This article is written by Sudhir, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in sites like lyricstrans.com and ibollywoodsongs.com etc then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
Hearty greetings to all friends and readers on the celebration of the Raksha Bandhan festival today.
Ok, ok, I know the query springing in your mind. No, I have not fallen off the edge of the earth. Very much here, reassuringly. Just that the cycles of fate brought in significant distractions and preoccupation for both Atul ji and myself, at the same time. The postings are just a trickle these days. But things on the personal and work fronts are keeping both of us away. Atul ji has been maintaining the trickle, whereas I have not been able to get anything on to the blog for days on end now. Long stories are often uninteresting, so I will cut it short, and say that days of drought are coming to a close. How soon, you may want to know. Pretty soon, I assure you. ;) Hopeful to see more activity moving forward, and then we should be back to our regular output shortly.
Today is ‘poornima’ of the ‘shraavan maas’ – the full moon day of the month of Saawan, as per the traditional calendar. Today’s celebrations have already been inaugurated by the PM (I mean, Peevesie’s Mom). It is always customary and auspicious to have the inauguration done by senior ranking people of eminence, and today we already have that start. :) The earlier post by her is an interesting fun celebration song from 1987 film ‘Satyamev Jayate’. The PM has commented that we have probably showcased all the well known Raakhi songs already. To this, Atul ji has commented that there still are many more songs to go, for today’s celebration. The special thing about this blog is that we deal with not just the well known, but we also track and trace the obscure and rarely heard songs. And for that, the garden of Hindi film music is still a vast flowering arena, where all sorts of unseen, unheard flowers bloom.
The celebration itself needs no introduction. The origins of today’s festival are lost in history, embedded into our hoary traditions. The events related to today’s celebration are recorded in our scriptures, which tell about its existence and awareness through the histories of not just bygone eras, but also the bygone cycles of creation and destruction of this entire existence.
One of the earliest records of this festival that we find in our scriptures, is related to Vaaman Avatar, the appearance of Lord Vishnu in the incarnation of a small Brahmin child. The time was when the Devatas had lost the battle with the Asuras, and had been turned out of the Swarg Lok. Raja Bali, the king of Asuras, undertook to perform one hundred Yagnas, under the instructions of his teacher, Guru Shukracharya. The completion of this task of one hundred Yagnas would have made Raja Bali invincible, never to be defeated again by anyone. The Devatas, as is their propensity, went to Lord Brahma to save them from this circumstance. Brahma ji took them to Lord Vishnu, who was moved by their beseeching entreaties, and promised to help.
Now Raja Bali was also famous as the greatest philanthropist of his time. It was well known that he would never turn back any one who came to his door, and he would never decline any request that was made to him. On the day of the of the 100th Yagna, Lord Vishnu appeared at the gates of the Yagna-shala, in the form of Vaaman, a small and attractive Brahmin child. The details of what transpired that day are a consuming discourse in values of promise keeping, commitments, truthfulness and a devotees love for the Lord. And it is too detailed to be taken up here. The connection of today’s festival lie in the events that happened thereafter.
The description of the Lord requesting for land measured in three steps is well known. Also known is that when Raja Bali agreed to this request from a short statured child, the Lord transformed Himself into His ‘viraat roop’ and measured the entire universe in two steps. And when he asked Raja Bali where He should now put this third step, Raja Bali bowed his head in front of the Lord and asked Him to measure His third step.
The entire universe, everything contained therein, and now including Raja Bali himself, all became the domain of the Lord. Vishnu ji was so pleased with this sacrifice that He did two things. First, He announced Raja Bali to become the king of the ‘sutala lok’ (the netherworld). Second, He gave a ‘vardaan’ (boon) to Raja Bali, asking him to make a wish. Raja Bali, very wise and intelligent, made a wish that he should have the ‘darshan’ (seeing) of the Lord, the first thing when he wakes up, and the last thing before he goes to sleep, and that he should have His ‘darshan’ whenever he leaves his home, and whenever he returned to his home. Even the Lord himself was amazed at this boon requested by Raja Bali. He said, this would mean that He has to constantly live with Raja Bali. So the Lord took upon himself to be the gatekeeper of the Raja Bali’s palace in ‘sutala lok’. And bound by His own words, He was now committed to be a constant companion of Raja Bali.
