Fw: Sri Tyagaraja Kriti Series: Kriti:callaga nAtO Raga:vEgavAhini (with audio)

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SrI:

SrI raghunandana parabraHmaNe namaH

Song callaga nAtO

raaga vEgavAhini

In the kRti ‘callaga nAtO’ – rAga vEgavAhini, srI tyAgarAja pleads with Lord to speak to him.

pallavi:

callaga nAtO palkumI rAma

sArasa vadana sAdhu santrANa (callaga)

anupallavi:

ullamunanu nIkE marulukonnAnu

uraga sayana nA tappul(e)ncaka nIvu (callaga)

 

caraNam

nir(u)pama sUra nikhil(A)dhAra

para kAminI dUra pApa vidAra

sarasija nEtra syAmaLa gAtra

vara tyAgarAja hRd-vArija mitra (callaga)

 

Gist

O Lord rAma! O Lotus Faced! O Protector of holy men! O Lord reclining on sESa! O Peerless Hero! O Prop of the Universe! O Lord who is unapproachable to other (amorous) women! O Lord who destroys sins! O Lotus Eyed! O Lord of dark-blue hued body! O Sun who blossoms the Lotus of the heart of this blessed tyAgarAja!

In my mind, I am in love with You. Deign to speak to me pleasantly without taking note of my faults.

Word-by-word Meaning

P Deign to speak (palkumI) to me (nAtO) pleasantly (callaga) (literally coolly), O Lord rAma! O Lotus (sArasa) Faced (vadana)! O Protector (santrANa) of holy men (sAdhu)!

 

A In my mind (ullamunanu), I am in love (marulukonnAnu) with You (nIkE); O Lord reclining (sayana) on sESa – the snake (uraga)! O Lord rAma! O Lotus Faced! O Protector of holy men! You (nIvu) deign to speak to me pleasantly without taking note (encaka) of my (nA) faults (tappulu) (tappulencaka).

C O Peerless (nirupama) Hero (sUra)! O Prop (AdhAra) of the Universe (nikhila)! O Lord who is unapproachable to (dUra) (literally far removed from) other (para) amourous women (kAminI)! O Lord who destroys (vidAra) sins (pApa)!

O Lotus (sarasija) Eyed (nEtra)! O Lord of dark-blue hued (syAmaLa) body (gAtra)! O Sun who blossoms (mitra) (literally benefactor) the Lotus (vArija) of the heart (hRt) (hRd-vArija) of this blessed (vara) tyAgarAja!

O Lord rAma! O Lotus Faced! O Protector of holy men! Deign to speak to me pleasantly.

 

Notes –

C – para kAminI – The only woman who approached srI rAma amorously was sUrpanakhA.

 

Additional Comments By SrI V Sadagopan:

This kriti is set in VegavAhini rAgam, a Janya raagam of the 16th MeLa Raagam, ChakravAkam. The arOhaNa/avarOhaNa kramam for VegavAhini rAgam is:

SR1G3 M1 D2 N2 D2 S / S N2 D2 P M1 G3 R1 S

Vega Vaahini means one that flows rapidly. Saint ThyagarAja’s Raama Bhakti flows like a swift river reaching for sangamam (union) with the Lord’s sacred feet. Here, Sadhguru Swamy expresses his yearning for his Lord and begs Him to forgive his transgressions and converse with him befitting His title as Mrudhu bhAshaNan (Mrudhu bhAshaNa nata VibhIshaNa, Maruva dhanyAsi kriti of Sadhguru). The overpowering attraction of Saint ThyAgarAja to his UpAsana Moorthy, Lord Raamachandra is tenderly expressed here. How can Lord RaamachandrA not respond to such a tender appeal from His dear bhaktan? SwamigaL addresses the Lord this way in this kriti:

Raama! Saarasa Vadhana! Saadhu-santrANa! Nirupama Soora! NikhilAdhAra! PaapavidhAra! sarasija nEtra! SyAmaLa gAtra! Balkumee naatO callaga? (Oh Raamaa! Lotus-faced Lord! Protector of the Saadhu janams! Oh matchless hero! Oh Basis of the universe! Oh destroyer of sins! Oh Lotus eyed One! Oh Lord with dark-bluish body! Please speak to me soothingly!

Sadhguru Swami seeks pardon for transgressions of Bhagavath Saastrams and asks the Lord not to take note of his faults in AarAdhanam, upachAram and the like (naatappu lEnchaka neevu). The reason Sadhguru gives for such a request is: I am hopelessly lost in love with Your Sundara dEham and adhbhuta kalyANa guNams (ullamunanu neekE marulakOnnAnu). Oh Lord! You are the Sun, who makes the heart of mine (ThyagarAja) bloom and I am irresistibly drawn to You.

This kriti is part of the series set in the mood of sthira bhakti to the Lord like “nanu BhrOvakanu viDavanuraa Raama†in SankarAbharaNam, where sadhguru addresses the Lord as his incomparable friend and will not part with Him, now that he got hold of Him. In another kriti soaked in this Sthira bhakti mode is “VaddhanuNDunadhE Bahu mElu-VaarijAksha†set in VarALi rAgam, Saint Thyagraaja states that to be with the Lord is the best of aanandha anubhavams and that his mind is firmly fixed in the Lord and does not seek anything else. In yet another of his 15 VarALi kritis, Saint ThyagarAja expresses his sthira bhakti for Lord Raamachandra and states that he has not found in this universe a God like Him; Your sacred feet are the sole object of my dhyAnam and Your dayaa is my wealth and eternal bliss (nityAnandham).

Such is the Mahaa ViSvAsam of Saint ThyAgarAja in Lord Raamachandran!

Raama DhAsan, Oppiliappan Koil Varadachaari 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/callagenAtO.doc

 

PDF:

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

 

AUDIO:

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