Mirza Ghalib is one of the greatest Urdu poets. He lived in the nineteenth century but remains very popular in our times too. Poetry lovers would often quote him to embellish their conversation and writing.
Ghalib is a poet of Love and expression of love’s various moods is the primary theme of his poems. So the appeal of Ghalib’s poetry is universal and he is widely appreciated. Ghalib did not write on pure philosophical topics, but philosophic musings also appear in Ghalib’s poems, randomly intertwined with other themes. Some of his verses unfold the Vedanta philosophy; Advaita to be more specific.

‘Advaita’ means ‘not being two’. It is a non-dualistic interpretation of reality. The fundamental premise of Advaita is, ‘The God and all that exists in the world is, in reality, not two (or many) separate entities: it all is only one’. One may call that reality God or give it another name.

In these verses, Ghalib speaks on this core concept of Vedanta. And he does so beautifully, employing powerful imagery, and with his characteristic display of mastery over the language. We shall take up a few lines from two of his poems and try to fathom the depth of his thoughts.

“Jab ki tujh bin nahin koi maujud
Phir ye hangama Aye Khuda kya hai”

When there is no other presence anywhere,
It is you and nothing without you,
Then O God, what is this turmoil around?

This is pure Advaita. Adi Sankarcharya, the great philosopher of the eight century, who is credited with bringing Advaita philosophy into focus, had explained this theme in the following verse,

”Brahma satyam, jagat mithya,
Jivo Brahmaiva naparah”.

Brahman (God) is the only reality
The World has no independent existence
The beings are Brahman only
Not different from him.

So says Ghalib: there is no other presence in the world and there is nothing which is devoid of you, or not a part of you. And then he laments – ‘why then there is this turmoil?’ The lament arises because God is being perceived separate from the individual and that brings conflict.

The lament is eternal. All theist philosophies have tried to explain it, and so do the various streams of Hindu philosophy – Samkhya and, Yoga in particular.

Ghalib was not a Vedanta scholar; he wrote no treatise on Vedanta. He was brought up in Islamic traditions. His musings are his own, no doubt coming out of his tradition, his scholarship and his own experience. A great poet that he was, he depended on his perception and his evolved sensibility which were of the highest level.

Let us look at another poem:

“Duniya mein hun duniya ka
Tolabgar nahin hum
Bazar se gujra hun kharidar nahin hun”

I live in this world,  But I am, in no way, in need of the world.
True, you saw me crossing the market place,
But I was not a buyer.

This is the rejection of the world by the soul. In Advaita, the soul is Brahman residing inside the mortal body of all beings. The soul does come to the world but does not crave the world as its permanent abode: the world is unreal; it is not the place for the soul to take permanent residence.

This poem, as if, presents a continuation of the thoughts which the great saint poet Kabir expressed in one of his poems:

“Rahana nahin desh virana hai”

This country (the world) is not my place where I shall live,
(So) it is desolate, it is not habitable.

Ghalib identifies the world as such: it may have everything, even an attractive market place with tempting wares, but this is not his place, he has no need for it.

The punch comes in the next line where Ghalib says

“Is khaneye-hasti se gujar jaunga belaus
Saya hum phakat naksh-pai-deewar nahin hun”

From this abode of existence,
I shall pass through unattached,
And leave no trace;
For I am only a shadow on the wall,
Not an outline etched on it,

Supreme sentiments of a Vedanta follower: my journey shall take me beyond the world, which is unreal, and to Brahman, who only is real: I shall merge with Him as a drop of water merges into the ocean and leave no trace.

——

By: Keshav Prasad Varma

Author: Children of the Immortal

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