The poem ‘पाप लाग्छ’ (paap lagcha) was penned down by the Great Poet Laxmi Prasad Devkota. It is a grade 4 poem.
‘Paap lagcha’ or ’Paapa laagcha’ roughly translates into ’Sin befalls’. But it isn’t that. It has no exact translation, because ’paap laagnu’ means like, you do something bad and Karma strikes you, or god curses you for doing that evil deed. Something like that.
You can find the poem here.
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MEANING
नटिप्नु हेर कोपिला ! (natipnu hera kopila)
नचुँड्नु पाप लाग्दछ । (na chudnu paapa lagdacha)
नच्यात्नु फूल नानि हो ! (nachyaatnu phula nani ho)
दया र धर्म भाग्दछ ।। (daya ra dharma bhaagdacha)
= Do not pluck the buds,
For it is a sin to pluck them.
Don’t rip the flowers young one,
Kindness and righteousness runs away.
.
नछोप्नु है चरी बरी (nachopnu hai chari bari)
सराप आँसु लाग्दछ । (sarapa aasu lagdacha)
नमार्नु जन्तु है कुनै (namaarnu jantu hai kunai)
बसेर काल जाग्दछ ।। (basera kaala jaagdacha)
= Do not shroud the birds,
For curses and tears fall upon.
Do not slaughter (innocent) creatures,
Misfortune wakes up
.
न घाउ चोट लाउनू (na ghau chota laaunu)
सडेर चित्त पाक्दछ । (sadera chitta paakdacha)
धूलो नफेक्नु नानि हो ! (dhulo aneknu nani ho)
उडेर भित्र ढाक्दछ ।। (udera bhitra dhaakdacha)
= Do not inflict wounds and injuries
It decays and ripens feelings
Do not throw dust and dirt, children,
It flies and blankets inside
.
हिलो नखेल्नु फोहरी (hilo nakhelnu phohori)
खराब दाग लाग्दछ । (kharaba daaja laagdacha)
न चित्त है दुखाउनु (na chitta hai dukhaaunu)
डसेर आँसु बग्दछ ।। (dasera aasu bagdacha)
= Don’t play with the mud,
Ugly stains get inflicted upon!
Don’t hurt feelings,
Tears flow out after you bite
.
बनेर फूल झैं सधैं (banera phula jhai sadhai)
हँसाउनू सुवास दी । (hasaaunu suwasa di)
सधैं रमाउनू जगत् (sadhai ramaaunu jagat)
रमेर नित्य आश दी ।। (ramera nitya aasha di)
= By being (like) a flower always,
Spread fragrance around and make them smile
Always celebrate the world,
Giving forever hope by celebrating
.
जताततै छ ईश रे (jataatatai cha isha re)
छ सुन्नु त्यो विचार रे । (cha sunnu tyo bichar re)
छकाउने लुकाउने (chakaaunu lukaaune)
नराख भाव क्यै गरे ! (narakha bhava kyai gare)
= God is everywhere,
and do listen to those thoughts.
(As of) Avoidance ,(and) concealment
Do avoid those kind of thoughts while doing anything!
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VOCABULARY
कोपिला (kopila) = Flower Bud
दया (daya) = Kindness
धर्म (dharma) = (here) Righteousness [also means ‘Religion’]
सराप (sarap) = Curse
आँसु (aasu) = Tears
जन्तु (jantu) = Creature
काल (kaal) = 1. Time 2. Death 3. Misfortune 4. Tense (like past tense)
चित्त (chitta) = Feelings
हिलो (hilo) = Mud
फोहरी (phohori) = A dirty Person
खराब (kharab) = Bad; Defective
दाग (daag) = Mark
सुवास (subas) = Fragrance; Good Smell
जगत् (jagat) = Ground/ Earth/ World
नित्य (nitya) = Unending; Perpetual; Continual; Always
ईश (isha) = God
विचार (bichar) = Thought
भाव (bhav) = Feeling
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You might have noticed some different spellings in transliteration, for example, ‘paapa’ instead of ‘paap’. That is because, the (noun) words which do not have that ’Halant’ (्) have an inherent schwa, which is omitted in everyday language. However, in poems, it is not uncommon to spell each syllable out, to give that ‘poem’ feeling to it. For example, people can understand both ‘Nepala’ and ‘Nepal’.
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ANALYSIS
Short: Basically, he is advising children to avoid committing evil things and telling them to do good and righteous things.
Long: He is saying ‘Don’t pluck buds’ because, buds are ‘young’ and ‘innocent’ so plucking them is a bad deed. He further says to not rip flowers, for your inner kindness and your righteousness vanishes with this deed. Do not inflict wounds, for people get hurt with this act. Do not throw dust, for they cover beauty and the truth. Playing with mud results in ugly scars and the heart that is hurt is sure to leak tears out. But by being like a flower, one can spread happiness just like a flower spreads fragrance. God is everywhere so don’t be evil and have bad thoughts while performing any task. Bad thoughts lead to misfortune, so always do good and be good.
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QUESTION
1. What is the main message of the poem?