kshIra sAgara Sayana

One of the evergreen compositions fo St Thyagaraja in Ragam Devagaandhari. I have attempted to translate it in English first, and then in Tamil.

You will see how, using simple rhyming words ( "vinnaanura"), the saint cites past instances of delvierance by Rama, and pleads for Him to come fast and take him over. Amazing composition.

Song, in English, first!

kshIra sAgara Sayana nannu
cintala peTTa valenA rAma
vAraNa rAjunu brOvanu vEgamE
vaccinadi vinnAnurA rAma (kshIra)
narI maNiki cIral(i)ccinadi nADE nE vinnAnurA
dhIruDau rAma dAsuni bandhamu tIrcinadi vinnAnurA
nIraj(A)kshikai nIradhi dATina nI kIrtini vinnAnurA
tAraka nAma tyAgarAja nuta dayatOn(E)lukOrA rAma (kshIra)


The English Translation:


The opening line should actually read thus (for easier understanding purposes only)

Pallavi

nannu cintala peTTa valenA rAma, kshIra sAgara Sayana?

 me (nannu) in distress (cintala) Should You keep (peTTa valenA) of Milk (kshIra) the Ocean (sAgara) O Lord who is  reclining (Sayana)  ! O Lord rAma!


Anupallavi:

of elephants (vAraNa) the King (rAjunu)  in order to protect (brOvanu)  - ie, in order to protect the King of Elephants- Gajendra

vEgamE vaccinadi vinnAnurA rAma. - quickly (vEgamE) Your coming (vaccinadi) I heard (vinnAnurA).

Charanam:

narI maNiki cIral(i)ccinadi nADE nE vinnAnurA

to draupadi – gem of a woman (nArI maNiki) sarees (cIralu) Your giving (iccinadi) long ago (nADE) I heard (vinnAnurA)


dhIruDau dAsuni bandhamu tIrcinadi vinnAnurA rAma

of the brave (dhIruDau)  rAma dAsu , ie, Bhakta Ramadas (dAsuni) incarceration (bandhamu)  about Your bringing to an end (tIrcinadi) I also heard (vinnAnurA), O Rama

nIraj(A)kshikai nIradhi dATina nI kIrtini vinnAnurA

for the sake of the Lotus (nIraja) eyed (akshi), ie, Sita, the waters (nIradhi) in crossing (dATina) about Your (nI) fame (kIrtini) I heard (vinnAnurA)

tAraka nAma tyAgarAja nuta dayatOn(E)lukOrA rAma

O Lord whose name (nAma) carries one across (tAraka) (the ocean of Worldly Existence)! O Lord praised (nuta) by this tyAgarAja! O Lord rAma! Please govern (ElukOrA) me with compassion (dayatOnu) (dayatOnElukOrA)




 Let us now try translating this in Tamil. You will realize how easier it is, to follow in Tamil, due to a lot of words in Telugu being borrowed from Classical Tamil.

பல்லவி 

nannu cintala peTTa valenA rAma, kshIra sAgara Sayana?

என்னை சிந்தனையிலேயே (கவலையிலேயே) வைத்திருக்க வேண்டுமா? பாற்க்கடலில் படுத்திருக்கும் ராமா!

அனுபல்லவி

vAraNa rAjunu brOvanu vEgamE
vaccinadi vinnAnurA rAma

யானைகளின் அரசனை (கஜேந்திரனை) வேகமாய் வந்ததை கேள்விப்பட்டேன், ராமா!

சரணம் 

narI maNiki cIralu iccinadi nADE nE vinnAnurA

நாரி மணிக்கு ( பெண்களில் மணியான திரௌபதி) சேலை வழங்கியதை முன்னமே (nADE nE) கேள்விப்பட்டேன், ராமா.

dhIruDau rAma dAsuni bandhamu tIrcinadi vinnAnurA

தீரனான ராம தாசுவின் ( பக்த ராமதாஸ்) பந்தங்களைத் தீர்த்து வைத்ததை கேள்விப்பட்டேன், ராமா.

nIraj(A)kshikai nIradhi dATina nI kIrtini vinnAnurA

தாமரை விழியாளுக்காக (சீதைக்காக) கடலைத் தாட்டியது (கடந்தது)  கேள்விப்பட்டேன், ராமா.

tAraka nAma tyAgarAja nuta dayatOn(E)lukOrA

தாரக ராமா! ( தாரகம் என்றால், இந்த சம்சாரக் கடலைக் கடக்க வைப்பது. அதாவது, எந்த நாமத்தினால் சம்சார சாகரத்தைக் கடக்க இயலுமோ அது)
தியாகராஜனால் போற்றப்படுபவனே! தயவு செய்து வந்தாட்கொள்ளு (ராமா)!

छुपता नहीं, छुपाने से

ग़म-ए-प्यार छुपता नहीं, छुपाने से। 

मज्बूर हूँ, उल्फत दबता नहीं, दबाने से।

मेरी वीरान रातें राख़ हो रही हैं, सनम  

यह आग-ए-मोहब्बत बुझती नहीं, बुझाने से। 

अंजान  बनकर मुझे सताना बेकार है   

आजकल मेरा दिल दुखता नहीं, दुखाने से।

साक़ी के जाम में खुद को खैर डुबाता हूँ   

पर तेरी यादें हरग़िज़ डूबते नहीं, डुबाने से। 

तेरी कश्ती चाहे मुझसे कितनी भी दूर चली जाए 

साहिल में क़दमों के निशां मिटता नहीं, मिटाने से। 

💞D💞

बागी बनूँ

तीर-ए-नज़र मत चलाओ, कि उल्फत के लिए बागी बनूँ
एक मौका दो, तेरे खज़ाना-ए-दिल का मैं भी भागी बनूँ।

