Saturday, June 28, 2008

Thyagaraja Kriti - Naa Jivaadhaara - 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

nA jIvAdhAra-bilahari

In the kRti ‘nA jIvAdhArA’ – rAga bilahari (tALa Adi), SrI tyAgarAja ecstatically describes the Lord to be everything to him.

pallavi
nA jIv(A)dhAra nA nOmu phalamA


anupallavi
rAjIva lOcana rAja rAja SirO-maNi (nA)


caraNam
nA cUpu prakASamA nA nAsikA parimaLamA
nA 1japa varNa rUpamA nAdu pUjA sumamA
tyAgarAja nuta (nA)


Gist

  • O Substratum of my life!
  • O Fruit of my religious vows!

  • O Blue-Lotus eyed!
  • O Crown jewel of Emperors!

  • O brilliance of my sight!
  • O Fragrance of my nose!
  • O Embodiment of letters of my chant!
  • O Flowers of my worship!
  • O Lord praised by this tyAgarAja!



Word-by-word Meaning

pallavi
nA jIva-AdhAra nA nOmu phalamA

O Substratum (AdhAra) of my life (jIva) (jIvAdhAra)! O Fruit (phalamA) of my (nA) religious vows (nOmu)!


anupallavi
rAjIva lOcana rAja rAja SirO-maNi (nA)

O Blue-Lotus (rAjIva) eyed (lOcana)! O Crown (Siras) (literally head) jewel (maNi) (SirO-maNi) of Emperors (rAja rAja)!
O Substratum of my life! O Fruit of my religious vows!


caraNam
nA cUpu prakASamA nA nAsikA parimaLamA
nA japa varNa rUpamA nAdu pUjA sumamA
tyAgarAja nuta (nA)

O brilliance (prakASamA) of my (nA) sight (cUpu)!
O Fragrance (parimaLamA) of my (nA) nose (nAsikA)!
O Embodiment (rUpamA) of letters (varNa) of my (nA) chant (japa)!
O Flowers (sumamA) of my (nAdu) worship (pUjA)!
O Lord praised (nuta) by this tyAgarAja!
O Substratum of my life! O Fruit of my religious vows!


Notes –
References
1 – japa varNa rUpamA – Please refer to lalitA sahasra nAma (850) – varNa rUpiNi.

Comments -
Word endings ‘jIvAdhAra’, ‘lOcana’ should be elongated. However, only short vowel is given in all the books.

This is the ecstatic state of mind where the bhakta sees everything to be the Lord only; there are no prayers, no appeals, no desires – just exultation in being near or one with the Lord. The following quotes are relevant –

praSnOpanishad–
Esha hi drashTA sprashTa SrOtA ghrAtA rasayitA manta
bOddhA kartA vijnAnAtmA purushaH
sa parE(a)ksharE Atmani sampratishThatE (4.9)

“It is he who sees, feels, hears, smells, tastes, thinks, knows; he is the doer, the intelligent soul, the purusha. He is established in the supreme immutable Atma.” (Translation - Swami Sarvananda)

kaThOpanishad –
yEna rUpaM rasaM gandhaM SabdAn sparSAMsca maithunAn
EtEnaiva vijAnAti kim-atra pariSishyatE Etadvai tat (2.1.3)

“What remains here (unknowable to the Self) through which very Self people perceive colour, taste, smell, sound, touch, and sexual pleasure? This indeed is that (Self).” (Translation - Swami Gambhirananada)

SrImad bhagavat gItA –
SrOtraM cakshuH sparSanaM ca rasanaM ghrANam-Eva ca
adhishTAya manascAyaM vishayAn-upasEvatE (15.9)

“Presiding over the ear, the eye, the touch, the taste, and the smell, as also the mind, He experiences objects.” (Translation - Swami Swarupananda)



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. ना जी(वा)धार ना नोमु फलमा

अ. राजीव लोचन राज राज शिरो-मणि (ना)

च. ना चूपु प्रकाशमा ना नासिका परिमळमा
ना जप वर्ण रूपमा नादु पूजा सुममा
त्यागराज नुत (ना)


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. நா ஜீ(வா)தா4ர நா நோமு ப2லமா

அ. ராஜீவ லோசன ராஜ ராஜ ஸி1ரோ-மணி (நா)

ச. நா சூபு ப்ரகாஸ1மா நா நாஸிகா பரிமளமா
நா ஜப வர்ண ரூபமா நாது3 பூஜா ஸுமமா
த்யாக3ராஜ நுத (நா)

எனது வாழ்வின் ஆதாரமே! எனது நோன்பின் பயனே!

