Kagga 119
D. V. Gundappa · 1887–1975 · from the Kannada original
Transliteration
nAvuNNuvannagaLu nAvu kuDivudakagaLunAvusiruvelarugaLu nAvuDuva vastrabhUvyOmagaLa yantra sanghadutpannagaLujIvaveraDara shishuvu -- MANKUTIMMA
Interpretation
The earth is the canvas on which the unseen Force acts upon to build the complex web of symbiotic relationships that helps to create, sustain & destroy life
The food that we eat, the water that we drink, the air that we breathe, the clothes that we wear -- all of these are a result of the activities of that unseen Energy that pervades the five elements of this earth thereby not only breathing life into them; but also creating, sustaining & destroying other lives on earth through them
Mankutimma, for lives to exist on earth, as importamt as it is for the all-pervading Energy to play its role, equally important is the role of the five elements...it is only when these two combine together, genesis of Life can occur, sustain, destroy & change forms. So, in some sense, we can call them as the parents of Life...only by understanding this in depth will you understand Genesis...not through logic & reasoning alone.
Did this poetry & its translation speak to you?