Laxmi Prasad Devkota, Nepal (1909-1959)
Summary:
A famous Nepali Literary figure Laxmi Prasad Devkota, composed this poem "The Lunatic". It is the translation of his Nepal poem "Pagal" in 1956. Devkota was born to Til Madhav Devkota and Amar Rajya Laxmi in 1909. Though he was not an active politician, was a freedom fighter and lover of democracy. It was because of this nature of Devkota, the totalitarian (characterised by a government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralised control) Rana rulers was always against him. He was blamed even to be mad. Similarly, he was forced to go to Banaras.
This poem is a response to those people who couldn't understand the sentiment of the poet. But, we must not miss the point that the poet has presented lunacy as a kind of creativity, a capacity to see reality at its deeper level. The poet has used a mask of an insane person to show a contrast between the world people and his thinking. In this autobiographical poem, Devkota brings out a different aspect of the speaker’s character, confidence, abnormality, imagination, sensitivity, rebellion, aggression, anger and awful majesty.
In the first stanza, he says he is insane. This poem is a very modern expression of the deepest personal feelings of the poet and a surgical exposure to the hollowness of the so-called intellectual aspirants (ambitious and aspiring young people) of the time.
The speaker tells about different contrasts in a second stanza with unusual habits. The persona shows abnormal behaviour. He does what a normal person can’t do. He can see a sound and hear a picture and taste a smell. He touches such things that world people down not even believe them. He sees a flower in the stone. He speaks a such strange language, which is not written and spoken and all his words are never understood by anyone. He is so imaginative that he can see a flower in the stone and the enchantress (a woman who is considered to be dangerously seductive) of heaven smiling unto him. He understands the language of the birds and talks to them.
The third stanza shows how sensitive and tender-hearted he is. He contrasts his situation with the addressee. The addressee is the one who uses his brain and senses to find out the harsh reality. But the speaker uses his sixth sense and finds out what the heart thinks to be correct. Dreams and imagination are meaningful to him. For him, one minus one is equal to one and he works with the heart while others work with the mind. He enjoys poetry while sane people do in prose. If they freeze he melts because he has a world of vapour. With all such contrasts, he says a vein is loose in his brain so he is insane.
The fourth stanza tells how the speaker’s hypersensitivity led people to have a wrong impression of him. The poet says he is called crazy when he is talked about the wintry sun's heat after he watched the mystery of heaven on a cold winter night. When he is sad at the death of people and the old age of a fair lady, people called him mad. Seeing a dead body he realises Buddha's Philosophy still he is called mad. In listening to the melodious song of a cuckoo bird and uncomfortable by the dead silence he is referred to a mental hospital and he is tasted as if he is mad by pinching on his skin. Even his friends would not regard him as a normal person. He still accepts that he is insane.
In the fifth stanza, the speaker focuses on stronger contrasts. He does not appreciate those things which the world praises highly. What the aristocrats drink (wine) is the blood of the poor people. Due to a lack of affection, prostitutes are no better than dead bodies. Because of high ambition, the king and the emperor are no better than the poor. The highly respected people are fools to him. Other's gold is his iron and the clever people are innocent to him. All the progress is his not progress because all are fools in his eyes. Such is his plight and such is his evaluation. What people value, believe and prove are meaningless to the speaker. The common men are far better than the highly learned ones. The better place for the world is the worse place for the speaker. So the world calls him mentally deranged (unbalanced).
In the sixth stanza, the speaker has become more aggressive. The speaker revolts against the society which is being led by blind leaders where truth is not counted. Foolish and cheater have covered all. Honest, true and good people are always sidelined. He thinks that penances (remorse for your past conduct) have run away from society and they hate humanity. He rather sympathises with the weak people.
In the last stanza, the speaker is very much violent & challenging and behaves like a rebel towards the flatterers who disturb people from getting true rights and freedom. He criticises the flatterers because they have deprived people of their rights and they have underlined false actions. The poor people accept their falsity as good action, and then the speaker gets so angry because he thinks these man-haters must be punished. Political leaders are like prostitutes because they can be sold for money. With black money, common people are controlled from getting human rights. False news is published in the media. When the speaker like honest people and reads their feeling come to challenge and fight against them. He is much angrier when innocent people are forced to take poison and accept the guilt of wrong deeds. When an innocent and honest person is cheated by so-called clever inhumanly his anger grows up. When he sees the tiger punching the innocent dear, a big fish to small, strong blow occurs from inside of him. There is no inhumanly. His brain burns like a forest fire he becomes too much cruel and becomes a child of the tempest explosion of a volcano. His mind is not proper, this is his condition. The persona in this poem attacks all the ugliness and wants to bring a complete change in society.
