माता मरकत श्यामा मातङ्गी मधुशालिनी
कुर्यात् कटाक्षं कल्याणी कदम्बवनवासिनी /
जय मातङ्गतनये जय नीलोत्पलद्युते
जय सङ्गीतरसिके जय लीलाशुकाप्रिये //
( Oh Mother (mAta) ! Who is dark complexioned like the marakata jewel! Who is mAtaGgI, the daughter of the sage mAtaGga, Who is sweet as honey (madhuzAlini) , Who is auspicious (kalyANi), Who is the resident (vAsini) of the kadambA forest (vana), kindly protect us! (katAkSham kuryAt)
Victory to the MotherWho is the daughter of sage mAtaGga, Who is lustrous like the blue lily (nIlOtpaladyutE), Who is a connoissuer (rasikA) of music (saGgIta) and Who loves (priyA) the charming (lIlA) parrot (zuka)
(kAlidAsA: zyAmaLA danDakam)
I thought of taking up this kriti in order to highlight the mahimai of Subbaraya Shastri's finesse in composing fantastic kritis. His compositions are filled with bhakti and bhAva. The tempo of his kritis is generally slow, barring a few madhayama kAla kritis. A worthy son to a great father indeed! Here are the lyrics (Only the commonly sung caraNam has been included)
pallavi
With utmost supplication to the mother Goddess kAmAkSi zri Subbaraya Shastri questions Her: " Oh mother ( janani) of the three worlds (trilOka) ! Who (evarE) else in this world (jagamulOna) can be my refuge (dikku) other than you (ninnu vinA) ? "
The emotions in this line are well brought out by the rAga bhAva , that is so enticing in the mandra sthAyi. The mandra sthAyi beginning, along with the soothing sAhitya makes the kriti really pleasant and weighty. Like I said in an earlier post, a composition by the Shastri family gets attached to the rAga. janani is one such. This is surely because of ambAL's karuNai and kRpai.
After the soft mandra sthAyi , Subbaraya Shastri goes on to plead in the tARa sthAyi , beginning with an abstract swarAksharam at "ma":
He calls ambAL : "manasija - mAnasa - sammodini", i.e. " One whose mind (mAnasa) is delighted (sammOdini) by the God of love (manasija)" and appeals to her: "Please listen (vinavE) to my (nA) troubles (manavini) and kindly protect (brOvumu) me (nannu) "
As is the case with the Sastri kritis, the swara sAhityam is touching and this one is specificifically moving:
" Having heard (vini ) that (anucunu) that you are the bestower (dAyaki) of unceasing (niravadhika) happiness (sukha), I beseeched (goliciti) you (ninnu) so much (cAla)! Who else (evarika) is there in this world (dharalO) to protect (brOcutaku) like you (nI valanE) , after hearing (vini) the appeals (moralu ) of this child (tanayuni) endlessly (niratamuga) ? "
Subbaraya Shastri's surrender to the Mother is so evident her. He kind of chides Her that She has not protected him from the tentacles of the worldly miseries. However he is very prompt to acknowledge ambAL as the only one in this world Who can listen to his troubles and free him from his worries.
Subbaraya Shastri continues further in this beautiful svara sAhityam: "Now (idi) please listen, Oh Mother (vinumA), is this (idi) ghanama (tiresome) ? Now is the opportune moment (taruNam idi) to quickly (durusuga) Please protect me (brovumu) without (sEyaka) delay (tAmasamu) , oh Mother, Who has eyes (lOcanI) like the lotus (sarasIruha) and Who is fragrant (suvAsini) !
The caraNam begins like the pallavi in the mandara sthAyi and beautifully unfolds into the higher octaves. The mark of this kriti is the svara sAhityam!
Sri Shastri describes ambAL as " vanajAyata- nEtrI i.e. the one with large (Ayata) eyes (nEtri) like the blue lotus flower (vanaja: vanaja means born in the forest, it also refers to a wild lotus flower found in the forest lakes) " and as "kumAra janani (mother of kumara: subrahmanya svAmi) " , kAmitadAtri : One who gives (dAtrI) whatever is desired (kAmita) "
After this the kriti reaches a climax like the anupallavi, but the transition is so gradual and grand (do I have to even attempt to write about the elegance of the M-N-S part of rItigauLa??) that one gets easily lost in its subtlety!
ambAL is now referred to as : "ghana pApa latA lavitrI", i.e One who is like a scythe (lavitrI) to the creepers ( latA) of evil (ghana) sins (pApa) (in short, the One Who destroys all sins) (Someone, please verify this!!!) and "sanakAdi munulella sannuta pAtri" : One who is worthy (pAtrI) of the panegyric (sannuta) of sanakA and all (ella) other (Adi) sages (munulu).
The "tri" antya prAsa in the caraNam is really captivating and utmost bhakti is required to present this kriti impeccably. SSI, MS and KVN recordings are available abundantly, but my favourite rendition is by my own GurunAthar, (which can be found here. ) and by Brindamma, of course (available here). Brindamma's rendition actually gives you goosebumps!
