KarunaAdvanced

ताज

Taj

4 verses · ~1 min

हाय! मृत्यु का ऐसा अमर, अपार्थिव पूजन? जब विषण्ण, निर्जीव पड़ा हो जग का जीवन! संग-सौध में हो शृंगार मरण का शोभन, नग्न, क्षुधातुर, वास-विहीन रहें जीवित जन?

मानव! ऐसी भी विरक्ति क्या जीवन के प्रति? आत्मा का अपमान, प्रेत औ’ छाया से रति!! प्रेम-अर्चना यही, करें हम मरण को वरण? स्थापित कर कंकाल, भरें जीवन का प्रांगण? शव को दें हम रूप, रंग, आदर मानन का मानव को हम कुत्सित चित्र बना दें शव का?

गत-युग के बहु धर्म-रूढ़ि के ताज मनोहर मानव के मोहांध हृदय में किए हुए घर! भूल गये हम जीवन का संदेश अनश्वर, मृतकों के हैं मृतक, जीवतों का है ईश्वर!

रचनाकाल: अक्टूबर’१९३५

इति

Rasa: Karuna
Stanzas: 4
Lines: 15
Reading time: ~1 min
Form: Free verse
Metre: मुक्त छंद
Rhyme: AABB

The poem evokes a profoundly tragic and melancholic emotional atmosphere, infused with a sharp critique of misdirected devotion (karuna and disillusionment). A painting of this scene would depict a haunting juxtaposition: in the foreground, a starving, naked, and shelterless populace shivers in destitution, while in the background looms the breathtaking, luminous marble mausoleum of the Taj Mahal, adorned as a grand monument to death. The imagery contrasts the grotesque reality of living human suffering with the sterile, glorified worship of mortality, symbolizing an inverted morality where dead stone is venerated and living souls are neglected. The overall artistic and emotional tone is one of stark, mournful indignation—a solemn, humanist lament that condemns the romanticization of death at the absolute expense of the living.

ताज (Taj), by Sumitranandan Pant runs to 15 lines across 4 stanzas, set as तीन पद, प्रत्येक में चार पंक्तियाँ।. Its governing rasa is Karuna, shaded by Shanta. The metre is मुक्त छंद. Rhyme falls as AABB.

It belongs to the 1900 · 1977 span of Sumitranandan Pant's working life, and keeps the plain, spoken register that period is known for.

Read it for मृत्यु का भव्य पूजन and जीवित और मृत का अंतर. 5 words in it carry older or regional senses, so the poem rewards a second pass.

The verse is hung beside Harishchandra and Taramati: Bathed in a suffocating atmosphere of profound grief and tragic isolation, King Harishchandra stands watchfully with a staff beside a flickering funeral pyre where Queen Taramati weeps bitterly over the lifeless body of…

Words worth pausing on

अपार्थिव: अलौकिक
विषण्ण: दुखी
विरक्ति: उदासीनता
कुत्सित: घिनौना
मोहांध: मोह में अंधा

Threads

Death Life Humanity

The Poet

सुमित्रानंदन पंत

Sumitranandan Pant

1900 · 1977

Sumitranandan Pant was the absolute master of lyrical aestheticism in modern Hindi literature. Born in 1900 in the lush Kumaon hills of Uttarakhand, he drew his earliest and most profound inspiration from the pristine beauty of the Himalayas. He became one of the four foundational pillars of Chhayavaad, the Hindi neo romantic movement. However, his literary journey did not stagnate in romantic nature worship. Over a career spanning more than five decades, his poetry evolved through distinct phases, absorbing progressive ideologies and eventually culminating in the deep philosophical spiritualism of Sri Aurobindo. Works like Pallav showcased his unmatched ability to weave delicate, musical imagery, while his later masterpiece Chidambara earned him the Jnanpith Award in 1968, the very first time this prestigious honor was given to a Hindi writer. Pant was also recognized with the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Padma Bhushan. He passed away in 1977, leaving behind a poetic vocabulary that taught the Hindi language how to capture the exact softness of falling dew and the quiet grandeur of the mountains.