The poet has used the contrast between the world of the sane man and that of the lunatic. The lunatic perceives what the sane man can’t. For example, the mad man visualises sound, hears the visible, and tastes fragrance, but the normal man hears a sound, visualises the visible, smells the fragrance and tastes the delicious food. The lunatic can touch the thing which an ordinary person can’t likewise; he can see a flower in the stone and can talk with the bird. He feels that a heavenly beauty is smiling at him. Similarly, the madman uses his sixth sense whereas the normal person uses only five senses. The worldly people use brains, but he uses his heart. By using contrast the poet brings out the irony of the poem. The poet wants to say that worldly people are cold and cruel and they look at the world from their own convention. Although insane, the speaker is sympathetic and his heart melts when he sees pathetic sights.
The phrase “the iconoclast of ugliness” in the poem refers to the world led by blind people. The shameless leaders are breaking the backbones of human rights. They are persuading people to accept what is unacceptable. They don’t treat human beings as a man. They are cruel and inhuman. The speaker in the poem can’t tolerate this kind of ugliness. So he wants to break it. He wants to upset the conventional values which have helped dictators to exploit the common people. In this sense, the speaker is the iconoclast of ugliness.
A persona is an invented person in this poem. He or she may not be the author himself or herself. To express the inner feelings or emotions of that persona, the poet has taken the persona of a lunatic in this poem. This poem has an autobiographical element. Observing the unusual behaviour of the poet many people in society called him a madman. This poem is a response to the people’s comments.
The lunatic persona thinks that people cram their brains with worldly facts and figures and claims themselves to be knowledgeable people. They value materialistic things such as wine, prostitutes, and power, but they never appreciate the humanity shining brightly in every insignificant heart. They value transitory things and disregard really valuable things. That is why they are big fools. The stupidity makes the speaker arrogant.
क
जरुर, साथी ! म पागल !
यस्तै छ मेरो हाल ।
ख
म शब्दलाई देख्दछु,
दृश्यलाई सुन्दछु,
बास्नालाई स्वाद लिन्छु,
आकाशभन्दा पाताला कुरालाई छुन्छु ।
ती कुरा,
जसको अस्तित्व लोक मान्दैन ।
जसको आकार संसार जान्दैन ।
म देख्दछु ढुङ्गालाई फूल ।
जब, जलकिनारका जल चिप्ला ती,
कोमलाकार पाषाण,
चाँदनीमा,
स्वर्गकी जादूगर्नी मतिर हाँस्दा,
पत्रिएर, नर्मिएर, झल्किएर,
बल्किएर उठ्दछन् मूक पागलझैँ,
फूलझैँ, एक किसिमका चकोर फूल ।
म बोल्दछु तिनसँग, जस्तो बोल्दछन् ती मसँग
एक भाषा, साथी !
जो लेखिन्न, छापिन्न, बोलिन्न,
बुझाइन्न, सुनाइन्न ।
जुनेली गङ्गा-किनार छाल आउँछ तिनको भाषा
साथी ! छाल छाल ।
जरुर, साथी ! म पागल !
यस्तै छ मेरो हाल ।
ग
तिमी चतुर छौ वाचाल ।
तिम्रो शुद्ध गणित-सूत्र हरहमेशा चलिरहेको छ ।
मेरो गणितमा एकबाट एक झिके
एकै बाँकी रहन्छ ।
तिमी पाँच इन्द्रियले काम गर्छौ,
म छैटौँले ।
तिम्रो गिदी छ साथी !
