308

ಸರಕಾರ ಹರಿಗೋಲು, ತೆರೆಸುಳಿಗಳತ್ತಿತ್ತ |
ಸುರೆ ಕುಡಿದವರು ಕೆಲರು ಹುಟ್ಟು ಹಾಕುವರು ||
ಬಿರುಗಾಳಿ ಬೀಸುವುದು, ಜನವೆದ್ದು ಕುಣಿಯುವುದು |
ಉರುಳದಿಹುದಚ್ಚರಿಯೊ! - ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ ||

sarakaara harigOlu, teresuLigaLattitta |
sure kuDidavaru jelaru huTTu haakuvaru ||
birugaaLi bIsuvudu, janaveddu kuNiyuvudu |
uruLadihudaccariyo! - mankutimma ||

Government is a coracle, eddies and surges around
Those in charge of the oar are few drunkards
Hurricane storms here, people dance hither tither
Surprise it hasn't capsized! - Mankutimma.

304

ಗಿರಿಯ ಮೇಲಕೆ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಬಂಡೆಯನು ಸಿಸಿಫಸನು |
ಉರುಳಿಸಿರಲೊಂದೆರಡು ಮಾರು ಘಾಸಿಯಲಿ ||
ಸರಿದು ಕೆಳಕದದೆಂತೊ ಜಾರುವುದು ಮರಮರಳಿ |
ಪುರುಷಪ್ರಗತಿಯಂತು - ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮ || 

giriya mElake doDDa banDeyanu sisiphasanu |
uruLisiralondereDu maaru ghaasiyali ||
saridu keLakadadento jaaruvudu maramaraLi |
puruShapragatiyantu - mankutimma ||

On to the mountain, a large boulder Sisyphus*
Rolls uphill for hours with great difficulty,
Again and again it simply rolls down in vanity.
Thus is human progress - Mankutimma.

*In Greek mythology Sisyphus was a king of Ephyra punished for chronic deceitfulness by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and to repeat this action forever.

Translator's note: This quatrain seems to communicate the idea of absurd: man's futile search for meaning, unity, and clarity in the face of an unintelligible world, which the philosopher Albert Camus advocates brilliantly using the same metaphor of 'Sisyphus' in his book-length essay 'The myth of Sisyphus'.