Swara-sahityam of Viribhoni - Bhairavi varnam

keerthi · Post by **keerthi** » 10 Dec 2008, 16:41

Will anyone post the sahityam of the Chitteswaram and ettugada swaras of the Bhairavi ata tala varnam, and discus the meaning...?
Word by word if possible...?

poornashadjam · Post by **poornashadjam** » 11 Dec 2008, 14:55

Oh . I dont know , if there is a sahityam for the cittaswaram and ettugada swarsms in that varnam.

But some where in the net , I could get the meaning for the pallavi , Anupallavi and Charanam of this varnam . Thought may be useful to you

Regards

Here it goes...

Viriboni - Varnam - Bhairavi - K Ata - Pachimiriyam Adiappaiah

viriboni ninne kori marulu konnadira
The flower-like beauty, yearning for you,is in love.

sarasudau daksina dwaraka
sami sri rajagopala deva

O Handsome lord of the Southern Dwaraka,
Sri Rajagopala Deva!

cirunavvu momuna
With a smiling face...
[The town Mannargudi in Tamilnadu is referred to as Dakshina Dwaraka in Sanskrit. Its presiding deity is Krishna in the form of Rajagopala]

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 11 Dec 2008, 17:41

Since Keerthi asked for it, with the running meaning provided by Poornashadjam, I think this is how the word-to-word meaning will play out. Divakar, or Shishya may be able to shed more light on this.

pallavi
viribONi - beautiful (flower-like) damsel
ninnE - you alone
kOri - desirous of
marulukonnadi - (is) in the throngs of love/passion
rA - a term of endearment (like aDiyE, aDA etc...)

anupallavi
sarasuDau - This could mean handsome one, but if it is derived from sarasalu - then, I think it could mean amorous one, or even, an elegantly courteous one
dakshiNa - southern
dvArakA
sAmI - Lord
Sri rAgajOpAlA -
dEvA - God

caraNasAhhityam
cirunavvu - lit up by a dazzling smile
mOmuna - (on your) face/(on her) face

I am not sure if the caraNa sAhityam describes krishNa's face, or the damsel's, because in a Lec-Dem I have heard Prof. SRJ state that the pallavi has to be sung after the caraNam is sung even in tAna varNams to obtain the complete meaning intended. If that is the case, then, it would become 'cirunavvu mOmuna viribhONi ninnE kOri marulukonnadi rA' - which would mean that the caraNam describes the lady.

poornashadjam · Post by **poornashadjam** » 11 Dec 2008, 18:29

dear rshankar,

Can you clarify if at all there is a sahityam for the chitta swarams and ettugada swaras . Will be happy if you can share your view .

Your word by word transalation is nice.

Regards

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 11 Dec 2008, 18:52

Poornashadjam,

I was wondering about the same thing! I think that just like Smt. Rukmini Devi had svara sAhityam composed for rupamu jUci, Smt. Rama Vaidyanathan may have done something similar, because, IIRC, she presented this tAna varNam in a dance performance.

I think it is Smt. Rama Vaidyanathan, but I may be mistaken. But I do remember reading about a dancer's project to adapt this for dance.

divakar · Post by **divakar** » 11 Dec 2008, 23:09

shankarji:

http://sahityam.net/wiki/Viriboni

I guess going by the context "cirunavvu mOmuna" would mean "with a smiling face" as suggested in the above link. So, it is the damsel's face that is being described in the charanam. Prof. SRJ is right in saying that the pallavi sahityam should follow the charanam to make it complete.

poornashadjam · Post by **poornashadjam** » 12 Dec 2008, 00:27

Yes . That seems true. I have been taught that the varnam will be sung with a Akaaram for the swaram in the beginning .

S , r N D N S R , g S R

A.. . .. vi ri bho . .. ..

It follows that the sahityam is like

Cirunavvu Momuna aaaa Viribhoni ninne kori marulu konnadira.

Meaning : With a smiling face , that beautiful damsel is earning for your love.

It is my intrepretation . Correct me if I am wrong

Regards

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 12 Dec 2008, 06:03

Thank you Divakarji and Poornashadjam.

