INTRODUCTION
A great way to learn Nepali and its culture is through songs. There are a lot of old patriotic Nepali songs that almost every Nepali person knows; while most songs praised the erstwhile kings in some way, a few simply celebrated the glory of the Nepalese. One such song is यो नेपाली शिर उचाली (yo nepālī śir ucālī) written by Bhupi Sherchan, and commonly transliterated into ‘Yo Nepali Sir Uchali’ or ‘Yo Nepali Shir Uchali’.
There are many renditions of the song sung by various artists. The original recording was by Prem Dhoj Pradhan and Tara Devi (1955), while newer recordings like the one by Prakash Shrestha and Lochan Bhattarai are quite popular, too.
यो नेपाली शिर उचाली (yo nepālī śir ucālī) roughly means, ‘This Nepali (by) raising (their) head’.
LISTEN
Original recording | YouTube | Spotify
Newer recording | YouTube | Spotify
LYRICS
Note | Some words in the transliteration retain the schwa even though the schwa is not usually retained in everyday speech. The reason why is because retaining the schwa allows the song to be more melodious, or lets the words flow more easily.
Nepali
यो नेपाली शिर उचाली संसारमा लम्किन्छ
जुन्किरी झैँ ज्योति बाली अन्धकारमा चम्किन्छ
यो नेपाली शिर उचाली संसारमा लम्किन्छ
चाहे झुकोस् निलो आकाश, यो नेपाली झुक्दैन ×2
चाहे रुकोस् चिसो बतास, यो नेपाली रुक्दैन ×2
जुन्किरी झैँ ज्योति बाली अन्धकारमा चम्किन्छ
यो नेपाली शिर उचाली संसारमा लम्किन्छ
एकातिर तराईको चार कोशे झाडी छ ×2
अर्कोतिर उच्च शिर ठुलठुला पहाडी छ ×2
जुन्किरी झैँ ज्योति बाली अन्धकारमा चम्किन्छ
यो नेपाली शिर उचाली संसारमा लम्किन्छ
जन्मे यहीँ गौतम बुद्ध, शान्तिका अग्रदूत ×2
सगरमाथा विजयी गर्ने यही देशका हुन् सपुत ×2
जुन्किरी झैँ ज्योति बाली अन्धकारमा चम्किन्छ
यो नेपाली शिर उचाली संसारमा लम्किन्छ ×5
Romanized
yo nepālī śir ucālī saṃsāra-mā lamkincha
junkirī jhai~ jyoti bālī andhakār-mā camkincha
yo nepālī śir ucālī saṃsāra-mā lamkincha
cāhe jhukos nilo ākāś, yo nepālī jhukdaina ×2
cāhe rukos ciso batās, yo nepālī rukdaina ×2
junkirī jhai~ jyoti bālī andhakār-mā camkincha
yo nepālī śir ucālī saṃsāra-mā lamkincha
ekātira tarāī-ko cār kośe jhāḍī cha ×2
arkotira ucca śira ṭhulṭhulā pahāḍī cha ×2
junkirī jhai~ jyoti bālī andhakār-mā camkincha
yo nepālī śir ucālī saṃsāra-mā lamkincha
janme yahī~ gautam buddha, śānti-kā agradūta ×2
sagarmāthā vijayī garne yahī deś-kā hun saputa ×2
junkirī jhai~ jyoti bālī andhakār-mā camkincha
yo nepālī śir ucālī saṃsāra-mā lamkincha ×5
ANALYSIS
| Nepali | Transliteration | Literal Translation | Figurative Translation |
| यो नेपाली शिर उचाली संसारमा लम्किन्छ | yo nepālī śir ucālī saṃsāra-mā lamkincha | This Nepali strides (after) raising head on world | A Nepali person strides across the world with their head held high |
| जुन्किरी झैँ ज्योति बाली अन्धकारमा चम्किन्छ | junkirī jhai~ jyoti bālī andhakār-mā camkincha | Lighting light like firefly (they) shine in darkness | They shine in the darkness by lighting a light like a firefly |
| चाहे झुकोस् निलो आकाश, यो नेपाली झुक्दैन | cāhe jhukos nilo ākāś, yo nepālī jhukdaina | Whether blue sky may bow down, this Nepali doesn’t bow down | Even if the blue sky bows down, a Nepali won’t bow down |
| चाहे रुकोस् चिसो बतास, यो नेपाली रुक्दैन | cāhe rukos ciso batās, yo nepālī rukdaina | Whether cold wind may stop, this Nepali doesn’t stop | Even if the cold wind may stop moving, a Nepali won’t stop moving |
| एकातिर तराईको चार कोशे झाडी छ | ekātira tarāī-ko cār kośe jhāḍī cha | Towards one side (there) is Char Kose Jhadi of Terai | Towards one end there is the Charkose Jhadi in Terai |
| अर्कोतिर उच्च शिर ठुलठुला पहाडी छ | arkotira ucca śira ṭhulṭhulā pahāḍī cha | Towards other side high head, (there) is big-big summits | At the other end there are high summits, with really large mountains |
| जन्मे यहीँ गौतम बुद्ध, शान्तिका अग्रदूत | janme yahī~ gautam buddha, śānti-kā agradūta | Gautam Buddha (was) born here[emp.], harbinger of peace | Buddha was born here, he was a herald of peace |
| सगरमाथा विजयी गर्ने यही देशका हुन् सपुत | sagarmāthā vijayī garne yahī deś-kā hun saputa | Mt. Everest victorious-doer is good son of this[emp.] country | The one who conquered Mountain Everest is (one of) the good son(s) of this country |
VOCABULARY
| शिर (śir) | Head |
| उचाली (ucālī) | ī-participle of उचाल्नु (ucālnu) | to raise > having raised |
| संसार (saṃsār) | World |
| लम्किन्छ (lamkincha) | Conjugation of लम्किनु (lamkinu) | to stride |
| झैँ (jhai~) | Like |
| ज्योति (jyoti) | Light |
| झुकोस् (jhukos) | Conjugation of झुक्नु (jhuknu) | to bow down; to bend > may (it) bow down [optative mood] |
| रुकोस् (rukos) | Conjugation of रुक्नु (ruknu) | to stop > may (it) stop [optative mood] | dialectal form of रोक्नु (roknu) |
| एकातिर (ekātira) | Towards one side |
| चार कोशे झाडी (cār kośe jhāḍī) | Charkose Forest, a forest in Nepal |
| यहीँ (yahī~) | Here[emp.] |
| शान्ति (śānti) | Peace |
| अग्रदूत (agradūt) | Harbinger; Herald |
| विजयी (vijayī) | Victorious |
| यही (yahī) | This[emp.] |
| सपुत (saput) | Good son; Virtuous son |