Lyrics and meaning of Nataraja kauthuvam

Classical Dance forms & related music
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ruthmaria
Posts: 56
Joined: 12 Jan 2012, 00:28

Lyrics and meaning of Nataraja kauthuvam

Post by ruthmaria »

Hi!

I am looking for the lyrics of a certain Nataraja kauthuvam. I have found the shloka part online but not the kauthuvam part. This forum has always been so helpful in these cases where googling leaves me empty-handed.

The audio file can be listened to here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sXFkIv ... p=drivesdk

I hope someone here finds this song familiar and can help me out!

Thanks in advance!

rshankar
Posts: 13754
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 22:26

Re: Lyrics and meaning of Nataraja kauthuvam

Post by rshankar »

ruthmaria wrote: 07 Nov 2018, 20:53 The audio file can be listened to here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sXFkIv ... p=drivesdk
Here is what I hear. Corrections welcome.
The SlOkam is:
vandE Sambhum umA patim Salutations (vandE) to Siva, the granter of happiness (Sambhum), the husband (patim) of pAravti (umA)
sura gurum vandE jagatkAraNam Salutations to the preceptor/mentor (gurum) of the gods (sura), to the world's (jagat) creator (kAraNam)
vandE pannagabhUshaNam Salutations to the one adorned (bhUshaNam) with snakes (pannaga)
mRgadharam vandE paSUnAm patim Salutations to ... holding (dharam) a deer (mRga), to the Lord/master (patim) of all animals (paSu)
vandE sUrya SaSAnka vanhi nayanam Salutations to ... who has the sun (sUrya), moon (SaSAnka), and fire (vanhi) as eyes (nayanam)
vandE mukunda priyam Salutations to ... who is dear to (priyam) vishNu (mukunda)
vandE bhaktajanASrayam ca varadam Salutations to ... protecting (ASrayam) devotees (bhaktajana), and (ca) granting wishes (varadam)
vandE Sivam SaMkaram Salutations to the ever-pure (Sivam) creator of auspiciousness (SaMkaram)

The kauttuvam is:
vicitra tANDava nRtyati SaMkara Siva, the creator of auspiciousness (SaMkara) dances (nRtyati) a beautiful/amazing (vicitra) tANDava
nandi vAhana pannaga bhUshaNa He/Siva has nandi for his mount (vAhana), and is adorned (bhUshaNa) with snakes (pannaga)
Damaruka hasta trinEtra SaMkara The three-eyed (trinEtra) creator of auspiciousness holds a waisted-drum (Damaru) in his had (hasta)
candrakalAdhara Sira gangAdhara He/Siva wears (dhara) a digit of the moon (candrakalA), and the gangA on his head (Sira)
gaja carmAmbara bhakta vatsala He/Siva (wears) elephant (gaja) skin (carma) garments (ambara) and is loving (vatsala) to devotees
pArvati ramaNa patita pAvana He/Siva is pAravti's husband (ramaNa), who purifies (pAvana) the fallen/sinners (patita)
sura nara pUjita punIta lingam He/Siva is worshiped (pUjita) by both gods (sura) and mortals (nara); he is the cleansed/purified (punIta) lingam.

ruthmaria
Posts: 56
Joined: 12 Jan 2012, 00:28

Re: Lyrics and meaning of Nataraja kauthuvam

Post by ruthmaria »

Dear rshankar, thank you so much! We knew the approximate meaning from the choreographic context but the lyrics and the word-to-word translation is very helpful!

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