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bhaavayaami- annamayya krithi

From the Bhakti List Archives

L&T-ECCG-Buildings & Factories • December 21, 1999 


Dear Sri Vaishnava perunthagaiyeer

Sri Chandrasekharan Swami at vchandra@ambernetworks.com wanted the meaning
of the following krithi and Sri Sadagopan swami commended me to write the
meaning for the krithi. Here it is with my comments.

Sri Chandrasekharan Swami,  Thank you for giving the complete lyrics of a
beautiful krithi by the great poet in Telugu language, a srivaishnava, a
devout bhakthaa and a prapanna Sri annamaacharyaa. The meanings as
understood by me is given below. Srimaan Sadagopan Swamy has showered his
compliments on me saying a krishna premi and naadhOpasaka etc which I am not
sure whether I deserve all these. Now the krithi

Pallavi:	bhaavayaami gOpaala baalam mama sEvitham
				Thath padham chinthayEyam sadhaa

Anupallavi:	kati ghatitha mEkalaaa khachitha maNi ghaNtikaa
		Patala ninadhEna vibhraaja maanam

CharaNam:	kutila paaka gathitha sankula sinchithE matham
		Chatula natana samujjwala vilaasam

		Niratha kara kalitha navaneetham brahmaadhi
		Sura nikara bhaavanaa sObhitha padham

		ThiruvEnkataachala sthitham anupamam harim
		Parama purusham gOpaala baalam

To bring the krithi to prose order to understand properly, then it will be
(according to my understanding)

(aham) mama gOpaala baalam sEvitham Thath padham chinthaya iyam (padham)
sadhaa (aham) bhaavayaami

kati ghatitha mEkalaaa khachitha maNi ghaNtikaa Patala ninadhEna vibhraaja
maanam mama gOpaala baalam sEvitham Thath padham chinthaya iyam (padham)
sadhaa (aham) bhaavayaami

kutila paaka gathitha sankula sinchithE matham Chatula natana samujjwala
vilaasam- mama gOpaala baalam sEvitham Thath padham chinthaya iyam (padham)
sadhaa (aham) bhaavayaami

Niratha kara kalitha navaneetham brahmaadhi Sura nikara bhaavanaa sObhitha
padham - iyam (padham) sadhaa (aham) bhaavayaami

ThiruvEnkataachala sthitham anupamam harim Parama purusham gOpaala baalam-
iyam (padham) sadhaa (aham) bhaavayaami

Meaning: 
Bhaavayaami- purify myself
GOpaala baalam- young gOpaalan
Mama- 6th vibhakthi of uthama purusha word aham- I - giving meaning of mine,
me
SEvitham - serve, enjoy, inhabit
Thath - that 9word is napumsakalingam
Padham or paadham - feet
ChinthayE + iyam- think these
Sadhaa- always
Kati- the hip or buttocks
Ghatitha - shaking or rubbing
Mekalaa - the hip jewel- oddiyaaNam in tamil
Kachitha - bending
Mani- bells
GhaNtikhaa- pebbles
Patala- veiled
NinadhEna- giving humming sounds
Vibhraaja -shining
Maanam- pride, proof, dimension
Kutila- crooked
Paaka - perfect development
Gathitha- in motion or moving
Sankula- crowded
SinchithE- sprinkled
Matham- thoughts
Chatula- swiftly
Samujjwalam- splendidly
Vilaasam - grace
Niratha- engaged- devoted, delighted
Kara- hands
Kalitha- counting, sounding, holding
Navaneetham - butter
Brahmaadhi- brahma and others
Sura- dEvaa
Nikara - multitude, essence, gift
Bhavanaa - resemblance, perception, imagination
SObhitha- shining
ThiruvEnkataachala- in the "thiru vEnkatam" named hill
Sthitham- standing
Anupamam- incomparable
Hari- naraayaNan
Parama purusham- supreme man

Gist meaning:
I prostrate to the young Gopaalan whose feet I always think, these feet
always purify me.

The shining hip jewel (oddiyaaNam) tied in the waist of young gOpaalan
though veiled gives proof of its presence through the ringing bell sounds.
The feet of this young gOpaalan purify me.

Oh the crooked thoughts in my mind, move on to dwell on the swiftly dancing
, with splendid grace and in perfect development (of the art) young
gOpaalan, the feet of this young gOpaalan purify me.

The young gOpaalan's hands are engaged in holding the butter. Brahma and
other dhEvaas treasure in their mind this shining young gOpaalan. Such hands
and feet purify me.

The young gOpaalan standing in the thiru vEnkataachalam is the same
incomparable Hari the supreme lord naaraayaNan. Oh the feet of such gOpaala
purify me.
  
