240 ఇంచుకంత ధర్మములో నున్నది
iMchukaMta
dharmamulO nunnadi
తెలుగులో చదవడానికి ఇక్కడ నొక్కండి.
Introduction
If even an iota of
dharma is upheld —
if even one person alters their rhythm —
the whole society, he believed, can flourish.
This isn’t about religion or written laws —
it is about the awakening of inward dharma in man.
In the age when Pedda
Tirumalāchārya lived,
social oppression, caste divisions,
and illusions of tradition prevailed —
yet he had the clarity to see through them.
He rooted dharma in public good,
and saw moral strength as inseparable from inner truth.
This is where his Rishi hood blossoms.
He was not merely a
devotee —
but a philosopher, a guide,
a bearer of sorrow,
and a silent architect of transformation —
a melody behind social change.
That is why Pedda Tirumalāchārya outlived his time.
His teaching on dharma
remains a precious compass
for the confusions we face even today.
This is why his line —
“Even an iota of dharma holds within it society’s rise or fall” —
is no metaphor.
It is a touch that reaches the soul.
Social collapse is not
a theory —
it is a reality we are witnessing now.
And yet — in every
age,
a few stand firm,
not for law,
but for what feels unmistakably true.
This is why
Pedda Tirumalāchārya’s pen
does not echo in the throat of ideologies —
but breathes through the lungs of pure discernment.
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అధ్యాత్మ
కీర్తన |
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రేకు:
70-1 సంపుటము: 15-400 |
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ఇంచుకంత ధర్మములో నున్నది యిందరి మేలునుఁ గీడును వంచన తోడుతఁ గైకొనఁ దలఁచినవారల నేరుపు లింతేకాని ॥పల్లవి॥ నరకము లనుభవించితి నని తలఁచిన నలిఁజెడుఁబ్రారబ్థ కర్మములు పరదారాదులఁ గలయఁ దలఁచిన పాపములెల్లనుఁ జుట్టుకొను సురల చరిత్రము వినినయంతలో సుకృతియై వెలయుఁ బురుషుడు దురితచిత్తుల విధంబులు వింటే దుష్కృత్యములకును గుఱియిగును ॥ఇంచు॥ చచ్చినభావమె బ్రతికిన యప్పుడు శరీరసుఖములు మఱచిన ముక్తుఁడు యిచ్చల మృతునకు విభవము సేసిన యేడకు నెక్కుదువృధా వృధా మెచ్చుగ నొరులకు నిచ్చిన యర్థము మీఁదమీఁద ఫలియించు తెచ్చి లోభమున దాఁచిన ధనములు తీరక భూగతమైయుండు ॥ఇంచు॥ యిలువేలుపైన శ్రీవేంకటేశ్వరు నెఱిఁగికొలిచినను భవమీడేరును పలుకర్మంబుల నెంత దొరలినా ప్రయాసములే కడు ఘనము అలమేల్మంగ పురుషాకారమున ఆచార్యుననుమతి మెలఁగును వలవని లావుల వశగతుఁడై నను వానిచందములు హరియే ॥ఇంచు॥ |
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Philosophical Poem |
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Copper Plate: 70-1 Volume15-400 |
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iMchukaMta dharmamulO nunnadi yiMdari
mElunu gIDunu vaMchana tODuta gaikona dalachinavArala
nErupu liMtEkAni ॥pallavi॥ narakamu lanubhaviMchiti nani talachina
nalijeDubrArabtha karmamulu paradArAdula galaya dalachina
pApamulellanu juTTukonu surala charitramu vininayaMtalO
sukRtiyai velayu burushuDu duritachittula vidhaMbulu viMTE
dushkRtyamulakunu gu~riyigunu ॥iMchu॥ chachchinabhAvame bratikina yappuDu
SarIrasukhamulu ma~rachina muktuDu yichchala mRtunaku vibhavamu sEsina
yEDaku nekkuduvRdhA vRdhA mechchuga norulaku nichchina yarthamu
mIdamIda phaliyiMchu techchi lObhamuna dAchina dhanamulu
tIraka bhUgatamaiyuMDu ॥iMchu॥ yiluvElupaina SrIvEMkaTESvaru ne~rigikolichinanu
bhavamIDErunu palukarmaMbula neMta doralinA
prayAsamulE kaDu ghanamu alamElmaMga purushAkAramuna
AchAryunanumati melagunu valavani lAvula vaSagatuDai nanu
vAnichaMdamulu hariyE ॥iMchu॥ |
Details and Explanation:
Chorus
(Pallavi):
|
Telugu Phrase |
Meaning |
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ఇంచుకంత ధర్మములో నున్నది |
The Dharma is very subtle. There lies the key. |
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యిందరి మేలునుఁ గీడును |
wellbeing of the world or otherwise based on practice of Dharma |
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వంచన తోడుతఁ గైకొనఁ దలఁచినవారల నేరుపు లింతేకాని |
Those who try to
achieve the results by deceit, their skill remains limited |
Literal Meaning:
"It is in the subtlest form of Dharma
that the well-being and downfall
of everyone on this earth are rooted.
