Mera janam kisee ko rulaaye naa
Posted on: October 9, 2025
This article is written by Arunkumar Deshmukh, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a contributor to this blog. This article is meant to be posted in atulsongaday.me. If this article appears in other sites without the knowledge and consent of the web administrator of atulsongaday.me, then it is piracy of the copyright content of atulsongaday.me and is a punishable offence under the existing laws.
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Today’s song is from the film Naag Panchami-1953.
The 5th Tithi or the 5th day of Saawan (Shrawan) is celebrated as NAAG PANCHAMI. On this day, Naag/Cobras or simply any snake in general is worshipped. This is because Snakes are considered as Farmer’s friends. Snakes eat mice, which destroy stored grains and standing crops too. Mice also spread many diseases in villages.
Worshipping Snakes is a symbolic way to acknowledge their importance to the Farmers and spread the message of environmental balance. On this day, young girls in the villages tie Jhoola(swing) on trees and sing songs.
As expected there are hundreds of stories in Puranas about the snakes or Naags. It is believed that like Swarg Lok and Pataal Lok, there is also a Naag Lok, which is ruled by a King of Snakes/Naags.
What do we know about snakes, in general ? Whenever and wherever a snake is found, the tendency is to kill it. Humans have an inherent fear about snakes. Not all snakes are poisonous or venomous and very few are capable of killing humans with their venoms. Out of all the 3500 known snake species only 20 % are venomous and only 7 % can kill humans, as per a study. Actually, snakes are very useful creatures, particularly for the farmers. They eat rats-who destroy the standing crops and stored grains. Non-Venomous snakes are eaten with relish in China and some other countries in the Far East.
The king of snakes- Vasuki, according to Mythology was born to Sage Kashyap and wife Kadru. Vasuki is considered as the leader of all snakes in the Naag Lok. Vasuki was so long and strong that he was used as a rope for Samudra Manthan by Gods and Asurs. The elder brother of Vasuki-Sheshnag balances the universe on its head. He is also used as a bed for Lord Vishnu. The younger brother Vasuki adorns the neck of Lord Shiva.
All this indicates that snakes/Naagas are variously depicted by our ancestors very honourably. Like Swarg Lok and Patal Lok, there is also a Naag Lok. We all worship Naagas on Naag Panchami. There are many snake temples in India. The snakes are useful to farmers. In Spite of all this we kill them as soon as we find them. Any animal or creature tries to stay away from humans and will not attack them unless there is a fear of their life.
In our Holy Scriptures, Naag Lok and stories of Naagas are found in plenty. References are found in Ramayan and Mahabharat also. Bhagvat Puran, Vishnu Puran, Shiv Puran and other books have many stories about them. Mansa Devi, younger sister of Sheshnag and Vasuki, is considered as Lord Shiv ji’s daughter.
In India all our social customs, traditions, calendars and Festivals are linked to Agriculture, because basically,even today, we are an Agricultural country. With almost over 70% population (as against 85% in 1947) living in Villages and depending on farming, even these days. No wonder all our major events have an Agricultural base.
Naags ,not being independent or a major Devata, have their stories in Puranas, connected with some other Gods. For example,in Bhagwat Puran there is a story of ” Syamantak Mani” and Lord Krishna and in Shiv Puran,there is a story of Manasa, the snake queen who is the daughter of Shiv.
The film NAAG PANCHAMI-1953 was produced by Vinod Films of Vinodchandra Shah. Directed by Raman B Desai, it had music by Chitragupta for Lyrics written by G S Nepali.
The cast of the film was Manhar Desai, Nirupa Roy, B M Vyas Durga Khote, Ramesh Tiwari, Ranjit Kumari ( second wife of actor Ram Singh), Umakant ( did the role of Laxman in 7 films, including film Ram Rajya-1943), Praveen Paul, Heera Sawant etc.
The real name of Manhar Desai was Malcolm Alfredo D’souza. He was born in Goa on 3-8-1917. His family had shifted to Gujarat. He came to Bombay in 1940 and did some small roles in films. His first film as Hero was “Toofani Sawar-1947”.
In 1948 he was cast opposite Nirupa Roy in her film ‘Gun Sundari’ which became a hit. Later he paired with Nirupa Roy in more than 30 films. In Madhosh-51,he acted opposite Meena Kumari.
