Yeh zindagi usi ki hai

 

Ye zindagi usi ki hai Jo kisi ka ho gaya 

 One of the most loved songs from the repertoire of Lata Mangeshkar, the legendary singer of India, is this gem from the movie Anarkali. The song has a lighter version that reflects a happier phase of courtship between Salim,the young heir to the Mughal throne and the beautiful courtesan Anarkali. And then there is a melancholic version that the lady love sings in defiance of the atrocity of the powerful regime that had pronounced a death sentence for her. Both versions are equally impactful. Both bear testimony to the sweetness of Lata Didi’s voice. Lyricist Rajinder Kishan’s words are rendered immortal by C Ramchandra’s melodious music composition and the flawless rendition by Lata Didi. 

For all these years I had admired and relished this song for its melody and associated it with the story of Anarkali and Salim like everyone else in the world. Recently, for the first time the opening line of the song shone in an entirely unexpected context. I was reading a book about the poet saints of Maharashtra by Gurudev Ranade, a religious scholar of the twentieth century. Here the author has compared similarities and differences between mystics from Indian and Western traditions. As I was reading through the preface of the book I came across a passage where there is a description about the final stage of self realization where a seeker of the ultimate reality merges with the Reality or a devotee becomes one with God or a student becomes one with the teacher. Incessant will for self knowledge draws the student towards the guru. The student surrenders himself to the master and in the process they both develop mutual love and understanding. The essence of the Guru is the knowledge and as it is transmitted to the earnest student, the student becomes the same essence. The phenomenon is described with the analogy of two clean mirrors facing each other with resultant infinite reflection of one in the other. As this spiritual experience was sinking into my being, in that instant, the line of the song suddenly appeared in complete sync with the topic in the discussion. 

Ye zindagi usi kee hai Jo kisi ka ho gaya     Pyaar hee mein kho gaya 

This life belongs to the one who surrenders himself to another and loses himself in love! 

From a spiritual perspective the ultimate purpose of all human endeavors is said to be self realization or God realization. And for that various practices such as karmayoga or dnyaan yoga or bhakti yoga are recommended. Bhakti yoga is devotional living with complete surrender to God or God’s will. It emphasizes upon a relation of love towards the divine deity. Indeed complete surrender is rare and one who can accomplish it achieves the highest goal in life. 

Ye bahar ye samaa                                              kah raha hai pyaar kar                                        Kisi kee aarazu mein                                     apnae dil ko bekarar kar

This Spring, this atmosphere is calling to fall in love. It is beckoning the mind to submit to restlessness with the desire for someone. 

Ordinarily a human brain is attracted and inclined to turn its emotions of love, adoration etc towards a fellow human being. In the young years, especially beginning in adolescence, the emerging reproductive hormones play a big role in enamoring the mind and establishing the desire for another person where affection can be levied. 

Zindagi hai bewafa                                            loot pyaar ka mazaa 

Life is known to betray. Snatch the pleasures of being in love while you live. 

 It is a fact that life is finite. Every person born on earth must die some day. How we choose to spend our life is up to us. Where we derive our joy from is an individual proclivity. From a materialistic standpoint getting the most out of life in terms of pleasures is the norm. Some seek to acquire wealth, others place value on friendships and love, some seek knowledge and education, some seek power, fame, recognition, some others seek experiences such as travel and adventures. In this song, the poet makes a case for romantic love.

Dhadak raha hai dil toh Kyaa?                               Dil kee dhadakanae na gin 

So what if the heart is beating hard? Don’t bother to count the heartbeats. 

 He describes the anxieties, the restlessness during the period of courtship, then gently suggests to not be discouraged by these things. Why?

Phir kahaan ye fursatae.                                    phir kahaan ye raat din

These leisurely times, these relaxed days and nights may not be forever.

Youth and leisure have a short shelf life. As the responsibilities and burdens of life accumulate it becomes harder to indulge in simple pleasures. 

Aa rahi hai ye sadaa                                   mastiyon mein doob ja

I hear a calling to immerse in the pleasures while time permits.

A heart inclined towards romance listens to the urge for falling in love with someone, dedicating their life to this special person and dreams of spending a lifetime with them. Even to the point of becoming forgetful of other things in life and willing to give up other pleasures if called for. Thus they make their beloved the priority in life.

Ye zindagi usi kee hai Jo kisi ka ho gaya

This life belongs only to one who gives himself to another person. 

Spiritual teaching acknowledges the finiteness of mortal life but diverges from the materialists from that point. It leads the attention from all tangible things to a Reality which cannot be conceived objectively, yet affirmed by mystics globally in all periods of time. The argument here is that investing emotions, time, efforts, money into anything that is tangible and expecting returns from that investment is inevitable to bring unhappiness because these things are also finite and unpredictable like life itself. All hopes can be washed away in one instant any day. 

Staying perpetually obsessed with such things precludes finding the immortal spirit and condemns the individual to a life in ignorance and endless cycles of birth and death. Instead, harnessing the human capacity to love something or someone beyond oneself, the spiritual masters urge to direct this emotional and intellectual energy to the divine, eternal spirit, the Reality on which the entire perceptible universe exists. 

To surrender oneself to someone implies giving up one’s existing ideology, one’s desires, hopes, preferences, insistence on comforts, etc,  and accepting whatever outcome that might arise from abiding by the wishes of the other person. In other words, unconditionally living by the rules of someone you love and trust. 

This can be an issue of controversy!! One may argue about the prudence in such abrogation of personal rights to think and act independently. The responsibility of surrender remains on the shoulders of the person who surrenders. A wise person would not give in unless convinced that the other person’s views are in the interest of a greater good, or good for his progress and certainly not harmful for the larger community. A certain basic amount of good judgement is needed regarding good and bad, benefit and harm,  truth and deceit, service and manipulation, justice and injustice, lawful and unlawful. In other words, it ought to be a surrender of a thinking of a lower order to upgrade to higher values. Surrendering to a fake guru not only will not bring any good for anyone , it may incur great harm and you may become the instrument for his evil. Therefore great vigilance is required to choose your spiritual teacher. Eventually we become what or who we emulate. 

I wonder if the poet of this evergreen song had the slightest thought about the profound truth contained in its opening line in the context of spiritual surrender and self realization !! 

The mystics surrender their lower self to the divine. But not everyone who surrenders themselves to a higher cause is a mystic. There are other noble souls who willingly give up their personal interests, comforts and lives for a larger purpose. There are people like Baba Amte and now Dr Prakash Amte who have dedicated their lives for the cause of poor tribal people in Maharashtra. And more relevant to the present day, there are soldiers, young and old, who have thrown themselves into the bloody war to protect their homeland. They know not when they leave their homes and loved ones whether they will ever return alive. Yet they don’t think twice when they are called to fight. They are the ones who truly live. The rest, only breathe. The nation is their Beloved. Nation is their God.

It’s about where we see our God! And what we are prepared to lose for him/her! 

Ye zindagi usi ki hai Jo kisi ka ho gaya 

Saree is a light silk cotton Maheshwari with fine bandhani. Photos taken during last weekend trip to San Francisco.