228. priyurAlatOnEla bIrAlu (ప్రియురాలతోనేల బీరాలు)

                                                  ANNAMACHARYULU

228. ప్రియురాలతోనేల బీరాలు

priyurAlatOnEla bIrAlu 

తెలుగులో చదవడానికి ఇక్కడ నొక్కండి.  

Introduction:

This is a romantic (śṛṅgāra) kīrtana.
The composer, Annamacharya,
imagines Śrī Vēṅkaṭēśwara as his beloved
and speaks in quiet intimacy. 

Not a sermon,
but a soft-spoken play
between the Lord
and His lover.

No need to boast.

No need to wriggle.

No need to strive or prove.

Nothing to know,
Nothing to explain,
Nothing in Him to grasp. 

For true victory —
don’t stretch your arms outward.
Just turn within,
and face what must be faced. 

 

అధ్యాత్మ కీర్తన​
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ప్రియురాలతోనేల బీరాలు జయమంది రాకాసుల సాదించరాదా ॥పల్లవి॥   చిగురుమోవిదాన చిగురుమేనిదాన చిగురుచిత్తముదాన చెప్పేదేమి నగుతానే సరసాన నాతోనేల పెనఁగేవు పగవారిమీఁద నీబలువు చూపరాదా ॥ప్రియు॥   తామెరకన్నులదాన తామెరచేతులదాన తామెరమోముదాన తడవేదేమి సాముసేసిసేసి మాచన్నులేల పిసికేవు దోమటిబూతకిమీఁద తొడుకఁగరాదా ॥ప్రియు॥   తీగెబుజములదాన తీగెకోరికలదాన తీగెమెఱుఁగులదాన తెలిసేదేమి యీగతి శ్రీవేంకటేశ యిట్టె నన్నుఁ గూడితి నీ- జాగులు చుప్పనాతికే చల్లి చూపరాదా ॥ప్రియు॥	priyurAlatOnEla bIrAlu jayamaMdi rAkAsula sAdiMcharAdA ॥pallavi॥   chigurumOvidAna chigurumEnidAna chiguruchittamudAna cheppEdEmi nagutAnE sarasAna nAtOnEla penagEvu pagavArimIda nIbaluvu chUparAdA ॥priyu॥   tAmerakannuladAna tAmerachEtuladAna tAmeramOmudAna taDavEdEmi sAmusEsisEsi mAchannulEla pisikEvu dOmaTibUtakimIda toDukagarAdA ॥priyu॥   tIgebujamuladAna tIgekOrikaladAna tIgeme~ruguladAna telisEdEmi yIgati SrIvEMkaTESa yiTTe nannu gUDiti nI- jAgulu chuppanAtikE challi chUparAdA ॥priyu॥

 

Details and Explanation:

ప్రియురాలతోనేల బీరాలు

జయమంది రాకాసుల సాదించరాదా ॥పల్లవి॥

                                        priyurAlatOnEla bIrAlu

                                        jayamaMdi rAkAsula sAdiMcharAdA       ॥pallavi॥

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Meaning

Śrī Vēṅkaṭēśwara addresses Annamacharya:

“O beloved soul!
What’s the point in
speaking sweet nothings to lovers,
and wasting time in idle pleasures?

Only on gaining the True victory—
you may subdue the demonic tendencies within you!”* 

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Commentary

The key word here is “jaya mandi” —

Not in outward conquests,

not in fleeting affections —

but in knowing

“what it is to love”,
and turning inward with that clarity. 

Annamacharya confronts us directly:

The true battle is not with the body,

but with the inner nature.

Yet we allow ourselves to be distracted —

caught in desires, pleasures, games, and indulgences.

We spend our time chasing outer experiences,

while the real flaws — the anger, the confusion, the pride —

go unchallenged, untouched.

This pallavi is not just poetic —

it is a challenge.

Annamacharya asks us, gently but firmly:

Are you facing what really needs to be faced?

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First Stanza:

చిగురుమోవిదాన చిగురుమేనిదాన

చిగురుచిత్తముదాన చెప్పేదేమి

నగుతానే సరసాన నాతోనేల పెనఁగేవు

పగవారిమీఁద నీబలువు చూపరాదా ॥ప్రియు॥

 

chigurumOvidAna chigurumEnidAna

chiguruchittamudAna cheppEdEmi

nagutAnE sarasAna nAtOnEla penagEvu

pagavArimIda nIbaluvu chUparAdA    ॥priyu॥

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Literal Meaning:

Śrī Vēṅkaṭēśwara speaks to Annamacharya:

"You are soft-spoken, tender in your ways,
and your heart is gentle like a young sprout.

What can I even say to you?

(There is nothing. You must discover it yourself.)

You smile playfully, full of affection —

even though I dwell within you.

yet you struggle with me,

I am your friend — not someone to fight with."

Annamacharya to Lord:

Why not turn your energy
towards my real enemies?

---

Commentary:

This stanza carries a subtle reflection

on Love, Devotion and Human Nature.

Annamacharya writes as though addressing a beloved —

but beneath that is an invitation

to a deeper, inner conversation.

He is pointing to the human condition:

even one who is

tender by nature,

soft by speech,

beautiful in relationships

may still fail to understand Divine Love clearly.

Annamacharya gently shows

how the human mind misdirects its strength.

Instead of confronting its own weaknesses,

it fights shadows — and even resists the Divine itself.

