274 నదు లొల్లవు నా స్నానము
(nadu lollavu nā snānamu)
తెలుగులో చదవడానికి ఇక్కడ నొక్కండి.
INTRODUCTION
This poem by Annamacharya redefines the idea of purification. It is not about bathing in sacred rivers but about cleansing the mind of its restlessness. Each stanza moves from the outer ritual to the inner awakening, showing that holiness begins in awareness. The true bath, he says, is taken in humility, remembrance, and silent self-purification. Through this, Annamacharya transforms the act of snānamu into a metaphor for the soul’s return to clarity.
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అధ్యాత్మ కీర్తన
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Philosophical
Poem
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రేకు: 8-3 సంపుటము: 1-51
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Copper Plate: 8-3 Vol: 1-51
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నదు లొల్లవు నా స్నానము కడు- సదరము నాకీ స్నానము ॥నదు॥ ఇరువంకల నీ యేచిన ముద్రలు ధరియించుటే నా స్నానము ధరపై నీ నిజదాసుల దాసుల చరణధూళి నా స్నానము ॥నదు॥ తలఁపులోన నినుఁ దలఁచినవారలఁ దలఁచుటే నా స్నానము వలనుగ నినుఁ గనువారల శ్రీపాద- జలములే నా స్నానము ॥నదు॥ పరమభాగవతపాదాంబుజముల దరుశనమే నా స్నానము తిరువేంకటగిరిదేవ నీ కథా- స్మరణమే నా స్నానము ॥నదు॥
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nadu lollavu nā snānamu kaḍu-
sadaramu nākī snānamu ॥nadu॥ iruvaṃkala nī yēcina mudralu
dhariyiṃcuṭē nā snānamu
dharapai nī nijadāsula dāsula
caraṇadhūḻi nā snānamu ॥nadu॥ talaṃ̐pulōna ninuṃ̐ dalaṃ̐cinavāralaṃ̐
dalaṃ̐cuṭē nā snānamu
valanuga ninuṃ̐ ganuvārala śrīpāda-
jalamulē nā snānamu ॥nadu॥ paramabhāgavatapādāṃbujamula
daruśanamē nā snānamu
tiruvēṃkaṭagiridēva nī kathā-
smaraṇamē nā snānamu ॥nadu॥
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Details and Discussions:
Chorus
(Pallavi):
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Telugu
Phrase
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Meaning
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నదు లొల్లవు నా స్నానము
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Even if I bathe
countless times, the holy rivers cannot truly cleanse me.
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కడుసదరము నాకీ స్నానము
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This bathing in the hard-earned skill of inner purification
is sacred to my being
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Literal Meaning:
Even if I
bathe many times, the sacred rivers cannot purify me. True bathing lies in
mastering the difficult art of inner cleansing — that is the real sanctity.
Interpretative Notes:
నదు లొల్లవు నా స్నానము
Annamacharya here suggests that true purification is internal. Outer bathing, however sacred the river, cannot cleanse the stains of the mind. This echoes the dialogue in the Mahabharata between Bhīṣma and Yudhiṣṭhira, where Yudhiṣṭhira asks which holy waters grant true purification. Bhīṣma replies.
క. దమమును దపము నహింసయు | శమమును తీర్థముల వాన శౌచాతిశయం
బమలగుణ; కల్గు, రిత్త జ |
లములం దోఁగిన శుచిత్వ లాభము గలదే? 91
Purport: O Yudhiṣṭhira! True sanctity lies in self-restraint
(dama), tranquillity (śama), non-violence (ahiṃsā), and penance (tapas). These are
the true holy waters. What purity can mere external water give without these
virtues?
క. దొరకొనని వానిఁ గోరక,
దొరకొనినందున మమత్వ తుష్టహృదయతం
బొరయక, విగతస్పృహులగు | పురుషులు,
శుచు; లేల తీర్థములు వారలకున్? 92
Purport: He who neither longs for what he does not have nor clings to what he has — such a person is ever pure. For such a one, what use are external sacred waters?
