Sri Tyagaraja Kriti Series: Kriti:brOva bhAramA Raga:bahudAri (WORKS NOW)

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SrI:

SrI raghunandana parabraHmaNe namaH

Song brOva bhAramA

raaga bahudAri

In the kRti ‘brOva bhAramA’ – rAga bahudAri, srI tyAgarAja asks whether it is a burden for the Lord – the protector of the Universe – to protect him.

Pallavi:

brOva bhAramA raghurAma

bhuvanam(e)lla nIvai nann(o)kani

 

Anupallavi:

SrI vAsudEva aNDa kOTla

kukSini(y)uncukO lEdA nannu (brOva)

 

CaraNam 1:

kalaS(A)mbudhilO dayatOn-

(a)marulakai(y)adigAka

gOpikalakai koNDal(e)tta lEdA

karuNAkara tyAgarAjuni (brOva)

Gist

O Lord raghurAma! O Lord SrI vAsudEva! O Merciful Lord! While You are there in and as all Universes, is protecting me alone a burden to You? Aren’t You keeping crores of Universes in Your stomach? Didn’t You, out of compassion, lift mountains – (once) in the Ocean of Milk for the sake of celestials, and again, for the sake of gOpis? Is protecting this tyAgarAja alone a burden to You?

 

Word-by-word Meaning

P O Lord raghurAma! While You are there in and as (nIvai) all (ella) Universes (bhuvanamu) (bhuvanamella), is protecting (brOva) me (nannu) alone (okani) (nannokani) a burden (bhAramA) to You?

A O Lord srI vAsudEva! Aren’t (lEdA) You keeping (uJcukO) crores (kOTla) of Universes (aNDa) in Your stomach (kukSini) (kukSiniyuJcukO)? Therefore, O Lord raghurAma! While You are there in and as all the Universes, is protecting me alone a burden to You?

C Didn’t (lEdA) You, out of compassion (dayatOnu), lift (etta) mountains (koNDalu) (koNDaletta) – (once) in the Ocean (ambudhilO) of Milk – from where nectarine pitcher (kalaza) (kalazAmbudhilO) emerged - for the sake of celestials (amarulakai), and again (adigAka) (literally further) (dayatOnamarulakaiyadigAka), for the sake of gOpis (gOpikalu) (gOpikalakai)? O Merciful Lord (karuNAkara)! O Lord raghurAma! while You are there in and as all the Universes, is protecting this tyAgarAja (tyAgarAjuni) alone a burden to You?

 

Notes –

A – vAsudEva – viSNu sahasranAmaM (332) - “One who is at once both Vaasu and Deva. Vaasu means “One who dwells in the physical equipments of all living creatures as its indweller (Jeeva); Deva means “One who revels or One who illuminatesâ€. Thus, Vaasudevah means “One who lives in the physical equipment as though conditioned by them, and yet, who is the Vital Consciousness in the light of which every experience is illumined. The Lord is the One who dwells in all things of the universe and He is at once the Supporter of the entire world. Also, directly, it can be taken to mean, One who is born as the Son of Sri Vasudeva in the Jail of Kamsa, the Blue-Boy of Brindaavana. He is called Vaasu as He veils Himself with His own Maayaa; Deva means “He who sports, wishes to conquer, conducts, shines, creates and movesâ€. In the Udyoga Parva of Mahabharata, we read, “Like the Sun with his rays I am covering (Deva) in all beings and hence, I am called Vaasudevaâ€.

Vishnupurana says, ‘‘as He resides everywhere in and through all things, He is termed Vaasudevah.†All beings remain in the Supreme, and He in all being and hence, the Omnipresent is called the Vaasudeva. (Meanings: based upon the commentary of Shankaracharya)

Meanings: Courtesy: http://www.mypurohith.com

 

A – kukSiniyuJcukO lEdA – Please refer to srImad-bhAgavataM, Book 3, Chapter 33 – (dEvahUti’s prayer to Lord) –

sa tvam bhRtO mE jatharENa natha

katham nu yasyOdara etadasIt ||

viSvam yugantE vaTa patra eka: SEtE sma

mayA-SiSuranghri-pAna: || 4 ||

 

“As the Supreme Personality of Godhead, You have taken birth from my abdomen. O my Lord, how is that possible for the supreme one, who has in His belly all the cosmic manifestation? The answer is that it is possible, for at the end of the millennium You lie down on a leaf of a banyan tree, and just like a small baby, You taste the toe of Your lotus foot.†- Source –

http://www.bvml.org/books/SB/03/33.html

Also refer to episode of child kRSNa showing to His mother – yaSOdA - the whole universe in his mouth – SrImad bhAgavataM, Book 10, Chapter 8 and SrImad-bhagavad-gItA – Chapter 11 – viSvarUpa darSanaM.

