NindA-stuti (Praise thro. criticism) refd. to in Sundaryalahari Digest (DPDS-15)

[Guest guest]

Namaste all.

In DPDS-15 of Soundaryalahari Digest, there was a mention about

‘nindA stuti’ , that is, a poem of praise through an apparent

criticism. There are several examples in the literature but

adi_shakthi16m produces an excellent example from the Telugu

compositions of Sri Thyagaraja of the famous music Trinity of

South India of the early nineteenth century. I reproduce below

the two posts of ‘adi_shakthi16m’ in this connection.

--\

------------------

 

 

Who has achieved happiness by asking anything of you O

primordial

Rama?

 

O sun to the dark cloud like innumerable incurable sins! Supreme

 

Monarch! Lotus eyed! Home to good attributes! Who has attained

happiness by asking anything of you O primordial Rama?

 

Sita took refuge in you thinking she was blessed with a good

life and

immediately had to leave for the forest! O slayer of Rakshasas,

Surpanakha on falling in love with you lost her nose! Who has

attained happiness by asking anything of you O primordial Rama?

 

Narada approached you asking for enlightenment and was

immediately

transformed into a woman! Durvasa eagerly expected food and lost

his

appetite! Who has achieved happiness by asking anything of you O

 

primordial Rama?

 

Devaki prayed for the joys of raising you as son, but Yashoda

experienced it instead! The chaste Gopis craving for union with

you,

had to abandon their own husbands! Who has experienced happiness

by

asking anything of you O primordial Rama?

 

Who knows if compassion will ever surge in you and whether you

will

protect or not? Your secret is now out! O resident of Ayodhya!

Object

of Tyagaraja's worship! What illusion is this? Who has

experienced

happiness by asking anything of you O primordial Rama?

 

Notes:

 

This is a classic example of nindA stuti, where the Lord is

covertly

praised but overtly reproached. In the pallavi, the saint has

questioned Rama's capability to do any good to his devotees. In

the

very next lines in the anupallavi, he reverses his stance and

praises

the Lord as one who destroys sins and is home to all the good

attributes. In the charanam he cites examples of the Lord's

(ostensibly) strange behaviour towards his devotees.

 

1. Sita, his wife, went to the forest twice. The first time with

 

Rama, where she was abducted by Ravana. This was the catalyst

for

vanquishing the great evil King and countless demons. In the

second

instance she was banished in an advanced stage of pregnancy.

This was

the catalyst for Valmiki who composed the Ramayana and also

taught it

to Rama's sons.

 

 

2. Surpanakha was inflamed with passion for Rama and had her

nose

lopped off. This was the catalyst for Ravana's destruction.

 

 

3. Narada approached the Lord with a request to be made immune

to

Maya. The story goes that Narada boasted to Brahma and others

that

since he was such an ardent devotee of Vishnu, he was immune to

Maya.

Having said this he left and was floating about when he saw a

lovely

lake on Earth. He came down and bathed in it and was immediately

 

transformed into a young maiden called Sudati who had no memory

of

having been Narada. As she wandered in the forest, King Nikunda

of

Peethikapuri (modern Pitthapuram in AP) saw her and fell in love

with

her. Narada (or rather Sudati) reciprocated and they were

married.

Sudati bore Nikunda sixty children, after whom the sixty years

of the

Hindu calendar (Prabhava, Vibhava etc are named). One day,

Nipunjaya,

the neighbouring king waged war on Peethikapuri and killed

Nikunda

and his sixty sons. Queen Sudati ran to the battlefield and wept

for

days. Then one day, she was overcome with hunger and looked

about for

food. The only edible item there was a fruit that hung high on a

 

tree. To reach it, Sudati used the skeletons of her sons to make

a

ladder. Lord Vishnu, now taking pity on her appeared and asked

her to

take a dip in a second lake nearby for her children's sake. She

did

so and was transformed back into Narada, but with a set of

bangles on

his left hand. These bangles served to bring to his memory the

happenings of the past years and helped him realise that he had

become a victim of Maya. The two lakes Narada Gundam and Mukti

Gundam

are at Sarpavaram near Pithapuram. There is also a temple to

Patala

Bhavanarayanaswamy here. Narada is said to have undertaken

penance

here and was then blessed with enlightenment and was freed of

the

bangles.This was the catalyst to his becoming a renunciate.

 

4. Durvasa was sent by Duryodhana to the forest to meet the

Pandavas.

The brothers and their wife Draupadi were living off the bounty

of

the Akshaya Patra, a vessel gifted by Surya to them which would

continuously have food in it till Draupadi had her meal

everyday.