मेरो मुटु ।
तिमी गुलाफलाई गुलाफ सिवाय देख्न सक्तैनौ,
म उसमा हेलेन र पद्मिनी पाउँछु ।
तिमी बलिया गद्य छौ,
म तरल पद्य छु ।
तिमी जम्दछौ जब म पग्लन्छु ।
तिमी सँग्लन्छौ जब म धमिलो बन्छु,
र ठीक त्यसैको उल्टो
तिम्रो संसार ठोस छ,
मेरो बाफ ।
तिम्रो बाक्लो, मेरो पातलो ।
तिमी ढुङ्गालाई वस्तु ठान्दछौ,
ठोस कठोरता तिम्रो यथार्थ छ ।
म सपनालाई समात्न खोज्दछु,
जस्तो तिमी, त्यो चिसो, मीठो अक्षर काटेको
पाण्ढीकीको बाटुलो सत्यलाई ।
मेरो छ वेग काँडाको साथी !
तिम्रो सुनको र हीराको ।
तिमी पहाडलाई लाटा भन्दछौ,
म भन्छु वाचाल ।
जरुर साथी !
मेरो एक नशा ढिलो छ,
यस्तै छ मेरो हाल ।
घ
म माघको ठण्डीमा
ताराको सेतो प्राथमिक राप तापेर
बसिरहेको थिएँ,
दुनियाँले मलाई तरङ्गी भने ।
भस्मेश्वरबाट फर्कंदा सात दिन
टोह्लाएको देखेर,
भूत लागेको भने ।
एक सुन्दरीका केशमा समयका तुसाराको
पहिला छिर्का परेको देखेर,
म तीन दिन रुँदा,
मेरो आत्मालाई बुद्धले छुँदा,
मलाई छटाएको भने ।
मैले वसन्तको पहिलो कोकिल सुनेर
नाचेको देख्दा,
बहुलाहा भने ।
एक सुनसान औंशीले मलाई निशास भएर
म प्रलय वेदनाले उफ्रेँ,
मूर्खहरुले मलाई त्यस बेला ठिँगुरा हालेर राखे ।
म तुफानसँग एक दिन गीत गाउन थालेको थिएँ,
मलाई बुज्रुकहरुले,
राँची पठाइदिए ।
म आफूलाई एक दिन मरेको सम्झेर
लम्पसार थिएँ,
एक साथीले बेसरी चिमटिदिए
र भने, “ए पागल तेरो सास अझ मरेको छैन ?”
यस्ता कुरा भए साल, साल ।
पागल छु साथी !
यस्तै छ मेरो हाल ।
ङ
मैले नवाबको मदिरालाई खून भनेको छु,
छिमेकी रण्डीलाई लास भनेको छु,
राजालाई गरीब ।
सिकन्दरलाई मैले गाली दिएको छु ।
महात्मा भनाउँदाको निन्दा गरेको छु ।
नगण्य व्यक्तिलाई तर,
सातौं आसमानसम्म,
तारीफको पुलमा चढाएको छु,
तिम्रा महापण्डित, मेरो महामूर्ख ।
तिम्रो स्वर्ग, मेरो नरक ।
तिम्रो सुन, मेरो फलाम ।
साथी ! तिम्रो धर्म मेरो पाप ।
जहाँ तिमी आफूलाई चलाक सम्झन्छौ,
उहाँ म देख्छु तिमीलाई बिलकुल लाटा ।
तिम्रो उन्नति, मेरो अवनति, साथी !
यस्तै छ मोलमोलाइको उलटपुलट,
साथी !
तिम्रो विश्व, मेरो बाल ।
जरुर साथी ! म बिलकुल चन्द्राहत छु,
चन्द्राहत ।
यस्तै छ मेरो हाल ।
च
म अन्धालाई दुनियाँको अगुवा देख्दछु,
गुफा तपस्वीलाई भगुवा देख्दछु,
मिथ्याका मञ्च चढेकालाई
काला नटुवा देख्दछु ।
विफललाई सफल देख्दछु ।
प्रगतिलाई अगति देख्दछु ।
या हुँला मै ऐंचाताना !
या हुँला मै दीवाना !
साथी ! मै दीवाना !
छ
निर्लज्ज नेतृत्वको नीरस रसनाको
रण्डीको नाच हेर ।
जनअधिकारको डँडाल्नोको भाँच हेर ।
जब भँगेराटाउके छापाको कालो मिथ्याले
मेरो विवेक वीरलाई
जाली झूठले ललकार्छ ।
तब हुन्छन् मेरा गाला राता, साथी !
सल्केका गोलझैं राता ।
जब निमुखा दुनियाँ कालो जहर पिउँदछ ।
दुई कानले,
मेरा आँखा सामुन्ने अमृत भनेर साथी !