Comments:  
gOpaala baalam padham chinthaya, - iyam (padham) sadhaa (aham) bhaavayaami -
simply these words describe the whole charaNaagathy saasthram. GOpaalan
thiruvadi ennai sudhdhamaakkugirathu- from the dirt called sin. These feet
purify me. 

Aham thva sarva paapEbhyO mOkshayishyaami says gOpaalan in his Srimadh
Bhagavath geethaa. Here swamy annamaachaaryaa says the feet of gOpaalan
purify myself. What we have to do is to "iyam paadham sadhaa chinthaya"-
think or meditate on these feet. 

This is the direct command from the aachaaryaa- aNNaa cum aachaaryaa-
aNNamachaaryaa in telugu there is no "N" as in tamil. Hence annamaachaarya.
ANNaa in samskrit is father. So his words are the words of a father as well
an aachaaryaa. 

Iyam padham sadhaa chinthaya says swami. Maam Ekam charaNam vraja says
geethaachaaryan. Great people say in simple words for us to understand more
easily. 

Periyaazhvaar also says "vanthu adi thozhuthu (aayira naamam solli)
paNdaikkulam thavir" in his thirup pallaandu. Come prostrate these feet
desert your old sinner's kulam -clan, and join the new clan of servants of
the Lord.

How is that paadham- thath padham- "oru kaalil sangu oru kaalil chakkaram
uLLadi poriththu amaintha iru kaalum koNdu angu ezhuthinaarpOl ilachchinai
pada nadanthu" ulla kaalgal - thodar sangilikai 6th paasuram by
periyaazhvaar. Thath padham has in one foot sangu regai, in another
chakkaram- pada nadanthu - the regai impression is made on the land when my
krishnaa walks- the land looks like king mahabali's head with the foot print
of the "Ongi ulagaLantha uththaman'- he is not only Ongi ulagaLanthavan but
also an uththaman - he did not kill any body in that avathaaram so
uththaman.

Ilachinai pada nadantha antha sarangapaaNi en ethirE thalar nadai nadavaanO
- let that krishna come in front of me with that childish slippery walk-
athanaal en iru kaalum saved (kalam has become kaal en immai and marumai -
my present as well future periods are taken care by these feet.

Muthum maniyum vairamum nan ponnum thaththup pathithu thalaip peithaarOl
engum paththu viralum maNivaNNan paathangaL oththittirunthavaa kaNeerE -
seethakkadal 1-3- 2 periyaazhvaar

The nava rathnams like pearls, corals, rubies, diamonds, etc are set in pure
gold, in alternating order to beautify the jewel. Similarly the fingers of
krishnan, the mani vaNNan, the blue jewel Lord, which maNi -the neela maNi-
the blue saphire. "oh yaadhavaas of thiru aaippaadi, please come and see my
son's feet" calls the proud mother yasOdhai "thath padham". 

For this verse the usual meaning given is "the feet are like the jewel with
alternating navarathnaas". A slightly different meaning here- The crown of
King mahaabali had muthu, mani, vairam, nan pon etc. On his head
thrivikraman placed his feet. That foot which was so big- mahabaliyin
thalaiyil peitha thath padham- the foot was not only placed but also
showered the grace so peitha. Such a foot is my maNi vaNNan padham, oh
aaichchiyarE - please come and see.

Usually the "pallu" in the saree [pallu in hindi] - munthaanai or thalaippu
in tamil, is decorated more than the body of the saree. Just because the
thalaippu is nice, it is the tendency of ladies to select such sarees,
though the body may or may not so attractive. Like that the paathangal are
so attractive that the mother - aazhvaar - yasOdhai, is attracted by thath
padham - places the description of the feet in the first paasuram in the
padhaadhi kesa varnanai. This does not mean other parts are not beautiful,
but the first impression is best impression.

Thalaippu eithaarpOl - the thalaippu, the caption - in the write up, the
article, once the caption is attractive, naturally you are attracted to see
what is inside the article and start reading it. Later you start reading the
article again and again and enjoy more and more. That is literary taste. 

Like that here the paadham the first seen part is so attractive that you can
not resist but see in full the other parts and enjoy. See the next word-
eithaarpOl- shot arrow like.

Thath padham and then waist, navaneetham, complete body standing in
thiruvEnkatam all in same lies of periyaazhvaar, thiruppaaNaazhvaar [TA]
also. TA also starts thirukkamala paadham vandhu en kaNNinuLLana okkinRathE
- 1st paasuram, koNdal vaNNanai .... VeNNai uNda vaayan en uLLam
kavarnthavan. Last paasuram. For TA rangan is kaNNan, for Annamaachaaryaa
thiruvEnkatavan is kaNNan. Finally it is kaNNan any where and every where.  

On the mEkalaa- only the quotes- the meanings are reserved for another write
up. 

