Monday, June 23, 2008

Thyagaraja Kriti - Kanugontini - Raga Bilahari

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

kanugoNTini-bilahari

In the kRti ‘kanugoNTini SrI rAmuni’ – rAga bilahari (tALa dESAdi), Sri tyAgarAja exults that he has ‘seen’ SrI rAma that day.

pallavi
1kanugoNTini SrI rAmuni nEDu


anupallavi
ina kulam(a)ndu impugAnu 2puTTina
ilalOna sItA nAyakuni nEDu (kanu)


3caraNam
bharata lakshmaNa Satrughnulu koluva
pavamAna sutuDu pAdamula paTTa
dhIrulaina sugrIva pramukhulu
vinuti sEya tyAgarAja nutuni nEDu (kanu)


Gist

  • Today I beheld Lord SrI rAma.

  • Today, I beheld Lord SrI rAma - the Consort of sItA - born nicely on the Earth, in the Solar dynasty.

  • Today I beheld Lord SrI rAma – praised by this tyAgarAja, while -
    • bharata, lakshmaNa and Satrughna serving Him,
    • AnjanEya holding His holy feet, and
    • the valorous sugrIva and other important personages extolling Him.



Word-by-word Meaning

pallavi
kanugoNTini SrI rAmuni nEDu

Today (nEDu) I beheld (kanukoNTini) Lord SrI rAma (rAmuni).


anupallavi
ina kulamu-andu impugAnu puTTina
ilalOna sItA nAyakuni nEDu (kanu)

Today (nEDu), I beheld Lord SrI rAma - the Consort (nAyakuni) of sItA - born (puTTina) nicely (impugAnu) on the Earth (ilalOna), in (andu) the Solar (ina) dynasty (kulamu) (kulamandu).


caraNam
bharata lakshmaNa Satrughnulu koluva
pavamAna sutuDu pAdamula paTTa
dhIrulaina sugrIva pramukhulu
vinuti sEya tyAgarAja nutuni nEDu (kanu)

Today (nEDu) I beheld Lord SrI rAma – praised (nutuni) by this tyAgarAja, while –
bharata, lakshmaNa and Satrughna (Satrughnulu) serving (koluva) Him,
AnjanEya – son (sutuDu) of Wind-God (pavamAna) holding (paTTa) His holy feet (pAdamula), and
the valorous (dhIrulaina) sugrIva and other important personages (pramukhulu) extolling (vinuti sEya) Him.


Notes –
Variations
1 - kanugoNTini SrI rAmuni nEDu - kanugoNTini SrI rAmuni nEDu kanulAra nA kAmitambu tIra.

2 – puTTina – puTTi. From the flow of the words, ‘puTTina’ seems to be more appropriate. However, if ‘puTTi’ is correct, then, it should be ‘nAyakuDaina’ and not ‘nAyakuni. Otherwise, the sense is not complete when connecting to pallavi.

Comments -
3 – In one book, the following alternative caraNa is given. The caraNa along with meaning is given below. This caraNa is not found in other books.

bharata lakshmaNa Satrughn(A)nilaja
bhAskar(A)tmaj(A)ja tanay(A)dulatO
dharaN(I)Sulu vibhIshaNuDu koluva
tattvamasi(y)anucu tyAgarAju pADa (kanu)


Today I beheld Lord SrI rAma together with bharata, lakshmaNa, Satrughna, AnjanEya, sugrIva, jAmbavAn and others, as kings and vibhIshaNa serve and as this tyAgarAja sings that ‘Thou Art That’.


Today (nEDu) I beheld Lord SrI rAma together with –
bharata, lakshmaNa, Satrughna, AnjanEya – son of Wind God (anilaja) (SatrughnAnilaja), sugrIva – mind-born (Atmaja) of Sun (bhaskara), jAmbavAn – son (tanaya) of brahmA (aja) (bhAskarAtmajAja) and others (Adulu) (AdulatO) (tanayAdulatO),
as kings – Lords (ISulu) of Earth (dharaNI) (dharaNISulu) and vibhIshaNa (vibhIshaNuDu) serve (koluva) and
as this tyAgarAja (tyAgarAju) sings (pADa) that (anucu) ‘Thou (tvam) Art (asi) That (tat)’ (tattvamasi) (tattvamasiyanucu).


The wordings ‘tattvamasiyanucu pADa’ is very intriguing. ‘tat-tvam-asi’ is not a mantra which is recited; it is an instruction to the disciple by the preceptor about the nature of Self and the Brahman. When the disciple actually apprehends the truth, the statement would be ‘brahmaivAham’ or ‘aham brahmAsmi’ or ‘sOham’ or ‘haMsa’. In this case, SrI tyAgarAja stating that he sings ‘tattvamasi’ is not very convincing. Therefore, it is presumed that this caraNa has been superposed by someone misusing the mudra of SrI tyAgarAja.



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. कनुगॊण्टिनि श्री रामुनि नेडु

अ. इन कुल(म)न्दु इम्पुगानु पुट्टिन
इललोन सीता नायकुनि नेडु (क)

च. भरत लक्ष्मण शत्रुघ्नुलु कॊलुव
पवमान सुतुडु पादमुल पट्ट
धीरुलैन सुग्रीव प्रमुखुलु
विनुति सेय त्यागराज नुतुनि नेडु (क)




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. கனுகொ3ண்டினி ஸ்ரீ ராமுனி நேடு3

அ. இன குல(ம)ந்து3 இம்புகா3னு புட்டின
இலலோன ஸீதா நாயகுனி நேடு3 (க)

ச. ப4ரத லக்ஷ்மண ஸ1த்ருக்4னுலு கொலுவ
பவமான ஸுதுடு3 பாத3முல பட்ட
தீ4ருலைன ஸுக்3ரீவ ப்ரமுகு2லு
வினுதி ஸேய த்யாக3ராஜ நுதுனி நேடு3 (க)