तब हुन्छन् ठाडा मेरा रौं रौं,
गर्जनका सर्पकेश झैं, मेरा जिस्क्याइएका रौं रौं ।
जब बाघले मृग खान आँटेको देख्छु, साथी !
या ठूलो माछाले सानो,
तब मेरा मकाएका हड्डीमा पनि दधीचिको आत्माको
भयङ्कर बल पसेर, बोल्न खोज्दछ, साथी !
स्वर्गबाट चट्याङ परेको दिन झैं ।
जब मानवले मानवलाई मानव ठान्दैन, साथी !
तब कडकडाउँछन् मेरा बत्तीस दन्ते बङ्गारा,
दुवै ।
जस्तो भीमसेनका दाँत !
अनि,
प्रकोपले लाल–लाल आँखाका डल्ला,
फनक्क घुमाएर एक डबलले, म
यो अमानवको मानवजगतलाई,
एक आगोको लप्काले झैं हेर्दछु, साथी !
उफ्रिन्छन् मेरा कलपुर्जा,
खलबल ! खलबल !
तुफान हुन्छ मेरो सास,
विकृत हुन्छ मेरो चेहरा,
बल्दछ मेरो दिमाग, साथी !
बडवानलझैं, बडवानलझैं ।
म वन खाने आगो झैं बहुला हुन्छु ।
बहुला, साथी !
काँचै निलूँ झैं विश्वविशाल ।
जरुर, साथी !
म सुन्दर चकोर, असुन्दर-फोर,
कोमल–क्रूर !
चिडिया, स्वर्गाग्नि चोर
तूफान पुत्र !
पागल ज्वालामुखीको उद्गार,
भयङ्कर व्यक्तित्वपाल !
जरुर, साथी !
सन्के मगज छु, सन्के ।
यस्तै छ मेरो हाल ।
Bibliography
Devkota, L. P. (2013). The Lunatic. In M. Nissani, & S. Lohani, Flax-Golden Tales: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Learning English (pp. 160-166). Kathmandu, Nepal: Ekta Books.
Laxmi Prasad Devkota, Nepal (1909-1959)
Summary:
A famous Nepali Literary figure Laxmi Prasad Devkota, composed this poem "The Lunatic". It is the translation of his Nepal poem "Pagal" in 1956. Devkota was born to Til Madhav Devkota and Amar Rajya Laxmi in 1909. Though he was not an active politician, was a freedom fighter and lover of democracy. It was because of this nature of Devkota, the totalitarian (characterised by a government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralised control) Rana rulers was always against him. He was blamed even to be mad. Similarly, he was forced to go to Banaras.
This poem is a response to those people who couldn't understand the sentiment of the poet. But, we must not miss the point that the poet has presented lunacy as a kind of creativity, a capacity to see reality at its deeper level. The poet has used a mask of an insane person to show a contrast between the world people and his thinking. In this autobiographical poem, Devkota brings out a different aspect of the speaker’s character, confidence, abnormality, imagination, sensitivity, rebellion, aggression, anger and awful majesty.
In the first stanza, he says he is insane. This poem is a very modern expression of the deepest personal feelings of the poet and a surgical exposure to the hollowness of the so-called intellectual aspirants (ambitious and aspiring young people) of the time.
The speaker tells about different contrasts in a second stanza with unusual habits. The persona shows abnormal behaviour. He does what a normal person can’t do. He can see a sound and hear a picture and taste a smell. He touches such things that world people down not even believe them. He sees a flower in the stone. He speaks a such strange language, which is not written and spoken and all his words are never understood by anyone. He is so imaginative that he can see a flower in the stone and the enchantress (a woman who is considered to be dangerously seductive) of heaven smiling unto him. He understands the language of the birds and talks to them.
The third stanza shows how sensitive and tender-hearted he is. He contrasts his situation with the addressee. The addressee is the one who uses his brain and senses to find out the harsh reality. But the speaker uses his sixth sense and finds out what the heart thinks to be correct. Dreams and imagination are meaningful to him. For him, one minus one is equal to one and he works with the heart while others work with the mind. He enjoys poetry while sane people do in prose. If they freeze he melts because he has a world of vapour. With all such contrasts, he says a vein is loose in his brain so he is insane.
