Nannu Brovu Lalitha : Shyama Sastri : Lalitha

Nannu Brovu Lalitha : Lalitha

Lyrics taken from : http://www.carnaticmusic.esmartmusic.com

Raga: Lalitha / Tala: mishra chapu

|pallavi||

nannu brOvu lalithA vEgamE
chAlaninnu nera nammiyunna
vAdugadhA bhaktha kalpakalathA

||anu pallavi||
ninnuvinA evarunnAru gathi
jananI athi vEgamE vachchi
(nannu brOvu...)

||charaNa 1||
parAku sEyakanEvachchi kRupasalupa rAdhA
mOra vinavA parAshakthI gIrvANa vamdhitha
padhA nI bhakthudanammA samthathamu
(nannu brOvu...)

||charaNa 2||
sarOjabhava kamalanAtha shamkarasurEmdhra
nuthacharithA purANi vANI imdhrANI
vamdhitha rANi ahibhUShaNuni rANI
(nannu brOvu...)

||charaNa 3||
madhAthmulaina dhurAthmajanulanukathalanu
pOgadi sadhA nE varAla chutti thirigithi
vethalanella dhIrchivaramOsagi
(nannu brOvu...)

||charaNa 4||
sumEru maDhya nilayE shyAmakRuShNuni sOdhari
kaumAri umA shrI mInAkShammA shamkariyO
mahArajmI rakShimchuta kidhi samayamu
(nannu brOvu...)

***************************************************

Core Meaning : 

nannu brOvu lalithA vEgamE chAlaninnu nera nammiyunna vAdugadhA bhaktha kalpakalathA 

nannu = me

brovu = protect

lalitha = goddess lalitha

vegame = quick; fast; save me fast

chala   = very 

ninnu = you

nera = much  

nammi yunna = trust you 

vAdugadhA   = God who fulfills
bhaktha = devotees

kalpakalathA = the wish fulfilling plant

O Lalitha Dhevi! Come quickly. Come and save me.  I rely on you and only you. who is there for me? 

Except you?  You are the one who is fulfills all the wishes of your devotees. You are like the 'kalpaka 

latha' - the wish fulfilling plant

ninnuvinA evarunnAru gathi jananI athi vEgamE vachchi

ninnu = you

vina - without

evarunnaru = who is there?

gathi = way/ refuge

janani = who created the whole world

athi vegame vachchi= come faster

There is no one but you for me. Who can save me but you? Where can I go? There is nowhere I can go. 

There is no 'gathi' , no refuge for me other than yourself. So, please come quickly. Come and save me. 

parAku sEyakanEvachchi kRupasalupa rAdhA mOra vinavA parAshakthI gIrvANa vamdhitha
padhA nI bhakthudanammA samthathamu

paraku  = unconcerned

seyakanevachchi = overlook

krupa salupa radha = show pity

mora = requests / pleadings

vinava = hear / listen / enquire

parashakthi = goddess of the world

girvana vamdhitha padha = the lotus feet worshipped by all Gods

ni = your

bhakthudanamma = your devottee/ your baktha

samthathamu = for always / for ever 

Dear Goddess. Please listen to my please. Please enquire about me. Please show pity on me.  

Please don't overlook me. You are the goddess of the world. You are the parashakthi - the supreme shakthi. 

All the Gods come and worship at your feet. I am your devotee. I will always be like that. 

I will always be worshipping you. Don't give up on me.

sarOjabhava kamalanAtha shankarasurEndhra
nutha charithA purANi vANI indhrANI
vandhitha rANi ahibhUShaNuni rANI

sarojabhava = the one who was born from the lotus - lord brahma

kamalanatha = the one who hs the lotus navel - lord vishnu 

sankara = lord shiva

surendhra = head of all devas - Devendra - Indra

nuta = praised by

charitha  = your life story

purani = goddess lakshmi 

vani = goddess saraswati

indhrani = indra's wife

vandhitha = worshipped by

rani = queen 

ahibhUShaNuni = the one who takes snakes as garlands, lord sankara

rANI = queen

Devi! Lord Brahma, Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu - all of them worship on your feet. Devendra sings about

your life. Indrani, saraswati and lakshmi all come and worship at your lotus feet.  The one who takes snakes 

for garlands, the lord sankar's queen is who else but you? 

Here, the words are poetic. Purani, Vani, indhrani, Rani...the words are dancing around. 

madhAth mulaina dhurAthmajanulanu kathalanu
pOgadi sadhA nE varAla chutti thirigithi
vethalanella dhIrchi varamOsagi

madhath mulaina =  filled by lust and wickedness

dhurathmajanulanu = bad people

kathalanu pogadi = who told stories

sadha = always

ne = I 

varala = those  

chutti thirigithi = wasted my life by wandering around

vethalanella = suffering 

dhirchi = bless

varamosagi = the one who gives the varms / bliss

My mother! Devi Lalitha! I have always kept the company of bad people. These were the ones who were 

filled with lust and wickedness. I have always listened to their stories. But, don't forget me just because of that.

I am suffering for all that now. Please save me from this. Please bless me. Please grant me your boons. 

Please do it fast. 

sumEru maDhya nilayE shyAmakRuShNuni sOdhari
kaumAri umA shrI mInAkShammA shamkariyO
mahArajmI rakShimchuta kidhi samayamu

sumeru = the meru mountain

madhya = center of 

nilaye = reside in

shyamakrishnuni sodhari = sister of krishna, who has dark color

kaumAri = who is always young

umA shrI mInAkShammA = goddess uma, goddess meenakshi

shamkariyO = goddess sankari
mahArajmI = queen of the universe

rakShimchuta = please save me / protect me

kidhi samayamu = this is the time    

My dear Goddess Lalitha! You are Uma. You are Meenakshi. You are the sister of Lord Krishna, who is dark. You reside in teh mountain Meru. You are always young. You are the devi of Lord sankara and hence you are called sankari. You are the empress. You are the queen of this whole universe. please save me. Please protect me. It is time for it. It is time you protected me. 