கண்டுகொண்டேன், இராமனையின்று

புவியினில், பரிதி குலத்தினில், இனிதாகப் பிறந்த
சீதை மணாளனை,
இன்று கண்டுகொண்டேன், இராமனை

பரதன், இலக்குவன், சத்துருக்கினன் ஆகியோர் சேவை செய்ய,
வாயு மைந்தன் திருவடிகளைப் பற்ற,
தீரர்களான சுக்கிரீவன் முதலிய தலைவர்கள்
போற்றி செய்ய, தியாகராசனால் போற்றப் பெற்றோனை,
இன்று கண்டுகொண்டேன், இராமனை


Telugu

ప. కనుగొంటిని శ్రీ రాముని నేడు

అ. ఇన కులమందు ఇంపుగాను పుట్టిన
ఇలలోన సీతా నాయకుని నేడు (క)

చ. భరత లక్ష్మణ శత్రుఘ్నులు కొలువ
పవమాన సుతుడు పాదముల పట్ట
ధీరులైన సుగ్రీవ ప్రముఖులు
వినుతి సేయ త్యాగరాజ నుతుని నేడు (క)




Kannada

ಪ. ಕನುಗೊಂಟಿನಿ ಶ್ರೀ ರಾಮುನಿ ನೇಡು

ಅ. ಇನ ಕುಲಮಂದು ಇಂಪುಗಾನು ಪುಟ್ಟಿನ
ಇಲಲೋನ ಸೀತಾ ನಾಯಕುನಿ ನೇಡು (ಕ)

ಚ. ಭರತ ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಣ ಶತ್ರುಘ್ನುಲು ಕೊಲುವ
ಪವಮಾನ ಸುತುಡು ಪಾದಮುಲ ಪಟ್ಟ
ಧೀರುಲೈನ ಸುಗ್ರೀವ ಪ್ರಮುಖುಲು
ವಿನುತಿ ಸೇಯ ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜ ನುತುನಿ ನೇಡು (ಕ)


Malayalam

പ. കനുഗൊണ്ടിനി ശ്രീ രാമുനി നേഡു

അ. ഇന കുലമന്ദു ഇമ്പുഗാനു പുട്ടിന
ഇലലോന സീതാ നായകുനി നേഡു (ക)

ച. ഭരത ലക്ഷ്മണ ശത്രുഘ്നുലു കൊലുവ
പവമാന സുതുഡു പാദമുല പട്ട
ധീരുലൈന സുഗ്രീവ പ്രമുഖുലു
വിനുതി സേയ ത്യാഗരാജ നുതുനി നേഡു (ക)



Updated on 22 Jan 2010

10 comments:

Aravinda Prasad said...

The first in the pallavi should be "Kanugontini" not "Kanukontini".

V Govindan said...

Dear Prasad,

There is a great confusion about use of 'ka'-'ga' and similar soft consonants. As you seem to hail from Andhra, I respect your views that it should be 'kanugoNTini'. However, the books give different versions of this and similar words. Therefore, I have followed, as far as possible, the literary form of words as found in the dictionary. Many a times, I have to make choice between versions given various books. Therefore, there are bound to be some such variations. Unless you feel that this materially affects the meaning of the word, I would prefer to retain the version 'kanukoNTini'.

Please elucidate whether there is any variation in meaning between 'kanukoNTini' and 'kanugoNTini'.

btw, I am not literate in Telugu. The only asset is that Telugu is my mother tongue and that too corrupted by usage in Tamil Nadu through many centuries of usage by Telugus settled in Tamil Nadu.

Regards,
V Govindan

Anonymous said...

Dear Mr.Govindan,

there is no word "kanukonTini" in telugu, so it doesnot make sense.

"kanugonTini" means "I have seen" or "I have realized"

V Govindan said...

Anonymous,
In deference to your comment about the word 'kanugoNTini', I have amended the word accordingly.
Thanks
Regards,
V Govindan

Anonymous said...

This blog is one of the finest exposes on Thyagaraja's works. Can you also include a brief paragraph on the exact context in which some of these have been composed? For example, this specific kriti has been the saint's expression of the Joy of finding his favorite god's idols in the Cauvery. These idols were the objective of his search for quite a long time, after his elder brother dispenses them into the river. Thyagaraja's sheer joy at finding the idols is a token of the happiness when one reaches the goals of an arduous pursuit while at the same time, thyagaraja also realises that the god actually lied deep within him and that realisation also is another symbolism for the "Kanugontini" phrase. Pardon my ignorance, if I've not interpreted the Kriti and the context accurately.

V Govindan said...

Sir,
Regarding the context of the kRti, there is no such indication in kRti itself about tyAgarAja finding the idol of rAma in kAvEri river. I have heard upanyAsa of Sri TS Balakrishna Sastrigal making a mention about this kRti being sung on the occasion as mentioned by you.
If you go through entire upanyAsa of Sri TS Balakrishna Sastrigal, he seems to have given context to various kRtis which is not supported by evidence. There is no authentic biography of Sri tyAgarAja. Moreover, there is no chronological catalogue of his kRtis. Therefore, these interpretations have to remain a surmise and given to karNa parampara value only.
Wherever, there is strong evidence in the kRti about the context, I have made reference to the same in the remarks.
V Govindan

K G Dhouhithri said...

Thank you for your efforts to share your learning, Sir! This is very helpful indeed.

kalpagam said...

Thanks a lot for the meaningful discussion

Anonymous said...

Hi,

Where can I get notation for this beautiful song?

V Govindan said...

Hi,
Please post your request in www.rasikas.org.
You will get response.
With best wishes,
V Govindan