Lyrics of "Mokshamu Galada"

సారమతి రాగము ఆది తాళము (దేశాది తాళము)

మోక్షము గలదా భువిలో

జీవ-న్ముక్తులు కాని వారలకు

సాక్షాత్కార నీ సద్భక్తి - సంగీత జ్ఞాన విహీనులకు

ప్రాణానల సంయోగము వలన (వల్ల)

ప్రణవనాద(ము) సప్తస్వరములై  బరగ

వీణా వాదన లోలుడౌ శివ మనో

విధ మెఱుఁగరు త్యాగరాజ వినుత

mOkshamu galadaa bhuvilO jeeva-nmuktulu kaani vaaralaku saakshaatkaara nee sadbhakti - saMgeeta j~naana viheenulaku praaNaanala saMyOgamu valana (valla) praNavanaada(mu) saptasvaramulai baraga veeNaa vaadana lOluDau Siva manO vidha me~ru@Mgaru tyaagaraaja vinuta

(First respects to many: Parents, particulary the gifted original vocal singer - our mother. Then there are a number of Carnatic music stalwarts, from Dr. Balamurali, Maharajapuram, Balakrishna Prasad, GNB, and extraordinary vocalists like Ghantasala, P. Susheela, and P. Leela and many others. In one way or other, they’ve helped me a lot, they made me realize my own inner voice and recognize the faults in lyrics. I must also pay my debt to the great music directors like S. Rajeswara Rao, Nagendra, Aswathama, Ramesh Naidu, etc. Through out my high school and college years, my neighborhood reverberated with rich sound; there was plenty of noise from traffic, blaring movie songs played from theaters, and the rich music played at marriage ceremonies and street processions. They troubled me during my annual summer exams and yet times we students lamented our plight for the lack of “a suitable noise police”. But looking back I could not ask for a more indulgent music teacher. Hundreds of sweet melodies, haunting tragic pathos filled emotional slow moving songs, and exhilarating and energy filled throaty uplifting patriotic songs. All that music training was given to me as a free lunch and I just gobbled it up hungrily. I owe my native village, the coastal Andhra, and Delhi for a great exposure to all that there is in Carnatic, light music, and Hindusthani traditions. You cannot learn such a great expanse of varied music from a single teacher, paid or unpaid.)

I came to this brilliant composition through Sri Malladi Suri’s piece in Andhra Bhoomi. I will give a word-to-word meaning in a future blog here.