For description by vaiSNava saints regarding the Lord having all the universes in His stomach, refer to –

http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/oppiliappan/archives/nov05/msg00183.html

 

C – amarulakai – Refers to kUrmAvatAra of the Lord when He bore the mandara mountain on His back to enable churning of the Milk Ocean.

 

C – gOpikalakai – Refers to lifting of the gOvardhana hillock to protect the gopis from the deluge of rain as a result of anger of indra.

Additional Comments By SrI V Sadagopan :

This kriti arose during the mood of “amarsha-Rosha-RoshOkti†(grievance-anger-remonstrance). There are many kritis that arose from Saint ThyagarAja, where he felt abandoned by the Lord and was angry that all his appeals were discarded. In this kriti, he addresses the Lord as “KaruNAkaraa, RaghurAmaa, VaasudEvaa (Govardhana Giridharan), mandhara giridharaa†(during the time of churning for the nectar). His abundant compassion (KaaruNyam) towards His AaSritAls is remembered by Sadhguru SwamigaL as he makes his appeal for protection. His valour and power to come to the rescue of all SaraNAgatALs is saluted to indicate that He could save anyone He chooses to save. Lord’s lifting of the Govardhana Giri to protect the cowherds and the cattle of BrundhAvanam is alluded to remind the Lord about His duty to protect the despondent. ThyAgarAja SwamigaL asks the Lord whether it is a heavy burden (Bhaaram) for Him to protect a single soul like him. You have held the whole universe during PraLayam in a small portion of Your vast stomach, You have held the Govardhana giri with a little finger of Yours, You have held the mighty Mandara Mountain steady by holding it on Your back during KoormAvatAram. When you can do all these miraculous things, is it really a burden for you to come to my rescue?

The echos of such angry appeals are heard in other amarsha-rOsha-rOshOkti kritis : “should I be reiterating my prayers so many times†(MaaDi MaaDiki dElpavalEnA – Mohana Raaga kriti); “Should You not respond and chase away my distress quickly?â€. “How is it that I do not get even a particle of Your grace?†(yElarA needaya intaina raadayaa –SahAnaa Krti, Sri Raama Sri Raama); “Should You not show atleast this much solitude for me? “(aDu kaarAdahnai –ManOranjani Kriti); “Why are You indifferent? If you don’t come to me, can I bear it?†(Lokaavana chatura! –Begadaa Kriti); “Oh Lord of Lakshmi! My crying has not moved You, My faith in You has only brought me more concern and worry. What is there in the world left for distressed people?†(Oh RamAramana –KedAra kriti); “Oh SrirAmaa! Where am I to go? Will You not come quickly and protect me?†(Sri Raama Sri Raama jitarAma gatha kaama –VarALi Raaga Kriti); “Oh Raama! Is it proper that You should withhold Your grace from me? Is there anyone else for ThyagarAja but You?†(Raama Raama nApai needhaya rAka uNduvacchunA Oh Raama! –KalyANi Raaga kriti); “Oh Raama! Why do You tarry? Should You show all enimity to me? You wont give up Your tricks†(RaamAbirAma RaghurAma –SaavEri Raaga kriti); “Why should You be indifferent, where I am concerned? Have I treated You with scant courtesy?†(ParAku nee kElarA Raama—KiraNAvaLi Raaga kriti); “Is It fair for You to forget one, who has been solely relying on You?†(Nammina Vaarini marachEdhi nyAyamA? –Bhairavi Raaga Kriti). All of the many statements of grief over the Lord not responding to him are most moving and are testaments to SwamigaL’s intensity of desire to have the companionship of the Lord and eagerness to be blessed by Him.

 

Raama DhAsan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

 

NOTE: Those who prefer to have a PDF or WORD document copy of this write-up can download either of the format from the following links:

 

WORD doc:

http://www.ibiblio.org/sadagopan/tyagaraja_kritis_project/word_docs/brOva_bhAramA.doc

 

PDF:

http://www.ibiblio.org/sadagopan/tyagaraja_kritis_project/pdf/brOva_bhAramA.pdf

 

AUDIO

http://www.ibiblio.org/sadagopan/tyagaraja_kritis_project/audio/BrovaBharamaTVS.mp3

 

http://www.ibiblio.org/sadagopan/tyagaraja_kritis_project/audio/BrovabaramaSKalyanaRaman.mp3

 

[Guest Sanjeevi Nagasai]

Meaning for Bravo Barama

 

The meaning of the given in this site wonderful. I could immerse in to the song much more after reading it . Thank you for this wonderful initiative. This makes me to try to connect to Sri Rama through Saint Thegaraya divinity .