మధుర మధుర తర మీనాక్షి

"Madhura maduhra tara Meenakshi" (listen here) is the second of the two paeans Veturi penned in praise of goddess Meenakshi for the upcoming Telugu film "Arjun".


To create this masterpiece, Veturi used equal parts of Hindu spirituality, local legends of Madurai shrine, history of the Pandyan dynasty and age-old cultural affinity between Telugu and Tamil people.


All crafted with exquisite vocabulary and unparalleled control, in his vintage trademark wordsmithy.


The song opens with awakening notes of Sannai, the traditional "Mangala Vadyam", declaring that this is a devotional paean to the goddess - the instrument soars to purify the surroundings and spirits of devotees.


The opening charanam denotes the significance of Meenakshi in the Hindu trinity of Shakti.


"Madhura Madhura tara Meenakshi

Kanchi pattuna Kamakshi

Mahini mahima gala Meenakshi

Kaseelo Visalakshi"


Madhura Meenakshi, Kanchi Kamakshi and Kasi Visalakshi (
http://www.geocities.com/gurunathanuk/Madurai.htm) form the trinity of the Hindu divine force Shakti. Of the three, Meenakshi is considered to be the most divine, most loving and most caring towards her devotees, which makes her the most cherished goddess.

Coming to the song picturization, which we can only guess at this point of time, there seem to be two strands in the song - one is the devotional stream and the other a situational stream. The song seems to take place when the hero brings his sister to the temple for a blessing, as indicated in:


"Jaji mallela ghuma ghumala javali
Leta siggula sarigamala jabili
Amma Meenakshee, idi nee Meenakshi"


- he presents his sister Meenakshi to the goddess for blessings.

Then comes the endearing Nattuvangam interlude in the Bharatanatyam tradition. Kudos to Manisharma for skillfully blending the dance and devotion. [Hope someone can explain the significance of the ragas and instruments used.]

What follows next is the intricate trademark wordsmithy of Veturi in :

"Varamulu (blessing) chilaka (spreading)
swaramulu (musical notes) chilaka (saying like a parrot)
Tanuvuna (on the body) chilaka (Arrow) kaladana"

Veturi uses the word "chilaka" thrice above each with a different meaning – and he does not stop there -


"Himagiri chilaka
Sivagiri chilaka
Mamatalu chilaka digirava"


Repeats the same word thrice again – perhaps to create a mantra – in our very own "cine paamara bhasha" – in the Sanskrit tradition of echoing words. [The prayer slokas always have repetitive echoing notes – perhaps to stop the Gods in their tracks and make them notice our problems – just a hope!] – I digress.

Then we are in for a small detour into a local legend.


"Angaram (Fire) vagainadi (became a river)
aa vage (the same river) Vaighainadi (became river Vaigha)
Mudipette (then became a flooding) eerainadi (river)
vidipote (it ebbed) neerainadi (to become water)"

The legend was, Shiva once tested the local Pandya king by creating a river of fire, which later became the river "Vaigha", which still flows today. Then Vaigha flooded the Madhurai town and then it pacified and became water.

It is amazing how Veturi précised an entire story in exactly nine words.

Then we briefly scrutinize the Telugu-Tamil combined cultural heritage. While Tamils created Bharata Natyam, we have our very own Kuchipudi.

There also seems to be another legend in which a Tamil maiden fell in love with a Telugu king.


"Bharata natya sambharita nartani Kuchipudi lo takadhimita
Viswaraju ee Ekaveera aa Tamila mahilala valapu katha"


Then we get to a sprawling interlude ..


"Manase Madurai koluvaina talli ma Meenaksi
Edalo Yamunai pongeti premakide sakshi"


The above lines reemphasize the loving grace of Meenakshi – the divine force – that showers love and affection on one and all. Her heart is as vast as Madhura, and her divine grace is abundant as Yamuna.

The hymn in Her praise continues..


"Andale ashtotharam chadivinche sogasunnadi
Sogasanta neerajanam arpinche manasunnadi"


A bit of history mentioning the love of Telugu kings for music and literature, from which Tamils benefited, and the heroism of Tamils symbolized by Katta Bomman, from which the Telugus benefited.


