Heena Hathak Meda Wimanak Lyrics by Amaradeva

Amid seven dreams, a mansion was built,
and the cool comfort of sandalwood filled it within,
the flowers of good fortune blossomed in the heart,
and songs and melodies were heard, as if from the world of the gods

In the depths of blue eyes, clouds of sorrow,
bearing pain, churning the sky of the heart,
grinding in from afar, pressing and twisting,
garlands of grieving tears streamed and poured down

Untimely rain came pouring down in torrents,
the river of sorrowful sighs battered its banks,
the flowers of good fortune died before their season,
and the golden mansion of the world of love lay shattered

A devastating classic about happiness built up and then destroyed, told entirely in the image of a dream-mansion. In the first verse everything is radiant: amid seven dreams a mansion was raised, filled with the cool comfort of sandalwood; the flowers of good fortune bloomed in the heart, and heavenly songs seemed to drift down from the world of the gods. It is joy at its fullest, a life that feels blessed.

Then the sky darkens. In the depths of once-bright eyes, clouds of sorrow gather; the heart’s sky is churned with pain, something grinding in from far off, pressing and twisting, until garlands of grieving tears stream and pour. Grief arrives like weather, slowly massing and then breaking.

The last verse is pure ruin. Untimely rain falls in torrents, the river of sighs bursts its banks, the flowers of fortune die out of season, and the golden mansion of the world of love is shattered. Written by Madawala S. Ratnayaka and sung by Pandit W.D. Amaradeva, it is a stately, sorrowful masterpiece about how swiftly a life of dreams and good fortune can be washed away, leaving only the wreckage of what was so beautifully built.