Chaafaa Bolenaa

 चाफा बोलेना, चाफा चालेना

चाफा खंत करी, काही केल्या फुलेना

गेले आंब्याच्या बनी, म्हटली मैनासवे गाणी
आम्ही गळयांत गळे मिळवुन रे
गेले केतकीच्या बनी, गंध दरवळला वनी
नागासवे गळाले देहभान रे
चल ये रे, ये रे गडया, नाचु उडु घालु फुगडया
खेळू झिम्मा झिम् पोरी झिम् पोरी झिम्

हे विश्वाचे आंगण, आम्हा दिले आहे आंदण
उणे करु आपण दोघेजण
जन विषयाचे किडे, यांची धाव बाह्याकडे
आपण करु शुद्ध रसपान रे
चाफा फुली आला फुलून
तेजी दिशा गेल्या आटून
कोण मी चाफा, कोठे दोघे जण रे

Chaafaa bolena, Chaafaa chaalena
Chaafaa khnt kari, kaahi kelyaa fulenaa

Gele ambyaachyaa bani, mhatali mainaasawe gaani
Aamhi galyaat gale milawun re
Gele ketakichyaa bani, gndh darawalalaa wani
Naagaasawe galaale dehabhaan re
Chal ye re, ye re gadyaa, naachu udu ghaalu fugadyaa
Khelu jhimma jhim pori jhim pori jhim pori jhim pori jhim

He vishwaache aangan , Amhaa dile aahe aandan 
Une karu aapan doghejan re 
Jan wishayaache kide, yaanchi dhaaw baahyaakade
Aapan karu shuddh rasapaan re
Chaafa fuli ala fulun
Teji disha gelyaa aatun 
Kon mi chaafa, kothhe doghe jan re

I have heard this lovely song in the sweet voice of Lata Didi since my pre-teen years. At the time I didn’t know who was the poet or composer. Nor did I understand the deeper meaning underlying it. I just loved it for its bubbly bouncing flow. 

Recently as I was writing about some lines from  Dnyaaneshwar’s  Pasaaydaan it suddenly occurred to me that the theme of this poem is very much connected to the essence of the Pasaaydaan. It is all about finding the pure self within us. 

Narayan Muralidhar Gupte who used the pen name Kavi Bee wrote these lines. Lata Didi loved it and wanted to record this but composers were finding it difficult to set this to tune because it lacked meter. Finally composer Vasant Prabhu took up the challenge. He decided to work on a few select verses from the original longer poem and a masterpiece was born.  

The poem employs a beautiful metaphor in the form of the plumeria flower(chaafaa in Marathi) to represent the mind. Most flowers are fragrant while they are fresh. Once they dry out the fragrance is lost and they are thrown away. Chaafaa has the rare quality that its fragrance lingers long after the flower is shriveled. It is therefore preserved even in the dried form. It is highly regarded and sought after for this divine fragrance. 

Mind is a divine gift and indeed an amazing entity.  It is where aspirations are sown and dreams blossom, love grows and friendships thrive. It is a nursery for hopes, bunker for memories and a cradle for emotions. All creative ideas take flight from the mind. In every way the fragrance in the garden of life is born out of the mind.  Good thoughts arising from the inner sanctum of the mind are carried on the wings of words far and wide and, just like the chaafaa, their fragrance brings lasting joy to many hearts. 

I came across a few different interpretations of the Chaafaa Bolena poem. A romantic view suggests that here a woman is referring to her lover using the metaphor of the flower. Another place it is believed that the poet is using the flower to represent his creative potential. This seems to have reached a stagnation and he is trying in every way to find new inspiration. 

What I gathered from this poem leaned on a search for the eternal reality or spiritual truth. What I am going to try to elaborate is based on these premises.

At the beginning of the poem the poet is trying in every way to cheer up his lonesome mind. It seems to be sullen, showing no interest in interaction with the surroundings or motivation for any purposeful activity. 

He tries to walk around a grove of mango trees and chime in with the song of the cuckoo. Mangoes signify wealth( prosperity, worldly pleasures), and singing birds represent the arts and culture. None of this did any good to amuse the mind. 

So next he thought of trying the fragrant woods where grew the ketaki( kewda) flower. Kewda or ketaki has outer thorny sheaths that cover the fragrant petals within . Often times poisonous snakes take refuge in the shrubs of kewda. The kewda is chosen here to represent the difficult path of meditative practices, particularly kundalini yoga. These paths are difficult in the beginning and yield success ( fragrance) only after clearing the obstacles (thorns). One manages to advance, going deeper with persistent efforts. The poet describes how his mind after much struggle managed to reach the pinnacle of meditation (sahasrara chakra)and found solace there. It was immersed in happiness in that stage. Alas ! It did not last too long. 

Thus, whether worldly ventures or spiritual exercises, every thing he did proved to be childish misadventures. He compares them to jhimmaa and fugadi which are trivial games played by Marathi womenfolk. He was beginning to get the taste of disappointment.

Suddenly and spontaneously it dawned upon him that it is futile searching for lasting joy and inspiration from the objective world with means of the sense organs. He began to see the entire outside world as a playground gifted to him by the creator. The Light was within himself ! Teji dishaa gelyaa aatun! 

( Here I am reminded of the lines : ujedi raahile ujed baghun, Nivritti Sopaan Muktaabaai. Indraayani  kaathi Devaachi Aalandi, laagali samaadhi Dnyaaneshaachi “)

Once this awareness came, the attraction of worldly pleasures disappeared and the mind began to enjoy the pure bliss of the soul. With this realization his Mind was overjoyed! Chaafaa phuli aalaa phooloon “. Chaafaa suddenly blossomed to its fullness and asked “who am I?” At that moment all duality ended! Distinction between the poet and his Mind, the act and the actor, human and God (jeeva and Shiva) dissolved. They stood as ONE. 

This poem is indeed a beautiful treatise on the Advaita philosophy of Adi Shankaracharya. From this point when I listen to the song in Lata Didi’s voice the inspiring meaning underlying the lyrics will most certainly add sweetness and enhance the experience. My gratitude to Kavi B, Vasant Prabhu and Lata Didi for this precious gift that they have left behind for generations. 🙏🏼🙏🏼