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Naa Paali SriRaamA Krithi of Saint Thyagarjaa in Raagam SankarAbharaNam

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • November 10, 2000 


Dear BhakthAs :

One of our dear members had asked me for 
the meaning of the above beautiful krithi of
Saint ThyagarAjA .This is one of the moving 
krithis of the Saint with 6 CharaNams , where 
he begs for Sri Ramachandran's protection and 
offers Paadha sEvanam and UpachArAm as his
(Saint's) way of expressing his gratitude 
(kruthaj~nathai) to the Lord for His MahOpakArams .

The Saahithya Vaakyams of the Krithi are:

Pallavi :   NaapAli Sri Raama  BhUpAlakasthOma
            KaapADa samayamu nee paadhamu leerA

CharaNam 1: baLibaLi bhakthulu poojAphalamu nee vanukONDi
            naLina lOchana neeku nalugu BEDDdhanurA 

CharaNam 2: kODi manmaTulaina saaDigAnee sogasu
            nADiyunnadhi madhini mEDi SrI Raama

CharaNam 3: tholipoojA PhalamEmO kaligE nee padhasEva
            naluvakainu ninnu teliyaga taramA

CharaNam 4: pathithapAvana neevu pAlinchakunDEnu
            gathi maakevvaru mammu grakkuna bhrOvu

CharaNam 5: kOri neepadha sEva saarEku sEyanu dhalachi
            mAramana nAlOnE marulu kOnnAnu

CharaNam 6: nirupEdha kaBBhinanidhi reethi dorikithiva
            vara ThyagarAjuni Varadha mrOkkEdharA(naa paali)

This is one of the most moving Bhagavadh-anubhavam songs
of the Saint . VidhvAn Sri BalamuraLi KrishNA has
rendered it soulfully .This krithi can also be sung
in the SankarAbharaNa Janya Raagam , NavrOj;latter is 
a panchamAnthya Raagam and a gamaka-Varika 
Raagam as appreciated by the VeeNA Players.
This is an old raagam that has ben used in folk
songs and marriage songs (laali).This is considered 
as the DhEvAra PaNN , Kolli.KshEthraj~nA has composed 
some fine padhams in NavrOjraagam .

" NaapAli SriRaama " krithi is a Nalangu Paattu 
used geenrally in the wedding ceremonies.

Here, Thyagabrahmam celebrates the mahimai of
Sri Raamachandran and acknowledges that his 
devotion to the Lord's feet is an unexpected 
blessing/wealth and is a result of poorva-janma 
sukruthams .He places the fruit of his devotion at 
the sacred feet of the Lord and describes 
his ananyagathithvam (Total refuge and dependence 
in Him and Him alone ).

In the Pallavi , the Saint addresses the Lord and states :
"Oh my Protector and Saviour ! Oh Sri RaamachandrA !
This is indeed the time for You to come to my rescue. 
Oh Emperor eulogized by the Kings(BhUpAlaka-sthOma)!
This is indeed the time to rush to my rescue.Oh My
Lord ! Pray give me Your sacred feet so that I can
apply the auspicious saffron dye (paint)to beautify
them .

In the subsequent charaNams , the Bhaktha SikAmaNi,
Thyaga Brahmam describes with great feeling 
his conviction that the Lord is the fruit of 
the bhakthan's worship.

The Saint states that the Lord's exquisite beauty 
can not be matched by even crores of ManmathAs 
and that extraordinary beauty of the Lord 
has planted (etched)itself in his memory.

He concludes that his poorva-Janma sukrutham
(worship of the Lord duirng his previous births )
is perhaps the reason for having the privelege of
serving the Lord's holy feet in this janmam.

