Give

I recently discovered this small tale.

Poet Rahim was a great daani (i.e. giver of alms). He used to give away things to the needy all the time, and nobody ever left his door empty handed. But people observed that he always used to bow his head and look down while doing the noble deed. Everybody thought that even though he helped the needy, he was probably ashamed of doing it. In time this reached the ears of the poet seer Tulsidas. He was amused by the incident and sent Rahim this doha (i.e. couplet).


Aisi deni den ju kit seekhe ho sain,
Jyon jyon kar oonchyo karo, tyun tyun neeche nain.


On receiving the seer's note, Rahim thought that surely Tulsidas being such a great being knew his reasons for acting as he did. Probably he just wanted Rahim say it - so he replied with this doha.


Denhaar koi aur hai, bhejat jo din rain,
Log bharam ham par karen, taaso neeche nain.


The true spirit of giving comes alive in these verses.


Addendum : A translation of the couplets ...
The translation is not a word by word - but something which should
help understand the couplets instead.

Aisi deni den ju kit seekhe ho sain,
(Say where have you learnt to give thus)
Jyon jyon kar oonchyo karo, tyun tyun neeche nain.
(The higher (nobler) your deeds get, the lower your gaze becomes)

Denhaar koi aur hai, bhejat jo din rain,
(The (true) giver is someone else, who provides (everything) day and night)
Log bharam ham par karen, taaso neeche nain.
(I keep my gaze lowered, lest people should misunderstand that it is I who give).