Thamizh Songs in Carnatic Music—4 --எப்படிப் பாடினரோ---eppaDip pADinarO

Thamizh Songs in Carnatic Music—4

Composer: Suddhananda Bharathi (SNB)--சுத்தானந்த பாரதியார்

How did they sing? --- எப்படிப் பாடினரோ

 

Composition: eppaDip pADinarO…

Composer:     Suddhananda Bharathi

mudrA:          

(signature):    none

rAgam:           karnATaka dEvaghAndAri (janyam of mELam 22, karaharapriyA )                      

ArOhaNam:     SG₂M₁PN₂S

AvarOhaNam: SN₂D₂PM₁G₂R₂S

tALam:            Adi                                         

ராகம்: கர்நாடக தேவகாந்தாரி

தாளம்: ஆதி  

பல்லவி:       

எப்படிப் பாடினரோ—அடியார்

அப்படிப் பாட நான் ஆசை கொண்டேன் சிவனே          (எப்படிப்)

அனுபல்லவி:    

அப்பரும் சுந்தரரும் ஆளுடைப் பிள்ளையும்

அருள் மணி வாசகரும் பொருள் உணர்ந்தே உன்னையே       (எப்படிப்)

சரணம்:       

குருமணி சங்கரரும் அருமைத் தாயுமானாரும்

அருணகிரிநாதரும் அருட்ஜோதி வள்ளலும்                                                                                

கருணைக் கடல் பெருகி காதலினால் உருகி

கனித் தமிழ்ச் சொல்லினால் இனிதுனை அனுதினம்               (எப்படிப்)

Lyrics in Roman script

Pallavi:            eppaDip pADinarO—aDiyAr

                        appaDip pADa nAn Asai koNDEn shivanE            (eppaDip)

anupallavi:     apparum su^ndararum ALuDaip piLLaiyum

                        aruL maNi vAcakarum poruL uNar^ntE unnaiyE   (eppaDip)

CaraNam:       gurumaNi shankararum arumait tAyumAnArum

                        aruNagirinAtarum aruTjOthi vaLLalum

                        karuNaik kaDal perugi kAdalinAl urugi

                        kanit tamizhc collinAl inidunai anudinam               (eppaDip)

                               

Source for lyrics:  Amutham CD WS003 booklet insert

Meaning:

P:         Oh, Lord Shiva I want to sing your praise in the same manner done by your                       (famous) devotees.

A:        Appar, Sundarar, TirugnAna Sambandar, and MANicka VAcagar sang about you               

in all meaningful splendor.

C:        GurumaNi Shankarar, brilliant ThAyumAnAr, AruNagirinAthar, and the  beacon of grace, RAmalinga  VaLLalAr---all these great souls out of boundless love for you and an ocean of grace sang about you everyday using sweet Thamizh words.

General Comments:

This song is a paean on Lord ShivA as well as the twin quartets of ShivA’s famous devotees. The first quartet of Appar (also known as TirunAvukkarasar), SundaramUrthy nAyanAr, TirugnAna Sambandar, and MANikka VAcagar lived in the first millennium CE. Of this quartet, the first three are known as tEvAram trinity and are members of the group of famous devotees of ShivA, known as 63 nAyanmArs. MANicka VAcagar, who lived much later than the 63 nAyanmArs, was technically the 64^th nAyanmAr. All the four contributed to the growth of Shaivism against established Jainism in the Thamizh country by composing songs on Lord ShivA at various shrines.

The song is also a tribute to the second quartet of Adi ShankarA (788-820 CE), ThAyumAnavar (18^th century CE??), AruNagirinAthar (15^th century CE), and RAmalinga vaLLalAr (1823-1874 CE). Adi ShankarA went far and wide in India to spread Shaivism by debating and defeating other competing religious sect leaders. ThAyumanavar wrote 1400 hymns in simple Thamizh with profound meaning. AruNagirinAthar was a devout Murugan worshipper, who wrote myriad songs on Murugan including the famous Tiruppugazh. RAmalinga vaLLalAr, with no formal education, wrote thousands of verses inculcating universal love and peace, all of which are compiled in a book called “TiruvaruTpA”.

