ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮನ ಕಗ್ಗ ೧೨

ಮಾನವರೊ ದಾನವರೊ ಭೂಮಾತೆಯನು ತಣಿಸೆ |
ಶೋಣಿತವನೆರೆಯುವರು ಬಾಷ್ಪ ಸಲುವುದಿರೆ? ||
ಏನು ಹಗೆ! ಏನು ಧಗೆ! ಏನು ಹೊಗೆ! ಯೀ ಧರಣಿ |
ಸೌನಿಕನ ಕಟ್ಟೆಯೇಂ ? - ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ || ೧೨ ||

12: Are these humans or demons that pour blood into the earth through violence. What hatred! What heat! What smoke! in this world... Oh Mankutimma! Is this world a butcher's shop?

ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮನ ಕಗ್ಗ ೧೧

ಮುತ್ತಿರುವುದಿಂದು ಭೂಮಿಯನದೊಂದು ದುರ್ದೈವ |
ಮೃತ್ಯು ಕುಣಿಯುತಲಿಹನು ಕೇಕೆ ಹಾಕುತಲಿ ||
ಸುತ್ತಿಪುದು ತಲೆಯನನುದಿನದ ಲೋಕದ ವಾರ್ತೆ |
ಎತ್ತಲಿದಕೆಲ್ಲ ಕಡೆ? - ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ || ೧೧ ||

11: The world is beset by a dark turn of events. Death is dancing merrily. Daily news is nauseating. Oh Mankutimma! Where is the end to all this?

Notes:

ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮನ ಕಗ್ಗ ೧೦

ಏನು ಪ್ರಪಂಚವಿದು! ಏನು ಧಾಳಾಧಾಳಿ! |
ಎನಧ್ಭುತಾಪಾರಶಕ್ತಿ ನಿರ್ಘಾತ! ||
ಮಾನವನ ಗುರಿಯೇನು? ಬೆಲೆಯೇನು? ಮುಗಿವೇನು? |
ಏನರ್ಥವಿದಕೆಲ್ಲ? - ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ || ೧೦ ||

10: What a world this is! Those immense movements and events! What a lot f energy that can't even be expressed in numbers! In this, what is a man's goal? his worth? his end? Oh Mankutimma! What is is the meaning of all these?

Notes:

ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮನ ಕಗ್ಗ ೯

ಏನು ಭೈರವ ಲೀಲೆಯೀ ವಿಶ್ವಭ್ರಮಣೆ! |
ಏನು ಭೂತಗ್ರಾಮನರ್ತನೋನ್ಮಾದ! ||
ಏನಗ್ನಿ ಗೋಳಗಳು! ಏನಂತರಾಳಗಳು! |
ಏನು ವಿಸ್ಮಯ ಸೃಷ್ಟಿ ? - ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ || ೯ ||

9: What sort of cosmic magic is this universal movement! What colossal dance of huge bodies and unfathomable depths! Oh Mankutimma! What a wonder is the creation?

Notes:

ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮನ ಕಗ್ಗ ೮

ಕ್ರಮವೊಂದು ಲಕ್ಷ್ಯವೊಂದುಂಟೇನು ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಯಲಿ? |
ಭ್ರಮಿಪುದೇನಾಗಾಗ ಕರ್ತೃವಿನ ಮನಸು? ||
ಮಮತೆಯುಳ್ಳವನಾತನಾದೊಡೀ ಜೀವಗಳು |
ಶ್ರಮಪಡುವುದೇಕಿಂತು? - ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ || ೮ ||

7: Is there an order or goal in this creation? Or does the creator's mind think up events at the moment? If he was all merciful, why is everyone suffering so much?

