The Nature of Things (Burmese Classical Poems)
Often a man suffers destruction
In order that another man
Might enjoy well-being.
Such is the nature of things!A courtier’s satisfaction.
In enjoying kingly confidences
In golden palaces
And a King’ s own good fortune
Are merely bubbles
On the surface of a vast ocean
Momentary and evanescent.If dictated by commiseration
I were to be released
And freed from execution
I would not escape Death.
Inseparable am I from Karma
All sentient beings
Being subject to dissolution.Respectfully I salute His Majesty.
Should I again meet my Lord the King
In one of my future rebirths
In the cycle of Samsara
Begrudging him nothing
I would lovingly forgive him.
Impermanent is my body of blood.
-Anantasuriya
As translated in Burmese Classical Poems