Telugu Lyrics of "Brova bharama" Kirtana

బ్రోవ భారమా రఘు రామా 

భువనమెల్ల నీవై యుండ నన్నొకని 

శ్రీవాసుదేవ అండకోట్లు 

కుక్షిని యుంచుకొనలేదా 

కలశాంబుధి లో దయతో నమరులకు 

గోపికలకై కొండలెత్తలేదా కరుణాసాగర త్యాగరాజుని 

brOva bhaaramaa raghu raamaa bhuvanamella neevai yuMDa nannokani Sreevaasudaeva aMDakOTlu kukshini yuMchukonalaedaa kalaSaaMbudhi lO dayatO namarulaku gOpikalakai koMDalettalaedaa karuNaasaagara tyaagaraajuni

(Only two contemporary renditions captured my attention. One by the great original vocalist, Dr. Balamuralikrishna and the other by Bombay Jayasri. When we closely listen to the former musical stalwart, we can feel the spontaneity, the emotion, and his total authenticity. He can feel the meaning of each word, each syllable, and the agony of Tyagaraja. Music automatically follows when you know the language, the underlying depth of meaning, and when you dissolve totally into the vast emotional currents of “true feeling or bhakti”. You cannot fake it; when you force your musical technicality it sounds insincere. And the listener can sense it and detect it immediately. (This is similar to when you do excessive “padding” in a Ph.D. thesis with extraneous matter!) Ms. Syama Sundari's Telugu compilation has helped me a lot.

In the second stanza, there is a reference to the milky ocean where Lord Vishnu reclines on the Adi-Sesha and lost in the meditation of yoga maya (యోగ నిద్ర). It (the phrase కలశ) reminds me a scene from a movie on Sri Adi Sankara (by G. V. Iyer). There Sankara-acharya controlled the flood waters of Narmada river by gently putting back the spilled river into his water-pot (కమండలువు). Here in this song Tyagaraja reminds Lord Rama His earlier feat(s) of supporting Mandara mountain during the churning of milky ocean. Not only that for the innocent gopis, He later lifted the Govardhana hill to protect the cows, cowherds, and gopis from the flurry of hails and rainstorms - hurled by Indra. For a Lord who effortlessly carries all the fourteen worlds in His tummy, is it difficult to carry or protect one individual? (Thus wails and complains helplessly Sri Tyagayya. We, mired in similar desperate situations, concur with the composer. We too feel the heart wrenching pain inwardly. What can we say? That is the power of great art, it can cross vast boundaries of time, space, and people. Copyright 2019 by the author)  

The Revelation - Poem with Telugu Original

 The Revelation

“If this alliance gets settled

I want to rent an apartment

And live with you”

“Father, I don’t know, right now

Studies and research are important.

May not get time to buy vegetables.”

“Recently doctor checked

My cholesterol, a bit high

He said”

Umm

“Do you have to make any

Changes in food?”

Those days, father used to eat

Only once in a day, that too with very little oil

What cholesterol? What readings?

(Some) new problems!

“Can’t do this job any more, dear.

May go to Rajahmundry and work

As a busboy in a mess or hotel”

Certain things aren’t in our hands

Fate is very powerful

Nonetheless, plenty of intentional

Or unintended mistakes

Umpteen mistakes, of my own make

Indeed

“Dear, try to remember with affection

Your parents, grand, great grand parents

All (departed ones) on both sides”

Streams of tears flowed from the eyes

Incessantly

Old memories, emotional tides -

They’ve moved, melted away

The sensitive lacquer like heart

That is why one must

Read widely and learn things

Must read in younger days:

The holy accounts of Sravana Kumar,

Markandeya, Puru-Yayati

Mother’s advice is like the nourishing

Breakfast

Any day, in any age

(It’s healthy and rejuvenating)

 సత్య దర్శనము                                                          

“ఈ సంబంధము నిశ్చయమైతే

ఇక్కడో ఇల్లు తీసుకొని నీతో ఉంటాను”

“ఎమో నాన్న, ఇప్పుడు

చదువు, రీసెర్చి ముఖ్యము. కూరలు కొనడానికి తీరిక లేదు"

    

"ఈ మధ్యన డాక్టరు  టెస్టు చేసి

కొలస్ట్రాలు ఎక్కువ అన్నారు"

Umm

"ఏమన్నా మార్పులు చెయ్యలా తిండిలో?"