The composer wanted to draw inspiration from the great saint poets to write his own compositions. Such a desire openly manifested in this simple invocatory song. The beauty of this song lies in the deference that the composer had for the great shaivite saint philosophers-cum-poets which is expressed succinctly.

Composer’s Bio:

Suddhananda Bharathi (1897-1937) was a yOgi, devotee, and freedom fighter all mixed in one. He was modesty personified. He wrote a lot of poems in Thamizh on bhakti, peace, and universal love with an easy flow of the language. Many of his songs have been set to music by others, among them Calcutta K. S. Krishnamurthy figuring prominently.

Some of the songs of Suddhananda Bharathi that are popular are: aruL purivAi (hamsadwani), kaNNeDuttAkilum kANIrO (simmEndra madyamam), sakala kalA vANiyE (kEdAram), tUkkiya tiruvaDi (shankarAbharaNam), jangAra shruti seiguvAi (pUrvikalyANi), and kaNNanE en kaNavan (kalyANi).

Listen to D K PattammAL here

Listen to Sudha Ragunathan here

Listen to Nithyasri here

Listen to T M Soundararajan here

Listen to Unnikrishnan here

To listen to Sriranjani Santhanagopalan,   http://www.mediafire.com/listen/kzax3zqlpvdnz6h/04-eppaDi_pADinarO-karnATakadEvagAndhAr-suddhananda_bharati-Sriranjani_Santhanagopalan.mp3a

Listen to Nisha Rajagopalan here 

Thamizh songs in Carnatic Music--3 KAlaip piDittEn gaNapati----காலைப் பிடித்தேன் கணபதி

Thamizh songs in Carnatic Music--3

KAlaip piDittEn gaNapati----காலைப் பிடித்தேன் கணபதி  

        

Composer: MahAkavi SubramaNya BhArati rAgam: mOhanam tALam: Adi

                         

Background: PuduchEry (a state adjoining ThamizhnADu) was under French control for a long time. There is a prevalent lore that the French governor at the time, Francois Marten (1674-93), tried to ban GaNapati worship there but when some of the weavers decided to move elsewhere the governor abandoned his efforts since trade would have been severely affected without their goods and labor.

Bharathi wrote 40 songs on GaNapati under the banner, “VinAyakar nAnmaNi mAlai” (விநாயகர் நான்மணி மாலை). All these songs (in 4 different categories of poetry) were written when he was in PuduchEry (fleeing British Indian territory to avoid capture on a charge of sedition for writing nationalistic songs and articles). The famous ancient GaNapati temple in PuduchEry (which is very popular among devotees) is called “maNakkuLa vinAyakar”(மணக்குள விநாயகர்) temple.  All his songs on Lord GaNapati were inspired by the deity maNakkuLa VinAyakar.

Let us examine two separate ( one building on the other) songs here.

rAgam: mOhanam (மோஹனம்)  tALam: Adi

காலைப் பிடித்தேன் கணபதி நின்பதங் கண்ணிலொற்றி

நூலைப் பலபல வாகச் சமைத்து நொடிப்பொழு(தும்)                      