Those who try to bend this Dharma
with deceit and cleverness
will find limits of their wisdom."
Commentary:
When a society turns blind to inner dharma,
its decay is no longer theoretical —
it can be felt, seen, suffered.
Some of you are witnessing it.
And yet — in every age —
there are a few
who uphold the flame
not because it's lawful,
but because it is true.
Even when Rāmānujāchārya moved
against the grain of convention,
some recognized
that his defiance
was a deeper reverence of truth.
An order ingrained in action.
.
How many “-isms” have shaken the world!
Capitalism.
Socialism.
Marxism.
Even the so-called Middle Path.
Each was born from a noble dream —
but none could hold up in life’s burning wind.
They stood on outer laws,
on prohibitions and forced restraint.
What remained were cold structures —
laws that pierced freedom like bullets.
Even religions — meant to spread divine
love —
turned that love into propaganda.
They sought change through violence,
conversion through conquest.
A crusade in the name of compassion.
These, too, are inner “-isms” gone blind.
Whether external ideologies
or internal creeds —
they begin not in truth,
but in opinion.
They seek obedience,
and end in disintegration.
They are systems that
by their very nature
devour themselves —
like snakes that choose to eat their own tails.
First Stanza:
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Telugu Phrase |
Meaning |
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నరకము లనుభవించితినని తలఁచిన |
“One who thinks "I’ve already gone through hell" |
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నలిఁజెడుఁ బ్రారబ్ధకర్మములు |
Remaining simmering prārabdha karmas yet to bear fruit |
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పరదారాదులుఁ గలయుఁ దలఁచిన |
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పాపములెల్లనుఁ జుట్టుకొను |
Gathers all sins just through that intention |
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సురల చరిత్రము వినినయంతలో |
The moment one hears the stories of the noble |
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సుకృతియై వెలయుఁ బురుషుడు |
He becomes virtuous just by hearing |
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దురితచిత్తుల విధంబులు వింటే |
If he listens to the wicked ways of evil-minded |
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దుష్కృత్యములకును గుఱియిగును |
He ends up falling into sinful actions |
Literal Meaning:
If one thinks “I have
already suffered enough hell,”
he forgets that still to come
(prārabdha karmas) from past actions
which silently continue
to shape life.
Even the mere thought of
associating with
another’s spouse
gathers the weight of all sins —
intention alone is enough.
Listening with sincerity
to the lives of divine beings
can instantly make a man virtuous —
the transformation
begins in that very moment.
But listening to the
speech of wicked people
draws even an ordinary person into sinful actions —
even if he didn’t intend so at first.
Commentary:
Our destiny is not
shaped by action alone —
but by what we desire, what we listen to, and what we allow within.
Sincerity uplifts. Association corrupts. Thought is karma.
This stanza is a
complete mirror of the moral field:
Thought becomes karma.
Attention is transformation.
Association shapes destiny.
Dharma is internal, subtle, immediate.
