TALLAPAKA CHINA TIRUMALACHARYULU
279 ఎంతలే దిది యెంచిన
(eṃtalē didi yeṃcina)
తెలుగులో చదవడానికి ఇక్కడ నొక్కండి.
A note on
TALLAPAKA CHINA TIRUMALACHARYULU
Chinna Tirumalacharyulu’s poetry is a grammar of awareness. It neither rejects nor accepts — it simply sees. His poems are not calls to renunciation, nor cravings for attainment. They are silent mantras that awaken the sleeping inwardness of man. What I understand from his poetry is this:
Equanimity is a
closed space.
You're either in its stillness
or wandering in restlessness.
This is the path
his lineage carried forward — not by inheritance of blood, but by rebirth of
insight.
In Chinna Tirumalacharyulu’s language lives worldly experience, and in his thoughts, profound depth. He needs no metaphors that touch the sky — words that touch the earth are enough. Iron, stone, water, teeth, a house — all become symbols of the inward man in his verse. There is no ornamental flourish in his diction, yet every word bears the weight of bondage and the clarity of awareness that sees it.
His irony is
measured and purposeful — it insults no one; it awakens understanding. His
poetry is not sound that fills the ear, but resonance that stirs the silence
within. To the mind drowned in distortion, he holds up a mirror and asks, “Have you really
seen?”
From Annamacharya, he inherits the honesty of vision; from Pedda Tirumalacharyulu, the clarity of structure; but in himself, Chinna Tirumalacharyulu attains a deeper psychological insight — he exposes the architecture of desire itself.
To him, devotion is not ritual, but lucidity. Poetry is not proclamation — it is a quiet correction of vision.
INTRODUCTION
That compression of vast insight into the smallest verbal space is indeed the hallmark of the Tallapaka lineage. Both Annamacharya and his descendants — Pedda Tirumalacharya and Chinna Tirumalacharya — inherit that rare art of saying the infinite in a few syllables.
In this poem, Chinna Tirumalacharya distills an entire philosophy of human restlessness into just one line — “సంతోషించని సంసారంబు.” It is at once social, psychological, and spiritual. Where others might write volumes to express the tension between effort and peace, he makes it breathe within a single phrase.
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అధ్యాత్మ కీర్తన
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Philosophical
Poem
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రేకు: 2-5 సంపుటము: 10-10
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Copper Plate: 2-5 Vol: 10-10
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ఎంతలే దిది యెంచిన సంతోషించని సంసారంబు ॥పల్లవి॥ యేలకొ నేఁ డీదేహి ఆలరి భోగము లడిగీఁగాక చాలించఁగఁ జాలఁడు కోలుముందు హరిఁ గోలువఁగరాదా ॥ఎంత॥ యెందైనను యీమనసు పందదనంబునఁ బారీఁగాక ముందరికోరిక ముణుఁగదు కందువ శ్రీవిభుఁ గానఁగరాదా ॥ఎంత॥ విడువనితగు లీవేడుక తొడిఁబడ నెందైన దొరసీఁగాక కడగని శ్రీవెంకటనాథు బడిబడిఁ దిరుగుచు బ్రదుకఁగరాదా ॥ఎంత॥
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eṃtalē didi yeṃcina saṃtōṣiṃcani saṃsāraṃbu ॥pallavi॥ yēlako nēṃ̐ ḍīdēhi ālari bhōgamu laḍigīṃ̐gāka cāliṃcaṃ̐gaṃ̐ jālaṃ̐ḍu kōlumuṃdu hariṃ̐ gōluvaṃ̐garādā ॥eṃta॥ yeṃdainanu yīmanasu paṃdadanaṃbunaṃ̐ bārīṃ̐gāka muṃdarikōrika muṇuṃ̐gadu kaṃduva śrīvibhuṃ̐ gānaṃ̐garādā ॥eṃta॥ viḍuvanitagu līvēḍuka toḍiṃ̐baḍa neṃdaina dorasīṃ̐gāka kaḍagani śrīveṃkaṭanāthu baḍibaḍiṃ̐ dirugucu bradukaṃ̐garādā ॥eṃta॥
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Details and Discussions:
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Telugu
Phrase
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Meaning
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ఎంతలే దిది యెంచిన
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When examined with a discerning, piercing thought (this
worldly life)
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సంతోషించని సంసారంబు
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However much
you strive to satisfy it, this worldly life remains hungry — never content.
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Literal Meaning:
O man! Even after examining life
thoroughly, we realize that no matter how much we toil, this worldly life never
grants true satisfaction.
Interpretative Notes:
సంతోషించని సంసారంబు
Today’s world itself is the embodiment of this “life that knows no
contentment.”
We live in a time where everything must have happened “yesterday.”
Work, results, comfort — everything is demanded instantly.
Yet, no matter how much we achieve, contentment remains elusive.
Compared to fifty years ago, our speed,
efficiency, and skill have grown —
but peace has only diminished.
Today in a way, “Life is an engagement in sweat and pressure”
When the poet says “ఎంతలే దిది యెంచిన”
he is asking us to pause and reflect.
Because of the imbalance between the body and the mind,
the mind races ahead while the body lags behind.
Impatience is the nature of the mind — it knows no self-restraint.
That is why the poet’s words ring so true.
This restlessness is not physical; its source
lies within.
To calm it, one must know its root — the mind itself.
Only then does the meaning of contentment reveal itself.
Contentment is not found in gaining more;
it begins where restlessness ends.
