Madhushala - Rubaiya 6

Madiraalay jaane ko ghar se
chaltaa hai peenewaalaa,
'kis pathh sey jaaoon' asmanjas
mein hai wah bholaabhaalaa;
alag-alag path batlaate sab
par main yeh batlaata hoon...
'raah pakad tuu ek chala chal
paa jaayega madhusaalaa

The introduction is complete; Bachchan starts the main body of his poem with this verse. Starting with this rubaiya, Bachchan describes the search for the tavern, or if you are so inclined, the search for truth, or the meaning of life.

This is perhaps the most over-analyzed, most quoted verse in the Madhushala. Yet, I would like to think that it is quite a simple verse. Bachchan is giving fair warning to his readers that he is not going to outline a point of view or state a philosophical position.

As a matter of fact, this is what most writers do. They first take a position, and then they proselytize it. As Bachchan repeatedly points out, the attempt to draw a map to the madhushala, or to describe a path to the truth, simply pushes the truth away. "Truth is a pathless land", said Jiddu Krishnamurti.

Bachchan states that the art of good living is not dependent upon choosing the right path to living, but to choose A path and then live it.

I do not like to think that this verse merely suggests that "all roads lead to the tavern". Indeed, this has been the conventional explanation. "All roads lead to God", or whatever. I think that Bachchan says, instead, "WALK; damn the road!!" As he'll show later, salvation lies in the walking, not in the fact that a road was chosen.

The meaning of life cannot be discovered intellectually. It has to be lived if it has to be understood. That is the meaning of this verse.