Āru Hitavaru Ninage... english version

 Here is a complete, fluid English poetic translation of Sri Purandara Dasa’s song, designed to capture both the lyrical flow and the deeper philosophical *purport* of each verse together.

## Āru Hitavaru Ninage

**Raga:** Mukhari | **Tala:** Jhampe

**Composer:** Sri Purandara Dasa

### Pallavi

> **Original:** Āru hitavaru ninage mūru mandigaḷoḷage nāriyō dhāriṇiyo balu dhanada siriyo

> 

**English Verse:**

Who is your true well-wisher and companion, tell me, among these three?

Is it the woman you love, the land you own, or your mountain of immense currency?

**The Purport:**

Human beings spend their entire lives chasing three primal attachments: family (*Nari*), landed property (*Dharini*), and financial wealth (*Siri*). The poet opens with a sharp existential question, challenging us to look past our day-to-day illusions and identify which of these three entities will actually stand by us when our mortal existence faces its ultimate trial.

### Caraṇa 1

> **Original:** anyarali janisirda anganeya karetandu tanna manegavaḷa yajamāni yenisi

> bhinnavilladalardha dēhavenisuva satiyu kaṇṇinali nōḍalammaḷu kālavashadi

> 

**English Verse:**

The woman born to another house, brought home to rule as its queen,

Whom you called your inseparable half, a part of your own flesh seen—

Even that devoted wife cannot bear to look upon your face with her eyes,

The very moment you fall prey to Time, and your stiffened body lies.

**The Purport:**

We invest immense emotion in family bonds, especially with a spouse who is considered our *Ardhangini* (half of one's own body). Yet, this relationship is fundamentally physical and circumstantial. The poet observes with stark honesty that the moment life leaves, the bond breaks so completely that the same loving partner is gripped by fear and distress, unable to even gaze at the corpse.

### Caraṇa 2

> **Original:** munna shata kōti rāyarugaḷāḷida nelava tannadendenuta shāsanava baresi

> binnaṇada mane kaṭṭi kōḍe kottaḷavikki cenniganasuvaḷiye horage hākuvaru

> 

**English Verse:**

This earth, once ruled by hundreds of millions of kings now lost to dust,

You claimed as "mine alone," engraving grand deeds in pride and trust.

You built magnificent mansions, fortifying towers high and wide,

Yet the second your beautiful life-breath fades, they cast you right outside.

**The Purport:**

This verse targets the illusion of property ownership. Land belongs to the earth; countless empires and kings have claimed it before us and vanished into obscurity. We build elaborate, secure homes to anchor our ego, yet we are temporary tenants. The moment the subtle breath (*nasu*) stops, our family members will rush to remove the body from the very house we spent a lifetime building.

### Caraṇa 3

> **Original:** udyōga vyavahāra nrpa sēve kushalagati kSatra tana kaḷavu para drōhadinda

> buddhiyidale gaLi si sikkidantharttavanu satyadallāru umbuvar hēḷu manuja

> 

**English Verse:**

Through labor, trade, or serving the state, by clever and cunning arts,

By forceful might, by stealthy theft, or breaking trusting hearts—

You used your brilliant intellect to hoard this wealth and prize;

In absolute truth, who shares the sin of what you consume and buy?

**The Purport:**

Here, the poet highlights the ethical compromises humans make for money. We misuse our higher cognitive faculty (*buddhi*) to accumulate wealth through employment, trade, manipulation, or outright betrayal (*para droha*). The tragic paradox is that while your heirs will happily enjoy the physical wealth, the spiritual debt (the *Papa* or sin accumulated during the process) belongs exclusively to your soul. You suffer the consequences alone.

### Caraṇa 4

> **Original:** shōkavanu geyyuvaru sati sutaru bāndhavaru jōke tappida baḷīga artta vyartta

> lōkadoLu gaLisirda puNya pāpagaḷeraḍu sākāravāgi sankaTa bāhōdallade

> 

**English Verse:**

Your wife, your children, and your kin will wail and loudly mourn,

But once the inner vital guard slips out, your wealth is stripped and shorn.

The merits and sins you gathered here, the invisible tracks you made,

Take solid form as your only guides through the narrow, painful glade.

**The Purport:**

Worldly grief is localized and short-lived. Relatives will weep out of their own sense of loss, but their tears cannot help you navigate the afterlife. Your wealth instantly becomes meaningless (*vyarttha*) to you. The only real baggage that crosses the threshold of death is your karma. Your *Punya* (merits) and *Papa* (sins) manifest objectively (*sakaravagi*), determining whether your soul encounters a path of peace or intense constriction (*sankata*).

### Caraṇa 5

> **Original:** asthirada dēhavanu necci nambira bēḍa svasthadali nene kaNDya hari pādava

> cittadoLu suddhiyim purandara viTTalane uttamOttamanendu sukhiyAgu manuja

> 

**English Verse:**

Do not lean on this fleeting flesh, nor trust a vessel so unstable,

With a calm and quiet mind, look up, and hold onto the Divine table!

Purify your deepest consciousness, know Purandara Vittala as the Supreme High,

Rest in His grace, O human soul, and let your true joy fly!

**The Purport:**

The song concludes with a liberating solution. The physical body is inherently decaying and unstable (*asthira*); relying on it for permanent happiness is a design flaw. Instead of panicking over the transience of life, use your conscious awareness (*chitta*) to clear out worldly impurities. By meditating with a serene mind on the ultimate truth—the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, Purandara Vittala—one tr

anscends the fear of death and attains unshakeable, eternal bliss.