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.
divAkara tanujam
raagam: yadukulakAmbhoji
taaLam: Eka
Composer: Muttuswaamee Dikshitar
Language: Sanskrit
pallavi
divAkara tanujam shanaishcaram dhIrataram santatam cintayEham
anupallavi
bhavAmbunidhau nimagna janAnAm bhayankaram ati krUra phaladam
bhavAnIsha kaTAkSa pAtra bhUta bhaktimatAm atishaya shubha phaladam
caraNam
kALAnjana kAnti yukta dEham kAla sahOdaram kAkavAham
nIlAmshuka puSpa mAlAvrutam nIla ratnabhUSaNAlankrutam
mAlinI vinuta guruguha muditam makara kumbharAshi nAtham
tila taila mishritAnna dIpa priyam dayA sudhA sAgaram nirbhayam
kAla danDa paripIDita jAnum kAmitArtha phalada kAmaDhEnum
kAla cakra bhEda citra bhAnum kalpitachAyAdevi sUnum
Meaning:
divAkara – the planet Sun
Tanujam – offspring/son
Shanaishcaram – the planet Saturn
dhIrataram – courageous
Santatam – constantly
cintayEham – thinking
bhavAmbunidhau – stuck in the ocean of routine miseries
Nimagna – engaged
janAnAm – people
bhayankaram – fearful
ati krUra – very cruel
Phaladam – results
bhavAnIsha – Sankara, lord of BhavAni
kaTAkSa – kindness
pAtra – bestowed
bhUta – past
bhaktimatAm – devoted people
Atishaya – extraordinary
Shubha – goodness
Phaladam – results
kALAnjana – dark, like black suit/eye liiner
kAnti yukta – shining
dEham – body
kAla – lord of death
sahOdaram – brother
kAkavAham – uses crow as a stead
nIlAmshuka – nIlAmsuka
puSpa – flower
mAlAvrutam – garlanded
nIla – black
Ratna – gems/sapphire
bhUSaNa – jewelry
alankrutam – decked
mAlinI – goddess pArvati
Vinuta – praised
Guruguha – guruguha
muditam – praised
Makara – zodiac sign Capricorn
Kumbha – zodiac sign Aquarius
rAshi nAtham – lord of the zodiac signs
tila – sesame seeds
Taila – oil
Mishrita – mixed
anna – rice
dIpa – llamp
priyam – lover
dayA – kind
sudhA – nectar
sAgaram – ocean
Nirbhayam – fearless
kAla danDa – holder of timing tool/log
paripIDita – pulling it heavily
jAnum – thighs
kAmitArtha – desired wealth
Phalada – bestower
kAmaDhEnum – like the cow, kAmdhEnu
kAla cakra – the circle of time
bhEda – solver
citra bhAnum – shines line the sun
kalpita – imaginary
chAyAdevi – chAyAdEvi, consort of the Sun/the shadow
sUnum – son
Summary:
Always keep the lord of planet Sani/Saturn in the mind. Saturn is the strongest and the son of Sun. He is fearful and cruel for the people who are immersed in the ocean of miseries but if they are blessed by lord Sankara (the husband of BhavAni) then he showers extraordinary goodness and good results. He shines in deep black complexion, he is the brother of kAla, the lord of death and rides a crow as his stead. He is adorned with a black flower garland and wears jewelry studded with sapphires. He is praised by goddess pArvati and Guruguha. He is the ruler of zodiac signs capricorn and aquarius. Enjoys the lamps lit with the mixture of sesame oil and rice. He is an ocean of kindness and is fearless. He holds the log of time, which weighs him down causing discomfort in his knees. He is known as the kAmdhEnu for fulfilling all the wishes. He breaks the rhythm of time and shines as a son of ChAyA dEvi, the wife of Sun.
This krithi is one of the Navagraha krithis, nine kritis on the planets. This one is on the planet Saturn, and the composer described all the attributes of the planet. In astrological theory, the planets and zodiac signs are related by sign rulership or adhipatis (see below table). Saturn aspects the third, seventh and tenth houses*. Aspecting refers to looking into or watching a house or the planets positioned in that house. Saturn does not conflict with Mercury and Venus.
Saturn is a slow moving and portrayed as a kind and fearless planet and bestows slow actions, inertness, yet fulfils wishes of devotees of lord Sankara.
* House is a section of 30 degrees in the orbit.
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
Ranjani Gunupudi works as a Sr. Statistician and is a disciple of Sri Arvind Lakshmikanthan. She resides in Redwood City, CA
| Planets/Ruler | Color | Friend | Enemy | Neutral |
| Sun | Red | Moon, Mars, Jupiter | Saturn, Venus | Mercury |
| Moon | White | Sun, Mercury | None | Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn |
| Mars | Crimson Red | Sun, Moon, Jupiter | Mercury | Venus, Saturn |
| Mercury | Green | Sun, Venus | Moon | Mars, Jupiter, Saturn |
| Jupiter | Yellow | Sun, Moon, Mars | Mercury, Venus | Saturn |
| Venus | White | Mercury, Saturn | Sun, Moon | Mars, Jupiter |
| Saturn | Black | Mercury, Venus | Sun, Moon, Mars | Jupiter |
| Rahu (Nodal planet) | Ultra violet | |||
| Ketu (Nodal planet | Infra red |
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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.