meaning of Innamum Sandeha

[asekar]

The real and implied meaning of the kiravani kriti of Gopalakrishna Bharati starting with the words, Innamum Sandeha' are above the comprehension of novice rasika like me. Can someone enlighten me on this?

[Lakshman]

Meaning from the net by P.R.Ramachander.

P: Oh God, should I suspect you even now
A: Having known that you danced in the golden temple,
And with the memory of your golden anklets, in me,
Should I suspect you even now?
C: In the Annamaya Kosha, I am seeing,
Differences between a Brahmin and lower caste,
But I do not find difference any where else,
Forgetting that Gopalakrishna told,
That the prayer of knowing oneself is the greatest,
And falling in the whirlpool of illusion,
And falling down, Oh Lord Shiva,
Should I suspect you even now?

[vgovindan]

Lakshmanji,
I saw the lyric of the song in http://www.shaivam.org/siddhanta/sta_gkb.htm#innamum
I am of the opinion that this kRti is addressed to his (poet's) mind.
I shall check further and be back.

[Lakshman]

The song is this one:
innamum sandEhappaDalAmO. rAgA: kIravANi. cApu tALA.

P: innamumasandEhappaDalAmO IshA
A: ponnambalam tanil tANDavamADiya pon kazhalai ninaivil vaikka terindu nAn
C: anna mayamenum kOsham tanilE andaNar mudal pulaiyar varaikkum pinnamaravE
tONudE anri bhEdamonrum kANEn tannai ariginra tavmE peridenru dharaNiyil gOpAlakrSNan
sonnadellAm marandu mAya shuzhalilE vizhundu uzhanru kavizhnda niyAi shiva shiva nI
` (alternate line)
sonnadellAm marandu inda mAya shuzhalilE vIzhndadalainadAi shiva shiva nI

[vgovindan]

I have checked the kRti from Madurai Project also - http://www.projectmadurai.org/pm_etexts ... ml#innamum - where the same version as given in the link mentioned by me in the earlier post. I have marked the portions of difference.

innamum sandEhappaDalAmO. rAgA: kIravANi. cApu tALA.

P: innamumasandEhappaDalAmO IshA
A: ponnambalam tanil tANDavamADiya pon kazhalai ninaivil vaikka terindu nAn
C: anna mayamenum kOsham tanilE andaNar mudal pulaiyar varaikkum pinnamaravE
tONudE anri bhEdamonrum kANEn tannai ariginra tavmE peridenru dharaNiyil gOpAlakrSNan
sonnadellAm marandu mAya shuzhalilE vizhundu uzhanru kavizhnda niyAi shiva shiva nI
` (alternate line)
sonnadellAm marandu inda mAya shuzhalilE vIzhndadalainadAi shiva shiva nI

IshA - not available
terindu nAn - terinda nIdAn
pinnamaravE - binnamaravE (this is probably because 'pa' and 'ba' are written similarly in Tamil)
tavmE - tavamE (probably typo)
Only Alternative line is given

Accordingly, I am positive that this kRti is addressed to the poet's mind. Therefore, the word 'IshA' in Anupallavi does not seem to be appropriate.

The meaning - as I understand - is as follows -

Does it behove to doubt still?
Having learnt to remember the golden feet which danced in the Golden stage, (does it behove You)
Food-natured sheath-wise, brahmin to untouchable, seem similar, and I perceive no difference;
Having forgotten the words of this Gopalakrishna that, in this World, the greatest penance is self-realisation, and
Having fallen into this whirlpool of illusion, You are wandering - pity indeed!

Corrections and Improvements, welcome.

[RaviSri]

tannai ariginra tavamE peridenru dharaNiyil gOpAlakrSNan
sonnadellAm

Gopalakrishnan here refers to Lord Krishna and dharaNiyil gOpAlakriShNan means 'Krishna on earth'. This refers to the Bhagavad Gita which teaches the highest goal of Self-realisation (tannai ariginra tavam, the penance to realise the Self).

[Lakshman]

vgovindan: The version I posted is from a book by Lakshmi Poduwal with notations by T.M.Thiagarajan. S.Ramanthan's book Nandanar Charitra Kirtanai has the version posted by you. I am not sure which version is thye correct one.

