Shoke Nodi Lyrics by Damith Asanka

Without ever giving me sorrow, you raised me held in your embrace,
you are the one, you are my mother,
becoming light, flowing into the darkness of the world,
you lit up my whole life, mother,
on the road through saṃsāra you are always right behind me,
and life after life I do good deeds, to be born again in your womb

Bearing a mother’s sorrow greater than Mount Meru,
to take me, grown from your own blood, onto the good path,
the proper protection I received, naturally,
was because of that love that overflowed your heart,
taking my mind, gone astray, back to the good path,
you sent your son the right way,
I remember how, with that love, she comforted me, always

In every saṃsāra I have ever wished,
birth upon birth, only to be your son,
hiding your own tears, you gave me love,
and the unfelt sorrow you always bore, because of me
taking my mind, gone astray, back to the good path,
you sent your son the right way,
I remember how, with that love, she comforted me, always

A tender, heartfelt tribute to a mother, sung by Damith Asanka. Its opening is pure gratitude: without ever giving me sorrow, you raised me in your arms, you are my mother; becoming light, she “flowed into the darkness of the world” and lit up his whole life. He casts her in the language of saṃsāra, she walks always just behind him on the road of rebirth, and he vows to keep doing good deeds so that, life after life, he may be born again in her womb.

The middle measures a mother’s sacrifice. She bore “a sorrow greater than Mount Meru” to raise the child grown from her own blood and set him on the good path; the shelter and care he received so naturally were only because of the love overflowing her heart. When his mind went astray, it was her love that guided him back, and he remembers, always, how she comforted him.

The last verse is his deepest wish and her quietest sacrifice. In every possible saṃsāra, birth after birth, all he has ever wished is to be her son; and she, hiding her own tears, gave him only love, silently bearing an “unfelt sorrow” for his sake. Sung by Damith Asanka to words by Imesh Wijebandara, it is a warm, devoted song of a child’s boundless love and gratitude for a mother, and the longing to be hers across every lifetime.