Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Thamizh Songs in Carnatic Music—13a--நாவுக்கரசனை ஞானக்கொழுந்தினை-- nAvukkarasanai gnAnakkozhu^ndinai

 Thamizh Songs in Carnatic Music—13a

:      நாவுக்கரசனை ஞானக்கொழுந்தினை-- nAvukkarasanai gnAnakkozhu^ndinai

Composer: M. M. DaNDapANi Desikar


Let us sing the praise of TirunAvukkarasar

    

Composition: nAvukkarasanai
Composer:     M. M. daNDapANi dEsikar
mudrA:           none
(signature):   
rAgam:           hEmavati (mELam 58)
ArOhaNam:     SR2G2M2PD2N2S
AvarOhaNam: SN2D2PM2G2R2S
tALam:            Adi

பல்லவி:     
 நாவுக்கரசனை ஞானக்கொழுந்தினை
 நாவாரவே வாழ்த்தி நலம் பெறுவோம் திரு                          (நாவுக்கரசனை)
                                                                                     
அனுபல்லவி
பாவுக்கரசனாம் பண்புள்ள தமிழனாம்
பாவாணர் போற்றும் திருத் தேவாரம் தனைத்தந்த               (நாவுக்கரசனை)

சரணம்1:    
தாண்டக வேந்தனாம் தண்தமிழ் மீதன்பு
பூண்ட பெருமையைப் புகலவும் கூடுமோ
வேண்டும் நல்வாழ்வினை விரும்பி அன்றே தரும்
ஆண்ட பெருந்தகையான் அய்யன் அருளடைந்த                   (நாவுக்கரசனை)

சரணம்2:     
இந்த உலகினை இயக்கும் இறைவனை
எந்த வடிவினும் எங்கணும் கன்டவன்
 நந்தமிழ் நாட்டினில் பைந்தமிழ் இசையுடன்
 செந்தமிழ்ப் பாடலை செம்மையுடன் தந்த                               (நாவுக்கரசனை)

சரணம்3:     
நாமார்க்கும் குடியல்லோம் நடலையில்லோமென
நவின்ற திருமறையாம் நல்லோர் வணங்கும் தமிழ்ப்
பாமாலையைப் புனைந்த பாவலனை என்னாளும்
பரவிப் பணிந்து நோக்கிப் பான்மையுடன் வாழவே         (நாவுக்கரசனை)

Lyrics in Roman script

Pallavi:            nAvukkarasanai gnAnakkozhu^ndinai
                        nAvAravE vAzhtti nalam peRuvOm tiru                          (nAvukkarasanai)
                                                                                     
Anupallavi:     pAvukkarasanAm paNbuLLa tamizhanAm
                        pAvANar pORRum tirut tEvAram tanaitta^nda               (nAvukkarasanai)

CaraNam1:     tANDaga vE^ndanAm taNtamizh mIdanbu
                        pUNDa perumaiyaip pugalavum kUDumO
                        vENDum nalvAzhvinai virumbi anRE tarum
                        ANDa peru^ntagaiyAn ayyan aruLaDai^nda                   (nAvukkarasanai)

CaraNam2:     i^nda ulaginai iyakkum iRaivanai
                        e^nda vaDivinum engaNum kanDavan
                        na^ntamizh nATTinil pai^ntamizh isaiyuDan
                        se^ntamizhp pADalai semmaiyuDan ta^nda                    (nAvukkarasanai)

CaraNam3:     nAmArkkum kuDiyallOm naTalaiyillOmena
                        navinRa tirumaRaiyAm nallOr vaNangum tamizhp
                        pAmAlaiyaip punai^nda pAvalanai ennALum
                        paravip paNi^ndu nOkkip pAnmaiyuDan vAzhavE         (nAvukkarasanai)


Meaning:
Pallavi:            
Let us sing the praise of Tirunavukkarasar, who is a beacon of wisdom,
in glorious terms and get the benefits of doing so.
                       
Anupallavi:    
He is the king of poetry. He is a noble Thamizhan. He gave us the                          
tEvAram which is held in high esteem by poets.

Caranam1:    
He is the king of tANDagam (style of poetry). Can we venture to speak of                
his love for noble Thamizh? Lord Siva is magnanimous in showering His                                  
grace   on devotees. Our tirunAvukkarasar reached His abode. Let us                                     
sing his praise.
                                   
