Adawan Vu Denethin Galana Lyrics by Amaradeva

Flowing from the half-closed eyes,
streams of loving-kindness, of sympathetic joy, of compassion,
soaking, soaking the heart, flowing on and on,
the world-transcending glory of virtue
in the great Mahamevuna garden,
the Samadhi Buddha statue

Like a great river brimming and overflowing,
like a cool stream cascading down,
quenching the weariness of this desert of existence,
the glory of the Buddha’s virtues that bestows nibbana
in the great Mahamevuna garden,
the Samadhi Buddha statue

This is a serene devotional classic in praise of the Samadhi Buddha statue, the famous stone image of the meditating Buddha in the Mahamevuna garden at Anuradhapura, celebrated for the deep calm of its face. The song reads the statue’s downcast, half-closed eyes as a source from which the Buddha’s boundless qualities flow: loving-kindness (metta), sympathetic joy (mudita) and compassion (karuna), pouring out in streams that soak and fill the devotee’s heart.

The imagery is all of water, of cooling and quenching. The Buddha’s virtue is likened to a great river brimming over and to a cool stream cascading down, something that soothes the weariness of this desert of existence, the round of rebirth felt as a parched wilderness. That same glory, the song says, is what bestows nibbana, the final peace.

The refrain simply returns, twice, to the image at its heart: maha mewna uyane, samadhi budu pilime, in the great Mahamevuna garden, the Samadhi Buddha statue. The whole song is a meditation on that one serene face, letting its calm stand for the entire compassion of the Buddha. Sung by Pandit W.D. Amaradeva to words by W.A. Abeysinghe, it is among the most beloved Sinhala Buddhist devotional songs, meant to be received as a quiet act of veneration.