शुक्रतारा मंद वारा — मंगेश पाडगावकर
Table of Contents
shukratara mand vaara
chandratakshi raatra
zaadaazaadi chandra aahe
chimuklyanche mitraa
aai maaze chaand aane
doodh maaze pyaave
godi godi laalaana
chaan chaan jhopave
कडवे १ #
चंद्रतारांची रात्र
झाडांझाडी चंद्र आहे
चिमुकल्यांचे मित्र
| Word | Roman | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| शुक्रतारा | shukratara | the evening star, Venus — the first star visible at dusk |
| मंद | mand | gentle, soft, slow |
| वारा | vaara | wind, breeze |
| चंद्रतारांची | chandrataaraanchi | of the moon and stars |
| रात्र | raatra | night |
| झाडांझाडी | zaadaanzaadi | among the trees, in the trees (zaad = tree, the reduplicated form suggests many trees) |
| चंद्र | chandra | moon |
| आहे | aahe | is |
| चिमुकल्यांचे | chimuklyaanche | of the little ones, of the small children (chimukal = tiny, small) |
| मित्र | mitra | friend |
What Padgaonkar is saying: The evening star shines, a gentle breeze moves. It is a night of moon and stars. Among the trees, the moon is there — the friend of little ones.
The poem opens into the sensory world of a child’s night: not frightening but beautiful, populated with familiar presences. The evening star (shukratara) appears first, then the breeze, then the full sky of moon and stars. The moon dwelling among the trees — zaadaanzaadi chandra aahe — gives the natural world a soft, domestic quality. And then the most tender touch: the moon is the friend of small children. Padgaonkar establishes the night not as something vast and indifferent but as a companion, something that has always been on the child’s side.
कडवे २ #
दूध माझे प्याावे
गोडी गोडी लाललाना
चान चान झोपावे
| Word | Roman | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| आई | aai | mother |
| माझे | maaze | my (possessive, tender form) |
| चांद | chaand | moon (chaand = the moon, also used as a term of endearment for a beloved child) |
| आणे | aane | will bring, brings |
| दूध | doodh | milk |
| प्यावे | pyaave | should drink, drink now |
| गोडी गोडी | godi godi | sweet, sweetly — the reduplication intensifies the tenderness |
| लाललाना | laalana | lullaby, the song sung to a child |
| चान चान | chaan chaan | lovely, lovely — a child’s word, used in baby-talk to mean beautiful or good |
| झोपावे | zhopave | should sleep, go to sleep |
What Padgaonkar is saying: Mother will bring the moon. My milk, drink it. A sweet, sweet lullaby — lovely, lovely, go to sleep.
The second verse enters the domestic scene: the mother singing, the child being put to bed. Chaand does double work here — it is the moon in the sky of the first verse, and it is also what the mother calls the child: my moon, my little moon, come. The milk is both literal and maternal — the most primary form of care. Godi godi and chaan chaan are the language of lullabies, the words parents repeat rhythmically until meaning dissolves into sound and the child sinks into sleep. Padgaonkar captures the complete world of childhood bedtime: the stars outside, the mother inside, the gentle insistence of her voice.