TALLAPAKA
ANNAMACHARYULU
293 ఆహా యేమి చేప్పేది హరి నీమాయ
(āhā yēmi cēppēdi
hari nīmāya)
INTRODUCTION
Annamacharya
is not a poet
who dispenses
spiritual knowledge about God.
He does exactly the opposite.
He speaks
from within clarity
and invites
us to uncover the veil
that separates us from truth.
His verses must therefore be read
as first-hand
perception,
not as
second-hand, woven philosophy.
In this
poem,
when he
says,
సావధానానఁ బెరిగీ సంసారవృక్షము
(“Attentive engagement nourishes the saṁsāra-tree,”)
he is not
describing some esoteric or abstract terrain.
He is speaking directly of
beings of
flesh and blood — exactly as we are.
సావధానానఁ బెరిగీ సంసారవృక్షము
simply
states a stark fact:
You use the
world for consumption,
and the world consumes you.
If this
statement is taken seriously—
as
something tangible and lived, not symbolic—
then the commentary that follows will be rewarding.
|
అధ్యాత్మ కీర్తన
|
Philosophical Poem
|
|
రేకు: 140-1
సంపుటము: 2-172
|
Copper
Plate: 140-1 Vol:
2-172
|
|
ఆహా యేమి చేప్పేది హరి నీమాయ మోహములే చిగిరించీ మొదల జవ్వనము ॥పల్లవి॥ యెంచఁగ భూమి యొక్కటే యేలినరాజు లెందరో పొంచి వారివెంటవెంటఁ బోవదాయను అంచల సూర్యచంద్రులనే గడెకుడుకల ముంచి కొలచి పోసీని మునుకొని కాలము ॥ఆహా॥ దేవలోక మొక్కటే దేవేంద్రు లెందరో కైవశమై యేలఁగ నొక్కరిదీ గాదు ఆవటించి పంచభూతాలనేటి శాఖలు వెళ్లి సావధానానఁ బెరిగీ సంసారవృక్షము ॥ఆహా॥ యిచ్చట నీ వొక్కఁడవే యిటు నీదాసు లెందరో తచ్చి యెంత సేవించినాఁ దనివిలేదు నిచ్చలు శ్రీవేంకటేశ నిధానము నీభక్తి యెచ్చినాఁడ వింతటా నీడేరీ జన్మము ॥ఆహా॥
|
āhā yēmi cēppēdi hari nīmāya mōhamulē cigiriṃcī modala javvanamu ॥pallavi॥ yeṃcaṃ̐ga bhūmi yokkaṭē yēlinarāju leṃdarō poṃci vāriveṃṭaveṃṭaṃ̐ bōvadāyanu aṃcala sūryacaṃdrulanē gaḍekuḍukala muṃci kolaci pōsīni munukoni kālamu ॥āhā॥ dēvalōka mokkaṭē dēvēṃdru leṃdarō kaivaśamai yēlaṃ̐ga nokkaridī gādu āvaṭiṃci paṃcabhūtālanēṭi śākhalu veḻli sāvadhānānaṃ̐ berigī saṃsāravṛkṣamu ॥āhā॥ yiccaṭa nī vokkaṃ̐ḍavē yiṭu nīdāsu leṃdarō tacci yeṃta sēviṃcināṃ̐ danivilēdu niccalu śrīvēṃkaṭēśa nidhānamu nībhakti yeccināṃ̐ḍa viṃtaṭā nīḍērī janmamu ॥āhā॥
|
Chorus (Pallavi):
ఆహా యేమి
చేప్పేది హరి నీమాయ
మోహములే
చిగిరించీ మొదల జవ్వనము ॥పల్లవి॥
āhā yēmi cēppēdi hari nīmāya
mōhamulē cigiriṃcī modala
javvanamu ॥pallavi॥
|
Telugu Phrase |
Meaning |
|
ఆహా యేమి
చేప్పేది హరి నీమాయ |
O Hari,
Your māyā is beyond the reach of our imagination. How
can I even name it as māyā? |
|
మోహములే
చిగిరించీ మొదల జవ్వనము |
From time immemorial, delusion has been continuously
sprouting, with youth acting as its flowering phase. |
Literal Meaning:
(Annamacharya
here presents life itself as an endless saṁsāra-tree, without a clear
beginning or end).
