Durbhikkha
1. Famine
1.1.
What travails you do gift us, O lord, God of wants, what travails …
O, in 1176, that dread year of famine,
How did we survive such woes, O?
What travails you do gift us, O lord, God of wants, what travails …
O, every year with flood or drought, how do your subjects live,
Our rulers of Indian lands, O?
What travails you do gift us, O lord, God of wants, what travails …
O, families arrive, far and wide, no telling friend from foe,
That’s our blighted fortune now, O.
What travails you do gift us, O lord, God of wants, what travails …
O, we pick the stalks of the water lily to boil and eat,
Fight over them at meals, in every home, O.
What travails you do gift us, O lord, God of wants, what travails …
O, when we have little to eat, and buy grain at such price,
How do we keep breath, body, and soul, O?
What travails you do gift us, O lord, God of wants, what travails …
O, with pangs of hunger struck, no morsel of rice, at wit’s end,
We do remain alive in death, O.
What travails you do gift us, O lord, God of wants, what travails …
O, moneylenders demand their dues, with beatings and abuse,
How do we bear this gift of pain, O?