232.
అన్నిటి పై నున్నట్లు హరిపై నుండదు మతి
anniTi pai nunnaTlu haripai nuMDadu mati
తెలుగులో చదవడానికి ఇక్కడ నొక్కండి.
Introduction
In this keertana,
Annamacharya raises a question
that appears simple on the surface —
but is profoundly penetrating:
Why does the human mind,
with its immense intellectual energy
that explores everything it encounters,
show no such eagerness
when it comes to the Divine?
This is not a personal or emotional query.
It is a subtle critique of the narrowness in human vision.
Man is capable of investigating countless phenomena —
from the structure of the atom
to the mysteries of distant stars.
He can analyse, inquire, and understand the vast universe.
But when it comes to the Divine,
that spirit of inquiry is subdued, becomes dependent —
leaning heavily on mythologies, scriptures, and inherited beliefs.
This dependency,
Annamacharya implies,
must be questioned.
|
Philosophical Poem |
|
|
రేకు:
322-1 సంపుటము:
4-124 |
Copper
Leaf: 322-1 Volume:
4-124 |
|
అన్నిటి పై నున్నట్లు హరిపై నుండదు మతి కన్నులఁ బ్రహ్లాదువలె కనుఁగొను టరుదా ॥పల్లవి॥ పులుగు నర్చించొకఁడు పూఁచెనాగతమెరిగి వెలసి ఘనుఁడనంటా విఱ్ఱవీఁగీని జలజాక్షుపాదములు సారె నర్చించేటివారు ఇలలోనఁ బరమార్థ మెరుఁగుటయరుదా ॥అన్ని॥ మానివోడ నమ్మెుకఁడు మహాజలధి దాఁటి నానార్థములు గూర్చి నటియించీని శ్రీనాథుపాదములు చేకోనినమ్మినవాఁడు పూని భవవార్థి దాఁటి పుణ్యమందు టరుదా ॥అన్ని॥ దీపమువట్టి యెుకఁడు తెగనిచీఁకటిఁ బాసి చూపులనిన్నిటిఁ గని సుఖమందీని చేపట్టి పరంజ్యోతి శ్రీవేంకటేశుభక్తుఁ- డోపి ముక్తి కడగని వున్నతుఁడౌ టరుదా ॥అన్ని॥ |
anniTi pai nunnaTlu haripai nuMDadu mati kannula brahlAduvale kanugonu TarudA ॥pallavi॥ pulugu narchiMchokaDu pUchenAgatamerigi velasi ghanuDanaMTA vi~r~ravIgIni jalajAkshupAdamulu sAre narchiMchETivAru ilalOna baramArtha meruguTayarudA ॥anni॥ mAnivODa nammekaDu mahAjaladhi dATi nAnArthamulu gUrchi naTiyiMchIni SrInAthupAdamulu chEkOninamminavADu pUni bhavavArthi dATi puNyamaMdu TarudA ॥anni॥ dIpamuvaTTi yekaDu teganichIkaTi bAsi chUpulaninniTi gani sukhamaMdIni chEpaTTi paraMjyOti SrIvEMkaTESubhaktu - DOpi mukti kaDagani vunnatuDau TarudA ॥anni॥ |
Details and Explanation:
Chorus (Pallavi):
|
Telugu
words/phrases |
Meaning in
English |
|
అన్నిటి పై నున్నట్లు |
The
mind eagerly pursues all things in the world |
|
హరిపై నుండదు మతి |
But why does the same mind
lack deep interest in knowing who or what Hari is? |
|
కన్నులఁ బ్రహ్లాదువలె కనుఁగొను
టరుదా |
Is it truly impossible for ordinary people to
see Hari before their eyes, like Prahlada did? |
Literal
Meaning:
Annamacharya expresses amazement:
Commentary:
"Why the mind not
dwell on SRI HARI?"
This is not just a devotional lament.
It is a quiet but piercing philosophical question —
about human attention, effort, and the direction of our inquiry.
We Human beings possess
an extraordinary capacity
of detached observation.
We have probed invisible
atoms and uncovered their inherent properties.
We have explored galaxies billions of light-years away.
We have studied microscopic life forms,
discovered their nature,
and turned that knowledge
into medical revolution.
