Sri Tyagaraja Kriti Series: Kriti: bRndAvana lOla Raga: tOdi

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SrI:

SrI raghunandana parabraHmaNe namaH

Song bRndAvana lOla

raaga tOdi

In the kRti ‘bRndAvana lOla’ – rAga tOdi, srI tyAgarAja sings praises of Lord gOvinda.

Pallavi:

bRndAvana lOla gOvind(A)ravinda nayana

Anupallavi:

sundar(A)Gga dhRta rath(A)Mga

sujan(A)ri timira pataGga (bRndAvana)

 

CharaNam:

mAmava srI ramaNI maNi

madan(A)srita mitra

rAma dAsa dAsa

tyAgarAja nuta caritra (bRndAvana)

 

Gist

O Lord gOvinda, fond of bRndAvana! O Lotus Eyed! O Lord of charming features! O Wielder of discus! O Lord who destroys the enemies of virtuous people like Sun who dispels the darkness! O Beloved of the jewel among women, lakSmi! O Friend of those dependent on You! O Lord whose exploits have been praised by this tyAgarAja - a servant of rAma dAsa- or servant of devotees of SrI rAma!

Please protect me.

 

Word-by-word Meaning

 

P O Lord gOvinda, fond (lOla) of bRndAvana! O Lotus (aravinda) (gOvindAravinda) Eyed (nayana)!

A O Lord of charming (sundara) features (aGga) (sundarAGga)! O Wielder

(dhRta) of discus – part (aGga) of chariot (ratha) (rathAGga) (literally wheel)! O

Lord who destroys the enemies (ari) of virtuous (sujana) (sujanAri) people like

Sun (pataGga) who dispels the darkness (timira)! O Lord gOvinda, fond of bRndAvana! O Lotus Eyed!

C Please protect (ava) me (mAM) (mAmava), O Beloved (madana) (literally cupid) of the jewel (maNi) (among women) lakSmi – SrI ramaNI! O Friend (mitra) of those dependent (Azrita) (madanAsrita) on You! O Lord whose exploits (caritra) have been praised (nuta) by this tyAgarAja – a disciple (dAsa) of rAma dAsa (or servant of devotees of SrI rAma)! O Lord gOvinda, fond of bRndAvana! O Lotus Eyed!

 

Notes -

A – dhRta rathAGa – Though this should generally refer to discus, during the mahAbhArata war, SrI kRSNa actually wields the wheel of the chariot with the intention of slaying bhISma. Please refer to Mahabharata, Book 6 – Bhishma Parva.

 

C - rAma dAsa dAsa – This may mean either ‘servant of bhadrAcala rAma dAsa’ or ‘servant of devotees of srI rAma’.

 

Additional Comments By SrI V. Sadagopan:

This kriti is a Govinda nAma sankeertanam. Most of the times, Sadhguru SwamigaL’s kriti would be about Lord Raamachandra. Occasionally, it would be on Lord KrsihNa. Just as he recited Srimath Vaalmiki RaamAyaNam daily, Sadhguru SwamigaL will also read chapters from Telugu kavi PottaNNA’s BhAgavatham (Dasama skandham). From such experiences, Sadhguru SwamigaL created the gEya naatakam of NaukA charitram, which was his own creation of imaginary incidents that took place on the YamunA river sport of the Lord with the Gopis. One of his interesting kriti on Lord KrishNa is the Aarabhi Ghana Raaga Pancharatnam of “SaadhinchanEâ€. Sadhguru SwamigaL starts complaining about the clever ways in which Lord KrishNaa accomplished what he wanted. Here the First 5 charaNams would deal with the Baala leelais of KrishNa and in the 6th charaNam, Sadhguru SwamigaL’s attention would shift to his ishta dhaivam and upAsanA Moorthy, Lord Raamachandran (HarE Raamachandra! RaghukulEa!). Thereafter, until the end of the kriti, Saint ThyAgarAja’s undivided attention will be riveted on Lord Raamaa. We just have to remember “aparAma Bhakti yentO?â€.

Swamy Desikan’s GopAla Vaimsaty’s first slOkam (VandhE BrundhAvana charam Vallabhi Jana Vallabham) comes to mind here. SwamigaL identifies this moving jyOthi of BrundhAvanam as Govindhan, the divine cowherd with lotus soft eyes brimming with compassion for His bahkta Janams. He recognizes this BrundhAvana charan as the avatAram of Sriman narAyaNan known for His Asrita Vaatsalyam and seeks the Lord’s protection.

This kriti is set in the 8th Mela Raagam of Hanuma ThOdi. SwamigaL has composed many kritis in Thodi Raagam, each of which brings out the fresher aspects of the Raaga BhAvam. Some of these Thodi Raaga Kritis are: (1) pOddhu pyyEnu, SrirAmuni bhajimpavE ManasA! (2) tappi BratikipOva-taramA? Raama! KalilO (3) KadatEra rAdhA ! ManasA! (about KrishNa) (4) yEmi jEsiti nEmi? Sri Raamaswami KaruNa lEni vArilalO (5) HariyanuvAni sariyevvarE? (6) kOdinadulu dhanushkODilO (7) yEmani mADADitivO? Raama! (8) Needaya rAvalEgAka (9) Munnu RaavaNa BhAdha nOrvaka VibhIshaNuDu moraBEDDagA! Raamachandra! (10) DhAchukOvaLEnaa? DhASarathee! needhu daya (11) Yendhuku dhayarAdhurA? SrI Raamachandra! (12) KaddhanuvAriki (13) Dhsarathee! nee runamudheerpa naa dharama? (14) aaraagimpave (15) KoluvamarE gadha? KodhaNDapANi (15) yentu dhAginADO? (16) ninu vinA Sukhamu gAna, neerajanayana et al.

The Janya rAgams of the MeLa raagam, ThOdi such as AsAvEri, DhnayAsi, GhaNDaa, NaagasvarALi, PunnAgavarALi and Sudhda Seemantini were also dear to Saint ThyagarAja for his kritis.

Dhasan,

Oppiliappan Koil V. Sadagopan

 

 

NOTE: Those who prefer to have a PDF or WORD document copy of this write-up can download either of the format from the following links:

 

WORD doc:

http://www.ibiblio.org/sadagopan/tyagaraja_kritis_project/word_docs/bRNdAvana_lOla.doc

 

PDF:

http://www.ibiblio.org/sadagopan/tyagaraja_kritis_project/pdf/bRNdAvana_lOla.pdf

 

AUDIO by Sri S.P. Ramh

http://www.ibiblio.org/sadagopan/tyagaraja_kritis_project/audio/brndAvanalOlaSPRamh.mp3