Next , ThyAga Brahmam wonders whether even Chathurmukha 
Brahma can fully understand the Lord's Vaibhavam in
the spirit of Tirumazhisai AzhwAr Paasurams .
At the end , ThyAga Brahamam reminds the Lord 
of his ananya-gathithvam ( total dependence on
the Lord as his protector and succour) and asks:

" If You do not design to protect me , what other
refuge do I have in this world ?". He mentions to 
the Lord that he has beeen blessed to have a precious
treasure ( Lord as dhivya Sampath/MahA Isvaryam)
and as an aakinchanyan (indigent , totally helpless 
one) , he is elated over the possession of such 
a matchless treaure as his parama Isvaryam. "Oh 
LakshmI Pathi ! I have got You ( chikkena piditthEn ).
My Supreme Lord ! Oh ThyagarAja Varadha!  adiyEn 
prostrates before You.Pray , shower Your auspicious 
anugraham on me soon .

Comments on Saint ThyagarAja"s Bhagaavth anubhavam:
****************************************************
The age old dictum , "Bhavathi-anubhavathi" comes to
my mind , when I think of this great Raama BhakthA's
devotional ecstasy. His krithis in the mood of
avirAha Bhakthi ( mood of inability to endure 
separation from the Lord ) and KaanthAsakthi Bhakthi
( the expression of love as that of a pathivrathai to
her lord ) are exquisite experiences .

Some examples of such bhakthi anubhavam of 
the Saint are:

1) "I regard my kaimkaryam to Sri Ramachandran
as my life's purpose . I do not find my beloved
Lord. What shal I do ? How can I bear ? Having
once had the darsana soubhAgyam of my Lord , 
the remover of  all sorrows , can anyone be 
separated from Him ?"
-- Chandra JyOthi Krithi, SasivadhanA BhakthajanAvana

2) " If You do not appear before me , when I long
for Your darsanam , tears flow copiously from my 
eyes and rush past my cheeks in torrents , my whole 
house looks empty , and every minute appears like 
a Yugam ".
--- panthuvarALi Krithi ,AndundaknE vega vacchEdhani

3)" Oh RaamA of captivating soundharyam ! When will
You be pleased to talk to me ? I can not bear
any more delay... You are my Tilakam . Separation 
from You even for a minute makes my life useless.
My mind has turned away from worldly pleasures .
Sit by me , erase my sorrow and protect me .
I beg of You. I am in Your hands" .
--MadhyamAvathi Krithi: Sri Raama Jaya Raama 

4) Saint ThyagarAjA in his beautiful Rtihigoulai 
raaga Krithi ( Nannu Vidachi) describes the treasure 
(the Lord ) that has come his way :

" I have found You just as a diver in the deep
sea  holding his breath fast and securing a 
precious pearl... I have come by You as a laborer,
who digs the earth deep and finds a mighty nugget 
of pure gold buried deep.."

5) His great joy of finding the Lord as His
treasure is again revealed in his SankarAbahrana
krithi, "Nannu BrOvakanu":

"Just as a man searching for a lost coin of
trifling value , I have acquired You as 
a precious gem of incomparable value".

6)Regarding the Paadha SEvanam , Saint 
ThyagarAjA states that the darsanam of
the Lord's sacred feet causes him 
confusion some times :

" Oh Prop of my life ! The radiance of 
Your blessed feet dazzled me and I was 
at a loss to know whether I should hug those 
blessed feet to my bosom or press them to
my eyes". 
--Vadda nuNdunadE, VarALi Raaga krithi 

Saint ThyagarAjA's prayer is to be of
constant service at the Lord's feet .
He rejects all "dharMadhyakhila PurushArtham"
in favor of Paadha Sevanam and nithya Kaimkaryam.

His great Bhagavadhanubhava Krithis are 
teasures of his enduring (Sthira ) Bhakthi
for Sri Raamabhadran.Some of them are:

1. NeramA ? Sri RaamA : SourAshtra Krithi
2. Talachi nandanE : MukAri Raagam
3. Nee dayachE Raama : Yathukula KaambhOji
4. NinnuvinA nAmadhi endu: Navarasa Kannadaa 
5. Raa Raa RaghuveerA !-AtANA krithi
6. Raama Paahi MeghashyAma : Kaapi krithi 

Sri Raamachandra ParabrahmaNE Nama:
RaamAnuja Daasan , V.SatakOpan
  

      
 
  

          


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