O Hari!
Your māyā is unfathomable—how can I even describe it as māyā? From the very
beginning, delusion has been sprouting ceaselessly, with youth blossoming upon
it.
Interpretative Notes:
మోహములే
చిగిరించీ మొదల జవ్వనము
“Delusion
sprouts—youth flowering”
Annamacharya
visualizes life as a vast,
beginningless
saṁsāra-tree.
Delusion is its ever-present sprouting force;
without it,
the tree cannot grow unchecked.
Here, youth signifies reproductive and regenerative energy—
the power
by which delusion renews itself and keeps proliferating.
Youth
causes delusion to sprout again and again.
The
exclamation “Ahā” expresses
our
fundamental helplessness
in grasping
the true nature of this structure.
it is the
recognition of our inability to
fully
comprehend what is unfolding before us."
First Stanza:
యెంచఁగ భూమి
యొక్కటే యేలినరాజు లెందరో
పొంచి వారివెంటవెంటఁ
బోవదాయను
అంచల సూర్యచంద్రులనే
గడెకుడుకల
ముంచి కొలచి
పోసీని మునుకొని కాలము ॥ఆహా॥
yeṃcaṃ̐ga bhūmi yokkaṭē
yēlinarāju leṃdarō
poṃci vāriveṃṭaveṃṭaṃ̐
bōvadāyanu
aṃcala sūryacaṃdrulanē
gaḍekuḍukala
muṃci kolaci pōsīni munukoni
kālamu ॥āhā॥
|
Telugu Phrase
|
Meaning
|
|
యెంచఁగ భూమి యొక్కటే యేలినరాజు లెందరో
|
“When
examined closely, the earth is one and the same, though many kings have ruled
it.”
|
|
పొంచి వారివెంటవెంటఁ బోవదాయను
|
“Yet the
earth does not follow them.”
The earth does not move along with those rulers; it remains indifferent to
their rise and fall.
|
|
అంచల సూర్యచంద్రులనే గడెకుడుకల
|
“Beside it, the sun and the moon serve as a
clock,”
Time counts days and nights using the sun and the moon as its measuring
device.
|
|
ముంచి
కొలచి పోసీని మునుకొని కాలము
|
“Immersing,
measuring, setting aside, and moving forward—Time flows on.”
Time absorbs everything into its stream, measures it, places it aside without
mercy, and continues its onward movement.
|
Literal
Meaning:
When seen
clearly, the earth has always been the same, while rulers keep changing. The earth does not accompany them. Likewise, using days and nights as its
measure, time immerses everything in its flow, gathers all experiences into
heaps, discards them without favour, and proceeds forward on its own course.
Interpretative Notes:
“ముంచి కొలచి పోసీని మునుకొని కాలము”
“Time
immerses, measures, sets aside, and moves on.”
The true
nature of the saṁsāra-tree cannot be traced.
Though the
earth appears to be its physical base,
and time seems to form its trunk and branches,
neither earth nor time reveals its origin.
Just as the
traces of past kings vanish from the earth without evidence,
time leaves no marks, no milestones, no solid signs by which one can say,
“This is where it began.”
Covering
everything it encounters,
and after a while setting it aside as mere residue,
time moves forward relentlessly, without generosity or attachment.
From these
external supports—earth or time—
one cannot arrive at the true nature of the saṁsāra-tree,
whether by tracing backward in time or by relying on visible foundations.