Thodar sankilikai salaar pilaar enna thoongu ponmaNi olippa padu mummadhap
punal sOra vaaraNam paiya ninRu oorvathu pOla udan koodi kiNkiNiyaara
vaarppa udaimaNi  parai kiranga- 1-7-1 thodar sangilikai- 

Ponniyal kiNkiNi katti purankatti thanniyal Osai salan salan enRida - 1-8-1
ponniyal kiNkiNi

KiNkiNi katti kiri katti kaiyinil kankaNamittu kazhuththil thodar katti than
kanaththaale sathiraa nadanthu vanthu - vatta naduvE 1-9-1

Oda Oda kiNkiNigal olikkum osai paaNiyaalE paadip paadi variginraayai
paRmanaabhan enRirunthEn aadi aadi asainthittu athanukkerra kooththai aadi
aravaNaiyaai- 2-1-10

Now a bhaktha Meera song: (this song was referred by Sri mahavishnu my
colleague and a member in the bhakti list)

BasO mErE nainana mE nandhalaalaa

MOhani moorthi sau~vari soorathi naainana- baso
Adhara sudhhaarasa muralee raajathi ura baijathanthee maal chudhra 

ghantika kati thata sObhitha noopura sabhdha rasaal
Meera kE prabhu giridhara naagara bhaktha bachalagOpaal- basO

Meaning- hey nandhalaala! come and stay in my eyes- viz, please come and
stay in front of me always- give me your sadhaa prathyaksha darsanam - come
in the captivating form of 
- having a beautiful body, 
- with peacock feathers bedecked in the head, 
- widely open eyes- visaala nEthra: 
- playing the flute with the lips, the flute giving out the nectar, called
music- vENugaanam, 
- with the vaijayanthee maalaa on the chest, 
- small bells in the waist belt producing jingling sound, 
- anklets in the feet also making sweet jingling sounds, 

oh meera's lord, who lifted govardhana mountain, who is having limitless
love for his devotees - 
Oh bhaktha vatsalaa - please come and stay in my eyes. 

See how much she has poured her heart in the form of krishnaa and enjoyed
krishna

The waist producing jingling sounds the mekala similar to Annamayya.

In this song the language Hindhi is slightly colloquial and hence vaso has
become baso, vaijayanthee  to baijanthee, bachla is vatsala

On the navaneetham I will include this song in my article on "kannan perra
vennaik kalvi" and offer my comments.

Now one more from Sri thyaagaraajaa ST who enjoyed raama more than krishnaa
but at times mixed both in the same song.

In the krithi "namO namO raaghavaaya anisam" in raaga dEsika thodi see the
lines- 
"Noothana navaneetha bhakshiNE boothavaadhi sarva saakshinE" says ST. We all
know krishna only did the act of stealing and ate butter and not raama But
ST says Oh you, the person eating fresh butter, and be a witness to all the
living beings in their actions..

Also ST wants to decorate the lord with
Merugu bangaaranthalu petti
MEdiyou zarika valuvalu katti
Sura tharu sumamulu sikhaninti jutti
Sundharamagu mOmuna muthu petti

Molanu kunthanapu gejjalu koorchi 
Muddhuga noothadunu thilakamu theerchi
Alagalapai raavi rEkaya jaarchchi
Andhamaina ninnu uramuna jErchchi

In the krithi chetulaara in karaharapriya raaga- meaning- I will adorn your
feet with gold anklets, for the hip I will give you zari laden vastram, for
the hair nicely smelling flowers and carry out all these alankaaram and then
kiss you.

On the hip I will tie oddiyaaNam for the face kasturi thilakam, for the hair
dividing line the vagidu, a nice chutti, and then embrace you oh raama

See how the mother thyaagaraaja enjoys decorating her child raama. Is this
not similar to annamayyaa enjoying thiruvEnkatachala sthitha gOpaalan.

On the swiftly dancing gOpaalan, I am sure you have enjoyed meanings and
references in my earlier write up of vEnu gaanam. To add one particular
reference is the Ambujam Krishna song "aadinayE kaNNaa" in mohana kalyaaNi
sung soulfully by MLV and raaga set by Sri T.N.Seshagopalan. 

Of course the kaaLiya narththanam can also be considered here but I reserve
it for another article.

Anupamam harim- one without a parellal- the incomparable- who is there equal
to my krishna- He gave ample proof who he is just before appearing in this
boolOkam- appearing with sangu chakram etc to parents- by eating earth and
showing all the worlds in his mouth. So anupamam harim- who is also the
parama purusham- baala gOaalan. So naturally brahma and other dEvaas must be
thinking on him always and enjoying and awaiting every movement action of
their supreme lord.

A very big thanks to Sri Chandrasekaran for sharing a very good song with
me, and a very big thanks to Sri Sadagopan for prompting me to write another
one on my Sri krishna.

Dasan M.G. Vasudevan