[vgovindan]

Lakshmanji,
IMHO, the versions given in the Tamil websites - Shivam - Madurai Project - seem to be more appropriate, for the following reasons -
1. Pallavi word 'IshA' does not seem to be appropriate, because it contradicts the general meaning of the kRti.
2. Anupallavi words 'terindu nAn' does not seem to be correct, because it contradicts, the ending word of caraNa 'nI'. Therefore, 'terinda nIdAn' seems to be appropriate.
3. The alternative last line of caraNa seems to be appropriate because it fits into the overall meaning.
4. the words 'bhEdamondrum kANEn' (I do not perceive any difference), vIzhndalaindanai (You are wandering having fallen...), 'nI' in the end of caraNa (You) - are all indicative of the poet's mind being the addressee.

RaviSri,
I fully agree that here, 'Gopalakrishna' could refer to kRshNa also and the implication being gItA. However, often times, poets use fillers in the songs. There are many such examples in the kRtis of SrI tyAgarAja also. Similarly, it is possible to derive the meaning given by you even without 'dharaNiyil'.

[Lakshman]

Thanks for the clarification.

[asekar]

Thanks to all respondents. I want to summarize my understanding:

The compositions from famous Vaggeyakkaras generally address the Lord, self, or the public at large. In this Sahityam it appears one can interpret from all the three viewpoints. Krishna and Gita interpretation is very clever though Gopalakrishnan is generally the mudra of the composer in all other cases.

The phrase 'annamayamennum kosam' leaves some questions. Does it mean this human body or the sivalingam adorned by cooked rice on the auspicious Annabishekam day?

In any case this composition is unique in being philosophical. Is it part of the Nandanar Charitram?

[rshankar]

The phrase 'annamayamennum kosam' leaves some questions. Does it mean this human body or the sivalingam adorned by cooked rice on the auspicious Annabishekam day?

I think it refers to the Atman, and not the human body or Sivalingam - The soul or Atman is thought to be bound by 5 sheaths - or kOSa - annamaya-, prANamaya-, vigyAnamaya-, manomaya-, and Anandamaya-kOSa - and mOksha is attained when these sheaths are shed.
But then, in the ultimate analysis, for Sri GKB, as an advaitin, everything is the same - so, the kOSa could refer to the brahman as much as it does to the Atman...

[vgovindan]

Shankar,
Atman is beyond - and pervading - all the five kOSas. In lalitA sahasra nAma, mother is called 'panca kOSAntarasthitA' - "Who is the jIvA within the five kOSas (psychological sheaths of the jIvA's personality) (translation by Swami Tapasyananda). Accordingly, the word (annamaya kOSa) in this kRti simply refers to superficial appearance - which is same for all beings, be he a Brahmin or untouchable - andaNar mudal pulaiyar varaikkum binnamaravE tONudE.

There is no way this kRti can be treated as being addressed to the Lord. The kRti wordings 'vIzhndalaindani' and 'nI' (caraNa) refers to one self.

GKB may be an advaitin, but his 'dvaita bhAva' is very much displayed in the anupallavi - 'tANDavamADiya pon kazhalai ninaivil vaikka terinda nI'. Whether dvaitin or advaitin, the process one undergoes in order to reach 'tannai arigindra' (self realization) is an arduous one and the mind is unyielding at every stage. This kRti comes under the category of 'Atma gharhaNa' - self depracation. One can find many such tyAgarAja's kRtis.

This kRti is not part of nandanAr caritraM.

[asekar]

Thanks to Govindanji for a different analysis. P.R. Ramachandar's translation in the beginning of this discussion thread ends with the lines, "And falling down, Oh Lord Shiva, Should I suspect you even now?'". Is this incorrect?

[vgovindan]

asekar,
Simply put, it is a misreading of kRti based on a corrupted version.

[bhasi]

Sanjay quite clearly seems to be singing "nee thaan".

From what I can make out from his singing, these appear to be the correct lyrics:

P: innamum sandEgappaDalAmO nee thaan
A: ponnambalam thannil thANDavamADiya porkazhalai ninaivil vaikka therinda nee thaan
C: annamayamenum kOsham thaane andaNar mudal pulaiyar varaikkum
bhinnamaravE thONuthE entha bhEdam athu kANEn
thannai arigira thavamE perithendru dharaNiyil gOpAlakrSHNan
sonnadellAm marandu mAya-chuzhalilE veezhnthalaintha shiva shiva nee