257 āḍē bommalu vāru āḍiṃcē sūtramu nīvu (ఆడే బొమ్మలు వారు ఆడించే సూత్రము నీవు)

   TALLAPAKA ANNAMACHARYULU

257 ఆడే బొమ్మలు వారు ఆడించే సూత్రము నీవు

(āḍē bommalu vāru āḍiṃcē sūtramu nīvu)

తెలుగులో చదవడానికి ఇక్కడ నొక్కండి.

Introduction

The Puppet Show Continues 

This song is a mirror.
It shows how we fall, again and again, into the same traps.
Though the Divine dwells within our own hearts,
we know Him only faintly. 

When elders share the wisdom of the ages,
we neglect it—sometimes even mock it.
We pour water on the branches,
forgetting the root alone sustains them. 

We search for the keys in a thousand places,
while the Divine holds them all along.
Annamacharya, with rare clarity,
lays bare the human condition. 

శృంగార సంకీర్తన	Romantic Poem
రేకు: 1066-2 సంపుటము: 20-392	Copper Plate: 1066-2 Volume: 20-392
ఆడే బొమ్మలు వారు ఆడించే సూత్రము నీవు యేడో ఇన్నాళ్లు నేను ఇదెఱఁగనైతిని ॥పల్లవి॥   నీవు చెప్పినబుద్దుల నెలఁతలు నడవఁగా ఆవలివారి దూరితి నయ్యా నేను చేవదేర తాలము చేయి నీచే నుండఁగాను వేవేలుచోట్లను వెదకితి నేను ॥ఆడే॥   కన్నుగీఁటి నీవు వారి కైకొని మొక్కించఁగా సన్నల వారి దొబ్బితి సాదించి నేను పన్నినకూఁకటివేరై పారి నీవు వుండఁగాను వున్నతిఁ గొనలకు నీ రొగ్గి నేఁ బోసితిని ॥ఆడే॥   కోరి పెండ్లాడిన పెండ్లి కొడకవు నీవుండఁగా గారవించితిని వారిఁ గరుణ నేను యీరీతి నన్ను శ్రీ వేంకటేశ నీవు గూడుండఁగా కారణ మిందరునంటాఁ గడల మెచ్చితిని ॥ఆడే॥	āḍē bommalu vāru āḍiṃcē sūtramu nīvu yēḍō innāḻlu nēnu ide\raṃ̐ganaitini    ॥pallavi॥   nīvu ceppinabuddula nelaṃ̐talu naḍavaṃ̐gā āvalivāri dūriti nayyā nēnu cēvadēra tālamu cēyi nīcē nuṃḍaṃ̐gānu vēvēlucōṭlanu vedakiti nēnu ॥āḍē॥   kannugīṃ̐ṭi nīvu vāri kaikoni mokkiṃcaṃ̐gā sannala vāri dobbiti sādiṃci nēnu panninakūṃ̐kaṭivērai pāri nīvu vuṃḍaṃ̐gānu vunnatiṃ̐ gonalaku nī roggi nēṃ̐ bōsitini ॥āḍē॥   kōri peṃḍlāḍina peṃḍli koḍakavu nīvuṃḍaṃ̐gā gāraviṃcitini vāriṃ̐ garuṇa nēnu yīrīti nannu śrī vēṃkaṭēśa nīvu gūḍuṃḍaṃ̐gā kāraṇa miṃdarunaṃṭāṃ̐ gaḍala meccitini ॥āḍē॥

Details and Discussions:

Chorus (Pallavi):

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         ఆడే బొమ్మలు వారు ఆడించే సూత్రము నీవు

యేడో ఇన్నాళ్లు నేను ఇదెఱఁగనైతిని    ॥పల్లవి॥

āḍē bommalu vāru āḍiṃcē sūtramu nīvu

yēḍō innāḻlu nēnu ide\raṃ̐ganaitini       ॥pallavi॥

Telugu Phrase	Meaning
ఆడే బొమ్మలు వారు ఆడించే సూత్రము నీవు	“All beings are but puppets, moving as if on their own. Yet, it is You who hold the strings that make them dance.”
యేడో ఇన్నాళ్లు నేను ఇదెఱఁగనైతిని	“For so long, O Lord, I did not realize this truth. Only now do I begin to see—yet still, I do not truly know where You are hidden.”

Literal Meaning: 

They are but puppets;

You are the hidden string by which they move.

All this while, O Lord, I did not know this secret —

only now it begins to dawn on me.

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Interpretative Notes:

The “strings” Annamacharya speaks of are not visible cords but the bonds of existence itself. We readily see others caught in these bonds, yet fail to recognize them within ourselves. 

At first glance, the pallavi might sound like a familiar Indian philosophical metaphor — life as a puppet-show. But Annamayya does not stay at that surface. He moves immediately into a deeper problem: our confusion about cause and effect. 

What is this mysterious “string” that makes us dance? If it were just one or even a hundred threads, perhaps we could cut them. If the mechanism were visible, perhaps we could address it. But here, Annamayya laments: till the very end, the real string never reveals itself.

