ShantaBeginner

तूने रात गँवायी

Tune Rat Gawayi

1 min read 3 versesTime

3 verses · ~1 min

तूने रात गँवायी सोय के, दिवस गँवाया खाय के। हीरा जनम अमोल था, कौड़ी बदले जाय॥

सुमिरन लगन लगाय के मुख से कछु ना बोल रे। बाहर का पट बंद कर ले अंतर का पट खोल रे। माला फेरत जुग हुआ, गया ना मन का फेर रे। गया ना मन का फेर रे। हाथ का मनका छाँड़ि दे, मन का मनका फेर॥

दुख में सुमिरन सब करें, सुख में करे न कोय रे। जो सुख में सुमिरन करे तो दुख काहे को होय रे। सुख में सुमिरन ना किया दुख में करता याद रे। दुख में करता याद रे। कहे कबीर उस दास की कौन सुने फ़रियाद॥

इति

Rasa: Shanta
Stanzas: 3
Lines: 12
Reading time: ~1 min
Form: Pada
Metre: pada
Rhyme: irregular

Radiating a serene and contemplative emotional atmosphere, this poem evokes a quiet, inward-turning ascetic sitting in meditation amidst the fading shadows of night. A visual rendering would show a solitary figure holding a discarded wooden rosary, turning away from an open doorway of blinding worldly light to face a deeply shadowed, tranquil interior where inner illumination begins. Symbolizing the tragic squandering of precious time on transient physical pleasures, the scene contrasts the heavy material burdens of earthly existence with the light, silent release of true spiritual remembrance. The artistic tone is one of profound, sober awakening—a devotional yet stern reminder of mortality and the urgent necessity of turning the gaze inward before life's invaluable diamond of time is traded for worthless shells.

तूने रात गँवायी (Tune Rat Gawayi), by Kabir runs to 12 lines across 3 stanzas, set as Three-stanza warning and instructional song. Its governing rasa is Shanta. The metre is pada. Rhyme falls as irregular.

It belongs to the 1398 · 1518 span of Kabir's working life, and keeps the plain, spoken register that period is known for.

Read it for मानव जीवन के अमूल्य समय का दुरुपयोग and बाहरी आडंबरों को छोड़कर मन की शुद्धि. 2 words in it carry older or regional senses, so the poem rewards a second pass.

The verse is hung beside Veena Player: This serene portrait radiates a contemplative, meditative mood, enveloping the viewer in the quiet intimacy of classical Indian music. A South Indian woman is seated in quiet grace, delicately cradling a traditional…

Words worth pausing on

अमोल: अमूल्य जिसका कोई मूल्य न हो
मनका: माला का दाना या मोती

Threads

Time

The Poet

कबीर

Kabir

1398 · 1518

To speak of Kabir within the ordinary parameters of literary biography is almost impossible. Born in the fifteenth century to a Muslim weaver's family in the sacred Hindu city of Banaras, he became a voice that refused to be domesticated by any temple, mosque, or scholarly apparatus. Kabir claimed no scripture, no caste, and no sacred language as his exclusive property. He stood at the loom of reality and wove his dohas (devastating two-line couplets) from the raw thread of direct spiritual encounter. His critique was not merely religious but civilizational. He asked with the serene ferocity of an awakened mind why human beings had chosen the architecture of division over the open sky of the divine. Centuries have passed, empires have crumbled, and languages have shifted. Yet, Kabir's couplets are still recited in village squares and debated in universities today. He requires no temple because he built one inside language itself. He is the conscience of the Indian soul.