The fourth stanza tells how the speaker’s hypersensitivity led people to have a wrong impression of him. The poet says he is called crazy when he is talked about the wintry sun's heat after he watched the mystery of heaven on a cold winter night. When he is sad at the death of people and the old age of a fair lady, people called him mad. Seeing a dead body he realises Buddha's Philosophy still he is called mad. In listening to the melodious song of a cuckoo bird and uncomfortable by the dead silence he is referred to a mental hospital and he is tasted as if he is mad by pinching on his skin. Even his friends would not regard him as a normal person. He still accepts that he is insane.
In the fifth stanza, the speaker focuses on stronger contrasts. He does not appreciate those things which the world praises highly. What the aristocrats drink (wine) is the blood of the poor people. Due to a lack of affection, prostitutes are no better than dead bodies. Because of high ambition, the king and the emperor are no better than the poor. The highly respected people are fools to him. Other's gold is his iron and the clever people are innocent to him. All the progress is his not progress because all are fools in his eyes. Such is his plight and such is his evaluation. What people value, believe and prove are meaningless to the speaker. The common men are far better than the highly learned ones. The better place for the world is the worse place for the speaker. So the world calls him mentally deranged (unbalanced).
In the sixth stanza, the speaker has become more aggressive. The speaker revolts against the society which is being led by blind leaders where truth is not counted. Foolish and cheater have covered all. Honest, true and good people are always sidelined. He thinks that penances (remorse for your past conduct) have run away from society and they hate humanity. He rather sympathises with the weak people.
In the last stanza, the speaker is very much violent & challenging and behaves like a rebel towards the flatterers who disturb people from getting true rights and freedom. He criticises the flatterers because they have deprived people of their rights and they have underlined false actions. The poor people accept their falsity as good action, and then the speaker gets so angry because he thinks these man-haters must be punished. Political leaders are like prostitutes because they can be sold for money. With black money, common people are controlled from getting human rights. False news is published in the media. When the speaker like honest people and reads their feeling come to challenge and fight against them. He is much angrier when innocent people are forced to take poison and accept the guilt of wrong deeds. When an innocent and honest person is cheated by so-called clever inhumanly his anger grows up. When he sees the tiger punching the innocent dear, a big fish to small, strong blow occurs from inside of him. There is no inhumanly. His brain burns like a forest fire he becomes too much cruel and becomes a child of the tempest explosion of a volcano. His mind is not proper, this is his condition. The persona in this poem attacks all the ugliness and wants to bring a complete change in society.
The poet has used the contrast between the world of the sane man and that of the lunatic. The lunatic perceives what the sane man can’t. For example, the mad man visualises sound, hears the visible, and tastes fragrance, but the normal man hears a sound, visualises the visible, smells the fragrance and tastes the delicious food. The lunatic can touch the thing which an ordinary person can’t likewise; he can see a flower in the stone and can talk with the bird. He feels that a heavenly beauty is smiling at him. Similarly, the madman uses his sixth sense whereas the normal person uses only five senses. The worldly people use brains, but he uses his heart. By using contrast the poet brings out the irony of the poem. The poet wants to say that worldly people are cold and cruel and they look at the world from their own convention. Although insane, the speaker is sympathetic and his heart melts when he sees pathetic sights.
The phrase “the iconoclast of ugliness” in the poem refers to the world led by blind people. The shameless leaders are breaking the backbones of human rights. They are persuading people to accept what is unacceptable. They don’t treat human beings as a man. They are cruel and inhuman. The speaker in the poem can’t tolerate this kind of ugliness. So he wants to break it. He wants to upset the conventional values which have helped dictators to exploit the common people. In this sense, the speaker is the iconoclast of ugliness.
A persona is an invented person in this poem. He or she may not be the author himself or herself. To express the inner feelings or emotions of that persona, the poet has taken the persona of a lunatic in this poem. This poem has an autobiographical element. Observing the unusual behaviour of the poet many people in society called him a madman. This poem is a response to the people’s comments.
The lunatic persona thinks that people cram their brains with worldly facts and figures and claims themselves to be knowledgeable people. They value materialistic things such as wine, prostitutes, and power, but they never appreciate the humanity shining brightly in every insignificant heart. They value transitory things and disregard really valuable things. That is why they are big fools. The stupidity makes the speaker arrogant.
