ik nukte vich gal mukdi e

For the first time, I am trying to translate a poem of Baba Bulleh Shah. Excuse my misinterpretations, if any and please post the correct meanings, if you know ๐Ÿ™‚

ik nukte vich gal mukdi e
(nukta – point, idea)

means it all is contained in a single idea/point

fad nukta chod hisaaban nu,

get hold of that idea and forget all your calculations

kar door kufar dian baaban nu
(kufar – disbelief, unbelief in existence of God | baab – miserable state)

leave the miserable state of unbelief in the existence of God

laah dojakh gor azaaban nu,
(dojakh – hell | gor – grave |ย azaab – suffering, pain)

dont punish yourself with the pain of death and hell

kar door dile dian khwaban nu

get rid of these imaginary fears

gal ese ghar wich dhukdi e

only in such a heart, the truth is gonna enter

ik nukte vich gal mukdi e |

awein matha zamee’n ghasaida,
(matha – forehead)

what is the use of bowing your head (literally – what is the use of rubbing of your head on ground (while praying)) ?

lamma pa mehraab dikhai da
(mehraab – aclove of mosque where the imam stands)

prostrate will be the exact word for this. what is the use of prostrating ?

par kalma lok hasai da,
(kalma – reciting verses from Quran)

by reciting kalmas you are making everyone laugh

dil andar samjh na liyai da

you aren’t actually understanding the meaning…you aren’t absorbing the lession

kadi baat sachi vi lukdi e,

can the truth be ever hidden ?

ik nukte vich gal mukdi e |

kai haaji ban ban aaye ji,
(haaji – one who does the pilgrimage of Mecca)

many have returned from the pilgrimage of Mecca

gal neele jaame paye ji
(jaama – dress, attire)

wearing beautiful blue dresses

haj vech take lai khaye ji,
(taka – a currency)

they profit from the merit earned by doing the Hajj

bhala eh gal keehnu bhaye ji

who can admire such a behaviour ?

kadi baat sachi vi lukdi e,
ik nukte vich gal mukdi e |

ik jungle behri’n jande ni,
(behri’n – i think it means sea)

some retire to the forests

ik daana roz lai khande ni

restrict their meals to a grain

besamjh wajood thakande ni,
(besamjh – foolish | wajood – body,existence | thakande – tiring)

means in all their foolishness of these acts, they are merely exhausting their body

ghar aawan ho ke maande ni
(maande – mande, in bad shape)

and they return to their homes in a bad shape

awein chillian vich jind mukdi e,
(chilla – praying for 40 days)

they life is sucked by useless fasts and prayers

ik nukte vich gal mukdi e |

far murshad aabad khudai ho,
(murshad – teacher | aabad – devotee, one who prays)

hold fast to your teacher (the one who guides you) say your prayers to the God (who has created everything)

vich masti beparwahi ho
(masti – emotions of enjoyment of connection with the master | beparwah – carefree)

enjoy the state of being lost in the magic of “his” name

bekhahash benawai ho,
(bekhahah – not having “materialistic” desires | benawai – indifferent)

ย without any materialistic desire, indifferent to the world

vich dil de khoob safai ho

keep your heart fully clean

Bullah baat sachi kado rukdi e,

Bullah ! can the truth be stopped ?

ik nukte vich gal mukdi e

References:

http://apnaorg.com/poetry/bulleh-g (Page 9 & 10)

