HasyaBeginner

धर्म की कमाई

Dharm Ki Kamai

4 verses · ~1 min

सौंर और गोंड स्त्रियाँ चिरौंजी बनिए की दुकान पर ले जाती हैं। बनिया तराजू के एक पल्ले पर नमक और दूसरे पर चिरौंजी बराबर तोल कर दिखा देता है और कहता है, हम तो ईमान की कमाई खाते हैं।

स्त्रियाँ नमक ले कर घर जाती हैं। बनिया मिठाइयां बनाता और बेचता है। उस की दुकान का नाम है। अब वह चिरौंजी की बर्फी बनाता है, दूर दूर तक उस की चर्चा है। गाहक दुकान पर पूछते हुए जाते हैं। कीन कर ले जाते हैं, खाते और खिलाते हैं।

बनिया धरम करम की चर्चा करता है। कहता है, धरम का दिया खाते हैं, भगवान् के गुण गाते हैं।

रचनाकाल:02.11.2002

इति

Rasa: Hasya
Stanzas: 4
Lines: 12
Reading time: ~1 min
Form: Free verse
Metre: free verse
Rhyme: none

The atmosphere of the scene is one of biting, grotesque irony, capturing the predatory nature of a merchant who masks his exploitation of tribal women behind a facade of feigned piety. A painting of this poem would depict a sharp-featured merchant standing behind a polished counter, weighing a heap of expensive chironji seeds against a mere pinch of common salt, his face twisted into an insincere, beatific smile while the weary tribal women look on. In the background, the shop transitions from this scene of lopsided exchange to a bustling, opulent storefront where the merchant distributes decadent chironji sweets to a clamoring crowd, embodying the hollow hypocrisy of those who build their prosperity on the labor of the vulnerable. The overall tone is deeply satirical and cynical, contrasting the material wealth derived from systemic theft with the merchant’s sanctimonious proclamations of godliness and righteous living.

धर्म की कमाई (Dharm Ki Kamai), by Trilochan runs to 12 lines across 4 stanzas, set as Three stanzas of varying lengths (prose-poetry style). Its governing rasa is Hasya, shaded by Shanta. The metre is free verse. Rhyme falls as none.

Written in 2002, reflecting the exploitation of tribal women by local traders.

Read it for व्यापारिक पाखंड और सामाजिक असमानता पर व्यंग्य, धर्म की आड़ में शोषण, आर्थिक विषमता and दिखावटी धार्मिकता. 3 words in it carry older or regional senses, so the poem rewards a second pass.

The verse is hung beside A Vegetable Vendor: Bathed in a warm, glowing atmosphere of quiet dignity, the portrait captures a serene South Indian woman standing gracefully behind a rustic wooden table laden with an abundant harvest of fresh garden produce, including…

Words worth pausing on

सौंर: एक आदिवासी जनजाति
गोंड: मध्य भारत की एक प्रमुख जनजाति
चिरौंजी: एक प्रकार का सूखा मेवा

Threads

Satire Hypocrisy

The Poet

त्रिलोचन

Trilochan

1917 · 2007

Trilochan Shastri, born Vasudev Singh in 1917, was an indispensable pillar of the progressive movement in modern Hindi poetry. While many of his contemporaries looked to the cities for inspiration, Trilochan kept his literary gaze firmly fixed on the rural heartland. He wrote with the sweat, dust, and quiet resilience of agrarian India, stripping his verse of artificial romanticism to reveal the stark truths of poverty and human endurance. He also accomplished a rare structural feat by successfully adapting the English sonnet form to the rhythms of the Hindi language. His celebrated collection Tap Ke Taaye Hue Din earned him the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1982. Passing away in 2007, Trilochan left behind a literary legacy that proves true poetic brilliance does not require elite vocabulary. He remains the definitive voice of the Indian soil, writing poems that feel as enduring and grounded as the earth itself.