Uda Iraka Hanguman Lyrics by Ananda Weerasiri

Holding within us the feeling of the rising sun
born upon the soil of the Hela land
we, the lion cubs, let us go to the very front
we protect Mother Lanka, offering our lives
Wherever we are,
that is where the pillar of victory stands
what thing is there that cannot be done?

We are children who owe no debt on this earth
we are the Sri Lanka Army…

Showing heroic valour, defeating the enemy
ever a sword drawn to the four corners
seeing far into the distance with an eagle’s eye
the safety of Lanka’s people is in our hands

We are children who owe no debt on this earth
we are the Sri Lanka Army…

Wherever your sorrow is, that is where we all are
wearing flowers of a smile at the corners of our eyes
after we have gone and taken the front line, come out
and enjoy the world we have built for you

We are children who owe no debt on this earth
we are the Sri Lanka Army….

This is a soldiers’ anthem, sung in the collective voice of the Sri Lanka Army. It opens with pride of birth and purpose: “born upon the soil of the Hela land,” carrying “the feeling of the rising sun,” a fresh dawn of hope and resolve. The soldiers call themselves “lion cubs,” sinha patav, invoking the lion that is the emblem of the Sinhala people and the national flag, and pledge to go “to the very front” and protect Mother Lanka, offering their own lives to do it.

The confidence is total and deliberately rousing. “Wherever we are, that is where the pillar of victory stands,” they sing, and “what thing is there that cannot be done?” They describe themselves as “children who owe no debt on this earth,” soldiers who ask nothing and give everything, “the Sri Lanka Army.” The second verse sharpens the martial imagery: heroic valour, a “sword drawn to the four corners,” and an “eagle’s eye” watching the far distance, with the safety of the nation’s people held “in our hands.”

But the most moving turn is the last verse, which reveals who all this is for. “Wherever your sorrow is, that is where we all are,” the soldiers tell the ordinary people, wearing “flowers of a smile at the corners of their eyes” even as they march to danger. Their promise is tender: after we have gone ahead and taken the front line, “come out and enjoy the world we have built for you.” What the listener is left with is not just martial pride but the deeper meaning of a soldier’s sacrifice, that they face the sorrow and the fighting so that everyone else can live in peace.