Jyoti Kalash Chhalke – An Ode to Dawn

VM by Anshula Creations

Jyoti kalash chhalke (Bhabhi Ki Chudiyan, 1961) Pt. Narendra Sharma / Sudhir Phadke / Lata Mangeshkar (Clips courtesy: Radhakrishn and Star Plus Mahabharat)

ज्योति कलश छलके
हुये गुलाबी, लाल सुनहरे,
रंगदल बादल के
………………………….
उषा ने आँचल फैलाया
फैली सुख की शीतल छाया
नीचे आँचल के
ज्योति कलश छलके

घर आँगन वन उपवन उपवन
करती ज्योति अमृत के सिंचन
मंगल घट ढलके,
ज्योति कलश छलके

Jyoti kalash chhalke eminently qualifies as a chhayavadi poem – it has romanticism, spiritualism, universalism and humanism in near perfect balance. Pandit Narendra Sharma’s creative expressions remind me of that literary giant Jai Shanker Prasad – a language so well decorated and a conscious shying away from the words of Persian / Arabic origins.

ज्योति कलश छलके — the sheer beauty of its language puts it in the class of Prasad’s हिमाद्रि तुंग श्रृंग से प्रबुद्ध शुद्ध भारती / स्वयंप्रभा समुज्वला स्वतंत्रता पुकारती and Bankim’s poem, written in Bengali-Sanskrit, वन्दे मातरम् सुजलां सुफलां मलयजशीतलाम् शस्यशामलां मातरम्… In fact, ज्योती कलश छलके will, in its tenor, appear in a kindred relationship with Bankim’s poem.

And if Pandit Narendra Sharma were to take his poem forward as to its spiritual intent, he might have written no different from what was penned by Nida Fazli:

किरण किरण अलसाता सूरज
पलक पलक खुलती नींद
धीमे धीमे बिखर रहा है
जर्रा जर्रा जाने कौन !

The unfolding Sun, the awakening of the slumbering sentience; but who sources this grand diffusion that permeates the tiniest speck!

Jyoti Kalash creates visuals of a nature pulsating to an effulgent break of the day. But just beneath that has a strong religio-spiritual layer. In fact, each stanza of this poem can be trans-figured into a painting, bringing out, holistically, its nature-related and spiritual trappings.

The last stanza in particular is very deep.

ज्योति यशोदा धरती गैया
नील गगन गोपाल कन्हैया
श्यामल छवि झलके
ज्योति कलश छलके

Jyoti is a light or a flame and, in the context, one that gives warmth, that sustains life.

Yashoda is the one who is the giver of glory and fame. However, Yashoda popularly has only one meaning: the foster mother of Kanhaiya (Sri Krishna). Jyoti being equated with Yashoda is essentially to emphasize the ‘impersonal’ character of sustenance provided. This is my understanding.

Dharti is earth and gaiya is cow. Both nurture without a preference or a choice. Hence the equation.

Neel is blue or azure. Gagan is sky. Neel gagan has been likened to Kanhaiya. And that azure gives the glimpse of Shyam (another name for Krishna). Please note that azure was the complexion of Krishna.

There is yet another explanation. Shyam is actually no colour. It is the perception of a colour. For instance, if you go to a dense forest, you feel some sort of a darkness although it is no colour. Krishna’s persona had so much of gravity, so much of density that he gave the visual impact of being dark.

Immortal poetry without a doubt.
ज्योति कलश छलके

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About the Author

Vijay Kumar ( 2 Posts)

Born in 1950, Vijay Kumar’s ancestral roots were in Uttar Pradesh. He took early schooling in Ludhiana, Punjab; secondary school and college education in Kanpur; a post-graduate in Statistics, and much later, obtained a law degree from the Delhi University. A government job brought him to Delhi, where he had the opportunity to handle national policies on education and culture. His last professional engagement was in the Ministry of Tourism, where he was the Director, heading the division responsible for the promotion of education and skills specific to the tourism sector. Vijay Kumar is a recipient of the National Hospitality Education Award 2011-12, in recognition of his contribution towards skill development initiatives for the tourism and hospitality sector. His early childhood was shaped by a familial milieu that was quasi rural, with songs and music for every occasion. His mother had a good memory for Kabir and Tulsidas and she recited them. This music sensitization mutated into a love for the Hindi film music as he grew.
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