Friday, December 16, 2016

"mivalla guna dosha memi" Song with Telugu lyrics

మీవల్ల గుణదోష మేమి శ్రీ రామా
నావల్లనే గాని నళిన దళ నయనా (మీవల్ల)

బంగారు బాగుగ పదివన్నె గాకుంటే
అంగలార్చుచు బత్తు నాడుకొనేల

తన తనయ ప్రసవ వేదనోర్వ (కోర్వ) లేకుంటే
అనయ యల్లునిపై అహంకార పడనేల

ఏ జన్మమున పాత్ర మెరిగి దానమీక (దానంబీక)
పూజించ మరచి వేల్పుల నాడుకోనేల

నా మనసు నా ప్రేమ నన్నెలయ జేసిన

రాజిల్లు శ్రీ త్యాగరాజ నుత చరణ (ణా)

meevalla guNadOsha maemi Sree raamaa
naavallanae gaani naLina daLa nayanaa (meevalla)

baMgaaru baaguga padivanne gaakuMTae
aMgalaarchuchu battu naaDukonaela

tana tanaya prasava vaedanOrva (kOrva) laekuMTae
anaya yallunipai ahaMkaara paDanaela

ae janmamuna paatra merigi daanameeka (daanaMbeeka)
poojiMcha marachi vaelpula naaDukOnaela

naa manasu naa praema nannelaya jaesina
raajillu Sree tyaagaraaja nuta charaNa (Naa)

Composer: Tyagaraju
Lekhini script is used for the transliteration

I learnt this song by listening to Sri Maharajapuram Santhanam's rendition in an old cassette. There were two songs on the tape, this one and "sarasa sama". I could not make out some of the words of "మీ వల్ల". Thus for several years I have been singing this beautiful composition incorrectly, corrupting the words, and the original meaning. I apologize to Sri Rama, the composer, and the exceptional vocalist. Now I come to appreciate this song much more, like a child who suddenly looks at his face in a clean silver mirror for the first time! I will post the English translation in the next post. 

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Translation of "sogasu lura" tillana with lyrics

సొగసు లూర హొయలు కోరి నీ దరి చేరితిని
నీర క్షీర న్యాయమై మైమరచి
సకల చరా చర మెల్ల పులకించె
తీయని హాయని పించు చిరు రవళి
నీ మురళీ మాధురి   నాదిర్ ధీం

sogasu luura hoyalu kOri nii dari cEritini
niira kshiira nyaayamai maimaraci
sakala caraa cara mella pulakince
tiiyani haayani pincu ciru ravaLi

nii muraLii maadhuri   naadir dhiim

Gopika confides in Krishna thus:

“Enchanted by your graceful movements (poses)
I’ve come to you
Like the inseparable water in milk
I am exhilarated (delighted beyond description)
(I’ve become one with you, I’ve totally dissolved in you)
The whole universe encompassing
The moving and fixed
Is in ecstasy, in a state of bliss
Your flute’s gentle sound
Produces a sweet soothing relaxation” 

“He is also an experimenter in nada or musical sound and floods his concerts with finer nuances of music, gliding melody and ever-fresh musical phrases” - Sangita Kala Acharya T. S. Parthasarathy in the foreword to Dr. Balamurali’s magnum opus, “Suryakanthi”. I am nobody to comment on the extraordinary musician, but being an amateur singer myself I have tried to express similar sentiments in a blog after attending his Albany concert in 2011, almost fourteen years after Sri Parthasarathy’s objective assessment of the great artist.

Sadly many Indians did not understand Dr. Balamuralikrishna, nor did they appreciate his musical genius fully. A real genius does not care much about power, pelf, awards, or titles. The creative person’s world is up there in the stratosphere; he is in touch with the fountain of energy. It is rare to find the combination of precocity, prolific output, originality, and versatility in one individual. Now that fame securely belongs to the coastal Sankaraguptam hamlet in Andhra, the birthplace of Sri Balamuralikrishna.

Due to the language barrier (Telugu, Sanskrit, or Tamil) sometimes Dr. Balamurali’s singing is not transparent to all. But his art always reached the heart directly. He also successfully utilized music therapy for bringing peace and relief to desperate patients. He will forever remain a great inspiration to many aspiring singers and music fans. The composer’s death leaves a huge gaping void in the world Telugu community. His concerts were spontaneous performances on the stage, shorn of monotonous rehearsals. At home he rarely sang or hummed any snippets!

The copyright for the original Telugu song (with the entire music) belongs to Dr. Balamuralikrishna, his estate, and his Trusts. This article was originally posted at my Facebook. Copyright 2016 by the author.