Did the breath of the mistress
have breasts and long hair?
Or did the master's breath
wear sacred thread?
Did the outcaste, last in line,
hold with his outgoing breath
the stick of his tribe?
What do the fools of this world know
of the snares you set,
0 Ramanatha?
have breasts and long hair?
Or did the master's breath
wear sacred thread?
Did the outcaste, last in line,
hold with his outgoing breath
the stick of his tribe?
What do the fools of this world know
of the snares you set,
0 Ramanatha?
-- DĒVARA DĀSIMAYYA [Translated by A. K. Ramanujan in the book - Speaking of Siva]
The sacrificial lamb brought for the festival
ate up the green leaf brought for the decorations.
Not knowing a thing about the kill,
it wants only to fill its belly:
born that day, to die that day.
But tell me:
did the killers survive,
0 lord of the meeting rivers?
ate up the green leaf brought for the decorations.
Not knowing a thing about the kill,
it wants only to fill its belly:
born that day, to die that day.
But tell me:
did the killers survive,
0 lord of the meeting rivers?
-- BASAVAŅŅA [Translated by A. K. Ramanujan in the book - Speaking of Siva]
