Sowing The Seeds Of The Bitter Neem Poem by Ravikumar C.P.

Kannada Composition by Purandara Dasa
English Translation by C.P. Ravikumar

Sowing a seed of the bitter Neem
In a pot made of jaggery
And nourishing it with honey
A sweet fruit you desire to pluck from this tree!
All the reading you do
And all the words of wisdom you hear
Will not do you much good
While the darkness in your heart remains
Much like the serpent that begins to dance
At the faintest note of a flute!
Is that not the truth, my Master,
O Vithala of Purandara?