Saraswati Vidhi Yuvati : Muthuswami Dikshithar

Saraswati Vidhi Yuvati : Muthuswami Dikshithar 

Raga: Hindolam   Tala: Rupakam

Pallavi : 

sarasvatI vidhiyuvatI samrakSatu mAm shrI

Charanam : 

muraLI vINAgAna vinOdinI samvEdinI chAru candra hAsinI sarasIruha lOcani murAri guruguha mOdinI shabdArtthasvarUpiNI hamsinI brahmANI AraktavarNa rUpiNI

Meaning : 

Vidhi yuvati : wife of Brahma; "Vidhi" means Brahma. 

vinagana vinodhini : who plays the veena

Samvedhini : who is knowledge itself

charu chandra hasini : who smiles like the beautiful moon

sarairuha lochani : who has eyes like lotus flower 

murari : lord vishnu

guruguha : lord subramanya; the mudra that Dikshithar uses in every song

modhini : pleases

shabdarsthasvarupini : one who is the word as well as its meaning

hamsini : who uses swan as her vehicle

brahmani : the supreme sprit

araktavarna rupini : who has a reddish complexion

  

Here, Dikshithar invokes Goddess Saraswati. She is the wife of 'Vidhi', the creator, Lord Brahma. 'Vidhi' is a term used in several indian languages, especially the southern languages such as Tamil to denote fate. Brahma creates that fate for all of us. And, Saraswati is the yuvati of this vidhi, meaning, Brahma's wife. May you protect me. 

She is the one who loves to and takes delight in listening to flute and Veena.

She is full of knowledge. She is knowledge itself. She smiles like the bright and beautiful moon. She has eyes like the lotus flowers. She pleases both Lord Vishnu and Lord Subramanya (Guruguha). 

She takes the form of words as well as its meaning. Here, I am reminded of kalidasa's immortal lines: 

vāgarthāviva saṃpṛktau vāgartha pratipattaye |
jagataḥ pitarau vande pārvatīparameśvarau ||

वागर्थाविव संपृक्तौ वागर्थ प्रतिपत्तये ।
जगतः पितरौ वन्दे पार्वतीपरमेश्वरौ ॥

வாகர்த்தாவிவ ஸம்ப்ருக்தௌ வாகர்த்த ப்ரதிபத்தயே |
ஜகதஃ பிதரௌ வந்தே பார்வதீபரமேச்வரௌ ||

The word and the meaning are inseparable. And, Goddess Saraswati is the word and its meaning.

She takes Swan for her vehicle. She is the pure one. She is reddish in colour.

May she protect me.

Listen to this song sung by a young artist (Srinidhi Sridharan):

Another young artist: (Radhika Buckory)

Saraswati dayai nithi nee gathi : Papanasam Sivan

saraswati dayai nithi nee gathi : Papanasam Sivan

Ragam : Saraswati                                                                                       Talam : Adi

pallavi

saraswati dayai nidhi nI gati

tannaruL tandaruLvAi bhArati

anupallavi

karamalar miLir maNi mAlayum vINayum

karuNai pozhiyum kaDaikkaNNazhagum vaLar

charaNam

ninnaruL oLi illayAnAl-mana iruL

nIngumO sakala kalai mAtE - veL

annavAhini veN kamalamalar vaLarum

vANi veLLai kalyANi purANi

In Tamil : 

பல்லவி

சரஸ்வதி தயை நிதி நீ கதி
தன்னருள் தந்தருள்வாய் பாரதி

அனுபல்லவி

கரமலர் மிளிர் மணி மாலையும் வீணையும்
கருணை பொழியும் கடைக்கண்ணழகும் வளர்

சரணம்

நின்னருள் ஒளி இல்லையானால்-மன இருள்
நீங்குமோ சகல கலை மாதே - வெள்
அன்னவாஹினி வெண் கமலமலர் வளரும்
வாணி வெள்ளை கலை அணி புராணி