ఆరోజుల్లోనాన్నగారిది ఒంటిపూట భోజనము

నూనెచాల తక్కువ. ఏం కొలెస్ట్రాలు ఏంటో 

క్రొత్తబాధలు!

“ఇంక ఈ ఉద్యోగం చెయ్యలేనురా, బాబు

రాజమండ్రివెళ్లి ఏదో మెస్, హోటల్లో

సర్వర్ గా పనిచేస్తానేమో”

కొన్ని విషయాలు మన చేతుల్లో లేవు 

విధి చాలా బలీయము 

అప్పటికీ తెలిసీ తెలియక చేసిన 

నా తప్పులు, లోపాలు

ఎన్నో, కోకొల్లలు

“నాయనా, మీ తల్లితండ్రుల్ని, తాత ముత్తాతలని 

మీ వంశము రెండు వైపులా అందరిని ప్రేమతో

తలుచుకో” 

తెరపులేని ధారలు రెండు కళ్ళలోంచి కారాయి

పాత జ్ఞాపకాలు, భావోద్వేగాలు

కదిపి కరిగించేసింది ఆ లక్క హృదయాన్ని

అందుకనే చదవాలి, నేర్చుకోవాలి

చిన్నప్పుడే శ్రవణ కుమారుని, మార్కండేయుని, పురు-యయాతిల పావన చరితాలు 

తల్లి మాటలు చద్ది మూటలు 

ఏ రోజైనా, ఏ యుగమైనా  Copyright 2019 by the author

Tera Tiyara Tirupati Song - Telugu Lyrics

రచయత: ఆత్రేయ 

గాయకుడు: పద్మ విభూషణ డా. బాలమురళీకృష్ణ 

తెర తీయరా తిరుపతి దేవరా

తెర తీసి నీ వెలుగు కిరణాలు ప్రసరించి 

మా లోని తిమిరాలు హరియించి మము బ్రోవరా మా భూవరా

సంపంగి చంపక పూగ పున్నాగ

పూలంగి సేవలో పొద్దంత (ప్రొద్దంత) చూడగ

నీపైని మోహము నిత్యమూ సత్యమై

అహము పోదోలురా ఇహము చేదౌనురా ఆ ఆ ఆహా …  

ఏలా లవంగాలు పచ్చ కర్పూరాలు

కలిపిన ఆకాశ గంగా జలముతో

అభిషేక మొనరించు అపురూప (పు) సమయాన

నేత్ర దర్శన మొసఁగ రా, మా కళ్ళు తెరిపించరా 

హారతి ఇచ్చే వేళ ఆశ్చర్యమున మేము ఎన్నెన్నొ 

రూపాలు నీలోన చూతుము -

శివుడవూ (వో), భవుడవూ(వో) మాధవుడవూ(వో) నీవు

పరతత్వమును తెలుపరా , పరమ పదమును చూపరా

tera tiiyaraa tirupati dEvaraa

tera tIsi velugu kiraNaalu chuupinchi

maa lOni timiraalu hariyinchi mamu brovaraa maa bhuuvaraa

sampangi champaka puuga punnaaga

puulangi sEvalO poddanta (proddanta) chuuDaga

nIpaini mOhamu nityamuu satyamai

ahamu pOdOluraa ihamu chEdaunuraa

Elaa lavangaalu paccha karpuuraalu

kalipina aakaaSa gangaa jalamutO

abhishEka monarinchu apuruupa samayaana

nEtra darSana mosagaraa, maa kaLLu teripincharaa 

haarati ichchae vaeLa aaScharyamuna maemu ennenno 
roopaalu neelOna chootumu -
Sivudavuu (vO), bhavuDavuu(vO), maadhavuDavuu(vO) niivu

paratatvamunu chuuparaa, parama padamunu chuuparaa

Remembering Mahatma Gandhi

Remembering Mahatma Gandhi on October 2, 2019

(150^th Birth Anniversary)

