Thamizh Songs in Carnatic Music—6
துன்பம் நேர்கையில் ---
tunbam nErkaiyil
Composer: BhArathi
dAsan
When misery strikes……துன்பம் நேர்கையில்
Composition: tunbam nErkaiyil
Composer: BhArathi dAsan
mudrA:
(signature): none
rAgam: dEsh (janyam of meLam 28,
harikAmbhoji)---
ArOhaNam: SR2M1PN3S
AvarOhaNam: SN2D2PM1G3R2S
(also SN1SN2D2PD2M1G3R2G3S)
tALam: catusra Ekam
பல்லவி
துன்பம் நேர்கையில் யாழ் எடுத்து நீ
இன்பம் சேர்க்க மாட்டாயா? - எமக்
கின்பம் சேர்க்க மாட்டாயா? - நல்
அன்பிலா நெஞ்சில் தமிழில் பாடி நீ
அல்லல் நீக்க மாட்டாயா? - கண்ணே
அல்லல் நீக்க மாட்டாயா?
அனுபல்லவி
வன்பும் எளிமையும் சூழும் நாட்டிலே
வாழ்வின் உணர்வு சேர்க்க - எம்
வாழ்வின் உணர்வு சேர்க்க - நீ
அன்றை நற்றமிழ்க் கூத்தின் முறையினால்
ஆடிக் காட்ட மாட்டாயா? கண்ணே
ஆடிக் காட்ட மாட்டாயா?
சரணம்1
அறமிதென்றும் யாம் மறமிதென்றுமே
அறிகிலாத போது - யாம்
அறிகிலாத போது - தமிழ்
இறைவனாரின் திருக்குறளிலே ஒரு சொல்
இயம்பிக் காட்ட மாட்டாயா? - நீ
இயம்பிக் காட்ட மாட்டாயா?
சரணம்2
புறம் இதென்றும் நல் அகம் இதென்றுமே
புலவர் கண்ட நூலின் - தமிழ்ப்
புலவர் கண்ட நூலின் - நல்
திறமை காட்டி உனை ஈன்ற எம்உயிர்ச்
செல்வம் ஆகமாட்டாயா? தமிழ்ச்
செல்வம் ஆக மாட்டாயா?
Lyrics in Roman script
Pallavi: tunbam
nErkaiyil yAzheDuttu nI
inbam sErkka mATTAyA—emak
kinbam sErkka mATTAyA—nal
anbilA nenjil tamizhaip pADi nI
allal tIrkka mATTAyA—kaNNE
allal tIrkka mATTAyA (tunbam)
Anupallavi: vanbum
eLimaiyum soozhum nATTilE
vAzhvil uNarvu sErkka—em
vAzhvil uNarvu sErkka—nI
anRai naRRamizh kUttin muRaiyinAl
AdikkATTa mATTAyA—kaNNE
AdikkATTa mATTAyA (tunbam)
CaraNam
1: aRamitenRum yAm
maRamitenRumE
aRikilAta pOtu—yAm
aRikilAta pOtu—tamizh
iRaivanArin tirukkuRaLilEyoru sol
iyambikkATTa mATTAyA—nI
anRai naRRamizh kUttin muRaiyinAl
ADikkATTa mATTAyA—kaNNE
ADikkATTa mATTAyA (tunbam)
CaraNam
2: puRamitenRum nallahamitenRumE
pulavar
kaNDa nUlin—tamizhp
pulavar
kaNDa nUlin
iRaivanArin
tirukkuRaLilEyoru sol
iyambikkATTa
mATTAyA—nI
iyambikkAATa
mATTAyA
tiRamai
kATTiyunai InRa emmuyirc
celvamAka
mATTAyA—tamizhc
celvamAka
mATTAyA—kaNNE (tunbam)
Source
for lyrics:
Amutham CD “BindhumAlini” WS008 booklet insert
Also see http://www.tamilvu.org/courses/degree/c011/c0114/html/c0114403.htm
Meaning:
Pallavi: When misery strikes, won’t you play the
harp (lyre) and provide me some happiness?