Meaning : 

pallavi

saraswati dayai nidhi nI gati

tannaruL tandaruLvAi bhArati

Goddess Saraswati! You are full of care and concern for your devotees. For us, who else is there except you? We surrender before thee. Bharati, my dear Goddess,  please shower your blessings on us.

anupallavi

karamalar miLir maNi mAlayum vINayum

karuNai pozhiyum kaDaikkaNNazhagum vaLar

A garland of beads shines in your hands. You also carry a Veena. Your eyes are full of care for us. 

charaNam

ninnaruL oLi illayAnAl-mana iruL

nIngumO sakala kalai mAtE - veL

annavAhini veN kamalamalar vaLarum

vANi veLLai kalai aNi purANi

Saraswati, you are the Goddess of knowledge! Without your blessings, the darkness in our hearts will not go away. You are the Goddess who knows all arts. You sit on a beautiful white swan. You also reside on a beautiful white lotus flower. You wear a white saree. You are the Goddess Vani. You are 'purani', you have been there for eons.

It is a beautiful song in tamil with lots of poetic touches all over the place. With rhythmic words such as 'saraswati', 'nithi', gathi', 'barathi', it sets off on a lovely tempo. 

Papanasam sivan talks about knowledge being the blessings of Goddess saraswati which will remove our inner darkness. It is not only the knowledge about things around us but also about ourselves which will help us understand who we are which will in turn lead to self discovery and knowledge. That is the true knowledge. 

Goddess Saraswati symbolises white color. She sits on a beauitiful white swan. She resides on a beautiful white lotus flower. She wears a white saree. She epitomises the spotless heart and clean lovely heart and mind. 

She carries a garland made of beads which symbolises the need for being calm and composed and looking inwards. She also carries Veena, the beautiful musical instrument. The music which soothes us and which makes us realise our inner peace. 

Papanasam Sivan invokes Goddess Saraswati and says that only she can remove our inner darkness. She, the one who has been there since time began, 'purani', is the one who can bless us with true knowledge. 

He talks about "thannarul". It is not just the blessings that he talks about. He wants to Goddess to give us the blessings which are bearable and 'cool' rather than 'hot'. If whatever the Goddess does is for our own good, even if the Goddess burns us, it should be for our own good. Even if the Goddess curses us, it must be for our own good. Those are also "blessings" of the Goddess. But, those are "HOT" in nature and not "cool". But, we may not be able to bear it. We may reel under the power of those 'hot' blessings . So, he asks Goddess to shower us with "cool" blessings which may soothe us and it becomes bearable for us. 

Similarly, he asks Goddess Saraswati to give us blessings from her "corner of eyes" rather than directly. We may not be able to take the direct eye contact from the Goddess. That kind of power may be too much for us mortals.

On this day of 'Saraswati Pooja', let us pray to Goddess Saraswati. May her blessings make us realise our true selves and make us peaceful and be in eternal bliss.

Listen to this lovely song sung by Nithyasri Mahadevan

Vellaith thaamarai poovil iruppaal : Subramanya Bharathi

Vellaith thaamarai poovil iruppaal : Subramanya Bharathi Raagam : Bhimplas

Pallavi

Vellai tamarai puvil iruppal
vinai seiyum oliyil iruppal
kollai inbam kulavu kavidai kurum pavalar ullathilruppal


Anupallavi

ulladam porul thediyunarde
odum vedattin ulnindrolirval
kallamatra munivargal kurum
karunai vasagath ut porulaval (vellai)

Charanam 1
madhar thengural paatil iruppal
makkal pesum mazhalaiyil ullal
geedam padum kuyilin kuralai
kiliyin navail iruppidum kondal

kodanganra tozhiludaitagi kulavu cittiram gopuram koyil
idanaithin ezhilidaiyutral inbame vadivagida petral (vellai)

In Tamil :

வெள்ளைத் தாமரை பூவில் இருப்பாள்
வீணை செய்யும் ஒலியில் இருப்பாள்
கொள்ளை இன்பம் குலவு கவிதை
கூறு பாவலர் உள்ளத்திலிருப்பாள்

