साजि चतुरंग सैन अंग में उमंग धरी
सरजा शिवाजी जंग जीतन चलत हैं
भूषण भनत नाद बिहद नगारन के
नदी-नद मद गैबरन के रलत हैं
ऐल-फैल खैल-भैल खलक में गैल गैल
गजन की ठैल-पैल सैल उसलत हैं
तारा सों तरनि धूरि-धारा में लगत जिमि
थारा पर पारा पारावार यों हलत हैं
This is how Kavi Bhooshan describes how Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj looks like when he begins his march for a war. He says, the sounds of kettle-drums are deafening and the young bull-elephants are secreting so much that, there are rivers of them flowing. The elephants are spreading such commotion that there is chaos and disorder in the paths of enemy, where this treads. So thunderous is there movement that the hills along are being uprooted. The feet and the hooves of this army raise so much dust that it covers the sky and the shining sun is reduced to but like a twinkling star. As the massive army marches through, the earth trembles like mercury on a wobbling plate. (Translation by Atul Sabnis. at thecustodiansin.wordpress.com)
There cannot be more apt description of great armies of Shivaji Maharaj that established the Hindavi Swarajya, that eventually went on to become Hindavi Samrajya. There are multiple heroic moments in the life of Shivaji Maharaj that prove his greatness. But one incident, one moment of his life that changed the course of the history of India is the Rajyabhishek i.e. Coronation. The 'Sabhasad Bakhar' (Chronicle) says, "या युगी सर्व पृथ्वीवर सर्व म्लेंछ बादशहा. हा मऱ्हाटा पातशाह येवढा छत्रपती जाला. ही गोष्ट काही सामान्य जाली नाही." meaning, There are only Mlenchh Badshah in current times. A Marhata king becoming Chhatrapati is not an ordinary thing. It indeed isn't an ordinary thing, and we are celebrating the 350th anniversary of Rajyabhishesk, to be rightly called as the Hindu Samrajya Din.
The greatness of Shivaji Maharaj is sung by many, in multiple formats like chronicles, ballads, poems, Mahakavyas and many more. Here, it is an attempt to look at how contemporary and some modern poets described Shivaji Maharaj through their poems. There are contemporary poets who wrote on the greatness of Shivaji Maharaj, like Kavindra Paramanand Newaskar, Kavi Bhooshan and Ajnandas. There are many contemporary poets who have composed poems but here is an attempt to deal with some of them, including Mahatma Phule, Swatantryaveer Savarkar, Shankar Vaidya, Kusumagraj, etc.
Kavindra Paramanad Newaskar was contemporary to Shivaji Maharaj. He was with him during the Agra campaign of Shivaji Maharaj, where he mysteriously escaped from the captivity of Aurangzeb. Shivaji Maharaj had given an order to Kavindra Paramanand to write his biography. According to it, Paramanand wrote the biography in Sanskrit, known as the Shiv Bharat. This Sanskrit biography is in the form of a Mahakavya. Modern historians, authority on history of Shivaji Maharaj consider this as one of the most authentic source of history. Kavindra Paramanand being contemporary to the life and times of Shivaji Maharaj, describes the battles, incidences, the character of Shivaji maharaj as Dharm Abhimani very well.
There is a glorious tradition of 'Powada' i.e. ballads based on heroics of the great men in Maharashtra. There have been many contemporary 'Shahirs' who compose these ballads. Shahir Ajnandas is one of the important among them, who has composed a ballad on the battle of Pratapgad i.e. slaying of Adilshahi general Afzal Khan. The ballads are mostly composed in Veer Rasa. There are some modern Shahirs, poets who composed ballads on the life of times of Shivaji Maharaj. Social reformer Mahatma Jyotiba Phule is among them. The 'Shivaji Cha Powada' composed by him is quite well known. There is another important name in this league is Swatantryaveer Savarkar, who composed ballads on the incidences of battle of Pawankhind and battle of Sinhgad. These ballads are sung, presented by many modern folk artists in Maharashtra, along with new compositions also.
The topic of poems on Shivaji Maharaj would be incomplete without mentioning of Kavi Bhooshan. He was born in Trivikrampur (Tikmapur) in Uttar Pradesh. His family has immensely contributed to the Hindi literature. He was the one travelled across India in the 17th century, met multiple kings, people at different places, but he says it was Shivaji Maharaj who admire the most. Kavi Bhooshan has composed the 'Shiva Bavani' and many Chhand praising Shivaji Maharaj. The Chhand quoted at the beginning is from the Shiva Bavani. No other contemporary poet has described Shivaji Maharaj as Kavi Bhooshan has done.
In modern times, a poetic, musical masterpiece 'Shiv Kalyan Raja' was created by the genius minds of Pt. Hridayanath Mangeshkar, Lata Mangeshkar, Babasaheb Purandare. In this musical the poems, Chhandas of Kavi Bhooshan, Swanatntryaveer Savarkar, Kusumagraj ( Vishnu Vaman Shirwadkar), Govindagraj (Ram Ganesh Gadkari), Shankar Vaidya, Samarth Ramdas, woven in such a way that described the life of Shivaji Maharaj. Babasaheb Purandare narrated the story background in brief and the songs described the story.
It has lori (lullby), written by Govindagraj, where Jijabai is igniting little Shivaji's mind for the cause. It has the aarti of Shivaji Maharaj written by Savarkar, which he had written in his college days. The aarti was sung at the meetings of the secret revolutionary organization Abhinav Bharat. It has another poem by Savarkar, 'He Hindu Nrusinha Prabho Shivaji Raja' describing Shivaji Maharaj as 'Hindu Nrusinh'. It has two Chhanda by Kavi Bhooshan. It has the long open letter written by Samarth Ramdas, not just to Shivaji Maharaj but to the people of Maharashtra describing him as 'निश्चयाचा महामेरू, बहुत जनांसी आधारु। अखंड स्थितीचा निर्धारु. श्रीमंत योगी।।
The musical has another most important poem by Shankar Vaidya describing how the Rajyabhishek is saffron light emerged from a Yajna going on for centuries.
शतकांच्या यज्ञातून उठली एक केशरी ज्वाला
दहा दिशांच्या हृदयामधुनी अरुणोदय झाला
The coronation of Shivaji Maharaj is one of the most important moment in the history of India. It has changed the past, present of India, and going to shape the future surely. Historians have critically studied the sources and presented the history in front of us. The Shahirs, Poets have composed ballads, poems, Mahakavyas on that history that will keep us ignited. In the end, the last stanza of Shiva Bavani is evident to be cited as it sums it up the importance of Shivaji Maharaj in the history, present and future of India. It says,
कासीहू की कला जाती, मथुरा मसीत होती,
अगर शिवाजी न होते तो सूनति होत सबकी।
Published: Swarajya Mag special issue "350 Years of Swarajya"
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