Continuing our study of Mongolian poetry, below is a translation of “УРАМ ЗОРИГ НЭГЭН БУЙ”, a long and multi-layered doha by the Mongolian scholar-poet Zava Damdin (b. 1976–). Notes usually follow the poem; here, because an important note concerns the title, I’ve placed it first.
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About the Title
I have rendered both the original title (УРАМ ЗОРИГ НЭГЭН БУЙ) and the recurring line-ending in a shorter English form as “A Certain Encouragement” and “there is a certain encouragement.” While the original Mongolian phrase carries more than simple encouragement alone, something closer to an inward stirring or quickening of the heart, I have chosen the shorter English wording because it somehow preserves the quiet, repeated cadence of the original without over-interpreting it each time. The fuller emotional resonance remains present, but is held within the restraint of the simpler phrase.
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A CERTAIN ENCOURAGEMENT
(English Translation)
Where a true-hearted person walks steadily, eyes clear and wide, there is a certain encouragement.
Where an ordinary old woman has lived this life as though safeguarding a single sacred scripture, there is a certain encouragement.
Where many sit together in a small ger, talking of the past, the present, and the future, there is a certain encouragement.
Where an ordinary day is spent meaningfully, and love is extended to others, there is a certain encouragement.
Where the ancient relics chest* graciously left by one’s father is gently opened, there is a certain encouragement.
Where, in going far away, one remembers the mother left behind with her humble ger, arag and savar,* there is a certain encouragement.
Where a stranger, an old man, lights a cigarette and speaks words of truth and counsel, there is a certain encouragement.
Where an old poem, born from bright thoughts of youth, comes to mind, there is a certain encouragement.
Where one recalls the sacred voices and reflections of venerable elder-Lamas, there is a certain encouragement.
Where one commits oneself, together with one’s companions, to facing and overcoming difficult circumstances, there is a certain encouragement.
Where, without words, meaning is read in the gaze of a passing stranger, there is a certain encouragement.
Where, in dreams, one sometimes vividly remembers events of a past life,* as though passing through them once more, there is a certain encouragement.
Where a tiny child speaks with insight and says what no one expected, there is a certain encouragement.
Where one devotes oneself solely to the true heart’s meaning, difficult though it is, there is a certain encouragement.
Where one walks in the gentle wind of the steppe beneath the morning sun, and gazes lovingly at the pale sky, there is a certain encouragement.
Where one remembers one’s grandmother and grandfather making libation offerings* and chanting ancient scriptures, there is a certain encouragement.
Where, in the life of someone who recognised they had gone astray, set foot on the Path and did not turn back, there is a certain encouragement.
Where one thinks of a dagina* moving about in the guise of a hunched-over old woman, acting her part in tattered clothes, there is a certain encouragement.
Where an old calligrapher, seasoned by long practice, performs every movement solely through the pull of the pen, there is a certain encouragement.
Where, unchanging in nature, someone walks through the world as they are, there is a certain encouragement.
Where, in composing poetry, inner, outer, and secret felt awareness is drawn into words, there is a certain encouragement.
Where, in singing, one melts into the poem and sings from the openness of voice, there is a certain encouragement.
Where, in making music, one becomes as though one were the string itself and the melody, there is a certain encouragement.
Where, in dancing, one makes even the countless motes of dust move to one’s own rhythm, there is a certain encouragement.
Where, in performing drama, one enters the historical world so fully that no distance remains, there is a certain encouragement.
Where, even when hardship and suffering arrive, one remains courageous, without souring or withering, there is a certain encouragement.
Where, in walking on, one is with a companion who chooses to go on without pleading to turn back or losing heart, there is a certain encouragement.
Where, before the ink has even dried, further meanings arrive of themselves, one after another, there is a certain encouragement.
Where, starting from the foot, one forgets weariness, climbs with a single thought, and reaches the summit of the snowy mountain, there is a certain encouragement.
Where the echo of your few gentle words, though spoken long ago, is still heard in my ears, there is a certain encouragement.
Where one remembers the beginning of a great work intended for the far future, undertaken with the full measure of one’s effort, there is a certain encouragement.
Where, though I left you long ago and travelled far away, the thought of meeting again in the present and the future comes into view, there is a certain encouragement.
Where one meditates on all that lies ahead, both obstacles and blessings, in the light of emptiness, there is a certain encouragement.
— the humble hermit of Dragon Mountain
22.12.2025
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Translation is never only linguistic; it is also an act of cultural interpretation. Any errors in this regard are entirely my own, and for these I humbly apologise.
