Thamizh isai: Thamizh songs in carnatic music—18--- maRavEnE ennALilumE---மறவேனே என்னாளிலுமே

Thamizh songs in carnatic music—18

maRavEnE ennALilumE---மறவேனே என்னாளிலுமே

rAgam: paras (பரசு) tALam: Adi (ஆதி)

Composer: “Kalki” Krishnamurthy (கல்கி கிருஷ்ணமுர்த்தி)

This song (besides other songs and script for the movie) was written by “Kalki” Krishnamurthy specifically for the movie “Meera” (1945) starring M S Subbulakshmi. She starred in the title role as the fictional (??) devotee of Krishna and sang most of the songs including “KATrinile varum geetham” (காற்றினிலே வரும் கீதம்) which is an evergreen song to this day. The full movie can be watched here. The plot for the movie can be read here.

பல்லவி:

மறவேனே என்னாளிலுமே கிரி தாரி உனதருளே கிரி தாரி உனதருளே

சரணம்:

நஞ்சை நீ உண்டனையோ இந்த-

பஞ்சையைக் காத்தனையோ ஒரு

விஞ்சை புரிந்தனையோ

ஆரங்கள் சூடிடுவேன்-அலங்காரங்கள் செய்திடுவேன்

பல கீதங்கள் பாடிடுவேன்

கஸ்தூரிப் பொட்டிடுவேன் மணித்தொட்டிலும்

ஆட்டிடுவேன் பல நிஷ்டூரம் கூறிடுவேன்

ஆடகப் பொற்சதங்கை இடை சூடி நீ ஆடி வர

எனதாவி உருகிடுமே

கண்ணா என் கண்மணியே முகில்வண்ணா எந்தன் துரையே

உன்னைப் பண்ணால் துதித்திடுவேன்

ஜய மீரா ப்ரபு கிரிதாரி ஜய மீரா ப்ரபு கிரிதாரி

ஜய மிரா ப்ரபு கிரிதாரி

Lyrics in Roman script: Courtesy of Lakshman Ragde

Pallavi:

maRavEnE ennALilumE giri dhAri unadaruLE - giri dhAri unadaruLE

CaraNam:

nanjai nI uNDanaiyO inda-

panjaiyaik kAttanaiyO oru

vinjai purindanaiyO

ArangaL sUDiDuvEn -alankArangaL seydiDuvEn-

pala gItangaL pADiDuvEn

kastUrip poTTiDuvEn-maNit-toTTilum aTTiDuvEn-

pala niSTUram kURiDuvEn

ADagap poRsadangai-iDai sUDi nI ADi vara-

enadAvi urugiDumE
kaNNA en kaNmaNiyE-mukilvaNNA endan duraiyE-

unnaip paNNAl tudittiDuvEn

jaya mIrA prabhu giridhAri jaya mIra prabhu giridhari

jaya mirA prabhu giridhAri

Meaning:

Pallavi: I shall not forget forever your grace giridhAri (Krishna, who holds the mountain).

CaraNam: Did you eat the poison? Did you save this poor woman (me)? Did you do a magic art? I shall offer you garlands, I will decorate you well. I will sing you several songs. I will apply musk to your forehead. I will place you in a cradle and rock you. I will also tell you injustice done unto me. When you wear the golden waist ornament and come to me dancing, my mind melts. Oh KaNNA, with the hue of dark clouds, my lord I will worship you singing melodies. Victory to GiridhAri, the lord of MeerA!

Word meanings for some unusual words:
Panjai = Ezhai (helpless person), vinjai = magic art, mantra; ADagam= gold; sadangai = ornament made of a string of small bells; niSTUram = injustice, harshness, severity, koDumai

General Comments: This song is sung following the attempt by the brother and sister of the king (MeerA's husband) to poison her by providing a drink to her as a "prasAdam". MeerA drinks it and the sister realizing her connivance in the crime runs to her telling her that it is poison, to prevent her from drinking it. But MeerA finished the drink without any harm. Then she sings this song expressing her gratitude to Krishna for saving her. "nanjai nI uNDanaiyO"--"நஞ்சை நீ உண்டனையோ" (did you drink the poison that was intended for me) and "இந்த பஞ்சையைக் காத்தனையோ" (intha panjaiyaik kAttanaiyO)---did you save this poor woman? are two crucial phrases covering the poisoning attempt.

Composer’s Bio:

R. Krishnamurthy (1899-1954), popularly known as ‘Kalki’ was born in Puttamangalam in Thanjavur district. He was a true-blooded patriot who joined the freedom struggle at Gandhi’s call. He left school to join the non-cooperation movement and went to prison three times during a span of 20 years.

He had a natural talent for writing. He started writing for magazines in 1923, soon after coming from his first stay in prison. He was influenced by Rajaji, and Sadasivam (co-founder of Kalki magazine) in political and social beliefs and by Thiru Vi Ka on the literary front. His writings covered history, art, culture, society, and everything in between. He had a passion for Thamizh and Thamizh music in particular. He was one of the founders of the Thamizh isai movement in the 1940s.

He edited Ananda Vikatan, the Thamizh magazine founded by S. S. Vasan, for nine years and wrote several serial novels for the magazine in addition to short stories, and other feature articles. He started the magazine ‘Kalki’ in association with Sadasivam in 1941. He wrote several novels, short stories, music and dance reviews. His three historical novels, Parthibhan Kanavu, Sivakamiyin Sabhatham, and Ponniyin Selvan, are considered classics by many.

Several of his novels were made into movies: among them Thyaga Bhoomi and Parthibhan Kanavu are noteworthy.

Recently a book titled “amarar Kalki PADalgaL”, containing 35 of the songs written by Kalki was published. Song writing was the best kept secret of Kalki since he was more known for his novels and humorous articles than poetry. Many of his songs were popularized by the famous female trio Carnatic singers, MS, MLV, and DKP.