puuchhaa thaa garchih yaar ne
a;hvaal-e dil magar
kis ko dimaa;G-e minnat-e guft-o-shunuud thaa
1a) although perhaps the beloved had asked the
state of the heart,
1b) although the beloved had asked the state of the heart-- but
2) who had a mind/taste/nose for obligation/supplication to speech and hearing?
dimaa;G : 'The brain; head, mind, intellect; spirit; fancy, desire; airs, conceit; pride, haughtiness, arrogance; intoxication; high spirits (produced by stimulants, esp. by drinking bhang, &c.; --the organ of smell'. (Platts p.526)
minnat : 'Kindness or service done (to); favour, obligation; --grace, courtesy; --entreaty, humble and earnest supplication; --grateful thanks, praise'. (Platts p.1070)
SETS ==
MAGAR
INDEPENDENCE: {9,1}
For background see S. R. Faruqi's choices.
The beloved is obviously willing to rely on the usual communicative means, since she asks a question, and expects to hear an answer. But the lover has extraordinary scruples, or diffidence, or visions of radical autonomy: he can't stand to be indebted or obliged or a supplicant before 'speech and hearing'-- he has no 'mind' for it. (And of course, with amusing wordplay, he has no 'nose' for acts that involve the 'mouth' and 'ears'.) His radical autonomy apparently deprives him of the chance to communicate with the beloved-- a contretemps that seems to happen fairly often (see {115,7} for another example.)
For more verses with clever wordplay on dimaa;G , see {11,2}.
Gyan Chand:
Although the beloved asked about the state of our heart, it wasn't in my power to accept kindness/favor from speech/conversation. Therefore I said nothing to her. (67)