Thamizh Songs in Carnatic Music—7
enna tavam seydanai--- என்ன தவம் செய்தனை
Composer: PApanAsham Shivan
What penance did you do?
Composition: enna tavam seidanai….
Composer: pApanAsam sivan
mudrA:
(signature): rAmadAsan
rAgam: kApi (janyam of 22nd
mELam, karaharapriyA) காபி
ArOhaNam: SR2M1PN3S
AvarOhaNam: SN2D2N2PM1G2R2S
tALam: Adi ஆதி
பல்லவி: என்ன தவம் செய்தனை யசோதா
எங்கும் நிறை பரப்ரமம் அம்மா வென்றழைக்க
(என்ன)
அனுபல்லவி: ஈரேழு புவனங்கள் படைத்தவனைக் கையில்
ஏந்திச் சீராட்டி பாலூட்டித் தாலாட்ட நீ (என்ன)
சரணம் 1: பிரமனும் இந்ரனும் மனதில் பொறாமை கொள்ள
உரலில் கட்டி வாய்பொத்திக் கெஞ்சவைத்தாய் தாயே (என்ன)
சரணம் 2: சனகாதியர் தவ யோகம் செய்து வருந்தி
சாதித்ததை புனித மாதே எளிதில் பெற
(என்ன)
Lyrics in Roman script
Pallavi:
enna tavam
seidanai yasOdA
engum niRai
parabrahmam ammA venRazhaikka (enna)
Anupallavi:
IrEzhu
bhuvanangaL paDaittavanaik kaiyil
Endic
cIrATTi
pAlUTTit tAlATTa—nI (enna)
CaraNam 1:
bhiramanum
indranum manadil poRAmai
koLLa
uralil kaTTi
vAipottik kenjavaittAi tAyE (enna)
CaraNam 2:
sanakAdiyar
tava yOgam seidu
varundi
sAdittadai punida
mAdE eLidil peRa (enna)
Source
for lyrics:
Papanasam Sivan “kIrttana mAlai” published by his daughter
Dr. Rukmani
Ramani. Also see ref. 1
Meaning:
P: Oh,
YasOdA! What penance did you do to let the omnipresent Lord Almighty call you
“ammA” (mother)?
A: You held the Lord, who created the fourteen
worlds, in your arms, fondled Him, fed Him, and sang lullaby to let Him sleep.
C1: You tied Him to the grain thresher (mortar)
and made Him beg for your mercy with folded hands and closed mouth to the utter
envy of Brahman and Indran.
C2: You, holy woman, achieved with great ease what
the sages like SanakA did through painstaking
efforts and intense penance (to have a vision of the lord)
Some
audio clips:
Listen to Maharajapuram Santhanam here
Listen to Sudha Raghunathan here
Listen to Bombay Jayashri here
Another melodious rendition
here
Aruna Sairam,
To listen to Kadri Gopalnath on the
saxophone,
Another vocal,
Another vocal,
General
Comments:
This is a song in tribute to YasOdA, the
foster-mother of Krishna glorifying her for her fortune in having to enjoy the
pleasure of raising the baby Krishna as well as the power to punish the Lord
when she so chose. It is simple in style but has a deep meaning. Usually the
Lord does not have a mother. In this instance since Krishna
was born to Devaki but transported to YasOdA to be raised by her, the implication
is she must have earned so much merit to deserve such a boon as to be called
“ammA” by the Lord Himself.
Several sages like SanakA, SanandanA,
SanatkumArA, and SanatsujAtA had to undertake severe penance to have such
privileges as to have a vision of the Lord while for YasOdA it is a cinch. On
the one hand she gets to hold the Lord in her arms, attend to His daily needs
such as feeding, clothing, and singing Him to sleep but correspondingly she
also has the power to punish Him by tying Him to the grain thresher with a rope
for such minor offenses as stealing butter. Her power to punish Krishna at will, induces envy in Brahman and Indran, who
were humiliated** by Krishna
even while He was growing up in Brindavanam.
This song just describes two instances: the
fortune to have the exclusive privilege of caring for the baby Krishna and the authority to punish Krishna
at will. Ordinary mortals, let alone sages, never get such a reward. Sivan
wonders as to what YasOdA must have done to deserve such a good fortune.
----------------------------------------------------
** The humiliation of Brahman is connected
with an episode of Brahman kidnapping the cowherds in Krishna’s clan with a
subsequent apology from Brahman after knowing the greatness of Krishna who
recreated the lost cowherds in His own form. Likewise, when Krishna ordered the
residents of Brindavanam to ignore Indran and worship the Govardhana Mountain,
Indran got angry and lashed out a rain storm on the community. Krishna lifted
the mountain and held it as an umbrella under which all the residents took
shelter. Finally Indran recognized Krishna’s power and apologized.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Some other songs of Sivan that are very
popular are: kANa kaN kODi vENDum (kAmbhoji), kArtikekEya gAngEya gowri
tanayA (tODi), kA vA vA (varALi),
kaRpagamE (madyamAvati), mA ramaNan (hindOLam),
pArvati nAyakanE (shanmukapriyA), sAma
gAna lOlanE (hindoLam), sivakAma sundari (mukhAri),
singAra vElavan vandAn (Anandabhairavi), unaiyallAl gati yAr
(kalyANi) and tatvamaRiya tarama (rItigauLai).
Composer’s
Bio:
Papanasam Sivan (1890-1973) was born as
Ramaiah in POlagam (போலகம்) in Thanjavur district. He spent a lot
of time with his older brother in Papanasam (near Kumbakonam). It was common in
the early 20th century to confer the title of Sivan on men of God.
Thus he acquired the name, “Papanasam Sivan”. He was influenced greatly by
Neelakanta Sivan (another great composer) in his early life for a couple of
years. He also drew inspiration from Gopalakrishna Bharathi. He did not have a
traditional musical curriculum but learnt music occasionally from several
musicians. Konerirajapuram Vaidyanatha Iyer served as his mentor and sponsor in
his adult life.
He was committed to Thamizh, Thamizh music,
and the freedom movement. He composed around 2500 songs (mainly devotional, and
occasionally social, and national themes) and performed in several theatrical
productions. He was a teacher at the famed Kalakshetra in Chennai during 1934-39.
He composed classical music for several movies and also acted in four movies.
He composed mainly in Thamizh but also penned a few compositions in Sanskrit,
and Telugu. He used the signature “Ramadasan”. But many of his compositions did not contain
his signature, including the song discussed here.
He was awarded “Sangeetha Kalanidhi” by the
Music Academy in Chennai in 1971.During his lifetime he published around 400 of
his songs which are currently out
of print. Currently, his daughter, Dr.
Rukmani Ramani is (re)publishing many of his songs with monetary help from
philanthropists, music organizations, and foundations.
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