Tera din din beeta jaaye re manwaa
Posted by: Atul on: November 26, 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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6340 | Post No. : | 19644 |
Today’s song is a bhajan from the religious film Mahatma Kabir-1954.
The film was produced by M.S.Ahluwalia. It was directed by Gajanan Jahagirdar and the music was by the veteran Music Director Anil Biswas. The cast of the film included Surendra, Sulochana Latkar, Lalita Pawar, Master Raj Kumar, Eruch Tarapore, Heera Sawant and many others. The Guest Artists were Madan Puri, Chaman Puri, Lohana and Master Indrajit.
India is a Multi racial, multilingual and Multi religions country. It is not only one of the largest Democracies in the world, but also the largest Secular state in the world, where people from different faiths have been living together since centuries.
Many saints and religious leaders have played a significant role in keeping the mixed population of India as One Unit, when it was needed the most. A majority of Hindus, ruled by Muslim Mughals was a natural cause for social divisions, but Saints like Kabir, Surdas, Tulsidas, Ramdas, Tukaram, Ramanand, Narsi Mehta, Purandar das,Namdev, Guru Nanak Dev, Eknath, Bhakta Pundarikar, Rohidas, Mrutyunjaya and many such noble souls, did an excellent job of maintaining harmony amongst peoples of different faiths.
Kabir was born near Kashi (Varanasi) to a Bramhin widow, who deserted him, for fear of social boycott. He was found and brought up by a Muslim weaver couple-Niru and Naima. Vaishnava Saint Ramanand accepted him as his disciple. Unlike some other saints, Kabir did not become a Sadhu or a Fakir, but he married and led a normal life earning from his Loom works. He had 1 son and 1 daughter also.
Kabir campaigned against social discrimination and economic exploitation. He vehemently opposed dogmas in Hinduism and Islam. His language was straight from the heart, using common vernacular words, which appealed to the masses. He was against Murti-puja and believed in Bhakti and Sufi ideas. He was an illiterate person. His poems and Dohas were heard ,noted and written by his followers. His works are included in the Guru Granth Sahib of the Sikhs also. His dohas were in Awadhi, Brij and Bhojpuri languages. Through his philosophies, he spread the message of unity during his times. For him Ram and Rahim were the same.
More than anything else Mahatma Kabir is remembered for the courage of his convictions. He was a religious reformer who slashed down the orthodox bigotism of Hindus and Muslims alike. He denounced with a touch of satire, the whole apparatus of piety of the temple and the mosque, the idol and the holy water scriptures and the priests, labelling them as cults that vainly tried to replace Reality with Ritual. And thus it was that while courting bitterness from the accepted monopolists of Faith, he tried to eliminate the bitterness that then existed between Hindu and Muslims of that day. The life story of Kabir is surrounded by numerous contradictory legends, on which reliance cannot be placed. It is therefore not to be expected that any one version of his life could satisfy all such sections of people who claim to know anything about him.
The story of the film was….
The story of Mahatma Kabir-1954 begins with the unfolding of a lotus as divine light penetrates through its petals. The infant that lay within, stretched out its chubby arms to Nooru and Naima, a weaver couple of Benares, who brought him up as Kabir, their foster son. But Kabir grew into a strange boy, dreamy and listless, curious of matters spiritual, until one day he saw in Swami Ramananda his destined teacher. Eager to meet his Guru alone, he lay upon the steps of the Ganges, where Ramananda was accustomed to bath. The master trod upon his body unexpectedly and exclaimed “Ram Ram”. Accepting this as a token of the mantra of initiation, and with inspiring words of the Guru, Kabir stepped forth in pursuit of his mystic mission.
As a youth, he found his opposition from the orthodox groups increasing in threatening proportions. His family was ostracised socially and economically, a calamity to which his foster father Nooru succumbed. All legends agree that Kabir, a simple unlettered weaver, relied on work as a means of living independently of any charity and earned his livelihood from the loom. The work of his hands helped him rather than hindered the impassioned meditation of his heart from the depths of which he sang the rapturous lyrics of divine love.
Kabir Saheb was constantly harassed by the Mahajan for the repayment of his foster father’s debt which on account of his economic boycott he was not able to repay. He was involved in a theft charge and presented before the Ruler of Kashi who ordered him to be whipped. The sentence was executed but Kabir smiled at the foolishness of those trying to punish him for the offence he had not committed, while the real offender on whom the lashes were actually falling cried in pain. The repentant Kashi Naresh honoured and feted Kabir and the entire ensemble shouted Kabirji ki jai. Returning home Kabir found his ancestral home attached by his Mahajan. People offered to pay off the debt but Kabir declined their offer. He thought that Ram was taking him closer to Himself by slowly removing the barriers of worldly possessions.
