Thamizh Songs in Carnatic Music—30---கைத்தல நிறைகனி --kaittala niRaikani appamoDaval pori

Thamizh Songs in Carnatic Music—30

கைத்தல நிறைகனி --kaittala niRaikani appamoDaval pori

aruNagirinAthar-----tiruppugazh

Eating plentiful fruits, sweet dumplings ……

Composition:  kaittala niRaikani appamoDaval pori

Composer:      aruNagirinAtar

mudrA:          

(signature):    perumALE

rAgam:           nATTai (janyam of calanATTai, 36^th mELam)        

tALam:           Adi

ArOhaNam:   SR3G3M1PD3N3 S

avarOhaNam: SN3PM1R3S

This song is the very first song (invocatory song on Lord GaNEsha) in tiruppugazh, a veritable anthology of songs on lord Murugan.

கைத்தல நிறைகனி அப்பமொடு அவல்பொரி 
கப்பிய கரிமுகன்  அடி பேணிக் 

கற்றிடும் அடியவர் புத்தியில் உறைபவ 
கற்பகம் எனவினை  கடிதேகும் 

மத்தமும் மதியமும் வைத்திடும் அரன்மகன் 
மற்பொரு திரள் புய  மதயானை 

மத்தள வயிறனை உத்தமி புதல்வனை 
மட்டவிழ் மலர் கொண்டு  பணிவேனே

முத்தமிழ் அடைவினை முற்படு கிரிதனில் 
முற்பட எழுதிய  முதல்வோனே 

முப்புரம் எரிசெய்த அச்சிவன் உறைரதம் 
அச்சது பொடிசெய்த  அதிதீரா

அத்துயர் அதுகொடு சுப்பிரமணி படும் 
அப்புனம் அதனிடை  இபமாகி 

அக்குற மகளுடன் அச்சிறு முருகனை 
அக்கணம் மணமருள் பெருமாளே.

Lyrics in Roman script

kaittala niRaikani appamodu avalpori
kappiya karimugan  aDi pENik

kaRRidum adiyavar buddhiyil uRaibava
kaRpagam enavinai  kaDidhEgum

mattamum madhiyamum vaittidum aranmagan
maRporu thiraL buya  madhayAnai

mattaLa vayiRanai uttami pudhalvanai
maTTavizh malar koNdu  paNivEnE

muttamizh aDaivinai muRpadu giritanil
muRpaDa ezhudhiya  mudalvOnE

muppuram eriseyda accivan uRairatam
accadu poDiseyda  atidhIrA

attuyar adukodu subbiramaNi paDum
appunam adaniDai  ibamAgi

akkuRa magaLuDan acciRu muruganai
akkaNam maNamaruL perumALE.

                                                Lyrics:  Ref. #1         

Meaning:

Lord Ganesa is one who is fond of eating quite a handful of fruits, sweet rice dumplings (appam), pounded roasted rice (aval), and puffed rice (pori). He is the elephant-faced one.

The learned folks who worship his feet are the ones in whose minds the Lord dwells. He grants the wishes of such devotees just like the celestial tree (karpaga maram) which is supposed to grant any wish. The sins of such devotees disappear when they worship Lord GaNEsha.

He is the son of Lord Siva who wears the flowers of the datura plant (Umaththam poo) and the crescent moon. He has strong enough shoulders to be a wrestler and the strength of a fierce elephant.

He also sports an abdomen which is shaped like a drum. He is also the son of Uma Devi. I shall worship him with the just- blossomed flowers which emanate a brilliant fragrance.

He is the one who gave life to the three branches of Thamizh (iyal, isai, nATakam) for the first time sitting on the mountain mEru.

 He is also the one who made the axle of the chariot of Lord Siva break when embarking on his adventure to incinerate the three cities inhabited by the demons, when Siva started out without invoking his (Ganesa’s) blessings *.

* According to ShivapurANam, Lord Shiva was out to destroy the 3 cities without offering his prayers to Lord GaNEsha. Hence lord Ganesha made the axle of the chariot on which lord Shiva was riding, break.  It was rectified later once lord Shiva realized his mistake.

------------------------------

He is the one who alleviated the torment of his brother (Murugan) whose love towards vaLLi was proving difficult to bring to fruition.

In order to help his brother he took the form of an elephant and roamed the millet field owned by vaLLi’s father to scare vaLLI and thereby enabled his brother to finish the courtship and wed vaLLi.

General Comments:

The song that we are featuring here is part of tiruppugazh, an anthology of devotional songs composed by Arunagirinaathar (AGN). These songs do not have the formal division into pallavi, anupallavi, and caraNam characteristic of Carnatic music classification. The verses of tiurppughazh follow a blank verse format.

This particular song sings the praise of Lord Ganesa by pointing out the grace that one would obtain by worshipping him. The verses also include references to mythology regarding how Siva’s chariot’s axle broke (when he was out on the venture to fight the three demons and destroy their cities) because Siva did not invoke the blessings of Ganesa (--talk about internecine rivalry and hegemony amongst the celestials!!). It also refers to how Ganesa helped Lord Murugan in winning vaLLi’s hand by scaring vaLLi in the form of a wild elephant whereupon she ended in the arms of Lord Murugan.

The Tiruppughazh songs were intended to be musical more in galloping rhythmic content to begin with but caught the attention and imagination of several musicians of yesteryears who tuned the songs to different ragams. The lyrics flow like a river rapids with teeming rhymes and lilting rhythms.

Composer’s Bio:

aruNagiri nAthar (AGN) (ca.15^th century CE??), it is said, authored more than 16000 songs under the banner “Tiruppughazh”, singing the praise of Lord Murugan. Only 2000 songs are available now.

AGN, it is said, was suffering from an incurable disease and intended to commit suicide at TiruvaNNAmalai when Lord Murugan blessed him with a healthy life. There are lots of legends floating around about his ability to perform miracles by transmigrating into other life forms.

AGN composed mainly on Lord Subramanya (alias Murugan). In addition to Tiruppughazh, AGN also wrote kandar anubhUdi, kandar andAdi, and kandar alankAram.

Readers who are interested in knowing more about aruNagirinAthar and hisTiruppughaz songs are encouraged to visit references 1-4 given below.

Some of his songs that are popular and sung at the end of Carnatic music concerts, as what are known as “tukkaDAs”, include: ErumayilERi, and tuLLumada vETkai (both in hamsAnandi), agaramumAgi (harikAmbhoji), apakAra nindai (cakravAgam), sivanAr manam kuLira (sindu bhairavi), and nAda vindu kalAdi (senjcuruTTi),

References:

1. http://www.kaumaram.com/thiru/ntpm_0001.html

2. http://carnatica.net/composer/arunagirinathar.htm

3. http://murugan.org/bhaktas/arunagirinatha.htm

4. http://www.kaumaram.com/thiru/

Audio and video links

Listen to M S Subbulakshmi here

Listen to PiththukkuLi MurugadAs here

Listen to Kanakadurga Venkatesh here

Listen to Mahanadhi Shobana here