DAY 2 (dvitIyA vibhakti k.rti)
2. nIlOtpalAmbAm
rAgam:
nArIrItigauLa (20) tALam: mishra cApu
pallavi
nIlOtpalAmbAM
bhaja rE rE citta
vIthiviTa"nkatyAgarAjAntara"ngAM shrI
anupallavi
mUlakUTatrayakalebarashObhAruNAM
mucukundAdinutapa"nkajacaraNAm
mUlavidyAdAnanipuNAM
vidhipUjitavinOdakiraNAm
caraNam
kamalAnagaranivAsinIM
guruguhamArgarItikauLinIm
kamanIyakAmakalApradarshinIM
kAdihAdyAdimanuvishvAsinIm
sAmagana shiraHkampinIM
akhilamahAduritabha~njanIm
kOmaLakucakacabharA"ngiNIM
mukundasOdarIM purANIm
This
k.rti is set in the dvitIyA vibhakti (accusative case)
anvayam (word order)
- rE rE citta! nIlOtpalAmbAm bhaja.
All the
adjectives in dvitIyA vibhakti, ending in “Am/Im” qualify nIlOtpalAmbAm
Word for word meaning
nIlotpalAmbAM –
(nIlOtpalAmbA (used as object)
bhaja
- worship
rE rE
– oh oh (a
vocative participle, often used in a contemptuous sense)
citta
– mind
vIthiviTa"nkatyAgarAjAntara"ngAM –
who is intimate (antara”ngam)
to the vIthiviTa”nga tyAgarAja (see explanation below)
shrI –
auspicious
mUlakUTatrayakalebarashObhAruNAM –
the one who has the meaning of
the three mUlakUTas as her casual forms, and shines (shObha) with reddish hues
(aruNAm)
mucukundAdinutapa"nkajacaraNAm -
who has lotus feet (pa”nkaja
caraNa) worshipped by (nuta) mucukunda and others (see story of mucukunda
below)
mUlavidyAdAnanipuNAM –
who is adept in delivering the knowledge of the fundamental (mUla
vidyA)
vidhipUjitavinOdakiraNAm –
who is worshiped by lord Brahma (vidhi), and who possesses
radiant rays
kamalAnagaranivAsinIM –
who resides in kamalAnagaram (tiruvArUr)
guruguhamArgarItikauLinIm –
who is kauLinI, who guides the
path of guruguha
kamanIyakAmakalApradarshinIM –
who displays the beautiful kAma
kalA, a form of tantrik knowledge
kAdihAdyAdimanuvishvAsinIm –
who likes kAdi hAdi mantra
upAsanas of manu
sAmagAnashiraHkampinIM –
who nods her head, in appreciation of the hearing of the
songs of the sAma vEda
akhilamahAduritabha~njanIm
– who removes all great sins (mahA durita)
kOmaLakucakacabharA"ngiNIM -
who has soft and heavy
breasts, and thick tresses
mukundasOdarIM –
who is the sister of lord mukunda (viSNu)
purANIm –
who is ancient, (who existed since time immemorial)
Free Translation
Oh mind, please worship
nIlOtpalAmbA, who is the one dear to Lord tyAgarAja, the vItiviTa”nka, the
one who has the meaning of the three mUlakUTas (vAgbhavakUTa, kAmarAjakUTa,
and shakti kUta) as her casual forms, who shines in reddish hues, whose lotus
feet are worshipped by the devotee mucukunda and various others, who is
capable of giving the supreme knowledge, and who is worshipped by Brahma. The
one who dwells in kamalA nagaram (tiruvArUr), who is kauLini, who guides on
the path of guruguha (subrahmaNya), who displays the beautiful kAma kala, who
likes the upAsana of manu by the “kAdi” and “hAdi” mantrams, who nods her head
in appreciation of the sAma vEda chants, who is the remover of great sins, who
has soft and heavy breasts, and thick tresses, who is the sister of viSNu, and
who is the primordial one.
NOTES
vIthiviTa"nkatyAgarAja
The seven
temples in the vicinity of tiruvArUr are considered sapta viTa”nka kSEtrams
dedicated to Lord tyAgarAja (shiva). Each of these shrines manifest the
sOmAskanda form of shiva, and is associated with a form of dance of shiva.
All these shrine have been glorified in the tEvAram hymns. The foremost
among these is the vIthi viTa”nka tyAgarAja (street dancer) of
tiruvArUr, and is associated with dance form, the ajapA nATanam.
These
seven viTa”nka ksEtrams, and the dance associated with them are
vIthi
viTa”nka ajapA naTanam tiruvArUr
nakha
viTa”nka unmatta naTanam tirunallARu
Sundara
viTa”nka paravararttara”nga natanam nAgapaTTANam
Adi
viTa”nka kukkuTa naTanam tirukkAravAyil
avani
viTA”nka bhramara naTanam tirukkuvalai
nIla
viTa”nka kamala naTanam
tiruvAymUr
bhuvana
viTa”nka hamsa pAda naTanam tirumaRaikkADu
Mucukunda
was a king who possessed great
valor. In his previous birth, he was a monkey, roaming in jungles. While it
was hopping from tree to tree, the vibrations caused the bilva leaves from
trees to fall on the shiva li”ngam directly beneath. Lord shiva was immensely
pleased with this act, and blessed the monkey to be born as a human in the
next birth, in fact as the ruler of cOLA dEsham. He was called King mucukunda,
and was a great warrior, famous for his bravery. While he was ruling on
earth, Indra sought his help to destroy the demon vAlAsura, and the King
accomplished the task easily. In gratitude, Indra was pleased to grant him
any boon he chose. At first, mucukunda was not eager to accept any rewards,
but later, he found the beautiful sOmAskanda idol that viSNu has
created and once presented to Indra. As a true devotee of shiva, he sought
this gift. Indra did not want to part with the idol, so to avoid the
situation, he created six identical idols and asked mucukunda to pick up any
one among these seven. Mucukunda being a great devotee, was able to guess the
genuine idol correctly, by a clue given to him in dream by Lord shiva.
Impressed with this, Indra offered him all seven of them. Mucukunda brought
all these seven idols to cOLa region and installed them in seven different
locations. Hence these are collectively called viTa”nka kSEtrams, and
the original idol is the one believed to be in tiruvArUr.
mucukundAdinuta - the mucukunda episode
is given above, and needless to say, he was a devotee of shiva.This
k.rti has many references to tAntrik form of worship.
mUlakUTatraya
The
pa~ncadashAkSarI mantram has 15 syllables arranged in three segments -
vAgbhava kUtA (5 syllables), kAmarAjakUTa (6 syllables), and shakti kUta (4
syllables). The twin concept of shiva-shakti is
kAmakalA
kAdihAdyAdimanuvishvAsinIm
Again
refers to the three segments of the pa~ncadashAkSarI mantram. There are three
main upAsanA mantrams. The one beginning with “ka” (kAdi), “ha” (hadi(, and
“sa” (sAdi).
The
upAsakas for kAdi are manu, lOpAmudra, manmatha, and durvAsa
The
upAsakAs of hAdi are kubEra, agastya, sUrya, viSNu, and shiva
The
upAsakAs of sAdi are candra, nandikEshvara, and SaNmukha.
The rAga
mudra of (nArI)rItigauLa is provided in a slightly altered form in the phrase
“guruguha mArga rItikauLinIm”.