क
जरुर, साथी ! म पागल !
यस्तै छ मेरो हाल ।
ख
म शब्दलाई देख्दछु,
दृश्यलाई सुन्दछु,
बास्नालाई स्वाद लिन्छु,
आकाशभन्दा पाताला कुरालाई छुन्छु ।
ती कुरा,
जसको अस्तित्व लोक मान्दैन ।
जसको आकार संसार जान्दैन ।
म देख्दछु ढुङ्गालाई फूल ।
जब, जलकिनारका जल चिप्ला ती,
कोमलाकार पाषाण,
चाँदनीमा,
स्वर्गकी जादूगर्नी मतिर हाँस्दा,
पत्रिएर, नर्मिएर, झल्किएर,
बल्किएर उठ्दछन् मूक पागलझैँ,
फूलझैँ, एक किसिमका चकोर फूल ।
म बोल्दछु तिनसँग, जस्तो बोल्दछन् ती मसँग
एक भाषा, साथी !
जो लेखिन्न, छापिन्न, बोलिन्न,
बुझाइन्न, सुनाइन्न ।
जुनेली गङ्गा-किनार छाल आउँछ तिनको भाषा
साथी ! छाल छाल ।
जरुर, साथी ! म पागल !
यस्तै छ मेरो हाल ।
ग
तिमी चतुर छौ वाचाल ।
तिम्रो शुद्ध गणित-सूत्र हरहमेशा चलिरहेको छ ।
मेरो गणितमा एकबाट एक झिके
एकै बाँकी रहन्छ ।
तिमी पाँच इन्द्रियले काम गर्छौ,
म छैटौँले ।
तिम्रो गिदी छ साथी !
मेरो मुटु ।
तिमी गुलाफलाई गुलाफ सिवाय देख्न सक्तैनौ,
म उसमा हेलेन र पद्मिनी पाउँछु ।
तिमी बलिया गद्य छौ,
म तरल पद्य छु ।
तिमी जम्दछौ जब म पग्लन्छु ।
तिमी सँग्लन्छौ जब म धमिलो बन्छु,
र ठीक त्यसैको उल्टो
तिम्रो संसार ठोस छ,
मेरो बाफ ।
तिम्रो बाक्लो, मेरो पातलो ।
तिमी ढुङ्गालाई वस्तु ठान्दछौ,
ठोस कठोरता तिम्रो यथार्थ छ ।
म सपनालाई समात्न खोज्दछु,
जस्तो तिमी, त्यो चिसो, मीठो अक्षर काटेको
पाण्ढीकीको बाटुलो सत्यलाई ।
मेरो छ वेग काँडाको साथी !
तिम्रो सुनको र हीराको ।
तिमी पहाडलाई लाटा भन्दछौ,
म भन्छु वाचाल ।
जरुर साथी !
मेरो एक नशा ढिलो छ,
यस्तै छ मेरो हाल ।
घ
म माघको ठण्डीमा
ताराको सेतो प्राथमिक राप तापेर
बसिरहेको थिएँ,
दुनियाँले मलाई तरङ्गी भने ।
भस्मेश्वरबाट फर्कंदा सात दिन
टोह्लाएको देखेर,
भूत लागेको भने ।
एक सुन्दरीका केशमा समयका तुसाराको
पहिला छिर्का परेको देखेर,
म तीन दिन रुँदा,
मेरो आत्मालाई बुद्धले छुँदा,
मलाई छटाएको भने ।
मैले वसन्तको पहिलो कोकिल सुनेर
नाचेको देख्दा,
बहुलाहा भने ।
एक सुनसान औंशीले मलाई निशास भएर
म प्रलय वेदनाले उफ्रेँ,
मूर्खहरुले मलाई त्यस बेला ठिँगुरा हालेर राखे ।
म तुफानसँग एक दिन गीत गाउन थालेको थिएँ,
मलाई बुज्रुकहरुले,
राँची पठाइदिए ।
म आफूलाई एक दिन मरेको सम्झेर
लम्पसार थिएँ,
एक साथीले बेसरी चिमटिदिए
र भने, “ए पागल तेरो सास अझ मरेको छैन ?”
यस्ता कुरा भए साल, साल ।
पागल छु साथी !