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(Original Mongolian)
Жинхэнэ зүрхтэн харц уужим, бүтэн алхаж явахуй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Жирийн нэгэн эмгэн энэ амьдралаа нэгэн судар хадгалан сахисан дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Жижигхэн гэр дор олуул сууж эртэн, эдүгээ, ирээдүйн тухай хөөрөлдөн суухуй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Жир нэгэн өдрийг ямарваа утга учиртай өнгөрүүлэн бусдыг хайрлахуй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Аавын соёрхон үлдээсэн эртний нандин шүтээний бяцхан авдрыг нээхүй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Алс одохуй дор ард үлдсэн ээжийгээ бор гэр, араг, савартай нь санахуй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Алимад нэгэн таних үгүй өвгөн тамхилаад үнэн сэтгэлийн үг захиас хэлсэн дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Аль эрт залуу насны гэгээхэн бодлоор бичсэн шүлгээ санахуй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Хэт дээд өвгөн богд нарын хоолой, тольдол бүхнийг сүслэн санахуй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Хэргийн тухай дор өөрийгөө болон нөхдөө хамт зориулан эрсдлийг туулахуй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Хэн нэгэн таних үгүй хүмүүн зөрөөд өнгрөхүй дороон харцаараа өгүүлсэн нэгэн утгыг уншихуй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Хэзээ дээ л зүүдэн дороон урд насны явдал нугуудыг бодит мэт туулан өнгөрүүлэхүй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Өчүүхэн бяцхан хүүхэд сэцэн үг хэлж санаагүйг дурдан өгүүлэхүй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Өвч нэгэн сэтгэлээ гагц чин зүрхэн утга дор зориулахуй дор бэрх боловч урам зориг нэгэн буй
Өглөө нарнаар талын зөөлөн салхин дор алхаж, өнгө үгүй тэнгэрийг амурлин ширтэхүй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Өндөр ээж болон ажаагийнхаа сацал өргөн, эртний судар аялгуулан уншиж агсныг санахуй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Хазгай явснаа мэдэж, хариш үгүй мөр дор орж гэгээрсэн хутагтын намтар дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Хазгар эмгэн дүрээр ноорхой дээл эгэлдрэглэж жүжиглэн явах дагина учирсныг бодохоор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Хат суусан өвгөн бичээч бүх хөдөлгөөн нүгүүдийг гагц үзгийн татлагаар үйлдэхүй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Хаа ч нэг л зангаараа явах хувирш үгүй төрөлхийтэн хаа нэгтээ учрахуй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Шүлэглэвээс дотоод, гадаад, нууц чинадын мэдрэмжийг үгээр урлахуй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Дуулбаас дууны яалгуут шүлэг дор уусан нэгдэж хоолойн уудмаас дуулахуй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Хөгжимдвөөс өөрөө чавхдас лугаа хувилан нэгэн аясал болон хөгжимдөхүй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Бүжиглэвээс тоолш үгүй хумхийн тоос нугуудыг өөрийн аясаар хамт бүжүүлэхүй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Дууриал жүжиглэвээс түүхэн орчил дор хувилан орж өөрц үгүй үзүүлэхүй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Бэрхшээл зовлон ирсэн ч урвайж үрчийх үгүй зоримог орших чанар дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Бэдэн явахуй дор эгэж буцахуйг гуйж шантрахаас хагацсан нөхрийн хамт аху дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Бэх нь хатаж амжаагүй байхуй дор дараа дараагийн утгас өөрөө бууж ирэхүй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Бэлээс нь эхэлж алжаасыг умартан нэгэн бодлоор мацаж цаст уулын оргил лугаа хүрэхүй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Чиний яруухан хэлсэн хэдхэн үгс тэртээ нэгэн цаг дор одсон ч цуурай нь одоо ч чихэн дор сонсогдохуй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Чинээгээрээ тултал хичээж үйлдсэн алс хэтийн их үйлсийн эхлэлийг санахуй дор урам зориг нэгэн буй
Чимайг тэр нэгэн цаг дор тэртээ хол үлдээгээд алс одсон авч эдүгээ хийгээд ирээдүй дор учрахуйг үзвээс урам зориг нэгэн буй
Чингээд өмнө учрах саад тотгор, сайн сайхан бүгдийг хоосон чанар лугаа бясалгаваас урам зориг нэгэн буй
Луут Уулын өчүүхэн егүзэр
22.12.2025
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NOTES
Style, Register and Texture
Stylistically, the doha is marked by clarity, restraint, and cumulative resonance. Its diction remains plain, but that plainness is not reductive simplicity; rather, it is a disciplined refusal of rhetorical excess. The poem moves from domestic images to spiritual memory, from artistic making to ethical endurance, and finally to emptiness, yet it does so without any violent shift of register. That composure gives the work its authority. The sequence also depends on an ethics of attention: ordinary acts, hidden lives, ancestral practices, artistic absorption, and inward courage are all given equal formal dignity through the refrain.
