश जसा अरी,

विहंग कैटभ कामधेनु च कंस यांस काकोल कालि कंटक कृष्ण हेच अरी,

भुजंगास पक्षिराज अन रावणास राम का  वृत्रास जसा वज्रपाणी अरी  

तसा हा द्विजरामरुपी  शिवाजी दिल्लीपतीला सहस्रार्जुनपरी संहारी. 

In both these verses, Bhushan directly compares celebrated duels from Vedas and Puranas with the enimity between Shivaji and Aurangzeb, and ends the verse by describing Shivaji as a victor. 

Video of Babasaheb Purandare presenting 2 chhandas of Kavi Bhushan, one of which is Sakra Jimi Saila par, given in this text.

Some stories which may be helpful in the context of comparisons(Upama) .

[1]In the first verse, Indra is described as attacking mountains. This comes from the well established story of Aravali Mountains, which could fly. Indra cut off its wings and made them sedentary. The blood that came out from the points where the wings were cut gives the Aravali mountains a reddish tinge. 

[2] A group of underwater demons used to come out at night and slaughter sages and other tapasvis and retire to the seabed at morning. In order to kill them, the Devas approached Vishnu who advised to take Agasti Munis help. Agasti drank the whole sea in one gulp so that the Devas could attack and kill the demons.

[3] Madhu and Kaithab were two Asuras who were born to destroy Brahma. Mahamaya was created by Brahma to kill them and She managed to kill Kaitabh while Madhu was killed by Vishnu, which gave him the name Madhusudan.

[4] Vrutrasur was a powerful person whose penance shook Indras throne. Scared, Indra attacked him while he was unarmed and blew his body to bits, only to later spend time expressing remorse over this attack. Another story says that Indra is infact Surya and Vrutrasur is megh and the story is that of the Water Cycle.

[5] Foufold army consists of divisions containing Cavalry, Elephants, Chariots and Infantry.

P.S

I have taken a liberty and tried to to translate the into marathi with a meter(2nd one) on the go. But I know I can do much better. This is only a draft version of translation, and when I think of something good, I will update the post with the same.

References:

Shivabavani, Pt. Harishankar Sharma. Ramprasad and Bros, Agra.

Google Translate.

The Kavi Bhushan Way

Mahakavi Bhushan, is one of the most enigmatic poets from our history. His poems- based on veer rasa, with Shivaji as its central theme are often considered as an unparalleled collection diving into the realm of imaginary and fantasy. They have, thus been dismissed as frontline evidences which tell us our history. Another possible factor which has led to this belief is the language that has been used to compose the poems- they are in Braj, a dialect of hindi from Uttar Pradesh, and that is not fully understood in Maharashtra. Efforts by people such as Ninadrao Bedekar and Babasaheb Purandare have definitely made Bhushan more approachable for common man. Bedekar excels in this field. His lecture series on Shivaji Maharaj are filled with poems by Bhushan which adds a shine and gloss to the character of shivaji, for Bhushan has richly ornamented Shivaji with all sorts of adjectives.

Recently I happened to stumble upon a pdf of a Marathi translation of Shivbhushan – a set of poems by Bhushan ji on Shivaji Maharaj. Reading through the pages, while initially hard to understand, I started to get hold of the poems one by one. Two factors contributed to this:

1.    The brilliant style in which Shri. Bedekar recites the poems rubs off on you, and you attempt to learn new ones in the same way, and grasp them quickly. The meter to which the poems are set is that of veer rasa. It sets a tempo of excitement, bravado.
2.     The Marathi translations provided by the translator Durgaprasad Asaram Tiwari are fantastic. All poems have been fabulously translated retaining the rhyme and meaning in equal measures.

These styles of saying the poem and its valuable translations have made me understand them better. They do come out as a valid evidence of the events of the past. A lot more on this issue has been dealt with in depth by Shri. Bedekar in his cassette titled “ Shivaji ani Kavi Bhushan”. The set of four cassettes is actually a must listen to all of us,  for they bring out the reality from the 17^th century, and not the cover up versions provided by the government to appease certain people. Bhushan, thus plays a big role in fully understanding Shivaji. It has been said that his collection of poems on Shivaji do not include events such as his coronation, so there must be other, as of now unknown set of poems which do tell of these events, for they are unlikely to escape the eyes of Bhushan.

For all of us, eager to learn more about Shivaji in an unbiased way, and not the government cover up way, then such literature is of utmost importance, and efforts must be taken to translate it into English, which unfortunately has become the language to reach the masses today.  Literature given by people such as Shri Bedekar and Purandare is priceless in its value. However, to gain a better perspective, Ive also referred to books by authors such as Kinciad, Jadunath Sarkar, and Grant Duff. However, all these are latter accounts, from a point of view of the author. Such literature though, is always welcome, for it gives a fresh outlook. A few sources can, and will actually shed more light on the life of shivaji- Shivbharat by Kavindra Paramanand, Shivbhushan by Kavibhushan, other so far unknown and lost collections of KaviBhushan, and better studies of the letters, bakhars and other historical data from that period. It is totally upto us to get this task done, and uncover the glorious deeds of the King before whom even 300 years after his death we bow down in respect.

