Sankaracharyam Smaramyaham

Sankaracharyam  Smaramyaham

By

Subbarama  Deekshithar

Translated by

P.R.Ramachander

(    I came to know about this great song from   http://www.indian-heritage.org/lyrics/sd1.html .But when I checked with the lyrics sung by Smt.M.S.Subbalakshmi   most of the words did not tally  ,. So again searched and found the krithi    is    given with summary meaning in  http://www.naadhabrahmam.com/SankaracharyamSmarami.aspx  . I am indebted to this web site for the lyrics as well    as help in my   translation .

       The composer of this song is   Subbarama Deekshithar (1839-1906) who was the grand son of Sri Baluswamy deekshithar  , the younger brother of Muthuswami Deekshithar  .At the age of 17 he was made the   Asthana vIdwan of   Ettayapuram king .He  also authoured a great tome   on Carnatic SAngeetha called  “Sangeetha sampradaya  Pradarshini”  which gave   several compositions  as well as biography of several great composers as well as musicologists.

                        It is interesting to see   from  the write up of Sambra Krishnamurthy  (http://periva.proboards.com/thread/5770/infinite-grace ) that  maha Periyava talked    about the meaning of Krithi  for three hours in a  long discourse  in a place called Benahatti in Maharashtra. I am not  equal  even to  the  minutest dust of the feet   of that great saint  and what I  have tried to give is only   the peripheral meaning  .I wish great scholars of today  start enlightening us about the depth of knowledge in this great Krithi. With anantha Koti pranams to Maha Periyava)

Ragam Sankarabharanam

Thalam Aadhi

Pallavi

1.Shankarcharyam smaramyaham,

Bhaktha  manova  Shankaracharyam   smaramyaham

2.Pankajatha  bhava  vedhyam , hridhyam  pankajath bhava roga vaidhyam aadhyam

3.Sathguna saandram  sri Mahadeva   saraswathim ,samyameendra chandram

Pallavi

1.I remember and recollect  Sankaracharya,

Who  captures  the mind of devotees,

I remember    and recollect   Sankaracharya

2.He  has realized Lord Brahma and Lord  Shiva   and is liked by them

And he is  the Doctor of the  disease of  samsara  like  Lord Brahma.

3.He  is   the repository of   all virtues    , he  is dedicated   to   Lord  Shiva, Goddess Saraswathi,

King of those  who live with self control    and is like   the moon.

Anupallavi

Sankara  bhagawath  charana  apaara varyam   -Sankara  krupayaa   varditha veeryam

Anupallavi

He  is endowed by   greatly increased power   by Lord  Shiva,

So that  the feet of Sankara bhagath pada has  become  the unbounded goal

Madhyama Kalam

Sankha  raga sitha  yasho   dhuryam anisham

Karaabjam   avaarya   thapas shouryam

Madhyama kalam

With his lotus hands    he has  the capability   to remove,

All the doubts  as well desires forever,

As he  was endowed  with   irresistible  fame for  the valour of his  penance 

Charanam

Parma jnana   lathaa aala vaalam  bhavya taara  sumano jaalam,

Para matha khandana chandima seelam , parma advaitha  sthapana  leelam

Charanam

He is the   irrigation canal   watering  the creeper   of  divine wisdom ,

Who captivates   all good minds   with  behavior endowed with humility.

He   is an expert   in  uprooting   the  wrong belief of others,

And is the one who established the principle of Advaitha  just like playing  a  divine sport.

Madhyama kalam

Kara galidha dhanda kamandalam  , kaashaaya dharam   , vinutha  muni mandalam,

Vara mathi  vijitha   hara  kundalam ,  shubha varadam nata  dhara gandalam -srimath

Madhyama kalam

 He  holds  and carries in his hand  the staff of a saint and water pot,

He wears ochre robes, is praised   and respected by   all sages,

And his   wisdom   beats   the  luster of the ear globes  of Lord Shiva,

He blesses us with boons   and he is worshipped   as incarnation of Lord Shiva.

I am reproducing here the comments made by sri Vasudevan Srinivas , which are relevant and very informative about this Keithi,

Vasudevan Srinivas A superb post; This kriti was made popular by M.S. in her concerts. he krti begins with the word Sankara which indicates the raga Sankarabharanam as well as the name Sankara. The same word is repeated in the anupallavi in different contexts at the beginning of all the avartanas. The phrase 'Sanka raga' in the anupallavi indicates the name of the raga.

The charanam repeats the word 'parama' (which means 'exalted') in many different contexts making the tone of the krti sublime. The phrase bhakta manovasham (you capture the hearts of seekers) is imbedded at the end of the first line and ' 'vasham' becomes 'vashamkara'.

'Panka jaatha' is repeated with different meanings in the pallavi. In the first line it means Brahma who was born out of a lotus. In the second line panka jatha 'made out of dirt' - means the material world and physical existence.

Vasudevan Srinivas Bhava means - 'Siva' in the first line and in the second line bhava means 'the physical world'.

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Vasudevan Srinivas

Vasudevan Srinivas The words are chosen for resonance and throughout we hear echoes of 'ra' in Sankara, kripa, vardhita, viryam, parama, kara, vara , dhara. "Ra' is a mystic syllable which indicates 'fire & brightness'

The charana lines resonate with the sound of 'la' which is the symbol of 'laghu' (easy). 'Lam' which means 'delight' echoes in- alavalam, jaalam shilam, lilam., mandalam, kundalam, gandalam. Sankara experienced the bliss of Advaita so the sound of 'Lam' meshes with the sound of 'mm' at the end of words. The whole krti resonates with the sound of 'Om'.

Vasudevan Srinivas

Vasudevan Srinivas Subbarama Dikshitar was born in Tiruvarur in1839; As a 17 year old he presented his Darbar Ata tala varnam in the court and several courtiers doubted his authorship of the varnam and felt that it was perhaps his father's composition. To prove the young composer's talent, the Raja told Subbarama "I am going out for an hour, and before I return you should have composed a Jathi svaram in Yamuna kalyani . The final svara passage should start with the svara 'dha' and have svara passages in all three speeds - in a pattern of increase followed by decreasing tempo with a muktayimpu (pattern of 3 svara phrases) at the end. When Subbarama did this everyone was convinced of his prodigious talent. The raja gave him ten gold coins and a brocade shawl. Subbarama became the Asthana vidwan (musician in residence) at the Ettayapuram Court.