Banjaranama

The Banjaranama (بنجارانامہ, बंजारानामा, Chronicle of the Nomad) is a satirical Urdu poem, written by the eighteenth-century Indian poet Nazeer Akbarabadi.[1] The poem's essential message is that pride in worldly success is foolish, because human circumstances can change in a flash, material wealth and splendor is always transient, and death is the only certainty for all men.[2] The poem quickly captured the popular imagination, and achieved fame in the Indian subcontinent that has lasted for over two centuries. Critics have observed that, despite the deliberate simplicity of its language, the poem's idioms and imagery were dazzling in their span, and portrayed lives of wealth and power as ultimately subject to a nomad's whims (an allusion to death).[2][3] The poem continues to be hailed as distilling "the teachings of thousands of years into one summary form."[4]

Banjaranama was written by Nazeer Akbarabadi (1735-1830)

Refrain and example verse

All verses in the poem end on the same refrain: Sab thaath para reh javega, Jab laad chalega banjara (All your splendor will lie useless, when the nomad packs-up and leaves).[5] By itself, the refrain is frequently used in popular culture as a reminder that death is the "great leveler" and it is short-sighted to sacrifice conscience to greed. The refrain is sometimes used in political and parliamentary speeches in India as well.[6]

Urdu Devnagri transcription English translation

گر تو ہے لکھی بنجارہ اور کھیپ بھی تیری بھاری ہے
اے غافل تجھ سے بھی چڑهتا اک اور بڑا بیوپاری ہے
کیا شکر مصری قند گری کیا سانبھر میٹھا کھاری ہے
کیا داکھ منقا سونٹھ مرچ کیا کیسر لونگ سپاری ہے
سب ٹھاٹھ پڑا رہ جاویگا جب لاد چلے گا بنجارہ

गर तू है लक्खी बंजारा और खेप भी तेरी भारी है
ऐ ग़ाफ़िल तुझसे भी चढ़ता इक और बड़ा ब्योपारी है
क्या शक्कर मिसरी क़ंद गरी, क्या सांभर मीठा-खारी है
क्या दाख मुनक़्क़ा सोंठ मिरच, क्या केसर लौंग सुपारी है
सब ठाठ पड़ा रह जावेगा जब लाद चलेगा बंजारा

If you are a millionaire, and your stores are brimming,
Know, O ignorant! There is always another merchant who is even greater than you.
What of your sugar, candy, jaggery and nuts? What of your doughs, sweet and salty?
What of your grapes, raisins, ginger and pepper? What of your saffron, cloves and betel?
All your splendor will lie useless, when the nomad packs-up and leaves.

Usage of common language

Contrary to the then prevalent tradition of using refined literary language in poetry, Nazeer Akbarabadi chose idioms and words from the casual language spoken in the street, both in Banjaranama and in his other works. Though the poem as a whole is largely comprehensible to native Hindustani speakers in the modern-day, some words are considered archaic today, such as dakh (داکھ, दाख, grape, from the Sanskrit द्राक्ष, draksh) which has been completely replaced by the Persian-derived term angoor in modern Hindi.[7]

See also

References
  1. Akbar Naqvi, National College of Arts (Pakistan). Research and Publication Centre, Shahid Sajjad's sculpture: collected essays, Research and Publication Centre, National College of Arts, 2007, ISBN 978-969-8623-21-0, ... He had necklaces round his neck worn by the sadhus of India. As late as the sixties, beggars sang his immortal poems in the kingdom of Urdu on the Subcontinent. School children recited verses from his immortal 'Banjaranama' ...
  2. A history of Urdu literature, Sind Sagar Academy, 1975, ... His allegories, in beautiful verses, strike a note at once ennobling and enthralling. His pictures about the 'all conquering death' and his Banjara-nama, plead for a renunciation of pride in ...
  3. ʻAbdulḥalīm Sharar; Abdul Halim Sharar; Rosie Llewellyn-Jones; Veena Talwar Oldenburg, The Lucknow omnibus, Oxford University Press, 2001, ISBN 978-0-19-565329-8, ... His natural and simple poetry is expressed in commonplace words. Banjara Nama is ...
  4. सब ठाठ पड़ा रह जावेगा जब लाद चलेगा बंजारा ('All your splendor will lie useless, when the nomad packs-up and leaves'), CINE Manthan, ... गीत कई हजार वर्षों की शिक्षाओं को एक सार रुप में सामने लेकर आता है ... इंसान अकेला आया है अकेला ही जायेगा। खाली हाथ आया था और धरती पर जमा की हुयी हर एक चीज हर एक सम्पत्ति यहीं छोड़ कर जायेगा (The poem distills the teachings of thousands of years into one summary form ... Man comes alone and will leave alone. He comes empty handed and every little thing in all the material collections he makes in this world will be left behind when he leaves) ...
  5. K. C. Kanda, Masterpieces of Urdu nazm, Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd, 1997, ISBN 978-81-207-1952-1, ... سب ٹھاٹھ پڑارہ جاویگا جب لاد چلے گا بنجارہ ...
  6. House of the People (Lok Sabha), Parliament of India, Lok Sabha debates, Lok Sabha Secretariat, Government of India, 1996, ... Some times, l wonder as to how much money does a man need? "Sab thaath pada rah jayega, Jab bandh chalega banjara." Nothing will remain there. Yet the people are after money. People have lust for power because it is easy to make money ...
  7. University Grants Commission, Pakistan pictorial, Volume 4, Pakistan Publications, 1980, ... commoners as he preferred to compose verses in a language and idiom most suited to the genius of the man in the street. He wrote such fluent poems like 'Banjara' (Gypsy) ...
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