The  sole purpose of writing this article was to try and reignite the fire of history within myself and inspire myself as well as others to spend some time of our lives devoted to this glorious study. As and when time permits from my PhD studies, I go through the writings of Bhushan which are available in pdf formats. (You can contact me by mailing to me.punekar@gmail.com, I can send you the pdf) It certainly sheds a new light on our outlook on Maharaj. 

To end this post, I'm putting up one of the most famous poems composed by Kavi Bhushan and its poetic translation in Marathi by Shri Durgaprasad Asaram Tiwari, and an english word to word translation by myself. The mention of Kavi Bhushan invokes in the Marathi souls the spirit of the poem “Indra jimi Jrambha par” made immortal by Pt. Hridaynath Mangeshkar and Lataji, and refurbished with a new look by the superb duo of Ajay-Atul for a Star Majha Serial. Although both versions are superb, I still urge people to get hold of the version read by Shri. Bedekar in many of his cassettes for that is the best one we have.

The story of this poem is as brilliant as the poem itself. When shivaji maharaj was on his daily patrol of the Raigad fort, he saw a stranger sitting near the Mandir on the fort. On asking, he came to know that this stranger was a poet from North who had come to sing ballads on Shivaji. Maharaj, who was disguised at the time requested the poet to sing a poem. The poet with all his gusto sang the poem given below. Maharaj was so awe struck by the lucidity of it that he requested the poet to sing it again and again, 18 times in total, till the poet could sing it no longer. The next day, when the poet came to the royal court, he was awarded 18lakh Hons and 18 villages as gift- one for each time he had sung the poem the previous night. While this story can never be authenticated, it is a brilliant one, for it tells of the donations of Maharaj- another quality which Bhushan so often praises.

So, yes, without saying much, here is the original poem from Shivbhushan itself and its translations:

इंद्र जिमि जम्भपर, वाडव सुअंभ पर, रावन सदंभ पर रघुकुल-राज है |
पौन बरीबाह पर, संभु रतिनाह पर, ज्यो सहसबाह पर राम द्विजराज है||
दावा द्रुमदंड पर, चीता मृग झुंड पर भूषण वीतुंड पर जैसे मृगराज है|
तेज तम अंस पर, कान्ह जिमि कंस पर, त्यो मलिच्छ बंस पर सेर सिवराज है||

 जम्भावारी इंद्र, लांकापतीच्यावारी की जसा जानकीचा पती|
मेघावरी वायू, कामावरी की महादेव- ज्याची तापाची रती ||
दुःशासनाच्या वारी भीम, किंवा कन्हय्या जसा दुष्ट कंसावरी|
हा भोसले- भूप गाझी शिवाजी तसा भूतली म्लेंच्छ वंशावरी ||

Like Indra attacking Jambhasura, or as an inextinguishable fire dancing on open ocean and like Shri Ram attaking Ravana
Like the winds that blow away the storm clouds, or like Shiva who incinerates the arrogant husband of rati, and like Parshuram on Sahasrarjuna,
Like a fire which decimates the forest, Like a leopard that stalks a deer herd and like an emboldened lion who attacks an elephant,
Like the light of dawn that dispersed darkness, and like Krishna who kills Kans, like all the above the lion hearted Shivaji-the religious protector of the earth is fighting the clan of Mlenchchhas.

(I cannot make it any more poetic, I call on my friends who do it better to come up with something. Ive just given the literal translation of the original verse.)

Bhushan Again!

As I have time and again said, there is no poet I would like to read in Hindi, or for that matter most would like to read, after they have read or heard Mahakavi Bhushan. He is well and truly unparalleled, and I am yet to read or hear any poem on veer ras in any language which can be compared to what he has written about 300 years back. 

While on one hand, he lauds Shivaji Maharaj as a just, fair, generous king, one cannot help but contain a smile when he takes a dig at Aurangzeb. 

There is a story which goes that once Aurangzeb ordered Bhushan to write about his qualities. Bhushan agreed to do so, provided that he had Abhaydaan. When Aurangzeb accepted his request, Bhushan composed the following two chhandas:

किबले की थोर बाप बादशाह शाहजहाँ टाको कैद कियो मान मक्के आग लाई है
बड़ोभाई दाराको पकरी के मार डार्यो मेहरहो नहीं माँ को नहीं सगा भाई है
बंधू तो मुरादबक्ष बादी चुग करिबे को बीचले  कुरान खुदा की कसम खाई है
भूषण सुकवि कहे सुनो नवरंगजेब एतो काम किन्हें तेऊ पादशाही पाई है |

This literally means 

By imprisioning your father who is like the sacred water, you have committed an act which is as bad as burning the city of Mecca. By capturing and murduring your blood-brother Dara, you have shown that you do not have mercy in your heart what so ever. You gave false assurances to your other half brother Murad Baksh that you will support him for the throne by swearing to the Quran. I Kavi Bhushan am saying: Listen Navrangzeb, its because you have done these unholy deeds, you have obtained the throne.

