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Astitva Yaa Pehchaan?

Posted on October 20th, 2004 by Poonam

Neeraj and I have been having this on/off discussion for the last two days. I finally said to him that let’s ask the Hindi scholars out there to end our discussion.

So tell us what you think.

1. What is the meaning of the Hindi word astitva?

2. What is the meaning of the Hindi word pehchaan?

3. How do you differentiate between the two words?

Leave a comment if you know with sufficient explanation, because you know that I will definitely have something to say if it doesn’t go my way. :grin:

Alvida. Jai Mata Di.







19 Responses to “Astitva Yaa Pehchaan?”

  1. JaI Says:
    October 20th, 2004 at 9:40 am

    am not too good at these hindi words, but my 2 cents …
    astitva would mean existence as an individual.
    pehchaan would mean his identity.

    guess didnt too too well at that:mrgreen:

  2. Poonam Says:
    October 20th, 2004 at 9:43 am
    Interesting Jai. Very interesting. Your thoughts match exactly of what Neeraj said. :roll:

    I say that Astitva and pehchaan both mean identity. They are synonyms.

    astitva ka daman thaame

    What is your reasoning behind saying that astitva means existence?

  3. priya Says:
    October 20th, 2004 at 3:14 pm

    astitva is wajood…individuality…which comes from existence…
    and pehchaan is identification…

    that is:
    astitva is entity whereas
    pehchaan is identity…

  4. Sameer Says:
    October 20th, 2004 at 3:47 pm

    Pehchaan would be Identity.
    An example :’ Meri Awaaz hi pehchaan hai ..’

    Astitva has a more philosphical touch to it as compared to Pehchaan.
    Your Astitva empowers you to function uniquely and individually.

    As an example:
    Your Pehchaan is your Culture, language, creed, parents , society you come from, country, etc.etc.

    But Astitva is more about an Individual, your own self.
    Your Pehchaan ..your Identity can be given to you by external things also , but Astitva is what YOU do to that makes you unique from everyone else.

    When I got down to reply to this question I thought what a simple one , but as I started to explain it .. I realized I got all confused .. excuse me if what I wrote does not make any sense cause I am not going up and reading what I have written … I will just press the ‘Say It’ button now …

    ta-ta

  5. Poonam Says:
    October 20th, 2004 at 6:36 pm
    So would that make wajood and astitva synonyms, Priya?

    So far, the majority is with Neeraj. :grin:

    …but Astitva is what YOU do to that makes you unique from everyone else.

    Interesting point right here Sameer. Wouldn’t this statement above prove that astitva means identity? Your uniqueness is your identity. Your existence on this earth is not your uniqueness.

    What do you say? :smile:

    Interesting discussion, but not yet fully convinced. But I feel that I am going to have to be. :roll:

    Sameer, I wanted to thank you for commenting; keep coming back. :smile:

  6. JaI Says:
    October 20th, 2004 at 9:09 pm

    priya - copy cat,khud ke ideas likha na, why u churaoing my comment :hyper:

  7. Poonam Says:
    October 20th, 2004 at 10:45 pm
    I was very surprised by your comment Jai as you had said just exactly what Neeraj had said. So that makes me think yaa toh dono ko sahi main maloom hai..yaa phir kuch jyaada hi same sochte hain. :rotfl:
  8. Puneet Says:
    October 21st, 2004 at 4:10 am

    astitva means existence
    pehchhan means identity
    u may exist but may not have your own identity —> so its like “everyone has there astitva but they might or might not have identity … ”

    so its like identity is a subset of astitva :razz:

    finally i could decipher :banghead: it was as said by someone above ” it seems easy but when u get to write it gets confusing and things start to overlap “

  9. Poonam Says:
    October 21st, 2004 at 8:56 am
    Interesting Puneet, but why are astitva and pehchaan not synonyms?

    Astitva ka daman thaame chalte jaana hai..

