NADIYA DHEERE BAHO – FROM RIGVEDA TO FOLK CULTURE, CONCERTS, AND BOLLYWOOD

 

NADIYA DHEERE BAHO – FROM RIGVEDA TO FOLK CULTURE, CONCERTS, AND BOLLYWOOD

Shrikant G. Talageri 

 

As I am preparing my three articles on music (to be uploaded on 5 April 2026 in memory of my parents on the day on which my father would have completed 100 years), I noticed once more this theme reverberating through Indian poetry and music from the Rigveda to the present day.

In the Rigveda, in hymn III.33, the Bharata king Sudās, after conducting a massive horse-releasing ceremony (not yet fully the famed aśvamedha of the New Rigveda and the Epics) in modern-day Haryana at the hands of his (first) priest Viśvāmitra, has just started out on his expansive and imperialistic journey of conquest westwards into the Punjab, land of the Anus (linguistic ancestors of the Iranians, Greeks, Armenians and Albanians).

The first obstacle he faces is the riverine obstacle of the easternmost two tributaries of the (yet unreached and far-off) Sindhu / Indus river, which are flowing in full spate: the Śutudrī (present-day Sutlej) and the Vipāś (the Hyphasis/Hypasis/Hybasis of the later classical Greek texts, the present-day Beas).

Viśvāmitra addresses this famous hymn (III.33) to the two rivers, asking them to flow gently or cease flowing altogether, in order to allow Sudās and his army of Bharata soldiers to pass over from east to west in safety.

Verses 9 and 11 of the hymn (III.33.9,11), addressed to the two rivers, as translated by Jamison:

“Listen well to the bard, sisters. He has driven to you from afar with his wagon and chariot. Bow down, become easy to cross, staying below his axle(s) with your currents, you rivers.

When the Bharatas should really have crossed you entirely – the horde seeking cattle, propelled, sped by Indra – then certainly your forward thrust, launched in a surge, will rush (again). I wish for the favor of you who deserve the sacrifice”.

Griffith’s translation:

“List quickly, Sisters, to the bard who cometh to you from far away with car and wagon. Bow lowly down; be easy to be traversed stay, Rivers, with your floods below our axles.

Soon as the Bharatas have fared across thee, the warrior band, urged on and sped by Indra, Then let your streams flow on in rapid motion. I crave your favour who deserve our worship.”

  

This theme, asking the river waters to slow down or cease flowing in force so as to enable someone to cross over in safety, is one which has reverberated down the centuries right from the very first book in the world, the Rigveda, as a consistent theme in poetry and music.

Here is the popular theme expressed in our semi-classical musical forms like the thumri:

Dagar Brothers (two versions):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vctZ7VOkKME

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-buDsyjV-g

Prabha Atre:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCWMfeqyxqM

Padmavati Shaligram:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV9kQrYNQn8

Shruti Sadolikar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRqfm50Dzts

Iqbal Bano:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgjPrzkiCF8

Faraz Nizami:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdskwouIhwU

Manali Bose:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9O0nUccpC4

Sangborti Das:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBi0BV7-avY

 

Here are a few examples of bhajan/folk versions (arbitrarily chosen from youtube):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbRFuANBA3A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSFB3AJJZBU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhC8flf5j_0

 

The theme has been popular in our film industry from very early times, starting with Ashok Kumar’s famous film Acchut Kanya:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08IcQgSUxnY

And of course the most famous version of the song by Lata Mangeshkar in the film Udan Khatola: both in the original Hindi and in its Tamil version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JNlj1qkRf8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFHMUuw0NRw

A theme stretching from the Rigveda to present-day folk/religious/classical/film music, and from the North to the South! There may be such songs in regional languages as well, unknown to me.

 

POSTSCRIPT:

Of course, crossing a river in full spate is not an obstacle to someone aided by the Gods or driven by strong and overpowering passion.

Vasudeva, the father of Krishna, crosses a flooded river (which parts and creates a path for him), the Yamuna in full spate to, take the baby Krishna to safety. Even the Bibilical Jehovah parts the waters of the Nile to enable the Jews to escape from the wrath of the Pharaoh.

The famed story of Bilwamangal, maddened with passion, crossing through a river in full spate (no divine intervention here) to reach his beloved is well known. Hindi films have many songs where equally passionate lovers cross flooded rivers to reach their beloved. A few examples:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To5cvtn0JZE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQIO-SNvEe4