வேலைத் தவறு நிகழாது நல்ல வினைகள்செய்துன் 

கோலை மனமெனு நாட்டி னிறுத்தல் குறியெனக்கே

எனக்கு வேண்டும் வரங்களை இசைப்பேன் கேளாய் கணபதி, மனத்திற் சலன மில்லாமல், மதியில் இருளே தோன்றாமல், நினைக்கும் பொழுது நின்மவுன நிலைவந் திடநீ செயல்வேண்டும், கனக்குஞ் செல்வம் நூறு வயது இவையும் தரநீ கடவாயே. Now the lyrics in Roman script. kAlaip piDittEn gaNapati ninpada#n kaNNiloTRi                            nUlaip palapala vAgac camaittu noDippozhu(dum)                              vElait tavaRu nigazhAdu nalla vinaigaLseydun                                                                          kOlai manamenu nATTi niRuttal kuRiyenakkE enakku vENDum vara#ngaLai isaippEn kELAy gaNapati, manattiR salana millAmal, madiyil iruLE tOnRAmal, ninaikkum pozhudu ninmavuna nilaivan tiDanI seyalvENDum, ganakkunch celvam nURu vayadu ivaiyum taranI kaDavAyE. Meaning: Oh lord GaNapati, I hold your feet and apply them on to my eyes. My mission is that I should compose several works without any interruption or errors. I want to retain your rule in my mind all the time (so that there is no wavering in my mind). I shall ask the boons I want and you pay attention.  I should not have any turmoil in my mind and there should be no darkness therein either. When I desire, you should provide your own composure and peaceful state to me. You shall also give me fabulous wealth and a long life. Commentary:  Bharathi does not mince words. He means what he says. He treats the gods with love and passion but simultaneously as his friends. He takes liberties with them and instead of being subservient when asking for boons he more or less dictates, “thou shall …”. That is why he is such a unique poet. On the face of it his request may appear selfish (requesting longevity of life and wealth) but his purpose was more altruistic in the larger interest of humanity at large. In this song Bharathi more or less dictates (கடவாயே) rather than requests (அருள்வாயே). That shows his intimacy to rather than distance from the deity. Besides, instead of stating (கேட்பேன்) the requests he says he will sing (இசைப்பேன்). Mental turmoil is difficult to control. So he places that request first. Darkness may surround even a steady mind. The mind has to resolve that to lead in the right path. That is his second request. To manage the issues one needs composure. He wants such composure that the lord himself possesses.  The 4th and 5th boons are material aspirations which come last in the order of preference.

Listen to Rajkumar Bharathi sing “KAlaippiDittEn gaNapati” in mOhana rAgam. Download from https://www.mediafire.com/?yh765o2wz1jhcbt  

       

Listen to a short rendition of the second verse here 
  
Listen to the song "gaNapati tALai" sung by Rajkumar Bharathi here:http://www.mediafire.com/download/okp07q6oq7aqks0/02-gaNapathi_thALai-nAta-Adhi-subrahmaNya_bhArathi.mp3

     

Composer’s Bio:

Subramanya Bharathi (1882-1921) was born in eTTayapuram in Tamil Nadu and lost his parents early in his life. He married when he was 16. He moved to vAraNAsi and got most of his education there. He came back to eTTayapuram at the invitation of the local king, got restless doing nothing, and taught for a while in Madurai Sethupathi High School. He then got interested in the freedom movement, met several freedom fighters, and was very active in promoting the independence movement. He was mainly fighting the British with his pen. Subramanya Bharathi (SB) was well-versed in several Indian languages in addition to Thamizh and English. He edited a satirical weekly and a monthly English newsmagazine The British were afraid of his writings and tried to imprison him. He fled to Pondicherry (at that time a French territory) and published his revolutionary newspapers and magazines from there. He also learnt vEdAs, and music

While SB got the support of several leaders, he was leading the life of a pauper at home. He translated Bhagavat GIta in Thamizh and rewrote mahAbhAratam in Thamizh as ”pAnchAli sabhatam”. All along he wrote a lot of poetry of all cadres—devotional, nationalistic, amorous, and wisdom-oriented--- covering a variety of subjects. He occupied an editor’s post in the leading Thamizh newspaper of the day, Swadesamitran and was held in high esteem by the publisher. It is an irony of fate that a temple elephant, whom he used to feed regularly, attacked him one day from which he got very sick and eventually died. Even while dying he was defying death. It is said, “Those whom the gods love die young”. Bharathi was a typical representative of that genre. His small mortal frame left the earth but his giant immortal self still strides around in all glory. He was rightly accorded the title of “National poet” for his national integration songs and “MahAkavi” (great poet) for his poetic excellence.

                        

Thamizh Songs in Carnatic Music 2-- sabhApatikku vERu deyvam--சபாபதிக்கு வேறு தெய்வம்

Thamizh Songs in Carnatic Music

               2-- sabhApatikku vERu deyvam--சபாபதிக்கு வேறு தெய்வம் 

Composer: GOpAlakrishNa BhArati (GKB)

          

Composition: sabhApatikku vEru……..