    In this sentence, doesn’t astitva mean identity? :roll:

  10. Sameer Says:
    October 21st, 2004 at 9:18 am

    Actually, Different languages have different emphasis on specific words based on their cultural importance.
    So Identity would definitely have a slightly different meaning here in US, where it is almost, but not quite, similar to your uniqueness.
    And Astitva is not existence, it is existence as a unique Individual.

    I guess am just not got at words … cant seem to explain.
    Anyway, time to move on. Lets read your next post.

    ta-ta

  11. JaI Says:
    October 21st, 2004 at 9:34 am

    Poonam, great minds think alike :rotfl:

  12. Poonam Says:
    October 21st, 2004 at 11:26 am
    Interesting thought Sameer. I told Neeraj last night that I was wrong and he was right. :smile: I think after reading all of your comments last night one more time, I felt that in fact that maybe astitiva is not identity but existence of a being.

    Thanks everyone for the discussion!

    I bet Neeraj would love that comment that you said, Jai. :wink:

    Apne muh miyaa mithuuuu :rotfl:

  13. Puneet Says:
    October 21st, 2004 at 11:55 am

    Yeah even I realized they both two different things they might appear to meet at certain point or. Seem to delude

    :idea:But see for Eg:
    Gandhi ji no longer exist, as he passed away long ago so his astitva (existence) not there, no astitva But his pechchan(identity) is there and will always remain

    also as said by sameer ” Astitva is not existence, it is existence as a unique Individual.
    ” same thing also said by darwin ‘Survival of the fittest’ one would exist only if it got unique quality and other would eventually fade away”

    thus it implies after Beating around the bush ? astitva is existence and pehchhan identity? which was said in comment one… back to square one :razz:

  14. Poonam Says:
    October 21st, 2004 at 12:03 pm
    Puneet, you see when you say unique individual, the uniqueness of a person is shown thru his identity, not existence. His identity means that this person is different from another person.

    I understand your example, and that is a good one, but I do not agree when you say that existence is a uniqueness of an individual.

    This discussion began with us discussing the serial, Astitva: Ek Prem Kahani, and what is the meaning of astitiva.

    In the title song, they sing:

    astitva ka daman thaame, chalte jaana hai

    which made me believe that astitva was identity, not existence.

    That’s where the Ram Katha started and now I have agreed with you all that astitva is existence, pehchaan is identity. :grin:

  15. Puneet Says:
    October 21st, 2004 at 12:21 pm

    Ideally it is “existence is a uniqueness of an individual….” but then world isn?t a ideal place thus there people who exist without identity but then its just for sake of it in true sense they don?t exist on comparison? therefore they would eventually cease to exist at a faster rate

    On conclusion ?existence is a uniqueness of an individual? is a generalized statement usually generalization is bad :duck:

    This discussion began with us discussing the serial, Astitva: Ek Prem Kahani, and what is the meaning of astitiva:rotfl:
    lol hehe aree pehle bolna tha na i would have asked my mom lol coz she use to watch that till some time back..

  16. Poonam Says:
    October 21st, 2004 at 12:29 pm
    Agreed with your first point Puneet. Makes sense what you are saying. :smile:

    Yes generalization is bad. :vomit:

    Aacha tumhari mumma bhi dekhti hai kya? Kyon kya khatam ho gaya ab?? :shock: :sad: Yahan toh abhi tak chal raha hai par ab lag raha hai ke khatam ho jaayega.

    I was telling Neeraj ke I was watching Astitva, and he’s like, “maloom bhi hai ke astitva ka matlab kya hai?” and I said, “haan yaar, astitva ka matlab identity.” And now you know the rest of the story. :mrgreen:

  17. Gaurav Says:
    November 14th, 2004 at 4:58 am

    dunn watch it nemore…tis gettin boring.

  18. Poonam Says:
    November 14th, 2004 at 8:15 pm
    Gaurav, boring?? :shock: Its now getting into the mirch masala but after watching today’s episode, I think its going to end really soon. :sad:
  19. meenu Says:
    November 26th, 2008 at 11:22 am

    mere astitve ki pehchan mere bachhe hai…..typical hindi bollywoody dialogue…..:)
    that’ll answer ur question

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