II… లావొ జూ సంకలనం (చీనీ) నుండి

ప్రపంచానికి అందాన్ని అందంగానే తెలుసు
అందుకే అక్కడ కురూపితనం కూడా ఉంది.
ప్రపంచానికి మంచిని మంచిగానే తెలుసు
అందుకే అక్కడ చెడు కూడా ఉంది.
అస్తిత్వమూ, శూన్యమూ ఒకదాన్నొకటి సృష్టించుకుంటాయి
కష్టమూ, సుళువూ ఒకదాన్నొకటి నిర్వచించుకుంటాయి,
పొడవూ, పొట్టీ ఒకదానికొకటి హద్దులేర్పరచుకుంటాయి,
ఎత్తూ, పల్లమూ ఒకదానిమీద ఒకటి ఆధారపడతాయి.
గళమూ, స్వరమూ ఒకదాన్నొకటి శృతిలో ఉంచుకుంటాయి,
పాతదీ, కొత్తదీ ఒకదాన్నొకటి అనుసరిస్తాయి,
విజ్ఞులు  కర్మకి అకర్మ ద్వారా కట్టుబడి ఉంటారు,
మౌనంద్వారా చెప్పదలచుకున్నది వ్యక్తపరుస్తారు.
ఒక రీతిలో కొన్ని వేల జీవులు సృష్టించబడతాయి
అంతమాత్రం చేత దానిమీద అధికారం ముద్రించబడదు
ఏ ఆధిపత్యం లేకుండా జీవితం ప్రసాదిస్తుంది.
వాటికి ఉపకారం చేసినా కృతజ్ఞత ఆశించదు.
దాని పని అదిచేసుకుపోతూ, ఏ యోగ్యతా ప్రకటించదు.
అది యోగ్యత ప్రకటించనంత మాత్రం చేత
అందులో యోగ్యత లేదని అర్థం కాదు.

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లావొ జూ  సంకలనం (చీనీ) నుండి

Autumn Storm on the River – Liu Songnian (16th century)

II

The world knows beauty as beauty,

So there is then ugliness.

The world knows good as good,

So there is then the bad.

As is and is-not create each other,

The hard and easy define each other,

The long and short delimit each other,

The high and low depend on each other,

Voice and music harmonise with each other,

Last and next follow each other.

So the wise adhere to action through non-action,

And communicate the teaching without words.

From the Way come the myriad creatures

Yet it imposes no authority.

It gives them life without possession.

It benefits them but asks no thanks.

It does its work but claims no merit.

Because it claims no merit

Merit is never lacking in it.

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(From: Lao Tzu: Tao Te Ching (The Book of The Way and its Virtue))

Translated by AS Kline

Poem Courtesy:

http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Chinese/TaoTeChing.htm#anchor_Toc42848702

The Tao Te Ching (or Daodejing, in pinyin) is a classic Chinese Taoist text dating from at least the fourth century BC. According to tradition it has its origins even earlier, around the sixth century BC. The title may be translated as Instruction regarding the Way of Virtue. Consisting of eighty-one short sections in a poetic style, the text ranges widely in content, from practical advice to universal wisdom, embracing politics, society and the personal. The emphasis is on the right view and understanding of existence, the Way of the cosmos, and the text sets out to transmit an informed awareness of being that leads to personal harmony. The Taoist inclination to refer to the natural background to human existence when considering the human is widely in evidence. The literary style is terse and often cryptic, so that multiple interpretations of the individual sections are often possible, but the essence of the work is clear, in communicating an approach to life which is in accord with the natural, and so conducive to spiritual tranquility and resilience.

Like the Homeric texts, the Tao Te Ching has been ascribed to a single author and to many. Traditionally the author was one Lao-Tzu (Laozi) which is an honorary title meaning the ‘Old Master’. In the earliest ‘biographies’ it is claimed that he was a contemporary of Confucius (551-479BC) or that he lived during the Warring States period of the fifth or fourth century BC, and in legend he departs for the western borders, to live there as a hermit, after first writing the text of the Way, leaving it behind for the instruction of others. Archaeological evidence continues to move the earliest evidence of the text further back in time, but as yet the claims as to single authorship or an effort of compilation by many writers cannot be resolved. Regardless of authorship, the text remains immensely influential in the later development of Taoist thought and practice.