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.
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"
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
caraNam 2 rAjAdhirAja muni pUjitapAda ravirAjalOcana sharaNya ati lAvaNya
rAjadharanuta virAjaturaga sura rAja vandita pAda-aja janaka dina-
rAjakOTi samatEja danuja gajarAja nicaya mrgarAja jalajamukha
(Ela)
caraNam 3 yAgarakSaNa parama bhAgavatArcita yOgIndra su-hrdbhAvita Adyanta
rahita nAgashayana vara nAgavarada punnAga sumadhara sadAgha-
mOcana sadA gatija dhrta padAgamAnta cara rAgarahita shrI tyAgarAjanuta
(Ela)
Core Meaning:
Ela nI dayarAdu parAku jEsE vELa samayamu gAdu
Thyagaraja starts with a very comfortable and familiar calling of the lord : he calls him 'Ela'. It is a word used in telugu where you know the person you are talking to and are in a comfortable position to address him in the tone of the person who has known him for years. "Hey my dear boy! Come here" is the tone adopted here. He asks him why he has not cared till now. It is the time to care and yet he has not cared to come till now. Is it the way to treat me? There is no time for such things!
Thyagaraja continues in the same tone. Here he says : O my dear boy! O Bala! You are full of golden garments! You are the protector of good virtuous people.You are one who is taken up by Lakshmi! You are the one who does 'jala' with your arrows. Sara = arrows; jala = who does magic with it. Here, it means the one who wields a whole host of arrows.
You are the one who bestows auspeciousness. Shubada = auspeciousness; from the root word 'shubam'. You are the one who is full of mercy : 'Karunalavala'. You look like a dark rain cloud and colored a dark blue : 'Ghana nila'. You wear garlands made of fresh forest flowers : 'navya vana malika abharana'
The music reaches a cresendo here. The beauty of telugu language comes to the fore here. Thyagaraja continues. "Rara" : come! Come oh my boy! Come! Who are you? I know who you are. You are the head of all devas (devadhideva). Come! You are the most noble person (mahanubhava). Come! You have lotus eys (Rajiva Netra). You are the blessed descentant of king Raghu (Raghu vara putra). Please do come.
Oh my dear excellent boy! Your heart is full of bliss. So does your family's (of saints and people like me!). You are majestic like an ocean. You are the slayer of asuras (dhanuja)
Oh you are so beautiful. You are like cupid in your good looks. You reside in the hearts of wise people and saints! You are the essence of all vedas and sastras and all knowledge. In spite of all this, why are you unconcerned about me? (nadupai)
rAjAdhirAja muni pUjitapAda ravirAjalOcana sharaNya ati lAvaNya
rAjadharanuta virAjaturaga sura rAja vandita pAda-aja janaka dina-
rAjakOTi samatEja danuja gajarAja nicaya mrgarAja jalajamukha
You are the king of kings (Raja adhi Raja) . Your feet are those praised by munis (Muni pujita padha) and sages and the wise ones. You have eyes as the Sun and the Moon (Ravi raja lochana). You are the one who offers refuge to those who have none. You are the most beautiful one.
You are the one who is praised by Lord Shiva, who wears the crescent moon (Raja dhara nuta). You are the Lord Vishnu who flies on the majestic bird Garuda (turaga viraja). You are the one whose feet are worshipped by Lord Indra (sura raja vanditha pada). You are the one who is the father of Brahma (aja janaka)
You are the God of the day (Dina Raja)! Your splendour and brilliance is like a crore Suns put together (koti sama teja). You are like the lion, the king of animals, which slays multitude of elephants. Like that, you kill all the demons and asuras. You are the who has the lotus face.
yAgarakSaNa parama bhAgavatArcita yOgIndra su-hrdbhAvita Adyanta
rahita nAgashayana vara nAgavarada punnAga sumadhara sadAgha-
mOcana sadA gatija dhrta padAgamAnta cara rAgarahita shrI tyAgarAjanuta
You are the one who protects yagas (yaga raksana). You are the one who is worshipped by the highest of the devotees (parama bhagavatha archita). You are the one who is loved and resides in the hearts of great yogis (yogindra suhrd bhavitha). You are one who has no start or end (Adi anta rahita). You are like a blessed elephant who takes rest on a serpent (naga shayana vara naga). You wear the flowers of punnaga (punnaga suma dhara). You are the one who always gives us freedom from our sins (sadha agha mochana). Your feet are always held by the one born of the wind God (sada gatija dhrta pada) ! Agamas and sastras dwell in you (agama anta cara)! You are the one who is without any desires (raga rahita)! You are the one who is praised by this Thyagaraja!
