Kagga 344
D. V. Gundappa · 1887–1975 · from the Kannada original
Transliteration
miDichIpekAyigaLa taDabaDade nunguvudukaDiye hoTTeyali haraleNNE kuDiyuvudubiDutiralu nOvAga sukhavIgaLennuvudupoDavigide bhOgavidhi – MANKUTIMMA
Interpretation
The Creator, while designing the Universe & the behavioral characteristics of its inhabitants, has certainly not made life easy & simple for them
He has instilled in them the constant yearning for pleasure; so much so that man not only becomes restless but also troubles others too in his relentless search for pleasure
Mankutimma, it is this relentless hunt for happiness that makes man not even realise the blurred transition between pleasure & pain; not only to his own self; but to others…this is like someone gorging on raw gauvas; getting stomach-ache; drinking castor oil to reduce the pain & then once the pain reduces, feeling satisfied. He doesn’t even realise the trouble he has caused – both to his body as well as others around him. His life is a perennial restless cycle of this hunt-pleasure-pain-remedy-pleasure. If you need to get out of this cycle, you need to control your senses & lead life in moderation; else you will be soon caught in this inescapable web.
Did this poetry & its translation speak to you?