A Mongolian Poem--Sun and Moon explicated

Monglian Poetry-- An English translation of a  poem in Mongolian  composed by Danzaravjaa a Monglian  poet explicated

By Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya

The Poem 

                                              Sun and Moon

Sun and Moon

 illuminate four continents

Religion and state

Comfort the mass of people

Monks and officials

Refer to the good and bad deeds

Benevolence and rage

Bring elation and difficulty

Meditators rejoice

In wisdom and method

Bitterness and passion

Obscure people

Good  and bad nehaviour

Can decide your fate

Gullibility and vigilance

Can test your mettle

Mind can diversify

Knowledge and ignorance

Efficiency can determine

Benefit or harm

Benefaction is dependant

Upon maximum and minimum

Cause breeds

Familiarity and contempt

Bias and favour can

Distinguish you and me

This and the next life

Are the results of action

Height and depths

Are externals

Truth and falsity are

Internal evidences

At a long journey

Although I did not feel bored

And have written

This  as  my pleasure

Analysis

Sun and Moon are the two lights that illuminate the four continents. While  the Sun could  stand for the light without the Moon could stand for the inner light.  Indeed  whatever we perceive in the world  is perceived on the physical as well as on the mental level. Sun and Moon illuminate the four continents or the world. Four continents constitute the world, Four stands for endurance and stability, The world that is illuminated by the Sun and Moon is a stable and enduring one. Just as the Sun and Moon illuminate the world so do religion and state comfort the masses of people. With the poet religion is as important as the state and  vice versa. In other words the priests are as important as the government to run  the society. While the government looks after the legal aspect of  the society the  priests  take care of the moral aspect of the society..Monks and officials   judge an individual’s activities as good or bad. Consequently the individuals are praised or punished. Benevolence and rage characterize the   behavior of the rulers be they monks or officials. Those who are however not overpowered by the hurly burly of the mundane world and who are wont to reflect on the reality behind the show of things are least perturbed by the rewards and punishments given to them by the mundane world. These meditators rejoice in wisdom and method. In other words those who meditate  do not meditate to get at something. They meditate because they enjoy meditation . And of course meditation  results in kindling the inner light –the Moon. But those who are swayed by the outer world are overpowered by bitterness and passion. There is irony here. Benevolence and anger on the part of the rulers are the counterparts of bitterness and passion on the part of the ruled. And may be the rulers the monks and the officials are made of the same stuff as the common run of men. The poet plunged in meditation however observes that sila is of prime importance. Good or bad behavior decides ones fortunes. Gullibility or vigilance can test ones mettle. This applies to everyone-- the monks the officials and every man whoever..The rulers and monks are not above law. The  light without can distinguish the rulers from the ruled. It is concerned with externals. The inner light or the light of the mind helps us to distinguish the true from the false.. Besides the mind can  diversify or create varieties of  knowledge  as well as ignorance.  If knowledge implies efficiency then efficiency can  determine or cause both benefit and harm .Thus efficiency is not a value  .An efficient scientist  can invent devices to kill people as well’ Good deeds or benefaction is dependent upon maximum or minimum In other words good deeds are dependent upon the greatest extent or intensity possible or the least or smallest amount required. In fact good deeds are good deeds.  One cannot do enough good deeds. Once again one cannot perform some good deeds/The word dependent in the line- benefaction is dependent--  might allude to the theory of Dependant Origination Cause breeds familiarity and contempt. Nothing is uncaused whatever Familiarity with certain things  and contempt for some other things are there only because of earlier actions. Apparently though familiarity and contempt correspond to bias and favour. Every human being has bias and favour that determines his relation ship with other people. And the biases and favours  of one person is different from  those of another. It is these biases and  favours  that  distinguish one person from another. And these differences are due to the actions of the person in his or her earlier births. Also whatever favour one gets in this birth has been the consequence of ones actions in earlier lives The poet believes in rebirths.. Once one understands how rebirths take place one realizes that there is no truth in the world of appearance.. Height and depth are externals .Truth and falsity are not there in the world of appearance or in the outer world.. They are internal evidences of the reality. These evidences are revealed in the inner light.. These are the reflections of the poet   in the context of the poets odysseus through births and deaths. The journey has been already a long one. But the poet says that he has not been bored. He enjoys the journey. He meditates for the sake of meditations sake and he enjoys the method involved in meditation . He enjoys the journey itself and he is in no hurry to reach the destination if any. This is why the poet is a lover of the world of eye and ear. He knows the limitations of worldly life. But he is in no hurry to get rid of it.  Rather he is glad to dwell on  the lessons that he learnt in course of his journey through births and deaths    Here is a different kind of poet a philosopher poet and his poem is a writerly text that compels the readers to meditate  on the text