An interesting point about this song as given by karnatic.com is this :
This is a song which starts with the anupallavi first. The pallavi is normally sung later. This is also a song composed by Thyagaraja when he finally saw Rama.
In the 1st charanam, in the place of 'madana sukumara", there is also a practice of singing the words "dasaradha kumara". But, 'madana sukumara' is what is used here.
My point of view : In terms of rhyming, both sound good. However, after listening closely to both Yesudas and TVS singing, I decided to use only 'madana sukumara'. Also, in the entire song, Thyagaraja continuously talks about Rama the youth and his beauty. So, 'madana sukumara' is consistent with this usage.
Beauty of the song and the stories from it:
Thyagaraja sings this in Raag Atana. Atana typically has a very majestic tenor to it. Almost commanding! Though thyagaraja implores the lord in every single sentence, the tenor of the Raaga lends it a commanding quality. And, the way Thyagaraja begins, with the 'Ela'! sets the tone for the entire song.
In the anupallavi, thyagaraja tells us about the reason for Ram's birth - the reason why Lord Vishnu took the Rama avatar. The key reason is " sujana paripala" - to protect the good ones who were being tormented by the evil like Ravana. To do this, Rama did magic with his bow and arrows : "vidhrta shara jala" He killed fourteen thousand demons - the Kara Dhooshanas all alone. That is the magic being talked about here. And, the hint 'vana malikabharana' - the one who wears the garland of forest flowers gives us all the clues about the story here!
The second reason for Rama's birth is talked about here. Though Thyagaraja gave ample hint of this in the previous charanam itself, he clarifies it here. Rama is Devadi deva. He is mahanubhava. He is beautiful with his lotus eyes. He is majestic like the ocean. He is the essense of all the vedas and sastras. He resides in the heart of jnanis and sages. But, all this is for what? All this is to kill the demons!! All this is for "danuja samhara"!The reason for the avatar of Rama is to get rid of demons such as Kara, Dhooshana and Ravanas. That is being talked about by Thyagaraja in this charanam.
yAgarakSaNa parama bhAgavatArcita yOgIndra su-hrdbhAvita Adyanta
rahita nAgashayana vara nAgavarada punnAga sumadhara sadAgha-
mOcana sadA gatija dhrta padAgamAnta cara rAgarahita shrI tyAgarAjanuta
Finally, in this charanam, Thygaraja talks about Lord Vishnu and not just Rama. Lord Vishnu delivers us all from our sins. He has no desires and the moment we become one with Him, we become desireless too. Like the tamil verse 'Tiruk Kural' says,
" பற்றுக பற்றற்றான் பற்றினை அப்பற்றை
பற்றுக பற்று விடற்கு"
means this : have desire for the one who has no desires. And, have that desire so that you can be cured of all desires.
Like this, Thygaraja talks about the final destination in the 3rd charanam : Vishnu is without any desire. He resides in the heart of yogis who have no desires. Like that, by constantly worshipping him, let us also become ones without any desire.
In this song, the pain of Thygaraja comes through clearly. His waiting for years, the love for Lord Rama, the pain that he has not yet seen the Lord, the fact that the Lord protects all the sadhus and good ones and yet he has not yet come to protect Thyagaraja, the fact that the Lord resides in all the yogis and yet Thyagaraja is not able to see the Lord in his heart - all that pours forth.
An absolutely gem of a song. Pure poetry throughout. The language dances around. The words weave magic.
Take the anupallavi:bala, cela, paripala, rama lola, shara jala, karunala vala, ghana nila...the "la" sound goes on and on..
Take the 1st charanam : Rara, rajiva netra, raguvara putra...and then saratara, sudha pura, parivara, gambira, samhara, sukumara, janavihara, shruti sara...the 'ra' sound goes on and on..
Take the 2nd charanam. It is full of Rajas! Rajadhiraja, raviraja, rajadharanuta, virajaturaga, sura raja, aja janaka, dina raja, sama teja, danuja, gajaraja, mrgaraja, jalaja...
