framework of the poem and its philosophical implications.
A worthy poem is almost endless in its suggestiveness; its depths of meaning are well-nigh inexhaustible; its graces baffle any attempt at analysis. The best tribute that criticism could pay the noble composition of a poet would be the silence of admiration. Since, however, the convention of a 'Foreword' requires a specific examination of some at least of the merits of the poem, I would venture on the task.
Take the following verse:
భువి జచ్చున్ దివి జొచ్చు ; నచ్చటను జావుంగాంచి చొచ్చున్ భువిన్
భువి చావున్ దివిచావు నాగ నిటుచావుల్ రెండు భూతాళికిన్ ;
భువి చావు స్సుఖసుప్తివోలె బడయంబో నౌను గా కన్నటా
దివి చావుల్ నను జావనీకుము కపర్దిస్వామి ! మృత్యుంజయా !
The plain idea here is that man suffers death twice, once on earth and once in heaven; the early death may very well be received with gladness, like deep sleep. But death in heaven is quite different, more serious in its consequence. The poet seems to indicate however that he is referring not merely to the death which is the termination of life, but to the close of a particular kind of experience.
In this sense, while on earth one may die these two deaths a number of times when one's senses are closed to all that is earthly, one enters a state similar to happy sleep (సుఖసుప్తి) and wakes up on the side of divine experience. But even that divine mood is terminable.
