301 మందులేదు దీనికి మంత్ర మేమియు లేదు
(maṃdulēdu dīniki
maṃtra mēmiyu lēdu)
INTRODUCTION
“There is
no remedy for this”—but what is it that has no remedy? The very act of
searching for a remedy implies an awareness of disorder, whether minor or
grave. That awareness itself becomes our way of living. The moment one feels
that something is wrong, the mind immediately moves toward correction, removal,
or improvement. It is precisely this impulse—the need to fix, to heal, to
escape—that is undone by the second line: “The (need for) remedy and the
mantra exist only in one’s own mind.”
Thus,
Annamacharya places the reader in direct confrontation with the problem itself,
without offering anything beyond what is plainly stated. Without proposing any
method, without holding out any promise, Annamacharya’s intent is simply this:
to reveal that our very search for a solution is the bondage itself.
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అధ్యాత్మ
కీర్తన
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రేకు: 26-6
సంపుటము: 1-161
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మందులేదు దీనికి మంత్ర మేమియు లేదు మందు మంత్రము దన మతిలోనే కలదు ॥మందు॥ కదలకుండఁగఁ దన్నుఁ గట్టివేసినఁ గట్టు వదలించకొనఁ గొంత వలదా వదలించఁబోయిన వడిగొని పైపైనే కదియుఁగాని తన్ను వదల దేమియును ॥మందు॥ మనసు లోపలనుండి మరి మీఁదఁ దానుండి యెనసిన తిరువేంకటేశుని తనరిన తలఁపునఁ దలఁప దుష్కృతములు తనకుఁ దానే వీడుఁ దలఁకవలదు గాన ॥మందు॥
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PHILOSOPHICAL POEM
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Copper Plate: 26-5 Volume: 1-161
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maṃdulēdu dīniki maṃtra mēmiyu lēdu maṃdu maṃtramu dana matilōnē kaladu ॥maṃdu॥ kadalakuṃḍaṃ̐gaṃ̐ dannuṃ̐ gaṭṭivēsinaṃ̐ gaṭṭu vadaliṃcakonaṃ̐ goṃta valadā vadaliṃcaṃ̐bōyina vaḍigoni paipainē kadiyuṃ̐gāni tannu vadala dēmiyunu ॥maṃdu॥ manasu lōpalanuṃḍi mari mīṃ̐daṃ̐ dānuṃḍi yenasina tiruvēṃkaṭēśuni tanarina talaṃ̐punaṃ̐ dalaṃ̐pa duṣkṛtamulu tanakuṃ̐ dānē vīḍuṃ̐ dalaṃ̐kavaladu gāna ॥maṃdu॥
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Details
and Discussions:
Chorus (Pallavi):
మందులేదు
దీనికి మంత్ర మేమియు లేదు
మందు మంత్రము
దన మతిలోనే కలదు ॥పల్లవి॥
maṃdulēdu dīniki
maṃtra mēmiyu lēdu
maṃdu maṃtramu
dana matilōnē kaladu ॥Pallavi॥
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Telugu Phrase
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Meaning
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మందులేదు
దీనికి మంత్ర మేమియు లేదు
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(మంత్రము
= a secret) For this problem
called life, there is no remedy. Nor is it a hidden secret.
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మందు మంత్రము
దన మతిలోనే కలదు
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Whatever is imagined as a cure or a secret exists only
within the mind itself.
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Literal Meaning:
For
this—for life itself—there is no remedy. Nor is it a concealed secret. The very
idea that a remedy or a secret exists is an imagination of the mind. (This imagination
is a continuation the mind has assumed)
Interpretative Notes:
Annamacharya’s
question is directed at the contradiction within us: Even when we outwardly
agree, what are the notions that continue to nest silently within the mind –
that always look for a solution? Look for a saviour?
The line “the
remedy and the mantra exist only in one’s own mind” is crucial.It does not point to a hidden inner treasure, nor does it offer a hopeful
outlook. Rather, the Pallavi makes it clear that both waiting for a remedy and
dismissing the need for one are inadequate responses. Another movement of the
same mind could be neutrality. However, the effort to remain neutral itself
becomes the pursuit of a remedy. It is precisely these movements that
Annamacharya negates.
First Stanza:
కదలకుండఁగఁ
దన్నుఁ గట్టివేసినఁ గట్టు
వదలించకొనఁ
గొంత వలదా
వదలించఁబోయిన
వడిగొని పైపైనే
కదియుఁగాని
తన్ను వదల దేమియును ॥మందు॥
kadalakuṃḍaṃ̐gaṃ̐ dannuṃ̐ gaṭṭivēsinaṃ̐ gaṭṭu
vadaliṃcakonaṃ̐ goṃta
valadā
vadaliṃcaṃ̐bōyina
vaḍigoni paipainē
kadiyuṃ̐gāni
tannu vadala dēmiyunu ॥maṃdu॥
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Telugu Phrase
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Meaning
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కదలకుండఁగఁ దన్నుఁ గట్టివేసినఁ గట్టు
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The
restraints that leave no room for action provoke a natural impulse:
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వదలించకొనఁ గొంత వలదా
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Shouldn’t I
try to loosen them, even slightly?
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వదలించఁబోయిన వడిగొని పైపైనే
కదియుఁగాని తన్ను వదల దేమియును
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But the moment such an effort begins, the
restraints do not weaken—they rather tighten, and revolve more rapidly,
while never letting go.
