Naa Paali SriRaamA Krithi of Saint Thyagarjaa in Raagam SankarAbharaNam

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs :

 

One of our dear members had asked me for

the meaning of the above beautiful krithi of

Saint ThyagarAjA .This is one of the moving

krithis of the Saint with 6 CharaNams , where

he begs for Sri Ramachandran's protection and

offers Paadha sEvanam and UpachArAm as his

(Saint's) way of expressing his gratitude

(kruthaj~nathai) to the Lord for His MahOpakArams .

 

The Saahithya Vaakyams of the Krithi are:

 

Pallavi : NaapAli Sri Raama BhUpAlakasthOma

KaapADa samayamu nee paadhamu leerA

 

CharaNam 1: baLibaLi bhakthulu poojAphalamu nee vanukONDi

naLina lOchana neeku nalugu BEDDdhanurA

 

CharaNam 2: kODi manmaTulaina saaDigAnee sogasu

nADiyunnadhi madhini mEDi SrI Raama

 

CharaNam 3: tholipoojA PhalamEmO kaligE nee padhasEva

naluvakainu ninnu teliyaga taramA

 

CharaNam 4: pathithapAvana neevu pAlinchakunDEnu

gathi maakevvaru mammu grakkuna bhrOvu

 

CharaNam 5: kOri neepadha sEva saarEku sEyanu dhalachi

mAramana nAlOnE marulu kOnnAnu

 

CharaNam 6: nirupEdha kaBBhinanidhi reethi dorikithiva

vara ThyagarAjuni Varadha mrOkkEdharA(naa paali)

 

This is one of the most moving Bhagavadh-anubhavam songs

of the Saint . VidhvAn Sri BalamuraLi KrishNA has

rendered it soulfully .This krithi can also be sung

in the SankarAbharaNa Janya Raagam , NavrOj;latter is

a panchamAnthya Raagam and a gamaka-Varika

Raagam as appreciated by the VeeNA Players.

This is an old raagam that has ben used in folk

songs and marriage songs (laali).This is considered

as the DhEvAra PaNN , Kolli.KshEthraj~nA has composed

some fine padhams in NavrOjraagam .

 

" NaapAli SriRaama " krithi is a Nalangu Paattu

used geenrally in the wedding ceremonies.

 

Here, Thyagabrahmam celebrates the mahimai of

Sri Raamachandran and acknowledges that his

devotion to the Lord's feet is an unexpected

blessing/wealth and is a result of poorva-janma

sukruthams .He places the fruit of his devotion at

the sacred feet of the Lord and describes

his ananyagathithvam (Total refuge and dependence

in Him and Him alone ).

 

In the Pallavi , the Saint addresses the Lord and states :

"Oh my Protector and Saviour ! Oh Sri RaamachandrA !

This is indeed the time for You to come to my rescue.

Oh Emperor eulogized by the Kings(BhUpAlaka-sthOma)!

This is indeed the time to rush to my rescue.Oh My

Lord ! Pray give me Your sacred feet so that I can

apply the auspicious saffron dye (paint)to beautify

them .

 

In the subsequent charaNams , the Bhaktha SikAmaNi,

Thyaga Brahmam describes with great feeling

his conviction that the Lord is the fruit of

the bhakthan's worship.

 

The Saint states that the Lord's exquisite beauty

can not be matched by even crores of ManmathAs

and that extraordinary beauty of the Lord

has planted (etched)itself in his memory.

 

He concludes that his poorva-Janma sukrutham

(worship of the Lord duirng his previous births )

is perhaps the reason for having the privelege of

serving the Lord's holy feet in this janmam.

 

Next , ThyAga Brahmam wonders whether even Chathurmukha

Brahma can fully understand the Lord's Vaibhavam in

the spirit of Tirumazhisai AzhwAr Paasurams .