Here is some more on this varNam, courtesy Meena - may have added svara sAhitya:

For the complete notation refer Vidya's SSP online.

viribONi ninnukOri. janyam (bhAshAngam)1: bhairavi

tAna varNam, aTa tALam, vAggEyakkAraLil tAna varNa mArgadarisiyAna Adiyappaiyyar (SSP)

P:viribONi ninnEkOri marulukonnadirA
A:sarasUDau dakshiNa dvAraka
sAmI sri rAjagOpAla dEva

mukthAyi swaram: ggrs rsnn ...

caraNam: cirunavu mOmuna

ciTTai swarams:
1. mp g,,r,s n,,d,p ...
2. d, nndd,nndd ...
3. pgnsrgmgrs ...
4. s,rgsrg,r,; ...

cirunavvu mOmuna cirucemaTalUragA
a garimamIraga tEjinekki gamakimpuSUrAgA A
neravai garinimIri
nelatananneMtO vEDelurA
marukELidAni nElukO sAmI sri rAjagOpAla dEva

ggrs rsnn dnsr ... viribONi ninnEkOri

This bhairavi varnam is celebrated as "vINaikkOdari" by best vaiNikAs who know sampradAyam.
(Incidentally, I have been taught to sing the last citteswara of this varNa also on the stIta graha starting as"mp" SrgsrGR..
third swaram (s,,rg) with the athItha eDuppu)

There's two beliefs about this composition:
1)It was composed by Adiyappayyer praising the Tanjai court dancer named as viriboNi
2) it was composed in praise of Lord Rajagopala of Mannargudi (fits the "dakshiNa dvArakA..." phrase).

Umesh · Post by **Umesh** » 12 Dec 2008, 09:43

Apparently, viribONi as a padavarnam was was passed down to Rama by her guru, Yamini Krishnamurthy.

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2008/01/04/stor ... 470800.htm

keerthi · Post by **keerthi** » 12 Dec 2008, 11:55

The continuation of the charanam '..Chiru chematalu rAka....dAninaeluko..' which dovetails into sAmi sri rAjagOpAla dEva like in the Anupallavi is called an Anubandham or appendix, and is given to complete the meaning of the terse charanam line.
Ir is seen in many of Swathi tirunal's beautiful padavarnams.

In a music primer written by Prof. Sambamurthy, I came across sahityam for the Chitteswaram and charanams. They seem to be of a high lyrical quality, but have some mistakes. It doesn't help that the book is in tamizh.
The sAhitya for ggrs - rsnn - dnsr - mm-pp-dd-nn-ppp-ddd-nnn-ssr-pdnsrgmp-dpmdP goes :
sarasa-vitharana-suguna chaturatha-kaligina-dora- yanuchu maguva madini dalachi madhu-viri-sharamula -paravashamai etc..

Is it chatura tara-kaligi - dora-yanuchu or is it chatura- tagilina dora ??
Will try and type up the Sahityam fully..I could scan the pages from Sambamurthy's (Tamizh) book. But I don't know how to upload it..

divakar · Post by **divakar** » 13 Dec 2008, 04:41

keerthi: 'caturata kaligina'.. is correct.

caturata = cleverness, kaligina = one who has/possesses

shankarji: so, there is some more to the charanam.

there may be some errors in the letters that make up the words (bold) in the charanam.

cirunavvu mOmuna cirucemaTalUragA
garimamIraga tEjinekki gamakimpuSUrAgA A
neravai garinimIri
nelata nanneMtO vEDenurA
marukELi dAninElukO sAmI sri rAjagOpAla dEva

cirucemaTa = gentle perspiration
garima = greatness or majesty
mIraga = exceeding
tEjinekki = riding a horse; (tEji = horse)
gamakiMpuSu rAgA = ??
neravai = ??
garini mIri = ??
nelata = woman
nanneMtO = nannu + eMtO = me + very
vEDenurA = vEDenu + rA = to pray or ask for (this word should be vEDenurA and not vEDelurA, i think)
marukELi = amorous game
dAninElukO = take care of her

corrections welcome.

divakar · Post by **divakar** » 13 Dec 2008, 07:59

ok. here are the corrections.

garima mIraga tEjinekki gamakiMpucU rAgA
A nera vaikharini mIri
nelata nanneMtO vEDenurA

gamakiMpucU = rising / exerting onself
rA gA = to come
nera = complete or fullness
vaikhari = manner or appearance
vaikharini = relating to apperance / manner
mIri = exceed/ violate /go beyond

rest remain the same.

corrections welcome.

keerthi · Post by **keerthi** » 14 Dec 2008, 14:10

Here is the sahityam as transcribed from Sambamurthi's ' A practical course in Karnatic Music for beginners and for use in schools"
book III, in tamil, 1963

/sarasa-vitharana-suguna chaturatha-kaligina-dora- yanuchu maguva madini dalachi madhu-viri-sharamula -paravashamai vi-//
/raha-bharamunanu alasi solasi ninu kalayutakidi tarunamani piliche parAku valadurA ikanu birAna manasAradanu (tanu??)sAre-//
/-kunu rammanare.. viribhoni.....