Duryodhana sent Durvasa to them, timing his arrival in the

forest so

that the food would have been exhausted. When Draupadi saw

Durvasa

she was in panic for the sage's curses were well known. She

requested

him to proceed to the river for his bath while she prepared the

meal.

Krishna in answer to her prayers arrived there and asked her to

fetch

the magic vessel. He picked up a tiny morsel that was sticking

to it

and swallowed it. At once the appetites of all living beings

were

quenched. Durvasa, his hunger gone could not face Draupadi and

left

hurriedly. This was the catalyst to Draupadi and the Pandavas

receiving the blessings of the Sage.

 

 

5. Devaki, who had begged to have the Lord as her son, was not

allowed to witness his pranks at Gokula. This was the catalyst

for

the death of Kamsa.

 

 

6. The Gopis, all chaste women, were so enamoured of the Lord,

that

they forgot their own husbands. This was the catalyst for their

salvation.

 

The saint therefore points out the greatness of the Lord while

being

sarcasticabout His achievements.

 

 

this song was composed by saint Tyagaraja, a great devotee of

lord

rama!!!

 

 

The original composition of Shri Thyagaraja is also reproduced

below with the translation.

 

 

http://www.sangeetham.com/tygkritis/aDigi_sukhamu.htm

 

the song is the following in Telugu!!

 

aDigi sukhamu

Raga: madhyamAvati

 

 

Tala: misra cApu

 

pallavi

aDigi sukhamulEvvaranubhavincirirA? AdimUlamA rAma!

 

anupallavi

saDalani pApatimirakOTisUrya! sArvabhauma ! sArasAksha ! sadguNa

!

ninnu

 

caraNam

C1: Ashrayinci varamaDigina sIta, aDavi bOnAyE !

AsharaharaNa rakkasiyishTamaDuga, apuDE mUkku pOyE ! O rAma!

ninnu

C2: vAsiga nAradamauni varamaDuga, vanitarUpuDAyE

Ashinci durvAsu laDannamaDuga, apuDE mandamAyE; O rAma ! ninnu

C3: sutuni vEDuga jUDa dEvaki yaDuga, yaShOda sUDanAyE!

satulElla ratibhikshamaDuga vArivAri patula vIDanAyE ! O rAma !

ninnu

C4: nIke dayabuTTi brOtuvo ? brOvavO ? nIgu TTu bayalAyE !

sAkEta dhAma ! srI tyAgarAjanuta ! svAmi ! eti mAyA ? O rama !

ninnu

 

 

Word by word meaning

 

Evvaru - Who

anubhavinciri - Has experienced

sukhamu - Happiness?

aDigi - (by ) Asking anything

ninnu - (of) You

AdimUlamA - O primordial

Rama

 

sUrya - Sun

saDalani - (to) irremovable

pApatimirakOTi - darkness that comes from millions of sins

sArvabhauma - Supreme monarch

sArasAksha - Lotus eyed one

sadguNa - Possessor of good attributes

 

sita - Sita

Ashrayinci - who took refuge in you

aDigina - and asked for

varamu - a good life

aDavi (ki) bOnAyE - had to go to the forest

AsharaharNa - O slayer of Rakshasas

rakkasi - (when) the Rakshasi (Surpanakha)

aDuga - expressed

iShTamu - her liking (for you)

apuDe - immediately

mUkku pOyE - lost her nose

 

nArada mauni - Sage Narada

varamaDuga - asked for

vAsiga - understanding (your creation)

vanita rupuDAyE - transformed into a woman

durvAsulu - Durvasa

Asinci - eagerly

annamaDuga - asked for rice

appuDE - immediately

mandamAyE - became stupefied

 

dEvaki - Devaki

aDuga - asked for

sutuni vEDuga jUTa - the joys of bringing up children

yashOda - Yashoda

sUDanAyE - was given them by you

sadulella - The chaste Gopis

rati bhikshamu aDuga - begged for your passion

viDanAye - (they) had to leave

vAri vAri - their respective

patula - husbands

 

ETi mAya - What illusion

sAkEtadhAma - O resident of Ayodhya

daya puTTi - when compassion is born

nIkE - to you

brOtuvO brOvavO - will you protect or maybe not

tyAgarAjanuta svAmi - O Lord of Tyagaraja's worship

nI - your

kuTTu - secret

bayalAyE - is out

 

The total meaning has already been given above.

 

 

praNAms to adi_shakthi16 for allowing me to post it here

And praNAms to all advaitins and Devotees of Mother Goddess.

profvk

 

 

 

 

 

=====

Prof. V. Krishnamurthy

My website on Science and Spirituality is http://www.geocities.com/profvk/

You can access my book on Gems from the Ocean of Hindu Thought Vision and

Practice, and my father R. Visvanatha Sastri's manuscripts from the site.