Why so? Because whenever we trace one cause, it leads to another, and then to yet another. This endless chain finally points to the Divine as the ultimate cause. But along the way, man himself becomes an active participant — distorting, misattributing, and misjudging. In analysing ourselves, we are never fully impartial. Hence, the method of cause-hunting is itself flawed. 

What then is left for man? Here Annamayya humbly confesses his own failures: how he missed the true source and busied himself with lesser causes. Each stanza of this poem unfolds that confession

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Bhagavad-Gita reference:

ईश्वर: सर्वभूतानां हृद्देशेऽर्जुन तिष्ठति | भ्रामयन्सर्वभूतानि यन्त्रारूढानि मायया || 61|| 

“The Supreme Lord, dwelling in the hearts of all beings, directs them just as a puppeteer makes his dolls dance, causing all creatures to move in delusion.”

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To identify the root cause amid countless apparent ones is no easy task. Sherlock Holmes captured this difficulty in a single axiom:

“It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.” the smallest, most overlooked details often hold the clue to the unseen source.

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Let us recall one of the past poems – in which Annamayya declares that Lord appears on Banyan Leaves. These leaves are of very insignificant value. (Poem 224):

తొల్లియును మఱ్ఱాకు తొట్టెలనె యూఁగెఁ గన

చెల్లుబడి నూఁగీని శ్రీరంగశిశువు ॥పల్లవి॥ 

From the very beginning —
In a cradle of banyan leaves —
The Sri Ranga Child (శ్రీరంగశిశువు)
Has been swaying ever so gently
In the silent swing of day and night,
Enchanting the world with his presence.

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First Stanza: 

నీవు చెప్పినబుద్దుల నెలఁతలు నడవఁగా

ఆవలివారి దూరితి నయ్యా నేను

చేవదేర తాలము చేయి నీచే నుండఁగాను

వేవేలుచోట్లను వెదకితి నేను         ॥ఆడే॥

nīvu ceppinabuddula nelaṃ̐talu naḍavaṃ̐gā

āvalivāri dūriti nayyā nēnu

cēvadēra tālamu cēyi nīcē nuṃḍaṃ̐gānu

vēvēlucōṭlanu vedakiti nēnu ॥āḍē॥

Telugu Phrase	Meaning
నీవు చెప్పినబుద్దుల నెలఁతలు నడవఁగా	(నెలఁతలు  = in general ladies or beings of this world. Here it is meant the great sages)When people great sages walked the path of intelligence;
ఆవలివారి దూరితి నయ్యా నేను	While in my present state unable understand, I called them bad names
చేవదేర తాలము చేయి నీచే నుండఁగాను	To gain strength (to live properly in this world), while the key lies with you,
వేవేలుచోట్లను వెదకితి నేను	I keep searching in thousand other places.

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Literal Meaning:

While the wise, following the understanding You taught, walked their path,
I, unable to grasp it, took them for the wrong sort.
Though the key was in Your hand, close at hand,
I went searching for it in a thousand other places.

Interpretative Notes:

The elders, the wise ones,
have always spoken words of wisdom.
They urge us to follow the Divine path.
But failing to grasp their meaning,
we misunderstand them—
and even belittle them. 

The true key — the guiding string, the compass —
lies only in the hands of God.
Yet instead of holding on to Him,
we go on searching everywhere else. 

These examples may seem clear on the surface,
but as Annamayya laments,
our condition remains unchanged.

Though scriptures, Vedas, and Puranas

have been echoing their message for thousands of years,

not an atom of change has entered human nature.

Even when told, we do not listen.

Second Stanza:

కన్నుగీఁటి నీవు వారి కైకొని మొక్కించఁగా

సన్నల వారి దొబ్బితి సాదించి నేను

పన్నినకూఁకటివేరై పారి నీవు వుండఁగాను

వున్నతిఁ గొనలకు నీ రొగ్గి నేఁ బోసితిని  ॥ఆడే॥ 

kannugīṃ̐ṭi nīvu vāri kaikoni mokkiṃcaṃ̐gā

sannala vāri dobbiti sādiṃci nēnu

panninakūṃ̐kaṭivērai pāri nīvu vuṃḍaṃ̐gānu

vunnatiṃ̐ gonalaku nī roggi nēṃ̐ bōsitini ॥āḍē॥

Telugu Phrase	Meaning
కన్నుగీఁటి నీవు వారి కైకొని మొక్కించఁగా	You by wink of your eyes, you suggested them (the great sages) to talk to me
సన్నల వారి దొబ్బితి సాదించి నేను	(సన్నల వారి = సంజ్ఞల​ వారి = unable to read their sign language) But I drove them away
పన్నినకూఁకటివేరై పారి నీవు వుండఁగాను	I see the great plan: You are root. But we don’t see that
వున్నతిఁ గొనలకు నీ రొగ్గి నేఁ బోసితిని	We try to climb the tree to water the thin ends.

Literal Meaning: 

With a wink, You had them take me up and counsel me;
but I drove those gentle ones away.
While You stood apart as the very root of all I wove and planned,
I went on pouring water on the far, high twigs.

