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Ramaswamy Sivan
I shall never forget
| Composition: |
ekkAlattilum |
| Composer: |
rAmaswAmy sivan |
| mudrA: |
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| (signature): |
guhadAsan |
| rAgam: |
nATTaikkurinji (janyam of mELam 28,
harikAmbhoji) |
| ArOhaNam: |
SR2G3M1N2D2N2PD2N2S |
| AvarOhaNam: |
SN2D2M1G3M1PG3R2S |
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tALam:
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rUpakam |
| Pallavi: |
ekkAlattilum maRavEnE ini nAn
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(ekkAlattilum)
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| Anupallavi: |
maikkAlanai akkAlattil maDiya udaitta aDi malarinai
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(ekkAlattilum)
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| CaraNam1: |
viDaiyaiyum konRait toDaiyaiyum madisaDaiyaiyum mazhup
paDaiyaiyum tOludaiyu maNiyiDaiyaiyum vizhik
kaDaiyaiyum nalamaDaiyavE nAn
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(ekkAlattilum)
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| CaraNam2: |
purattaiyum adanurattaiyum suTTa tarattaiyum aindu
nirattaiyum dasa karattaiyum seyyum
varattaiyum panjAksharattaiyum cidambarattaiyum nAn
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(ekkAlattilum)
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| CaraNam3: |
Isanaip prakAsanai guhadAsanaik kAkkum
nEsanai anbar pUsanai sey viswAsanait tillai
vAsanai naTarAsani nAn
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(ekkAlattilum)
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Source for lyrics:
Ref. #1 (see below). There may be some transposition errors of syllables in some words. The general meaning is discerned with that in mind.
Meaning:
Pallavi: I shall not forget you at any time.
Anupallavi: You annihilated Yaman (kAlan), the Lord of Death, way back with your foot. I shall not forget your foot (which is like a flower).
CaraNam1: I shall not forget the bull (nandi) that you ride, the bunch of (yellow) konRai flowers that adorn your locks of hair wherein you sport the moon, the axe that you wield in your hand, the tiger hide that you wear, your waist adorned with jewels, and the corner of your eye in order to gain your kindness.
CaraNam2: I shall never forget the three worlds (tiripuram), their strengths, and the manner in which you destroyed them, the five faces (or five functions), and ten hands of yours, your boons, the five-letter name of yours (na-ma-si-vA-ya), and the city of Cidambaram.
CaraNam3: I shall not forget you, the effulgent Lord, a friend who protects guhadAsan (me), one whom the devotees worship, and one who dwells in tillai (cidambaram), the one and only natarAjan.
General comments:
 This song, a favourite of the
DKP-DKJ (D K Pattammal-D K Jayaraman) school, is fully alliterative with a galloping play of words (akin to a rushing rapids) centered on Lord SivA. It also contains a couple of references to mythology regarding the valiant acts of Lord SivA. One of them relates to the burning of Tiripuram and the other, protecting the 16-year-old devotee, Markandeyan, from the jaws of death
(Yaman).
This song describes the various features and attributes of Lord Siva. In one sense it draws inspiration from and is reminiscent of Sundaramurthy Nayanar’s famous tEvAram song sung about the Lord in a town called TirumazhapADi, near
TiruvaiyAru.
ponnAr mEniyanE! pulittOlai araikkasaittu
minnAr sencaDaimEl miLir konRaiyaNindavanE
mannE mAmaNiyE mazhapADiyuL mANikkamE!
annE unnaiyallAl ini yArai ninaikkEnE?
We need to reconcile some mythology here to understand some terms in this song. The words, ‘tOluDai’, and ‘mazhuppaDai’ refer to the encounter of Siva with the sages of dArukA vanam (forest) when the sages got annoyed at the manner in which He, in the guise of a mendicant, cast a spell on the young wives of the sages. They used their powers to send a tiger, a globe of fire, an axe and a demon named Muyalakan to attack Siva. He killed the tiger and used its hide as his dress (tOludai) and captured the axe and the ball of fire in his hands and trampled the demon under his right foot.
The words ‘puram’ and ‘suTTa taram’ refer to Siva’s destruction of the three cities built by the three demon brothers (tArakAkshan, kamalAkshan, and vidiyunmAli) when they started inflicting untold miseries on the residents of the cities and the
dEvAs.
There is also a reference to ‘aindu nirattaiyum’ (it could as well be ‘sirattaiyum’) and ‘dasakarattaiyum’ which refer to five faces or heads (and their functions) of Siva and the ten hands with separate functions. These two features are less well understood.
The song is marked by different alliterative sounds in each of the three caranams. It addresses Nataraja of Cidambaram in particular. Unlike some other songs, there is no demand, by the composer, for salvation or alleviation of suffering. It just expresses undiluted devotion and admiration.
Composer’s bio:
Ramaswamy Sivan (1839-1897) was the older brother of
Maha Vaidyanatha Sivan (1844-1893) and they constituted a pair who wrote the lyrics and tuned them to music. Of the two, Ramaswamy Sivan was the prolific composer while Maha was the performer as well as composer. Together they were known as Vaiyacheri Brothers. It is difficult to separate one from the other on matters relating to music. They used the signature ‘guhadasan’ which literally means ‘Servant of Lord
Murugan’.
They learnt music from Anai-Ayya Brothers and from
Manambuchavadi Venkatasubbaiyer (a direct disciple of Saint Tyagaraja). They were patronised by royalty and Adheenam (religious foundation) heads. Ramaswamy Sivan composed ‘Periya Purana Keertanaigal’ which was published by the Tiruvavaduturai
Adheenam.
Some of Ramaswamy Sivan’s
other songs which were/are rendered by musicians in concerts are: nIyE
manamagizhvODu (kalyANi), inimEl Ayinum (darbAr), Ananda naTEsA
(tODi), muttukkumArayyanE (sankarAbharaNam), pAhimAm srI rAjarAjEswari
(janaranjani), naTanam seyyum pAdanar (kEdAra gauLai), and kadaikkaN
vaittennai (bEgaDai).
References:
1.http://www.geocities.com/promiserani2/c1200.html
2. http://www.geocities.com/promiserani2/co1058.html
Sethuraman Subramanian
subramaniansethu@hotmail.com
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