உள்ளதாம் பொருள் தேடியுணர்ந்தே
ஓதும் வேதத்தின் உள்நின்ரொளிர்வாள்
கள்ளமற்ற முனிவர்கள் கூறும்
கருணை வாசகத்துட் பொருளாவாள்

மாதர் தீங்குரல் பாட்டில் இருப்பாள்
மக்கள் பேசும் மழலையில் உள்ளாள்
கீதம் பாடும் குயிலின் குரலை
கிளியின் நாவை இருப்பிடம் கொண்டாள்

கோதகன்ற தொழிலுடைத்தாகிக்
குலவு சித்திரம் கோபுரம் கோயில்
ஈதனைத்தின் எழிலிடையுற்றாள்
இன்பமே வடிவாகிட பெற்றாள்

Meaning : 

She (Goddess Saraswati) resides in a white lotus flower.  That is what our religion says. But, that is not all. She is there in the sweet mellifluous sound of Veena. She is there in the heart of those poets who sing lovely songs which bring in such a great joy to those who listen to it!

She is there as the inner meaning of Vedas, which tell the truth of life. She is there in the words of sages who mean only good for all around them. She is there in the beautiful songs that women sing. She is there in the lovely blabber of young children. She resides in the voice of the koyal bird which sings sweet songs. She resides in the tongue of parrots which speak such lovely things.

That is not all. She is there in every single beautiful thing in this world. She is there in all those beautiful drawings. She is there in all those temples. She is there in the beauty of those temples and the artistic work which is done on them. She is beauty itself. She is joy itself.

Here, Bharathi, the great tamil poet, takes a small dig at the traditional understanding about the Goddess Saraswati. She is said to be the Goddess of learning and education and as such she is associated with books and temples.

Here, Bharati expands the idea of learning. He expands on the idea of joy. He equates learning with Joy. How can one learn if it is not enjoyable?  He talks about music. He talks about fine arts. he talks about vedas. He talks about the great sages and their teachings. All constitute learning. Learning and education is not just bookish. It is not just rote learning. It is from across. It is to understand life itself. It is to appreciate beauty from everywhere.

As Keats said long back, " A thing of beauty is joy forever", Bharathi also echoes that sentiment. Bharati sees beauty everywhere. He sees the joy in that beauty everywhere. And, he equates that beauty and joy with learning.

He says that the Goddess saraswati does not only reside in that white lotus flower that we are familiar with thru the traditional indian sculptures and drawings, but she is there in every single thing of beauty. She is there in every single musical instrument. She is there in everything musical and mellifluous. She is there in every single thing which is enjoyable.

The idea of knowing God is knowing the joy which is there everywhere.

This is a simple song which can be taught to children from a very early age. Set to Raagam Bhimplas, there are a number of singers who have sung this song.

1. Bombay Jayashree : 

2. Gayatri Girish:

3. Madurai Mani Iyer:

4. KJ Yesudass:

Kandu Kandann Irikkum Janannale : Poonthanam Namboodiry

Kandu Kandann Irikkum Janannale : Poonthanam Namboodiry

This is a beautiful song, sung and immortalised by MS Subbulakshmi. I fell in love with this song and started searching for the lyrics after I listened to this song. 

I found the lyricsand meaning in the site karnatic.com.

The song was written by Poonthanam Namboodiry. 

The raagas indicated herein are as sung by the great MS Subbulakshmi. 

