जो इंसान हार कर जीवन से,
बस मुस्करा रहा है अपनी बेबसी पे,
देखता है ये जमाना अचरज से की क्या ,
छुपाया है इसने अपने झोले में?
आँखे घुरतीं है, लाखो निगाहें तरेरती है,
अनगिनत खामोश सवाल जब घेरते हैं,
तो हारा इंसान भागने लगता है जमाने से,
और पीछे – पीछे उसके, एक भीड़ चलती है,
मन में बेचैनी लिए की क्या,
छुपाया है इसने अपने झोले में?
पहले उसका प्यार छिना, फिर गरीब किया,
भूख से बदहाल करके, सड़को पे छोड़ दिया,
और आज एक झोले के पीछे, आज इस जाामने ने,
अपनी औरत, दौलत, सब छोड़ दिया,
अब प्यास जिस्म की नहीं, दौलत की नहीं,
इस बात की है, की क्या छुपाया है इसने अपने झोले में?
हारा इंसान भागता रहा, झोला फट गया,
चिथड़े – चिथड़े हो कर उड़ गया,
पर भीड़ बढ़ती रही, उमड़ती रही,
मन का बोझ बढ़ कर पहाड़ हो गया,
की आखिर क्या छुपाया था इसने अपने झोले में?
अंत में फिर हारकर हारा इंसान बैठ गया,
और बुद्ध बन गया,
और ज़माने की भीड़ बौद्ध बन गयी,
मगर खोज अब भी जारी है,
की क्या छुपा था उस झोले में?

English translation

The one who lost to life,
Smiles quietly at his helplessness—
This sight puzzles the world:
What is he hiding in that tattered bag?

Eyes stare, countless gazes pierce,
Unspoken questions close in from all sides.
The defeated man begins to run from the world,
And behind him, a crowd starts to follow,
Restless with the thought:
What is he hiding in that tattered bag?

First, they stole his love, then stripped him of wealth,
Left him hungry and broken, abandoned on the streets.
And now, for the sake of a mere bag,
This world has left behind its women, riches—everything.
There’s no longer thirst for flesh, nor hunger for wealth—
Just a craving to know:
What is he hiding in that tattered bag?

He kept running, the bag tore open,
Its shreds scattered and flew away with the wind.
Yet the crowd only grew, surged forward,
The burden on his heart swelled into a mountain—
To know once and for all:
What was hidden in that bag?

At last, tired and defeated, the man sat down,
And became Buddha.
The chasing crowd became Buddhist too,
But the search still goes on—
What was hidden in that tattered bag?

The poem wriiten by me reflects on a defeated man’s silent suffering and society’s relentless curiosity. It explores the inner journey of a broken human being who has lost everything—love, wealth, dignity—and has faced humiliation and social abandonment. Despite this, he neither retaliates nor complains; instead, he continues to walk through life with quiet, mysterious resilience, carrying his invisible burden. Society watches him with suspicion and fascination, obsessed with discovering what he’s hiding in his tattered bag.

As questions mount and curiosity turns into a restless pursuit, the man breaks under the weight of it all. The transformation at the end, where he sits down and becomes like Buddha, symbolizes a profound inner peace that arises not from comfort but from surrender, acceptance, and detachment. In that moment, the chasing crowd too begins to transform. Their eventual turn toward becoming “Buddhist” suggests a collective awakening—perhaps an allegory for how true peace begins not with answers, but with the willingness to pause, reflect, and let go of the endless chase.

The poem is a reflection on suffering, detachment, and the deep, silent peace that arises from acceptance, urging us to ask: Was the secret ever in the bag, or in the mind of the seeker?

परमीत सिंह धुरंधर