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. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/XUWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oppiliappan/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: Oppiliappan-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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