meaning of rAmA I vELa varnam

[sp2003]

Can someone please check the correctness of lyrics and translation below?
This is a slightly modified version as rendered by Chittoor Subramaniam Pillai from the usual lyrics on Varnam book.

Composition: rAmA I vELa Composer: Thenmadam Narsimhacharlu
Raga: Kharaharapriya Type: Pada Varna


P: rAmA nIvE nA rakshakuDavani namminAnu
kAmakOTi sundarAkAra pAlimcu SrI

A: pAmara janulan cEralEni cunu parula weDalenu
kamalanAbha tALanu hari vandita dhyumaNi pancajaladi sOma

M.S.: SrI vara raghukulamunanu puTTi ; sItammanu cEyi paTTi
dEvaripuni taramula taga koTTi ; darA bhAramu naDanci naTTi SrI

c: nI sATi deivamu lEni dharalo

c.s.: 1. kausalyA satputrakAlOkAdhAra

2. gAdi sutuni wenTa janutsu thATaka jUrci yagnamunu kApADina

3. goutamuni satini kata kalusha jEsi gaja gamana janakapuriki jani shivuni
villu viraci puDamituDagu patiyai vijaya rAgavuDanucu pEru konina

4. dAsharati soumitri bharata shatrugna yutuDavai pANigrahana
mahOtsavamutO purambu veDali mArgambuna bhArgavu garvam aDancina

5. SrI raghuvara pitru vacanamunan vipinamunaku vedacani
suraripula gelici munivarula gAci shugrIvunaku rAjyamu nosagi
vibhIshaNuni rakshimci jaladhini dATi rAvaNun koTTiyAvalan
sItanukoni pavanajAdulatO sAkEtapurini abhishituDaina

meaning

rAmA nIvE nA (Rama you are my) rakshakuDavani (protector) namminAnu (I believe)
"Rama you are my protector."

kAmakOTi (End of desires; Kama – desire; Koti - Last) sundarA (beautiful) kAra (form) pAlimcu (to protect) SrI
"Sri rama has a beautiful form equal to crores of manmathas."

pAmara (ordinary) janulan (people) cEralEni (not united) cunu (to affect) parula (others) weDalenu (cannot plead)
kamalanAbha (one who has lotus one fastened to his navel) tALanu (I cannot bear) hari (destructor) vandita (worship) dhyumaNi (the sun) pancajaladi (fine oceans) sOma (nectar)

SrI (prosperous) vara (boon) raghukulamunanu (Sun dynastry) puTTi (born) sItammanu (to Sita) cEyi (hand) paTTi (hold)
dEvaripuni (enemy of God?) taramula (?) taga (soon) koTTi (to strike) darA (obstacle) bhAramu (burden) naDanci naTTi (as it happened?) SrI (holy)

nI sATi (your equivalent) deivamu lEni (no God) dharalo (in this world)

kausalyA sat-putrah (Kausalya’s good son) AlOkAdhAra (illumination bearer?)

gAdi (?) sutuni (son) wenTa (following) janutsu (people) thATaka (?) jUrci (to see) yagnamunu (sacrifice in fire) kApADina (saved)

goutamuni (Saint Goutama) satini (wife) katha (story) kalusha (impurity) jEsi (did) gaja (elephant) gamana (gait) janakapuriki jani (born in Janakapuri) shivuni (Shiva’s) villu (bow) viraci (by breaking) ipuDamituDagu (?) patiyai (?) vijaya (victory) rAgavuDanucu pEru (the name Raghava) konina (gotten)

dAsharati (Son of Dasharatha) soumitri (brothers) bharata (Bharatha) shatrugna (Shatrugna) yuthuDavai (all are Gods) pANigrahana mahOtsavamutO (hold hand in hand during ceremony) purambu (city) veDali (go out) mArgambuna (path) bhArgavu (incarnation of Vishnu) garvam aDancina (with pride)

