Waram Lyrics by Udaya Sri Wickramasinghe

Not once but a hundred times your beauty binds my mind,
I want to see you always, wrapped close beside me,
you grew prettier still, angry, your lips reddened,
where will you go now, hiding away from my heart?
sought across a whole samsara… love’s perfections fulfilled,
seeking the love-dream painted in the heart,
I will come, wherever in the world your comfort may be,
so don’t go now without a word, my darling…

On the day I am granted the boon of love… I will hold you close…
adorned in white bridal cloth… I will lead you away…
tying the golden chain… I will adorn my moon…
because of this bound love… I will lay you on my chest…

You, nari-lata vine, teasing and talking,
the lines of verse you wove, I will not forget them,
now the time is good, binding you close,
shall I lead you away, having drawn you into my moonlight?
lighting my darkened life with a lantern’s glow,
opening my very heart into a world of its own,
o moon who carried it away, taking you in both arms,
through the bursting of fireworks I will lead you home,
raising a golden archway, now I will show everyone,
draping pearl-strings, I will adorn all round your neck,
filling the hollow of the heart, love overflows and pours,
truly it flows, forever being yours,
all of this I built across this whole heart of mine,
from the very day I saw your moon-like face,
my life is dark, it is time to bring the moon,
it is the moment to give the word, and the time now is good!

A heart kindled, intoxicated by a single sign,
the night has grown long, thirty-three hours have passed,
I cannot stay patient for many more watches,
if it is a word, I now truly need it, drawn close,
you are the goddess I sought, roaming the sky of the heart,
seeking the love-jewel built in the mine of the heart,
even in the aeon to come I will wait, eyes brimming,
passing the time, watching and waiting, until you are mine

On the day I am granted the boon of love… I will hold you close…
adorned in white bridal cloth… I will lead you away…
tying the golden chain… I will adorn my moon…
because of this bound love… I will lay you on my chest…

A rapturous marriage-longing love song about wanting to wed the beloved. A hundred times over, the singer says, her beauty binds his mind; he wants her always wrapped close beside me, and even her anger, lips reddened, only makes her lovelier. He has sought this love across a whole samsara, and vows to come to her wherever she is, if only she will not leave without a word.

The refrain is a wedding dreamed in full. On the day I am granted the boon of love, he will hold her close, lead her away adorned in white bridal cloth, tie the golden chain (the marriage necklace) and adorn my moon, and lay her on his chest. It is the whole ceremony imagined in tender, specific detail, veil, necklace, the walk home.

The long middle pours out the fantasy, leading her home through the bursting of fireworks, raising a golden archway to show everyone, draping pearls around her neck, his darkened life lit with a lantern’s glow. And the ache beneath the joy: a heart intoxicated by one single sign, a night grown so long thirty-three hours have passed, and a vow that even in the aeon to come I will wait until you are mine. Sung by Udaya Shree, it is an ardent, overflowing song about longing to marry the one you love, and the willingness to wait lifetimes for the word yes.