Caranam2:     
He saw Lord Siva, who directs the whole universe, in all forms and in all                             
places. He gave us refreshing songs in splendorous Thamizh in all its                           
true melody.
           
Caranam3:     
He is the one who gave us the tEvAram song which translates as, “we                               
shall not be slavish subjects under anybody, nor shall we be                                           
overwhelmed by any delusion.” We shall thus respect him and lead a                            
meaningful life by singing his praise always.
           
General Comments:
This song is somewhat unusual in the devotional series. This is about a human being who attained godhead through his immense devotion. The subject of this song is tirunAvukkarasar (also known as “appar”). He was one of the tEvAram trinity who composed a multitude of devotional songs on Lord Siva.  Some of his popular songs are: “sanganidi padumanidi iraNDum tandu…”, “mAsil vINaiyum mAlai madiyamum vIsu tenRalum ..”, and “nAmArkkum kuDiyallOm namanaiyanjOm..”

TirunAvukkarasar can be truly called a “nAyanmAr’s nAyanmAr” because during the lifetime of tirunAvukkarasar, there was another nAyanAr called appUdi aDigaL who worshipped one of his contemporaries,  tirunAvukkarasar, instead of Lord Siva himself and did charitable work in the name of tirunAvukkarasar. (Read about appUdi aDigaL in ref. 4 below).

Dandapani Desikar’s choice to eulogize tirunAvukkarasar in this song shows his devotion to shaivism and the devotees of Siva. There is a parallel event in Thamizh music similar to this. OottukkAdu Venkatasubbaiyer, another great composer who lived in the 18th century CE, wrote a song called “periya purANa kIrttanai” which starts as “ALAvadennALO sivame aDiyArkkaDiyArkkaDiyanAi” in the ragam paras. In that song Venkatasubbaiyer mentions all the 63 nAyanmArs in quite a musical threading. Dandapani Desikar chose to extol a member of the tEvAram trinity in his eulogy. These are instances of great souls recognizing other great souls and immortalizing them.

Dandapani Desikar was quite enamored of tirunAvukkarasar’s love for Thamizh as much as his love for Lord Siva. In fact, he weaves both these characteristics of tirunAvukkarasar together intricately in this song. He did not have the benefit of seeing tirunAvukkarasar in flesh and blood, unlike appUdi aDigaL; nevertheless he composed this garland with true imagination of the glory of tirunAvukkarasar.


Composer’s Bio:
M. M. Dandapani Desikar (1908-1972) was born at TiruccenkATTAnkuDi (the birthplace of the famous nAyanmAr ciruttoNDa nAyanAr) near TiruvArUr. He was a veritable multi-talented composer in Thamizh music.. He was a musician, teacher, and movie actor as well. He appeared on the music scene when Thamizh isai was having a renaissance in the 1940s and contributed so much to it.

He learnt music and tEvAram initially from his father (Muttaiah Desikar) who belonged to the traditional family of OduvArs (the group that sings devotional songs in the temples). Later he learnt music from others including the violin doyen KumbakONam Rajamanickam PiLLai. He went on to become a professor and head of the department of music at Annamalai University in Cidambaram.

He gave a lot of concerts while teaching at Annamalai University. He published quite a few Thamizh music works under the auspices of Thamizh isaic Cangam.  He got several awards including “isai arasu” and “isaip pEraRignar”. He acted creditably in many movies such as Pattinaththaar, Nandanaar, Thaayumaanavar, Maanickavaacagar, and Tirumazhisai Azhvaar, all of which featured his singing prominently.

Some other songs of M. M. DandapANi DEsikar (MMDD) that are rendered in concert circuits are: unnaiyanRi uTra tuNai (bhavAni), velanai nI (AndOLikA), anjezhuttinai nenjilE (rAgavinOdini), Anai mugattOnE (dEvamanOhari), isaiyin ellaiyai (subhapantuvarALi), pADa vENDumE (hamsanAdam), aruLa vENDum tAyE (sAramati), and  ennai nI maRavAdE (amritavarshini). The song unnaiyanRi uTra tuNai was popularized by the late MLV.

References:


Audio clip of the song
Listen to Suguna Varadachari   here

Listen to Sanjay Subrahmanyan here

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