By MaiVan Phan
Translated into English by Pompen Hantrakool
Explicated by Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
A narrow house
A lot of talking
A mantis leaping upon the top of a tree
A mantis an insignificant insect however is leaping upon the top of a tree
But who notices the mantis? Surely it is the poet.That implies that among the people engaged in lot of talking the poet is one. But he is the type of the wise man who participates in the conversation within the narrow house and at the same time takes note of what happens without the house. He does not fail to notice even a small insect like mantis.The truly wise have a quick eye and they pay attention to both great and small. The poet Mai Van here only shows. He has no personal comments on the surface. But what does the situation mean to a reader. Perhaps we are reminded of words words words. We human beings are heedless of what happens in the Nature. We are busy talking talking talking shut up in a house.We are absolutely forgetful of Nature and real world. So our conversations do not lead us to seek truth. They are loud sounding nonsense and dull. But we are so proud and so much plunged in selflove that we continue talking without stopping a little to notice what is happening in the world without. In the world without a mantis a small insect indeed has climbed a tree. It is jumpimg on the top of the tree.Why ? Because the Moon rises. A mantis is a curious type of insect. Its forearms are folded together likening folded hands of a human engaged in prayer.Unlike the mantis man does not know what happens in Nature. Unlike the mantis man does not know what the Moon is and what joy is there when the Moon rises. Poems are like dreams. While literature has a medium dreams have none. In any dream whatever the dreamer is always present. One wonders whether the poet is the mantis.One wonders whether the tree stands for the body.. In Indian tantra a coiled energy called kulakundalini climbs the tree of the body till it reaches the head where it attains immortal bliss. The rising Moon could be likened to the awakening of pure consciousness and bliss.The kulakundalini or the coiled energy or the self of the poet is here the insect that has climbed body and reached the head and that jumps in bliss. One may also read the tree as the tree of life.The poem leads us from bootless conversations pent up in the narrow house of the body to the wider world of reality bathed in the moonlight of truth consciousness and bliss.
Translated into English by Pompen Hantrakool
Explicated by Dr Ramesh Chandra Mukhopadhyaya
Text
The Moon RisesA narrow house
A lot of talking
A mantis leaping upon the top of a tree
Explicatio
The poem depicts a situation. There is a narrow house . Inside the house men and women ard children are engaged in conversation among them. There is a lot of talking.These men and women are listless of what is happening outside the house.A mantis an insignificant insect however is leaping upon the top of a tree
But who notices the mantis? Surely it is the poet.That implies that among the people engaged in lot of talking the poet is one. But he is the type of the wise man who participates in the conversation within the narrow house and at the same time takes note of what happens without the house. He does not fail to notice even a small insect like mantis.The truly wise have a quick eye and they pay attention to both great and small. The poet Mai Van here only shows. He has no personal comments on the surface. But what does the situation mean to a reader. Perhaps we are reminded of words words words. We human beings are heedless of what happens in the Nature. We are busy talking talking talking shut up in a house.We are absolutely forgetful of Nature and real world. So our conversations do not lead us to seek truth. They are loud sounding nonsense and dull. But we are so proud and so much plunged in selflove that we continue talking without stopping a little to notice what is happening in the world without. In the world without a mantis a small insect indeed has climbed a tree. It is jumpimg on the top of the tree.Why ? Because the Moon rises. A mantis is a curious type of insect. Its forearms are folded together likening folded hands of a human engaged in prayer.Unlike the mantis man does not know what happens in Nature. Unlike the mantis man does not know what the Moon is and what joy is there when the Moon rises. Poems are like dreams. While literature has a medium dreams have none. In any dream whatever the dreamer is always present. One wonders whether the poet is the mantis.One wonders whether the tree stands for the body.. In Indian tantra a coiled energy called kulakundalini climbs the tree of the body till it reaches the head where it attains immortal bliss. The rising Moon could be likened to the awakening of pure consciousness and bliss.The kulakundalini or the coiled energy or the self of the poet is here the insect that has climbed body and reached the head and that jumps in bliss. One may also read the tree as the tree of life.The poem leads us from bootless conversations pent up in the narrow house of the body to the wider world of reality bathed in the moonlight of truth consciousness and bliss.
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