Naag panchami-53 was his first Dharmik film with Nirupa Roy. His face became identified with Dharmik films in later days though he acted in many stunt films also. He died on 25-2-1992 in Bombay. It is a coincidence that two major actors of Dharmik films- Manhar Desai and Shahu Modak were not Hindus but both were Christians !
The story of the film is actually the story of Sati Behula.
Once upon a time there was a king called Chandrabhan, who was a great Shiv bhakta. Manasa was the Queen of the Naak Lok. She was also the daughter of Shiv. She wished that all people should worship her, instead of Shiv.
God Shiv told her that if Chandrabhan worships her all people will do it. In Spite of her many attempts, Chandrabhan does not agree to give up Shiv Pooja and do Manasa Pooja. She gives him the curse that his son will die on his wedding night with a snake bite.
His son the Raajkumar marries the princess Behula of the neighbouring kingdom.On their wedding night, though all precautions were taken, a snake bites him and he dies. Behula, a Shiv bhakta herself, performs a pilgrimage carrying her dead husband’s body with her.
Seeing her devotion and Bhakti Lord Shiv makes Raajkumar alive again. To please Mansa, He gives her a boon that on the 5th day of Shrawan all snakes will be worshipped and the day will be called NAAG PANCHAMI forever.
Today, let us know more about the famous villain-B.M.Vyas. Actor Brij Mohan aka B.M.Vyas was one artiste who started as a singer, became a drama actor and then ended up as a villain, character actor. B.M.Vyas was born as Brijmohan Vyas on Vijayadashami (22 October) day of 1920 in Churu, Rajasthan. He is the younger brother of the well-known poet and lyricist, Bharat Vyas. He was married at the age of 17 when his wife, Jamna was just 11. They had 71 years of marital bliss before Jamna passed away in 2008. They had six daughters and a son. After acting in over 200 films in various languages, Vyas quit acting in the early 1990s. Then he moved to his residence in Kalyan. Having seen various shades of life, Vyas lived a contented life with his children and grandchildren.
On 15 January, 1944, actor Prithviraj Kapoor realised his dream when Prithvi Theatre, his own drama company came into being. Mahakavi Kalidas’ classic Shakuntala was chosen to be their first performance. The play’s cast included Uzra Mumtaz (younger sister of Zohra Segal) to play Shakuntala, Prithviraj Kapoor to play Dhushyant, K N Singh was cast as Rishi Kanva, Shakuntala’s foster father, Sati Devi (Bijoya Ray’s sister, Ruma Guha Thakurta’s mother) as Gautami, caretaker of Kanva Ashram who raises Shakuntala, and Hemavati (Daya Kishan Sapru’s wife) to play Shakuntala’s friend Priyamvada, among others. A young, 24 years old, B M Vyas was recruited as a singer by the drama company to sing songs in their play at a monthly salary of 75 Rupees.
Once when rehearsals for their maiden show were in progress and Vyas was done with his singing rehearsals, he was watching rehearsals of the cast. One of his songs for the play was “Bitiya Rani Kahan Kahan Tapasvi Log, Milna Julna Rehgaya Nadi Naav Sanjog”. The cast was rehearsing for a scene which needed Rishi Kanva to recite a mantra in Sanskrit, but actor K N Singh was having trouble reciting it. Prithviraj was trying to help him but was also faltering in saying it perfectly. Vyas , an expert in Hindi and Sanskrit, having immense knowledge of Ved Mantra was witnessing the proceedings for two days. It was possibly the blessing of Goddess Saraswati that inspired him to say the mantra aloud. On hearing him intone the mantra with such Brahminical precision, Prithviraj was very impressed and asked him to help K N Singh in saying the mantra correctly. But soon K N Singh informed Prithviraj ji that he will not be able to speak Devbhasha (Sanskrit) and that he should look for another artiste for the role. Prithviraj asked Prithvi Theatre’s manager Ramesh Saigal to approach Vyas for the role. Vyas , who had already acted in a Rajasthani play Ramu Chanana earlier, readily agreed and stepped into the role and thus started his journey as an actor.
