Giri Raja Sutha Thanaya
By
Saint Thyagaraja
Translated by
P.R.Ramchander
Ragam Bangaalaa
Thalam DEsadhi
Pallavi
Giri raja suthaa
thanaya-sadaya
Pallavi
Oh son of the daughter of
the mountain who is merciful
Anupallavi
Sura raja mukharchitha pada yuga,
Paripalayamaam , ibharaja mukha
Anupallavi
Oh God who se feet
is worshipped by the king of devas,
Who has the face of the king of elephants, please protect
me.
Charanam
Gana Nadha parathpara Sankara,
Agama vari nidhi , rajanee karaa,
Phani raja Kankana, vighna niva-,
Rana, sambhava Sri
Thyagaraja nutha.
Charanam
Oh chief of Ganas, Oh divine of divines, oh God who gives
us peace.
oh ocean who Vedic treasure, Oh God who is like the lord of night ,
oh ocean who Vedic treasure, Oh God who is like the lord of night ,
Oh God who wears snake as bangle who removes obstacles,
Oh Son of Shambhu ,who is praised by Thyagaraja.
I beg to differ from the meaning given to the word ‘Sankaraagama…’.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, ‘Sankaraagama’ is a compound word by itself, though part of a longer compound word. The word used is not ‘शंकर:’, but संकर . A sambodhana (Shankara!) cannot be mixed with another proper noun. It cannot be शंकरागम..... Had it been the case Tyagaraja, the great scholar, would have put it ‘Shankara! Aagama-vaarinidhi-rajanikara!’. I believe, sankara (not Shankara) is a prefix and an adjective.
‘Sankara’ (संकर : ) in Sanskrit means ‘made of more than one object’ or ‘hybrid’. Since the word is combined with ‘aagama’, the poet alludes to ‘a mix of vedas’.
Next, Sankaraagama forms a ‘compound adjective’ for vaarinidhi.
If the long compound word ‘sankaraagama-vaarinidhi-rajanikara!’ (संकरागमवारिनिधिरजनीकर:) is considered as a sambodhana, the meaning would be ‘the moon that reflects/shines on the ocean of the mixture of (all) the Vedas’.
Incidentally, just for the sake of argument, one can say Ganapati can be addressed as Sankara! (संकर:) because he is a ‘mix’ of elephant and human (read divine) body. But the word has not been used here in that sense. It is used as adjective and is always a ‘prefix’ (like in sankarajaati).
The best way to avoid this confusion is to use Sha, Shi (श, शि....) etc. instead of resp. Sa, Si…etc and use hyphens for long compound words during transliteration. Some deviation is necessary even if we stick to the Kyoto convention. Another option is to start using visarga (:) in kritis.
To sum up, I believe we cannot say Tyagaraja has used the word Sankara as a synonym for Ganapati. Nor has it got anything to do with ‘sam karoti’.
I totally agree with you sir. Great interpretation
Deletevery helpfull thankyou
ReplyDelete