337 విచ్చేయవమ్మా వెన్నెలబొమ్మా
(viccēyavammā
vennelabommā)
Vennelabomma
A Marvellous
Enchantment
A
human being as he enters this world, his mind is naturally free. But life does not
present one or two attractions and stop there. It presents an endless world of
colour, sensation and relationship. It does not attack all at once. It grows
gradually, like a tree: a trunk, then branches, and then leaves. Because this
growth is gradual, bondage does not appear artificial to us. We become part of
it. We enjoy it. Eventually, we build our very sense of ourselves around it.
As time
passes, desires, fears, successes, failures, relationships, identities and
memories gather into a psychological world. But what needs to be observed is
not merely the attractions themselves, but the movements they produce in us.
A form, a word, a glance, a touch, a memory—each evokes a response. Every
response is a movement. Every movement gives rise to another.
Annamacharya
says elsewhere, “సావధానానఁ బెరిగీ
సంసారవృక్షము”—the samsara tree (tree of worldly
involvement) grows with our attention. What becomes directly visible to us are
its movements; the process from which those movements arise remains hidden. We
see the branches, leaves and flowers. The root remains unseen.
It is
against this background that “Vichcheyavamma Vennelabomma” becomes
particularly interesting. On the surface, it is unmistakably a romantic poem.
There is a beautiful woman, modesty, affection, a sidelong glance, speech,
colour, fragrance, movement, laughter, desire and enchantment. A reader may
enjoy the poem entirely at that level.
But
Annamacharya seems to be looking at something else. He is looking at movement.
The woman is what has come into his field of vision. She is not the whole of
existence, nor does the poet claim to know the whole. What he presents is one
manifestation that has come before him. But through that manifestation, he
seems to notice something of the movement passing through it.
A glance
awakens a response. A response awakens another response. Attraction gathers. Affection
deepens. Desire intensifies. Enchantment takes hold. What appears to be a
collection of separate events begins to reveal an extraordinary connectedness.
The
remarkable thing is that this movement, though seemingly endless and almost
insatiable, is not presented as disorder. Within the apparent chaos there is an
extraordinary order. The poet does not stand outside this movement and condemn
it. Nor does he escape from it. He sees it from within, without being entirely
carried away by it.
This is
where the connection with the Gita becomes useful—not as a key with which to
decode the poem, but as a preparation for seeing. When the individual mind
comes sufficiently into tune with the larger movement of life (BG 7-18),
something of that order becomes visible. One does not see the whole; no
individual can. But within what comes into one's field of vision, one can
sometimes witness a delicate balance, almost impossible to perceive, and an
exceptional coordination of movement.
That itself
is the enchantment. Not merely the attraction of the woman. The movement
itself. The poem is simple. The seeing mind behind the poem is not.
The
Bhagavad Gita gives us perhaps the only clue by which we can approach what is
being seen here: “न रूपमस्येह
तथोपलभ्यते” (15.3) — its
form is not perceived here as it truly is. What ordinarily reaches us is
only a manifested fragment of a much larger movement.
The song
finally leaves us with an extraordinary question. When life is filled with
these movements, and each of them keeps extending new branches, can we neither
reject them nor become entangled in them, but observe the movement from which
they arise? Annamacharya gives no answer. He simply holds up the mirror and
leaves us to see the balance for ourselves.
