Unity
BY MAHAKAVI ULLOOR S. PARAMESWARA AIYAR
(Translated from the original
Malayalam by K. S. Ananta Subramony)
Oh! say what may the meaning be
Of those words whispered tenderly
By the soft breeze that gently blows
Within this grove, and murmurous grows?
It from my neighbour comes to state
I am not from him separate!
Oh! say what meaning may belong
To that nectarian flow of song
Which pours from yonder bird on high
That circling wings about the sky?
My land and next it sees, and states
That mine from it naught separates!
Oh! what Proclaims the ocean main
Aye, by its ceaseless waves’ refrain?
“Behold! I’ve touched the far-flung shores
Of earth’s wide continents,” it roars,
“To one another these are not
Aught alien as is often thought!”
Oh! say what message shouts the cloud
That beats the drum of thunder loud?
Lo! from betwixt the earth and heav’n
It says, “These are not two, but one!”
And oh! what vital meaning may
My heart-beat’s mantra
soft convey?
By day, by night, it says that I
Am but the One Supreme on high!