Wherever possible, I have tried to retain the local Mongolian detail and texture of the original, as I have come to understand it, rather than regularising it into a more familiar English poetic style. The result, I hope, is a poetics of humble intensification, in which value arises not through grand declaration but through repeated acts of recognition. Its final line on emptiness gives the sequence closure not by cancelling what came before, but by re-reading every preceding image through a Buddhist contemplative horizon; the ending gathers the poem retrospectively, which is one of the classic functions of a strong lyric close (Kermode 1967; Ricks 1984).
Translation, Recurrence, and Cultural Form
As translation, the English version tries to preserve the poem’s formal recurrence and much of its local Mongolian texture, rather than dissolving it into a smoother Anglophone lyric. That choice matters. Modern translation theory has long argued that poetry translation is never only lexical transfer, but also the carrying across of rhythm, structure, and cultural meaning (Bassnett 2014; Scott 2018).
Here, the English remains intentionally close enough to let the reader feel the source poem’s serial movement, ethical gravity, and devotional atmosphere. In approaching Zava Damdin’s beautiful dohas, I also keep in mind my own lived experience among Mongolian people in Mongolia, and what I have, over the years, observed of the textures and intimacies of family life there.
In literary terms, then, this doha may be read as a contemplative, refrain-driven lyric of moral encouragement: a sequence of imagistic recognitions whose quiet power lies in repetition, humility, and spiritual breadth (Eagleton 2013; Bassnett 2014; Scott 2018).
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TRANSLATION NOTES
avdar (авдар) here refers to the small chest in which sacred objects are kept within the household. In Mongolian nomadic and Buddhist life, such a chest has long held an important place: first within the ger, and later just as naturally within houses and apartments, as a site of continuity, reverence, and family memory. I’ve therefore translated it not simply as a box or container, but as an ancient relics chest, so that something of its devotional and domestic significance remains present in English.
arag (араг) and savar (савар) are left here in a deliberately cautious sense. In this context, arag most likely refers to a carrying frame or back-frame, while savar seems to refer to a simple household vessel or utensil. Rather than forcing both into overly neat English equivalents, I’ve chosen to preserve something of their local, nomadic-material texture.
Хэзээ дээ л зүүдэн дороон урд насны явдал нугуудыг бодит мэт туулан өнгөрүүлэхүй (Khezee dee l züüden doroon urd nasny yavdal nuguduig bodit met tuulan ungurüülekhüi) — I’ve rendered this as “Where, in dreams, one sometimes vividly remembers events of a past life” The line sits naturally within a Mongolian Gelug Buddhist world, in which former lives are understood as real, and dreams may at times be received as carrying spiritual or karmic significance. It may also be read in relation to the wider background of dream yoga, where the dream state can become a mode of recollection and insight.
satsal (сацал) refers to the ritual sprinkling or offering of liquid, most often milk, tea, or another consecrated drink. In Mongolian nomadic life, and also within Mongolian Buddhist practice, it is a familiar act of reverence, blessing, and offering — made to the land, the sky, the household, the ancestors, or the sacred. I’ve rendered it here as “libation offerings” to keep both its ritual form and its devotional weight present in English.
dagina (дагина) — I’ve chosen to retain the Mongolian form dagina here, rather than standardising it to dakini, in order to stay closer to the sound and texture of the original. At the same time, the word still belongs to the wider Mongolian Buddhist world of the dakini: a female spiritual or visionary being who may appear in unexpected, humble, or unsettling forms.
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FURTHER READING
Bassnett, Susan. 2014. Translation Studies. 4th ed. London: Routledge.
Eagleton, Terry. 2013. How to Read Literature. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Kermode, Frank. 1967. The Sense of an Ending: Studies in the Theory of Fiction. London: Oxford University Press.
Ricks, Christopher. 1984. The Force of Poetry. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Scott, Clive. 2018. The Work of Literary Translation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
End of transcript.
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