கமலக்கண்ணா! பேரரசர்களின் முடிமணியே!
எனது வாழ்வின் ஆதாரமே! எனது நோன்பின் பயனே!

எனது பார்வையின் ஒளியே! எனது நாசியின் பரிமளமே!
எனது செப எழுத்து வடிவே! எனது பூசை மலரே!
தியாகராசனால் போற்றப்பெற்றோனே!
எனது வாழ்வின் ஆதாரமே! எனது நோன்பின் பயனே!

நாசி - மூக்கு


Telugu

ప. నా జీవాధార నా నోము ఫలమా

అ. రాజీవ లోచన రాజ రాజ శిరో-మణి (నా)

చ. నా చూపు ప్రకాశమా నా నాసికా పరిమళమా
నా జప వర్ణ రూపమా నాదు పూజా సుమమా
త్యాగరాజ నుత (నా)


Kannada

ಪ. ನಾ ಜೀವಾಧಾರ ನಾ ನೋಮು ಫಲಮಾ

ಅ. ರಾಜೀವ ಲೋಚನ ರಾಜ ರಾಜ ಶಿರೋ-ಮಣಿ (ನಾ)

ಚ. ನಾ ಚೂಪು ಪ್ರಕಾಶಮಾ ನಾ ನಾಸಿಕಾ ಪರಿಮಳಮಾ
ನಾ ಜಪ ವರ್ಣ ರೂಪಮಾ ನಾದು ಪೂಜಾ ಸುಮಮಾ
ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜ ನುತ (ನಾ)


Malayalam

പ. നാ ജീവാധാര നാ നോമു ഫലമാ

അ. രാജീവ ലോചന രാജ രാജ ശിരോ-മണി (നാ)

ച. നാ ചൂപു പ്രകാശമാ നാ നാസികാ പരിമളമാ
നാ ജപ വര്ണ രൂപമാ നാദു പൂജാ സുമമാ
ത്യാഗരാജ നുത (നാ)


Updated on 27 Jan 2010

2 comments:

Govindaswamy said...

Dear Sri Govindan
I have come across a story that tyAgarAjA revived a dead child by singing this kriti. It would appear that this is a myth created by people not understanding the kriti except the first word. Pribably they wanted to elevate tyAgarAja to the level of kRShNa, Jesus Christ and tiru~nAna sambandar.
There are a number of myths created regarding the kritis like, teratIyagarAdA, nidhicAlA sukamA, mundu venuka, etc.
Recently I read a biography of wAlAjApet venkataramaNa bhAgavathar, who was a shisyA and biographers of tyAgarAja. None of the myths find a place in this biography.
Regards
Govindaswamy

Anonymous said...

Govindaswamyji: whether or not it is true is not very important to me. But to say the "they wanted to elevate Tyagaraja to the level of Krishna, Jesus Christ..." etc., shows a lack of true understanding. For Tyagaraja was not different from Rama. For a saint to revive a dead person is as easy as blinking, or breathing in. They don't like to do it because that interferes with the Law of Karma. Still if they want to do it, who is to stop them? Tyagaraja need not be elevated, he was already elevated and is elevated to a great saint, and a great saint means they have become one with their ishta devata, namely, Rama. In fact from the point of view of Rama, we are all Rama. A myth has a little truth in it sometimes. perhaps he revived someone, and soon after sang this, it need not have happened at the same time. The only revival we need here is us. We are in desperate need of our own awakening from a dead kind of thinking. This inner awakening only happens through the grace of a Saint.