234 aMtarumAlinayaTTi adhamulAla (అంతరుమాలినయట్టి అధములాల)

 ANNAMACHARYULU

234. అంతరుమాలినయట్టి అధములాల

aMtarumAlinayaTTi adhamulAla

తెలుగులో చదవడానికి ఇక్కడ నొక్కండి.

Introduction

This poem clearly functions as a rebuke.
Annamacharya isn’t engaging in metaphysical musing here —
he’s speaking plain truth with sharp clarity,
almost like a social reformer in poet’s clothing. 

Annamacharya’s philosophy, in a single line:
Devotion must be pure gold — one hundred parts whole.
Any deceit in the weighing, any delusion in the offering —
he neither tolerates it, nor lets it pass. 

In this keertana,
he questions those who drag devotion
from the sanctum into the marketplace.
He challenges those who distort the scales of truth.
He points toward a path of inner growth.

This isn’t a sermon —
it’s a precise strike at hollow practices,
a strong warning against transactional faith,
a fearless platform where truth stands uncompromised.

Philosophical Poem
రేకు: 103-5 సంపుటము: 2-17	Copper Leaf: 103-5 Volume: 2-17
అంతరుమాలినయట్టి అధములాల పొంత సంతకూటమి పొరిచూపు గాదా ॥పల్లవి॥   కనక మిత్తడితోడ కలయ సరిదూఁచితే అనువవునా అది దోషమవుఁ గాక ఘనుఁడైన హరితోఁ గడుహీనదేవతల ననిచి సరివెట్టితే నయమవునా భువిని ॥అంత॥   పట్టభద్రుఁడు గూర్చుండే బలుసింహాసనముపై వెట్టిబంటుఁ బెట్టేవారు వెఱ్ఱులేకారా గట్టిగా శ్రీహరితోడ కలగంపదేవతలఁ బెట్టి కొలుచుట విందువెట్టి పగగాదా ॥అంత॥   కొంచక సింహముండేటి గుహ నుండవచ్చునా పొంచి నక్కలకెల్ల బొక్కలే కాక అంచెల శ్రీవేంకటేశుఁ డాత్మలోనే వుండఁగాను కొంచపుదైవాల పలువంచలనే కాక ॥అంత॥	aMtarumAlinayaTTi adhamulAla poMta saMtakUTami porichUpu gAdA ॥pallavi॥   kanaka mittaDitODa kalaya saridUchitE anuvavunA adi dOshamavu gAka ghanuDaina haritO gaDuhInadEvatala nanichi sariveTTitE nayamavunA bhuvini ॥aMta॥   paTTabhadruDu gUrchuMDE balusiMhAsanamupai veTTibaMTu beTTEvAru ve~r~rulEkArA gaTTigA SrIharitODa kalagaMpadEvatala beTTi koluchuTa viMduveTTi pagagAdA॥aMta॥   koMchaka siMhamuMDETi guha nuMDavachchunA poMchi nakkalakella bokkalE kAka aMchela SrIvEMkaTESu DAtmalOnE vuMDagAnu koMchapudaivAla paluvaMchalanE kAka ॥aMta॥

 Details and Explanation:

 Chorus (Pallavi):

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అంతరుమాలినయట్టి అధములాల
పొంత సంతకూటమి పొరిచూపు గాదా ॥పల్లవి॥

aMtarumAlinayaTTi adhamulAla

poMta saMtakUTami porichUpu gAdA ॥pallavi॥ 

Telugu Phrase	Meaning in English
అంతరుమాలినయట్టి	Those who have thrown away the sense of distinction (తారతమ్యము – sense of reverence or discernment – as if blown away by the wind)
అధములాల	O base-minded ones! (addressing people of degraded inner character)
పొంత	Nearby, adjacent
సంతకూటమి	Marketplace, commercial bazaar where things are bargained and traded
పొరిచూపు గాదా	Glance with comparison or calculation (weighing value, worth), is it not?

Literal Meaning:

O shallow minds, adrift and dim,
You’ve cast your soul’s fine thread to whim.
With sacredness you play the trade —
A market faith, in bargain laid.

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Commentary: 

You weigh your vows in temple courts,
And tally God in profit reports.
You do not bow, you do not burn —
You only count what you might earn. 

You see the shrine — not Light, but gain.
Your prayer is mouthed to mask your strain.
Not love, not truth, not inner call —
Just polished deals, devotional sprawl. 

Is this your faith? A silent plea?
Or noisy fairs of piety?
O sons of price and printed verse —
You turn the holy into curse. 

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First Stanza:

కనక మిత్తడితోడ కలయ సరిదూఁచితే

అనువవునా అది దోషమవుఁ గాక

ఘనుఁడైన హరితోఁ గడుహీనదేవతల

ననిచి సరివెట్టితే నయమవునా భువిని ॥అంత॥

 

kanaka mittaDitODa kalaya saridUchitE

anuvavunA adi dOshamavu gAka

ghanuDaina haritO gaDuhInadEvatala

nanichi sariveTTitE nayamavunA bhuvini     ॥aMta॥

Telugu Phrase	Meaning in English
కనక మిత్తడితోడ కలయ సరిదూఁచితే	If you try to polish brass to match the shine of gold
అనువవునా అది దోషమవుఁ గాక	Can it ever become equal? Won’t it still remain inferior?
ఘనుఁడైన హరితోఁ గడుహీనదేవతల	With the Supreme Lord Hari along with lesser deities ( who are also part of the Lord)
ననిచి సరివెట్టితే నయమవునా భువిని	If you equate them, is that proper or even beneficial to this world?

