The echo of ‘Sanson ki mala pe simroon main pi ka naam’ in the movie Mirzapur has created a huge stir on social media these days. As soon as the song was used, various kinds of discussions started among the people regarding its original singer, original composition and the most famous version. Some are calling it a direct song from the film, while others are linking it to the original voice of a singer.
But the story of this song is much older and more interesting than the film. ‘Sanson Ki Mala Pe Simrun Main Pi Ka Naam’ is basically a hymn related to Krishna devotion, which was written in the devotional tradition of Mirabai in the 16th century. Later it was sung by different singers in their own style and that is why many popular versions of it are heard. Among these, the version by Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan became especially popular, while the version from the film Koyla (1997) in the voice of Kavita Krishnamurthy was also heard widely among the people.
Now its use in Mirzapur has once again brought this old devotional song into the center of discussion. After all, what is the real story of this song? What is its relation with Mirabai, how did Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s version become so famous and what is the real meaning of each line of the song? Come, let us understand this entire song in easy Hindi.
‘I remember P’s name on the garland of breaths’
Considering each breath as a bead of a rosary, the devotee chants the name of his beloved. That means God should be remembered in every breath of life.
‘I know about my own mind, and Ram of my heart’
I know the feelings of my mind, but only God knows what my beloved has in mind for me. There is dedication and humility along with love.
‘Love is the adornment of life, vermillion of demand’
Just as for a married woman, vermilion is a symbol of her married life and love, in the same way for this devotee, her beloved is the biggest beauty and identity of life. Here love has been described as the most important basis of life.
‘What is the use of living after falling from the eyes of your beloved?’
If I fail in the eyes of my beloved and do not get his love and acceptance, then what is the use of such a life for me? This line shows complete emotional devotion towards the beloved.
‘So immersed in the color of love, it became one form’
The love became so deep that the separation between the devotee and the beloved started disappearing. The devotee is completely immersed in that love and does not see anything different from his beloved.
‘By chanting the rosary of love, you became Shyam’
By constantly remembering the love of the beloved, the devotee himself gets colored in his/her colors. Here ‘Shyam’ is for Lord Krishna. The feeling is that one meditated on Krishna so much that the color of Krishna settled within the devotee too.
‘There is no fault of Pritam, he is innocent’
The devotee does not make any allegations against his beloved. He believes that the loved one is innocent and cannot be held responsible for his pain or discomfort.
‘By talking to myself, I became infamous’
The yearning for love has increased so much that the devotee thinks about his beloved all the time and keeps talking to them in his mind. The world finds this behavior strange, so people start defaming him. Here the difference between a person immersed in devotion and the thinking of the world is shown.
‘Ever since I drank the cup of love, my condition has been like this.’
Ever since I experienced love, life has changed completely. Love has influenced the devotee so much that his entire consciousness remains focused on his beloved.
‘Sleep on embers, rest on thorns’
True love has such power that even difficulties do not seem difficult. One can sleep even in pain like embers and feel relief even in conditions like thorns. That is, if you get the love of your beloved then even sorrow starts looking like happiness.
gist of the whole song
This song basically talks about such love and devotion in which the devotee is completely devoted to his beloved. There is the name of the beloved in his every breath, there is the beloved in every thought and gradually he does not feel any difference between himself and the beloved. If ‘P’, ‘Pritam’ and ‘Shyam’ are read as Krishna/God, then this song rises above worldly love and becomes a feeling of deep love between the devotee and God. The message in this is that when love becomes true and complete, then a person rises above happiness-sorrow, honor-dishonor and the cares of the world and becomes absorbed in his beloved.