Thyagaraja Kriti - Vara Raaga Laya - Raga Chenchu Kaambhoji

Transliteration–Telugu _______________________________________________________
Transliteration as per Modified Harvard-Kyoto (HK) Convention
(including Telugu letters – Short e, Short o) -

a A i I u U
R RR lR lRR
e E ai o O au M (H or :)

(e – short E – Long o – short O – Long)

k kh g gh n/G
c ch j jh n/J (jn – as in jnAna)
T Th D Dh N
t th d dh n
p ph b bh m
y r l L v
S sh s h

vara rAga-cencukAmbhOji

In the kRti ‘vara rAga layajnulu tAmanucu’ – rAga cencu kAmbhOji SrI tyAgarAja deprecates those who pride themselves to be maestros of sangIta.

P vara rAga layajnulu tAm(a)nucu
¹vadarEr(a)yya

A ²svara jAti ³mUrchana bhEdamul
svAntam(a)ndu ⁴teliyaka(y)uNDina (vara)

C ⁵dEh(O)dbhavambagu ⁶nAdamul
divyamau praNav(A)kAram(a)nE
⁷dAhamb(e)rugani mAnavul
tyAgarAja nuta(y)EcEru rAma (vara)

Gist
O Lord SrI rAma praised by this tyAgarAja!

People go about prattling that they are masters of sacred rAga and laya.

Even though people might not have experienced the differentiations of svara, jAti and mUrchana within themselves, they go about prattling that they are masters of rAga and laya.

Those who do not know that all nAda emanating from the body are the forms of energy (or thirst) called the divine OMkAra, are indeed deceiving that they are masters of rAga and laya.

Word-by-word Meaning

P O Lord (ayya)! People go about prattling (vadarEru) (vadarErayya) that (anucu) they (tAmu) (tAmanucu) are masters (jnulu) of sacred (vara) rAga and laya (layajnulu).

A Even though people might not have experienced (teliyaka uNDina) (literally know) (teliyakayuNDina) the differentiations (bhEdamul) of svara, jAti and mUrchana within (andu) themselves (svAntamu) (svAntamandu),
O Lord SrI rAma! they go about prattling that they are masters of rAga and laya.

C O Lord rAma praised (nuta) by this tyAgarAja!
those (mAnavul) who do not know (erugani) that all nAda (nAdamul) emanating (udbhavambagu) from the body (dEha) (dEhOdbhavambagu) are the forms (AkAra) of energy (or thirst) (dAhambu) (literally heat) (dAhamberugani) called (anE) the divine (divyamau) OMkAra (praNava) (praNavAkAramanE),
are indeed deceiving (EcEru) (literally tormenting) (nutayEcEru) that they are masters of rAga and laya.

Notes –
Variations –
¹ – vadarErayya – vadarErayya SrI rAma.

³ – mUrchana – mUrchanA.

⁴ – teliyakayuNDina – teliyakayuNDi.

References –
² – svara jAti – It is not clear whether these words should be taken together or separately. The definition of 'jAti' -

"refers to the number of beats in the laghu (a division of the laghu). It can be tishra (3), catusra (4), khaNDa (5), mishra (7), or sankeerna (9). These varieties of laghu make the sapta taaLas into 35"

³ – mUrchana – The definition of the term -

"a gamaka that involves using the proper shaking required in the raaga that is being performed"

The dictionary meaning is 'cadence', ‘modulation’, 'melody’, ‘the regulated rise or fall of sounds through the grAma of the musical scales’. According to ‘karnAtaka sangIta Sastra’ by SrI AS Panchapakesa Iyer - there are three types of grAma (svara clusters) – Sadjasvara, madhyamasvara, gAndhArasvara – the last being used only for chanting sAma vEda.

“The scales that emerge when each successive note of the scale is made the tonic note and a new set of notes defined from that point. The word is deriving from the root moorcha, meaning unconsciousness. The change of the Shadja in emphasising a note gives the mind an opportunity to take another pathway, which changes the feel of the first Raga that was being performed. This new pathway ends in a new Raga, with redefined relationships among the notes. When Ragas are derived from Moorchanas, the technique is called Moorchana Paddhati.” Source - mUrchana

⁶ – nAda – The normal rendering of the word as ‘sound’ is not very apt.

“The etymological meaning of ‘nada’ is ‘flow of consciousness’ rather than ‘sound’ as being crudely rendered into English. Nada, thus is not taken as a mere ‘material’ sound object, but regarded as the emanation of one's own consciousness. Source – nAda - 1

For a detailed write-up on ‘nAda’.

Comments -
General - The subject matter of this kRti is ‘Music’. As I am not proficient in music, I may not be able to explain certain terms or I may even be wrong in assuming certain things. Therefore, readers may please excuse me if there are errors. The definitions and meanings of jargons used in the kRti have been quoted from various sources.

⁵ –dEhOdbhavambagu nAdamul – ‘nAda emanating from the body’ - In lalitA sahasra nAma, mother is called ‘parA’, ‘paSyanti’, ‘madhyamA’, ‘vaikharI rUpA’.

“parA – The transcendent Word - above the other lower stages of speech known as paSyanti (speech in the inaudible stage), madhyamA (speech in the middle stage of its expression) and vaikharI (uttered audible speech)”. (Translation by Swami Tapasyananda)

For a discourse of Kanchi Paramacharya Chandrasekharendra Saraswati (Page 30) on ‘parA’, ‘paSyanti’, ‘madhyamA’, ‘vaikhari – please visit website –


According the above discourse, ‘madhyamA’ stage is also called ‘anAhata nAda’. kabIr sings ‘anahat ki Sabd bhajE nirantar’ (anAhata Sabdha is sounding ceaselessly).