On listening to this, the story goes, that Aurangzeb was furious. But before he could do anything, Bhushan went even further and said the following:

 

हात तसबी अलिये प्रतःउठे बंध की अपही कपटरूप कपटसु जपसे
आगरे मी जाओ दारा चौक में चुनाय लिनो छात्र ही छिनाई लीनो मरे बूढ़े बाप के
कीन्हो है सबेत  घात में तो नाही कहो फेरी पीलपे तुराय चारो चुगुलके गपके
भूषण भनत शतचंडी मतिमंड वहा सौ सौ चूहे खायके बिलडी बैठी तपके !

 Translated, this means:

Oh Aurangzeb, you think as yourself as a good man by reading the Quran every morning and by repeated taking of Gods name. But in truth you are the perfect embodiment of wickedness, and its the wickedness you pray to every morning. You killed your own brother openly in the square at Agra, and snatched your fathers throne. You slaughtered your family members and kin by stampeding them under elephants  on the slightest hints from miscreants and your spies who wanted to eliminate them for personal gains. I, Bhushan am saying that you may show the world that you are wise and religious- but this is all a pretension. Your acts are comparable only with that of a cat which has dined upon a thousand mice, and is pretending to meditate.

The story goes that each word was piercing Aurangzeb like a double edged sword. He was furious, and ordered the decapitation of Bhushan. Fortunately, Bhushan escaped before such an act could take place. A marathi translation of the whole episode is available. This is translated by Baal Kolhatkar.

प्रातःकाळी स्मरूनी खुदाचे हाती घेसी जपमाला
तुझे रूप जे मूर्तिमंत जे जपजपासी कपटाला
जिवंत असुनी बाप आपुला मेला बुभाट केला
ऐशाकरणी हाती घेतिले सिंव्हासन भूपाला!
वडीलबंधू दारा वधुनी बंधुधर्म उद्धरिला
चुगलखोर दूतांच्या वचनी वंशनाश करवियला
तुझ्यापुढे हा भूषण कुठला कुण्या तरुचा पाला
हजार मूषक मारून बसले मार्जारच ध्यानाला

I simply could not resist putting this one up on the blog. I mean, I get a sense of satisfaction everytime someone takes a dig at Aurangzeb, indeed the most inhuman and inflexible person to ever rule India. Indeed he epitomized what we can call as "A 700 year old tradition of harassing and mistreating Hindus and showing utter disregard for their religion". As Bhushan has rightly said, our Dharma is alive today, because atrocious people like Aurangzeb got a staunch resistance from the likes of Shivaji Maharaj in Maharashtra, Chhatrasal Bundela in Bundelkhand and Lacchit Barphukan in Assam.. May these heroes be rekindled in us, as we strive for a better India.

(Anyone who wants to have a better understanding of Bhushan, refer any cassete/CD by Ninadrao Bedekar. His oratory is exceptional, and he really brings the whole Bhushan kavya to life)

चंपा सिवराज है!

Recently, listening to Ninadrao Bedekar deliver his lecture on Kavi Bhushan has been an immense source of inspiration. Kavi Bhushan, as I have said before, really captivates ones imagination, as he is only one of the very few poets who has veer ras as the backbone of his poetry. The veer ras guna combined with the ornate use of language really is sensational. Bhushan has an ultimate eye to draw comparisons with nature. the following Chhanda has left me speechless.

कूर्म कमल कम धुज है कदमफूल गौर हे गुलाब राणा केतकी बिराज है|

पांढूरी पवार जुही सोहता है चंदावत तरत बुन्देलेसौज चमेली साज बाज है|

भूषणभंड कुञ्जपर गुजर है बघेले बसंत सब कुसुम समाज है|

लेई रस एतिल को बिठी न सकत है अली नवरंगजेब चंपा सिवराज है||

The meaning of the above lines is as follows:

The Kings of Jaipur- Kachhavas(Kurma) are like the lotus flower, the Kadamb kings are like the Kadamb flower. similarly, Gaurs are likend to Rose while the Rana of Udaipur is like the Ketaki flower. The Pawars are like the 'Pandhari' flowers, the Chandawats are compared to the 'Jui' flowers, whereas the Bundelas are the 'Chameli' flowers. The Gujars are like the 'mukunjphool' and thus, Bhushan goes on to say that the regional kings from all over India are just like a collection of flowers. Navrangzeb Ali(King Aurangzeb) collects revennue and money from these flowers, but he gets nothing from Shivaji, who is described as "Champa(Chapha)".