First
Stanza:
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Telugu
Phrase
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Meaning
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యేలకొ నేఁ డీదేహి
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I know not why, these days people
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ఆలరి భోగము లడిగీఁగాక
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(ఆలరి= bad, negative) until all the
bad engagements are undertaken without any leftovers
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చాలించఁగఁ జాలఁడు
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Unable to stop
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కోలుముందు హరిఁ గోలువఁగరాదా
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(కోలుముందు = the first thing to do) is it not the service to God the
first thing to do?
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Literal Meaning:
(Poet observes) These days, People seem
unable to stop until every trace of worldly indulgence (vice) is exhausted.
Should not the first and foremost duty be the service of Hari (God)?
Interpretative
Notes:
Five centuries ago, Chinna Tirumalacharya saw the same human condition that we witness today — endless engagement in life’s distractions and neglect of the divine. People immerse themselves in the “ఆలరి భోగములు” — the restless pleasures that never grant peace. They run from one pursuit to another, unable to pause until every craving is tasted. Only after the fatigue of indulgence sets in do they turn, half-heartedly, toward God?
The poet gently mocks this inversion of
priorities: serving the Divine — the very source of peace — should have
been our first instinct, not the last resort. In modern times too, little has changed. We may dedicate a few minutes, perhaps
an hour, to prayer or reflection — but the rest of the day belongs to anxiety,
competition, and desire. The poet’s question remains piercingly alive: Why
must we wait until the end of exhaustion to remember the Beginning?
Second
Stanza:
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Telugu
Phrase
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Meaning
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యెందైనను యీమనసు
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This mind (this
will) in everything
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పందదనంబునఁ బారీఁగాక
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(పందదనంబు=
cowardice) it avoids being brave (in other words it takes least resistance
path)
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ముందరికోరిక ముణుఁగదు
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It does not
completely immersing in the desire/engagement.
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కందువ శ్రీవిభుఁ గానఁగరాదా
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Instead, why it
does not find Lord SRIVIBHU?
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Literal Meaning:
O Lord! This mind, in everything, out of
cowardice, chooses the path of least resistance. It never plunges fully into
any desire or pursuit; it only grazes the surface.Thus, out of fear, it doesn’t discover Śrīvibhu, the true treasure
within.
Interpretative Notes:
China Tirumalacharyulu’s words pierce deep into human nature. He exposes how the mind prefers comfort over confrontation — cowardice over clarity. The mind, he says, neither renounces desire nor fulfils it completely; it just lingers, afraid to face its own depth.
He points to a subtle paradox: if the mind truly plunged into its desire, it might see through it — it would discover the futility beneath the attraction, and that discovery would open the door to God. But the mind refuses that journey. It fears self-discovery more than it craves satisfaction.
So, the poet asks — when the mind refuses
to be brave even in its own desires, how will it ever find the “Śrīvibhu”,
the Lord who is the very wealth hidden within? In today’s terms, this reflects
our shallow engagements — endless scrolling, half-hearted passions, constant
distraction. We dip our toes in everything, but dive into nothing.
Tirumalacharyulu calls this the true cowardice of the human spirit — the unwillingness
to face one’s own depth.
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Telugu
Phrase
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Meaning
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విడువనితగు లీవేడుక
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These amusements are
suitable to ostracising
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తొడిఁబడ నెందైన
దొరసీఁగాక
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(తొడిఁబడ
= to be perplexed or confused) when perplexed, they thrive on anything
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కడగని శ్రీవెంకటనాథు
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(కడగని
= the last thing to find) Find the last thing (your mind can reach) is the
Lord Venkata Natha
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బడిబడిఁ దిరుగుచు
బ్రదుకఁగరాదా
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(బడిబడిఁ=
repeatedly) why not lead your life
repeatedly circling around him
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Literal Meaning:
O Man! When the mind is confused, it latches onto
anything for amusement. It is better to let go of such amusements. Instead,
seek the highest that your mind can reach — the Lord Venkatanatha within. Is it
not better to revolve your life around that eternal presence?
Interpretative notes:
China Tirumalacharya’s insight in this stanza pierces straight into the heart of human restlessness. His line — “when perplexed, the mind thrives on anything” — may be one of the most prophetic statements ever uttered.
Oscar Wilde once said, “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions.” (= few people have independent thinking). Wilde pointed to a universal weakness — that conformity to others’ opinions brings false comfort. Read this alongside Tirumalacharya’s line, and the meaning deepens: A confused mind seeks refuge in whatever comes its way — not from understanding, but from fear of stillness. It is this weakness that allowed waves of sadism, anarchy, brutality, apartheid, racialism, and bigotry to sweep across history — when a few could manipulate the masses lost in confusion and conformity.
Look around our age: the mind is perpetually amused, endlessly consuming. Consider these names. 'Death by chocolate’, ‘Feast of Flames’ ‘Mindful indulgence’ Divine Crumble’ ‘The Velvet Sin’ ‘The Hungry Hen’ ‘Fat Bear” ‘Round Boy’ are not aberrations. Mind shaped by propaganda and conformity indulges in these.
This is the same disease China Tirumalacharya diagnosed centuries ago — a confused mind seeking comfort in confusion itself. From the barbaric ideologies of the past to today’s compulsive consumerism and ideological noise, the pattern has not changed. This, too, is Tirumalacharya’s lament — that the mind no longer dares to dig deep enough to find “the last thing it can reach.” How can such a mind ever find peace? We lead shallow lives — thriving on distraction, afraid of stillness, terrified of our own depths.
Such a mind, finding comfort in
conformity – can it ever think of the “the Last thing it can dig” –we often only
make half attempts. What a shallow life we lead.
The Message of
this Poem
China
Tirumalacharya’s message is Simple and Deep:
Can
you find what is at the end by digging your mind?
Beware
mind adapts least resistance path.
X-X-The
END-X-X
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