1579_04

{1579,4}

ek jagah par jaise bhañvar haiñ lekin chakkar rahtā hai
yaʿnī vat̤an daryā hai us meñ chār t̤araf haiñ safar meñ ab

1) the way whirlpools are in a single place, but a revolving/whirling/circumambulation remains--
2) that is, the homeland is an ocean; in it, we are on a journey in [all] four directions now

Notes:

chakkar : 'Wheel (of a cart, &c.), a potter's wheel; a catharine-wheel; a discus or sharp circular missile weapon; a quoit; an oil-mill; a circle, a ring; circumference; a circular road or course; a circular position; ... circular flight (of a bird, &c.); revolving in a circle, revolution, whirl; round, circuit; circumambulation; a whirlwind; a whirlpool, an eddy, anything revolving in a circle; a whirligig'. (Platts p.435)

*Platts Dictionary Online*

S. R. Faruqi:

For discussion of safar dar vat̤an , see

{695,6}.

The theme of the whirlpool and the safar dar vat̤an he has versifed like this in the third divan [{1188,2}]:

rahe phirte daryā meñ girdāb se
vat̤an meñ bhī haiñ ham safar meñ bhī haiñ

[we remained wandering like a whirlpool in the ocean,
we are in the homeland, we are also on a journey]

But in the present verse the iham of chakkar rahtā hai has made the image of the whirlpool very meaningful. And chār t̤araf too is very meaningful, and recalls chār mauj (that is, 'whirlpool').

FWP:

SETS
MOTIFS == HOME
NAMES
TERMS == IHAM

I suppose the iham of which SRF speaks is the idea that at first we might read chakkar rahtā hai as applying to circular shape of the whirlpools (see the definition above). Only after hearing the second line would we realize that the chakkar was the whirling or rotating journey ('a circular road or course'... 'a circuit') that we, like the whirlpool, endlessly make in a single place. Even so, I'm not convinced that this should really be called an iham, since the 'circular shape' sense remains valid. For discussion of iham, see {178,1}.