Request for meanings for gajavadana and gajamba nayako

[rbharath]

Hello all

I request somebody to post the complete meaning of the following two kritis...

Raga: jaHnjUTi / Tala: mishra cApu

P: gajAmbA nAyakO rakSatu guNijanAdi pUjitah satatam

C: ajEndrA dyamarAdi sannuta akhila bhuvanAdi sEnah sujaHnjUTi rAgapAnah sundara guruguha shiva sUnuh

--------------------

Ragam: Thodi
Talam: Adi
Composer: Kumara Ettendra

Pallavi:

Gajavadana Sammodita Veera Gajavalli Ramana Maamava Deva


Anupallavi:

Vijayollasa Valli Kataaksha Paatra Vijita Kalpaka Pallava Charana


Charanam:

Asura Kula Nibidha Timira Bharano
Amboruha Jaata Sthotra Naatha
Vasutaatapura Samrakshana Deva
Vaagvilaasa Kaartikeya Guhavara

-------------

thanks
bharath

[rshankar]

Bharath,
As a learning exercise (for me), I am going to attempt the first - experts, please correct, and if the appropriate purANa for gajambA/vallabhAmbA are also given, it will be great!

gajAmbA nAyakO rakSatu guNijanAdi pUjitah satatam

C: ajEndrA dyamarAdi sannuta akhila bhuvanAdi sEnah sujaHnjUTi rAgapAnah sundara guruguha shiva sUnuh

Protect me/us (rakSatu) Oh Husband (nAyaka) of gajAmbA (is she the same as vallabhAmbA? - NO, this is dEvasEnA..dEvakunjari as explained by VGV), who is worshipped (pUjita) at all times/daily (satatam) by learned men (guNijana)

One who is bowed to (sannuta) by the immortals (amara Adi) including (but not limitted to) brahmA (aja), indra, and others (Adi) and the brave men (soldiers, members of an army - sEnA - See VGV'sd explanantion) from the entire (akhila) world (bhuvana). One who 'drinks'/enjoys (pAna) the essence of the elegant (su) rAga janjhUTi, the handsome (sundara) creation (sUna) of SivA.....

Now, points I am certainly clueless about:
1. Siva sUnuhu should refer to Lord Subramanya, but AFAIK, this composition is on gaNESa - see VGV's post - it does refer to kArtikEya
2. senA is an army - so I do not know the relevance of this word in the caraNam ( makes sense here, because kArtikEya is dEvasEnApati - husband of dEvakunjari, as well commander of the army of the dEvAs)

Includes corrections based on VGV's post....

[vgvindan]

This kRti, IMHO, is addressed to Lord subrahmaNya at tirupparankunRam (near Madurai) as indicated in http://www.sangeetham.com/_disc1/000000de.htm

'dEvayAna ' (Tamil 'deiva yAnai' தெய்வ யானை)- daughter of Indra was married to Lord subrahmaNya at this sthala - as per kanda purANam.

Here 'gaja' seems to be a literal translation of Tamil word 'yAnai'
Therefore, 'gajAmba' might refer to dEvayAna

Further the word 'sEnaH' appearing in the caraNam might refer to the appellation of Lord subrahmaNya as 'sEnAnI' or 'sEnApati'.

'sundara' guru guha Siva sUnuH - also, IMHO, substantiates this.

[rshankar]

VGV,
Makes perfect sense...
I forgot that dEvasEna is aka dEvakunjari....

So, taken together, this should complete the meaning for the kriti...
I will edit my post to reflect this....

[rbharath]

thanks a lot.

for gajavadanA sammOdita

[krishnaa]

is the audio of gajavadana downloadable from any site?

thanks krishnaa

[rshankar]

Bharat,
This is a major stretch for me, but I hope that others will correct me when I am off!
Another song in praise of Lord subrahmaNya:

Pallavi:

Gajavadana Sammodita Veera Gajavalli Ramana Maamava Deva

Please favor/protect (ava) me (mAm) oh Lord (dEva)! Friend/favorite of (sammOdita) of the elephant-faced gaNESa, (gajavadana) and the brave (vIra) husband (ramaNa) of dEvakunjarI (gajavallI).


Anupallavi:

Vijayollasa Valli Kataaksha Paatra Vijita Kalpaka Pallava Charana

One who is resplendant (ullAsa) in victory (vijaya), and is the recipient (pAtra) of the favor/side glance (kaTAksha) of vallI. One who has conquered (vijita) the established order (kalpaka ????????), and has feet (caraNa) like lotus blossoms (pallava)...

Charanam:

Asura Kula Nibidha Timira Bharano
Amboruha Jaata Sthotra Naatha
Vasutaatapura Samrakshana Deva
Vaagvilaasa Kaartikeya Guhavara

Destroyer (nibhida) of the dynasty (kula) of demons (asura)..[no clue what timira bharaNa means - timira is darkness...]
The lord (nAtha) who is praised/prayed to (stOtra) by brahmA himself (ambOruha jAta - one who was born of the lotus - ambOruha - refers to the episode where brahmA ignorant of the meaning/essence of the praNava is imprisoned by Lord subrahmaNya).
The lord (dEva) who protected (samrakshaNa) amarAvati, indrA's capital city (I think that vasutAtapura literally means a city of immense wealth).
You are the bestower of felicity (vilAsa) of speech (vAk), Oh Lord kArtikEya, guhA, granter of boons (varA)! [I think guha varA is the composer's mudra as well.]

[Rajani]

Vijita Kalpaka Pallava Charana - one who has defeated)vijita) the tender shoots(pallava) of the Kalpaka tree, with his feet(charana)

[rshankar]

Thanks Rajani - do you know the purANic episode where this occured?

[vgvindan]

gaja valli - might mean both the wives - dEvayAna and valli.
vijita kalpaka - kalpaka tree is 'wish tree'; this might mean that he is more benevolent than kalpaka tree.

[Jigyaasa]

Vijayollasa Valli Kataaksha Paatra

One who is resplendant (ullAsa) in victory (vijaya), and is the recipient (pAtra) of the favor/side glance (kaTAksha) of vallI.

vallIkaTAkSapAtra - is there any specific myth/story to support this or is it just to be interpreted literally as above?

Asura Kula Nibidha Timira Bharano

Destroyer (nibhida) of the dynasty (kula) of demons (asura)..[no clue what timira bharaNa means - timira is darkness...]

It is timirabhAnO (bhAnu - sun)

Vasutaatapura Samrakshana Deva
The lord (dEva) who protected (samrakshaNa) amarAvati, indrA's capital city (I think that vasutAtapura literally means a city of immense wealth).

Could anyone shed more light on this word vasutAtapura? Google didn't return anything...

[ksharanam]

> Could anyone shed more light on this word vasutAtapura? Google didn't return anything...

vasu is a common encoding in Sanskrit for the number 8 (because there are 8 vasu-s). tāta can mean different things, including father and lord, exactly like the Tamil word ayyā/ayyan. The composer has used vasutātapuram as a literal translation of the Tamil eṭṭu-ayyā-puram.

[rshankar]

Thank you! Just like gartAtira means kuzhikkarai!