The first stanza in Raagam : Bhageshrri

kaNDu kaNDaNN irikkuM janaNNaLe- kkaNDilennu varuttunnatuM bhavAn
raNDu nAlu dinaM koNDoruttane taNDiletti naTattunnatuM bhavAn
mALika mukaLERiya mannanTe tOLil mARAppaNNAkkunnatum bhavAN
kRSNa kRSNA mukundA janArdanA kRSNa govinda nArAyaNA harE

The second stanza in Raagam : Nadanamakriya

eNNiyeNNi kurayunnitAyussuM maNDi maNDi kkarErunnu mohavuM
ittamOrOnnu cinticcirikkavE cattu pokunnu pAvaM shiva shiva
kRSNa kRSNA mukundA janArdanA kRSNa govinda nArAyaNA harE

The third stanza in Raagam : Shubapantuvarali

kUTiyallA piRakkunna nerattuM kUTiyallA marikkunna nerattum
madhyEyiNNane kANunna nerattu matsarikkunnatendinu nAm vRthA
kRSNa kRSNA mukundA janArdanA kRSNa govinda nArAyaNA harE

Meaning: People whom we see every day, God makes them disappear one day. In two or four days, God changes the destiny of a man, and puts him from palace to prison. A King who is rich and arrogant today, God makes him bear heavy burden the next day! While you count, your life gets shorter and shorter in a fast pace and we die one day. We were never together when we were born, and we will never be together when we die. Then why possess jealosy, enimity, etc and waste your life?

1. MS Subbulakshmi:

Gajavadana Karuna Sadana by Papanasam Sivan

Song : Gajavadanaa   Composer : Papanasam Sivan

gajavadanaa karuna sadana

raagam: shree ranjani



22 kharaharapriya janya
Aa: S R2 G2 M1 D2 N2 S
Av: S N2 D2 M1 G2 R2 S
taaLam: aadi
 
Language: Tamil (with lots of sanskrit words in it)

pallavi

gajavadana karuNA sadana shankara bAlA lambOdara sundara

anupallavi

ajanamarEndranum munivarum paNiyum pankaja caraNA sharaNam sharaNam shrI

charanam

nIyE mUvulagirk-kAdhAram nIyE shivakAma mantra sAram
nIyE vAzhvilen jIvAdhAram nI aruLvAi sumukhA OmkAra 


Meaning : 


pallavi

gajavadana karuNA sadana shankara bAlA lambOdara sundara

Gajavadana - The one with the elephant face; karuna sadana - one who is full of love for his people; shankara bala - son of shankara; lambodara - "lamba udhara"  - the one with a big stomach; sundara - beautiful 

anupallavi
ajanamarEndranum munivarum paNiyum pankaja charaNA sharaNam sharaNam shrI 

ajanamarendranum - indra, the one who is the head of all Devas; munivar - the ones who have extraordinary powers by doing penance, sages; paniyum - they come and bow before thee; pankaja charana - you have feet like lotus; sharanam sharanam - I bow before thee

charanam

nIyE mUvulagirk-AdhAram nIyE shivakAma mantra sAram
nIyE vAzhvilen jIvAdhAram nI aruLvAi sumukhA OmkAra  

niye - you ; muvulagir - for the three worlds; adharam - support; shivakama - shiva agama, meaning the mantras and vedas; saram - essence of; vazhvilen - in my life; jivadharam - foundation of life; ni - you; arulvai - bless me; sumukha - the one who is always smiling, auspicious faced; omkara - who is in the form of OM - the most important mantra in hinduism


Papanasam sivan, is a poet who had sung a number of songs and kritis which are popularly sung on not only carnatic cutcheries but also on tamil cine field. 

In this song, he praises Lord Ganapathy who is the first and foremost God in the hindu pantheons. 

Lord Ganesha has an elephant face. He is full of love and affection for his followers. He is the son of Lord Shankara (Shiva). He has a big stomach but he is beautiful. 

Even Lord Indra, the head of all devas and great sages and come and bow before Lord Ganesha. Before anyone starts any important work, they invoke Lord Ganapathy. Every single yaga and yangna, done to invoke other Gods or Goddesses also start with the invocation of Ganesha only. Lord Ganesha has a lotus feet which all these people come and kneel before. I also kneel before thee!

