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Suddhananda Bharathi
How did they sing?
| Composition: |
eppaDip pADinarO… |
| Composer: |
Suddhananda Bharathi |
| mudrA: |
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| (signature): |
none |
| rAgam: |
karnATaka dEvaghAndAri (janyam of mELam 22, karaharapriyA ) |
| ArOhaNam: |
SG2M1PN2S |
| AvarOhaNam: |
SN2D2PM1G2R2S |
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tALam:
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Adi |
| Pallavi: |
eppaDip pADinarO—aDiyAr
appaDip pADa nAn Asai koNDEn shivanE
(eppaDip)
|
| Anupallavi: |
apparum su^ndararum ALuDaip piLLaiyum
aruL maNi vAcakarum poruL uNar^ntE unnaiyE (eppaDip)
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| CaraNam: |
gurumaNi shankararum arumait tAyumAnArum
aruNagirinAtarum arutjOthi vaLLalum
karuNaik kaDal perugi kAdalinAl urugi
kanit tamizhc collinAl inidunai anudinam
(eppaDip)
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 Source for kavithai:
Amutham CD WS003 booklet insert.
Meaning:
Pallavi: Oh, Lord Shiva I want to sing your praise in the same manner done by your (famous) devotees.
Anupallavi: Appar, Sundarar, TirugnAna Sambandar, and Manicka Vacagar sang about you in all meaningful splendour.
CaraNam: GurumaNi Shankarar, brilliant ThAyumAnAr, AruNagirinAthar, and the beacon of grace, RAmalinga VaLLalAr - all these great souls, out of boundless love for you and an ocean of grace, sang about you everyday using sweet Thamizh words.
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| Tirugnana
Sambandar |
General comments:
This song is a tribute to Lord ShivA as well as the twin quartets of ShivA’s
famous devotees. The first quartet of Appar (also known as TirunAvukkarasar),
SundaramUrthy nAyanAr, TirugnAna Sambandar, and MAnicka VAcagar lived in the
first millennium CE. Of this quartet, the first three are known as tEvAram
trinity and are members of the group of famous devotees of ShivA, known as 63
nAyanmArs. MANicka VAcagar, who lived much later than the 63 nAyanmArs, is
technically the 64th nAyanmAr. All the four contributed to the growth of
Shaivism against established Jainism in the Thamizh country by composing songs
on Lord ShivA.
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| Adi
Sankarar |
The song is also a tribute to
the second quartet of Adi ShankarA (788-820), ThAyumAnavar (18th century??),
AruNagirinAthar (15th century), and RAmalinga vaLLalAr (1823-1874). Adi ShankarA
went far and wide in India to spread Shaivism by debating and defeating other
competing religious sect leaders. ThAyumanavar wrote 1,400 hymns in simple
Thamizh with profound meaning. AruNagirinAthar was a devout Murugan worshipper,
who wrote myriad songs on Murugan including the famous Tiruppugazh. RAmalinga
vaLLalAr, with no formal education, wrote thousands of verses inculcating
universal love and peace, all of which are compiled in a book called “Tiru
Arut pA”.
Suddhananda Bharathi wanted to
draw inspiration from the great saint poets to write his own compositions. Such
a desire openly manifested in this simple invocatory song. The beauty of this
song lies in the deference that the composer had for the great Shaivite saint
philosophers-cum-poets which is expressed succinctly.
Composer’s bio:
Suddhananda Bharathi (1897-1937) was a yOgi,
devotee and freedom fighter - all mixed in one. He was modesty personified. He
wrote a lot of poems in Thamizh on bhakti, peace and universal love with an easy
flow of the language. Many of his songs have been set to music by others, among
them Calcutta K S Krishnamurthy figuring prominently.
Some of the songs of
Suddhananda Bharathi that are popular are: aruL purivAi (hamsadwani),
kaNNeDuttAkilum kANIrO (simmEndra madyamam), sakala kalA vANiyE (kEdAram),
tUkkiya tiruvaDi (shankarAbharaNam), jangAra shruti seiguvAi (pUrvikalyANi),
shAnti nilava vENDum (tilang), and kaNNanE en kaNavan (kalyANi).
References:
1. http://www.geocities.com/promiserani2/co1046.html
2. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/5180/authors4.html
3. http://www.cuddalore.com/vadalur/vallalarhistory.htm
Sethuraman Subramanian
subramaniansethu@hotmail.com
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