Music and Me

Sri chakra raaja

“Sri chakara raja simhaasaneshwarai…”… this was a song that mum and dad used to sing to us when we were babies to put us to sleep. I did not know too many lines of this song. Somehow the first two lines that had registered in my mind seemed to be nice. I liked the tune. I also had this sentimental attachment to it because of the listening to it in childhood. So I decided to research the song a little and then learn it.
I also got an opportunity to listen to the instrumental snippet of it, played by Kadri Gopalnath. It was too good.

It is a song that praises the godess in her various forms. The raagam of this song is raagamaalika (senjcuruTTi -janyam of harikAmbhOji, 28th mELam,punnAgavarALi-janyam of hanumattODi, 8th mELam,nAdanAmakkriyA-janyam of mAyAmALava gowLai, 15th mELam,sindu bhairavi-janyam of nATakappriyA, 10th mELam) i and taalam is aadi. The composer is agattiyar(not very sure)

The song goes as below:
Pallavi:
Raagam: senjcuruTTi
Parent raagam:Harikambhoji (28th melakartha)
Aa: D2 S R2 G3 M1 P D2 N2
Av: N2 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S N2 D2 P

SrI cakra rAja simhAsanESwari SrI lalitAmbikE bhuvanESwari

anupallavi:
Agama vEda kalAmaya rUpiNi akhila carAcara janani nArAyaNi
nAga kangaNa naTarAja manOhari~nAna vidyESwari rAja rAjESwari (SrI….)

CaraNam:

1. rAgam: punnAgavarALi
Parent Raagam: hanumatodi (8th mekartha)
Aa: N2 , S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N2
Av: N2 D1 P M1 G2 R1 S N2 ,
palavidamAy unnai ADavum pADavum pADik koNDADum anbar pada malar sUDavum
ulaga muzhudum unnai agamurak kANavum oru nilai taruvAy kAnji kAmESwari (SrI….)

2. rAgam: nAdanAmakkriyA
Parent raagam: Mayamalava gowla(15th melakartha)
Aa: S R1 G3 M1 P D1 N3
Av: N3 D1 P M1 G3 R1 S N3

uzhanRu tirinda ennai uttamanAkki vaittAy uyariya periyOrgaL onRiDak kUTTivaittAy
nizhalenat toDar^nda mun Uzhk koDumaiyai nIngac ceydAy nitya kalyANi bhavAni padmESwari (SrI….)

3. rAgam: sindu bhairavi
Parent raagam: Naatakapriya(10th melakartha)
Aa: S R2 G2 M1 G2 P D1 N2 S
Av: N2 D1 P M1 G2 R1 S N2 S

tunbap puDattiliTTut tUyavanAkki vaittAy toDar^nda mun mAyai nIkki piRanda payanait tandAy
anbaip pugaTTi undan ADalaik kANac ceydAy aDaikkalam nIyE ammA akhilANDESwari

Meaning:
Pallavi:
This line is just a salutation to dEvi, also called lalitAmbikai and bhuvanESwari (one who rules the whole world).
Anupallavi:
You are the manifestation of the religious scriptures and arts. You are the generator of all life forms in the universe. You are the beloved of Lord Nataraja- who wears the snake as an ornament on him (it could also mean that dEvi wears the snake as a ‘kangaNam’ i.e.,bangle). You are the repository of all learning and knowledge, Oh rAja rAjESwari!
CaraNam 1:
Please enable your devotees to sing and dance your praise. Let those singing devotees offer flowers at your feet. Enable the whole world to visualise you in their hearts with deep understanding, Oh kAnjci kAmESwari!
CaraNam 2:
I was wallowing in sin. You made me a person of integrity. You helped me associate myself with great people. You eliminated the cruel fate, which followed me like a shadow. You are really great, Oh, bhavAni, padmESwari!
CaraNam 3:
You threw me into the crucible of misery in order to make me blemishless. You also removed the delusion that followed me in order to enable me to understand the meaning of my birth. You showered your love on me and made me see your glorious dance. I surrender unto you, akhilANDESwari!

I also got some inputs about the composer. Agathyar was a muni or a saint. He had 12 disciples of which TolkAppiyar was a prime disciple. TolkAppiyar wrote TolkAppiyam, the primal Tamil grammar treatise on which all subsequent Tamil works were based. Biographical information about agattiyar is scarce except what is gathered from religious literature.
If you notice, you can find sankrit verses in the pallavi and anupallavi and the rest of the song is in tamil.
Agathyar was a great sage. He was supposed to be attending the wedding of Shiva and Parvathi in the Himalayan Mountains. At that time there was a geo-physical imbalance. Hence lord Shiva told Agathyar to go down south to re establish the balance. This is how the Aryan culture is supposed to have come south. A descendant of Agathyar might have written the song.

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