http://www.apnaorg.com/poetry/bulleheng

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=205682439444990

& a number of dictionaries ๐Ÿ™‚

เจ‡เจ• เจจเฉเจ•เจคเฉ‡ เจตเจฟเจš เจ—เฉฑเจฒ เจฎเฉเจ•เจฆเฉ€ เจ

เจซเฉœ เจจเฉเจ•เจคเจพ เจ›เฉ‹เฉœ เจนเจฟเจธเจพเจฌเจพเจ‚ เจจเฉ‚เฉฐ
เจ•เจฐ เจฆเฉ‚เจฐ เจ•เฉเจซเจผเจฐ เจฆเจฟเจ†เจ‚ เจฌเจพเจฌเจพเจ‚ย เจจเฉ‚เฉฐ
เจฒเจพเจน เจฆเฉ‹เจœเจ– เจ—เฉ‹เจฐ เจ…เจœเจผเจพเจฌเจพเจ‚ย เจจเฉ‚เฉฐ
เจ•เจฐ เจธเจพเจซเจผ เจฆเจฟเจฒเฉ‡ เจฆเจฟเจ†เจ‚ เจ–เจพเจฌเจพเจ‚ย เจจเฉ‚เฉฐ
เจ—เฉฑเจฒ เจ‡เจธเฉ‡ เจ˜เจฐ เจตเจฟเจš เจขเฉเจ•เจฆเฉ€ เจ
เจ‡เจ• เจจเฉเจ•เจคเฉ‡ เจตเจฟเจš เจ—เฉฑเจฒ เจฎเฉเจ•เจฆเฉ€ เจ
เจเจตเฉ‡เจ‚ เจฎเฉฑเจฅเจพ เจœเจผเจฎเฉ€(เจจ) เจ˜เจธเจพเจˆ เจฆเจพ
เจฒเฉฐเจฎเจพ เจชเจพ เจฎเจนเจฟเจฐเจพเจฌ เจฆเจฟเจ–เจพเจˆ เจฆเจพ
เจชเฉœ เจ•เจฒเจฎเจพ เจฒเฉ‹เจ• เจนเจธเจพเจˆ เจฆเจพ
เจฆเจฟเจฒ เจ…เฉฐเจฆเจฐ เจธเจฎเจ เจจเจพ เจฒเจฟเจ†เจˆ เจฆเจพ
เจ•เจฆเฉ€ เจฌเจพเจค เจธเฉฑเจšเฉ€ เจตเฉ€ เจฒเฉเจ•เจฆเฉ€ เจ
เจ‡เจ• เจจเฉเจ•เจคเฉ‡ เจตเจฟเจš เจ—เฉฑเจฒ เจฎเฉเจ•เจฆเฉ€ เจ
เจ•เจˆ เจนเจพเจœเฉ€ เจฌเจฃ เจฌเจฃ เจ†เจ เจœเฉ€
เจ—เจฒ เจจเฉ€เจฒเฉ‡ เจœเจพเจฎเฉ‡ เจชเจพเจ เจœเฉ€
เจนเฉฑเจœ เจตเฉ‡เจš เจŸเฉฑเจ•เฉ‡ เจฒเฉˆ เจ–เจพเจ เจœเฉ€
เจญเจฒเจพ เจ‡เจน เจ—เจฒ เจ•เฉ€เจนเจจเฉ‚เฉฐ เจญเจพเจ เจœเฉ€
เจ•เจฆเฉ€ เจฌเจพเจค เจธเฉฑเจšเฉ€ เจตเฉ€ เจฒเฉเจ•เจฆเฉ€ เจ
เจ‡เจ• เจจเฉเจ•เจคเฉ‡ เจตเจฟเจš เจ—เฉฑเจฒ เจฎเฉเจ•เจฆเฉ€ เจ
เจ‡เจ• เจœเฉฐเจ—เจฒ เจฌเจนเจฟเจฐเฉ€เจ‚ เจœเจพเจ‚เจฆเฉ‡ เจจเฉ€
เจ‡เจ• เจฆเจพเจฃเจพ เจฐเฉ‹เจœเจผ เจฒเฉˆ เจ–เจพเจ‚เจฆเฉ‡ เจจเฉ€
เจฌเฉ‡เจธเจฎเจ เจตเจœเฉ‚เจฆ เจฅเฉเจ•เจพเจ‚เจฆเฉ‡ เจจเฉ€
เจ˜เจฐ เจนเฉ‹เจตเจฃ เจนเฉ‹ เจ•เฉ‡ เจฎเจพเจ‚เจฆเฉ‡ เจจเฉ€
เจเจตเฉ‡เจ‚ เจšเจฟเจฒเจฟเจ†เจ‚ เจตเจฟเจš เจœเจฟเฉฐเจฆ เจฎเฉเฉฑเจ•เจฆเฉ€ เจ
เจซเฉœ เจฎเฉเจฐเจธเจผเจฆ เจ†เจฌเจฆ เจ–เฉเจฆเจพเจˆ เจนเฉ‹
เจตเจฟเฉฑเจš เจฎเจธเจคเฉ€ เจฌเฉ‡ เจชเจฐเจตเจพเจนเฉ€ เจนเฉ‹
เจฌเฉ‡เจ–เจพเจนเจธเจผ เจฌเฉ‡เจจเจตเจพเจˆ เจนเฉ‹
เจตเจฟเฉฑเจš เจฆเจฟเจฒ เจฆเฉ‡ เจ–เฉ‚เจฌ เจธเจซเจพเจˆ เจนเฉ‹
เจฌเฉเฉฑเจฒเฉเจนเจพ เจฌเจพเจค เจธเฉฑเจšเฉ€ เจ•เจฆเฉ‹เจ‚ เจฐเฉเฉฑเจ•เจฆเฉ€ เจ
เจ‡เจ• เจจเฉเจ•เจคเฉ‡ เจตเจฟเจš เจ—เฉฑเจฒ เจฎเฉเจ•เจฆเฉ€ เจ