Won’t you please provide me some relief? In the turbulent state devoid
of compassion, won’t you sing Thamizh and remove the misery?
Anupallavi: In the world surrounded by violence and
naïveté won’t you demonstrate to me the beauty of the ancient Thamizh
traditional dance to add fervor to my life?—please won’t you show me the beauty
of the dance?
CaraNam1: When we cannot understand what is right
and what is valorous, please read me from the Tamil vEdam ThirukkuRaL wherein
it says, “Good conduct breeds admirable habits, bad conduct always leads to
trouble”. Please show me the good features of the ancient art of Thamizh dance.
CaraNam 2: The poets have delineated what is self and
what is non-self in several works. Out of such works, ThirukkuRaL has lots of
gems. Utter some gems from that for me.
We brought you forth unto this world. Prove your worth and be our
treasure, darling!
General Comments:
This song suggests music as a cure for misery.
It more or less mirrors the song of Mahakavi Subramanya Bharathi which goes as
“cinnanj ciRu kiLiyE, kaNNammA” wherein Bharathi imagined ParAshakti as his child
and adores her. BharathidAsan, who proclaimed himself a disciple/follower of
Bharathi by changing his name to BharathidAsan from his given name (Kanaka
Subburaththinam), perhaps drew inspiration from Bharathi in providing a theme
for this song. In this song Bharathidasan asks his darling (child? or
beloved?—it is not quite clear) to mitigate his misery by playing the harp.
This also shows the rarely witnessed delicate side of Bharathidasan, who was
known to espouse the cause of the downtrodden and to uphold everyone’s civil
and social rights.
Here he is asking his darling child (or beloved?) to
sing in sweet Thamizh to relieve the sorrow from his mind. The violence in the
world confronts the simplicity in people and he sees one way out of such confrontation and
that is the traditional Thamizh kUttu—an ancient form of dance.
Bharathidasan was also an ardent admirer of
TiruvaLLuvar, the Thamizh saint-poet. He
wants the good words from TirukkuRaL to be uttered to soothe his mind. He is
just yearning for the sweet Thamizh mixed with the gems from TirukkuRaL and
woven into a fabric with the ancient dance to be staged for him. In his opinion
that provides an immense calming effect.
Composer’s
Bio:
BharathidAsan (1891-1964) was born in PuduchEry
as Kanaka Subburatnam and grew up with a resolution to change the society into
a more equitable one for everybody. He
changed his name to Bharathidasan (servant or disciple of Bharathi) as a mark
of tribute to Subramanya Bharathi. He followed the doctrine of the Dravidian
movement of the day. He was committed to socio-political causes including the
self-respect movement, Thamizh, Dravidian culture, socialism, and humanity. He
was honored with the title “puratcip pAvEndar” (king of revolutionary poetry).
He wrote several dramatic compositions, and hundreds of poems on social and
language themes.
Bharathidasan did not intend his poems to be
set to music. They were intended to convey social and literary values. Some of
his poems have been set to music by various musicians. Some of his songs which
got inducted into the musical mode (either film or classical) are: pudiyadOr
ulagam seivOm involving a socialistic theme, tamizhukkum amudenRu pEr
(literary tribute to the language), and talaivArip pUccUDi (intended for little girls
to quell their fear of going to school).
DaNDapANi dEsikar explains how he chose the rAgam dEsh for this song
here
The meaning of a song has to match with the melody chosen in order for a perfect harmony. ThiruvaLLuvar explained this principle 2000 years ago in the following kuRaL
பண் எனாம் பாடற்கு இயைபு இன்றேல்
கண் எனாம் கண்ணோட்டம் இல்லாத கண்
Meaning: If there is no unison between the lyrics and the melody there is no use for the melody. It is like having a perspective when you see an object.
Listen to M M Dandapani dEsikar
here
To
listen to Sanjay Subrahmanyan sing this song,
For the
video clip from the AVM studios movie “Or iravu”, (1951)
To
listen to O S Arun
Listen
to Thrisoor Brothers here
Listen
to Sudha Ragunathan here
Listen
to Unnikrishnan here
Listen
to Bombay Jayashree here
