This is another poem from the epic of “Gajendramoksham”. When I was a kid, I couldn’t get the emotions behind this poem, but later on when I started thinking on my own, my eyes filled with tears whenever I read or heard this padyam. Of course I admit I am very emotional but I believe this poem will cause everyone a tinge of sorrow in their hearts at the plight of the elephant king and at the same filled with utmost devotion to the Ultimate Liberator, Sri Maha Vishnu. Context: The whole story of Gajendra Moksham is how the Elephant King gets “ moksham ”, the Telugu/Sanskrit word, the closest equivalent in English I can think of is absolute Liberation . The scene starts with the Elephant King leading his herd and moving across the thick forest towards the river for quenching their thirst. It is described very graciously that, as the herd moved, the Elephant King glowed with pride, and all the animals in the jungle get scared, as if the Earth shook during Pralaya, destruction of Universe...
శా. కారే రాజులు రాజ్యముల్ గలుగవే గర్వోన్నతిం బొందరే వారేరీ సిరి మూటగట్టుకొని పోవంజాలిరే భూమిపైఁ బేరైనం గలదే శిబిప్రముఖులుం బ్రీతిన్ యశఃకాములై యీరే కోర్కులు వారలన్ మఱచిరే యిక్కాలమున్ భార్గవా! shA. kArE rAjulu rAjyamul galugavE garvOnnathiM boMdharE vArEree siri mootagattukoni pOvaMjAlirE bhoomipaiAO bErainM galadhE shibipramukhuluM breethin yashaHkAmulai yeerE kOrkulu vAralan maRachirE yikkAlamun bhArgavA! Context: This is a poem in the “ashtama skandam” of the Pothana’s Bhagavatham, where in the story of the Maha Vishnu in His “Vamana” avatara is told. Vamana goes to the great demon king Bali and asks him for three feet of space, as Bali is doing a great penance and is giving alms/charity to those who seek. Then, the intelligent guru of Bali, Shukracharya, warns Bali not to promise anything to this young Brahmin Vamana, as “He is none other than the great Vishnu, and He will destroy you if you give Him whatever He asks”. In reply, Bali, who is known for his great charitable nature, say...
I was skimming through a Telugu book on the "Sri Narasimha Shatakam", orginally claimed to be written by Sri Seshappa Kavi with commentary by Vidwan, Kasireddy Venkatapathi Reddy. (First published in 2001 December by Sri Paavani Seva Samithi, Hyderabad). In the Preface, I found something very interesting and thought of just posting it to my blog, with needful translation of Mr.Reddy's original words in Telugu. Here it goes: "nrusimhaa raamakrishneShu Shaadgunyam paripooritham", this Sanskrit phase means that: Narasimha avatara (the lion-faced incarnation of Vishnu) has the quality of "opulence" (aishwaryamu), Rama has the quality of opulence plus "pleasantness" (maadhuryamu) and Krishna combines the qualities of opulence, pleasantness along with "vigor or prowess" (veeryamu). Thus these qualities have become a completeness through these three avataras. In Telugu, there were 3 "shataka"s (a collection of hundred poems) dedi...
Comments