At the end , ThyAga Brahamam reminds the Lord

of his ananya-gathithvam ( total dependence on

the Lord as his protector and succour) and asks:

 

" If You do not design to protect me , what other

refuge do I have in this world ?". He mentions to

the Lord that he has beeen blessed to have a precious

treasure ( Lord as dhivya Sampath/MahA Isvaryam)

and as an aakinchanyan (indigent , totally helpless

one) , he is elated over the possession of such

a matchless treaure as his parama Isvaryam. "Oh

LakshmI Pathi ! I have got You ( chikkena piditthEn ).

My Supreme Lord ! Oh ThyagarAja Varadha! adiyEn

prostrates before You.Pray , shower Your auspicious

anugraham on me soon .

 

Comments on Saint ThyagarAja"s Bhagaavth anubhavam:

****************************************************

The age old dictum , "Bhavathi-anubhavathi" comes to

my mind , when I think of this great Raama BhakthA's

devotional ecstasy. His krithis in the mood of

avirAha Bhakthi ( mood of inability to endure

separation from the Lord ) and KaanthAsakthi Bhakthi

( the expression of love as that of a pathivrathai to

her lord ) are exquisite experiences .

 

Some examples of such bhakthi anubhavam of

the Saint are:

 

1) "I regard my kaimkaryam to Sri Ramachandran

as my life's purpose . I do not find my beloved

Lord. What shal I do ? How can I bear ? Having

once had the darsana soubhAgyam of my Lord ,

the remover of all sorrows , can anyone be

separated from Him ?"

-- Chandra JyOthi Krithi, SasivadhanA BhakthajanAvana

 

2) " If You do not appear before me , when I long

for Your darsanam , tears flow copiously from my

eyes and rush past my cheeks in torrents , my whole

house looks empty , and every minute appears like

a Yugam ".

--- panthuvarALi Krithi ,AndundaknE vega vacchEdhani

 

3)" Oh RaamA of captivating soundharyam ! When will

You be pleased to talk to me ? I can not bear

any more delay... You are my Tilakam . Separation

from You even for a minute makes my life useless.

My mind has turned away from worldly pleasures .

Sit by me , erase my sorrow and protect me .

I beg of You. I am in Your hands" .

--MadhyamAvathi Krithi: Sri Raama Jaya Raama

 

4) Saint ThyagarAjA in his beautiful Rtihigoulai

raaga Krithi ( Nannu Vidachi) describes the treasure

(the Lord ) that has come his way :

 

" I have found You just as a diver in the deep

sea holding his breath fast and securing a

precious pearl... I have come by You as a laborer,

who digs the earth deep and finds a mighty nugget

of pure gold buried deep.."

 

5) His great joy of finding the Lord as His

treasure is again revealed in his SankarAbahrana

krithi, "Nannu BrOvakanu":

 

"Just as a man searching for a lost coin of

trifling value , I have acquired You as

a precious gem of incomparable value".

 

6)Regarding the Paadha SEvanam , Saint

ThyagarAjA states that the darsanam of

the Lord's sacred feet causes him

confusion some times :

 

" Oh Prop of my life ! The radiance of

Your blessed feet dazzled me and I was

at a loss to know whether I should hug those

blessed feet to my bosom or press them to

my eyes".

--Vadda nuNdunadE, VarALi Raaga krithi

 

Saint ThyagarAjA's prayer is to be of

constant service at the Lord's feet .

He rejects all "dharMadhyakhila PurushArtham"

in favor of Paadha Sevanam and nithya Kaimkaryam.

 

His great Bhagavadhanubhava Krithis are

teasures of his enduring (Sthira ) Bhakthi

for Sri Raamabhadran.Some of them are:

 

1. NeramA ? Sri RaamA : SourAshtra Krithi

2. Talachi nandanE : MukAri Raagam

3. Nee dayachE Raama : Yathukula KaambhOji

4. NinnuvinA nAmadhi endu: Navarasa Kannadaa

5. Raa Raa RaghuveerA !-AtANA krithi

6. Raama Paahi MeghashyAma : Kaapi krithi

 

Sri Raamachandra ParabrahmaNE Nama:

RaamAnuja Daasan , V.SatakOpan