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Sunday, March 13, 2011

Shriman Narayana : Shri Annamacharya : Bowli

Shriman Narayana : Ragam: Bauli  Talam: Adi : Composer : Shri Annamacharya

raagam: bowLi

Aa: S R1 G3 P D1 S
Av: S N3 D1 P G3 R1 S
taaLam: aadi
Composer: Annamaacaarya
Language: Sanskrit



pallavi

shrIman nArAyaNa shrIman nArAyaNa
shrIman nArAyaNa nI shrIpAdame sharaNu

Anupallavi

kamalAsati mukhakamala kamalahita
kamalapriya kamalekShaNA
kamalAsanahita garu.dagamana shrI
kamalanAbha nI padakamalame sharaNu || 1 ||


charaNam

parama yogijana bhAgadheya shrI
paramapuruShA parAtparA
paramAtmA paramANurUpa shrI
tiruveNkaTagiridevA sharaNu || 2 ||

Meaning : 

pallavi

shrIman nArAyaNa shrIman nArAyaNa
shrIman nArAyaNa nI shrIpAdame sharaNu

Narayana is never without His consort, Goddess Lakshmi. Goddess Lakshmi is referred to as "Shri". Even in addressing people, we call him "Shrimaan...." this is just to ensure that the person being referred to is blessed with the grace of Goddess Lakshmi. 



Here, Nayarayana is also referred similarly. And, the addressing goes on for three times. 

I  bow to such a feet. I take shelter in such a feet. 

Anupallavi

kamalAsati mukhakamala kamalahita
kamalapriya kamalekShaNA
kamalAsanahita garu.dagamana shrI
kamalanAbha nI padakamalame sharaNu || 1 ||

His wife is Kamala - Goddess Lakshmi, who sits on the lotus flower. He has the face like a lotus flower. He tends lotus. He loves lotus flower. He has eyes like lotus flowers. He sits on a lotus posture. He rides on Garuda, the eagle. He has a lotus flower coming out of his Navel. 




I pray for your lotus feet.

charaNam

parama yogijana bhAgadheya shrI
paramapuruShA parAtparA
paramAtmA paramANurUpa shrI
tiruveNkaTagiridevA sharaNu || 2 ||

He is the one who brings good fortune  to yogis. He is the supreme one. He is the great soul who is everywhere. He has the shape of the atom. He is the one who makes the atom what it is. He is the one who is there in Tiruvenkatagiri - Tiruppati.



Interesting points to note from the Kriti: 

Shriman Narayana : His name gets addressed three times to start with. This is a song which is typically sung as 'suprabhata' to Lord Venkateswara of Tiruppati. The Lord Venkateswara is like a King. And, it is a typical thing to address the king three times as the king comes into the court. Shri Annamacharya has structured the kriti as if he is addressing the Lord coming into the court where thousands of devotees are waiting. And, he is addressing the Lord three times. 

Kamala : The usage of this term in the anupallavi is beautiful.'Kamala' is used a total of eight times in the Anupallavi. "Srimannarayana" in sanskrit is called "Ashtakshara" - the mantra with 8 letters in it. It is only fitting that the Kamalavasa's connection with Lotus flower is mentioned eight times : 

Kamala Sati - with a wife "Kamala"
Mukha Kamala - with a face like lotus
Kamala hita - He does good deed like a lotus flower; He is soft like a lotus flower; He tends to Lotus
Kamala Pirya : He loves lotus
Kama Lekshana - with eyes like lotus flower
Kamalasanahita - in the lotus posture
Kamala nabane - with a navel from which a lotus flower springs up
Pada kamalame - The one with the lotus feet 

Paramanu rupa : Shri Annamacharya lived in the 15th century. From 1408 to 1503. That time, the scientific world did not even know of 'Atom'. But, here is the 15th century poet and he is beautifully talking about the basic building block of life and how Tiruvenkatapati is there in that building block also.


Sriman Narayana : Sung by Smt.MS.Subbulakshmi :


Sriman Narayana in Nadhaswaram


7 comments:

  1. kamalasanahita probably means ' the one who wishes good for the one who has the lotus as his seat (i.e. brahma)'.

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  2. Probably, you are right. Thanks for pointing it out. 'hita' word there shows it!! Thanks again!

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  3. కాస్త లోతుగా ఆలోచిస్తే అనుపల్లవి అర్థాన్ని మెరుగుపఱచవచ్చు..

    కమలాసతిముఖకమల - లక్ష్మీదేవియొక్క కమలమువంటి ముఖమునకు

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  4. Its too good to have blogs like this for annamacharya thanks for posting here u can find some more lyrics for Annamacharya Keerthanas

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  5. Thank you for nice explanation

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  6. I have interest in Carnatic music and used to listen to audios shared by my friend Swaminathan K. But, do not know the basics even. So, my friend shared this link for the subject-song; still, when we meet in person,(I am in Bangalore and he is in Chennai), I should ask him to explain this as I am not able to understand the contents by a mere reading - lack of basic knowledge except the liking that too, listening to my friend singing Carnatic songs.

    ReplyDelete