Word Meaning
धारियाँ
dhāriyāñ
Meaning
Streams, streaks, or rivulets, especially of flowing liquid like blood.
Detailed Meaning
In classical poetry, 'dhāriyāñ' signifies streaks, rivulets, or continuous trickles of liquid across a surface. In this couplet, it paints the visual texture of red blood running across the emaciated and dust-caked corpse of the lover (kushta). The poet notes that even amid such macabre ruin, these crimson trickles offer an artistic, moving beauty (lutf).
Etymology
Derived from Sanskrit धारा (dhārā, meaning stream, flow, or current) through Prakrit.
Usage
Frequently deployed in ghazal imagery to convey blood weeping from fresh wounds or streaks of copious tears running down the face.
Examples
Streams of crimson tears marked the dust upon the cheek.
Rivulets of blood trickled from the wounded heart.