SrI raghuvara (one who is from the Sun God’s lineage) pitru (father) vacanamunan (order) vipinamunaku (he went to the forest) vedacani (?) suraripula (enemy of the Gods) gelici (win over) munivarula (saint) gAci (?) shugrIvunaku (for Shugreeva) rAjyamu (kingdom) nosagi (offered)
vibhIshaNuni (Vibhishana) rakshimci (protected) jaladhini (oceans) dATi (crossed) rAvaNun koTTi (killed Ravana) Avalan (?) sItanukoni (brought Sita) pavanajAdulatO (with Hanuman) sAkEtapurini (city of Ayodhya) abhishituDaina (anointed?)


Many thanks.

Sweta

[krishnaa]

is the audio of this varnam available on any website

[krishnaa]

i think that in the line kamakoti sundarakara ..... kama means manmatha and koti refers to crore, therefore the whole line means that Sri rama has a beautiful form equal to a crore of manmathas.

[sp2003]

The recording of the varnam is at
http://www.sangeethapriya.org/~nanda/Va ... ittoor.mp3

Regards,
Sweta

[krishnaa]

Thanks for the url of the recording sweta.
rgds
krishnaa

[Rigapada]

Dear Sweta,
I have corrected a few minor mistakes in the lyrics:

P: rAmA nIvE nA rakshakuDavani namminAnu
kAmakOTi suMdarAkAra pAliMcu SrI

A: pAmara janula nE cEralEnu parula wEDalEnu
kamalanAbha tALanu, hari! vaMdita dyumaNi! paMcajaladhi sOma!

M.S.: SrIvara raghukulamunanu puTTi ; sItammanu cEyi paTTi
dEvaripuni taramula tegagoTTi ; dharAbhAramu naDaMci naTTi SrI

c: nI sATi daivamu lEDu dharalo

c.s.: 1. kausalyA satputrakA lOkAdhAra

2. gAdi sutuni weMTa janucu thATaka gUlci yagnamunu kApADina

3. gautamuni satini gata kalusha jEsi, gaja gamana janaka puriki jani, shivuni
villu viraci, puDamipattiki Dagu patiyai, vijaya rAghavuDanucu pEru konina

4. dASarathi! soumitri bharata Satrughna yutuDavai pANigrahana
mahOtsavamutO puraMbu veDali mArgaMbuna bhArgavu garvamaDancina

5. SrI raghuvara! pitR vacanamunan vipinamunaku vEga cani,
suraripula gelici, munivarula gAci, sugrIvunaku rAjyamu nosagi
vibhIshaNuni rakshimci, jaladhini dATi, rAvaNun koTTi, yAvalan
sItanukoni pavanajAdulatO sAkEtapurini abhishiktuDaina


I shall try to post the corrected meanings in a few days.

--Rigapada

[Rigapada]

Dear Sweta,
The meaning of the pada varna ia as follows. Corrections and better interpretations are welcome!

P: O Sri Rama, protect me [pAliMcu], O one as beautiful [suMdarAkArA] as
hundred crore Manmathas [kAmakOTi], (I) believed [namminAnu] that only you
[nIvE] are my [nA] protector [rakshakuDavani].

A: I [nE] cannot approach [cEralEnu] ignorant [pAmara] people [janula]. I cannot pray [wEDalEnu] to others [parula]. O one with lotus in the navel [ kamalanAbha], O HarI, O one praised [vaMdita] by the Sun [dyumaNi], O one who is like the moon [sOma] for the five oceans [paMcajaladhi], I cannot wait [tAlanu].

M S: Who was born [puTTi] in the preeminent [SrIvara] clan of Raghu
[raghukulamunanu], who held [paTTi] the hand [cEyi] of sIta [sItammanu], who slew [tegagoTTi] generations (or equals) [taramula] of rAvaNa the enemy of devAs [dEvaripuni], who reduced [nadaMcina] the weight on earth [dharAbhAramu] ie killed the asurAs, that [aTTi] O SrI Rama . .