Composer:     gOpAlakrishNa Bharathi

mudrA:           balakrishNan, or

(signature):    gOpalakrishNan

rAgam:           AbhOgi (janyam of meLam 22)                    

ArOhaNam:    SR₂G₂M₁D₂S

AvarOhaNam:SD₂M₁G₂R₂S

tALam:            rUpakam

                                               

பல்லவி:           

 சபாபதிக்கு வேறு தெய்வம்

 சமானமாகுமா தில்லை                       (சபா….)

அனுபல்லவி:    

க்ருபாநிதி இவரைப் போலக்

கிடைக்குமோ இந்த தாரணி தனிலே                         (சபா…)

சரணம்:   

ஒரு தரம் சிவசிதம்பரம் என்று உரைத்தால் போதுமே

பரகதிக்கு வேறு புண்யம் பண்ண வேண்டுமா

அரிய புலையர் மூவர் பாதம் அடைந்தார் என்றே புராணம்

அறிந்து சொல்லக் கேட்டோம் கோபாலக்ருஷ்ணன் பாடும் தில்லை      (சபா….)

Lyrics in Roman script

Pallavi:           

sabhApatikku vERu deyvam

samAnamAgumA tillai                            (sabhA….)

anupallavi:    

krupAnidhi ivaraip pOlak

kidaikkumO inda tAraNi tanilE                (sabhA…)

CaraNam:      

oru taram shivacidambaram enRu uraittAl pOdumE

paragatikku vERu puNyam paNNa vENDumA

ariya pulaiyar mUvar pAdam aDaintAr enRE purANam

aRindu sollak kETTOm gOpAlakrishNan pAdum tillai       (sabhA….)

Meaning:        

Is there another God who can match the Lord of Thillai (Chidambaram) in                        

glory, i.e., SabhApati (Nataraja)?

He is a treasure house of mercy. Could one get another entity like Him

in this universe?

It is enough if one utters the word “shivacidambaram” just once. To attain

salvation one does not need to earn any other merit.  We learn from the                             

epics that speak of the three rare “pulaiyars” (untouchables) attaining                          

Godhead. Is there another God who is equal to Nataraja who is sung by

Gopalakrishnan?

                                   

General Comments:

Gopalakrishna Bharathi’s favorite deity was Lord Nataraja of Chidambaram. Most of his songs are on Nataraja. This particular song is said to have been written soon after GB visited Thyagaraja, the bard of tiruvaiyaRu. GB visited Thyagaraja and listened to his disciples sing a kriti of Thyagaraja “manasu nilpa” in the rAgam AbhOgi.  Then he went to bathe in the river KavEri, and composed this kriti “sabhApatikku” on the spot in Thamizh in the same ragam on Lord Nataraja of Chidambaram. When he came back to Thyagaraja’s house, Thyagaraja asked GB if he has composed any kriti in AbhOgi. GB said he did so after hearing Thyagaraja’s kriti and sang it for him. It is said that Thyagaraja was happy and showered praise on GB.

The phrase “ariya pulaiyar mUvar” evokes deep feelings in everyone who hears this kriti. It is widely known that GB, although born a Brahmin, was an ardent supporter of the downtrodden folks, especially harijans, as is obvious from his magnum opus “Nandanar caritira kIrttanai”, a Thamizh opera glorifying the low-caste farm hand Nandan for his flagrant bhakthi, who was later inducted in the Nayanmar Hall of Fame as “TirunALaippOvAr”. The term “ariya pulaiyar mUvar” refers to three “untouchables”—Nandanar, Thillai VettiyAn, and PeRRAn SAmbhAn—who lived in the area around Thillai and were supposed to have attained Godhead as a reward for their piety.

