# Hindi, Urdu: apni toNdoN ke bal pe chalte hue mahaajan



## eskandar

This is another line from an Urdu nazm titled "Somnaat" by N. M. Rashid that I am wondering about. I have transliterated it so that Hindi speakers may offer their input as well.

اور اپنی توندوں کے بل پہ چلتے ہوئے مہاجن
_aur apni toNdoN ke bal pe chalte hue mahaajan
_
Would I be correct in understanding this as "and great men who have moved by the power of their bellies" ? Or could anyone suggest a better translation?


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## Alfaaz

eskandar SaaHib, are you confused due to/inquiring about the phrase ___________ ke bal_? 

The following should make the meaning/usage clearer!

Entry in Platts: 


> S بل बल _bal_—adv. & postp. By dint (of, -_ke_), by virtue or power (of); supported (by), resting (on), on, (in comp.) -ward, -long (e.g. _eṛī-ke bal ghūmnā_, 'to turn round on the heel'; _pīṭh-ke bal_, 'on the back,' 'backward'; _ćhaṛi-ke-bal jhuknā_, 'to lean on a stick'; _sir-ke bal_, _māthe-ke bal_, 'headlong, head-foremost'; _khambh-ke bal khaṛā honā_, 'to be supported on a column, to stand on a column'; _muṅh-ke bal_, 'on the face, forward')


 Entry in Urdu Lughat (with illustrative examples): بل 2

Translation: توندوں کے بل - _on their bellies..._


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## eskandar

Thanks Alfaaz SaaHib, that was one of my questions. So let me revise my translation of this and the next line:

اور اپنی توندوں کے بل پہ چلتے ہوئے مہاجن
حصولِ دولت کی آرزو میں بہ جبر عریاں

"and great men who have crawled on their bellies,
forcibly stripped bare in hopes of acquiring wealth"

What do you think?


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## tarkshya

The word Mahajan does not literally mean great men in this poem. It specifically refers to Hindu Baniya caste. Bania (caste) - Wikipedia

This is a poem with deep political undertones, and you won't understand it fully unless you are aware of the history of Somnath, and more importantly, the diametrically different interpretation of this history in India and Pakistan. Somnath temple - Wikipedia. The poem describes the event of reconstruction of the Somnath temple. Somnath temple - Wikipedia. The author understandably expresses his absolute outrage against Hindus in general, and all the stereotypes about sundry Hindu castes are present in full force. Therefore a prior knowledge of these stereotypes is also a prerequisite in understanding this poem.


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## eskandar

Thank you tarkshya jii. I was going by the definition in Platts which doesn't include the Baniya reference. According to Wikipedia, Mahajan can refer to other mercantile castes as well. Given the context, do you think he perhaps just meant "money lenders" in general?


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## Alfaaz

eskandar said:
			
		

> What do you think?


eskandar SaaHib: After going back through the whole piece, I am guessing your interpretation could also have weight! 

Therefore, I think other forum members who have greater familiarity with the historical and cultural references will be able to provide better explanations!


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## marrish

These are the meanings of mahaajan in Urdu from *Farhang-e-Asafiyya*, this time in Roman only:

*mahaajan*: Ind. ism-e-muzakkar:- baRaa aadamii, daulat-mand, Ghanii ; saudaagar, byopaarii, saahuukaar ; baiNkar, xazaanchii ; Sarraaf, hunDii-waal.

*mahaajanii:* Ind. ism-e-mu'annas:- saahuukaarii ; nij byopaar, saudaagarii.

*mahaajanii *parchah ya chiTThii Ind. s.m. va s.f) hunDii ; cheque; kaaGaz-e-zar.

A _mahaajan_ (typically a money-lender on rent, might be a landlord too,) migh not or might well belong to a community called Mahajan, but castes is what is certainly out of discussion here, as far as the Urdu meaning is concerned!

_mahaajans_ used to be a very well known institutuions. All the claims made in an above post are highly objectionable since they aim at involving a Pakistani poem into a typical Indian caste narrative.


A _noun_ _*saahuukaar*_=a _noun_ _*mahaajan*_.


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## eskandar

Thank you all. Seems like "moneylender" makes sense as an interpretation, here.


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## tarkshya

It is an interesting poem, but its Urdu is too dense for novices like me. Can someone post a translation? Or at least the gist of it.


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## eskandar

Unfortunately the forum rules only allow us to discuss up to 4 lines of a poem at once rather than translating the whole poem in one thread. However, feel free to start new threads about any line(s) you have questions about. I would also benefit from a translation!


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## littlepond

By the way, in Hindi, the word is "tond" (and plural oblique would thus be "tondoN"): not "toNd".


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## mundiya

^ Actually, the Hindi word is "toNd" तोंद with a nasal vowel not a nasal consonant. For that reason "tond" तोन्द is incorrect and virtually nonexistent. The alternative "tund" तुंद/तुन्द, however, has a nasal consonant not a nasal vowel.


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## marrish

I have another view of this line: حصولِ دولت کی آرزو میں بہ جبر عریاں. Please consider this reading: _Husuul-e-daulat kii aarzuu meN ba-jabr-e-3uryaaN_.


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## littlepond

mundiya said:


> ^ Actually, the Hindi word is "toNd" तोंद with a nasal vowel not a nasal consonant. For that reason "tond" तोन्द is incorrect and virtually nonexistent. The alternative "tund" तुंद/तुन्द, however, has a nasal consonant not a nasal vowel.



Well, the word in Hindi is pronounced with fully pronouncing the "n": in other words, if you were to search for तोंद कम करने के लिए kind of videos on YouTube, then you would find several advertising videos which are pronouncing it correctly. If you mean that kind of "n" by the "N" in transcription, then you mean what I mean but I guess I don't get the transcription system used on this forum; if you don't mean that kind of "n", then your toNd differs from my tond.


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## eskandar

marrish said:


> I have another view of this line: حصولِ دولت کی آرزو میں بہ جبر عریاں. Please consider this reading: _Husuul-e-daulat kii aarzuu meN ba-jabr-e-3uryaaN_.


In the book I have, there is a _zer_ printed at the end of _Husuul_ but not _jabr_, hence my initial reading, but that doesn't rule out yours, which does make sense. Maybe something like "in forceful hopes of acquiring wealth" as a translation, then?


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## marrish

I have checked with another book I got access to and it is indeed so but it indeed doesn't rule out the izaafat there. Suppose there is no izaafat, the same meaning is possible. I'm not metre  -savvy, and it is a nazm so it is questionable if checking it from this angle can bring fruit. 
Could you have a cursory look anyway at your book and see if the publisher was consequent of indicating the _zer_s?

I'm no good at translating poetry into English, but

اور اپنی توندوں کے بل پہ چلتے ہوئے مہاجن
حصولِ دولت کی آرزو میں بہ جبر عریاں

would amount to:

(in the procession) and the bankers and the merchants moving forth, by dint of their pot-bellies, their opulence,
in their desire to amass wealth through brute force.


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## tarkshya

I will not assume a zer after jabr. So my reading would be..

_Husuul-e-daulat kii aarzuu meN ba-jabr 3uryaaN_
_
I would translate ba-jabr simply as "zabardastii" or unwillingly. So my translation would go like
_
And coming after them are merchants, crawling on their pot-bellies
stripped naked unwillingly, in the desire to hoard wealth.


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