Sri Tyagaraja Kriti Series: Kriti: cEra rAvadEmi Raga: rItigauLa

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SrI:

SrI raghunandana parabraHmaNe namaH

Kriti: cEra rAvadEmi

Raga: rItigauLa

In the kRti ‘cEra rAvadEmi’ – rAga rItigauLa, SrI tyAgarAja ask the Lord to come to him.

Pallavi

cEra rAvad(E)mirA rAm(a)yya

Anupallavi

mEra gAdurA(y)ika mahA mEru dhIra SrI kara (cEra)

Charanam

talli taNDri lEni bAla tana nAthu kOru

rIti palumAru vEDukoNTE pAliJca rAdA valacucu

nEnu nIdu vadan(A)ravavindamunu talaci

karagaga jUci tyAgarAja sannuta (cEra)

Gist

O Lord rAma! O Brave like the Great mEru mountain! O Lord who causes prosperity! O Lord well praised by this tyAgarAja! Why don’t You come to be united with me? It is not proper; why don’t You come to be united with me even now? In the same manner as a young (married) woman, having no parents, would seek her husband, even when I beseech You repeatedly, can’t You protect me? Why don’t You come to be united with me, even after seeing me melting with love thinking of Your Lotus face?

Word-by-word Meaning

P O Lord (ayya) rAma (rAmayya)! Why (EmirA) don’t You come (rAvu) (rAvadEmirA) to be united (cEra) with me?

A O Brave (dhIra) like the Great (mahA) mEru mountain! O Lord who causes (kara) prosperity (SrI)! It is not (gAdurA) proper (mEra); O Lord rAmayya! Why don’t You come to be united with me even now (ika) (gAdurAyika)?

C In the same manner as (rIti) a young (married) woman (bAla), having no (lEni) parents (talli taNDri) (literally mother and father), would seek (kOru) her (tana) husband (nAthu), even when I beseech (vEDukoNTE) You repeatedly (palumAru), can’t (rAdA) You protect (pAliJca) me? O Lord well praised (sannuta) by this tyAgarAja! Why don’t You come to be united with me, even after seeing (jUci) me (nEnu) melting (karagaga) with love (valacucu) thinking (talaci) of Your (nIdu) Lotus (aravindamunu) face (vadana) (vadanAravindamunu)?

Notes –

C – bAla – a young woman below the age of 16 years.

C – nAthu – this is how it is given in the books of TKG and TSV/AKG. However, in the book of CR, this is given as ‘nAdhu’. According to telugu dictionary, both words mean same. Any suggestions???

Additional Notes by Sri V. Sadagopan:

This is a dhainyOkti kriti. Here, Sadhguru Swami compares himself to an orphaned girl, who holds on firmly to her husband’s feet and begs her husband not to leave her. He declares that as that orphaned young girl, he is very much in love with the beautiful face of the Lord and asks the Lord why He does not come close to him.

There are many kritis, where Sadhguru SwamigaL will plead for the Lord’s attention and saameepyam (proximity). In these kritis, our Sadhguru will complain about the indifference of the Lord inspite of his implorations. In the Begada kriti GaDDigAnu nanau, sadhguru SwamigaL will ask longingly as to when that day will come, when the Lord will hold him by the hand firmly and be affectionate to him.

In a similar vein, in the JujAhuLi kriti, parAku jEsina, SwamigaL will address the Lord as the Supreme One (ParAtpara) and ask him as to what He gains by being indifferent to his dhAsan, who has placed his entire trust in Him. In a HindOLa kriti, ManasulOni Marmamunu, SwamigaL will declare that he has no gati except the Lord and that the Lord should take him by the hand with dayaa. In the famous KaambhOji kriti, Oh RangasAyee, SwamigaL will ask why won’t You come to me, when I am beseeching You so tenderly. He will sometimes wonder whether anyone has spoken ill about him to the Lord and perhaps that was the reason for the Lord being indifferent to him. He will go as far as to ask whether the Lord is still around and listening. The KaambhOji kriti, Evari Maata is a classic example of this kind of complaint about the Lord’s indifference towards His bhaktan. In the Aarabhi kriti, “Oh RaajeevAksha OrajUpula jUchEdha-vErA?â€, SwamigaL will say that he has approached the Lord and sought His sole refuge and has cultivated mahaa visvAsam in Him as his sole protector. He will declare his ananyagatitvam and Aakinchanyam and then seek the Lord’s anugraham. In an AsAvEri kriti set in the dhainyOkti mood, SwamigaL will addresses the Lord as the friend of SaraNAgatAs and asks, “Why do not You come and protect me now, when You have in Your hand the power to bless one(me) with full devotion to Your holy feet and save him(me)?â€. These dhainyOkti kritis are very moving kritis that arose from the depth of the Saint’s aparimitha bhakti for Lord Raamachandra.

This Reethigoulai kriti has been made famous by the AlatthUr Brothers. The Raagam Reethigoulai evokes KaruNA rasam. It is a Janyam of Karahara Priyaa mElam. It is an ubhaya vakra raagam in both AarOhaNam and avarOhaNam. It is also a BhAshAnga Raagam, where the BhAshAnga note of Suddha Dhaivatam appears in some sanchArams. It is a TristhAyi rAgam and can be sung at all times (sarva kAlikam). Ga, Ma and Ni are jeeva Svarams.

Raama DhAsan,

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri 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/ceraravademi.doc

 

PDF:

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

 

AUDIO

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

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