Carnatic Compositions – The Essence and Embodiment
– Aparna Munukutla Gunupudi
Our intent for this essay is to highlight the great features of the language, emotion and melody (rAgam) of a krithi (song/composition) and also to provide the song for your listening pleasure. Most of you may know these krithis, but when you discover the distinct features of a krithi, you may enjoy a new beauty or an attribute in the krithi.
Note: Krithi is defined as a song containing pallavi, anupallavi and charanam that have high musical value and can be sung elaborately with improvisations. Whereas, Keerthana also has a pallavi, anupallavi and charanam but is sung in a single form or simpler pattern.
lalitE shrI pravrddhE
rAgam: bhairavi
taaLam: Adi
Composer: TyAgarAja
Language: Telugu
pallavi
lalitE srI pravruddhE srImati lAvaNya nidhimati
anupallavi
telivini vardhillu srI tapastIrtha nagara nilayE
caraNam 1
teliyani bAluDa gAdA amba telivi nI sommu gAdA calamu sEya mariyAdA callani mATalu balkaga rAdA
caraNam 2
kanna talli shubha vadanE mIyanna dayaku pAtruDanE tinnaga sharaNu joccitinE tyAgarAja mAnasa sadanE
Meaning:
lalitE – gentle one
srI – wealth
pravruddhE – prosperer
srImati – good minded
lAvaNya – delicate
Nidhimati – treasure of knowledge
Telivini – with intelligence
Vardhillu – thrive
srI tapastIrtha nagara- the town of srI tapastIrthapuram
nilayE – abode
Teliyani – innocent
bAluDa gAdA – child
Amba – oh mother
Telivi – knowledge
nI – your
sommu – wealth
gAdA – is it not
chalamu – delaying further
sEya – to do
mariyAdA – is it fair
Callani – kind
mATalu – words
balkaga rAdA – don’t you say
kanna talli – mother
shubha – good
vadanE – faced
mIyanna – your brother – lord vishNu/rAmA
Dayaku – kindness
pAtruDanE – cause
Tinnaga – straight
sharaNu – refuge
joccitinE – seek
tyAgarAja – tyAgarAja
mAnasa – mind
sadanE – dweller
Summary:
Oh gentle one, you make the wealth grow, you are good minded, delicate and have a treasure of knowledge. You made the town of srI tapstIrthapura as your home and you thrive there intelligently. Am I not an innocent child! Oh mother! You have a wealth of knowledge and delaying any further is not fair. Please speak kind words to me. Oh beautiful faced mother, I am under the kindness of your brother, lord vishNu/rAmA and I seek refuge straight from you and you dwell in my mind.
TyAgarAja considers himself as a child and treats goddess Lalita as his mother. She is the supreme mother who provides, preserves, and protects all life in this universe. She is described as a multitalented, intelligent, gentle, kind, courageous, fierce and forceful energy, who is capable of fighting the evil and protecting the good!
The power of music is profound
The joy of music is sweet and sound
The awe of music is abound
Music makes the world go round
Sreelakshmi Kolavennu is an accomplished musician, composer and music director. She has given a number of concerts in India as well as in the San Francisco bay area. She has provided score and set music to many Kuchipudi dance ballets. She also set music to many AnnamAchArya compositions. She lives in the San Francisco bay area.
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Aparna Munukutla Gunupudi is a poet, lyricist and short story writer. She has written dance ballets such as Queen of Jhansi, Prasanna Ashtalakshmi, Usha Kalyanam, Sneham, Jamsetji Tata and they were performed in Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam styles. She wrote songs for “Prema Tarangini” an audio cassette released by noted music director Sri Manohar Murthy. She considers her parents, who provided and encouraged her in book reading, are her “gurus” and Sri Jandhyala Payayya Sastri as her writing mentor.