With the ancestral house gone, Kabir walked away to the ruins in the outskirts of the Kashi with his foster mother Naima and wife Loi. From there, this apostle of Universal Love, travelled through the length and breadth of the land and the countries beyond, spreading his gospel far and wide while his foster-mother and wife Loi suffered the privations of life. After many years he returned to Benares, where his ailing mother held her breath only to see him for the last time. Now Kabir was an old man, but much revered and still more opposed. This opposition culminated in his being presented before Sikander Lodi on a charge that he was not only an enemy of Islam but also a traitor to the throne of Delhi. Sikander referred the matters to the Kazi of Benares, who ordered him to be thrown into the Ganges tied hand and foot. The cruel sentence was carried out, while a vast multitude, thronging the Benares Ghats looked on with throbbing hearts and streaming eyes.
As expected, Kabir survives and Kazi and Sikander bow their heads in respect. Finally when Kabir dies, his body turns into flowers and Hindus and Muslims share it for their respective last rites.
The film was directed by Gajanan Jahagirdar. Film industry is full of strange things. People in this industry are prone to be influenced by good omens and bad omens. Once an artist is branded as unlucky, his career can not proceed further. This was more common in the early years. Examples are Music Directors C.Arjun and Daan Singh. They were branded as Unlucky, because their more films remained unreleased or incomplete than their released films. Though they had talent, their careers came to an early end. However, there is a case of an actor/director, who had proven disasters wherever he worked. Still, he kept on getting work and had a long career, ending with Government recognition. I am talking about Gajanan Jahagirdar.
We all know the famous actor and director Gajanan Jagirdar (real surname Jahagirdar. B. 2-4-1907/ D. 13-8-1988), but few know that he was branded ‘unlucky’. ‘Padosi’ (1941) was Jagirdar’s first film with Prabhat film company. By the time the film was complete Shantaram and his some friends left Prabhat making it crippled. Second time Jagirdar worked in the film ‘Ramshastri’ (1944) for Prabhat, the important partner Vishnupant Damle died and Prabhat almost collapsed. The third time Jagirdar worked for Prabhat in the film ‘Lokmanya Tilak’, the company was auctioned and closed down forever ! When Jagirdar worked for “Shahir Parshuram”of Mangal pictures, the company went bankrupt and closed down. In 1953, top production company Alhad Chitra employed Jagirdar for a bilingual film, ‘Mahatma’ (1953), not only the film flopped, it drowned the company and the Producer Datta Dharmadhikari came on the road. For survival he started a roadside kitchen !
Jagirdar started as a freelancer in the industry, in the film studios of Prabhat Films and Minerva Movietone and later acted and directed in a number of films post his accidental debut ‘Jalti Nishani’ in 1932. He was hand-picked by V Shantaram to act in ‘Jalti Nishani’ when actor DD Mane wasn’t able to say the Urdu dialogues on screen properly. And even though he was only 25, he enacted the part of a 75-year-old with aplomb.
Jagirdar began acting on the stage as a young child. As he grew older, he formed Arun Players, a theatre group which enacted plays like Harindranath Chattopadhyay’s ‘Returned from Abroad’ to Anton Chekhov’s ‘The Cherry Orchard’.
Not bound to any one studio, he worked as a freelancer for most of the major film studios of the time — from Prabhat Films to Minerva Movietone. At Prabhat, he began with writing the English inter titles for films. He also taught the Prabhat artistes Urdu dialogue delivery. He assisted Bhalji Pendharkar for a bit and directed a few films like ‘Begunaah’ (1937) for Master Vinayak’s banner Hans Pictures. Later, he moved on to work as a scenarist (screenwriter) for Minerva Movietone’s ‘Meetha Zahar’ (1938) and ‘Divorce’ (1938). He also worked with filmmaker PK Atre, both as actor and director in a few films.
For V Shantaram’s last film with Prabhat Films, the famed director took up the issue of communal tension in the country. Jagirdar played the Muslim character Mirza, while Mazhar Khan played the Hindu character, Thakur in the bilingual. ‘Padosi’ was a critical and commercial hit at that time.
‘Ramshastri’ (1944) was a landmark bilingual film on Peshwa Madhavrao’s chief justice and one of the last classics produced by Prabhat Films. The film went through three directors — Raja Nene, Vishram Bedekar shot portions of the film before Gajanan Jagirdar, who was playing the lead character Ramshastri Prabhune, took over to finish it. It is said that V Shantaram also directed parts of it.
