Dear srivaishNava perunthagaiyeer,
Many a times we have heard saint thyaagaraaja krithis glorifying raama, his
ishta dheivam. In few krithis he eulogizes my krishNa also. One such krithi is
the following 'thOdi' raagam krithi. The other day when I was listening to the
concert of one youngster by name master m.balamuralikrshna [please do not
cofuse with senior and well renowned name sake including the initial] he was
giving a very pleasing thOdi raagam. Of course the krithi rendered was ninnE
nammi of syaamaa sasthrigaL. But it triggered my senses to write on this krithi
and hence this article.
Raagam thOdi [8 hanumath thOdi mELam] taaLam: roopakam
Composer: thyaagaraaja Language: Telugu
pallavi
brindhaavana lOla gOvindhaa aravindha nayanaa [brin]
anupallavi
sundharaanga dhrtha rathaanga sujanaari thimira pathhanga [brin]
charaNam
maamava sree ramaNa maNi madhana asritha mithra
raamadhaasa dhaasa thyaagaraajanutha charithra [brin]
word by word meaning:
brindhaavana lOla - one who likes and plays in brindhaavanam - the thuLasi
garden.
[or one who likes and plays in gardens at brindhaavanam]
[or one who plays in the gardens at brindhaavanam - the place]
- means krishNa
gOvindha- the cowherd or gOpaalan krishNan who got a specific name given by
'dhEvEndhran' after being subdued by krishNa - this is the only pattabhishEkam
krishNa had, performed on krishNa by dhEvEndhran - that way this naamam is very
special.
aravindha nayana - one who has eyes like lotus
sundhara anga - one who has beautiful body
ratha anga dhrtha- one who carries the part of the chariot - the wheelbeing
part of a chariot so one who carries that wheel is a ratha anga dhrtha - who
carries the sudharsana chakra - the chakradhaari - vishNu or krishNa
sujanaari - a lady who is born well - [su + ja + naari, su = well, ja = born,
naari = woman] or that lucky woman sree mahaalkshmee
thimira pathha anga - krishNa - one who is well fed by the darkened eyes of
that mahaa lakshmee - means she is always showering her glances on him -
mahalakshmee kuLira kataakshiththu aruLum dhEhaththai udaiyavan -
maamava sree ramaNa maNi madhana - the husband of the gem like sree - the
mahalakshmee, krishNa
aasritha mithra - the friend of all who seek him.
raama dhaasa- servant of raama or a person named raama dhaasa
thyaagaraaja nutha - told by thyaagaraaja
charithraa - one who has a history
Meaning:
Pallavi:
Hey krishNa, gOpaala, one who plays in the gardens in bhrindhaavanam, having
eyes like lotus.
Anupallavi: hey krishNa, you, who has a beautiful body, who carries the chakra,
the wheel, the part of a chariot, who is being glanced by the dark eyes of that
well born mahalakshmee
CharaNam: krishNa, one who is liked by that gem of a women, that sree - maha
lakshmee, the friend of all who seek him, one who has a history told by
thyaagaraaja the servant of raama dhaasa.
Comments or Points:
1. The raagam thOdi is one of the gana raagam and to be enjoyed
more in vilamba kaalam - slow tempo, and that too in a peaceful atmosphere sung
in visthaaram - an elaborate manner- no rushing through.
2. This krithi though short is very rich in meaning as stated
above.
3. On this 'aravindha nayana' meaning lotus eyed krishNa, Saint
thyaagaraaja [hereafter ST] uses many words - in many krithis like
raajeevaaksha, vanaja nayana, kamala nayana, saraseeruha nayana, ambujaaksha,
vaarija nayana etc.
4. Few krithis having such exemplary words on the eyes which comes
immediately to the mind are:
O raajeevaaksha - aarabhi raaga krithi - starting as such
Raaraa raajeeva lOchana raamaa, [mOhana raaga krithi]
aravindha nayana [above],
vanaja nayana - [nannu paalimpa krithi in mohana raaga],
vanaja nayanudai - kEdhaara gowlai krithi starting as such
vaarija nayana - another kEdhaara gowlai krithi starting as such
saraseeruha nayana - bilahari krithi starting as such
neeraja dala nayana - in the krithi neeve kaani in bilahari
all meaning one who has lotus like eyes. Also ambOruha nayana,
ambujaaksha, kamala nayana, puNdareekaaksha are other naamaas meaning same.
5. On this sundhara anga - immediately mind goes to rukminee
kalyaanam - where she address my krishNa as "sruthvaa guNaan bhuvana sundhara"
after having heard about him - not seen in picture or any such thing but simply
heard -in the mind picture has come about that sundharan. Here ST also says
sundhara anga: - having beautiful body -azhagan.
6. Here thyaagaraaja says I am dhasan - servant of raamadhaasa.
This may mean
a. bhadhraachala raamadhaasa who was also an ardent
devotee of raama like thyaagaraaja
b. bhakthaas of raama, - I am dhasa to the raama dhaasa-s.
Servant of Servants of Raama - thoNdar tham thoNdan - 'thoNdar adippodi'
concept of aazhvaars
7. While writing the life of bhadraachala ramadhaas, or
thyaagaraaja, this krithi is often quoted by writers. Similar reference is also
there in other krithi of ksheera saagara sayana in dhEva gandhaari and kaligi
yuntE gadhaa in keeravani, which immediately comes to mind.
Dear bhakthaas, Meditate on that sundharan on the ensuing deepavali day, who
has aravinda nayanam and plays in brindhaavanam.
Dhasan
Vasudevan m.g
PS: this incidentally fulfills partially the command of sriman sadagopan swamy
to adiyen to write about thodi raga krithis of ST and on bhadrachala ramadhas
krithis - here it is a combined one that too - on my krishna.
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