On this glorious anniversary day of Gandhiji, here are a few stories and aphorisms:

            In his school days, he succumbed to the influence of his friends to pick up the habit of meat eating.  In the American context, such influences and adolescent hiccups are euphemistically termed as "peer pressure".  The teenager Gandhi, after gathering considerable courage tasted goat meat.  His friend bandied the usual argument like this: "Indians are weak people, because they do not eat meat.  Try eating meat, it will give strength.  The Britishers are strong because they eat meat."  On that first day of meat eating, in the sleep Gandhi had nightmares.  He felt that he saw a bleating goat inside the stomach.  That is a fertile imagination of a young boy.  Due to his sensitive nature, and due to the great respect for his parents, he gave up meat eating.  He thought that lying to his parents about meat eating would be a greater sin.  In a similar vein, the young Gandhi was saved from smoking, stealing, etc. by his inner strength and sincerity; by the care provided by his parents and nurse.

            In South Africa, as a brown barrister, Gandhi could not get a haircut.  In those apartheid days, the barber would cut the hair of only white people.  Gandhi bought a clipper, he could cut the front locks with the clipper, but back hair was difficult to cut.  So he went to the court with a shabby hair cut.  His friends ridiculed; but Gandhi just told the truth.  How many of us have the guts to walk in the street with a ragged haircut nonchalantly?  One can already gleam traces of extraordinary courage of a would-be Mahatma; also we can see his total disregard to unnecessary superficial social customs.

            Although Gandhiji's "Satyagraha" - is often termed as non-violence, non-cooperation movement - such words do not connote the true meaning, nor do they convey the true purport of "Satyagraha".  Tracing its origins to Samskrit (Sanskrit), Satyagraha¹ means, "true firmness or true anger" i.e., believing in ones righteous cause and rejecting oppression.  A number of second and third-rate imitations of Gandhiji's non-violent movements earned Nobel peace prize. The Nobel peace committee still regrets its omission of peace prize for Gandhi.  But who cares?  His own people had showered on Gandhi a number of titles to show their love and respect:  Bapuji, Father of the Nation, and Mahatma.

            Before adult literacy became a fashion and decades before Paulo Freire (the Brazilian educationist in 1970s), Gandhiji initiated a drive for educating the illiterate masses of Indian villages - this was way back in 1934.  Pundits and elites may quibble about his personality, queer habits such as embalming with mudpacks, hydrotherapy, or drinking goat’s milk.  But no one can dispute that he trail blazed a number of revolutions against colonialism, racism, and violence.  Now people go gaga over alternate therapy but the Mahatma tried naturotherapy on himself and others long ago! Be it public sanitation, personal hygiene, frugality, or sustainable living, Gandhiji was way ahead of the time.

Selected Aphorisms

Politics without principles, Gandhi said, is a deadly sin that contributes to violence.

                       

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism, or the holy name of liberty, or democracy?

Ends never justify the means

Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote the freedom to err.

The woes of the Mahatmas are known only to the Mahatmas.

Sarojini Naidu" if only Bapu knows the cost of setting him up in poverty" (This remark came after totaling all the expenses incurred on behalf of Mahatma’s travel in a third class railway compartment. It included things like putting a mat, a spinning wheel, etc.)

The Swedish economist, Gunnar Myrdal called Gandhi "Enlightened Liberal".

Let me conclude with a quotation by Albert Einstein on hearing his death:

"Generations to come, it may be, will scarcely believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth".

