Sarvagna on Sleeping

Tuesday, 22 February 2005

I bought a copy of Sarvagnana VachanagaLu; a collection of >1000 kannada triplets by 12AD(?) poet-saint Sarvagna.

An appropriate ‘vachana’ for the moment

ವದನೆ ಯೋಗಿಗೆ ಹೊಲ್ಲ |
ಬದನೆ ರೋಗಿಗೆ ಹೊಲ್ಲ |
ಕದನವಡು ಹೊಲ್ಲ
ನೆರೆಯಲಿ, ನಿದ್ದೆಗೆ |
ತುದಿಗಟ್ಟೆ ಹೊಲ್ಲ ಸರ್ವಜ್ಞ

Translation:

a fair maiden is bad for a hermit |
so is a brinjal for the unwell |
undesirable is bickering with the neighbour and |
so is sleeping on the edge of a platform.

Forgive my crude translation. Its a joy to read the vachanas in kannada.