Suamti Satakam 10

Sumati Stakam 10

మాటకు బ్రాణము సత్యము
కోటకు బ్రాణంబు సుభటకోటి ధరిత్రిన్
బోటికి బ్రాణము మానము
చీటికి బ్రాణంబు వ్రాలు సిద్ధము సుమతీ

mAtaku brANamu satyamu
kOtaku brAnambu subhata kOti dharitrin
bOtiki brANamu mAnamu
chItiki brANambu vrAlu siddhamu sumatI

మాటకు = for an uttering
ప్రాణము = life
సత్యము = truth
కోటకు = for a fort
ప్రాణంబు = life
సుభటకోటి = a collection of good army
ధరిత్రిన్ = on the earth
బోటికి = for a woman
ప్రాణము = life
మానము = chastity or modesty
చీటికి = for a slip or letter
ప్రాణంబు = life
వ్రాలు = the writing or the signature
సిద్ధము = this is ready or true
సుమతీ = Oh! The wise one!!

The poet tells us what makes certain things valid and valuable.
He says for an utterance or a spoken word to be valid, it has to be true. He says the truth is the life for the word.
Similarly the life for a fort is the army of good soldiers who can protect it. Only a fort with good protection is a real fort.
A woman is a woman when her modesty is intact. One who is chaste is a respectable woman. In poetic parlance, it is said that this chastity is the life for the woman.
Ultimately the poet says that the life of a letter is the signature affixed on it. A signature gives life to a slip or a letter. It makes it valid. A letter without authentication has no value of its own.

In one poem Baddena has commented on four different things. The four things namely, the uttered word, a fortress, a woman and a letter or as different from each other as chalk from cheese. The four Telugu words anyway rhyme. Has he picked up these things just because they rhyme?
You cannot answer such questions. Poets are said to be without control. Nirankushah Kavayaha!
I get one thing to my mind though. In these days of e- everything, even printed letters and communications do not bear any signature. They even declare that since it is an electronic document it does not need any authentication. An e-mail can be sent with a signature which is not exactly what people knew as signature till recently!!