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“Bound without movement” – a condition where no action seems
possible.
“Shouldn’t I loosen this?” – the instinctive urge to escape.
“In the very attempt” – effort itself becomes operative.
“They tighten and move faster” – struggle accelerates bondage.
“They never let go” – effort sustains what it seeks to end.
Literal
Meaning:
When
life feels completely constricted, the impulse to escape is inevitable. Yet
that very reaction—the effort to free oneself—becomes the force that tightens
the bondage further. The struggle does not dissolve the restraint; it sustains
and strengthens it.
Interpretative Notes:
At
first glance, this stanza may seem one-sided or pessimistic. But its clarity becomes striking when seen alongside Max Ernst’s surreal
painting The Fireside Angel.
The
Fireside Angel
Against
a barren, desolate landscape stands a distorted, human-like figure. Its limbs are sharply fragmented, pulled in opposing directions, as if each
part acts independently. The mismatched boots suggest that it doesn’t move in a
single unified direction. Bright, heavy colours hint at prosperity and
capability, yet the posture reveals agitation, haste, and inner disorder.
Restless
Doer
The
figure appears relentlessly active—always moving, never resting—yet going
nowhere. This image captures what Annamacharya points to: a life driven by
compulsive effort, urgency without clarity, and motion without release. Though
the restraints seem external, they are tightened by the very urgency to escape
them.
An illustrative
example for young readers
Treat
it as a loose modern parallel, not an explanation
Just
recall the magical plant Devil's Snare in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
This plant with vine-like tendrils that constrict and strangle anything that
touches it. The harder a person struggles against it, the faster and tighter it
binds them.
Second
Stanza:
మనసు లోపలనుండి
మరి మీఁదఁ దానుండి
యెనసిన తిరువేంకటేశుని
తనరిన తలఁపునఁ
దలఁప దుష్కృతములు
తనకుఁ దానే
వీడుఁ దలఁకవలదు గాన ॥మందు॥
manasu lōpalanuṃḍi mari
mīṃ̐daṃ̐ dānuṃḍi
yenasina tiruvēṃkaṭēśuni
tanarina talaṃ̐punaṃ̐ dalaṃ̐pa duṣkṛtamulu
tanakuṃ̐ dānē vīḍuṃ̐ dalaṃ̐kavaladu
gāna ॥maṃdu॥
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Telugu Phrase
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Meaning
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మనసు లోపలనుండి మరి మీఁదఁ దానుండి
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From within the mind, yet standing above it, the “I” asserts control. |
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యెనసిన తిరువేంకటేశుని
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(ఎనసిన = to who all are equal); Even remembering Tiruveṅkaṭeśa—who sees all as equal—
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తనరిన తలఁపునఁ దలఁప దుష్కృతములు
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(తనరిన = to continue) when done to sustain this “I,” becomes a distortion. |
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తనకుఁ దానే వీడుఁ దలఁకవలదు గాన
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For if the bindings are left untouched, they loosen and fall away on their own.
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Literal
Meaning:
The moment
the sense of “I” positions itself above the mind to govern it, even the act of
remembering Tiruveṅkaṭeśa—who embodies equality—turns into a continuation of
inner conflict. Such thinking, aimed at sustaining the self, becomes a
disturbance. Because these restraints dissolve by themselves only when they are
not interfered with.
(Annamacharya
is not rejecting the remembrance of Tiruveṅkaṭeśa; he is exposing the
persistence of the one who remembers—the “I.”)
Interpretative Notes:
తనరిన
తలఁపునఁ దలఁప దుష్కృతములు
Steps
to sustain “I” are missteps
When
Annamacharya says “even thinking of Tiruveṅkaṭeśa becomes a misstep,” he
is uncompromising. He is not attacking devotion but pointing to something more
subtle: the movement of thought that seeks continuity.
The crucial
issue is the controller of thought. This controller “I” is a response of
memory. While remaining within the mind it creates
- a doer (“I who must think rightly”), and
- an object (“that which must be corrected, aligned, or
purified”).
This
division is the very mechanism of bondage.
Thought—or
consciousness—must remain active in order to confirm its own existence and
relevance. As stated in the Bhagavad Gītā (3.5): no one can remain without
action, even for a moment. To stop acting would threaten the existence of “I”
itself. Therefore, under all circumstances, the mind refuses to relinquish the
feeling of “I.” This is the inner struggle.
Thus, the
very thought of “I” becomes the divider between truth and the human being.
తనకుఁ
దానే వీడుఁ దలఁకవలదు గాన
(Bonds
get dissolved on their own)
Annamacharya
states plainly that bonds dissolve on their own. Therefore, to see this
divider “I” with precision—without trying to eliminate it—is true living.
Everything else is disturbance. Thus, the issue that plagues man is not bonds, but
the controller of thought — the “I”.
This is the
meaning of vyavasāyātmikā buddhiḥ (Gītā 2.41): not a path of effort, but
a clarity that does not fragment. Those who see in this way live in maturity.
Those who do not, remain in continuous friction, drifting away from truth.
For those
with such clarity, concern for all beings and equality across all divisions
arise naturally—not as an adopted tradition, but as an effortless fact of
perception.
X-X-The END-X-X
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