Sanda Mandala Wee Lyrics by Nadeeka Guruge

The moon-disc shines in the sky,
the moon’s coolness rests in the heart,
though you stand far away, if you come floating, floating near,
like a gentle breeze you cool the body and the mind…

Bearing fruit, casting shade,
you are a tall and vast tree //
tasting those sweet fruits,
even without merit, the heart fills up with joy…

Bearing the wishes that meet across saṃsāra
I hold them in my heart and wait //
what is lost today
tomorrow rests again at the feet,
is this not what life is?….
the thought that calms the heart, that is the very thing…//

This is a gentle, philosophical song from the historical film Maharaja Gemunu, composed by Nadeeka Guruge to words by a Buddhist monk, and it addresses someone as calmly and largely as the sky itself. The moon-disc shines up in the heavens, it says, and the moon’s coolness settles in the heart; though you stand far away, if you come drifting near, you cool the body and the mind like a soft breeze. The one being sung to is felt as something serene and cooling.

The middle turns to a tree. You are a tall, vast tree, it says, one that bears fruit and casts shade, an old Sinhala image for a generous, sheltering person. Tasting those sweet fruits, the singer says, even without merit of my own the heart fills up with joy, grateful for a kindness he feels he has not earned.

The last verse offers a quiet, Buddhist-tinged wisdom. Carrying in the heart the wishes that meet us across saṃsāra, he waits; what is lost today, he says, comes to rest again at the feet tomorrow, and then asks softly, is this not what life is? The very thought that calms the heart, he concludes, is that acceptance itself. It is less a love song than a meditation on impermanence and contentment, fitting for a monk’s pen.