6 verses · ~1 min
हम पंछी उन्मुक्त गगन के पिंजरबद्ध न गा पाऍंगे, कनक-तीलियों से टकराकर पुलकित पंख टूट जाऍंगे।
हम बहता जल पीनेवाले मर जाऍंगे भूखे-प्यासे, कहीं भली है कटुक निबोरी कनक-कटोरी की मैदा से,
स्वर्ण-श्रृंखला के बंधन में अपनी गति, उड़ान सब भूले, बस सपनों में देख रहे हैं तरू की फुनगी पर के झूले।
ऐसे थे अरमान कि उड़ते नील गगन की सीमा पाने, लाल किरण-सी चोंचखोल चुगते तारक-अनार के दाने।
होती सीमाहीन क्षितिज से इन पंखों की होड़ा-होड़ी, या तो क्षितिज मिलन बन जाता या तनती सॉंसों की डोरी।
नीड़ न दो, चाहे टहनी का आश्रय छिन्न-भिन्न कर डालो, लेकिन पंख दिए हैं, तो आकुल उड़ान में विघ्न न डालो।
इति
The Poet
शिवमंगल सिंह ‘सुमन’
Shivamangal Singh 'Suman'
1915 · 2002
There is a particular form of literary courage that has nothing to do with defiance or rebellion the courage of choosing to remain human when circumstances press hard toward despair. Shivamangal Singh Suman possessed this courage in extraordinary measure. He wrote across the full breadth of the progressive literary movement in Hindi, and his work bears the mark of a mind that refused to choose between aesthetic beauty and social conscience, insisting with deep patience that both are necessary if poetry is to perform its highest function. His verses walk the razor's edge between lyric grace and the weight of lived suffering never collapsing into sentimentality, never hardening into polemic. Born in Unnao in 1915, Suman rose to lead Vikram University as its Vice Chancellor, becoming one of the rare figures who moved between the world of intellectual administration and the world of pure creative fire without losing his substance in either. He received the Padma Bhushan and Sahitya Akademi recognition, but his true monument is the quality of sustenance his verses have provided across generations of readers who found in him a poet who understood that the will to go on is, in itself, a form of sacred defiance.
Paired Painting
Determination of the Sparrow and Garuda
This painting portrays a profound spiritual allegory from traditional Vaishnava teachings, where a tiny sparrow attempts to drain the vast ocean after the waves carry away her eggs. Despite her infinitesimal size, her unwavering determination catches the attention of Garuda, the mighty divine eagle and mount of Lord Vishnu. Garuda, moved by her steadfast tenacity, steps in to assist her, symbolizing that supreme spiritual success in bhakti is achieved not through physical prowess, but through a resolute and unyielding will.
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