ఆ. అరయ దుర్గమములు, నతి విషమంబులు | నైన తీర్థములు ధరాధినాథ!
యధిక భక్తి యుక్తి నాత్మఁ దలంచినఁ | జాలు నరుల
కల్మషములు వాయు. 93
Purport: O Lord of Earth! Many sacred places are unreachable or difficult to
access. Yet, if one contemplates them inwardly with deep devotion and
concentration, that itself suffices to remove all inner impurities.
Annamacharya
also expressing the internal psychological “distance” from impure to pure; detachment
from ritual repetition and the futility of mechanical holiness.
కడుసదరము నాకీ స్నానము
Here lies the subtle power of Annamacharya’s phrase — “కడుసదరము నాకీ స్నానము”.
కడుసదరము implies not just skill, but a “A deeply reverent, intense inner discipline.” The poet declares that bathing in this inner discipline is far more difficult than dipping in any river.
Why is it so hard? Because the real cleansing requires one to drop long-held attachments, opinions, and habits. Man’s true task is not to “acquire” but to let go — to unlearn what he clings to.
But to let go of an idea — especially one tied to our loves, family, identity, or comforts — feels almost impossible. We might say, “I can renounce the world,” but can we renounce our cherished attachments — to food, tastes, opinions, or pride? That dropping — not the dipping — is the real bath of awareness. That is the కడుసదరము స్నానం — the hard, inward purification that Annamacharya extols.
First Stanza:
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Telugu
Phrase
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Meaning
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ఇరువంకల నీ యేచిన ముద్రలు
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On either side
of the path, I behold the marks that You have set.
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ధరియించుటే నా స్నానము
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To bear those
marks upon myself that is my true bathing.
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ధరపై నీ నిజదాసుల దాసుల |
To serve the
servants of Your true devotees on this earth,
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చరణధూళి నా స్నానము
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And to adorn my
head with the dust of their feet — that is my purification.
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Literal Meaning:
O Lord! The marks You have placed on either side of my path — to be aware of them without falling into them, that alone is my true cleansing. To bear upon my head the dust of the feet of the servants of Your true devotees — that alone is my sacred bath.
Interpretation
O Lord! On this path where there is no personal effort or achievement of mine, You have placed signs on both sides — sometimes as attraction, sometimes as repulsion. To see them, to recognize their pull, yet to walk unentangled — that awareness itself is the purification of my being. To bear upon my head the dust of the servants of Your true devotees — that is the sanctity of my inner ablution.
Interpretative Notes:
ఇరువంకల నీ యేచిన ముద్రలు
Annamacharya’s imagery ఇరువంకల నీ యేచిన ముద్రలు “the marks You have placed on both sides” here is deceptively simple but inwardly profound. He speaks of “signposts” (mūdralu) on either side of the path — not as external symbols, but as inner reminders. What are these signposts?
These are not outward marks —they are the inner
impressions that rise within us: desires, beliefs, impulses, agitations, and
tensions. These “marks” are the saṁskāras and vāsanās that
constantly pull the mind in opposite directions. On the path that leads to
Truth, to watch these forces arise — without becoming trapped in them —that is
what it means to “wear the marks.” It is a state of awareness — to see what is
happening within oneself as though one were a third person. To walk straight
through the opposing pulls is not a physical bath but a bathing in knowledge
— a cleansing through understanding.
Symbolic Reflection — Hilma af Klint’s
“Swan No.13”
In Hilma af Klint’s painting,
the luminous upper part (the known)
and the dark lower part (the unknown)
stand clearly apart.
At the centre, a circle and two triangles appear —
the colours of the triangles
blending with light above and darkness below.
If we take that circle as the human being,
the upper part represents the outer
world,
the lower part the inner world.
The two triangles symbolize
the opposing pulls mentioned earlier —
forces that constantly drag man
toward different directions.
Their sharp points show the pressure of these pulls.
Altogether they represent
the powers that hinder man’s inward movement.
