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“bhAvayAmi raghurAmam” by Dr. P. P. Narayanaswami |
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bhAvayAmi raghurAmam --- is a soul-stirring rAgamAlika epitomizing the entire story of the epic rAmAyaNam. This beautiful song, in chaste Sanskrit, was originally composed by mahArAjA svAti tirunAL, as a k.rti in the (single) rAgam, sAvEri, and set to rUpaka tALam. After more than 100 years, it was recently carved out as a rAgamAlika, with built-in cittasvarams by the doyen of karNATik music, Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. This is the version that is currently in vogue. Popularized by M. S. Subbalakshmi, it has been released as a commercial HMV Album (vinyl disk), along with “veN^kaTEsha suprabhAtam”, and muttusvAmi dIkSitar's “raN^gapura vihAra”' in rAgam b.rndAvana sAraN^ga. This album, in several formats (cassette/CD etc) has found place in almost every household. The pallavi and the anupallavi are set in rAgam sAvEri (which was the original rAgam employed by svAti tirunAL), and there are six caraNam segments, sung in rAgams, nATTakura~nji, dhanyAshi, mOhanam, mukhAri, pUrvikalyANi, and appropriately concluding with the maN^gaLa rAgam, madhyamAvati. Each of these six caraNams describes one kANDam, corresponding to vAlmIki's version of rAmAyaNam. These are, respectively, the bAla, ayOdhyA, AraNya, kiSkindha, sundara, and yuddha kANDam. The author has packed the material of 24000 shlOkams in vAlmIki rAmAyaNam in just six caraNam lines. Hence, as one can see, many of the phrases employed in the caraNam segment are very long and winding, since each phrase accommodates an episode in the epic of rAmAyaNam in a very condensed form. It is to be noted that maharAja svAti tirunAL has composed one more k.rti depicting the story of rAmAyaNam, yOjaya padanalinEna" in the rAgaM kalyANi, set to mishra cApu tALam. While most books have given this k.rti in rAgam kalyANi, the recent book on svAti tirunAL k.rtis by T. K. Govinda Rao has given this composition as a rAgamAlika, consisting of rAgams kalyANi, kamAs, mukhAri, pUrvikalyANi, sahAnA, aThANa, and suraTTi. The text of this rAgamAlika is given at the end of this article. We shall contemplate on the rAgamAlika “bhAvayAmi raghurAmam”, and briefly attempt the line by line meaning of each line of this sparkling gem. The sAhityam of the rAgamAlika is available in this site in several PDF files (Sanskrit PDF, English PDF with Diacritical marks, and English PDF file with complete Svaram notations.
sAhityam
(PDF Format) with Svaram Notation in English Line by Line Meaning of the rAgamAlikaThe basic anvayam (word order) of the sAhityam is --- ahaM raghurAmaM bhAvayAmi, that is, ahaM I, the devotee (subject in nominative case (prathamA vibhakti) raghurAmaM rAma of raghu's lineage (object in dvitIyA vibhakti) bhAvayAmi contemplate on, meditate upon (verb in first person singular present tense laT, originating from the root “bhU”. All the remaining phrases occurring in this rAgamAlika are adjectives , qualifying the accusative noun ``raghurAmaM''. All these adjective phrases, in the dvitIyA vibhakti, end in the syllable “m” (“ma”' kArAntam). The verb is “bhAvayati'', meaning "to contemplate", or "to meditate upon", and the word ahaM is omitted in this song, since the verb in first person singular bhAvayAmi forces the subject to be none other than the first person singular, ahaM. Pallavi rAgaM sAvEri (janyaM of mELaM 15 mAyamALAvagauLa)
ArOhaNam: S R1 M1 P D1 S
bhAvayAmi raghurAmaM bhavya --- accomplished, auspicious suguNa --- good qualities, virtues ArAmaM --- the garden (grove) Free Translation: (I) meditate upon (pay my obeisance to) Lord rAma, of the Raghu dynasty, who is the storehouse (abode) of all auspicious and noble virtues.