In Asit Sen’s ‘Apradhi Kaun’ (1957), Jagirdar played a double role as two brothers Shrinath and Dinanath. It was a fantastic opportunity for the actor. As the wealthy Shrinath who has inherited all of the ancestral property, Jagirdar was cool and composed. Meanwhile, as the down-on-his-luck brother Dinanath, Jagirdar transformed himself and his body to differentiate the two. Jagirdar acted in 147 films, directed 17 films and wrote 13 songs in film ‘Sant Tulsidas’ (1934).
Prior to his career in films, Jagirdar was also a teacher and later also taught acting. He became the first principal of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in 1960, but resigned after a year. He wrote two autobiographies that were published in 1971 and 1986. Additionally, he also wrote a book on acting which explored Konstantin Stanislavsky’s method to the craft.
The music for this film was given by Anil Biswas. C.H.Atma, who unsuccessfully tried to become a singing star in films like Bhai sahab-54 and Bilwamangal-54, had sung a Bhajan ” Ram Ras Barse re manwa ” in this film as a playback-in Saigal style. Anil Biswas and Saigal were good friends. Whenever Saigal wanted to avoid any unwanted visitor to him, he would escape to Anilda’s home and take his afternoon siesta. Unfortunately, Saigal never sang for Anilda, though he had kept one tune ready for him. This was later used for a song by Mukesh in another film.
Not Saigal, but singers who liked Saigal, sang for Anil Biswas…like Mukesh in Pehli Nazar-45 (dil jalta hai to jalne de), Kishore Kumar in film Fareb-53 ( husn bhi hai udas) and C.H.Atma in the film Mahatma Kabir-54 (Ram ras barse re Manwa).
The Hero of Mahatma Kabir was Surendra. At one time he was projected as Bombay’s answer to Calcutta’s Saigal, by Sagar Movietone. While working in Sagar and National, Anil Biswas had used Surendra’s voice in films like Jagirdar, Mahageet, Gramophone singer, Comrade, Aurat and Jawani. Sagar Movietone always tried to compete with New Theatres, Calcutta. When they made President-37, Sagar made Jagirdar-37 and when Street singer-38 was made, Sagar made Gramophone singer-38. Though Surendra was popular, he could never match Saigal. It is to the credit of Surendra, that personally he revered Saigal and never thought of competing with him.
It was Naushad, who first stopped Surendra’s singing and gave him a playback of Ustad Amir Khan in the film Baiju Bawra-52. When he was sporadically heard in films Gharbar-53 and Gawaiya-53, Anil Biswas blocked his singing again and all songs for Surendra in film Mahatma Kabir-1954, were sung by Manna Dey as playback. After this Surendra only sang in the film Pati Patni-66. It was rumoured that Surendra himself requested the producer to allow him to sing his last song. He did it for free too !
Amirbai Karnataki, who sang in this film was also in her last phase of film singing and after Mahatma Kabir-54, she sang only one song each in 57,61,64 and 72. Thus ended her singing career.
Today’s song is Kabir bhajan, sung by Manna Dey. Enjoy….
Song-Tera din din beeta jaaye re manwaa (Mahatma Kabir)(1954) Singer- Manna Dey, Lyricist- Kabir, MD- Anil Biswas
Chorus
aa aaa aa aa aa
aa aa aa
manwa
aa aa aa aa aa
tera din din beeta jaaye re manva
palchhin beeta jaaye
tera din din beeta jaaye re manva
palchhin beeta jaaye
birahee nain bhaye bairaagee ee ee
birahee nain bhaye bairaagee
hari bin kachhu na suhhaaye re manva
rimjhim beeta jaye
tera pachhin beeta jaaye re manva
rimjhim beeta jaaye
saans saans mein hari kaho
hari bol hari bol hari bol hari bol
hari bol hari bol hari bol hari bol
saans saans mein hari kaho
virtha janam na khoye
ko jaane kis saans ka paavan hoye na hoye
saans ik aaye ik jaaye re
manava din din beeta jaye
tera pachhin beeta jaaye re manava
din din beeta jaaye
maalee aavat dekh ke ae ae kaliyaan karen pukaar aa aar
phool phool sab chun liye ae ae
kaal hamaaree baar
kyun kaal darash dikhalaaye re manva
din din beeta jaaye
tera din din beeta jaaye re manwaa
pachhin beeta jaaye re manava
din din beeta jaaye
re manava
palchhin beeta jaaye
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Atul’s Song A Day- A choice collection of Hindi Film & Non-Film Songs 
November 26, 2025 at 6:32 pm
Good evening dear Arunkumar Ji,
It is always a great pleasure to learn, watch and listen to such stories and songs with such detailed description.
Very happy to find this valuable information though your wonderful article.
Thanks for sharing knowledge.
Blessings
Uma 🙏
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