C: There is no [lEDu] God [daivamu] equal [sATi] to you [nI] on earth [dharalO].

C S 1: O illustrious son [satputrakA] of kausalya! O support of the universe [lOkAdhAra]

C S 2: (O Rama) who protected [kApADina] the yajna [yajnamunu] by felling [gUlci] tATaka when following [weMTa janucu] ViSwAmitra, the son of GAdi [gAdi sutuni].

C S 3: (There is no God equal to you O Rama) who got [konina] the name [pEru] like 'VijayarAghava' [vijayarAghavuDu+anucu] by making the wife of Gautama pure [gata kalusha = departed sin] and by becoming a suitable husband [tagu patiyai] of sItA [pudami paTTiki = daughter of Earth] after going [jani] to Mithila [to the town (puriki) of the father (janaka) of the elephant gaited lady (gaja gamana)] and breaking [viraci] the bow [villu] of Siva [Sivuni].

C S 4: O son of Dasaratha [dASarathi]! (there is no other God equal to you) who went out of Mithila [puraMbu veDali] accompanied by [yutuDavai] Lakshmana [soumitri], Bharata and Satrughna after the marriage ceremony [pANigrahaNa mahOtsavamutO] and subdued [aDaMcina] the pride [garvamu] of ParaSurAma [bhArgava] on the way [mArgaMbuna].

C S 5: O SrI raghuvara! (there is no other God equal to you) who went [cani] quickly [vEgan] to the forest [vipinamunaku] on the words [vacanamunan] of your father [pitR], won over [gelici] the enemies of gods [suraripula], protected [gAci] the ascetics [munivarula], restored [osagi] the kingdom [rAjyamu] to SugrIva
[sugrIvunaku], protected [rakshiMci] VibhIshaNa [vibhIshaNuni], crossed [dATi] the ocean [jaladhini], beaten [koTTi] RAvaNa and afterwards [Avalan] fetching
Sita [sItanukoni] got crowned [abhishiktuDaina] in Ayodhya [sAkEtapurini] in the
presence of Hanuman and others [pavanajAdulatO]

Unusual usages:

1. vaMdita dyumaNi! may be a better interpretation is required.

2. gaja gamana janaka puri : here, janaka is not used to mean king Janaka but father, the total phrase meaning "the city of father of gaja gamana Sita"

--Rigapada

[parimalphadke]

Sir,

this is regarding the anupallavi of the padavarnam--

Could the vakyartha be-- " An ignorant soul like me cannot approach others"

or is it " I cannot approach and pray to ignorant people ( that is the reason I am requesting you to protect me )" , please guide me on this. I had choreographed this varnam 3 years back , and I still couldn't get the exact vakyartha of the anupallavi.

Warm regards,

[Rigapada]

Dear Phadke,

It will be rash on my part to think that I can correct old lyrics for which authentic sources are not available. All I can do is give probable words to complete the sentences and to give coherent meaning.
In the above case, consider the phrases "pAmara janulan cEralEni cunu parula weDalenu" and " pAmara (ordinary) janulan (people) cEralEni (not united) cunu (to affect) parula (others) weDalenu (cannot plead)" as given in the first post. The letter 'n' in janulan is extra. 'cEralEni' has an adjectival ending and requires a noun. 'cunu' does not fit there. weDalenu means went.

So I corrected the sentence to : "pAmara janula nE cEralEnu parula wEDalEnu " This conveys a complete and coherent meaning, though it may not be the original one of the lyricist.

The correction can be also: "pAmara janula cEraleni nE parula vEdalEnu". This version will convey the meaning given by you in the second alternative, ie "I cannot approach and pray to ignorant people".

If it is corrected as "pAmaruDa, nE cEri parula vEdalEnu" will convey the first meaning of yours.

The second alternative of yours seems to be more appropriate.

--Rigapada

[parimalphadke]

sir,

thank you very much. Now this has become clear in my mind.