NandanAr was featured in the “Periya PurANam” by SEkkizhAr. The other two lived in later times. A fervent shaivite by name UmApati ShivAchAriyAr (14^th century CE) initiated PeRRAn SAmbhAn (a person born as a pulaiyar) into shaivism (a prohibited act those days) under the guidance of a letter given by God (see  http://www.shaivam.org/adumapat.htm) The ardent shaivite was excommunicated by the Thillai Brahmins for that sacrilegious (!) act. This action has a parallel in early 20^th century too as seen by the ostracism of Subramanya Bharathi by the Brahmin community for his ‘reformist’ activities. GB glorified the “ariya pulaiyar mUvar” by including them in this kriti. It is invariably a person from another segment of the society who works for the upliftment of folks from an oppressed segment.

Composer’s Bio:

Gopalakrishna Bharathi (1810-1896) was born in a Brahmin family in Narimanam (near Nagappattinam) and lived in and around Mayuram. He lived a celibate life. He was ostracized by the orthodox Brahmins for performing a kathA kAlakshEpam (religious story discourse) on ThirunIlakanta nAyanAr (a potter by profession), one of the 63 nAyanmArs. His Nandanar caritiram received great acclaim and kritis from that opera are very popular these days in the concert circuit. His compositions number greater than a thousand and opera songs alone account for about 400.

Some of the other songs of GKB which are popular include: varugalAmO  ayyA (mAnji), saRRE vilagi irum piLLAi (pUrvikalyANi), varuvArO (sAmA), ennEramum undan (dEvaghAndAri), eppO varuvArO (jOnpuri), and tiruvaDi sharaNam (kAmbhoji).

Several musicians in the past and present have sung GKB’s kritis in concerts with great pride. The late K. V. Narayanaswami’s rendering of “varugalAmO” is considered a classic by many. Other present-day musicians who have rendered GKB’s kritis are T. N. Seshagopalan, Sriram Gangadharan, Bombay Sisters, Sudha Ragunathan, Nithyasri Mahadevan, and Sanjay Subrahmanyan, among others.

Some audio and video clips

Listen to M S Subbulakshmi here     

Listen to MLV here
Another rendition by MLV here

One more: https://www.mediafire.com/?u0dg0jbepmkcmwo

Listen to M D Ramanathan here   

Listen to Neyveli Santhanagopalan here

Listen to T M Krishna here     

Listen to Aruna Sairam here   

Listen to Nithyasri here

Listen to Mahathi here
Listen to Nanditha Ravi    here 

                                                           

                         

Thamizh Songs in Carnatic Music 1. VAraNa mukhavA--வாரண முகவா

Thamizh Songs in Carnatic Music

                                           VAraNa mukhavA

                       

 Composition: vAraNa mukhavA thuNai varuvAi….

Composer:     kOTIswara Iyer

mudrA(signature):    kavi kunjara dAsan

rAgam:           hamsadwani (janyam of meLam 29)             tALam: rUpakam      

ArOhaNam:     SR₂G₃PN₃S

AvarOhaNam: SN₃PG₃R₂S

பல்லவி:            

வாரண முகவா துணை வருவாய்

      அருள்வாய் தயவாய்                                        (வாரண)

அனுபல்லவி:      

ஆரணப் பொருளான கந்த கானாமுதத்திற்குன்

       கருணாமுதம் உதவியே அருள் மத             (வாரண)

சரணம்:       

 இன்னிசை இயல் இலக்கியம் ஆரியம் தமிழ் அறிவேதுமின்றிக்

 கன்னல் அன்ன இக்கந்த கானாமுத நன்னூலை

 உன்னும் கவி குஞ்சர தாசன் நான்

 உன்னருள் கொண்டே பண்ணத் துணிந்தேன்

 முன்னவனே நீ முன்னின்றால் முடியாததொன்றில்லை

          ஆதலால் அதிவேகமதாகவே அருள் மத         (வாரண)

 In Roman script,

Pallavi:            vAraNa mukhavA tuNai varuvAi

                        aruLvAi dayavAi (vA)

Anupallavi:      AraNap poruLAna kanda gAnAmudattirkkun

                        karuNAmudam udaviyE aruL mata (vA)

CaraNam:       innisai iyal ilakkiyam Ariyam tamizh aRivEduminRik

                        kannal anna ikkanda gAnAmuda nannUlai

                        unnum kavi kunjara dAsan nAn

                        unnaruL koNDE paNNat tuNindEn

                        munnavanE nI munninRAl muDiyAdadonRillai

                        AdalAl ativEgamadAgavE aruL mata (vA)

Meaning:       

Oh, elephant-faced one, please come to my assistance and please                                   

confer your grace on me.

