A poem by the scholar-poet Zava Damdin (b. 1976). Please refer to the Index of Mongolian Poetry and Articles for other works that may be of interest.

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ONE LIVING UNIVERSE

(English Translation)

Writing one line
Like one flower blossoming

Writing one stanza
Like one tree gracefully bearing fruit

Writing one poem
Like the birth of a new living being

One attuned meaning
Like falling in great love

Composing one work of literature
Like sculpting one great statue

One song arises
Like perceiving a miracle

One meditation
Like discovering a continent

One sigh, feels
Like a storm-tossed wind

One humble smile
Like the touch of warm sunlight

One’s sadness and crying
Like one big downpour

One deep thought
Like one great mountain

One heart’s excitement
Like a ripple sweeping across vast terrain

One bird’s warbling
Like the sound of one complete and perfect song

Whistling wind
Like playing a piece of music

Swaying blade of grass
Like an orchestra conductor

One horse thundering
Like the voice of a Buddha

One steppe
Like one great ocean

One big sea
Like one great sentient being

Dreaming one dream
Like living one’s whole life

One person’s life
Like a thick book of literature

One aging human body
Like one planet and the universe

One death and impermanence
Like Earth’s annihilation

One new birth
Like one new era starting

One old history
Like one new start

One living autobiography
Just a memory in the future

Pure Land of Swoyambhu
Zava Damdin

27.09.2023

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Translated by Zava Damdin and C.Pleteshner.
English interpretation 30.09.2023 from the original Mongolian 27.09.2023

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НЭГЭН ОРЧИЛ

(Original Mongolian)

Нэгэн мөр бичих
Нэгэн цэцэг ургаж дэлбээлэх шиг

Нэгэн бадаг бичих
Нэгэн мод найлзаж жимслэх шиг

Нэгэн шүлэг бичих
Нэгэн төрөлхийтэн шинээр төрөх шиг

Нэгэн яруу утга
Нэгэн их хайрыг ундруулах шиг

Нэгэн дуулал ургах
Нэгэн гайхамшиг лугаа учрах шиг

Нэгэн бясалгал хийх
Нэгэн тивийг сонордох шиг

Нэгэн санаа алдах
Нэгэн их салхи шуурга шиг

Нэгэн инээмсэглэл тодруулах
Нэгэн наран мандах шиг

Нэгэн гуниглаад уйлах
Нэгэн их хур буух шиг

Нэгэн гуниглаад уйлах
Нэгэн их хур буух шиг

Нэгэн гүн бодол
Нэгэн их уул шиг

Нэгэн сэтгэл хөдлөхүй
Нэгэн их газар долгисох шиг

Нэгэн шувуу донгодох
Нэгэн дуу дуулах шиг

Нэгэн салхин исгэрэх
Нэгэн хөгжим эгшиглүүлэх шиг

Нэгэн өвс дохилзох
Нэгэн хөгжмийн удирдаач шиг

Нэгэн адуу янцгаах
Нэгэн бурханы хоолой шиг

Нэгэн тал нутаг
Нэгэн их далай шиг

Нэгэн агуу тэнгис
Нэгэн их бодгаль шиг

Нэгэн зүүд зүүдлэх
Нэгэн амьдралд амьдрах шиг

Нэгэн хүмүүний амьдрал
Нэгэн их зохиол шиг

Нэгэн нас бие
Нэгэн гариг ертөнц шиг

Нэгэн үхэл мөнх бус
Нэгэн галав юүлэх шиг

Нэгэн шинэ төрөл
Нэгэн эрин эхлэх шиг

Нэгэн хуучны түүх
Нэгэн шинэ эхлэл шиг

Нэгэн шинэ намтар
Нэгэн ирээдүйн дурсамж шиг

Соёмбот Орон
Зава Дамдин

27.09.2023

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FURTHER READING

For another perspective on how meaning changes as language moves between cultural contexts, see Letters from Mongolia 11: Translation as re-creation.

Readers interested in bringing different forms of knowledge into productive conversation may also enjoy Letter from Mongolia 18: a deliberately interdisciplinary practice.

For an ethnographic perspective on how involvement takes different forms in everyday life, see Landscape 09: Modes of Contribution.

For a social perspective on obligation carried through family relationships across generations, see Letter from Letter from Mongolia 15: Tsagaan Sar: Kinship Renewed.

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NOTES

Source: A Bilingual Collection of Zava Damdin (b.1976) Poetry. Vol. 1 (2021-2024). The Zava Damdin Sutra and Scripture Institute Library Archive, Manjushri Temple Soyombot Oron, Mongolia. Unpublished manuscript. pp28-31.

Translation is always an interpretation into another culture.

Excluding the preparatory training and clarity of narrative structure and ideation required, the journey of such compositions tends to move through three phases, starting with: (i) the creation of the original composition with the vertical Mongol Bichig Script; (ii) the subsequent transfer and rendering of this transcript into the Mongolian Cyrillic Script; and then on to, (iii) a (British) English language interpretation, such as you see here.

I bring to this interpretive exercise my own particular collection of English language narrative skills and their imagined audiences. From this perspective, a final English language version of a narrative emerges as a negotiated text.

End of transcript.