Take the 3rd charanam : it is full of 'agas' : 'naga' shayana, 'naga' varada, pun 'naga', sadhagha, 'sada ga' tija, 'padhaga' manta, cara raga, 'thyaga' rajanuta...
The words dance around you. When it is sung by great musicians, you can see Lord Rama in all His splendour. You can see him doing mayajal with his bow and arrow. You can see him saving sadhus and munis. You can see him smiling and listening to the song. You can see the saint Thyagaraja calling out for Ram. You can see Thyagaraja crying throughout the song, calling Him to come and rescue him. An absolutely beautiful, majestic song.
Song in Tamil : (From http://thyagaraja-vaibhavam.blogspot.com : This site also gives the word by word meaning of the song in both english and also in tamil. Beautifully written)
ப. ஏல நீ தய ராது பராகு ஜேஸே(வே)ல ஸமயமு காது
அ. பால கனக மய சேல ஸுஜன பரிபால ஸ்ரீ ரமா லோல வித்ருத ஸர ஜால ஸுபத கரு(ணா)லவால கன நீல நவ்ய வன மாலி(கா)பரண (ஏ)
ச2. ரா(ஜா)தி ராஜ முனி பூஜித பாத ரவி ராஜ லோசன ஸரண்ய அதி லாவண்ய ராஜ தர நுத விராஜ துரக ஸுர ராஜ வந்தித ப(தா)ஜ ஜனக தின ராஜ கோடி ஸம தேஜ தனுஜ கஜ ராஜ நிசய ம்ருக ராஜ ஜலஜ முக (ஏ)
ச3. யாக ரக்ஷண பரம பாகவ(தா)ர்சித யோ(கீ)ந்த்ர ஸுஹ்ருத்-பாவி(தா)(த்ய)ந்த ரஹித நாக ஸயன வர நாக வரத புன்னாக ஸும தர ஸ(தா)க மோசன ஸதா கதிஜ த்ருத ப(தா)க(மா)ந்த சர ராக ரஹித ஸ்ரீ த்யாகராஜ நுத (ஏ)
Songs that you can listen to / download :
One of my favorites - though it is from a film (salangai oli) - is sung by Janaki and goes upto only the first charanam. But, I think the beauty of the words and the song come out clearly and beautifully through janaki's voice : http://www.mediafire.com/?qrquwmdzutm
This is a jolly good song from the saint. He is praising the Narthana Ganapathy who is dancing. And, Lord Ganapathy is dancing to the tunes of Thyagaraja!
Thyagaraja is asking us all to come and join the worship the Lord. "sevimpa rare" : come to worship. "Srita" : those who are devoted; who have "sraddha'. He is asking all those who are devoted to come and join the Ganathy worship.
What kind of Ganapathy are we going to worship?
He is the one who is worshiped by the husband of the God who is the God for words. "vAgAdhipati" : The Lord of the one who is the Lord of words. Saraswathy is the God of the words. She is the "adhipathi" of "Vak" - words. Brahma is her husband and hence "Vaghadhipati" is brahma. Ganapathy has accepted Brahma's worship. And, not only that of Brahma but also that of others. Having accepted the worships of all the Gods, Lord Ganapathy is beautifully dancing and proceeding. "Vedalina" : proceeding; "natimpuchunu" : dancing. Baga : very well. The saint Thyagaraja says that Ganapathy is going about, after accepting all the worships, with merry, by dancing around! You can almost visualise the dance. Next stanza, he adds the music to the dance specifically.
This Ganapathy, who is praised by Thyagaraja is the one who has taken the prasads offered by all. He has eaten panasa : jack fruit; Narikela : Coconut; Jambu : berries etc fruits. He is placing his feet very heavily on the earth. And, that itself is creating a jingle like sound " ghallu ghallana". He also has the holy feet of Lord Vishnu in his lotus heart. And, having done that, praising Lord Vishnu, who is firmly in the lotus of his heart, he is dancing to the tune of " dittaLAngu".
A beautiful song indeed.
Another beauty is how Thyagaraja describes Ganapathy. I have personally never come across any story which describes Lord Ganapathy to be doing "Hari" dhyana. Ganapathy is described as a happy being. As a God who has a 'prasanna vadhanam'. But, Thyagaraja, a Hari devotee, sees Hari and Vishnu and Rama everywhere. He says that even Ganapathy is having Vishnu in his heart.
