8 verses · ~2 min
खोज़ में जब निकल ही आया सत्य तो बहुत मिले ।
कुछ नये कुछ पुराने मिले कुछ अपने कुछ बिराने मिले कुछ दिखावे कुछ बहाने मिले कुछ अकड़ू कुछ मुँह-चुराने मिले कुछ घुटे-मँजे सफेदपोश मिले कुछ ईमानदार ख़ानाबदोश मिले ।
कुछ ने लुभाया कुछ ने डराया कुछ ने परचाया- कुछ ने भरमाया- सत्य तो बहुत मिले खोज़ में जब निकल ही आया ।
कुछ पड़े मिले कुछ खड़े मिले कुछ झड़े मिले कुछ सड़े मिले कुछ निखरे कुछ बिखरे कुछ धुँधले कुछ सुथरे सब सत्य रहे कहे, अनकहे ।
खोज़ में जब निकल ही आया सत्य तो बहुत मिले पर तुम नभ के तुम कि गुहा-गह्वर के तुम मोम के तुम, पत्थर के तुम तुम किसी देवता से नहीं निकले: तुम मेरे साथ मेरे ही आँसू में गले मेरे ही रक्त पर पले अनुभव के दाह पर क्षण-क्षण उकसती मेरी अशमित चिता पर तुम मेरे ही साथ जले ।
तुम- तुम्हें तो भस्म हो मैंने फिर अपनी भभूत में पाया अंग रमाया तभी तो पाया ।
खोज़ में जब निकल ही आया, सत्य तो बहुत मिले- एक ही पाया ।
काशी (रेल में), 15 फरवरी, 1954
इति
The Poet
अज्ञेय
Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan 'Agyeya'
1911 · 1987
Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayan, universally known by his pen name Agyeya, completely rewired the circuitry of modern Hindi literature. Born in 1911 in a British archaeological camp in Uttar Pradesh, his life was as fiercely untraditional as his prose. Before he became the architect of the Prayogavaad (Experimentalism) movement, he was an active revolutionary who spent four years in British colonial prisons for attempting to help Bhagat Singh escape. In those prison cells, he began drafting Shekhar: Ek Jivani, a psychological novel that shocked the literary establishment with its unapologetic exploration of the individual ego. He rejected the prevailing romanticism of the era and instead assembled the Tar Saptak series, bringing together a new generation of poets who wrote in free verse about alienation, intellect, and the fractured modern psyche. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1964 and the Jnanpith Award in 1978. Agyeya was a novelist, a combatant officer in World War II, a journalist, and a profound existential thinker. He gave Hindi literature the vocabulary to interrogate the inner self without the comfort of traditional morality.
Paired Painting
Sita's Trial by Fire
This profound scene captures the moment of Sita's Agni Pariksha, a soul stirring event from the Ramayana where Mother Sita steps into the blazing fire to prove her purity and unwavering devotion to Lord Rama. The artist masterfully depicts her calm, meditative posture amidst the leaping flames, contrasting with the concerned gaze of Rama, Lakshmana, and the devoted Hanuman. The soft rolling hills in the background provide a serene stage for this deeply spiritual trial, underscoring the weight of duty, sacrifice, and the eternal strength of the divine feminine. It is an image that invites us to contemplate the complexity of dharma and the resilience of the human spirit.
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