Sri Venkateswara Temple & Cultural Center, Novi Page | 51

Surapa neelamani nibha tanuvuto, uramuna

mutyapu sarula chayamuto
Karamuna sara kodanda kaanthito, dharani ta-
nayato, tyaagaraajaarchita
The lyric appears simple enough for any-
one who can understand Telugu. Oh Lord of my
life, have you come walking, to save me? The
key to understanding this krithi is in the ad-
dress, naa praana naathha! Praana (breath) is
essenal to a living being. Obviously, there is no
life without breath. The one that is in charge of
breath is the Supreme Being. Who and where is
this Supreme Being? He is not dierent from
the life force that exists within and animates all
life. So, the nameless, formless force that ani-
mates all life has now come walking to save
Saint Thyagaraja. Please note that the arrival
was not in haste as in the case of Gajendra
Moksham or Draupadi Mana Samrakshanam.
He came walking, almost as if for a stroll. This is
further explained in the next stanza.
The formless life force from the opening
line is now addressed as Vanaja nayana, an epi-
thet for Sri Vishnu (and his incarnaons). By this
direct address, Saint Thyagaraja idenes the
Almighty more clearly, giving him a name, a
form and a character naama, roopa, guna. Oh
lotus eyed one! My lifes desire is just to see
your face. In your compassion, you
acknowledge my wish, he says. The form that
was sketched lightly thus gets a more elaborate
treatment in the last stanza. We get the full de-
scripon. The one who came is Surapa, god of
gods, of blue hued body that is brilliant like a
sapphire. Beauful pearl necklaces adorn his
broad chest. Mighty bow and arrows are shin-
ing in his hands. His consort Sita is accompany-
The Most Glorious Savior Comes Walking












It is well known that Saint Thyagaraja is
a great devotee of Sri Rama. His devoon is
such that he sang of glorious visions of Sri Rama
in the enre divine splendor in many of his
krithis. Now, we may ask did the Supreme Be-
ing actually come down in front of Saint Thyaga-
raja, in a masculine form, holding bow and ar-
rows, wearing nice silk clothes and adorned
with beauful ornaments? Or did Saint Thyaga-
raja imagine all this in his mind? It becomes ap-
parent, when we examine these krithis with
sucient aenon that Saint Thyagaraja is sing-
ing from a deep experience of realizaon and
not from mere imaginaon. Let us approach a
gem among such krithis, Nanu palimpa, which
the Saint composed in Mohana Ragam.
Nanu paalimpa nadachi vacchivo, naa praana
naathaa
Vanaja nayana, nee momu joocute, jeevanama-
ni nenaruna manasu marmamu delisi
Sri Venkateswara Temple & Cultural Center, Novi Page | 52


warrior king Sri Rama, with his consort Sita to
oer protecon.
The melodic structure of Raga Mohana
is both universal and extremely pleasant. Even
those not parcularly familiar with Carnac mu-
sic are easily mesmerized by its beauty. The
gentle and protecve feel of the lyric is en-
hanced a thousand fold when sung in Mohana,
thus creang a mood of all-encompassing se-
renity.
Sankagiri Narayanaswamy.
ing him. Being god of gods, he is the Almighty
nothing is impossible for him. Blue is the color
of deep ocean. Rama is deep like an ocean in
his compassion and he is also all pervading like
the sky. He is a king and a warrior, indicated by
the broad chest, ornaments and the
weapons. However, the power he wields is not
for violence but for protecon, as indicated by
the gentle presence of his consort along his
side. Thus, the formless force that animates all
life, the all-pervading Vishnu, the god of gods,
who has come now in his deep compassion as