Well initially the shloka may seem inconculsive, but, if we look at it carefully, 'अली' in Sanskrit means a 'भुंगा'. Thus, Bhushan wants to say is that Aurangzeb, like a bee, collects money from all regional kings, but, whatever he does, he avoids Shivaji Maharaj. It is key to note here, that a Champa flower, although very sweet smelling, doesnt contain any nectar. If you observe nature closely, you will come to see that Bees tend to avoid 'Chaphyachi phule'. In a similar way, knowing that he is going to be rebuked if approached, Aurangzeb avoids Shivaji Maharaj.

It is very rare that one gets to listen to or hear such remarkable poetry. We are tremendously blessed that Ninadrao Bedekar is working tirelessly to propogate the work of Bhushan and thereby give the true picture and the immense importance of Shivaji Maharaj, to the common man. I found the following links on the internet, which directly provide Ninadrao Bedekars speech on Kavi Bhushan. Its worth listening to .Trust me, you listen once, and you will get hooked to good poetry for the rest of your life. 

Shivaji ani Kavi BhushanPart 1
Shivaji ani Kavi BhushanPart 2
Shivaji ani Kavi BhushanPart 3.

I make a sincere request to all people who read Bhushan to share his chhandas on the internet. Also, in the above chhanda, if I have made a mistake, forgive me for that, for I have typed in what I have heard. If you have the right words, feel free to contact me, and make me do the necessary corrections.

Mahakavi Bhushan

Ever since my childhood, I was fascinated by and attracted towards the enigmatic character that is Shivaji. Earlier, it used to be about the feats of his bravery- the incidents involving Afzalkhan, Shaistakhan etc. A very big influence on that attuned mind of mine was Babasaheb Purandare. His eloquent story telling simply captivated me. As I started getting older, i.e after 9th, I started understanding the importance of the concept of "Hindavi Swaraj" and that of Rajyabhishek. What its real significance was, considering the political situation in India in the 17th century. This moulding of these views, along with many of my beliefs i have, was all down to the expression rich oratory of Ninadrao Bedekar. In recent times, I think I have understood Shivaji Maharaj better- thanks to Bedekar, and his mention of the works by contempraneous poets- Kavi Bhushan and Kavindra Paramanand.

However, what has really fascinated me is the poetry of Mahakavi Bhushan. The poetry he has written, is probably, a difficult read, as it is written in Brij-bhasha, a dialect of Hindi from the region of Kanpur. However, listening to experts and their comments on the poetry, and grasping the way of saying the poetry really feels creates a goosebump creating scenario. The poems literally lift you from where you are sitting and takes you to the world of Shivaji Maharaj- its so easy to visualise! 

Certainly Kavi Bhushan goes to great length of ornating the already bejewelled Shivaji Maharaj. थोडक्यात भूषणानी शिवाजी राजांना भूषणबद्ध केले. All of his poetry has to be believed, as the history in that is tha of Shivaji Maharaj. His work has is largely focused of veer ras, although there are elements of the bhayaan ras as well as the raudra ras- emotions which are more or less not written on in favour of the shrungaar ras. This is what is really impressive.

Recently a CD of chhand by Kavi Bhushan was released by Ninadrao Bedekar. I still have to get it, but I am sure that it would be the buy of the year for me. 

 Here i am presenting a rather not known Chhanda by Kavi Bhushan and its translation.

प्रेतिनी पिसाचरू निसाचर निसचरिहू मिलि मिलि आपुस में गावत बधाई है|

भैरो भूत प्रेत भूरि भूधर भयंकर से, जुत्थ जुत्थ जोगिनी जमाती जोरि आई है|

किलकी किलकी कै कुतूहल करति काली डिम डिम डमरू दिगंबर बजाई है |

सिवा पुछै सिव सों समाज आजु कहाँ चली काहू पै सिवा नरेस भृकुटी चढ़ाई है |

the translation of this is as follows:

the dead, the spirits, the night dwellers have congregated and are sharing joyous exchanges.

the frightening follwers of shiva- the shiva gans, ghosts etc, along with the 64 yoginis have also gathered.

even the great goddess Kali, is here out of curiosity, and the great lord Shiva is beating his drums.

Seeing all this, Parvati asks Lord Shiva, " your followers seem happy, at which enemy has Shivaji the King, raised his wrath of destruction?"

what Bhushan wants to imply is that once Shivaji Maharaj has set his sights on an enemy, there is sure to be a big war, and hence lot of death. on getting to know about the prospect of a war, the shiv-gan seem to be over joyed as they can merrily feast on the dead after the war. Such a gruesome incident is described so delicately. I guess only Bhushan can do that!