Paahimaam = protect me, rescue me; Sri Rama = auspicious
Rama, Rama with Sri, Rama with Sita; ante = when I utter; palukavaitivi = you
do not respond, you do not reply; niisnEha = your friendship, companionship;
mettidana cheppanO = how to tell, what can I say about it (your friendship);
Ibbandi nondi = when it got into a predicament, stuck in a
desperate situation; aa kari = that elephant; bobba peTTinantalOnE = gave a
shriek for help; gabbuna =
immediately, without further delay; (k)gaachitivaTa = came to its rescue;
nibbaramugaa = in plenty, in excess, profusely; nEnentO = nEnu + entO = I, so
much; kabbamicci = gave (so much) poetry, offered so many poetical works;
vEdukonna = sought refuge in you; tabbibbu = overwhelm (me), very disorienting;
cEsedavu = you make it; abba = an interjection expressing exasperation;
sannutincu varinella = all those who extol your virtues
(characteristics); munnu = foremost, earlier; dayato = with kindness, with
compassion; brOcitavani = have come to their rescue; pannaga Sayi = Sesha-Sayi
= the One who reclines on the great serpent Adi Sesha; nE kani = I met, I saw;
vinnavinciti = pleaded, submitted a request; vinnapamu = the application,
request; vinaka = not paying attention, not considering the matter, not
listening to the devotee’s earnest appeal; entO = very much; kannaDa = neglect;
(j)chEsedavu = you do it; yennaTiki = ever; namma raadu = cannot trust, cannot
believe; anna nna = interjection expressing surprise;
chayyana = swiftly, Bhadradri = the Bhadra mountain ( = Bhadrachalam);
nilaya = abode; swami vani nammi nEnu = I feel you are the Lord; vEmaaru =
thousand times; vidhamula = ways, methods; vinuti chEya saagiti = I’ve come to
praise You, extolled You; iiyeDanu = in this context, at this moment, in this
regard, in this matter; Ramadasuni = Ramadasu; kuyyaalinchi = (did Ramadasu
consider himself as a helpless crying child?) carry a child in arms and move
him in a cradling motion, or pacify a baby by rocking the cradle; brOvakunna =
if You do not sustain and care for me; oyyaaramEmanavachchu(nu) = what to say
about Your grace in such an act (of omission); ayyayya = interjection
expressing a feeling of sadness or pain;
In the first stanza (చరణము),
Ramadasu mentions the name of Gajendra. His story is very well described in
Srimad-Bhagavatam. I have access only to the Telugu translation by Potana. In
the eighth chapter, Gajendra fought with the water dwelling crocodile for a
long time, almost thousand years. Finally he realizes his impotence; with
rapidly dwindling energies, stuck in the abyss of excruciating pain he makes a
final appeal (total surrender) to Lord Narayana. Gajendra did not call Narayana
by His proper name (which one to pick? There are more than one thousand names)
but he addressed his request to that supreme authority, who controls and
sustains the entire world. In the story, Brahma and Siva did not move, did not
respond. Maybe, they thought the sustainer of all life, Narayana would come to
save our Gajendra.
Here, in this context, Ramadasu
seems to ask: How come You (Vishnu) speedily went to help the distressed
elephant after hearing one S.O.S message? Here, I have composed hundreds of
songs on you, penned thousands of lines extolling your virtues and qualities,
yet I get no response from you. What type of friendship is this, please tell
me. This conduct of yours is very puzzling, I cannot understand, so says the
extempore composer of Bhadrachalam. When was it, when was this song composed?
Just in 17th century.
Throughout the song, there is a bit
(just a smidgen) of sarcasm, a little tease addressed to Rama. Of course, the
devotee is always free to do, whatever (s)he pleases. In the literature, there
are cases when a devotee offers ablutions with water contaminated with spittle.