Stories in this kriti : 

Kalapa lathika : 

It is said that there is a tree called "kalpaka vruksha". The tree fulfills all the wishes the ones who are underneath it. With it around, whatever you wish, whether good or bad, come to be realised. Shyama sastri tells us that Goddess Lalitha is like that tree. However, as she is a beautiful woman, and women are generally compared to creepers which are thin rather than thick as a tree, he compares Goddess Lalitha to the "kalapa lathika". Also, while the kalapa vruksha gives all the good and bad, this 'kalpa lathika" fulfills only if the wishes are good. It does not fulfill your wishes if those wishes are bad for you. 

One of the stories about 'Klapaka vruksha" is this : one man, wandered in the forest and was lost. He took rest underneath the kalapaka vriksha, not knowing its nature. He was hungry. He wished for a feast. Immediately, there was this feast in front of him. He was happy and frightenend at the same time. However, because he was hungry, he finished his meals. Then, he wished for a comfortable cot with pillows. Immediately, there was this lovely cot with pillows! He then wished for beautiful women to massage his aching feet. There were two of them massaging him in no time. He was deeply worried now. He then thought : this is a jungle. What if there comes a lion now and eats me? No sooner than he had the thought, there materialized a lion which killed him immediately and ate him. 

But, this 'kalapa lathika' will not grant the wishes if those are bad for the devotees. It will fulfill only if it is good for them. That is the difference between the 'kalpa vruksha' and this 'kalpa lathika'. 

Janani : 

She is the one who created the entire world. "jaga janani" is an often used phrase by all her devotees. Though it is said that Brahma created the world, the 'mahamaya' or the goddess maya, which is a part of devi, goddess lalitha actually created the world according to saktha sect. 

All the Gods worshipping the Goddess Mother : 

This is another traditional practice in the 'saktha' tradition. All the 3 Gods : Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva all fall on the lotus feet of Goddess Lalitha. The same thing is said by slokas such as "Lalitha sahasranama" and bakthi literature such as "Abirami anthathi:" It goes like this : "harihara brahmendradhi sevitha"

Sumeru madhya nilaye : 

This is straight from Lalitha sahasranama. Shyama sastri calls devi as "Lalitha" here. And, he goes on to use the same phrases and praises that Lalitha sahasranama uses. Devi, Goddess, resides in the mountain meru. It is said to be in kailasha. 

Shyama Krishuni sodhari : 

This is the 'mudra' that Shyama sastri uses in all his kritis. Devi Goddess is also the sister of the Shyama coloured - dark colored Krishna. In fact, one of the famous idols in almost all of the tamilnadu marriage halls is that of Lord Vishnu, marrying off his sister to Lord Shiva. This happens because Shyamala, devi goddess, is Vishnu's sister. As Krishna is Vishnu's incarnation, she is the sister of Krishna.

One of the stories about how Shyama Sastri started using his mudra "shyama krishna sodari" 

is as follows : taken from : http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/2002/05/10/stories/2002051000870600.htm

Kamakshi's brother :     

SHYAMA SASTRI, one of the Music Trinity, waschristened Shyamakrishna at birth. What made him address 

Devi Kamakshi of Thanjavur as his sister (Shyamakrishna Sodari) in all his kritis is an interesting story handed 

down by the temple archakas of his time, according to Swaminantha Atreya, the asthana Sanskrit vidwan 

of the Kanchi mutt. Those were the days when the temple for Goddess Kamakshi was being built by Thulajaji, 

the Maratha ruler of Thanjavur. Shyama would practise the songs in his wonderful voice sitting on the tower 

meant for the temple bell. His aunt who was fond of him used to send him milk through her little daughter. One 

day the girl came calling him "Anna" (brother), placed the bowl of milk by his side and disappeared. Shyama

noticed her angelic charm that day with the necklace of the deity adorning her neck. He at once ran home 

only to reprimand his mother for having sent her decked with the deity's jewel.When he learnt that she had not 

sent the girl that day, as she was not available he knew that Goddess Kamakshi had come to enslave him. 

The first kriti that flowed from his lips praising Her grace was "Oh, Jagadamba' in Ananda Bhairavi which was 

later followed by about 300 kritis with his mudra `Shyama Krishna Sodari'. Did she not address him as 

"Anna"?

Of the 300 kritis only 50 are sung now. A master of puns, how Sastri predicted his end is amazing.
When people came to offer their condolence on his wife's death he said, saaga anjinaal, seththu aarinaal, ("She was afraid to die, but in death she attained peace" — this was how others understood the words). But what he actually conveyed was that he was to die in five days — saaga aindunaal — and that was the sixth day of her death (seththu aarunaal). As predicted Shyama Sastri attained Goddess Kamakshi's feet on the eleventh day. By :V. SUNDARAM taken from: http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/2002/05/10/stories/2002051000870600.htm

Some downloads : 

1) Veenai Dhanammal : http://www.mediafire.com/?z1kjqg4j97vky10 Nannu brovu - Lalitha 

Youtube links: 

1) Nithyasri Mahadevan: 

 2) Seshagopalan : 

3) Dr.Mrs.Nagaraj

4) Seshagopalan Audio : 

http://www.raaga.com/play/?id=70931