Here are few of the renditions by the legends:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Za1fkioiEg

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIZG91frg8E

13 Comments

  1. Preet Dhillon

    March 4, 2012 at 8:52 am

    thanku sooo much for simplifying it…. hard work well paid. ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. Looking for exactly this ….

    “gal neele jaame paye ji”

    I think there is some special significance of wearing such a dress and it’s connection with Mecca, need to understand.

    • All the Hajis who go to Mecca to perform Haj have to wear white robes.Here blue dress means spotless bluish white robes,โ€œgal neele jaame paye jiโ€ It’s a metaphor used by the poet.
      After performing Haj a person becomes spotless and as purified as at his birth. Haj is a final destination of purifying oneself of all his life long sins.
      When a person performs Haj after that he is not supposed to speak lies to others, to do bad acts and to harm other people in any case.
      But here the poet says that many Hajis who come back from Haj still speak lies and do bad deeds then what’s the use of performing such Haj if it can’t bring a change within one’s heart.

  3. “haj vech take lai khaye ji”
    its not a currency – its take meaning getting pushed around in a crowd.

  4. Bhulle Shaha kalam is one of my favourite i have a diary that i note down this type of kalam and then when i come home i read all of this thanks for such a good kalam.

  5. I want to correct your translation a little bit.As you have translated the word mehraab means aclove of mosque where the imam stand.

    lamma pa mehraab dikhai da
    (mehraab โ€“ aclove of mosque where the imam stands)

    Another meanings of the word “mehraab” is when a person says namaz throughout his life without leaving a single day, he develops a kind of spot on his forehead by continuously rubbing or hitting his forehead on the ground.This spot on the forehead is also called a “mehraab”.

    Here “lamma pa mehraab dikhai da”

    means that to show off infront of others you have developed a long mehraab on your forehead, so that other people may consider that you are a very pious person but infact you are not.

    Here are the translation of the words

    lamma = long
    mehraab = spot on the forehead
    dikhai = to show off

  6. “lamma pa mehraab dikhai da
    (mehraab โ€“ aclove of mosque where the imam stands)”

    The ‘mehraab’ here is not ‘aclove of mosque’ … it refers to a mark that is left on the forehead if you pray often and a lot, the presence of that mark shows that a person has spent a lot of time in sajda/praying, it is being referred to as a useless, show off metric/mark in this verse …

  7. เคงเคจเฅเคฏเคตเคพเคฆ เคœเฅ€ เค•เฅ‹เคŸเฅ€ เค•เฅ‹เคŸเฅ€ เคงเคจเฅเคฏเคตเคพเคฆ
    เค•เฅเคฏเคพ เคฎเฅˆเค‚ เค‡เคธเฅ‡ เคฎเคฐเคพเค เฅ€ เคญเคพเคทเคพ เคฎเฅ‡เค‚ เคŸเฅเคฐเคพเคจเฅเคธเคฒเฅ‡เคŸ เค•เคฐ เคธเค•เคคเคพ เคนเฅ?

  8. i don’t know punjabi but according to me ..the verse …โ€œlamma pa mehraab dikhai da” …means the spot on the forehead reveals the mehraab” ..aclove of mosque where the imam stands…its not just a spot . it is the sign of the mehraab”. that place….!!

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