Lord Ganesha! You are the one who is the foundation of all three worlds: the heavens, the earth and the world below. You are the foundation and essence of the 'sivagama' which is the essence of all vedas. You are the foundation of my life too. I bow before thee. Bless me. You are the one who is always smiling and the one with the most auspicious of the faces. You are the mantra "OHM" which is supposed to be the most essential of and the most important of all mantras out there. 

Some links to this song : 

1. Savitha Narasimhan :

2. Unni Krishnan : 

Hari Tum Haro Jan ki peer : Meera Bhai

Song : Hari Tum Haro Jan ki peer    By : Meera Bhai

Raag : Dharbari Kanada

Aa: N2 S R2 G2 R2 S M1 P D1 N2 S
Av: S D1 N2 P M1 P G2 M1 R2 S

Taal : Adi

Lyrics : 

Hari tum haro jana ki pīr

draupadī kī lāj rākhī tum badhāyo cīr
 
bhakta kārana rūpa narahari dharyo āp śarīr
 
hiranyakaśyapa mār līnho dharyo nāhina dhīr

būdate gaja rāja rākhyo kiyo bāhar nīr

dāsi mīrā lāl giradhar dukha jahāń tahāń pīr

This is a wonderful song by Meera Bhai. We all know about Bhaktha Meera. A quick introduction to Meerabhai for those who want to know more about her can be found here : http://www.chittorgarh.com/meera-bai.asp


Meaning : 

I found a line by line, word by word meaning of this song in the website : http://mmadan.wordpress.com/2007/07/08/ms-subbulakshmi-hari-tum-haro/

I am reproducing the same here with thanks to the author. I don't think I can do better than how it is put together by the author:

hari tum haro jana ki pīr
Almighty Lord God, remove the sufferings of Your slaves.

draupadī kī lāj rākhī tum badhāyo cīr
You protected the honor of Draupadi, Lengthening the garment that covered her.

bhakta kārana rūpa narahari dharyo āp śarīr
For the sake of Your devotee, You assumed the form of Nrsimhadeva.

hiranyakaśyapa mār līnho dharyo nāhina dhīr
You killed Hiranyakasipu With Your fierce form.

būdate gaja rāja rākhyo kiyo bāhar nīr
You rescued the drowning elephant Gajaraj, Taking him out of the water.

dāsi mīrā lāl giradhar dukha jahāń tahāń pīr
Oh Master Giridhara! I am only Your maidservant, Mira.
Here and there, there is only suffering and pain.

This is a very short but very very sweet song. Meera talks to Krishna, her master. She always considers herself as Krishna's maidservant and slave.

She talks about how Krishna saves everyone and why He is the only one who can save her now.

Krishna protected Draupathi when she was defenseless in front of Duchchathana. Draupathi was losing her saree and though everyone was there, nobody came to her help. Nobody came to protect her modesty. Draupati had 5 husbands, not just one. And, all of her five husbands were present in that place when this cruelty was inflicted on her. And yet, none of them helped her. The great Bhishma was there. The great guru Drona was there. The great guru Krupa was there. And yet, nobody helped her. She called out to Krishna. And, though Krishna was not even physically present there at that time, yet, Krishna was the one who saved her. The moment Draupati called out to Krishna, her saree began to grow and grow. Finally a tired Dhuchchathana fell down, not able to do the task he started to do.

For Prahaladha, Krishna took the form of Man-Animal - 'Nara-Simham'. Lord Vishnu was waiting in every single place of the palace for the child prahaladha to point out his tiny fingers and tell his father, the cruel Hiranyakasibu that 'Lord Vishnu Resides here'. The moment Prahaladha showed one place and told his father that the Lord is there too, Lord came out of that very place to kill Hiranyakasibu.

And, the lord saves not just His human devotees. He also saved the elephant which was caught in a swamp and was caught by a crocodile. When the elephant called out to the Lord, the Lord Hari came running to save the elephant.

If all these devotees were saved by the Lord, then the Lord and only the Lord can save me, this maidservant, this slave, Meera too. And, without Krishna, here and there and everywhere, there is only pain.

Some links for this song :

1. By MS who acted as Meera in her early days :