Master or Slave?

೯)
ಆನೆಗಾರ್ ಇರುವೆಗಾರ್ ಕಾಗೆಗಾರ್ ಕಪ್ಪೆಗಾರ್ |
ಕಾಣಿಸುವರನ್ನವನು? ಹಸಿವವರ ಗುರುವು ||
ಮನವನುಮಂತುದರಶಿಷ್ಯನವನಾ ರಸನೆ |
ನಾನಾವಯವಗಳಲಿ ಮಂಕುತಿಮ್ಮಾ ||

Are humans masters of the material world? superior to animals? may be they are, but they are certainly slaves to the senses. Animals are free from material desires, so they live life for the present and live happily as long as they live. But, we are unfortunate in that sense, that we seldom live in the present, either worried about the future or repenting about the past.

DVG tactfully takes four categories of animals - a mammal, an insect, a bird, and an amphibian (spanning water and land)! All these are satisfied by the basic physiological needs - eating, mating, sleeping, defending, but humans struggle for these four basic needs, seldom satisfied with what they possess.

You may have heard this before: even before we were born our food was ready, our stock of milk was stored in the mother's breast. Man tries to satisfy these needs through various needs and complicates the whole process. So, DVG again shows how humans are slaves of their senses.