SHRI -YANTRA , SRINAGAR, VITASTA AND MAHADEVI VERMA

                                             

VITASTA RIVER..

( Photo Avtar Mota )

The great river has been the only surviving  witness to the trials and tribulations faced by the ancient city known as Shri- nagara . Well known artist,  GR Santosh believed that the city was planned to appear like a Shri -Yantra. He would say  that if one joins the ancient pilgrimage centres of Kashmir , the geometric pattern so created is a Shri Yantra. Again the layout of Srinagar city was based on Shri Yantra. He also identified the natural Shri Yantra  visible on the sacred Shila at Hari Parbat ,the temple dedicated to Goddess Sharika . According to him, one can  count the  deities residing in the nine levels of  Shri -Nagara .

For the gloominess  ,sorrow and loneliness of this great  river , I add lines from  'Soonapan '  a poem written by my favourite  Mahadevi Verma ....

(Uss ki khoyi si chaahon mein

Ghut kar mook huyi aahon mein

Uss ki sirhaayi kampan mein

Kirnon ke pyaase chumban mein

Jaane kis beete jeevan ka 

sandesha de mandh sameeran

Chhoo deta apne pankhon se

murjhaaye phoolon ka lochan

Unke pheeke muskaane mein 

Phir alsaakar gir jaane mein 

Aankhon ki neerav biksha mein

Aansoo ke mit-tey daagon mein

Honthon ki hansti peeda mein

Aahon ke bikhre tyagon mein

Kan kan mein bikhra hai nirmam !

Meray maanas ka soonapan.....)

 Mahadevi ji ( 1907-1987 ) was born in Farrukhabad ( U P ) in a family of lawyers. Her father , Shri Govind Prasad was a leading lawyer . At a tender age of 9 ,she was married to Dr Swrup Narain Verma of Indore . She did her BA and MA ( Sanskrit ) and joined as headmistress of girl’s school in Allahabad . She rose to become Vice Chancellor, Prayag Mahilla Vidya-Peeth,  Allahabad . She fought for the education of the girl child and justice to poor and helpless women till her death. As mutually agreed ,Mahadevi Ji and her husband lived separately pursuing their respective interests and used to meet occasionally . Along with her maid , she also lived and moved in Himalayas in her spiritual quest. She was deeply influenced  by Buddhism and had profound knowledge of Sikh and Jain scriptures and practices. A stern teacher , a profound thinker totally devoted to the cause of emancipation of poor women and girls all along her life, Mahadevi Ji was a freedom fighter as well. She was awarded Padam Bhushan, Sahitya Akademi Award as well as the prestigious Jnanpith Award  in her lifetime.  She was the first woman to be made a fellow of the Sahitya Akademi.

Mahadevi Ji was a distinguished painter and the illustrations in her book Deepshikha ,  have been drawn by her only. The principal theme of the poetry of Mahadevi Ji is pain of separation from the supreme being . In this regard she is comparable to saint poetess Meera Bai of the  16th century . She is also regarded as one amongst the four strong pillars of Chhayavad movement of Hindi poetry , others being Suryakant Tripathi Nirala , Jai Shanker Prasad and Sumitra Nandan Pant .Her literature is a treasure house of deepest truths unfolded by Indian philosophy. Mysticism is also her forte also her forte.

I end with some beautiful lines from a poem of Mahadevi Verma..

"Kitanee karuna kitnay sandesh

Path mein bichh jaatay ban paraag

Gaata Praanon ka taar taar

Anuraag bharaa unmaad raag

Aansoo leitay ve pag pakhaar

.........Jo tum aa jaate ek baar

Hans uthatay  munn ke aadr nain

Dhuul jaata honthon ka vishaad

Chha jaata jeevan mein vasant

Lutt jaata chir sanchit viraag

Aankhein detee sarvasv vaar .

......Jo tum aa jaate ek baar

( Mahadevi Verma )

(Plentiful of compassion and abundance of  communications

Would spread  in the pathway as  pollen.

These heartbeats of mine would

resonate with music  ,

A music of   carefree  passion

 and love filled tunes .

The tears  would clear the corridor for you ,

If only you could  visit me  once …..

Ful of tears, these eyes would blush with  delight, 

And the lips would wash away  their woefulness,

The spring  season would visit  my  life with all its spree

to put this long stored up pain to end .

And these  eyes would shower all love that they hold within, 

If only you could  visit me  once ….)

( Avtar Mota)

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.