Second
Stanza:
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పదబంధం |
అర్థం |
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చచ్చిన భావమె బ్రతికిన యప్పుడు |
When one lives with a sense that each experience is already dead |
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శరీరసుఖములు మఱచిన ముక్తుఁడు |
The one who forgets bodily pleasures is truly liberated |
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ఇచ్చల మృతునకు విభవము సేసిన |
Offering wealth to a desireless, detached man (like a corpse) |
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యేడకు నెక్కుదు వృధా వృధా |
Is like climbing a funeral pyre — a complete waste |
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మెచ్చుగ నొరులకు నిచ్చిన యర్థము |
The wealth given to a pleasing, grateful person |
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మీఁదమీఁద ఫలియించు |
Multiplies fruitfully again and again |
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తెచ్చి లోభమున దాఁచిన ధనములు |
Wealth hoarded with greed |
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తీరక భూగతమైయుండు |
Ends up buried, unrecoverable, never truly enjoyed |
Literal Meaning:
The one who receives every experience,
and lets it go the very next moment —
who forgets the lure of bodily pleasure —
he alone is truly free.
To offer wealth
to a yogi without desire,
is like laying treasure at the feet of a corpse —
a futile gesture.
But when given to one
who accepts with joy and gratitude,
that offering blossoms,
and bears fruit again and again.
Wealth hoarded in greed, however —
nourishes none,
and in the end,
melts into the earth in silence.
Commentary:
చచ్చిన భావమె బ్రతికిన యప్పుడు
"To live with a dead feeling" is not indifference
—
It is the grace of releasing the pull of emotion.
When joy arrives or departs,
One cultivates equanimity.
No craving, no despair.
It is not withdrawal from life —
But living untouched by bondage.
Such a mind does not react —
it responds from silence.
This is not emotional numbness —
But a clear flame, without smoke.
Third Stanza:
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Telugu
Phrase |
Meaning in
English |
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యిలువేలుపైన |
The one who resides inside (all beings) |
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శ్రీవేంకటేశ్వరు
నెఱిఁగికొలిచినను |
Even if one is aware and worships Lord Venkateswara |
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భవమీడేరును |
Liberation (freedom from worldly bondage) will be attained |
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పలుకర్మంబుల
నెంత దొరలినా |
However much one resides in doer ship mode |
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ప్రయాసములే
కడు ఘనము |
Only effort becomes great — results may be hollow |
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అలమేల్మంగ
పురుషాకారమున |
Alamelumanga assumes the form of that devotee |
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ఆచార్యుననుమతి
మెలఁగును |
She follows the great teacher’s (Lord Venkateswars’s) guidance
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వలవని లావుల
వశగతుఁడై |
Falling under the sway of unwanted desires (lustful
attractions) |
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నను
వానిచందములు హరియే |
Their charm will overpower and delude the seeker |
Literal Meaning:
The one who truly knows and worships
the indwelling Lord Venkateswara —
Alamelumanga herself
assumes the form of devotee,
moving only with the blessing
of the Teacher, the Lord of the Hills.
But when a seeker believes he is
the doer —
striving with mind, speech, and body —
then only the effort shines,
liberation remains distant.
And if he yields to unworthy desires,
their charm will consume him,
pulling the soul back
into the web of delusion.
Commentary:
అలమేల్మంగ పురుషాకారమున ఆచార్యుననుమతి
మెలఁగును
“Alamelumanga takes the form of the devotee
and moves with the Guru’s permission” —
In these lines, we glimpse something profound:
Annamacharya, in his highest expression,
identifies not as a man, nor even as a self —
but as the Goddess herself.
At that point of inner ascent,
identity dissolves.
He becomes an instrument, a form,
a presence through which the Divine flows.
That’s why Annamacharya often speaks
as Alamelumanga and other lady characters—
Just as Jiddu Krishnamurti sometimes spoke of himself as “he,”
when the self was no longer the centre.
In that state of
inner ascent, when identity dissolves:
కర్త (doer),
కర్మ (object of action), and
క్రియ (the act itself)
no longer remain separate.
There is no "I" doing, no goal to reach —
Only action happens.
Unowned. Unintended. Uninterrupted.
Life Unbound
Very pure.
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