While the rehearsals were still on, Vyas suffered a personal tragedy and had to go back home in Bikaner, Rajasthan. There he fell sick with typhoid. Here rehearsals were in full swing as the play was to premiere on 9 March, 1945 at the Royal Opera House. The final date was about a month away so Prithviraj asked him to come back as soon as possible. Vyas returned with his wife though he was still unwell. On the day he resumed his rehearsals he couldn’t do much due to frequent blackouts. The medication he was on did not seem to help him much. He remembers the doctor from Kalbadevi who treated him for free; with his medication, Vyas ji’s health improved considerably in just three days.
The final round of rehearsals was done and finally the day of Prithvi Theatre’s first play to be staged, arrived. For the first performance of Shakuntala, many known names of the film industry were present at Royal Opera House. In the scene where Rishi Kanva makes an entry on stage he was required to raise his hands for blessing but Vyas was still weak and his hands started shaking. He tried a lot to control them but to no avail. He then remembered that he had seen many old people whose hands and heads would involuntarily shake, so he started to shake his head too. The end result was so effective that during the play’s interval Prithviraj came and hugged him. He asked him how he developed that body language, Vyas told him about his genuine problem. Prithiviraj told him that he did a wonderful job and should continue with the same every time the play was staged.
Vyas had a long association with Prithvi Theatre, from 1944 to 1955. During this period he toured with the group to various cities and got an opportunity to showcase his singing and acting skills in various plays like – Deewar, Pathan, Aahuthi, Gaddar, Kalaakar, etc.
After Vyas joined Prithvi Theatre as a singer, he had to do regular riyaz at home. A music teacher who often heard him sing once asked if he would be willing to give music tuitions. Since his monthly salary was 75 Rupees then, Vyas agreed as this would give him additional income. The teacher took him to meet Jaichand Kapoor and soon Vyas started giving music tuitions to his elder son, Brijmohan. However his younger brother seemed more inclined and started learning music from Vyas . This youngster was none other than our legendary playback singer, Mahendra Kapoor who always acknowledged that B M Vyas was his first Guru.
Vyas had been interested in music since childhood. He is a self-taught singer. In the early 1940s Bharat Vyas called his younger brother to Mumbai. Soon Vyas ji got the opportunity to act and sing as many as twenty songs for the Rajasthani play Ramu Chanana written by Bharat . Music Director Naushad Sahab’s assistant Ghulam Muhammad who hailed from Rajasthan was very impressed when he heard Vyas’s voice in the play. He took him to meet Naushad Sahab who was working on the soundtrack of the film Pehle Aap (1944). Vyas got an opportunity to sing a group song “Hindustan Ke Hum Hain, Hindustan Hamara; Hindu Muslim Dono Ki Aakhon Ka Tara” with established singers G. M. Durrani and Shyam Kumar along with a new singer Mohammed Rafi. Since this song was supposed to be sung by soldiers on screen, Vyas and Rafi Sahab had to wear heavy boots and do a rhythmic march while singing to give an effect of an army troop. Such effects could not be added to a song with the technology available then; it all had to be done in real time. However the first ever song Vyas sang for a film was “Alakh Niranjan, Jai Jai Jai Manaranjan” from Bhartrihari (1944) which was picturized on Arun Ahuja (Govinda’s father).
Vyas gave playback in four films – Bhartrihari (1944, MD: Khemchand Prakash), Pehle Aap (1944, MD: Naushad), Maharana Pratap (1946, MD: Ram Ganguli) and Naulakha Haar (MD: R C Boral) before destiny took him on a different path. He remembered meeting Rafi Sahab years later who sweetly said “Pandit ji you changed our line (singing)” to which Vyas admitted that he did not see much of a future for himself in singing and hence switched to acting.
After Prithvi Theatre’s first play Shakuntala was staged, Devika Rani (owner of Bombay Talkies) was keen to know who played Rishi Kanva. When she saw the 24 yrs old Vyas she was surprised, she never expected to see such a young man. She offered him a role in a Bombay Talkies film to be directed by actor Jairaj but the film was never made.
