ShantaIntermediate

मुझे अफ़सोस है

Mujhe Afsos Hai

Bhawani Prasad Mishra

2 min read 15 versesRegret Evening Loneliness

15 verses · ~2 min

मुझे अफ़सोस है या कहिए मुझे वह है जिसे मैं अफ़सोस मानता रहा हूँ

क्योंकि ज़्यादातर लोगों को ऐसे में नहीं होता वह जिसे मैं अफ़सोस मानता रहा हूँ

मेरा मन आज शाम को शहर के बाहर जाकर और बैठकर किसी

निर्जन टीले पर देर तक शाम होना देखते रहने का था

कारण-वश और क्या कहूँ सभा में जाने की विवशता को मैं शाम को

शहर के बाहर नहीं जा पाया न चढ़ पाया

इसलिए किसी टीले पर देख नहीं सका होती हुई शाम

और इसके कारण जैसा लग रहा है मन को उसे मैं अब तक

अफ़सोस ही कहता रहा हूँ लोगों को एक तो ऐसी

इच्छा ही नहीं होती होती है तो उसके पूरा न होने पर

उन्हें कुछ लगता नहीं है या जो लगता है उसे वे अफ़सोस

नहीं कहते मैं आज विजन में किसी टीले पर चढकर

देर तक होती हुई शाम नहीं देख पाया जाना पड़ा एक सभा में

इसका मुझे अफ़सोस है या कहिए मुझे वह है

जिसे मैं अफ़सोस मानता रहा हूँ!

इति

Rasa: Shanta
Stanzas: 15
Lines: 44
Reading time: ~2 min
Form: Free verse
Metre: free verse
Rhyme: none

The poem exudes a meditative, shanta rasa atmosphere of quiet melancholic resignation, capturing the tension between the hollow weight of social obligations and the solitary yearning for nature. Visually, the scene evokes a vast, empty landscape at dusk—a lonely, barren hill standing in silence under a fading sky—juxtaposed against the claustrophobic, crowded interior of an imagined evening meeting. The imagery relies on the symbolism of the horizon as a place of spiritual retreat, representing a lost communion that is denied by the rigid, artificial structures of public life. Ultimately, the artistic tone is one of introspective solitude, where the simple act of watching the evening transform is elevated to a sacred, missed experience, painting a portrait of a spirit grieving its own lack of freedom.

मुझे अफ़सोस है (Mujhe Afsos Hai), by Bhawani Prasad Mishra runs to 44 lines across 15 stanzas, set as Three-line stanzas (tercets) in free verse. Its governing rasa is Shanta, shaded by Karuna. The metre is free verse. Rhyme falls as none.

Reflects the poet's personal conflict between his public duties (attending literary/political meetings) and his deep romantic longing for quiet communion with nature.

Read it for प्राकृतिक सौंदर्य बनाम सामाजिक विवशता and एकांत की चाह और आधुनिक जीवन का दबाव. 2 words in it carry older or regional senses, so the poem rewards a second pass.

The verse is hung beside Landscape at Sunset: Bathed in a serene, contemplative mood, this delicate landscape captures the quiet transition of twilight over undulating terrain with an intimate, poetic stillness. Rolling hills recede into a hazy horizon under a soft…

Words worth pausing on

निर्जन: जहाँ कोई मनुष्य न हो (सुनसान)
विवशता: मजबूरी

Threads

Regret Evening Loneliness

The Poet

भवानीप्रसाद मिश्र

Bhawani Prasad Mishra

1913 · 1985

Bhawani Prasad Mishra possessed a poetic voice that felt less like literature and more like a quiet conversation with a wise friend. Born in 1913 in the Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh, he chose to write with such absolute linguistic simplicity that his verses could be understood by a scholar and a farmer alike. He was a committed Gandhian who lived his philosophy, dedicating much of his life to education and the constructive programs of the independence movement. Mishra famously declared that a poet must write in the exact language that he speaks. Collections like Buni Hui Rassi, which earned him the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1972, and the iconic poem Geetfarosh, capture the compromises and quiet endurance of everyday life with deep warmth. He wrote hundreds of poems espousing Gandhian values, rejecting the artificial complexities that often distanced modern poetry from the masses. When he passed away in 1985, he left behind a legacy of absolute authenticity. He proved that poetry does not need to shout to be heard; it only needs to tell the truth.