The two sides mirror each other —
the figure appears similar to a man in contemplative mood,
seems to sink into the depths of itself,
just as man, in truth, is submerged in his own reflections.
The painting suggests that
what we call Truth may in fact
be only the reflection of our own mind.
The centre of the painting —
where the reflections on both sides fade —
is the point toward which the seeker must walk.
To move toward that centre
is to journey from the “I,” the known,
into that which cannot be recognized —
into the state where “I am” no longer exists.
The Deeper Secret of the Line “ఇరువంకల నీ యేచిన ముద్రలు”
When the mind is being pulled in opposite
directions,
Truth cannot be grasped.
It is not a matter of choosing this way or that way.
It is to remain silently aware
that one can do nothing at all —
to rest in that complete stillness.
From that silence,
Truth reveals itself.
If the whole painting is seen as
consciousness,
we realize that we move only within the lines we ourselves have drawn.
The known becomes the unknown;
the unknown becomes the reflection of the known.
To let go of both
and stand still between them —
that is what Annamacharya means by
“wearing the marks on both sides.”
It is the state where opposing forces
become balanced.
That equilibrium, that poised awareness,
is the true “bath” that cleanses the soul.
Annamacharya never describes that state
as one of comfort or joy.
He even says elsewhere —
—not as a lament, but as the truth that
the highest purification is not a pleasant state,
but one beyond all pleasure and pain.
ధరపై నీ నిజదాసుల దాసుల చరణధూళి నా స్నానము
Here, Annamacharya reveals the true fragrance of bhakti: humility. He doesn’t claim to be the Lord’s devotee, but the servant of His servants — a state of pure surrender that dissolves ego.
In this verse, “the dust of their feet” is not mere physical dust; it symbolizes the remembrance of the lives of realized beings. Even if one cannot reach such saints in person, to hold their presence inwardly, with reverence, is enough to purify one’s being. This is his sacred ablution: the cleansing that comes from inward remembrance and humility — not from water, but from awareness and gratitude.
Second Stanza:
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Telugu
Phrase
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Meaning
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తలఁపులోన నినుఁ దలఁచినవారలఁ
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Those who truly
think of you in their minds
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దలఁచుటే నా స్నానము
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Remembering
those is my purification
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వలనుగ నినుఁ గనువారల శ్రీపాద-
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Thos sacred
people who could see you, the water flowing from their feet
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జలములే నా స్నానము
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For me the true
bathing is bathing in that water
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Literal Meaning:
O Lord! Remembering those noble ones who hold You in their hearts is itself my inner cleansing. Bathing in the sacred waters that flow from the feet of those who have truly seen You is my supreme purification.
Interpretative Notes:
Here Annamacharya is clearly mentioning
that purification of the soul comes from the true devotees, not from the God
himself. The True devotees having realised the Lord, are very considerate and
ever helpful. Even remembering those great souls is a sacred act.
| Telugu Phrase | Meaning |
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పరమభాగవతపాదాంబుజముల
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The feet of Those who
sing the songs of the Lord with their heart
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దరుశనమే నా స్నానము
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The darshan of their
feet is my purification
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తిరువేంకటగిరిదేవ నీ కథా-
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O Lord Venkateswara,
listening to your stories
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స్మరణమే నా స్నానము
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And remembering them
again is my bathing.
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Plain Prose Meaning:
O Lord! To
have the darshan of the feet of Your supreme devotees is my holy ablution.
Interpretative notes:
Here Annamacharya offers a quiet yet revolutionary insight — throughout the song, he never once speaks of seeing God Himself. That silence is deliberate. His focus is not on divine vision but on purification —the cleansing of self-centeredness, the release from inner impurity.
For him, the real bath is not in water but in awareness; not at the feet of God, but in the hearts of those who embody God. This is not an act of ritual prayer, but of deep self-purification — a journey inward, where the remembrance of the Divine dissolves the “self” that seeks it.
The Message of
this Poem
X-X-The
END-X-X
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