meaning required for a viruttam

[Lakshman]

A rasika sent me this asking for the meaning. Would someone be kind enough to provide it? Thanks.

nAnATSi seidu varum nAnmAdak kUDalilE
mInAkSi enra peyar enakku - gangai
nIrATSi seidu varum vaDakAshi tannil
vishAlAkSi enra peyar vazhakku

konATSi pallavar tam kuLir sOlai kAnjsi? tannil
kAmAkSi enra peyar enakku - koDum
kOlAtSi tanai edirkkum mAriyamman enra peyar
koNDapaDi kATSi tandEn unakku

Arenrum nadiyenrum ODai enrAlum
adu nIrODum pAdai tannaik-kurikkum - nirkkum
Or mAri pEru mAri karu mAri uru mAri
onrE Om shaktiyena uraikkum

[rshankar]

This is a song from the movie AdiparASakti - not a viruttam as far as I know...The first 2 verses were set to Anandabhairavi and the last one to sArangA IIRC.

In the city of madurai (nAnmADakUDalilE) where I (nAn) rule (ATSi Seidu varum), the name (peyar) I (enakku) go by (enra) is mInAkshi. In the northern (vaDa) town of kASi where the river ganga (ganga) flows (nIrATshi seidu varm), it is proper/customary (vazhakku) to refer (enra peyar) to me (enakku) as viSAlAkshi. In the cool (kuLir) grooves (SOlai) of kAnci (kAncitanil) where the pallava (pallavar tam) kings reign (kOnATSi), I am called kAmAkshi. And now, I have revealed myself (kATSi tandEn) to you (unakku) in the form of (enra peyar koNDapaDi) mAriamman, who repels (edirkkum) pox (kOlATSi tanai) of the severest kind (koDum).

Just as a body of water that is called (enrAlum) a brook (ARenrum), a river (nadiyenrum), or a canal (ODai) refers (adu kurikkum) to the path (pAdai tanai) of the flowing water (nIrODum), the calls for the (Or) presiding (nirkkum) deity 'karumAri' will change (mAri) places (Ur), form (uru) or name (peyar) and will all resonate (onrE uraikkum) as (yena) 'Om Sakti'!

[rshankar]

Just as a body of water that is called (enrAlum) a brook (ARenrum), a river (nadiyenrum), or a canal (ODai) refers (adu kurikkum) to the path (pAdai tanai) of the flowing water (nIrODum), the calls for the (Or) presiding (nirkkum) deity 'karumAri' will change (mAri) places (Ur), form (uru) or name (peyar) and will all resonate (onrE uraikkum) as (yena) 'Om Sakti'!

This is supposed to describe the part about krishNa's birth, when kamsa thinks he is killing Devaki's eighth child, and the dEvi flies out of his hands - she came to the prison in mathurA from gOkul - Ur mAri; what kamsa thought was a baby boy turned out to be a girl - uru mAri; the whole thing looked like the two fetuses had been switched/interchanged - karu mAri....

[Lakshman]

Thanks so much rshankar.

[mahakavi]

>>This is supposed to describe the part about krishNa's birth, when kamsa thinks he is killing Devaki's eighth child, and the dEvi flies out of his hands - she came to the prison in mathurA from gOkul - Ur mAri; what kamsa thought was a baby boy turned out to be a girl - uru mAri; the whole thing looked like the two fetuses had been switched/interchanged - karu mAri....<<

I very much doubt that it represents Krishna's birth. The whole song dwells on Shakthi who is called MInAkshi in Madurai, VisAlAkshi in KAsi, and KAmAkshi in KAnjcipuram. The same Shakthi dwells in all these forms in different places and different images just like the same water flows in a stream or river. There does not seem to be even a remote reference to Krishna here.

[sridhar_ranga]

It takes a brilliant mind like Ravi's to make such a connection and this deserves appreciation. It is not uncommon for later day commentators to add more insights than what seems obvious, a la the vyAkhyAnams and swApadESArtham contributed by later day AchAryas to AzhwArs' bodies of work.

In this case the literal implication could be:

Ur mARi - change of places (Madurai, Kanchi, Kasi)
pEr mARi - Minakshi, Kamakshi, etc.
but these are all manifestations of karumAri

[arasi]

Well said,Sridhar. The very images could have been those of the composer. We are lucky if we can reach out and find the sources of
a song writer's inspiration. After all these years of our reading bArati, how many new meanings emerge from his writing as we read them over again! If only the straight forward, word by word meaning will suffice for the listener of a song, besides its being his loss, it would be the composer's loss too. Even at times when we are a bit off the mark, it matters not. In this case, I think Ravi found something special. He not only has an eye for dance, his love for dance and for music, his intuitive and educated understanding and expressive language makes his translations very agreeable to read and to learn from.

[mahakavi]

It is not a case of word-for-word interpretation in this case. The context does not call for a different interpretation (other than dEvi, or shakthi imagery) however "imaginative" it is. I am not discounting anybody's imagination. I am just saying it is not called for in this instance. The composer, I can stress, does not imply Krishna here--not even a trace. Let us understand that point.

The use of proper transliteration letters would not have caused this confusion.
Ur mARi is fine. The place changes
pEr mARi is fine too. The name changes.
But it is karu mAri (not mARi as in the two cases above). It refers to karumAriyamman (Shakthi). So question of "fetus change" is not applicable.

[rshankar]

Sridhar and Arasi - Thank you for your kind words.

[mahakavi]

I happened to view the movie segment in Adiparasakthi wherein Padmini does the mAriyamman dance to instruct the white collector (of the British period in India) in Thanjavur who ridicules the mAriyamman festival (of carrying the neem leaves and the fire pots) and walks into the temple with his shoes. He gets pox on his face and has a burning sensation all over his body besides losing his eyesight after ridiculing the deity. Then comes the dance scene with this song because the collector says " why kamakshi, meenakshi, mariyamman in every corner?"


>>koDum
kOlAtSi tanai edirkkum mAriyamman enra peyar
koNDapaDi kATSi tandEn unakku <<
is addressed specifically to the collector, who initially ridicules the deity but finally believes in mAriyammA whom he reckons as mother Mary (after he got cured of his affliction and later saved by the deity out of his house when the house collapses in a thunderstorm)