तैयार हो जाओ सनम, प्यार को महसूस करने को 
अब तुममें उम्मीदों के दिए जलाने का चिरागी बनूँ।

सुबह की किरनों की ताज़ग़ी हमेशा है तुममें
उस ताज़ग़ी को अपनाते हुए राग बैरागी बनूँ।

दिल बोले , तेरी यादों में एक अनोखा कशिश है
चाहे जितना भी दिमाग बोले कि में वैरागी बनूँ।

बिछड़ने का बहाना बार बार क्यूँ ढूंढती हो तुम
क्या यही चाहती हो कि तेरी याद में घाघी बनूँ।

Note: Raag Bairagi is a morning raga

gOdhULi dUsarita - slOka

I was reading something on Tagore's works. And that something led me to this Shloka, which has the word I was looking for - gOdhULi .  This Shloka apparently extols the virtues of Krishna's playful lifting of the Govardhana giri and his company of the cows.

gOdhULi dUsarti kOmala kuntalAgram
gOvardhanOddharaNa kELi kRta prayAsam
gOpIjanasya kuCa kumkuma mudritAngam
gOvindam induvadanam sharaNam bhajAmaha

This word often appears in Tagore's works, and I was not quite aware if there is a similar word in Tamil. There is apparently this word, for dawn and dusk, in Tamil too. And it is gOdhULi (கோதூளி). In Tamil, this denotes both the morning ( dawn) and evening (dusk).

My rusty brain went after the meaning. I look up the Sanskrit dictionary. Sure enough, it denoted the same - Godhuli in sanskrit too meant dusk as well. I concluded - that there must then be an original Tamil word for it.

Dawn - vidiyal (விடியல்).   Dusk - (araiyiruL) அரையிருள் (andhi) அந்தி . Andhi clearly is borrowed again and means "End of the day".

I then wondered why this period is called gOdhuLi. I realized that this "gO-dhuLi" - that period of the day when cows come home from the long grazing day, their stomach full of eating ( which they masticate later at night, and in peace) . The return of the cow herds is accompanied by huge swathes of dust, if you have ever observed returning cows in villages.

Worshippers of Krishna observe this period as one of the most auspicious, bringing in all the wealth and happiness for them. Worshippers of Shiva, consider this period, on the contrary as Pradosha kaalam, where the mind can easily delve into negatives ( due to planetary moves caused by the sinking Sun and rising moon) , and so, believe in focusing on prayers, instead. I feel these are varying approaches.

gODhuLi reminds me of the opening stanza of the famous English Poem "Elegy Written In a Country Churchyard", by Thomas Gray, where the poet too visualizes a similar scene of the returning cowherds and the weary farmer too returning too, after a hard days work in his office. 

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea,
The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness, and to me.

हितैषी

तेरी क़दमों में मेरी इश्क़ की सरफ़रोशी हो।
ग़ुल-भरी दुनियाँ में तुम इक अनोखा ख़ामोशी हो।
बहती हुई नदी से कुआँ कभी भरता नहीं
मेरी दुनियाँ-ए-दिल में तुम खाना बदोशी हो। 

मैख़ाने में आजकल मेरा कुछ काम नहीं
मेरी जाम-ए-दिल की तुम मदहोशी हो।

तेरी क़ुरबत का असर को क्या मिसाल दूँ
ज़ख़्म भरा दिल की इक छोटी सी ख़ुशी हो।

मेरे उजड़े रातों की अब फ़िक्र नहीं, अंजुम
मेरे काले अँधेरे फलक की तुम आरुषि हो।

गुलाब को ख़ुश्बू देना सिखाना है नहीं,
सुकून देने में जो तुम हमेशा विदुषी  हो।

बारिश-ए-ज़ख्म अब मुझे नहीं बिगड़ेगी
मेरे दिल-ए-ग़म की अब तुम हितैषी हो।

காணாமல் போகுமே

கரை சேரும் பிறவிதனில்
கை சேராக் காதலினால்
நரை சேர்ந்த கர்ணமூலம்
இறை சேர்ந்த ஓரிதயம்.

பிணி சேர்ந்த இத்தேகம்
அணி சேர்ந்த என்சோகம்
பனி சேர்ந்த சிகரம்போல்
இனி காணாமல் போகுமே.
     
  

āsīnaḥ dūraṁ vrajati

( ayaṁ ātmā ) āsīnaḥ dūraṁ vrajati| śayānaḥ sarvataḥ yāti| madāmadaṁ taṁ devaṁ madanyaḥ kaḥ jñātuṁ arhati ||

This is a very interesting verse from the Kathopanishad.   It means - Seated He journeys far off, lying down He goes everywhere. According to Shankara Bhashyam, " Thus the âtman is both joyful and joyless and has properties mutually opposed; therefore it being impossible to know him, who else but me can know the âtman, who is joyful and joyless. It is only by persons like us of subtle intellect and learning that the âtman can be known. "

Shankara is careful to dissociate the Atman from mind and intellect.  What we feel the atman is, in real life, is only the inteelect, at best. Most ordinary mortals like us, are unable to transcend beyond this sheath.

But, if we are able to free up the Atman, as a spectator, and oberve everything, from the grossest ( the body) to the subtlest, then, the Atman is in the best position to experience ( first), and then go on to be the Brhaman.

Here " shayaano" ...  that is , the Atman being in Sayanam ( lying down, as it were) refers to the shutting down of the knowledge brought by the senses ( Sthoola and Sookshma- the gross and subtle) . Shankara says , only when learn to go beyond the senses and get into Atma Saakshaat kaaram, will we be able to be the Brahman, ultimately.

Reminds me of an English poem that I had read somewhere:


No longer speaking
Listening with the whole body
And with every drop of blood
Overtaken by silence

But this same silence is become speech
With the speed of darkness.