May the ambAL, the Mother of the three worlds protect everyone!
zrI kriSNArpaNamastu!
pallavi
jananI ninnuvinA (trilOka)
dikkevarammA? jagamulOna gAna (trilOka)
anupallavi
manasija mAnasa sammOdini!
vinavE nA manavini vini nannu brOvumu
(cittai swaram)
niravadhika- sukha- dAyaki ! anucu vini ninnu cAla goliciti
niratamuga tanayuni moralu vini nI valanE brOcuTaku evarika dharalO
vinumA idi ghanamA taruNamidi krpa salupa durusuga
sarasIruha - lOcani ! suvAsini ! tAmasamu sEyakane brOvumu
(jananI)
caraNam 3:
vanajAyata - nEtri! kumAra - janani! kAmitadAtri !
ghana - pApa - latAlavitri ! sanakAdi - munulella - sannuta pAtri !
With utmost supplication to the mother Goddess kAmAkSi zri Subbaraya Shastri questions Her: " Oh mother ( janani) of the three worlds (trilOka) ! Who (evarE) else in this world (jagamulOna) can be my refuge (dikku) other than you (ninnu vinA) ? "
The emotions in this line are well brought out by the rAga bhAva , that is so enticing in the mandra sthAyi. The mandra sthAyi beginning, along with the soothing sAhitya makes the kriti really pleasant and weighty. Like I said in an earlier post, a composition by the Shastri family gets attached to the rAga. janani is one such. This is surely because of ambAL's karuNai and kRpai.
After the soft mandra sthAyi , Subbaraya Shastri goes on to plead in the tARa sthAyi , beginning with an abstract swarAksharam at "ma":
He calls ambAL : "manasija - mAnasa - sammodini", i.e. " One whose mind (mAnasa) is delighted (sammOdini) by the God of love (manasija)" and appeals to her: "Please listen (vinavE) to my (nA) troubles (manavini) and kindly protect (brOvumu) me (nannu) "
As is the case with the Sastri kritis, the swara sAhityam is touching and this one is specificifically moving:
" Having heard (vini ) that (anucunu) that you are the bestower (dAyaki) of unceasing (niravadhika) happiness (sukha), I beseeched (goliciti) you (ninnu) so much (cAla)! Who else (evarika) is there in this world (dharalO) to protect (brOcutaku) like you (nI valanE) , after hearing (vini) the appeals (moralu ) of this child (tanayuni) endlessly (niratamuga) ? "
Subbaraya Shastri's surrender to the Mother is so evident her. He kind of chides Her that She has not protected him from the tentacles of the worldly miseries. However he is very prompt to acknowledge ambAL as the only one in this world Who can listen to his troubles and free him from his worries.
Subbaraya Shastri continues further in this beautiful svara sAhityam: "Now (idi) please listen, Oh Mother (vinumA), is this (idi) ghanama (tiresome) ? Now is the opportune moment (taruNam idi) to quickly (durusuga) Please protect me (brovumu) without (sEyaka) delay (tAmasamu) , oh Mother, Who has eyes (lOcanI) like the lotus (sarasIruha) and Who is fragrant (suvAsini) !
The caraNam begins like the pallavi in the mandara sthAyi and beautifully unfolds into the higher octaves. The mark of this kriti is the svara sAhityam!
Sri Shastri describes ambAL as " vanajAyata- nEtrI i.e. the one with large (Ayata) eyes (nEtri) like the blue lotus flower (vanaja: vanaja means born in the forest, it also refers to a wild lotus flower found in the forest lakes) " and as "kumAra janani (mother of kumara: subrahmanya svAmi) " , kAmitadAtri : One who gives (dAtrI) whatever is desired (kAmita) "
After this the kriti reaches a climax like the anupallavi, but the transition is so gradual and grand (do I have to even attempt to write about the elegance of the M-N-S part of rItigauLa??) that one gets easily lost in its subtlety!
ambAL is now referred to as : "ghana pApa latA lavitrI", i.e One who is like a scythe (lavitrI) to the creepers ( latA) of evil (ghana) sins (pApa) (in short, the One Who destroys all sins) (Someone, please verify this!!!) and "sanakAdi munulella sannuta pAtri" : One who is worthy (pAtrI) of the panegyric (sannuta) of sanakA and all (ella) other (Adi) sages (munulu).
The "tri" antya prAsa in the caraNam is really captivating and utmost bhakti is required to present this kriti impeccably. SSI, MS and KVN recordings are available abundantly, but my favourite rendition is by my own GurunAthar, (which can be found here. ) and by Brindamma, of course (available here). Brindamma's rendition actually gives you goosebumps!
May the ambAL, the Mother of the three worlds protect everyone!
zrI kriSNArpaNamastu!
3 comments:
Thank you very much for the saahithyam and the meaning. At the time even some of our great singers are killing the words you have dived into the meaning of this great song with gusto. May ambal bless you.
doesent manasija maanasa sammodani mean one who gives happiness even to manasija or Kamadeva/
vmgirija
Beautifully written. Thankyou for the word by word meanings
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