Bulla Ki Jaana Main Kaun
बुल्ला की जाणाँ मैं कौण
Bulla Ki Jaana Main Kaun, "Bulla, what do I know of who I am", is a kafi by the 18th-century Punjabi Sufi poet Bulleh Shah. Stanza by stanza it refuses every label of religion, place, birth and element, asking what remains of the self.
- Written by
- Bulleh Shah (died 1757)
- Music
- Traditional
- In the video
- Rabbi Shergill
- Context
- Kafi of Bulleh Shah
- Year
- 18th century
- Language
- Punjabi
Bulla Ki Jaana Main Kaun lyrics with English translation
Text as transcribed by Kavita Kosh in Devanagari script (Punjabi language); its footnote glosses are omitted. Sung versions, including Rabbi Shergill's 2004 song, use different selections and wording.
बुल्ला की जाणाँ मैं कौण! ना मैं मोमन विच्च मसीताँ, ना मैं विच्च कुफर दीआँ रीता, ना मैं पाकाँ विच्च पलीताँ ना मैं मूसा ना फरऔन।
Bulla ki jaanaan main kaun! Na main momin vich maseetaan, Na main vich kufar diyaan reetaan, Na main paakaan vich paleetaan, Na main Moosa na Firaun.
Bulla, what do I know of who I am! I am not the believer in the mosques, nor am I in the rites of unbelief, nor the impure among the pure; I am neither Moses nor Pharaoh.
बुल्ला की जाणाँ मैं कौण! ना मैं अंदर वेद किताबाँ, ना मैं विच्च भंगाँ ना शराबाँ ना विच्च रिन्दाँ मस्त खराबाँ, ना विच्च जागण ना विच्च सौण।
Bulla ki jaanaan main kaun! Na main andar Ved kitaabaan, Na main vich bhangaan na sharaabaan, Na vich rindaan mast kharaabaan, Na vich jaagan na vich saun.
Bulla, what do I know of who I am! I am not within the Vedas or the holy books, not in hemp, not in wine, not among the drunken, ruined revellers; not in waking, not in sleep.
बुल्ला की जाणाँ मैं कौण! ना विच्च शादी ना गमनाकी, ना मैं विच्च पलीती पाकी, ना मैं आबी ना मैं खाकी, ना मैं आतिश ना मैं पौण।
Bulla ki jaanaan main kaun! Na vich shaadi na ghamnaaki, Na main vich paleeti paaki, Na main aabi na main khaaki, Na main aatish na main paun.
Bulla, what do I know of who I am! Not in joy, not in sorrow, not in impurity, not in purity; I am not of water, not of earth, not of fire, not of wind.
बुल्ला की जाणाँ मैं कौण! ना मैं अरबी ना लाहौरी, ना मैं हिन्दी शहर नगौरी, ना हिन्दू ना तुरक पशौरी, ना मैं रहिन्दा विच्च नदौण।
Bulla ki jaanaan main kaun! Na main Arabi na Lahauri, Na main Hindi shehar Nagauri, Na Hindu na Turak Pashauri, Na main rehnda vich Nadaun.
Bulla, what do I know of who I am! I am not an Arab, not from Lahore, not an Indian from the city of Nagaur, not a Hindu, not a Turk from Peshawar; nor do I live in Nadaun.
बुल्ला की जाणाँ मैं कौण! ना मैं भेद मज़हब दा पाया, ना मैं आदम हव्वा जाया, ना मैं आपणा नाम धराया, ना विच्च बैठण ना विच्च भौण।
Bulla ki jaanaan main kaun! Na main bhed mazhab da paaya, Na main Aadam Havva jaaya, Na main aapna naam dharaaya, Na vich baithan na vich bhaun.
Bulla, what do I know of who I am! I have not found the secret of religion, I was not born of Adam and Eve, I have not given myself a name; not in sitting still, not in wandering.
बुल्ला की जाणाँ मैं कौण! अव्वल आखर आप नूँ जाणाँ, ना कोई दूजा होर पछाणा, मैत्थों होर ना कोई सिआणा, बुल्ला शाह खड़ा है कौण? बुल्ला की जाणाँ मैं कौण!
Bulla ki jaanaan main kaun! Avval aakhar aap noon jaanaan, Na koi dooja hor pachhaanaan, Maitthon hor na koi siaana, Bulla Shah khada hai kaun? Bulla ki jaanaan main kaun!
Bulla, what do I know of who I am! First and last, I know only the Self; I recognise no other. No one is wiser than I; who is this Bulleh Shah who stands here? Bulla, what do I know of who I am!
Translation: Lyriccs (original translation). Transliteration: Lyriccs.
The story behind Bulla Ki Jaana Main Kaun
Bulleh Shah, born Abdullah Shah around 1680, lived in Kasur in Punjab, now in Pakistan, and died there in 1757. He was a disciple of the Qadiri Sufi master Shah Inayat of Lahore, and his kafis, short sung poems with a refrain, are among the most loved poetry in Punjabi on both sides of the border.
Like much Sufi poetry, the kafi was carried by qawwals and folk singers, so its wording varies between singers and printed collections. The text given here is the version transcribed by Kavita Kosh in Devanagari script.
In 2004 the singer Rabbi Shergill set the kafi to a rock arrangement on his debut album; Bulla Ki Jaana became a hit across India and Pakistan and introduced Bulleh Shah to a new generation. Rabbi's song adapts the text; this page carries Bulleh Shah's kafi.
What Bulla Ki Jaana Main Kaun means
Each stanza begins with the same admission: Bulla does not know who he is. He is not the believer in the mosque nor the follower of unbelief, not pure, not impure, not Moses and not Pharaoh. He is not found in the Vedas or the holy books, nor in hemp and wine, nor in waking or sleep, joy or grief, nor in any of the four elements.
He has no homeland either, Arabian, Lahori, Indian or Peshawari, Hindu or Turk, and he has not even given himself a name. The last stanza turns the denial into an affirmation of mystical unity: first and last he knows only the One, and recognises no other. The closing question, who is this Bulleh Shah who stands here, leaves the listener with the Sufi idea that the separate self dissolves in God.
Quick facts
- Bulleh Shah lived in Kasur, Punjab, and died there in 1757.
- His spiritual guide was the Qadiri Sufi master Shah Inayat of Lahore.
- A kafi is a short sung poem with a refrain, a classic form of Punjabi and Sindhi Sufi poetry.
- Rabbi Shergill's 2004 rock version made the kafi widely known in India and Pakistan.