5 verses · ~1 min
वे मुस्काते फूल, नहीं जिनको आता है मुर्झाना, वे तारों के दीप, नहीं जिनको भाता है बुझ जाना;
वे नीलम के मेघ, नहीं जिनको है घुल जाने की चाह वह अनन्त रितुराज,नहीं जिसने देखी जाने की राह|
वे सूने से नयन,नहीं जिनमें बनते आँसू मोती, वह प्राणों की सेज,नही जिसमें बेसुध पीड़ा सोती;
ऐसा तेरा लोक, वेदना नहीं,नहीं जिसमें अवसाद, जलना जाना नहीं, नहीं जिसने जाना मिटने का स्वाद!
क्या अमरों का लोक मिलेगा तेरी करुणा का उपहार? रहने दो हे देव! अरे यह मेरा मिटने का अधिकार!
इति
The Poet
महादेवी वर्मा
Mahadevi Varma
1907 · 1987
Mahadevi Varma stands as the absolute pinnacle of lyrical mysticism in modern Hindi literature. Born in 1907 in Farrukhabad, she was a central pillar of the Chhayavaad romantic movement and is universally revered as the modern Meera for the intense spiritual devotion embedded in her verse. She lived a life of fierce intellectual independence. As the principal of the Prayag Mahila Vidyapeeth, she revolutionized women's education in India, while her literary salon in Allahabad became the epicenter of Hindi letters. Her poetic masterworks, including Yama, Nihar, and Rashmi, are profound meditations on sorrow, the eternal soul, and the quiet strength of the natural world. She did not merely write about pain. She transformed it into a vehicle for spiritual liberation. Honored with the Jnanpith Award in 1982 and the Padma Vibhushan, she passed away in 1987. She remains an immortal figure whose words continue to offer solace to anyone who has ever felt the ache of existential longing.
Paired Painting
Urvashi
This painting captures a poignant moment from the ancient Vedic legend of the celestial nymph Urvashi and the mortal king Pururavas. In the myth, Urvashi is a divine being of unparalleled beauty who finds herself bound to the earth and the heart of a human king. Ravi Varma portrays the ethereal grace of the apsara as she ascends, leaving behind the longing and yearning figure of Pururavas. The painting is a masterclass in emotional tension, as it depicts the fragility of love that bridges the divide between the heavens and the earthly realm. Through his brush, Varma does not just paint a scene, he breathes life into the eternal ache of separation that defines human experience in the face of the divine.
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