Sri Tyagaraja Kriti Series: Kriti: cAla kalla Raga:Arabhi

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SrI:

SrI raghunandana parabraHmaNe namaH

 

Kriti: cAla kalla

Raga: Arabhi

In the kRti ‘cAla kallalADukonna’ – rAga Arabhi, SrI tyAgarAja asks Lord what pleasure He derives by speaking lies to him.

Pallavi

cAlakallal(A)Dukonna saukhyam(E)mirA

Anupallavi

kAlamu pOnu mATa nilucunu kalyANa rAma nAtO (cA)

Charanam

talli taNDri nEn(u)NDa

takkina bhayam(E)larA(y)ani

palumAru nIv(e)ntO bAsalu cEsi ilalO

sari vAralalO entO brOcuc(u)NDi

peddalatO palki meppiJci tyAgarAjunitO (cA)

Gist

O Auspicious Lord SrI rAma! What pleasure do You derive by telling much lies to me? Time will pass, but the word (uttered) will stand. Many a times, (1) having promised me much that ‘when I am there as Your mother and father, why fear about remaining things?’, (2) having been protecting me much among my peers (and) in this World, and (3) having lauded me by speaking (about me) to great men, what pleasure do You now derive by telling much lies to this tyAgarAja?

Word-by-word Meaning

P O Lord! What (Emi) (EmirA) pleasure (saukhyamu) do You derive by telling (ADukonna) much (cAla) lies (kallalu) (kallalADukonna) to me?

A O Auspicious (kalyANa) Lord SrI rAma! time (kAlamu) will pass (pOnu), but the word (mATa) (uttered) will stand (nilucunu); what pleasure do You derive by telling much lies to me (nAtO)?

C Many a times (palumAru), having promised (bAsalu cEsi) me much (entO) that (ani) ‘when I (nEnu) am there (uNDa) (nEnuNDa) as Your mother (talli) and father (taNDri), why (ElarA) fear (bhayamu) (bhayamElarAyani) about remaining things (takkina)?’, having been (uNDi) protecting (brOcucu) (brOcucuNDi) me much among my peers (sari vAralalO) (and) in this World (ilalO), and having lauded (meppiJci) me by speaking (palki) (about me) to great men (peddalatO) (literally elders), what pleasure do You (nIvu) (nIventO) now derive by telling much lies to this tyAgarAja (tyAgarAjunitO)?

Notes –

C – bhayamElarA – this is how it is given in the books of TKG and TSV/AKG. However, in the book of CR, this is given as ‘bhayamEla’. This needs to be checked. Any suggestions??

Additional Comments by Sri V.Sadagopan:

This kriti in Aarabhi raagam and Aadhi TaaLam was a favorite of Sangeetha Kalaanidhis MahaarAjapuram ViswanAtha Iyer, Semmangudi SrinivAsa Iyer and MahaarAjapuram SanthAnam.

This is a kriti is set in an AmaraSa-rOsha-rOshOkti mood of grievance, anger and remonstrance. SwamigaL asks the Lord bluntly: “Oh KalyANarAma ! What kind of weird pleasure You derive by speaking untruth to me? You might have forgotten what You said to me about coming to my protection like a caring parent and not to fear about anything. You might have forgotten those many words of assurance. I have not however forgotten them. Time may pass; but spoken words will remain forever. Oh Lord Raamachandra ! Is it fair what You are doing? What joy do You derive by going back on Your word and speaking untruth?â€

This mood of shocked disbelief in the Lord arising from a sense of grievance experienced by a deep devotee of the Lord is captured here. The experience is similar to that of Thirumangai AzhwAr, when he went to the dhivya dEsam of IndhaLUr to worship ParimaLa RanganAtha PerumAL. The door for the Sannidhi was closed. Thirumangai AzhwAr was very unhappy and complained bitterly to the Lord for His reluctance in granting His sevai to His dear devotee. Thirumangai walked away and told the Lord to keep His beauty to Himself.

The other kritis echoing this Amarsha-rOsha-rOshOkti mood of ThyAgarAja SwamigaL are many. His reproach of the Lord for His hard-heartedness would take many forms:

(1) Suddha SaavEri kriti: nee kEvari BhOdhana?, where he will question Lord Raamachandra: “Who has poisoned Your mind and set You up against me? How come You changed Your mind from tender caring to utter neglect?)

(2) BegadA Raaga Kriti: TanavAri tanamu lEdhA? “Pray do not annoy me and delay Your blessings! ---Have You no special consideration for me as being Your own?â€

(3) Hameer KalyANi Raaga Kriti: Maanamu lEdhA? TanavADani-yabhimAnamu lEdhA? “Oh Lord ! Don’t You have any self-respect (suya amryAdhai)? Have You no interest in Your own people?â€

(4) HusEni Raaga Kriti: “Raama Raama Raama SitAramaNa paapaharaNaâ€: “Do You unduly gloat that You have put me to torments? --- Does it rebound to Your credit that You should harass me? –Is it Your heart made of iron that it remains unmoved by all of my appeals? --- Having affectionately sung Your praises, should I have in the end to say all these things? Are You born of a race, which is incapable of protecting people? Are You worried over it?â€

(5) Kedara GouLa kriti: DharmAtma nannipuDu dhaya jooDavE: “While I am appealing to You as aDharmAtma, Is it right for You to reply dubiously? ---Why vex me with Your trickery? Is it fair that You should not come to my rescue?â€

This type of liberty taking with the Lord by the bhaktA and chastising the Lord for His indifference arises from the depth of dependence of the BhaktA on the Lord.

Sri 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/calakalla.doc

 

PDF:

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

 

AUDIO

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