ThiruvEnkaDa (Thiruppathi) divya desam Part 3. Musical Eulogy to Lord VenkaTEswara

Transcription

1 ThiruvEnkaDa (Thiruppathi) divya desam Part 3. Musical Eulogy to Lord VenkaTEswara Lord VenkaTEswara alamelu mangait tayar We discussed in previous articles how some of the AzhwArs either sang lullabies (KulasEkara AzhwAr) to the Lord at TirukkaNNapuram or woke up the Lord (tondaradippodi AzhwAr) at Srirangam singing TiruppaLLiyezhucci or SuprabhAtham (PrativAti Bhayankaram annangaracariyar) at Tiruppathi. In addition, Carnatic music composers wrote and sang eulogies to the Lord at various shrines. All the songs involved primarily the Bhakthi element. Here we will discuss three such musical eulogies. annamacarya ( CE): He was a staunch devotee of Lord VenkaTEswara at Tiruppathi. He was born in the village of tallapaka in Cuddappah district of Andhra Pradesh. He was probably the first person to write lyrical devotional songs in Telugu. He lived a life dedicated to service to and worship of Lord VenkaTEswara. He is supposed to have written (in palm leaves) well over 32,000 keertanas although only have survived to date. The songs that survive today were discovered (inscribed in copper plates) after 400 years in oblivion, in 1922 in a niche in the temple premises at Tiruppathi. He followed Sri RAmAnujar s dictum of egalitarian VaishNavism regardless of caste or creed of the devotees. He composed spiritual as well as romantic (sringara) songs. Let us look at a sample song on Lord VenkaTEswara here. adivo alladivo; ragam: hindolam or madyamavati; talam: Adi Composer: annamacarya ప: అ అలల హ సమ ప ల ష ల పడగల మయమ చ1: అ కట చల మక ల నన తమ అ బర ద ల కప ర పమ అ తయ సమక ల మ న లక అ చ డడ క క న దమయమ చ2: గట నలల చలమ న నన వతల జ సమ మ ట నలల మ లన నన ధనమ బ ర క ల బహ బర హ మయమ

2 చ3: క వలయ పదమ కట నగమ కటప క ర ల న బ ప సకల స పద ర పమ వనమ లక లల వనమయమ Pa: adivo alladivo SrIharivAsamu padivela SEShula padagala mayamu ca 1: ade venkatacala makilonnatamu adivo brahmadula kapurupamu adivo nitya nivasamakila munulaku ade cudadade mrokkuda nandamayamu ca 2: cengata nalladivo SEShAcalamu nimginunna devatala nijanivasamu mungita nalladivo mulanunna dhanamu bangaru SiKirAla bahu brahmamayamu ca 3: kaivalya padamu venkata nagamadivo SrIvEnkaTapatiki sirulainadi BAvinpa sakala sanpada rupamadivo pavanamulakella pavanamayamu Meaning: Behold, out there, there is the abode of Srihari. It is decorated with the ten thousand hoods of Adisesha! That is VenkaTAcalam the supreme place. It is very precious to Brahma. That is the eternal abode of hermits and sages. View it and salute it because it is the source of eternal bliss! Right there is the hill SEshAcalam.That is the abode of all celestials. Right there are the golden hills where the treasure is supreme bliss. This VenkaTAcalam, the city of the Lord, is the place to attain the absolute oneness (salvation) with the Lord. The immense bounty of this place is something that you would perceive in its purest form. He expressed his devotion to the Lord by saying, na nalika pai nundi na na sankeerthanalu puni nache ninnu bogadinchitivi (You sat on my tongue and made me sing different hymns in your praise. In doing so you allowed me the chance of being with you). Some of his songs that are heard often on the concert circuit are: KoNDalalO nelakonna (HindOLam), nanati batuku (revati), BAvamulOna (Suddha dhanyasi), BAvayAmi gopalabalam (yamuna kalyani), ceri yasodaku (mohanam), Ksheerabdi kanyakaku (Kurinji), and Paramapurusha nirupamana (BauLi or Shanmugapriya). For an alphabetical list annamacarya songs refer to: Lyrics/annamAcAri/annamAcAri/Anna-Index-Integrated-s.pdf. To hear some keertanas of annamayya, please visit: In the daily ritual at tirumalai temple the day starts with recitation of annamacarya song(s), followed by SuprabhAtham, which is then followed by tiruppalliyezhucci of tondaradippodi AzhwAr. Only in dhanurmasam (Dec-Jan) SuprabhAtham gets replaced by ANDAL s tiruppavai. PApanAsam Sivan ( ): His given name at birth was RAmayyA. He was born in a village called POlagam in ThanjAvUr district (Thamizh nadu), considered a cradle