1. (aagraha = attack, persistence, force, courage, seizing)

(A version of this article was originally posted at Sulekha. It received sizeable readership and a small reward. My friend and I were lucky to see Gandhi’s historical documents, personal effects, his spinning wheel, and reading glasses via a traveling exhibition at Kakinada Port station. Later I visited his memorial in Delhi and spent a day in Wardha ashram. Wearing a simple khadi shirt on a hot sultry day, adhering to truth even in the most humiliating situation, or taking a mud bath in a stream may teach us much more about the Mahatma than simply reading volumes of second hand biographical accounts. In the entire world there was only one Mahatma, who could mobilize thousands instantaneously for a just cause. India was lucky to have such a gifted son in its most trying circumstances.)

Copyright by the author 2019

Lyrics of "raghuvira ranadhira" Kirtana

హుసేని రాగం             రూపక తాళము 

రఘువీర రణధీర - రారా రాజకుమార

భృగు సూను మప విదారా - బృందారకా దార

రావణ ఘటకర్ణ బలారాతి రిపుని(న) గనగారీ 

స్థావర జంగమ రూప - త్యాగరాజ హృచ్చారీ (హృత్ చోర)  

raghuvIra raNa dhIra raa raa rAjakumaara

bhRgu suunu mapa vidaaraa

bRndaarakaa daaraa

raavaNa ghaTakarNa balaaraati ripuni ganagaari

sthaavara jangama ruupa tyaagaraaja hRchchaaree (hRt^ chOra)

(These lyrics are based on the compilation by Ms. Syama Sundari and Dr. Balamuralikrishna's rendition. There are plenty of mistakes on the lyrics given on the Internet. A word-to-word meaning will be given in the next post. It took a long time for me to see the beauty and profound impact of this short devotional song. We can even notice glimpses of some phrases from Vishnu Sahasra-nama.)

Ganesa's Grace - II

श्री गुरुभ्यों नमः | अनेक साष्टाङ्ग दण्ड प्रणाम सहित प्रणतोस्मि श्री कंचि कामकोटि  परमाचार्य पदारविन्देन |In an earlier post I wrote about the lyrics of the well-known sloka (శుక్లాంబర)  with meaning. If I remember correctly Sri Seshadri Swamy urged his disciples to chant this sloka three times – to invoke Lord Ganesa properly. Everything with the Siva family centers around three: The Bilva leaf, three eyes (Sun, Moon, and Fire), and the trident. The trident is a symbol of dissolution of the three gunas - tamas, rajas, and sattva; it is not just a weapon to scare evil doers.

अगजानन पद्मार्कम् गजानन महर्निशम् 

अनेकदं तं भक्तानां एकदन्त मुपास्महे 

అగజానన పద్మార్కమ్ గజానన మహర్నిశమ్ 

అనేకదం, తం భక్తానాం ఏకదంత ముపాస్మహే 

agajaanana padmaarkam^ gajaanana maharniSam^ 

anaekadaM, taM bhaktaanaaM aekadaMta mupaasmahae 

Brilliance of the Sanskrit language and its brevity! One letter can convey a complete word. अ = न = not; ग = moving; Agaja = daughter of the mountain. How succinctly and affectionately did the Kanchi Swami encapsulate the Mother, in the Telugu phrase: konDa-chuli (కొండ చూలి)

You are (Thou art) like the sun

To Parvati’s (daughter of the mountain) lotus-like face 

I pray to the elephant faced Lord

Day and night

You bestow many things

To the devotees

I meditate on the Lord

The One with one tusk

Many times people unknowingly say ‘anekadantam’ as a single word, which is wrong. There should be a brief pause after uttering “anekadam”. Earlier I too used to get confused - why is the Lord addressed as the One with many tusks?