"Madhuraneelu ma telugu nayakula madhura sahitee rasikatalo
Kattabomma todagotti vechina telugu veera ghana charitalalo"


Meenakshi is the spiritual strand of unity between Telugus and Tamils – not just them – the patron goddess of the universal brotherhood and love of all Indians.


"Telugu, Tamilam jata kattenennado Meenakshi
Manasu manasu okataina jantakide sakshi"


We had to give Tamils Tyagaraja Krithis to sing, Tirumala Balaji to pray and Krishna water to drink – all in return for Madurai Meenakshi’s grace.

Can we all pray for her grace on her poor peasant children – the Andhra farmers?

Epilogue:

It has been a spiritually cleansing experience listening these two songs every day last few days. Will continue to listen.

I have done my best to transcribe the songs based on what my ears could grasp – it is becoming exceedingly difficult to figure the lyrics when the singers are not native Telugu speakers - I listened to the "varamulu chilaka" stanza dozens of times to make sure I caught the words correctly – but still not sure in the end– if I made a mistake in spite of my efforts, please pardon my illiteracy.

Thanks again to Veturi, Mani Sharma, Guna Sekhar and finally to Mahesh who will bring these gems to life.
Source : http://zone5.sulekha.com/blog/post/2004/08/madhura-madhura-tara-meenakshi.htm

ఎప్పుడూ ఒప్పుకోవద్దురా ఓటమి -- సిరివెన్నెల‌

Great motivational song from sirivennela. It stopped a dozen people from committing suicide. One blind person from hyderbad was so inspired that he went on becoming CA and in one of the interviews he said that he loves his parents and sirivennela.

I like second stanza the most. Pay attention to the last line.
ఆయువంటు ఉన్నవరకు చావు కూడ నెగ్గలేక శవము పైన గెలుపు చాటురా!
What a way look at the death.

With the same meaing he also said
అడుగడుగున అగ్ని పథం
పద పద మన్నది పదం పదం
బ్రతకటం అంటే అర్థం
అనుక్షణం జరిగే యుద్దం

పాడనా తెనుగు పాట - దేవులపల్లి

చిత్ర౦ : అమెరికా అమ్మాయి (1976)
స౦గీత౦ : జి.కె. వెంకటేశ్
రచన : దేవులపల్లి క్రిష్ణ శాస్త్రి

మాయల దెయ్యానివే...

మౌనమే నీ భాష ఓ మూగ మనసా
మౌనమే నీ భాష ఓ మూగ మనసా
తలపులు యెన్నెన్నో కలలుగ కంటావు
కల్లలు కాగానే కన్నీరవుతావు
మౌనమే నీ భాష ఓ మూగ మనసా
ఓ మూగ మనసా

చీకటి గుహ నీవు చింతల చెలి నీవు
నాటక రంగానివే మనసా తెగిన పతంగానివే
యెందుకు వలచేవో యెందుకు వగచేవో
యెందుకు రగిలేవో యేమై మిగిలేవో
యెందుకు రగిలేవో యేమై మిగిలేవో ||మౌనమే||

కోర్కెల సెల నీవు కూరిమి వల నీవు
ఊహల వుయ్యాలవే మనసా మాయల దెయ్యానివే
లేనిది కోరేవు ఉన్నది వదిలేవు
ఒక పొరపాటుకు యుగములు పొగిలేవు
ఒక పొరపాటుకు యుగములు పొగిలేవు ||మౌనమే||

చిత్రం : గుప్పెడు మనసు
రచన : ఆచార్య ఆత్రేయ
సంగీతం : M S విశ్వనాథన్
గానం : బాలమురళిక్రిష్ణ

నీ కేల ఇంత నిరాశ - ?

నీ కేల ఇంత నిరాశ
నీ కన్నులలో కన్నీరేల
అంతా దేవుని లీల ||నీ కేల||

ఆశ నిరాశల దాగుడు మూతల ఆటేలే ఈ లోకం
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చీకటి కొంత వెలుతురు కొంత ఇంతే జీవితమంతా
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