3 of Carnatic music. He was devoutly religious from an early age and he took up bhajans and music as a vocation and they became his obsession later on. He got the nickname PApanAsam (from the village he lived in with his brother) Sivan (after people heard him sing very piously with holy ash on his forehead and body at a village Siva temple). He started composing in In all he composed around 2500 songs in Thamizh, Sanskrit, and Telugu on various deities such as Siva, Rama, Krishna, Lakshmi, Parvati, Sarasvati, Murugan, Ganapati, and Lord VenkaTEswara. Let us sample one such song he composed on Lord VenkaTEswara here. VEngaDa ramana; Ragam: latangi talam: rupakam composer: PApanAsam Sivan பல லவ : வங கட ரமண உன த ர வ ளய ட ல ய ர அற வ ர ( வங கட) அன பல லவ : சங க சக ர த உ ன சரண டந தன ப ழ ப ற த தர ள ( வங கட) சரணம : அலர மல மங க மண ள அம ப ஜ ந ப தய ள மலர த த ள மறந த ற ம ந தன மன ன த த ன ஆண டர ள த ர ப பத ( வங கட) Pallavi: venkata ramana un tiruvilaiyadalai yar arivar (venkata) anupallavi: sanga cakra dhari unai caranadainden pizhai poruttarul (venkata) caranam: alar mel mangai manala ambuja nabha dayala malart tal marandiru manden mannittenai ANDaruL tiruppati (venkata) Meaning: Oh VEngaTa ramana, who will ever know the divine games that you play? Oh bearer of the conch (sangham) and the discus (cakram), I surrender unto you, forgive my shortcomings! Oh Lord of alarmel Mangai (PadmAvati), merciful lotus-naveled one, I was arrogantly oblivious of your lotus feet. Please forgive and protect me. He used his signature ramadasan in some songs to indicate his birth name as well as his devotion to Lord Rama. Six volumes of his compositions have been published so far with some more to come. Sivan s another song on Lord Srinivasa that is also popular is SrInivAsa thiruvengadamudaiyan... in the ragam hamsanandhi. A list of available PApanAsam Sivan s songs can be seen at the following site; ThyAgarAja ( ): St. Thyagaraja, composer-musician par excellence, was born in Tiruvarur in ThamizhnADu and then moved to TiruvaiyAru in his childhood days. His father enjoyed the royal benevolence of the ThanjAvUr king Tulasing. Thyagaraja evinced keen interest in music and religious instruction early on and it is said he got

4 divine inspiration from sage narada. For him music was his life and music was just the medium for expressing devotion to God. He was blessed to inherit lyrical (sahityam) musical knowledge from his paternal ancestry and melodic musical knowledge from his maternal ancestry. He is credited with having composed several thousands of songs although only about 700 are currently available. Most of his songs are in Telugu and some are in Sanskrit. A vast majority of his songs are on Rama. He considered his home as the abode of Rama and thus ventured very little outside his hometown to visit temples in other towns. He believed that meditation on the Lord is equivalent to a holy dip in the river Ganga and that there is no need to take pilgrimages. On a rare visit to the temple at Tiruppathi, he arrived past the viewing time and found the curtain covering the sanctum sanctorum. The priests were also gone from the scene. Thyagaraja was upset that he could not view the Lord and immediately composed and sang the song tera tiyaga rada... (GauLi pantu ragam). To his surprise the curtain parted getting him a full view of the Lord. Thereupon he burst into the song, VenkatEsa ninu sevimpanu... in madyamavati ragam. That song and its meaning are given below. VenkaTEsa ninu sevimpanu; Ragam: madyamavati; talam: Adi; composer: Thyagaraja ప. కట శ న పన ప ల కన న ల క వల నయ య ( క) అ. ప కజ కష ప త మ జన వ కమగ వయ ర పమన క నన ( క) చ1. ఎక క వ వ క క ల గడ అకక ర క మ క క కన న కక మ గక క న బ ర వ తళ కక ర చకక తనమ గల ( క) చ2. ఏ మ ఫల మ మ త నమ అన నమ క న యక పరమ న ద స క నమ యమ ఘ ల గల ( క) చ3. హ దయ గ యన జన గ య వర శ శయన గవత ర య య గ జ న త చలమ బ గ గ లక నన ( క) P: venkatesa ninu sevimpanu padi vela kannulu kavalenayya A :pankajaksa paripalita muni jana bhavukamagu divya rupamanukonna (venka) C1: ekkuva nivani dikkulu pogada akkara koni madi sokki kanugona nikkamu nive grakkuna brovu talukkani merase cakka tanamu gala (venka) C2: E nomu phalamo ni namamrta panamu anu sopanamu dorikenu sri nayaka paramananda ni sari kanamu zobhayamananghrulu gala (venka)

5 C3: yogi hrdaya nive gatiyanu jana bhagadheya vara bhogisa Sayana bhagavata priya tyagaraja nuta naga calamupai baguga nelakonna (venka) Meaning: Oh, Lord VenkaTEsa, one needs ten thousand eyes in order to worship you! Oh, lotus-eyed one, who governs all the sages, and who assumed a very auspicious divine form! In view of the lords of the eight directions extolling you, I have immense interest in you. I found it to my immense pleasure that you are the Truth. Please protect me forthwith. As a result of my earlier penance I attained a status to taste the nectarine drink of your sacred name. Oh, consort of LakshmI, I do not find any other deity equal to you. Your holy feet are the most auspicious for me. You dwell in the hearts of ascetics. You dispense fortune to those who consider you as their refuge. You are reclining on the blessed serpent couch. You are dear to your devotees and you are worshipped by me (Thyagaraja). You are well established on the SEshAdri Mountain. For a list of Thyagaraja s kritis please visit: There were and are so many poets and composers who wrote songs in praise of Lord VenkaTEswara. Just to cite a couple more: Muttuswami Dikshitar (Thyagaraja s contemporary and one of the Carnatic music trinity along with Thyagaraja and Syama Sastri) composed two songs in Sanskrit, venkateshvarayadava (megaranjani ragam), and shri venkatagirisham (suratti ragam). Rajaji wrote a song, kurai onrum illai.. (ragamalikai) describing the Lord at the hills as one who descended on to the earth in the kali Yuga to save humanity. Sethuraman Subramanian mahakavi@nc.rr.com