There is another situation where a devotee throws stones at a murti. Dharma,
the core principle of Sanatana tradition is very fine, subtle – it is not
easily understood, not even by the celestials. So, here, in this context too,
our Telugu great grand father (to me Annamayya, Tyagayya, and many other great
composers are like great grand fathers) Ramadasu too directs his exasperation
at Rama. But Rama, even the word itself is very potent. The Lord is the most
compassionate, the most perfect amalgam of all finer virtues. No one, no one
could find fault with his conduct or actions. We may not understand the Lord’s
actions or intents. Often we erroneously jump to the conclusion: “He does not
answer my application”. Both Ramadasu and Tyagayya were very fortunate. They
were constantly watched and protected by Lord Rama. Same thing happened in the
case of Bhakta Jayadeva too. How could they compose such extraordinarily
beautiful songs? Without the fountain of deep inspiration? How could they lead
their lives in this Kali-yuga (we are in Kali-yuga 5115 year) without the
Lord’s benevolent gaze steadily shining on them ?
For some time, I did not get the
full import of the last stanza. I went on practicing this song for weeks,
putting concentration more on getting the melody and diction of every phrase
absolutely correct. Then, it occurred to me like this: In the middle stanza,
the composer (our great grandfather Bhakta Ramadasu. To me all these great
musical composers are like my grandfathers. They teach me many new things in
life. They offer their pure unalloyed affection whenever I get dispirited,
disappointed, and become a bit sad. They opened to me vast fragrant gardens,
vistas filled with heavenly beauty – in music, literature, dance, philosophy,
and religion. Singlehandedly, these forefathers of Telugu have instructed me in
many diverse things through easy paths and short cuts. To obtain such a vast
repertoire of knowledge, I have to study volumes, even whole libraries. But
they saved me from enormous trouble and hard work. Through sweet melodious
compositions, they gently taught me many essential, subtle things – about the
nature of true Bhakti, the meaning of devotion, and pure passion. Other than
bowing at their feet, what can I give them? My heartfelt salutations to all
those exalted spirits. I am sure wherever they are, they will receive my pure
respects kindly.) Where was I, yes our Ramadasu had a vision of Lord Vishnu on
His special serpent bed (modern water bed is nothing compared to this!) with
the ever compassionate Lakshmi on His side. Like the murti in Sri-rangam. There
in the midst of milky ocean, gentle waves are giving our Lord a soft cradling
effect (massage). And in that reclining posture, the Lord always appears with
total peace and beauty emanating from His face. Oh, those lotus petal filled
eyes. Here, Ramadasu seems to poke fun at the Lord, what is the use of You
enjoying the cradling waves there? Come, come down to the earth and console
this mortal child who is in utter inconsolable grief.
[If I
may slightly digress here, I recall listening to one of the Telugu exponents
once. When a sincere student asked a learned Swami thus, “I have so many
questions about the scriptures, what to do? Who will clear my doubts?” The
Swami said politely something to this effect: “Please read all the Puranas and
the three great epics, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Srimad-Bhagavatam, and
Bhagavad-Gita each book three times. Read with pure intellect, with devotion
and absolute care. And then come back to me after doing this home work, and
then submit your question or any lingering doubt.” It is true, after completing
such home work meticulously, there will be very few questions. This writer does
not try to boast, but would like to share couple of insights with others. 1. If
a Sadhaka genuinely tries to explore the age old Sanatana tradition, if he
persists with patience, definitely he will find the correct answer to his
question. 2. If one submits (all the baggage of pride, intellect, etc.) oneself
with utter humility, on the way, he will come across the right literature
(commentary, explanation) and the right preceptor – at the right opportune
moment. But one needs to learn a little bit of Sanskrit, Telugu (or Tamil or
any of the other Indian languages). Knowing a language (other than English)
helps and helps a lot. Though there are great yogis who never opened a book –
it is altogether a different phenomenon, for lesser humans, a little bit of
study (swadhyayana) is a must. One
may come across a rare English book by Sister Nivedita or Swami Nikhilananda,
but such instances are very infrequent. Rarely we find genuine helpful books in
English, books that can really inculcate a sense of true devotion or wisdom. ]
Upon the urging of a Sulekhite, I had to study this popular Ramadasu kirtana in depth. Hope it is helpful to the young learners of Telugu/Carnatic music. Lekhini was used for English transliteration. Lyrics were given in a previous post here. Copyright by the author 2014.