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Literal Meaning: 

If brass is polished to a golden gleam,
Can it ever become gold, or is that a dream?
Can lesser gods stand equal with Śrīhari —
Is such a pairing truly supreme?

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Commentary:

You polish brass and claim it's gold —
But truth does not shine with lies retold.
What’s made by mind cannot match the flame
Of the One who burns beyond all name.

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The formless Lord is not confined
To every form the sects designed.
In chasing shape and lesser glow,
You miss the Source from which all flow.

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O seeker, pause and look again —
True gold alone withstands the flame.
To weigh the formless with the formed
Is not devotion — but truth deformed.

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Second Stanza:

పట్టభద్రుఁడు గూర్చుండే బలుసింహాసనముపై
వెట్టిబంటుఁ బెట్టేవారు వెఱ్ఱులేకారా
గట్టిగా శ్రీహరితోడ కలగంపదేవతలఁ
బెట్టి కొలుచుట విందువెట్టి పగగాదా ॥అంత॥

paTTabhadruDu gUrchuMDE balusiMhAsanamupai

veTTibaMTu beTTEvAru ve~r~rulEkArA

gaTTigA SrIharitODa kalagaMpadEvatala

beTTi koluchuTa viMduveTTi pagagAdA       ॥aMta॥ 

Phrase	Meaning
పట్టభద్రుఁడు  గూర్చుండే బలుసింహాసనముపై	The golden throne meant for one who is truly worthy (spiritually realized)
వెట్టిబంటుఁ బెట్టేవారు వెఱ్ఱులేకారా	Those who make an unworthy servant sit there, are they not utterly foolish?
గట్టిగా శ్రీహరితోడ కలగంపదేవతలఁ	By forcefully equating minor deities (born from His light) with the Supreme Lord Srihari
బెట్టి కొలుచుట విందువెట్టి పగగాదా	Is not offering Him worship this way — like inviting someone to a feast and insulting them instead?

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Literal Meaning –

The sovereign seat of the worthy one —
Is not for jesters to rest upon.
Fools parade in wisdom’s name,
Yet shrink when truth makes its claim.

 

Can the Lord of all the worlds
Be weighed with deities man upholds?
This mix-and-serve devotion’s art —
Is it worship, or insult dressed as part? 

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Commentary:

Not all who speak of truth have known,
The weight of silence truth has shown.
A throne is not for every claim —
It fits the worthy, not the name. 

To place the Lord of boundless flame
Beside the forms we carve in name —
Is not devotion, but disguise,
A veiled exchange in holy guise. 

You call it faith, but strike a score,
Invite the guest, then bar the door.
Is this your worship? Feast or feud?
A shrine defiled by attitude.

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Third Stanza:

కొంచక సింహముండేటి గుహ నుండవచ్చునా

పొంచి నక్కలకెల్ల బొక్కలే కాక

అంచెల శ్రీవేంకటేశుఁ డాత్మలోనే వుండఁగాను

కొంచపుదైవాల పలువంచలనే కాక      ॥అంత॥

koMchaka siMhamuMDETi guha nuMDavachchunA

poMchi nakkalakella bokkalE kAka

aMchela SrIvEMkaTESu DAtmalOnE vuMDagAnu

koMchapudaivAla paluvaMchalanE kAka      ॥aMta॥ 

తెలుగు పదబంధం	Meaning (English)
కొంచక సింహముండేటి గుహ నుండవచ్చునా	Can anyone dwell in a cave where a lion lives? (It’s not meant for the ordinary) "In Your presence, O Lord, all paths converge.  The infinite reflections before me render me silent, with no words left to offer to others."
పొంచి నక్కలకెల్ల బొక్కలే కాక	All that remains for the waiting jackals are bones. "Those who stray into side alleys find nothing enduring at the end."
అంచెల శ్రీవేంకటేశుఁ డాత్మలోనే వుండఁగాను	Lord Venkatesha who dwells steadily in every layer of the soul
కొంచపుదైవాల పలువంచలనే కాక	"Aren’t the gods built by human imagination just a refined form of illusion?"

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Literal Meaning with Commentary : 

Who can survive inside a cave where a lion dwells?
(That is not a place for the unworthy or ordinary.)

In Your presence, O Lord, all illusions dissolve.
There remains nothing more to say —
for all words meant for others fall silent.

For those like jackals who only wait and watch,
what remains in the end are just bones.
Those who stray into side paths
are left with nothing enduring.

While Lord Venkatesha dwells in the depths of every soul,
how can imagined gods made by man
be anything but beautiful deceptions?

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