Once Ganesa asked for the head of Lord Siva as a sacrifice. To satisfy His demand, we offer Him a coconut (representing a head) with three black marks (corresponding to the three eyes of Lord Siva). There must be many stories depicting the generosity and promptness of Lord Ganesa. Once Ganesa provided sumptuous meals to the wandering Sri (Kavya Kantha) Ganapati Muni and his brother. He transported the Siva devotee Avvaiyar to Kailas. The great original Telugu singer, Ghantasala recited this sloka with utmost perfect diction; in the movie “Vinayaka Chaviti” he rendered the Muttuswami’s composition (Vatapi Ganapathi) with these two slokas invoking Lord Ganesa. In high school we had an excellent vocalist (brother of Mr. Peter) as a classmate. We scarcely realized his talent and skill of nimble drumming fingers. One day during the annual school function he mesmerized all of us with his singing of Muttuswamy’s composition with his drumming on tabla. Later we came to know about his guru, Sri Rudraraju Subbaraju. Some pleasant cherished memories! There Kasi blessed the maestro Bismallah Khan and here our town bestowed unique talent on the young U. Srinivas.

I conclude this piece with Narayana’s playful antics to amuse Lord Ganesa. Once Vinayaka grabbed the spinning disc (सुदर्शन चक्र ) and swallowed it effortlessly. Lord Vishnu (none other than Ganesa’s uncle) got into a fix; how to get back His weapon? Then He went on performing umpteen (more than a thousand) sit-ups holding His ears with four hands. Our mischievous Ganesa immediately went into bursts of laughter and lo, the disc came out. Even now we do the sit-ups (గుంజీలు) and hit our foreheads with knuckles to please Ganesa easily, instantaneously. What can we offer to this pure embodiment of knowledge, wisdom, and kindness? Except a blade of grass. It is difficult to get to the real essence of Brahman or Ganesa; yet humble faith and submission may open the door to the unknowable. (Collected from the benedictions and discourses of Sri Paramacharya) Copyright 2019 

Meaning of "nanu palimpa" Song

Nanu = me; paalimpa = take care (ex: like a good king takes care of his subjects, looks after their welfare); naDachi = by foot, walking; vacchitivO = have come; naa = my; praaNanaatha = can refer to a husband, one who is guarding the spirit, heart of a being. Such a person is very precious and important; every other relative or friend may desert us in times of real crisis, danger, or humiliation in life (see the story of Gajendra in Srimad-Bhagavatam). But a praaNanaatha never wavers in his commitment towards his beloved.

Vanaja-nayana = (the one with) lotus (petal) eyed; ni = your; mOmu = face; juchuTa = seeing, to look at; jivanamani = that is what life is, the essence of life is (to look at your lotus eyed face); na = me, myself; (n)eru = learn, to know, having learnt; na = my; manasu = mind, thinking; marmamu = secret, hidden desire, inner thought; telisi = having cognized; 

Surapati = Indra; nila-mani = blue stone, a kind of sapphire; nibha = comparable, equal to; tanuvutO = (with such a colored) body; uramuna = upon the chest; mutyapu = pearl; sarula = strings of (pearls), garlands; chayamutO = (with) a collection; karamuna = (holding in the) hand; Sara = arrow; kOdanDa = bow about four cubits long; kantitO = with the light of, radiating, splendorous ; dharaNi = mother Earth’s; tanayatO = (with) the daughter (of the Earth, Bhu-devi); Tyagaraja-archita = given oblations by Tyagaraja, One who is offered prayers (and pujas) by Tyagaraja;  

Copyright 2019 by the author
Dr. Balamurali's audio is at watch

(Foremost I would like to thank the following for imparting the value of traditional culture, love for mother tongue (Telugu), and giving me an endowment of rich knowledge of the Hindu classics, and a taste for music: My parents, aunts, uncles, grand and great grand parents. My first grade teacher (sorry, I  feel ashamed for not remembering the name) who taught me (holding my unsteady little fingers) with his hand the Telugu script. How can I thank my high school Telugu pundits (Mr. Raju, Mr. Gangadhara Sastri, and others) for generating interest in language and art? In college too we had dedicated and talented lecturers for both Telugu and English. My cousin brother and uncle, though they did not explicitly teach anything, had powerful influence on my studies and learning. Learning languages, music, and art at a young age is the best thing that happened; luckily this writer heard and felt "first rate heart melting" music many a time. Last but not least I owe boundless affection and gratitude to my sisters. They taught me sensitivity in life. They gently showed me beauty in flowers, nature, and spontaneous singing.)