यस्तै छ मेरो हाल ।
ङ
मैले नवाबको मदिरालाई खून भनेको छु,
छिमेकी रण्डीलाई लास भनेको छु,
राजालाई गरीब ।
सिकन्दरलाई मैले गाली दिएको छु ।
महात्मा भनाउँदाको निन्दा गरेको छु ।
नगण्य व्यक्तिलाई तर,
सातौं आसमानसम्म,
तारीफको पुलमा चढाएको छु,
तिम्रा महापण्डित, मेरो महामूर्ख ।
तिम्रो स्वर्ग, मेरो नरक ।
तिम्रो सुन, मेरो फलाम ।
साथी ! तिम्रो धर्म मेरो पाप ।
जहाँ तिमी आफूलाई चलाक सम्झन्छौ,
उहाँ म देख्छु तिमीलाई बिलकुल लाटा ।
तिम्रो उन्नति, मेरो अवनति, साथी !
यस्तै छ मोलमोलाइको उलटपुलट,
साथी !
तिम्रो विश्व, मेरो बाल ।
जरुर साथी ! म बिलकुल चन्द्राहत छु,
चन्द्राहत ।
यस्तै छ मेरो हाल ।
च
म अन्धालाई दुनियाँको अगुवा देख्दछु,
गुफा तपस्वीलाई भगुवा देख्दछु,
मिथ्याका मञ्च चढेकालाई
काला नटुवा देख्दछु ।
विफललाई सफल देख्दछु ।
प्रगतिलाई अगति देख्दछु ।
या हुँला मै ऐंचाताना !
या हुँला मै दीवाना !
साथी ! मै दीवाना !
छ
निर्लज्ज नेतृत्वको नीरस रसनाको
रण्डीको नाच हेर ।
जनअधिकारको डँडाल्नोको भाँच हेर ।
जब भँगेराटाउके छापाको कालो मिथ्याले
मेरो विवेक वीरलाई
जाली झूठले ललकार्छ ।
तब हुन्छन् मेरा गाला राता, साथी !
सल्केका गोलझैं राता ।
जब निमुखा दुनियाँ कालो जहर पिउँदछ ।
दुई कानले,
मेरा आँखा सामुन्ने अमृत भनेर साथी !
तब हुन्छन् ठाडा मेरा रौं रौं,
गर्जनका सर्पकेश झैं, मेरा जिस्क्याइएका रौं रौं ।
जब बाघले मृग खान आँटेको देख्छु, साथी !
या ठूलो माछाले सानो,
तब मेरा मकाएका हड्डीमा पनि दधीचिको आत्माको
भयङ्कर बल पसेर, बोल्न खोज्दछ, साथी !
स्वर्गबाट चट्याङ परेको दिन झैं ।
जब मानवले मानवलाई मानव ठान्दैन, साथी !
तब कडकडाउँछन् मेरा बत्तीस दन्ते बङ्गारा,
दुवै ।
जस्तो भीमसेनका दाँत !
अनि,
प्रकोपले लाल–लाल आँखाका डल्ला,
फनक्क घुमाएर एक डबलले, म
यो अमानवको मानवजगतलाई,
एक आगोको लप्काले झैं हेर्दछु, साथी !
उफ्रिन्छन् मेरा कलपुर्जा,
खलबल ! खलबल !
तुफान हुन्छ मेरो सास,
विकृत हुन्छ मेरो चेहरा,
बल्दछ मेरो दिमाग, साथी !
बडवानलझैं, बडवानलझैं ।
म वन खाने आगो झैं बहुला हुन्छु ।
बहुला, साथी !
काँचै निलूँ झैं विश्वविशाल ।
जरुर, साथी !
म सुन्दर चकोर, असुन्दर-फोर,
कोमल–क्रूर !
चिडिया, स्वर्गाग्नि चोर
तूफान पुत्र !
पागल ज्वालामुखीको उद्गार,
भयङ्कर व्यक्तित्वपाल !
जरुर, साथी !
सन्के मगज छु, सन्के ।
यस्तै छ मेरो हाल ।
Bibliography
Devkota, L. P. (2013). The Lunatic. In M. Nissani, & S. Lohani, Flax-Golden Tales: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Learning English (pp. 160-166). Kathmandu, Nepal: Ekta Books.
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