First charanam - Vina/-rA jAnapai nIkidaeti calamA valadurakanumA cheliya virAlikoni alasiyunnadira IkanutA nannaelu//gonumu SAmika.. chiru..
Second charanam - NI /sogasu nI hoyalu nI Karuna nI ghanatalatAnennuchunu nirantaramu manamuna valachinadi needu padamulAna vinu chelu//vudA krpa salupa..Chiru..
Third charanam -/ Samika ninu kori MOhamu mithi meeri yunnadi ra jAgaela rAvaera bAgayenidi TagunatarA//
/maguva roopu maruni Aepu mukhambu sarojambu nerigurulunu madhukarambu KaLamukhambu marAlambu nata HitamadirA//
/Athimaruni ala-viri-sara-nikaramulaku verachi ninu sharanamaniye neratanamunu doratanamunu neravadi vidi cikuri nilipi aa suda//
/-ti mudamodava ghanamuga madavathini yetanu thaka-daya kaligi bigi-kaugiliyicchi nera sarasa-dasamambuga rati salupanidi taruname//
/vinu taruni..Chiru..

Have tried to guess the telugu right as much as possible. Could the last line have saras-dasanambuga instead of dasamambuga??
Translations, renditions, corrections, discussions...all awaited..

p.s - Prof.Sambamoorthy says in the book, for the ata tala varnas in Kamboji, Sankarabharana and Bhairavi - for the mukthAyi swaram and etthugade swarams - 'AzhagAna sAhityangal Saerkka pettrullana".. does he mean he has added them, or have they been incorporated by the composers/ their students??

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 14 Dec 2008, 17:42

keerthi wrote:'AzhagAna sAhityangal Saerkka pettrullana"

All that means is that these compositions are blessed with beautiful lyrics for the muktAyi and eTTugaDe svarams - the statement per se doesn't/can't attribute the authorship (either the original composer or latter day embellishers)....

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 14 Dec 2008, 22:58

Ravi: I see where you are going with the interpretation of the word 'Saerkka'. Yes, in some context it can mean 'compose' but the first level meaning is 'add'. And since Sri.Sambamurthi makes it a point to mention it, it looks to me that he means it as an 'add-on'. If it was just his commentary on how beautiful the original sahitya is, I do not think these are the words one will normally use.

But it is not clear whether he added it or someone else added it. Again, as a guess, since he did not mention 'someone else added it', I assume it means 'he added it'. I wish he had put in a few more words to make it clear since there is really no reason for him to be obscure about this. Sometimes using some established styles of writing, authors write 'They have been added' instead of saying 'I added them'. Passive voice seems to communicate a measure of modesty, especially when he is 'mess'ing with a masterpiece.

Varnam composers seem to need only a couple of words with three or four syllables and they can even fit that to Sankeerna Jati Dhruva Talam 2 Kalai

but when these swara sathiyas are added they seem to have a lot more words with not much AkAram.

keerthi · Post by **keerthi** » 15 Dec 2008, 12:26

The book has also given sahityam for the muktayi and ettugades of Sarasijanabha, the kambhoji varnam, which I have heard the Malladi brothers sing; and the shankarabharana varnam Chalamaela. Has anyone else heard/ learnt these varnas as pada varnas??

It was exactly the prof's choice of words in saerrka petrrullana which puzzled me. Did thw passive voice indicate his active role in it???

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 15 Dec 2008, 12:42

There is a rendition of shankarabharana varnam Chalamaela by Chembai where he sings the sahitya for all the swaras. I remember it going well past 10 minutes. It used to be on Sangeethapriya but I can not find that readily now. I will post the link if I do. If anyone else happens to find the link, please post.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 15 Dec 2008, 13:21

Found a esnips link for the chembai version: http://www.esnips.com/doc/c5165a80-22ab ... e---varnam

keerthi · Post by **keerthi** » 17 Dec 2008, 14:52

Thanks. The words in my book match this rendition.