I am writing this musical offering to Lord Murugan who is the essence of                                              the vEdAs. For that effort please provide your grace to me.

I, kavi kunjara dAsan, am contemplating writing this book “kanda                                        gAnAmudam” (which should be as sweet as sugarcane) without the                                   

knowledge of sweet music, prose, poetry, literature, Sanskrit, and                                                 Thamizh. I am undertaking this venture only with your benediction. Oh,                                

the foremost among Gods, if you take the lead there is nothing which is                                  impossible. So please hasten to help me, Oh elephant-faced one!

Listen to M S Subbulakshmi here

Listen to Sangeetha Sivakumar    here 

Listen to R Ganesh    

 http://www.mediafire.com/download/y4yzy7ioxudi89x/01-vAraNa_mukhavA-hamsadhvani_%286%29--R_Ganesh.mp3

Listen to Chinmaya Sisters (Uma, RAdhikA) here  http://www.mediafire.com/download/7lqc18e128sb766/01-vAraNa_mukhavA-hamsadhvani_%282%29--chinmaya_sisters.mp3

Listen to Abhishek Raghuram        here

To listen to Divya Ramachandran, here

Listen to Deekshita Venkatraman here

General Comments:

This composition is the prefatory invocation song (kappup pADal) written by the composer as he started to write his “kanda gAnAmudam”, a series of 72 songs one in each of the mELakartta ragams, all of them in Thamizh. The language is simple and the flow is smooth.  The ragam name is not seen in this particular song. Both his signature and the ragam name are blended smoothly into the lyrics in all his 72 songs on Lord Murugan, who was the family deity of the composer.

The brilliance of his modesty (isn’t the term an oxymoron?) is revealed in the caraNam wherein he says that he is undertaking this venture without knowing much of music, Thamizh, or Sanskrit, which is a terrible understatement. In fact he had learnt a lot of sAstras, and music from his grandfather and became very proficient in Thamizh and Sanskrit as well. Modesty apparently has its merit in seeking and obtaining the blessings of Lord VinAyaka. The diction and adherence to strict grammar are admirable within the short piece. It is noteworthy that the word “AraNapporuL” in the anupallavi line has been used ingeniously, the figure of speech being “Akupeyar” in Thamizh (synecdoche in English) to denote “vEdapporuL”, in order to rhyme with “vAraNa” in the pallavi line. That shows the scholar in KOTIswara Iyer.

Composer’s Bio:

Koteeswara Iyer (1870-1940*) was the grandson of his namesake and was raised by his grandfather (maternal) who also taught him music, Thamizh, and Sanskrit. His grandfather was conferred the title of kavi kunjara bharathi by the king of Ramanathapuram. In deference to his grandfather he adopted the name of kavi kunjara dAsan and used it as his signature in his musical compositions. He had written over 200 compositions, including his magnum opus (kanda gAnAmudam). He was the first among composers to compose separate songs in Thamizh in all the 72 mELakartta ragams.

*The date of his demise is  given variously as 1938 and 1940 by different sources.

Some of Koteesswara Iyer’s songs that are popular are: antaranga bhakti (shaDvidamArgiNI), aruL seyya vENDum (rasikapriya), ini namakkoru kavalaiyumillai (bhilahari), EdayyA gati (calanATTai), gAnAmuda pAnam (jyotiswarUpiNi), and vElavA vinai (kIravANi). Some musicians who have recorded (commercially) Koteeswara Iyer’s songs are S. Rajam, Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Gayathri Girish, and Nithyasree Mahadevan, among others.

References:

1. http://www.carnatica.net/lyrics/koti.pdf    (For all KOTIswara iyer kritis in Thamizh)

2. http://www.carnatica.net/composer/koteeswaraiyer.htm