bhaavayaami- annamayya krithi

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Vaishnava perunthagaiyeer

 

Sri Chandrasekharan Swami at vchandra wanted the meaning

of the following krithi and Sri Sadagopan swami commended me to write the

meaning for the krithi. Here it is with my comments.

 

Sri Chandrasekharan Swami, Thank you for giving the complete lyrics of a

beautiful krithi by the great poet in Telugu language, a srivaishnava, a

devout bhakthaa and a prapanna Sri annamaacharyaa. The meanings as

understood by me is given below. Srimaan Sadagopan Swamy has showered his

compliments on me saying a krishna premi and naadhOpasaka etc which I am not

sure whether I deserve all these. Now the krithi

 

Pallavi: bhaavayaami gOpaala baalam mama sEvitham

Thath padham chinthayEyam sadhaa

 

Anupallavi: kati ghatitha mEkalaaa khachitha maNi ghaNtikaa

Patala ninadhEna vibhraaja maanam

 

CharaNam: kutila paaka gathitha sankula sinchithE matham

Chatula natana samujjwala vilaasam

 

Niratha kara kalitha navaneetham brahmaadhi

Sura nikara bhaavanaa sObhitha padham

 

ThiruvEnkataachala sthitham anupamam harim

Parama purusham gOpaala baalam

 

To bring the krithi to prose order to understand properly, then it will be

(according to my understanding)

 

(aham) mama gOpaala baalam sEvitham Thath padham chinthaya iyam (padham)

sadhaa (aham) bhaavayaami

 

kati ghatitha mEkalaaa khachitha maNi ghaNtikaa Patala ninadhEna vibhraaja

maanam mama gOpaala baalam sEvitham Thath padham chinthaya iyam (padham)

sadhaa (aham) bhaavayaami

 

kutila paaka gathitha sankula sinchithE matham Chatula natana samujjwala

vilaasam- mama gOpaala baalam sEvitham Thath padham chinthaya iyam (padham)

sadhaa (aham) bhaavayaami

 

Niratha kara kalitha navaneetham brahmaadhi Sura nikara bhaavanaa sObhitha

padham - iyam (padham) sadhaa (aham) bhaavayaami

 

ThiruvEnkataachala sthitham anupamam harim Parama purusham gOpaala baalam-

iyam (padham) sadhaa (aham) bhaavayaami

 

Meaning:

Bhaavayaami- purify myself

GOpaala baalam- young gOpaalan

Mama- 6th vibhakthi of uthama purusha word aham- I - giving meaning of mine,

me

SEvitham - serve, enjoy, inhabit

Thath - that 9word is napumsakalingam

Padham or paadham - feet

ChinthayE + iyam- think these

Sadhaa- always

Kati- the hip or buttocks

Ghatitha - shaking or rubbing

Mekalaa - the hip jewel- oddiyaaNam in tamil

Kachitha - bending

Mani- bells

GhaNtikhaa- pebbles

Patala- veiled

NinadhEna- giving humming sounds

Vibhraaja -shining

Maanam- pride, proof, dimension

Kutila- crooked

Paaka - perfect development

Gathitha- in motion or moving

Sankula- crowded

SinchithE- sprinkled

Matham- thoughts

Chatula- swiftly

Samujjwalam- splendidly

Vilaasam - grace

Niratha- engaged- devoted, delighted

Kara- hands

Kalitha- counting, sounding, holding

Navaneetham - butter

Brahmaadhi- brahma and others

Sura- dEvaa

Nikara - multitude, essence, gift

Bhavanaa - resemblance, perception, imagination

SObhitha- shining

ThiruvEnkataachala- in the "thiru vEnkatam" named hill

Sthitham- standing

Anupamam- incomparable

Hari- naraayaNan

Parama purusham- supreme man

 

Gist meaning:

I prostrate to the young Gopaalan whose feet I always think, these feet

always purify me.

 

The shining hip jewel (oddiyaaNam) tied in the waist of young gOpaalan

though veiled gives proof of its presence through the ringing bell sounds.

The feet of this young gOpaalan purify me.

 

Oh the crooked thoughts in my mind, move on to dwell on the swiftly dancing

, with splendid grace and in perfect development (of the art) young

gOpaalan, the feet of this young gOpaalan purify me.

 

The young gOpaalan's hands are engaged in holding the butter. Brahma and

other dhEvaas treasure in their mind this shining young gOpaalan. Such hands

and feet purify me.

 

The young gOpaalan standing in the thiru vEnkataachalam is the same

incomparable Hari the supreme lord naaraayaNan. Oh the feet of such gOpaala

purify me.

 

Comments:

gOpaala baalam padham chinthaya, - iyam (padham) sadhaa (aham) bhaavayaami -

simply these words describe the whole charaNaagathy saasthram. GOpaalan

thiruvadi ennai sudhdhamaakkugirathu- from the dirt called sin. These feet

purify me.

