Today is the ninth day of Navaratri – Mahanavami. I start with some of my translations of some popular samskrta shlokas.
ಮೈಬಣ್ಣ ಮಂಜುಮಲ್ಲಿಗೆಚಂದಿರರ ಬಿಳುಪು; ಬಿಳಿಯರಿವೆಯನುಟ್ಟು
ಕೈಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹೊಳೆವವೀಣೆಯ ಹಿಡಿದು ನಿಂದಿರುವೆ ಬೆಳ್ದಾವರೆಯಲಿ;
ತಾಯೆ! ಆ ಹರಿಹರಬೊಮ್ಮರೂ ಅನುದಿನವು ಪೂಜಿಸುತಲಿಹರು ನಿನ್ನನು!
ಕಾಯೆನ್ನ ಸರಸತಿಯೆ ಎನ್ನನೆಂದಿಗೂ ಬಿಡದೆ ತೊಲಗಿಸಿ ಆಲಸಿಕೆಯನ್ನು
ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ ಮೂಲ:
ಯಾ ಕುಂದೇಂದು ತುಷಾರಹಾರ ಧವಳಾ ಯಾ ಶುಭ್ರ ವಸ್ತ್ರಾವೃತಾ
ಯಾ ವೀಣಾವರದಂಡಮಂಡಿತ ಕರಾ ಯಾ ಶ್ವೇತಪದ್ಮಾಸನಾ|
ಯಾಬ್ರಹ್ಮಾಚ್ಯುತ ಶಂಕರಪ್ರಭೃತಿಭಿಃ ದೇವೈಃ ಸದಾ ಪೂಜಿತಾ
ಸಾ ಮಾಂ ಪಾತು ಸರಸ್ವತೀ ಭಗವತೀ ನಿಶ್ಶೇಷ ಜಾಡ್ಯಾಪಹಾ||
ಸರಸತಿಯೆ ತಲೆಬಾಗುವೆನು ಮನದಾಸೆಗಳನೀವಳೆ
ಅರಿವಿನಾಸೆಯೆನಗಿರಲು ಹರಸು ಕೈಗೂಡುತಿರಲೆಂದು
ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ ಮೂಲ:
ಸರಸ್ವತೀ ನಮಸ್ತುಭ್ಯಂ ವರದೇ ಕಾಮರೂಪಿಣೀ|
ವಿದ್ಯಾರಂಭಂ ಕರಿಷ್ಯಾಮಿ ಸಿದ್ಧಿರ್ಭವತು ಮೇ ಸದಾ ||
ಶಾರದೆಯೆ ನಮಿಸುವೆನು ಕಾಶ್ಮೀರದಲಿ ನೆಲೆಸಿಹಳೆ
ಕೋರುವೆನು ಅನುದಿನವು ಅರಿವು ತಿಳಿವನು ನೀಡು
ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತ ಮೂಲ:
ನಮಸ್ತೇ ಶಾರದಾ ದೇವೀ ಕಾಶ್ಮೀರ ಪುರವಾಸಿನೀ |
ತ್ವಾಮಹಂ ಪ್ರಾರ್ಥಯೇ ನಿತ್ಯಂ ವಿದ್ಯಾ ಬುದ್ಧಿಂ ಚ ದೇಹಿಮೇ||
On the ninth day, the performer elaborates the last Navartri Kriti of Swathi Tirunal – Pahi parvata nandini in Arabhi rAga.
In Karnataka, there is a tradition of doing Saraswati pooje on Mahanavami. So, it is a good time to listen to a nice composition about Saraswati.
Mysore Vasudevacharya was a very important composer of the 20th century. Coming in Tyagaraja’s school, he has composed more than 300 compositions – most of them in Samskrta and Telugu. He was born in Kanakapura, and spent most of his life as a palace musician at Mysore. He is also the guru of Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Odeyar. Just like Tyagaraja, his compositions have his own name – ‘Vasudeva’ as the signature. Since his compositions are very much on Tyagaraja’s lines, he was called ‘Abhinava Tyagaraja’. He has chronicled his experiences with other artists in his memoir in Kannada – “Naa Kanda Kalavidaru”.
The kriti for today is Mysore Vasudevacharya’s ‘Mamavatu Sri Saraswati’ in raga Hindola, which is quite popular.
Tomorrow is Vijayadashami – the day when Goddess Chamundeswari takes her stately ride on the royal elephant! I’ll conclude this series with a composition fit for that ocassion.
-neelanjana
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October 16, 2010 at 12:10 am
ರಾಘವೇಂದ್ರ ಹೆಗಡೆ
ಮಹಾನವಮಿ ಮತ್ತು ವಿಜಯದಶಮಿಯ ಹಾರ್ದಿಕ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳು.
October 16, 2010 at 12:16 pm
The Tenth Day of Navaratri « ಅಲ್ಲಿದೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆ
[...] Yesterday when I wrote about a composition of Mysore Vasudevachar, I also wrote about his illustrious deciple – Jayachamarajendra Odeyar, the last king of Mysore. Odeyar was another notable composer of the 20th century. Initially, he was trained in western classical music. He received the highest honors possible to be awarded for student at the Trinity college of Music in London. Later on, went on to learn the intricacies of Karnataka sangeetha from Vasudevachar for some years. Between 1945 to 1947, he composed 94 kritis (A few more have been unearthed recently, I heard). Apparently he played his compositions on the Piano first, and got feedback on them from Vasudevachar and other court musicians and shape his compositions. [...]