“Maa Janaki” – A Tyagaraja Kirtana
Maa = our; Jaanaki = daughter of king Janaka, Sita; cetta battaga (1)= held hand, because she touched your hand; maha(a) raaju = great king; vaitivi = became;
1. raaja raaja = king of kings; varadaakshi = one who has the eyes replete with granting wishes, boons(Sita, Lakshmi); vaaksha = one who has in the chest; vinu = please listen; raavanaari = the enemy of Ravana; yani = such a; raajillu = shining, effulgent; kiirtiyu = fame too;
2. kaanakEgi = gone to forest; yaajna miiraka = without disobeying command; maayaakaaramu = an illusory form, an embodiment of maya; nenci = to don, to put it on; sikha = fire; centanE yundi = stayed with; daanavuni ventanE = behind Ravana; cani = went; yasOka taru muula nundi = stayed in the corner of asoka tree; vaani = Ravana’s; maataluku = words, (rubbish) talk; kOpaginci = got angry; kanta = with eye, with a stare, with a look; vadhiyincanE = did not slay, did not punish; yundi = stayed; sri nayaka = husband of sri, husband of Lakshmi, husband of Sita; yasamunu = reputation, fame; niikE = to you only; kalga cEyalEda = did She not make, did She not give; Tygaraja paripaala = one who rules Tyagaraja;
The foregoing paraphrasing of the original Telugu song needs no further commentary. I add these few comments rather reluctantly – perhaps for the benefit of some youngsters who lack the guidance of a good teacher. I have an old cassette of Sri Madurai Mani Iyer, which contains this song. One can learn the tune from such a recording but one will be hard pressed to get a perfect handle on the diction, phrases, and meaning (both bhava and bhakti). In the book compiled by Syama Sundari, the song's details are: Raagam - Kambhoja; TaaLam – Desadi;
Somewhere the saint Ramakrishna states thus: Only those who have a firm experience of god should talk about such profound issues. Should we make a similar injunction regarding carnatic music? Only those who truly understand the meaning of Tyagaraja songs should sing them. But such a restriction would place a harsh speed bump for all aspiring singers; and then in the modern world there may not be many singers left to perform. So, we have a wide range of renderings – some good and many utterly mediocre. The tragedy is this – the bad renderings discourage young children from enjoying classical Indian music. That is a serious loss. By shutting out such great music totally, one loses permanently a precious gift of tradition; one becomes less than whole and inadequate to meet life’s exigencies.
So, Tyagayya says here: By holding on to the hand of our (surely She is ours, our Mother!) Janaki, you (i.e., Rama) have become a great king. What a great line! Not only a king-of-kings, all the other things accrue to Rama because of His association with Sita. Hence forth, He is known to all as the famous destroyer of Ravana.
But the second stanza is pregnant with more stories and meaning. In a previous article on another song [nagu momu ganaleni.. (2)], I have elaborated on Rama-avatar and its significance. There, in passing, I have mentioned that if Sita wanted, She could have definitely put an end to Ravana. But it was not be like that. And here in this kirtana, we are given further explanation. She went to the forest with Rama. Why would She not follow Him? In fact, all the celestials descended to assist Him in the Great War with Ravana. The whole Vaikuntha became empty [sidebar(band): Who is minding Vaikuntha then? Heuristically we know who is minding the store!] When we read Ramayana, we are often told that Sita disobeyed Lakshmana and crossed the famous ‘Lakshmana-rekha’. But that is not the entire story. No, She did not disobey; on the contrary, she deputed her surrogate (The great maya-form) to accompany Ravana. [This is the second time Ravana got tricked by the Mother. Earlier, in the story of Bhukailas, he got deceived by Parvati as Kali] So, Sita stayed back with the Fire (Agni-devata). The Maya-form suffered in Ravana’s garden under ‘a-soka tree’. Still, Her surrogate had all the power sufficient to destroy Ravana – just with a stern glance. But She did not do that either. It is because She wanted to give the total credit to Rama. Perhaps that is why we refer to this manifestation of the Lord as ‘Rama-avatar’.
Some careless readers and a few Telugu writers have misinterpreted the relationship of Rama and Sita. Modern writers tend to see the imperfections of current society (domination of one gender over the other and other ‘ism’s) in these ancient mythologies. In doing so, such critics and social commentators have erroneously distorted the celestial romance between Rama and Sita. Between Radha and Krishna. Only great seers and composers know the essence of such a love. Sita had never seen a fault in Rama and Rama had never hurt Sita in the slightest. The modern reader is handicapped – the reader is often ignorant of Sanskrit, cannot read the vernaculars. The reader tries to grope around with the help of secondhand and third hand interpretations.
Still, one may get a gleam of the meaning of such classical songs through humility, meditation, and silent listening. Copyright 11/17/08
1. This phrase ‘cetta battaga’ is found in the movie song “citapata cinukulu”. Is it derived from cEyi patti (= holding hand)? Intuitively many Telugu people know its meaning. Many teenagers feel the full depth of this unique phrase while walking in the street hand-in-hand with their friends.
2. http://tenneti-rao.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/02/jatayu-ramayana-and-tyagaraju.htm