Notes:

ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮನ ಕಗ್ಗ ೭

ಬದುಕಿಗಾರ್ ನಾಯಕರು, ಏಕನೋ ಅನೇಕರೋ? |
ವಿಧಿಯೊ ಪೌರುಷವೊ ಧರುಮವೊ ಅಂಧಬಲವೋ? ||
ಕುದುರುವುದದೆಂತು ಈಯವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಯ ಪಾಡು? |
ಅದಿಗುದಿಯೆ ಗತಿಯೇನೊ - ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ || ೭ ||

7: Who is the leader of life? One or many? Is it fate, personal capability, religion, brute force? How will this state of mess clear up? Oh Mankutimma! Is chaos all there is?

Notes:

Mankutimmana Kagga Introduction

Hi everyone,
As per request by Ramakrishna in a previous post, I am now providing a background to the poem Mankutimmana Kagga.
"Kagga" is a form of Kannada literature that involves a long work of many verses, that are neither like stanzas of a poem nor like paragraphs in prose. Thy are more like big compilations of Shlokas or Shayaris.
Mankutimmana Kagga was written by a notable Kannada Litterateur Dr. D V Gundappa. He also translated Omar Khayyam, many works of Shakespeare, and many Greek plays into Kannada. He was also an Engineer and a close aide to M Visveswaraiah during the construction of K.R.S. Dam across Kaveri.
The work itself is considered by many as a collection of the quintessence of Veda, Vedantas, Brahma Sutras and Dharma Sutras. And it has been referred to many times as the Bhagavadgeetha in Kannada. Having said that, the great thing about Kagga is that it doesn't conform to any religion or any philosophy. As the author himself says in the end, he wrote it based on his own experiences in life.

ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮನ ಕಗ್ಗ ೬

ಒಗಟೆಯೇನೀ ಸೃಷ್ಟಿ ? ಬಾಳಿನರ್ಥವದೇನು? |
ಬಗೆದು ಬಿಡಿಸುವರಾರು ಸೋಜಿಗವನಿದನು ? ||
ಜಗವ ನಿರವಿಸಿದ ಕೈಯೊಂದಾದೊಡೇಕಿಂತು ? |
ಬಗೆಬಗೆಯ ಜೀವಗತಿ ?- ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ || ೬ ||

6: Is the creation a puzzle? What is the meaning of life? Who is going to explain all this? If there is one hand that created the world, why are there so many forms of life here?

Notes:

ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮನ ಕಗ್ಗ ೫

ದೇವರೆಂಬುದೇನು ಕಗ್ಗತ್ತಲೆಯ ಗವಿಯೆ? |
ನಾವರಿಯಲಾರದೆಲ್ಲದರೊಟ್ಟು ಹೆಸರೆ? ||
ಕಾವನೊರ್ವನಿರಲ್ಕೆ ಜಗದ ಕಥೆಯೇಕಿಂತು? |
ಸಾವು ಹುಟ್ಟುಗಳೇನು? - ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ || ೫ ||

5: What is God? A dark cave? The sum-total of all that we can not understand? If there is some entity to watch over the world, why is the world so chaotic then? Oh Mankutimma! What are births and deaths?

Notes:

ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮನ ಕಗ್ಗ ೪

ಏನು ಜೀವನದರ್ಥ? ಏನು ಪ್ರಪಂಚಾರ್ಥ? |
ಏನು ಜೀವ ಪ್ರಪಂಚಗಳ ಸಂಬಂಧ? ||
ಕಾಣದಿಲ್ಲಿರ್ಪುದೇನಾನುಮುಂಟೆ ಅದೇನು? |
ಜ್ಞಾನ ಪ್ರಮಾಣವೇಂ - ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ || ೪ ||

4: What is the meaning of life? What is the meaning of this universe? What is the relationship between life and the universe? Is there something here we don't see? Oh Mankutimma! Can we take our senses as proof?

Notes:
Here the poet starts with asking some questions that have been with the mankind from time immemorial. The interesting question here is the last one though. What constitutes a proof? Can our senses be taken as proof? If yes, then what if there is something that our senses can't detect. We already know that there are audio frequencies beyond our hearing, radiations beyond our vision etc. That being the case, how can we limit proof to only our senses and only the logic that our minds can understand?