 

Aham thva sarva paapEbhyO mOkshayishyaami says gOpaalan in his Srimadh

Bhagavath geethaa. Here swamy annamaachaaryaa says the feet of gOpaalan

purify myself. What we have to do is to "iyam paadham sadhaa chinthaya"-

think or meditate on these feet.

 

This is the direct command from the aachaaryaa- aNNaa cum aachaaryaa-

aNNamachaaryaa in telugu there is no "N" as in tamil. Hence annamaachaarya.

ANNaa in samskrit is father. So his words are the words of a father as well

an aachaaryaa.

 

Iyam padham sadhaa chinthaya says swami. Maam Ekam charaNam vraja says

geethaachaaryan. Great people say in simple words for us to understand more

easily.

 

Periyaazhvaar also says "vanthu adi thozhuthu (aayira naamam solli)

paNdaikkulam thavir" in his thirup pallaandu. Come prostrate these feet

desert your old sinner's kulam -clan, and join the new clan of servants of

the Lord.

 

How is that paadham- thath padham- "oru kaalil sangu oru kaalil chakkaram

uLLadi poriththu amaintha iru kaalum koNdu angu ezhuthinaarpOl ilachchinai

pada nadanthu" ulla kaalgal - thodar sangilikai 6th paasuram by

periyaazhvaar. Thath padham has in one foot sangu regai, in another

chakkaram- pada nadanthu - the regai impression is made on the land when my

krishnaa walks- the land looks like king mahabali's head with the foot print

of the "Ongi ulagaLantha uththaman'- he is not only Ongi ulagaLanthavan but

also an uththaman - he did not kill any body in that avathaaram so

uththaman.

 

Ilachinai pada nadantha antha sarangapaaNi en ethirE thalar nadai nadavaanO

- let that krishna come in front of me with that childish slippery walk-

athanaal en iru kaalum saved (kalam has become kaal en immai and marumai -

my present as well future periods are taken care by these feet.

 

Muthum maniyum vairamum nan ponnum thaththup pathithu thalaip peithaarOl

engum paththu viralum maNivaNNan paathangaL oththittirunthavaa kaNeerE -

seethakkadal 1-3- 2 periyaazhvaar

 

The nava rathnams like pearls, corals, rubies, diamonds, etc are set in pure

gold, in alternating order to beautify the jewel. Similarly the fingers of

krishnan, the mani vaNNan, the blue jewel Lord, which maNi -the neela maNi-

the blue saphire. "oh yaadhavaas of thiru aaippaadi, please come and see my

son's feet" calls the proud mother yasOdhai "thath padham".

 

For this verse the usual meaning given is "the feet are like the jewel with

alternating navarathnaas". A slightly different meaning here- The crown of

King mahaabali had muthu, mani, vairam, nan pon etc. On his head

thrivikraman placed his feet. That foot which was so big- mahabaliyin

thalaiyil peitha thath padham- the foot was not only placed but also

showered the grace so peitha. Such a foot is my maNi vaNNan padham, oh

aaichchiyarE - please come and see.

 

Usually the "pallu" in the saree [pallu in hindi] - munthaanai or thalaippu

in tamil, is decorated more than the body of the saree. Just because the

thalaippu is nice, it is the tendency of ladies to select such sarees,

though the body may or may not so attractive. Like that the paathangal are

so attractive that the mother - aazhvaar - yasOdhai, is attracted by thath

padham - places the description of the feet in the first paasuram in the

padhaadhi kesa varnanai. This does not mean other parts are not beautiful,

but the first impression is best impression.

 

Thalaippu eithaarpOl - the thalaippu, the caption - in the write up, the

article, once the caption is attractive, naturally you are attracted to see

what is inside the article and start reading it. Later you start reading the

article again and again and enjoy more and more. That is literary taste.

 

Like that here the paadham the first seen part is so attractive that you can

not resist but see in full the other parts and enjoy. See the next word-

eithaarpOl- shot arrow like.

 

Thath padham and then waist, navaneetham, complete body standing in

thiruvEnkatam all in same lies of periyaazhvaar, thiruppaaNaazhvaar [TA]

also. TA also starts thirukkamala paadham vandhu en kaNNinuLLana okkinRathE

- 1st paasuram, koNdal vaNNanai .... VeNNai uNda vaayan en uLLam

kavarnthavan. Last paasuram. For TA rangan is kaNNan, for Annamaachaaryaa

thiruvEnkatavan is kaNNan. Finally it is kaNNan any where and every where.

 

On the mEkalaa- only the quotes- the meanings are reserved for another write

up.

