Firefly — Kadengodlu Shankara Bhat (translated from Kannada)

Firefly — Kadengodlu Shankara Bhat (translated from Kannada) Oh! Seed of light! Nose-ring of the night! Will they call you a mere worm and mock you? Born as a worm, yet lighting up the world, What magical form hides within you? Whose feeling's dewdrop are you? The white pearl of the starry garland in the sky? Whose drop of sorrow? Whose bud of desire? Whose tear slipped from an eyelid? Oh! Seed of light! Nose-ring of the night! Will they call you a mere worm and mock you? Are you the devotee who dwells in purity of feeling? Are you a god caught in life? Are you the sprout of life that germinated in death? What is your name? What is your nature? Oh! Seed of light! Nose-ring of the night! Will they call you a mere worm and mock you? From which land have you come as an eternal traveller? By whose order do you stand guard at night? Around which circle, whom are you searching for? What rule binds you behind the darkness? Oh! Seed of light! Nose-ring of the night! Will they call you a mere worm and mock you? You do not speak; you do not stir; you breathe; in silence itself You make your word resound, you light up the world. The language of love is different; who needs the meaning of words; Your speech is hidden within your own flash. Oh! Seed of light! Nose-ring of the night! Will they call you a mere worm and mock you? You twinkle; you fade; you blush; you keep smiling; In varied, uneven moods you rise; you fall; I write my letters in false mist; I erase what I wrote; my own false mistake. You are the fish caught in earth's sleepy net! You are the zari in the folds of night's dream-sari! You are a drop of wisdom scattered by forgetfulness! A worm to the eye; in truth, the essence of heaven!!