OM or praNava comes in ‘vaikhari’ stage and is known as ‘ahata nAda’; sapta svara are derivations or undulations of the ahata nAda – OM – please see kRti ‘mOkshamu galadA’ – quoted below.

⁷ – dAhambu – The saMskRta word ‘dAha’ means ‘fire’, ‘heat’ etc. However, in telugu, the word specifically denotes thirst (for water etc). In the kRti ‘mOkshamu galadA’, SrI tyAgarAja states –

prANAnala samyOgamu valla
praNava nAdamu sapta svaramulai paraga

“Due to fusion of vital force with fire (energy), the sound of OM has elaborated into sapta svara.”

If we go by the statement in the kRti ‘mOkshamu galadA’, dAhambu will mean ‘fire’ or ‘heat’. However, if we take the meaning of telugu word ‘thirst’, it will mean that the sounds (sapta svara) emanating from the body are indeed the thirst – a natural phenomenon to express oneself.
In the above quoted discourse, Paramacharya states about ‘artha prapancam’ (universe of matter) and ‘Sabdha prapancam’ (universe of sound) – corresponding to modern science’s ‘matter’ and ‘energy’. Accordingly, the word ‘dAha’ has been translated as ‘energy’ and not as ‘fire’ or ‘heat’.


Devanagari

ऎ,कॆ,चॆ.. - e,ke,ce..(short);
ए,के,चे.. - E,kE,cE..(long);
ऐ,कै,चै.. - ai,kai,cai..;
ऒ,कॊ,चॊ.. - o,ko,co..(short);
ओ,को,चो.. - O,kO,cO..(long);
औ,कौ,चौ.. -au,kau,cau..;

प. वर राग लयज्ञुलु ता(म)नुचु वदरे(र)य्य

अ. स्वर जाति मूर्छन भेदमुल्
स्वान्त(म)न्दु तॆलियक(यु)ण्डिन (वर)

च. दे(हो)द्भवम्बगु नादमुल्
दिव्यमौ प्रण(वा)कार(म)ने
दाह(म्बॆ)रुगनि मानवुल्
त्यागराज नुत(ये)चेरु राम (वर)

Tamil

க,ச,ட,த,ப - 2-ख छ ठ थ फ; 3-ग ड द ब; 4-घ झ ढ ध भ
(ச3 - ஜ)
ஸ1 श - शिव - சிவன்
ரு2 ऋ - कृप - கிருபை

ப. வர ராக3 லயக்3ஞுலு தா(ம)னுசு வத3ரே(ர)ய்ய

அ. ஸ்வர ஜாதி மூர்ச2ன பே4த3முல்
ஸ்வாந்த(ம)ந்து3 தெலியக(யு)ண்டி3ன (வர)

ச. தே3(ஹோ)த்3ப4வம்ப3கு3 நாத3முல்
தி3வ்யமௌ ப்ரண(வா)கார(ம)னே
தா3ஹம்(பெ3)ருக3னி மானவுல்
த்யாக3ராஜ நுத(யே)சேரு ராம (வர)

உயர் ராக, லய, விற்பன்னர் தாமெனப்
பிதற்றுவரய்யா!

ஸ்வர ஜாதி மூர்ச்சன வேறுபாடுகளினை
தமதுள்ளத்தில் உணராவிடினும்
உயர் ராக, லய, விற்பன்னர் தாமெனப்
பிதற்றுவரய்யா!

உடலில் தோன்றும் நாதங்கள்
திவ்வியமான பிரணவ வடிவெனும்
தாகம் - (இதனை) அறியாத மனிதர்கள்
தியாகராசனால் போற்றப் பெற்ற இராமா!
உயர் ராக, லய, விற்பன்னர் தாமென
ஏமாற்றுவர்!

பிரணவம் - ஓங்காரம்
'ராக, லய, ஸ்வர ஜாதி மூர்ச்சன' என்ற சொற்கள் தமிழில் மொழிபெயர்க்கப்படவில்லை

Telugu

ప. వర రాగ లయజ్ఞులు తామనుచు వదరేరయ్య

అ. స్వర జాతి మూర్ఛన భేదముల్
స్వాంతమందు తెలియకయుండిన (వర)

చ. దేహోద్భవంబగు నాదముల్
దివ్యమౌ ప్రణవాకారమనే
దాహంబెరుగని మానవుల్
త్యాగరాజ నుతయేచేరు రామ (వర)

Kannada

ಪ. ವರ ರಾಗ ಲಯಜ್ಞುಲು ತಾಮನುಚು ವದರೇರಯ್ಯ

ಅ. ಸ್ವರ ಜಾತಿ ಮೂರ್ಛನ ಭೇದಮುಲ್
ಸ್ವಾಂತಮಂದು ತೆಲಿಯಕಯುಂಡಿನ (ವರ)

ಚ. ದೇಹೋದ್ಭವಂಬಗು ನಾದಮುಲ್
ದಿವ್ಯಮೌ ಪ್ರಣವಾಕಾರಮನೇ
ದಾಹಂಬೆರುಗನಿ ಮಾನವುಲ್
ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜ ನುತಯೇಚೇರು ರಾಮ (ವರ)

Malayalam

പ. വര രാഗ ലയജ്ഞുലു താമനുചു വദരേരയ്യ

അ. സ്വര ജാതി മൂര്ഛന ഭേദമുല്‍
സ്വാന്തമന്ദു തെലിയകയുണ്ഡിന (വര)

ച. ദേഹോദ്ഭവമ്ബഗു നാദമുല്‍
ദിവ്യമൌ പ്രണവാകാരമനേ
ദാഹമ്ബെരുഗനി മാനവുല്‍
ത്യാഗരാജ നുതയേചേരു രാമ (വര)

Updated on 01 May 2009