Second Stanza:
దేవలోక
మొక్కటే దేవేంద్రు లెందరో
కైవశమై
యేలఁగ నొక్కరిదీ గాదు
ఆవటించి
పంచభూతాలనేటి శాఖలు వెళ్లి
సావధానానఁ
బెరిగీ సంసారవృక్షము ॥ఆహా॥
dēvalōka mokkaṭē dēvēṃdru
leṃdarō
kaivaśamai yēlaṃ̐ga nokkaridī
gādu
āvaṭiṃci paṃcabhūtālanēṭi
śākhalu veḻli
sāvadhānānaṃ̐ berigī
saṃsāravṛkṣamu ॥āhā॥
|
Telugu Phrase
|
Meaning
|
|
దేవలోక మొక్కటే దేవేంద్రు లెందరో
|
The world of the gods is one, yet many Indras arise.
|
|
కైవశమై యేలఁగ నొక్కరిదీ గాదు
|
No one can permanently claim mastery over it
|
|
ఆవటించి పంచభూతాలనేటి శాఖలు వెళ్లి
|
The five elemental forces within the human being extend deep
inward reaching various domains, gathering, accumulating, collecting, and
consolidating experiences..
|
|
సావధానానఁ బెరిగీ సంసారవృక్షము
|
It is through sāvadānam—attentive
involvement—that the tree of saṁsāra
continues to grow.
|
Literal Meaning:
The
divine realm may be one, yet its rulers change continually. No one truly owns
that dominion. The branches of the five elements, constituting the body itself,
operate as channels through which attractions and impulses arise. Through responsive
engagement—whether active or passive—the saṁsāra-tree keeps growing.
Contextual Meaning
No
one is the master of this body.
The five elements enter the body
and
merely deliver impulses and attractions.
Recognise the impermanency of these manifestations.
Still
more important is to find their root.
One
who sees the root is discerning.
One who does not—becomes the saṁsāra-tree.
Interpretative Notes:
సావధానానఁ
బెరిగీ సంసారవృక్షము
“Attentive
engagement nourishes the saṁsāra-tree”
Its nature
cannot be understood by study of:
the earth as its base, or
time as its framework.
It has neither
singular cause and nor any known owner.
Connection
with Bhagavad Gita
Thus, we
understand,
we are dealing
with a tree that is unrecognisable.
Yet, we engage
with it unknowingly.
This is
precisely what the Bhagavad Gītā points to:
न रूपमस्येह तथोपलभ्यते
नान्तो न चादिर्न च सम्प्रतिष्ठा
|
अश्वत्थमेनं सुविरूढमूल
मसङ्गशस्त्रेण दृढेन छित्त्वा
||15-3||
“Its true
form cannot be perceived from where you are standing;
neither its beginning, nor its end, nor its foundation is known.
This deeply rooted aśvattha-tree must be cut down
with the firm weapon of non-attachment.”
Most
notable point is that
we have no
basis to approach this “saṁsāra-tree”
Thus, we
may take that
సంసారవృక్షము
“saṁsāra-tree”is ungraspable
Let us deal
with this from the fundamentals.
Who is
paying this attention? (సావధానానఁ?) —
The sense that
claims ownership of that operation
Therefore, “sāvadānam”
leans decisively on operations of the Mind:
attention, recognition, interest, contact, memory, grasping, even letting go.
Either it engages
with the world,
or refrains from it,
the tree
continues to grow.
That is the
crux of the issue.
Thus, we
arrive at this
The tree grows
by the mode of the mind grasping it.
The mind
which says “I have grasped ‘saṁsāra-tree’”
is
obviously false because it is ungraspable.
therefore, without
transcending this ‘I’-structure,
there is no
path beyond to know “saṁsāra-tree”.
How can
this “I” structure be dissolved? —
Impossible without
death.
The death
of identity, continuity, observer and self-image.
Who will be willing to take such risk to “merely know?”
None.
Without
trust in God’s grace, this is not possible.
Without grace, such trust is baseless
Those caught in this dialectic hesitate—
only help the saṁsāra-tree to grow.
(This
appears like age old question
Which is
first egg or chicken?)
That is why
the Acharya declares in the next stanza:
“Do not
hide behind the excuse of
‘However
much I have served, it is never enough.’”
This is simply
an excuse.
One who
removes all obstacles between oneself and truth
does not
entertain such considerations.