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“పగవారిమీఁద నీబలువు చూపరాదా”

"Why not show your strength against my enemies?"

This line is especially important.

It exposes the evasive tendencies of the mind —
our habit of avoiding the uncomfortable inner work,
and turning outward in search of easier confrontations.

Here, man subtly avoids his own responsibility,
even pushing his burden onto God.

But that is pure ignorance

---

A parallel from the Bhagavad Gita:

उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् |
आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मन: || 6-5||

uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ nātmānam avasādayet
ātmaiva hyātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ 

Elevate yourself through the power of your mind

must not degrade by neglect

based on use

Mind can be

Your Friend

OR

Your Enemy

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Second Stanza:

తామెరకన్నులదాన తామెరచేతులదాన

తామెరమోముదాన తడవేదేమి

సాముసేసిసేసి మాచన్నులేల పిసికేవు

దోమటిబూతకిమీఁద తొడుకఁగరాదా ॥ప్రియు॥

 

tAmerakannuladAna tAmerachEtuladAna

tAmeramOmudAna taDavEdEmi

sAmusEsisEsi mAchannulEla pisikEvu

dOmaTibUtakimIda toDukagarAdA      ॥priyu॥

 

తడవేదేమి = What are you touching? (If me? the God? you can never, as I don’t have a form)

సాముసేసిసేసి = with great repeated effort

మాచన్నులేల పిసికేవు = (implied) you cannot extract .

దోమటి = illusion, masked

దోమటిబూతకిమీఁద = the demon of illusion

తొడుకఁగరాదా = Why not grab and catch?

దోమటిబూతకిమీఁద తొడుకఁగరాదా = Why not grab and catch that wretch creating illusions?

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Literal Meaning:

Śrī Vēṅkaṭēśwara speaks to the devotee:

"You, gorgeous big round eyes.

Delicate stretching hands,

Lotus face beauty—

what is it you're trying to reach?

Despite all your effort,
you can’t squeeze anything out of me..

Acharya to Śrī Vēṅkaṭēśwara:

Why don’t you grab the real culprit —
this demoness of illusion?

---

Commentary

“తామెరమోముదాన తడవేదేమి”

“What are you trying to touch?” is not a casual question.

It goes to the heart of spiritual misdirection.
We try to reach the Divine as if He is an object —

something graspable,

attainable through effort,

struggle, or emotional intensity.

But the Lord here reminds us —
He is not material, not bound to the senses.

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“సాముసేసిసేసి మాచన్నులేల పిసికేవు?”

(literal meaning:  you are exerting & trying to squeeze my bosom)

“Despite all your coaxing and squeezing,
you gain nothing”

---

This is a sharp but compassionate reminder:
On Human Effort

Humans rarely abandon effort,
even when it is clearly misdirected.

We keep moving, preparing, experimenting, straining —
thinking that more will finally yield something meaningful.

But the Lord gently unmasks this:

All that coaxing, all that pressing —
and yet you cannot squeeze out truth
from the chaff of outer things.

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Unity of Form and Void

Earlier poems show us:
Form and emptiness are not opposites. Both are Divine.
Matter and void are two sides of the same truth.
Chasing one while rejecting the other reflects inner incompleteness.
This is where the idea of Yin and Yang offers deep clarity.

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Yin and Yang Reflection

Yin and Yang may appear opposite —
but in truth, they reflect an eternal harmony.
They are not enemies, but interdependent forces.

You cannot have light without shadow.
You cannot have sound without silence.
You cannot grasp form unless you know emptiness.

The Taijitu symbol (above) beautifully captures this:
One side is black (Yin), the other white (Yang),
each containing a dot of the opposite within it.

This teaches us:

In every force, its counterpart lives quietly within.

In every seeking, letting go is present.

In every longing, truth is hidden.

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Closing Thoughts

The second stanza is not a rejection of effort —
but a redirection of it.

Don't grasp at what cannot be held.
Don’t wrestle.
Instead, look inward.

Expose the illusion —

 and the truth will already be there.

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Third Stanza:

తీగెబుజములదాన తీగెకోరికలదాన

తీగెమెఱుఁగులదాన తెలిసేదేమి

యీగతి శ్రీవేంకటేశ యిట్టె నన్నుఁ గూడితి నీ-

జాగులు చుప్పనాతికే చల్లి చూపరాదా ॥ప్రియు॥

 

tIgebujamuladAna tIgekOrikaladAna

tIgeme~ruguladAna telisEdEmi

yIgati SrIvEMkaTESa yiTTe nannu gUDiti nI-

jAgulu chuppanAtikE challi chUparAdA        ॥priyu॥

 

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Meaning:

Śrī Vēṅkaṭēśwara speaks to the devotee:

Your arms are long and delicate like vines,
desires stretching like creeper

you dazzle like a radiant wire —

what can you ever know?

(implying you lack stillness)

Acharya to Śrī Vēṅkaṭēśwara:

Before my mind recognizes it,
you have already merged into me.

The delays the soul experiences

are from within —

born of our impatience,

restlessness,

unwillingness

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Commentary:

Here, Annamacharya turns our gaze inward again.
The Lord says:

I am already within you —

even before you know it.

But your desires spread like vines,

covering your eyes, clouding your mind.

You long, you hope, you wait —

but it’s all under a veil woven by craving.

True recognition from stillness —

from seeing without grasping.

In the words of Annamacharya

“Only when seen with true clarity,

does the eye become its own seer.”

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