TIRUKKURAL, Mysticism, reading, forums, Numerology, Sun Signs, Divination

Posts: 4397 · Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 5:03 am

3.2.10. Soliloquy

1241
My heart, canst thou not thinking of some med'cine tell,
Not any one, to drive away this grief incurable?
O my soul, will you not think and tell me some medicine be it what it may, that can cure this incurable malady?

1242
Since he loves not, thy smart
Is folly, fare thee well my heart!
May you live, O my soul! While he is without love, for you to suffer is (simple) folly.

1243
What comes of sitting here in pining thought, O heart? He knows
No pitying thought, the cause of all these wasting woes.
O my soul! why remain (here) and suffer thinking (of him)? There are no lewd thoughts (of you) in him who has caused you this disease of sorrow.

1244
O rid me of these eyes, my heart; for they,
Longing to see him, wear my life away.
O my soul! take my eyes also with you, (if not), these would eat me up (in their desire) to see him.

1245
O heart, as a foe, can I abandon utterly
Him who, though I long for him, longs not for me?
O my soul! can he who loves not though he is beloved, be forsaken saying he hates me (now)?

1246
My heart, false is the fire that burns; thou canst not wrath maintain,
If thou thy love behold, embracing, soothing all thy pain.
O my soul! when you see the dear one who remove dislike by intercourse, you are displeased and continue to be so. Nay, your displeasure is (simply) false.

1247
Or bid thy love, or bid thy shame depart;
For me, I cannot bear them both, my worthy heart!
O my good soul, give up either lust or honour, as for me I can endure neither.

1248
Thou art befooled, my heart, thou followest him who flees from thee;
And still thou yearning criest: 'He will nor pity show nor love to me.'
You are a fool, O my soul! to go after my departed one, while you mourn that he is not kind enough to favour you.

1249
My heart! my lover lives within my mind;
Roaming, whom dost thou think to find?
O my soul! to whom would you repair, while the dear one is within yourself?

1250
If I should keep in mind the man who utterly renounces me,
My soul must suffer further loss of dignity.
If I retain in my heart him who has left me without befriending me, I shall lose even the (inward) beauty that remains.

3.2.11. Reserve Overcome

1251
Of womanly reserve love's axe breaks through the door,
Barred by the bolt of shame before.
The axe of lust can break the door of chastity which is bolted with the bolt of modesty.

1252
What men call love is the one thing of merciless power;
It gives my soul no rest, e'en in the midnight hour.
Even at midnight is my mind worried by lust, and this one thing, alas! is without mercy.

1253
I would my love conceal, but like a sneeze
It shows itself, and gives no warning sign.
I would conceal my lust, but alas, it yields not to my will but breaks out like a sneeze.

1254
In womanly reserve I deemed myself beyond assail;
But love will come abroad, and casts away the veil.
I say I would be firm, but alas, my malady breaks out from its concealment and appears in public.

1255
The dignity that seeks not him who acts as foe,
Is the one thing that loving heart can never know.
The dignity that would not go after an absent lover is not known to those who are sticken by love.

1256
My grief how full of grace, I pray you see!
It seeks to follow him that hateth me.
The sorrow I have endured by desiring to go after my absent lover, in what way is it excellent?

1257
No sense of shame my gladdened mind shall prove,
When he returns my longing heart to bless with love.
I know nothing like shame when my beloved does from love (just) what is desired (by me).

1258
The words of that deceiver, versed in every wily art,
Are instruments that break through every guard of woman's heart!
Are not the enticing words of my trick-abounding roguish lover the weapon that breaks away my feminine firmness?

1259
'I 'll shun his greeting'; saying thus with pride away I went:
I held him in my arms, for straight I felt my heart relent.
I said I would feign dislike and so went (away); (but) I embraced him the moment I say my mind began to unite with him!

1260
'We 'll stand aloof and then embrace': is this for them to say,
Whose hearts are as the fat that in the blaze dissolves away?
Is it possible for those whose hearts melt like fat in the fire to say they can feign a strong dislike and remain so?

3.2.12. Mutual Desire

1261
My eyes have lost their brightness, sight is dimmed; my fingers worn,
With nothing on the wall the days since I was left forlorn.
My finger has worn away by marking (on the wall) the days he has been absent while my eyes have lost their lustre and begin to fail.

1262
O thou with gleaming jewels decked, could I forget for this one day,
Henceforth these bracelets from my arms will slip, my beauty worn away.
O you bright-jewelled maid, if I forget (him) today, my shoulders will lose their beauty even in the other life and make my bracelets loose.

1263
On victory intent, His mind sole company he went;
And I yet life sustain! And long to see his face again!
I still live by longing for the arrival of him who has gone out of love for victory and with valour as his guide.

1264
'He comes again, who left my side, and I shall taste love's joy,'-
My heart with rapture swells, when thoughts like these my mind employ.
My heart is rid of its sorrow and swells with rapture to think of my absent lover returning with his love.

1265
O let me see my spouse again and sate these longing eyes!
That instant from my wasted frame all pallor flies.
May I look on my lover till I am satisfied and thereafter will vanish the sallowness of my slender shoulders.

1266
O let my spouse but come again to me one day!
I'll drink that nectar: wasting grief shall flee away.
May my husband return some day; and then will I enjoy (him) so as to destroy all this agonizing sorrow.

1267
Shall I draw back, or yield myself, or shall both mingled be,
When he returns, my spouse, dear as these eyes to me.
On the return of him who is as dear as my eyes, am I displeased or am I to embrace (him); or am I to do both?

1268
O would my king would fight, o'ercome, devide the spoil;
At home, to-night, the banquet spread should crown the toil.
Let the king fight and gain (victories); (but) let me be united to my wife and feast the evening.

1269
One day will seem like seven to those who watch and yearn
For that glad day when wanderers from afar return.
To those who suffer waiting for the day of return of their distant lovers one day is as long as seven days.

1270
What's my return, the meeting hour, the wished-for greeting worth,
If she heart-broken lie, with all her life poured forth?
After (my wife) has died of a broken heart, what good will there be if she is to receive me, has received me, or has even embraced me?