Therefore,
సావధానానఁ
బెరిగీ సంసారవృక్షము
“Sāvadānamāna
berigī saṁsāra-vṛkṣamu”
is not a philosophical proposition.
It is a hard
fact, standing unmistakably before one’s eyes.
Either one
knows it by dissolving ‘I”
Or helps saṁsāra-tree
to grow.
All other
claims are false.
Third Stanza:
యిచ్చట
నీ వొక్కఁడవే యిటు నీదాసు లెందరో
తచ్చి
యెంత సేవించినాఁ దనివిలేదు
నిచ్చలు
శ్రీవేంకటేశ నిధానము నీభక్తి
యెచ్చినాఁడ
వింతటా నీడేరీ జన్మము ॥ఆహా॥
yiccaṭa nī vokkaṃ̐ḍavē yiṭu
nīdāsu leṃdarō
tacci yeṃta sēviṃcināṃ̐
danivilēdu
niccalu śrīvēṃkaṭēśa nidhānamu
nībhakti
yeccināṃ̐ḍa viṃtaṭā nīḍērī
janmamu ॥āhā॥
|
Telugu Phrase
|
Meaning
|
|
యిచ్చట నీ వొక్కఁడవే యిటు నీదాసు లెందరో
|
Here, it is You alone on one side, and on this side,
countless who call themselves Your servants.
|
|
తచ్చి యెంత సేవించినాఁ దనివిలేదు
|
Abandon the excuse, “however much I serve, it is never
enough.”
|
|
నిచ్చలు శ్రీవేంకటేశ నిధానము నీభక్తి
|
O Śrī Veṅkaṭeśa, Your bhakti is an hidden-stored treasure;
|
|
యెచ్చినాఁడ వింతటా నీడేరీ జన్మము
|
exalted are You — how wondrous that my life has found its
fulfilment.
|
Literal Meaning:
(This
utterance arises after direct perception of the root of the saṁsāra-tree;
clarity follows perception, not effort.)
Here,
Annamacharya sees only God (Truth) in front of him,
while on the other side appear many devotees.
He rejects the excuse that says,
“Even after serving YOU so much, it is still insufficient.”
Bhakti, he
says, is not something to be acquired anew —
it is an ever-present treasure, uncovered now.
O Veṅkaṭeśa, You are exalted; indeed,
in this recognition, my life stands fulfilled
Interpretative Notes:
యిచ్చట
నీ వొక్కఁడవే యిటు నీదాసు లెందరో
“Here,
it is You alone… and countless servants that side”
Those who have
single-pointed attention toward Truth
they are absorbed so much,
often do
not notice what is being dissolved within themselves
They let go without the natural circumspection.
In that
state, Annamacharya encounters the same paradox:
the person, only on dropping the sense of “I,”
can perceive the Supreme;
that person no longer has an identity.
divine grace fills their heart completely.
Annamacharya
recalls,
many servants of Veṅkaṭeśa spontaneously —
not as social status,
but as a natural resonance of divine grace.
తచ్చి
యెంత సేవించినాఁ దనివిలేదు
(no place
for excuses, justifications)
Probably
this is the sharpest rebuke by Annamacharya
He is
utterly clear.
Do not console
yourself with excuses.
Single point
pursuit of Truth is the only alternative.
Do not
resort to the language of lack —
‘I do not
have’, ‘what more is required?’”
Next line
says “You are already provided”
One who
removes all barriers between oneself and Truth
does not engage in such paraphernalia
నిచ్చలు
శ్రీవేంకటేశ నిధానము నీభక్తి.
Bhakti for Annamacharya
is a hidden treasure
The wealth
Annamacharya repeatedly mentions
are not external attainments.
They are
already deposited within.
What is required is the removal of obstructions to it
యెచ్చినాఁడ
వింతటా నీడేరీ జన్మము.
“How
wondrous — my life is fulfilled”
Even
without being able to locate where he stands,
Annamacharya senses that he has risen immeasurably.
Fulfilment
here is not achievement,
but the quiet recognition that nothing remains to be sought.
X-X-The
END-X-X
No comments:
Post a Comment