Poetry at Sangam

SangamHouse

 










JOHAAR

Translated from original Marathi by Anjali Purohit
 
 
Johaar, maibaap, johaar!*
I am the suryavashi’s mahar*
I must labour for the whole village
Listen to what I have to say, ki jee maibaap!

The town was populated with the elements five
Then twenty-five faculties took over
Each of which entangled itself in vice
And they forgot about their lord, ki jee maibaap!

The lord entrusted the town to them
But they quickly lost sight of this
Finally, when Yama ji buva comes around
They will feel his kick on their arse, ki jee maibaap!

See, the town so thickly populated
You better watch out, take care!
Before the retribution that is sure to arrive
You will be in utter despair, ki jee maibaap!

The shutters of eye-gaon* will begin to shut
Nose-pur* will be full of snot
The thirty-two hamlets in mouth-pur
Will be deserted, ki jee maibaap!

The neck-gaon will wobble
Gut-gaon will turn concave and touch the back
Elbow-gaon’s bone will crack
Such will be the humiliation, ki jee maibaap!

Both buttocks will shrivel up
Anus-pur will lose control and flow non stop
The penis will hang lifeless and limp
Like a dead dog, ki jee maibaap!

Such was the debacle of this town
On seeing which I felt great pity
That I brought out this powerful remedy
And took the town to prosperity, ki jee maibaap!

Distilling a concentrate of bhakti
I gave them this potent concoction
The Name was that surefire cure
The antidote that I gave, ki jee maibaap!

Eka takes refuge with Janardan
That is the divine panacea
Tearing through all the bonds of the world
It transported you to Vishnu’s Vaikunth, ki jee maibaap!

 
 
 

—
(verse 3887, ibid.)

‘johar, maibaap johar!’ was a salutation required to be chanted by people of the castes considered ‘untouchable’ (as the mahars were) when they moved about in the village/town and came across those belonging to the upper castes. Also, the word ‘maibaap’ (literally meaning ‘mother and father’) suggests a subservient power relation where the ‘maibaap’ are seen as providers and protectors on whom the lower castes are dependent for their very existence.’

*gaon—village
*pur—town
(Here, when Eknath’s mahar speaks about the various ‘villages’ and ‘towns’ that have gone to ruin, he constructs the human body and its different faculties as villages that are given to decadence and corruption and also suggesting that ‘time’ (old age, Kaal or Yama) will incapacitate the human body and keep one entangled in the twin vices of kaam-krodh (desire and anger) unless one submits to Janardan (who is also the embodiment of Datta guru) and becomes one with him.)
 
 
 
← Sant Eknath