Sumati Satakam 1

Today I am starting with Sumati Satakam. People have liked the entries on Vemana Satakam. We will resume them after some time. Next few entries will be on Sumati Satakam. Kindly add your comments when you visit the blog. That will tell me where I am heading to and help me do the job better.

Here is the first entry. There is no sequence justification though.

తన కోపమె తన శత్రువు,
తన శాంతమె తనకు రక్ష, దయ చుట్టంబౌ
తన సంతోషమె స్వర్గము,
తన దుఃఖమె నరక మండ్రు తథ్యము సుమతీ
Tana kOpame tana satruvu
Tana sAntame tanaku raksha, daya cuttambou
Tana santOSame swargamu
Tana dukhame narakamandru, taTyamu sumati

తన కోపమె = one’s anger
తన శత్రువు,= is one’s enemy
తన శాంతమె = one’s peace
తనకు రక్ష, = is one’s protection
దయ = mercy
చుట్టంబౌ= will be a relative
తన సంతోషమె = one’s happiness
స్వర్గము,= is heaven
తన దుఃఖమె = one’s sorrow
నరకమండ్రు = is hell, they say
తథ్యము = this is a fact
సుమతీ = Oh! The one with good mind! ( The refrain in this Satakam or the hundred verses)

తన కోపమే తనను శత్రువులువలె బాధించును. తన శాంతమే తనను రక్షించును. తన దయయే తనకు చుట్టమువలె సహాయపడును. తన ఆనందమే తనకు ఇంద్రలోక సౌఖ్యము. తన దుఖమే తనకు నరకమగును. ఇది నిజము.
Oh, wise man! The knowledgeable people say that if one is having anger, it will trouble him like an enemy. But if one has a peaceful and tolerant countenance, it will protect him. If one is merciful and takes a sympathetic stand towards people, it will help him like as if it is a relative. If one is happy, there would be a feeling of being in the heaven. On the contrary if one is in sorrowful situation, life will be nothing less than hell.
Baddena, a poet philosopher composed poems in the form of Kanda (a metre in Telugu classical poetry) on the human qualities and virtues as well as vices. To write a good Kanda padyam was considered a great poetic feet. That too if it contains a lot of meaning in those four short lines, it would be a real treat to the reader. The refrain at the end of these verses is “Sumati”. Mati is the mind with the capacity of discrimination. “Su” is a qualifying word which means good. Baddena gave these verses to only those with understanding. A good word is as good as is understood. Music, however wonderful, is useless for a deaf person. Same is the case with good words. Sumati satakam is such a well known work that any Telugu person worth his salt will know at least one poem from it.
In this poem Baddena tells us about the mental status and the effect thereof. These verses hardly need any explanation. That is the beauty of these works. Anger harms. Good feelings will elevate your mood further. Happiness puts you on the top of the world, whereas sorrow throws one into an abyss called sorrow. One has to know how to control these feelings and keep self in good stead.
If we try to comment in detail, any amount of discussion can happen here.
I request friends who visit the blog to add a couple of words themselves about the poem.
Thanks.