Sakhi Mand Zalya Taraka

 

Sakhi Mand Zalya Taraka 

सखी मंद झाल्या तारका
आता तरी येशील का येशील का

Marathi folks my age have grown up with songs from certain well known names in the world of music. One such name is Sudhir Phadke, known to many as Babuji. Perhaps he is best known for singing the Geet Ramayan. Yet many of his bhaav geet are also immensely popular and evergreen. Many of these songs stir up nostalgia when they are heard or come to mind. 

One such song from Babuji’s repertoire is Sakhi Mand Zalya Taraka. It was penned by the well known Marathi lyricist and composer Sudhir Moghe. By coincidence both men share a common first name. 

This song is really a romantic song of a man pining to meet his beloved. The setting is late into the night, just before dusk. He has waited all through the night hoping that she will come. And still holds out hope despite worst of fears.

When I listened carefully to this song it touched a chord and I could see it through the lens of my spiritual understanding. I am going to attempt to describe how it unfolded in my mind. 

This is all to be understood metaphorically. The voice in the poem is of an ardent devotee. His beloved is God or supreme consciousness. Night represents avidya or Maya and also life in the world created by Maya.

मधुरात्र मंथर देखणी
आली तशी गेली सुनी
हा प्रहर अंतिम राहिला
त्या अर्थ तू देशील का देशील का

The devotee has lived a full life. He describes the worldly life(night) as sweet, enchanting and beautiful. Various things in life shone at all times like glittering stars against the night sky. Yet he found himself lonely from the start to the tail end. Despite arriving with sweet hopes and promises the night ( life) seems to have quietly slipped by. And now he has arrived at the last hour before the night ends. The stars have dimmed. Against all odds he hopes his beloved would still come. He seeks to find meaning in life. Asks his beloved if she will arrive and make his existence meaningful at last. 

हृदयात आहे प्रीत अन्
ओठांत आहे गीतही
ते प्रेमगाणे छेडणारा 
सूर तू होशील का होशील का

There is love in the heart and a song on my lips, he says. But it is unable to come out and express aloud by itself. Can you become the note of inspiration that sets my heart free so love song would manifest? All through life the devotee in his lonely existence has nurtured love for the Supreme but there are no words he has to express that love. Only the sight of the object of his love can probably help him give an expression to his heart’s feelings.

जे जे हवेसे जीवनी
ते सर्व आहे लाभले
तरीही उरे काही उणे
तू पूर्तता होशील का होशील का

Like most humans on earth, I have availed of all the good things life could have given. Family, friends, home, education, career, recognition, wealth, enjoyments, whatever one could have aspired for I have acquired in this life. One would think my life is fulfilled. Yet there is a lingering sense of incompleteness in me. Something is still missing. You are missing from my life.  Can you fill this void and complete the picture? 

बोलावल्यावाचूनही 

मृत्यू जरी आला इथे
थांबेल तोही पळभरी
पण सांग तू येशील का येशील का

The night only has a short time left before it will slip. I am not going to have much of an opportunity at hand before it all ends. Not that I am eager to welcome death at my door. But even if death shows up unannounced and knocks on the door I can ask him to wait for a moment if I know you are coming. 

From point of view of avidya or Maya, everything is darkness. So although life is represented by night, end of one life span marked by death is not beginning of the day. The so called “ next day” is also another night. The only true “daylight” is in jnana or pure consciousness. For a jeeva who is incomplete despite fulfilling all the three aspects of human achievements in the form of dharma, artha, kama, only attaining to self knowledge or supreme consciousness will bring totality. Death is trivial for him who waits for merging with this highest consciousness. He is therefore treating it very casually. His heart and mind are set on seeing the brightness of the Parmatma. 

Thus sakhi mand zalya taraka can imply a soul’s confession to the divine consciousness that this world of physical objects no longer holds any attraction for me. It does not enthrall me. I seek your light. I long for you. Neither life nor death seem more important to me than you. You are the only one I wait for. 

Saree is a cotton irkal from Karnataka. It has a silk pallu.