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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00059 Nov 2004

 
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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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