We’ve built complex
computational systems
powered by subtle
electromagnetic fields.
With the aid of surgical precision,
we now enter blood vessels
once deemed inaccessible.
All of this stems from
a calm,
persistent,
unbiased
scientific temperament.
Such feats are
not trivial.
They are the fruit of a
quiet,
determined journey of
inquiry —
free from dogma,
driven by relentless
questioning.
And yet —
why the same patient
and
free-thinking gaze
does not turn toward the
Divine?
Why is it that, when
contemplating God,
we fall back on what we've read or heard —
scriptures, stories, traditions —
and start our journey from pre-accepted beliefs?
However accurate they may
be,
These ready-made ideas
and theological
assumptions at the end are assumptions.
They restrain the scope of
our inquiry.
They create a mental cage.
We aren't truly seeking;
we are merely conforming.
Meanwhile, the mind races
—
restlessly,
almost carelessly —
after worldly stimuli.
Annamacharya finds
this as a startling contrast.
Hence his quiet yet
pointed question:
“kannula brahlAduvale
kanugonu TarudA”
(Prahlada, the very symbol of unwavering
devotion and spiritual
clarity, saw God with his own eyes).
Is it impossible for us to see GOD?)
He doesn’t issue a
verdict.
He offer no instruction.
He ends with a gentle yet piercing invitation:
“arudā?”
— Is it rare?
Can we truly see, if we sincerely seek?
Can we investigate,
not with belief,
but with the same rigor
and openness we probe science?
Annamacharya is not a
theological critique.
It is a silent invocation
—
a tender admonition from
Annamacharya,
a call to look again, to look deeper.
What
should we seek?
From what lens must we see?
And from what point of freedom must we begin?
First Stanza:
|
Telugu
Phrase (పదబంధం) |
English
Meaning |
|
పులుగు
నర్చించొకఁడు |
One who worships
birds (like parrots) for divination |
|
పూఁచెనాగతమెరిగి |
Who claims to
know the future |
|
వెలసి ఘనుఁడనంటా విఱ్ఱవీఁగీని |
Gains fame and
boast of his own greatness |
|
జలజాక్షుపాదములు సారె నర్చించేటివారు |
Those who offer
regular worship to the lotus-eyed Lord Vishnu |
|
ఇలలోనఁ బరమార్థ మెరుఁగుటయరుదా |
In this very
world, is the supreme truth rare to these devoted individuals? (not) |
Literal
Meaning:
One person worships
birds and claims to know the future.
With association of such knowledge,
he becomes famous
and boasts about his own greatness.
But there are also people who,
with genuine devotion,
constantly offer worship to the
lotus-eyed Lord Vishnu.
So Annamacharya asks —
Is it really that rare to realize the supreme truth
right here in this very world?
Commentary:
Annamacharya criticizing
show of knowledge,
and
the false sense of achievement
some people may become
by performing superficial acts like:
parrot astrology
palmistry
He contrasts this with
the quiet, unassuming,
yet genuine devotion of those who daily
worship the Lord —
perhaps not having visions,
perhaps not claiming anything —
but steadily offering their minds at the
feet of the divine.
Here, Annamacharya highlights:
“Don’t assume “paramārtha” is
unreachable.
Don’t get distracted by the noise.
Second Stanza:
|
Telugu Phrase (పదబంధం) |
Meaning in English |
|
మానివోడ నమ్మెుకఁడు |
Someone boards a wooden boat (i.e., relies on
something impermanent) |
|
మహాజలధి దాఁటి |
And crosses vast oceans |
|
నానార్థములు గూర్చి నటియించీని |
Spends life interpreting layered meanings,
performing life as theatre |
|
శ్రీనాథుపాదములు చేకోనినమ్మినవాఁడు |
One who holds on only to the feet of Śrīnātha
(Vishnu) |
|
పూని
భవవార్థి దాఁటి పుణ్యమందు టరుదా |
Can such a one not cross this ocean of birth and reach
blessedness? |
Literal
meaning:
O man!
He who boards a fragile wooden boat
and dares to sail life’s boundless oceans—
may argue like a learned scholar,
interpret all with clever wit,
and strut upon the stage as if life were a grand performance.
But where does he truly arrive?