Anupallavi bhAvuka vitaraNaparA pAN^ga lIlA lasitam ||
bhAvuka --- happiness, prosperity, auspiciousness vitaraNapara --- desirous of distributing, bestowing, granting apAN^ga lIlA ---casting side glances lasitaM --- shining Free translation: who shines, smilingly casting his side-glances at his ardent devotees, ever ready to grant them happiness and prosperity First caraNaM line --- bAlakANDam rAgaM nATTakura~nji (janyam of mELAm 28, harikAmbhOji ) ArOhaNam: S R2 G3 M1 N2 D2 N2 P D2 N2 SavarOhaNam: S N2 D2 M1 G3 M1 P G3 R2 S
dinakarAnvayatilakaM
divyagAdhisutasavanA- dinakara --- sUrya, the one who causes the day anvaya --- succession, lineage tilakam ---- ornament divya --- divine, noble gAdhisuta --- the son of gAdhi, namely, visvAmitra; savana --- sacrifice; Avana --- protection, racita --- arranges, performed, provided subAhumukha --- the demons, led by subAhu vadhaM --- slaying of ahalyA --- the illustrious wife of .rSi gautama pAvanaM – (one who) purified anaghaM --- the one without any sin (agham) the sinless one IshacApa bhaN^gaM --- (who) broke the bow of shiva janakasutA --- daughter of Janaka prANEshaM --- the life breath of (sIta) ghana kupita --- very angry , furious bh.rgurAma --- parashurAma garva --- pride haraM – slayer, remover, subduer of ita sAkEtaM -- reached SakEta nagaram, namely, ayOdhya Free Translation: one who is the ornament among the successors of the solar dynasty;who killed the demons led by subAhu, in order to protect the sacrifices of vishvAmitra, the son of gAdhi; who purified ahalyA from her curse; who broke the bow of Lord shiva, thereby qualifying to wed sIta, the daughter of janaka; who is the life breath of sIta; who subdued the pride of the anger-filled parashurAma; and one who reached ayOdhyA. Second caraNaM line --- ayOdhyA kANDam rAgaM: dhanyAsi (janyaM of mELaM 8 hanumatODi)
ArOhaNaM: S G2 M1 P N2 S
vihitAbhiSekamathavipinagatamAryavAcA vihitAbhiSEkaM --- abandoning the coronation ceremony atha --- thereafter vipina gataM --- gone to the forests AryavAcA --- (obeying) the words of the venerable, namely his father dasharatha sahita sItA saumitriM –-- with sIta and lakshmaNa, the son of sumitra shAntatamashIlaM --- possessing the quality of extreme tranquility (calmness) – (shAntatama is the superior virtue among the three degrees, namely, shAnta, shAntatara, and shAntatama, in increasing order of the quality). guhanilayagataM --- one who went to the abode of guha citrakUTAgata --- who proceeded to the citrakUTA mountains bharata --- (to) brother bharata datta --- who gave mahitaratnamaya padukaM --- the sandals, decorate with auspicious gems madanasundarAN^gaM --- with a body whose beauty rivals that of madana (Cupid) Free Translatioin: who, obeying the commands of his venerable father dasharatha, abandoned the coronation as the king of ayOdhya, and went to the forest, accompanied by wife sIta, and brother lakSmana; who possesses extreme calmness and serenity; who visited the abode of guha, and then proceeded to the citrakUTa mountain; who gave his auspicious and gem-studded sandals to his brother bharata; and who possesses a beautiful body that rivals that of kAmadEva. Third caraNaM line --- AraNya kANDam rAgaM: mOhanam (janyaM of mELaM 28 harikaambhOji) ArOhaNam: S R2 G3 P D2 SAvarOhaNaM: : S D2 P G3 R2 S
vitatadaNDakAraNyagatavirAdhadaLanaM vitata -- spread out, vast, dense daNDakAraNya --- the forest by name daNDaka gata --- gone to, living virAdha – the demon, virAdha daLanaM ---- slaying sucarita --- possessing superior quality, divine ghaTaja ---- agastya, the one who was born out of a ghaTa (pot) datta --- presented by anupamita - unparalleled vaiSNavAstraM --- the weapon pertaining to Lord viSNu patagavara --- the superior among birds jaTAyu ---the eagle king jaTAyu nutaM --- worshiped by, saluted by pa~ncavaTI --- the location, pa~ncavaTI vihita --- arranged, determined AvAsaM --- dwelling atighOra --- very fierce shUrpaNakhA --- sUrpaNakha, the sister of demon rAvaNA vacanAgata --- caused by the words of, instigated by kharAdi --- the demons led by khara haram --- slayer of Free Translation: who killed the demon virAdha, who was residing in the vast daNDaka forest; who received the unparalleled and divine weapon belonging to viSNu, presented to him by the illustrious sage agastya; who was worshiped by jaTAyu, the king of birds; and who, dwelling in pa~ncavaTI, killed the demons led by the fierce khara, instigated by the bad words of shUrpaNakha, the sister of rAVaNa. Fourth caraNaM line --- kiSkindhA kANDam rAgaM: mukhAri (janyaM of mELaM 22 kharaharapriya) ArOhaNaM: S R2 M1 P
N2 D2 S
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