Lakshmi ji, the wife of Lord Vishnu, was perplexed and unhappy about this arrangement. Many months passed, and She had not seen Her husband. Then She took the form of an old Brahmin lady and went to ‘sutala lok’, to the palace of Raja Bali, and requested for shelter. Raja Bali received Her as a sister and gave her shelter. After some days, on the ‘shraavan poornima’ day, She tied the sacred thread to the wrist of Raja Bali, establishing firmly the brother-sister relationship. Raja Bali requested Her to ask for a boon. Then She revealed her true identity, and requested Raja Bali to set his ‘gatekeeper’ free from the conditions of His own benefaction. Raja Bali granted the wish, and Lord Vishnu was freed, to return to his ‘Vaikunth Dhaam’. This is one of the various threads of historical narration that tell about the antiquity of this tradition.
This song is from an unheard film from 1943, titled ‘Sahara’. The film is directed by JP Advani for the banner of Vaswani Art Productions, Bombay. The eleven songs in this film are written by four songwriters – Swami Ramanand Saraswati, Nazim Panipati, Qamar Jalaalabaadi and MS Sehrai. This particular song is by MS Sehrai. The music is by Pt Gobindram. The Geet Kosh does not list the names of the singers, and I am not going to hazard a guess on that. I request friends and readers to help identify the female singing voice in this song.
The cast of actors includes Renuka Devi, Narang, Sharda, Pran, Ram Lal, Zahoor Shah, Ibrahim, Mohin etc. Unless I am mistaken, the name ‘Narang’ is the same person as SD Narang, who in later decades became a producer director. Also, one of the very early films of actor Pran.
The song itself is an expression of happiness and joy on the occasion of today’s festival. The lyrics documented below are showing two ‘antaraas’ (stanzas), but the record has three ‘antaraas’. Actually, the third stanza is a repeat of the first, so I have not included in the lyrics. About the lyrics, there is one short line in the chorus part of the song that I have not been able to fully decipher. I request friends and readers to help identify the missing words in that line.
Once again, happy wishes to all for today’s celebration of ‘Raakhi’
Song – Raakhi Ka Din Aaya Sajni (Sahara) (1943) Singer – Unidentified Female Voice, Lyrics – MS Sehrai, MD – Pt Gobindram
Chorus
Lyrics
raakhi ka din aaya sajni
raakhi ka din aaya
raakhi ka din aaya sajni
raakhi ka din aaya
resham ki rakhiaa banvaaun
chandi ki dori se sajaaun
resham ki rakhiaa banvaaun
chandi ki dori se sajaaun
apne bhaiya ke gun main gaaun
apne bhaiya ke gun main gaaun
kheloon kudoon mauj udaaun
apne bhaiya ki gun main gaaun
kheloon kudoon mauj udaaun
sun ri sakhi ye shubh din aa kar
… mein …
sun ri sakhi ye shubh din aa kar
… mein …
raakhi ka din aaya sajni
raakhi ka din aaya
raakhi ka din aaya sajni
raakhi ka din aaya
ye rakhiaa jab
maine baandhi
ye rakhiaa jab
maine baandhi
bhaiya denge sona chandi
bhaiya denge sona chandi
pag pag par phir naachungi main
samaa suhaana aaya
pag pag par phir naachungi main
samaa suhaana aaya
raakhi ka din aaya sajni
raakhi ka din aaya
raakhi ka din aaya sajni
raakhi ka din aaya
———————————————————-
Hindi script lyrics (Provided by Sudhir)
———————————————————-
राखी का दिन आया सजनी
राखी का दिन आया
राखी का दिन आया सजनी
राखी का दिन आया
रेशम की रखिया बनवाऊँ
चांदी की डोरी से सजाऊँ
रेशम की रखिया बनवाऊँ
चांदी की डोरी से सजाऊँ
अपने भइय्या के गुण मैं गाउँ
अपने भइय्या के गुण मैं गाउँ
खेलूँ कूदूँ मौज उड़ाऊँ
अपने भइय्या के गुण मैं गाउँ
खेलूँ कूदूँ मौज उड़ाऊँ
सुन री सखी ये शुभ दिन आकर
… में …
सुन री सखी ये शुभ दिन आकर
… में …
राखी का दिन आया सजनी
राखी का दिन आया
राखी का दिन आया सजनी
राखी का दिन आया
ये रखिया जब मैंने बांधी
ये रखिया जब मैंने बांधी
भइय्या देंगे सोना चाँदी
भइय्या देंगे सोना चाँदी
पग पग पर फिर नाचूँगी मैं
समा सुहाना आया
पग पग पर फिर नाचूँगी मैं
समा सुहाना आया
राखी का दिन आया सजनी
राखी का दिन आया
राखी का दिन आया सजनी
राखी का दिन आया
