Mughal-E-Azam

l am lndia

The Himalayas guard my boundaries

The Ganges is the witness

to my chastity

Since the beginning of time...

l have been a friend

of darkness and light

These marble edifices

tell the world:

Tyrants robbed and ravaged me...

well-wishers adorned me

Fools chained me...

my lovers broke those chains

Among those who loved me there was...

one named Jal Al-u-Din Mohammed Akbar

Akbar loved me

Standing high above the divisions

of religion and tradition...

he taught people to love one another

And he held me in his embrace

for ever

This is the palace

of the Emperor Akbar

Now its every nook and cranny...

can tell stories of bygone days

Far from the comforts...

of his splendid palace...

in this scorching desert...

walking barefoot

on the burning sand...

is Akbar the Great

The despair in his eyes is because...

he had yet to see

the smiling face of an offspring

Akbar's pilgrimage is

to a hermitage...

of the Saint

Sheikh Salim-u-din Chisti...

in the hope that through

his prayers...

God might bless Akbar with a son

ln the entire royal caravan...

Akbar the Great alone had vowed

to walk on foot

At last he reached his destination

The Emperor, before whom

the world bowed...

bowed his head before a fakir

God never refuses the entreaty

of his devotees

Lift your hands in prayer...

l shall join you

O Emperor of Emperors

You have bestowed

on this insignificant man...

boundless wealth from your treasury

l have been called Protector

of the world, and Shadow of God

Let me now hear a voice

that calls me father

O Master of the Two Worlds...

let me not die without a trace

He shall bless Queen Jodha

with a child

Congratulations, Your Majesty

God has blessed you with a son...

and an heir to the Mughal Empire

Praise be to Allah!

You have brought a message of joy

to the dispirited life of Akbar

Take this ring as a token

l swear by these sacred scales

of justice

that whatever you may request of me...

shall be granted

ln the passage of time...

the Prince revealed

his mischievous nature

Prince!

These scales are not your playthings

Are they the Emperor's playthings?

- No

Emperor Babar's sacred scales...

are an emblem of

Mughal emperors' justice

Wonderful!

Prince, please learn these words

you will say in the Court

lt is a command?

- No, a request

Then l shall try

The Prince's insubordination

increased...

and he overstepped the bounds

of respect

Take this and let it float

on the currents of Jamuna

The grandeur of Mughals

began to waver...

and the intoxicated Prince Salim

started staggering

To Akbar the Great...

the future of lndia seemed bleak

l shall not see that evil day...

when Mughal greatness becomes the toy

of a profligate Prince

Mansingh

Divest him of his

mother's tender love...

and clad him in armour

Nurture him in the scorching

sand-storms...

of the battlefield

l entrust you with the future

of the Mughals

Salim has performed his duty

as we would have wished

My darling, my child!

ls this the magnificent

Queen of lndia?

No, Your Majesty. Merely a mother

l was not aware...

that a mother's weakness

would make...

Queen Jodha forget her dignity

Your Majesty, does Mughal rule...

not allow a mother to pine and weep...

when her son's blood

is pitilessly shed?

She may pine, but not weep

lf all the mothers of other sons...

on the battlefield were to weep...

then lndia would drown in tears

Distribute gems among the poor

equal to the weight of this armour

For fourteen years, Prince Salim...

was nurtured on the battlefields

He became a victorious general

Have the Prince's wounds

not been cleansed?

We are not allowed in

The surgeon is waiting. Prince,

do you not want your wounds cleansed?

They are not wounds, but flowers

For flowers to die

is an insult to spring

lt is not only an assassin

but also a beloved;...

lt is rose-bough and also a sword

After fourteen years of bloodshed

you are still soaked in poetry

Astonishing

There is nothing astonishing

Would an Omar Khayyam verse change

if it were written on stone...

instead of gold?

Then whatever your ruler

has thought about me...

is wrong

Why send the story of my

blood-drenched youth page by page?

Send this saga of my life, in blood

and dust, to His Majesty

And none best-fitted to deliver it

than my faithful son, Durjan

May His majesty's good fortune remain!

The Prince has emerged victorious again

How many wounds did your Prince

receive?

Countless. Many blows fell,

but the swords were blunted

They could but not salute the

prince's courage and Akbar's blood

We shall inspect his armour

lnstead of armour, the Prince has

sent this message

Let it be read aloud

The Emperor of lndia,

Jal Al-u-Din Mohammed Akbar

Sire, here is the account of every

morsel of the land...

soaked with the blood of your heir

For fourteen years, this land

engulfed in the flames of war...

has sucked your blood

which flows in my veins

The flames are extinguished...

but there is still blood

in Salim's body

Command me, and l shall stain the

valleys of the south with my blood

Sire, your humble servant, Salim

All praise to Allah!

Today Salim has become our heir

Chief Scribe

Send a command to the Prince

to return to the Court

Congratulations

on the Prince's return

O Lord, you are silent.

Let me see Salim's face

His Majesty has ordered Durjan to

bring the prince back to the Court

Bahaar, you have come with a

message of joy to dry our tears

l shall reward you

with plentiful pearls

lt is not enough. l want the prince to

walk on pearls, when he returns

And more than that, Bahaar.

l allow you everything for Salim

My son is returning after many years

l shall ask the Emperor to

let me have him

He has seen his father's

manner of rule...

but not the love of his mother

Tell the Court Dancer to prepare

an elegant dance...

to erase the fiery images of war

from Salim's eyes

And tell Tansen to compose such

melodies for Salim's welcome

that he will forget the bellow

of cannons

Bahaar, encircle Salim with

everlasting spring

Make a thousand moons glow

for my son

Where his steps fall, let there be

an astral carpet

And wherever he glances,

let there be heaven

All that my heart yearns for

but cannot express

O Lord, let that auspicious moment

come soon

when my son shall be before

my eyes

Then l shall even forget you

for a while

Sculptor

The Spring (Bahaar) of the palace

in my deserted workshop?

l have come for a statue

for the Prince

The princes and emperors do not like

my statues

Why not?

- Because they speak the truth

This is the Royal Court, every word

of the Emperor is justice

None can appeal against it

And here is a battlefield

The blood of millions shed for

the triumph of one man

And this is for speaking the truth

Death

That is not true, it is

an artist's complaint

The mind accepts the beauty of

your art, the heart does not

What good is that statue if

a proud head does not bow before it?

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