Yet—
is it really rare for one
who holds fast to Śrīnātha’s sacred feet,
with unwavering devotion,
to cross the endless ocean of becoming—
where life keeps turning,
from birth to death,
from form to form,
again and again?
Interpretation:
This echoes the warning in another
verse:
And we — the readers —
Third Stanza:
|
Telugu Phrase (పదబంధం) |
Meaning in English |
|
దీపమువట్టి యెుకఁడు |
One who takes up the lamp (of truth) |
|
తెగనిచీఁకటిఁ బాసి |
And cuts through the unending darkness |
|
చూపులనిన్నిటిఁ గని సుఖమందీని |
Who examines life from all directions and
finds the eye of insight |
|
చేపట్టి పరంజ్యోతి శ్రీవేంకటేశు |
Who holds firmly to the supreme light, Śrī
Veṅkaṭēśa |
|
భక్తుఁడోపి ముక్తి కడగని వున్నతుఁడౌ టరుదా |
And patiently bears the strain of the path —
is such a one not truly liberated, exalted? |
Literal
meaning
One who
lights the lamp of truth
and patiently cuts through the long darkness within,
who observes life from all directions
and finds that one true way of seeing —
who holds firmly to the supreme light, Śrī Veṅkaṭēśa —
and bears the struggle of such a path —
is it rare for such a seeker to reach liberation?
Will he not be truly uplifted?
Interpretation:
What is this “lamp”?
It is not just faith or ritual —
it is truth: the courage to see things as they are.
Death is the ultimate
truth for all living beings.
In the world of Supreme Light — Śrī Veṅkaṭēśa —
both birth and death are merely phase transitions.
The “darkness” here is not
of night —
it is the dense layer of assumptions, beliefs, desires, and mental habits
that cloud our perception.
To remove that darkness,
one must look deeply and honestly,
again and again, from all sides —
like a scientist —
until confusion settles and a clear inner seeing begins.
This may appear simple.
But our current life, built on sensory experience, is of no real use.
We need a fundamental change —
an irrevocable change —
to pass through a stillness that feels like death.
Thus, true seeing is
difficult —
but not impossible.
From this, we understand
that
Annamacharya is pointing toward a truth
very similar to what the Bhagavad Gītā (2.69) says:
Thus, we understand that
Annamacharya is pointing
toward a truth
like what the Bhagavad
Gītā (2.69) says:
या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति संयमी |
यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुने: || 2-69||
yā niśhā sarva-bhūtānāṁ
tasyāṁ jāgarti sanyamī
yasyāṁ jāgrati bhūtāni sā niśhā paśhyato muneḥ
“What is night to all
living beings,
is day to the self-controlled one.
What seems like day to ordinary people,
is night to the sage who truly sees.”
Without
knowing death, no one can ever truly understand life.
Though uncomfortable, this topic cannot be set aside.
The old must go for the new to arise.
From the
above, it is not difficult to conclude:
a true yogi may never claim to be one.
And those who loudly claim to be yogis — obviously, are not.
In other
words —
true understanding often lies in the direction opposite to common thinking.
To see clearly, one must let go of security, excitement, comfort, and beliefs.
These act like a thick cloud in the space of thought.
A yogi
becomes a true devotee — not through emotion,
but through strength, focus, and surrender
to the Supreme Light (Paraṁjyōti).
The path
is not easy.
It requires patience — ōpi (ఓపి)—
the ability to endure uncertainty, difficulty, and inner solitude.
As the Gītā also says:
तथा देहान्तरप्राप्तिर्धीरस्तत्र न मुह्यति || 2-13||
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati
“He who understands the
journey of the soul is not confused at the time of body transformation.” (2.13)
Such a seeker is no longer
tossed around by life.
He moves from being a mere experiencer (bhōgi)
to becoming a yogi —
a person rooted in inner freedom.
This, says Annamacharya,
is not beyond reach.
It is rare — but not impossible.
Yes, it's a common attitude of a common man...always he likes to live in his own imaginary world as it is brings happiness personally ...he wants to become bhogi instead of become yogi... Here Srinivasulu sir's explanation of this keerthana...is very near to the mankind..
ReplyDeleteSrinivasu Rayavarapu