tyAgarAja_kritis_ series - kriti for today - anAthuDanu; raaga jinglA

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

 

Dear rAma bhaktAs:

 

The krti for today is “anAthudanu gAnu” by SrI tyAgarAja swami in raagam jinglA.

 

With emphasis on mahA viSvAsam a concept very dear to prapannas, SrI sadguru swami sings about his unstinting faith in SrI rAma who swami says will protect without fail.

 

Audio of the kriti as rendered by Smt Nityasree Mahadevan is provided as link in the content below.

 

dAsan

Oppiliappan Koil V. Sadagopan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SrI:

 

SrIrAmacandra parabrahmaNe namaH

krti 9

Song anAthuDanu

raaga jingla

 

In the krti ‘anAthuDanu’ – rAga jinglA, SrI tyAgarAja asserts that the Lord is there to protect him and therefore, he is not a destitute. This kriti is an expression of firm VisvAsam (deep and profound belief) in the Lord as his supreme protector.

pallavi:

anAthuDanu gAnu rAma nEn(anAathu)

 

anupallavi:

anAthuDavu nIv(a)ni nigamajnula

sanAtanula mATa vinnAnu nEn(anAthu)

 

caraNam:

ni®Adaravu jUci(y)I kali

nar(A)dhamul(a)nedaru

purANa puruSa pura ripu nuta

nAga rATSayana tyAgarAja nuta nEn(anathu)

 

Gist

O Lord rAma! O The Ancient Lord! O Lord praised by Lord Siva – the enemy of demons of tri-pura! O Lord reclining on sESa! O Lord praised by this tyAgarAja! Seeing me without a support, the base men of the kali age said that I am destitute; but I am not a destitute. I have heard the words of those who are well-versed in vEda and also sanAtana and others (mind born sons of brahmA) that You are supreme. The ignorant folks seing that I have no support of human beings, call me destitute.

 

Word-by-word Meaning

 

P O Lord rAma! I (nEnu) am not (gAnu) a destitute (anAthuDanu).

A I have heard (vinnAnu) the words (mATa) of those who are well-versed in vEda (nigamajna) (nigamajnula) and also sanAtana (and others) – mind born son(s) of brahmA (sanAtanula) that (ani) You (nIvu) are Supreme (anAthuDavu) (anAthuDavani); O Lord rAma! I am not a destitute.

 

C Seeing (jUci) me without a support (nirAdaravu), the base (adhamulu) men (nara) of the kali age, said (anedaru) (narAdhamulanedaru) (that I am destitute), but O The Ancient (purANa) Lord (puruSa)! O Lord praised (nuta) by Lord Siva – the enemy (ripu) of demons of tripura! O Lord reclining (sayana) on sESa – the King (rAja) (rAT) (rATSayana) of serpents (nAga)! O Lord praised (nuta) by this tyAgarAja! O Lord rAma! I am not a destitute.

 

Notes:

 

A – anAthuDavu – The Lord being Supreme, there is none above Him; therefore, He is called anAtha. SrI purandara dAsa also has also sang a song (yugabhoga) on the same lines ‘ninnanta svAmi’.

 

A – sanAtanalu – This may also mean the eternal Lords viSNu and siva, but with reference to the context, it seems that the mind-born sons of brahmA – sanaka, sanatkumar , sandanda and sanAtana are meant.

 

Additional Comments By SrI V Sadagopan :

This is one of the krtis, where tyAga brahmam states his absolute faith in the Lord as his unfailing protector and he is not a destitute. In one of the krtis set in the mood of mahaa viSvAsam, "Aaa daya SrI raghuvara" set in Aahiri rAgam, tyAga brahmam says: "You had nourished my body with the necessary sustenance. You had made me firmly believe that You were my (protecting) Father and the nourishing Mother". mahaa viSvAsam in the Lord is an absolute necessity for success in one’s prapatti. There cannot be any doubt about the Lord’s role as acyutan (unfailing protector of those who seek His refuge).

In a saraswati manOhari krti, "enta vedu koNDu rAghava", tyAga brahmam states clearly again about his mahaa viSwAsam: "I have reposed my faith entirely in You and believe, with joy, that the greatest happiness consists in seeing You in my heart". The saint’s faith in the Lord makes him like a trusting child, which is free of fear and walks with its father holding his hand firmly.

In this mood, he declares in his vasanta bhairavi raaga krti, "ramaa ramaNa", that he has sought refuge in the Lord so that He can take him in His hand and bless him--- "You have graced my house with Your presence; and I am not going to give up Your japa and worship".

In a sankarAbharaNa raga krti, "yEvidhamulanaina", swamy declares clearly in a spirit of mahaa viSvAsam: "You alone are the God , whom I want to see! Who else is there and who could live without Your grace? You are the witness of the whole universe".

In this krti set in jingalA raagam (anAthudanu gAnu) made famous by saxaphone vidhvAn, Kadri Gopalnath , swAmi addresses sarvESwaran lovingly as "purANa purusha! pura-ripu nuta! nAgarAT sayana!" and states without any hesitation that he is no destitute and he is very well protected by the Lord . He is ancient and timeless . He has no beginning , middle and end ( Adhyanta rahitan. He is Aadhi Moolam . He is PurANan and Pavitran . He is the Purushan of Purusha Sooktam and there no other paths and no goals except Him ( naanya: panthaa vidhyatE). He is VirAD and ViSvarAD . He is PoorNan of IsAvAsyOpanishad . He is Naga rAD sayaNan . As He restds on His bed of Aadhi Seshan ( King of Naagam) on the Milky ocean , the DevAs and Brhma approach Him seeking His protection against asurAs . He becomes Aapath BhAndavan and AnAtha rakshakan to them . DevAs some times forget where their power and wealth come form and become anAtais and atthiose time He protects them as they stand before Him wailing about their misfortunes and seeking Him as their Protector .

Saint ThyagarAjA's mahaa viswAsam in Sri Raamachandran is profound and unshakable . The detailed coverage of additional songs relating to his Mahaa ViswAsam in his PanthuvarALi , Naattai , Kamas , NaarAyaNa GouLai and Kamaas kritis , where he asserts that he will not be deluded by the "sukham " material things and false/ powerless protectors , who vie for his attention . One is reminded of the 8th slOkam of Swamy Desikan's KaamAseekAshtakam , where he resolutely declares : Why does adiyEn need any others , when You are protecting me? Additional coverage of the Mahaa VisvAsam of ThyAga Brahmam as expressed in his many other kritis is archived at http://www.Ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/jun99/0126.htm

The Audio of this Jingala raaga kriti is available at :

http://www.ibiblio.org/sadagopan/tyagaraja_kritis_project/audio/9anAthuDanu.mp3

 

DAsan,

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/kriti9_anAthuDanu.doc

 

 

PDF: http://www.ibiblio.org/sadagopan/tyagaraja_kritis_project/pdf/kriti9_anAthuDanu.pdf