Poetic RenderingWhat worth is one’s lineageif it is not rooted in You?What pride in birth or familyif Your hold is absent?The true ornament of any clanis one like Māḍara Chennayyamade…
Poetic RenderingWake at dawn;offer fresh leaves that fade even as you touch themyour own body fades the same.Before death spreads its shadowand no one remembers your name,do your worship now,Kudalasangamadeva.…
Poetic RenderingAt dawn I risenot for You, but to serve body, wealth, wife, and child;my own mind knows this truth.One tied only to household caresis but a paid servant in…
Poetic RenderingAt dawn, if not for the Linga’s worship,what use is the morning sight?If life is lived only for food,if sleep is all one seeks,if one drags through days like…
Poetic RenderingThose who praise me, I call strangers.Those who do not scold me, I call mere acquaintances.Those who scold me, I call my parents.Those who rule over me, I call…
Poetic RenderingWhat use is whitewash outside, if the inside is unclean?What use is the Linga around the neck, if the heart does not shine?What use is reading a hundred texts,if…
Poetic RenderingA dog in a palanquinwill it ever learn to hunt?Carried by borrowed pride,it only barks in delusion.How can such a one be called a bhakta?O Kudalasangama,make me free of…
Poetic RenderingLike a calf wandering from its mother,calling, searching without restso my heart longs for Your Sharanas.Like a lotus yearning for first lightto open its hidden fragrance,so I wait for…
Poetic RenderingIf one born low becomes Your true devotee,does not the dog-nature fall away?Washed clean of the five-sensed dirt,why should he not become musicworthy of honor?Let the drums resound,let the…
Poetic RenderingYou may ride elephants and horses,and smear yourself with musk and fragrant pastesbut without truth, it is all empty show.If no seeds of goodness are sown,how will the crop…