 

Thodar sankilikai salaar pilaar enna thoongu ponmaNi olippa padu mummadhap

punal sOra vaaraNam paiya ninRu oorvathu pOla udan koodi kiNkiNiyaara

vaarppa udaimaNi parai kiranga- 1-7-1 thodar sangilikai-

 

Ponniyal kiNkiNi katti purankatti thanniyal Osai salan salan enRida - 1-8-1

ponniyal kiNkiNi

 

KiNkiNi katti kiri katti kaiyinil kankaNamittu kazhuththil thodar katti than

kanaththaale sathiraa nadanthu vanthu - vatta naduvE 1-9-1

 

Oda Oda kiNkiNigal olikkum osai paaNiyaalE paadip paadi variginraayai

paRmanaabhan enRirunthEn aadi aadi asainthittu athanukkerra kooththai aadi

aravaNaiyaai- 2-1-10

 

Now a bhaktha Meera song: (this song was referred by Sri mahavishnu my

colleague and a member in the bhakti list)

 

BasO mErE nainana mE nandhalaalaa

 

MOhani moorthi sau~vari soorathi naainana- baso

Adhara sudhhaarasa muralee raajathi ura baijathanthee maal chudhra

 

ghantika kati thata sObhitha noopura sabhdha rasaal

Meera kE prabhu giridhara naagara bhaktha bachalagOpaal- basO

 

Meaning- hey nandhalaala! come and stay in my eyes- viz, please come and

stay in front of me always- give me your sadhaa prathyaksha darsanam - come

in the captivating form of

- having a beautiful body,

- with peacock feathers bedecked in the head,

- widely open eyes- visaala nEthra:

- playing the flute with the lips, the flute giving out the nectar, called

music- vENugaanam,

- with the vaijayanthee maalaa on the chest,

- small bells in the waist belt producing jingling sound,

- anklets in the feet also making sweet jingling sounds,

 

oh meera's lord, who lifted govardhana mountain, who is having limitless

love for his devotees -

Oh bhaktha vatsalaa - please come and stay in my eyes.

 

See how much she has poured her heart in the form of krishnaa and enjoyed

krishna

 

The waist producing jingling sounds the mekala similar to Annamayya.

 

In this song the language Hindhi is slightly colloquial and hence vaso has

become baso, vaijayanthee to baijanthee, bachla is vatsala

 

On the navaneetham I will include this song in my article on "kannan perra

vennaik kalvi" and offer my comments.

 

Now one more from Sri thyaagaraajaa ST who enjoyed raama more than krishnaa

but at times mixed both in the same song.

 

In the krithi "namO namO raaghavaaya anisam" in raaga dEsika thodi see the

lines-

"Noothana navaneetha bhakshiNE boothavaadhi sarva saakshinE" says ST. We all

know krishna only did the act of stealing and ate butter and not raama But

ST says Oh you, the person eating fresh butter, and be a witness to all the

living beings in their actions..

 

Also ST wants to decorate the lord with

Merugu bangaaranthalu petti

MEdiyou zarika valuvalu katti

Sura tharu sumamulu sikhaninti jutti

Sundharamagu mOmuna muthu petti

 

Molanu kunthanapu gejjalu koorchi

Muddhuga noothadunu thilakamu theerchi

Alagalapai raavi rEkaya jaarchchi

Andhamaina ninnu uramuna jErchchi

 

In the krithi chetulaara in karaharapriya raaga- meaning- I will adorn your

feet with gold anklets, for the hip I will give you zari laden vastram, for

the hair nicely smelling flowers and carry out all these alankaaram and then

kiss you.

 

On the hip I will tie oddiyaaNam for the face kasturi thilakam, for the hair

dividing line the vagidu, a nice chutti, and then embrace you oh raama

 

See how the mother thyaagaraaja enjoys decorating her child raama. Is this

not similar to annamayyaa enjoying thiruvEnkatachala sthitha gOpaalan.

 

On the swiftly dancing gOpaalan, I am sure you have enjoyed meanings and

references in my earlier write up of vEnu gaanam. To add one particular

reference is the Ambujam Krishna song "aadinayE kaNNaa" in mohana kalyaaNi

sung soulfully by MLV and raaga set by Sri T.N.Seshagopalan.

 

Of course the kaaLiya narththanam can also be considered here but I reserve

it for another article.

 

Anupamam harim- one without a parellal- the incomparable- who is there equal

to my krishna- He gave ample proof who he is just before appearing in this

boolOkam- appearing with sangu chakram etc to parents- by eating earth and

showing all the worlds in his mouth. So anupamam harim- who is also the

parama purusham- baala gOaalan. So naturally brahma and other dEvaas must be

thinking on him always and enjoying and awaiting every movement action of

their supreme lord.

 

A very big thanks to Sri Chandrasekaran for sharing a very good song with

me, and a very big thanks to Sri Sadagopan for prompting me to write another

one on my Sri krishna.

 

Dasan M.G. Vasudevan