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Interpretative Notes: 

When the elders came,
seeking only to bless me,
I drove them away.
(So too do we cast aside
the very opportunities
that come to lift us.)

I poured water upon the branches
and delight in the waste—
lost in needless acts,
forgetting the one true work,
is to water the root.
the branches are countless.
Understand this well. 

The same truth is declared
in the Bhāgavatam (Canto IV, 4–31–14):

यथा तरोर्मूलनिषेचनॆन
तृप्यन्ति तत् स्कन्धभुजोपशाखाः ।
प्राणोपहाराच्च यथॆन्द्रियाणां
तथैव सर्वार्हणमच्युतॆज्या ॥

"As by watering the root of a tree
its trunk, branches, and leaves are nourished;
as the life-breath sustains every sense;
so too, by worship of Acyuta,
all the gods are satisfied." 

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Third Stanza:  

కోరి పెండ్లాడిన పెండ్లి కొడకవు నీవుండఁగా

గారవించితిని వారిఁ గరుణ నేను

యీరీతి నన్ను శ్రీ వేంకటేశ నీవు గూడుండఁగా

కారణ మిందరునంటాఁ గడల మెచ్చితిని ॥ఆడే॥

kōri peṃḍlāḍina peṃḍli koḍakavu nīvuṃḍaṃ̐gā

gāraviṃcitini vāriṃ̐ garuṇa nēnu

yīrīti nannu śrī vēṃkaṭēśa nīvu gūḍuṃḍaṃ̐gā

kāraṇa miṃdarunaṃṭāṃ̐ gaḍala meccitini ॥āḍē॥

Telugu Phrase	Meaning in English
కోరి పెండ్లాడిన పెండ్లి కొడకవు నీవుండఁగా	Though you the real one I am looking for marriage.
గారవించితిని వారిఁ గరుణ నేను	yet, I was engaged in honouring others with great attention.
యీరీతి నన్ను శ్రీ వేంకటేశ నీవు గూడుండఁగా	O Lord Venkatesa! Though you are inside me all these times (I never knew your presence)
కారణ మిందరునంటాఁ గడల మెచ్చితిని	(గడల = till the last of the wisdom tooth) I keep guessing others as the cause of my present position and keep praising them till the very end (of my life)

Plain Prose Meaning:

In this stanza, Annamacharya admits his state of ignorance with remarkable honesty. He confesses: “Though You are the true bridegroom I sought for, I went on honouring other suitors, respecting their words and advice. Even so, O Lord Venkatesa, while You were ever with me, till the very end I went on praising others as the cause of my gains.”

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Interpretative notes:

The phrase “గడల మెచ్చితిని gaḍala meccitini” carries a double resonance. On one level, it means “till the very end I kept applauding others.” On another, it hints at the wisdom tooth (the last of the teeth, erupting only at maturity). 

The unseen string: 

Annamacharya admits that even to the very end, wisdom did not truly dawn on him — he remained blind to the root while busy praising the branches. 

The Bhagavad Gita (2.41) shines light on this paradox:

व्यवसायात्मिका बुद्धिरेकेह कुरुनन्दन |
बहुशाखा ह्यनन्ताश्च बुद्धयोऽव्यवसायिनाम् || 2-41||

“Those who are resolute in purpose have a single-pointed intellect, O son of the Kurus; but the intelligence of the irresolute is many-branched and endless.” 

Our minds chase countless diversions, multiplying reasons and causes, while the One Root is ever nearby. Even our so-called “resolve” often becomes yet another obstacle (Gita 6-2). Thus, every path, however noble it seems, is but a distraction from union with the Divine. This is precisely why Annamacharya laments his failure: he kept missing the hidden thread that holds all things together. (this also means there is no path to God) 

To illuminate this struggle, we may look at Remedios Varo’s surreal painting “Eyes on the Table” (1938). A floating table hovers in mid-air, bearing an antique pair of spectacles with eyelids attached and a pair of eyes looking into the spectacles. The strange image suggests a mind adrift — unstable, ungrounded. The eyes, though, are not looking outward but inward, pointing us to the essential task: to turn vision within. To look without bias into the depths of oneself is profoundly difficult — yet it is only by such inner seeing that the invisible string is revealed.

Annamacharya echoes the same when he says in another song: “The rope that binds us is not outside — it is within.”

Thus, both the poem and the painting converge to remind us: the true cause is never in the outer branches, but in the hidden root — glimpsed only when we dare to turn inwards.

 

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 The Message of this Poem 

Annamayya here unveils a profound truth with striking simplicity.
The thought, “I already know,” is itself the mark of ignorance.
Through old lenses we lose our way;
yet we remain unsure of what new vision should be. 

Therefore, unless we examine with utmost clarity
whatever truly enters our experience,
we can never recognize what lies within—
whether known, or still hidden. 

In such a state, we too remain,
just as Annamayya declares, mere “puppets in play.”
And to escape that fate,
we must turn inward and ask: what is it that must truly be done?

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