The Flower’s Wish!
My translation of Makhanlal Chaturvedi’s great poem — Pushp ki Abhilasha
A tribute to our freedom fighters on Shaheed diwas — Martyr’s Day, 23rd March, and also to the great poet Shri Makhanlal Chaturvedi on his birthday on April 4th, 1889.
Makhanlal ji’s original poem in Hindi —
पुष्प की अभिलाषा
चाह नहीं मैं सुरबाला के
गहनों में गूँथा जाऊँ,
चाह नहीं, प्रेमी-माला में
बिंध प्यारी को ललचाऊँ,
चाह नहीं, सम्राटों के शव
पर हे हरि, डाला जाऊँ,
चाह नहीं, देवों के सिर पर
चढ़ूँ भाग्य पर इठलाऊँ।
मुझे तोड़ लेना वनमाली!
उस पथ पर देना तुम फेंक,
मातृभूमि पर शीश चढ़ाने
जिस पथ जावें वीर अनेक
My rough English translation of Shri Makhanlal Chaturvedi’s poem -
The Flower’s Wish
I don't desire to adorn a fair maiden’s ornaments,
I don’t desire to be an attractive gift to a beloved,
I don’t desire to be on the death bed of great kings,
I don’t desire to be on idols of Gods,
I’d rather be plucked to be thrown on the path,
On which march the braves to give their life for their motherland!
This poem was written before India’s independence from the British. The poet himself was associated with the struggles for freedom. He had taken an active part in the Non-Cooperation Movement and was jailed in 1921. His literature showed his intense desire for India’s freedom from British rule.
In this poem, the poet expresses his feelings for his nation through a flower. The personified flower says that to him it is not preferable to become a garland of a beloved or to adorn the hair of beautiful women or be offered to God or on the funeral of great kings. The only wish the flower has to lie on the path on which brave soldiers pass to sacrifice their lives for the nation.