When Ramesh Saigal moved away from Prithvi Theatre, he joined Chetan Anand’s company India Pictures as Production Manager. They were working on their next film Neecha Nagar (1946) when Ramesh Saigal offered Vyas a small role (protagonist’s elder brother) in the film. Prithvi Theatre never laid any restrictions on their actors; they could take outside work while working in their plays. Vyas was eager to face the camera and accepted the role with open arms. He is credited as ‘Vyas ji’s in this film. Soon he played a small role in Raj Kapoor‘s Aag (1948) where he is credited as ‘Brijmohan’. But the role that gave him recognition in the film industry was in Barsaat (1949) where he played actress Nargis’ father. For this film he is credited as ‘B. M. Vyas’. Thus Vyas ji’s film career took off and he never looked back.
He had a long and very successful career of more than four decades and was part of many memorable classics. He had always been a character artist who started his career with portraying old characters. His last film most probably was Maa (1991).
Vyas was very keen to work with the great filmmaker V Shantaram and he approached him for work. Shantaram was planning Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957) and he was busy casting actors to play six prisoners in the film. He did not tell him that he is Bharat’s younger brother who was the lyricist of the film. When Vyas approached him, Shantaram was initially a bit apprehensive due to his height but soon cast him as one of the prisoners, Jalia Nai. They had a month-long schedule in Kolhapur. When the reels were sent to Rajkamal Studios for processing, it was found that due to dirt particles on the lens there were lines all across the frame in all the reels and the whole month’s hard work had gone to waste. They had to reshoot the entire thing. Vyas had a tough time managing schedules due to this re-shoot as he had other films in hand too.
My favourite scene of this film is where Jalia comes with an intention to kill the Jailor played by Shantaram himself. That scene showcases Vyas’ ability as a performer, his entire body language, facial expressions, use of eyes and voice in this scene is a class act, beyond words.
About the classic scene from Sampoorna Ramayan (1961) Vyas said when he was offered the role of Ravan he was thrilled, being Shastri in Sanskrit he had read so much about this mythological character. Hence he was really keen to play the part but Ravan is expected to have a powerful physique while Vyas ji had a lean frame. To overcome this hurdle he got cotton padded clothing made for the role to look fuller. The rising temperature due to lights in addition to studio heat, he would sweat profusely in those cotton padded clothes but he did not let it hinder his performance. That innovative scene where Ravan is interacting with his nine heads was a collective brainchild of Babubhai Mistry and Homi Wadia. Vyas had to enact from a fixed position in front of a stationary camera for fifteen days but the end result was very effective.
B M Vyas acted in 175 films. His first film was Neecha Nagar-46 and last film was Oh,Darling ! yeh hai India-95. Vyas ji left for a better world on 11 March, 2013. (Adapted from articles from Maitri Manthan and Blog beete hue din, with thanks.)
Here is a song from today’s film,sung by Asha Bhosle. All the seven songs of this film were sung by Asha Bhosle, including a duet with Rafi. Enjoy the song video….
Song-Mera janam kisee ko rulaaye naa (Naag Panchami)(1953) Singer- Asha Bhosle, Lyricist-Gopal Singh Nepali, MD- Chitragupta
Lyrics
Satee naaree ke sat prataap ko o
devon ne jab maana
kyun na galega phir pal bhar mein
ye lohe ka dhaana
mera janam kisee ko rulaaye na
meree laaj ko aaj bacha lena
mera janam kisee ko rulaaye na
meree laaj ko aaj bacha lena
Bhagwaan abhee main kunwaaree hoon
aur maat pita kee pyaaree hoon
maat pita kee pyaaree hoon
Bhagwaan abhee main kunwaaree hoon
aur maat pita kee pyaaree hoon
maat pita kee pyaaree hoon
koi un par aanch lagaaye na
meree laaj ko aaj bacha lena
mera janam kisee ko rulaaye na
meree laaj ko aaj bacha lena
jab janam diya to hansne do o o o
mujhko bhee jag mein basne do
jab janam diya to hansne do o o o
mujhko bhee jag mein basne do
mujhko bhee jag mein basne do
man jiska gar(?) pachhtaaye na
meree laaj ko aaj bacha lena
mera janam kisee ko rulaaye na
meree laaj ko aaj bacha lena
man mein aag lagee
nainon se aansoo chhal chhal ??
loha gal gal jaa
loha gal gal jaa
meree haar mujhe kalpaaye na
meree laaj ko aaj bacha lena
mera janam kisee ko rulaaye na
meree laaj ko aaj bacha lena
Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
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