Ghazal 378x, Verse 8

{378x,8}*

junuu;N ne mujh ko banaayaa hai mudda((ii meraa
hameshah haath me;N mere miraa garebaa;N hai

1) madness has made me my own accuser/plaintiff
2) always in my hand, is my collar

Notes:

mudda((ii : 'A claimant, suitor; plaintiff (in a law-suit), complainant, prosecutor, accuser; — an enemy'. (Platts p.1015)

Gyan Chand:

Madness has made me my own enemy. The rule is that a person grasps his enemy's collar and seeks to tear it and to fight and struggle with him. I myself remain eager to rip open my own collar.

== Gyan Chand, pp. 436-437

FWP:

SETS
CHAK-E GAREBAN: {17,9}
MADNESS: {14,3}

For more on Ghalib's unpublished verses, see the discussion in {4,8x}. See also the overview index.

Gyan Chand describes a hostile action: someone grabs an enemy's collar, to seize him and/or wrestle with him. It's obviously 'madness' to do this to oneself. The verse conflates this action with the lover's common ghazal-world practice of tearing open his own collar-- because it's a mark of grief, or because he feels suffocated, or just because he's crazy. 'Collar' is not an ideal word; what's really envisioned is the slit neck-opening of a kurta; for discussion, examples, and illustrations, see {17,9}.

Compare {61,8}, which juxtaposes the Advisor's use of force against the lover, to the lover's own power over his collar.