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శృంగార
సంకీర్తన
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రాగి రేకు: 59-2 సంపుటము - సంకీర్తన: 6-104
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విచ్చేయవమ్మా
వెన్నెలబొమ్మా మచ్చిక మరుని
ఢాక మగువ నీ రాక ॥పల్లవి॥ పంచల పసిండి
నిగ్గు వచ్చిదేరే సిగ్గు వంచన వలపు తీపు
వాలుక చూపు కంచపుంబాలకూడు
కాఁకలనీవాడు మంచపు నీ తలఁబ్రాలు
మట్టెల పాదాలు ॥విచ్చే॥ కోవిల కొసరుఁబాట
కొమ్మరో నీ మాట తావులచెంగావి
నీ తళుకు మోవి గోవ జవ్వాదికరంగు
గుబ్బల నీ మెఱుంగు భావజు దాడి రొదలు
పాదపు నీ కదలు ॥విచ్చే॥ ముద్దుల నీ నగవు
చిమ్ముల రతి బిగువు అద్దలింపుఁ గసరు
మోహంపుఁ గొసరు గద్దరి నీ యలపు
వెంకటపతి తలఁపు అద్దపునీమోము
మోహనరతిసాము ॥విచ్చే॥
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ROMANTIC POEM
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Copper Plate: 59-2 Volume: 6-104
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viccēyavammā vennelabommā maccika
maruni ḍhāka maguva nī rāka ॥pallavi॥ paṃcala pasiṃḍi niggu vaccidērē siggu vaṃcana valapu tīpu vāluka cūpu kaṃcapuṃbālakūḍu kāṃ̐kalanīvāḍu maṃcapu nī talaṃ̐brālu maṭṭela pādālu ॥viccē॥ kōvila kosaruṃ̐bāṭa kommarō nī māṭa tāvulaceṃgāvi nī taḻuku mōvi gōva javvādikaraṃgu gubbala nī me\ruṃgu bhāvaju dāḍi rodalu pādapu nī kadalu ॥viccē॥ muddula
nī nagavu cimmula rati biguvu addaliṃpuṃ̐ gasaru mōhaṃpuṃ̐ gosaru gaddari
nī yalapu veṃkaṭapati talaṃ̐pu addapunīmōmu mōhanaratisāmu ॥viccē॥
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Details
and Discussions:
Chorus (Pallavi):
విచ్చేయవమ్మా
వెన్నెలబొమ్మా
మచ్చిక మరుని
ఢాక మగువ నీ రాక ॥పల్లవి॥
viccēyavammā
vennelabommā
maccika
maruni ḍhāka maguva nī rāka ॥pallavi॥
Literal Sense:
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Poem Line
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Normal Sense
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Philosophical sense
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విచ్చేయవమ్మా వెన్నెలబొమ్మా
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O moonlight beauty, come and grace us.
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O delicate, elusive presence, in which the silent beauty of life
and all its relationships suddenly become luminous—come, and be received with
affection.
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మచ్చిక మరుని ఢాక మగువ నీ రాక
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O lovely woman, your arrival sounds like a drumbeat announcing
the coming of Manmatha.
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With your presence, the fragrance, beauty, playfulness, surging
vitality and unfolding of life hidden within us seem to rise and overflow, as
though all of them were moving forward along a single underlying current.
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Deeper Note:
These are
words that seem to have arisen spontaneously when Annamacharya, in an
extraordinarily sensitive state, was in intimate contact with nature and with
the movement extending both within himself and throughout the visible world. It
is neither something personal nor merely collective, but a moment in which he
touches the consciousness that moves everything.
“Vennelabomma” is not a
philosophical concept. Something has appeared before the poet, and he gives
that appearance a name. what is unique is that poet seems to know the inner
movement happening in her. He seems to notice something larger—the movement
passing through her. The beauty is visible. The movement behind the beauty is
less visible. Yet the poem keeps drawing our attention towards that movement.
Just as an
electric bulb suddenly lights up when current flows through it, the inner
relationships of life can suddenly become clear in a single moment. Such
clarity cannot be completely captured in words or concepts. The moment we try
to turn it into a theory, it loses its beauty—just as the light would disappear
if the current were switched off. “Vennelabomma” is the poetic form
given to such a living clarity.
First Stanza:
పంచల పసిండి
నిగ్గు వచ్చిదేరే సిగ్గు
వంచన వలపు
తీపు వాలుక చూపు
కంచపుంబాలకూడు
కాఁకలనీవాడు
మంచపు నీ
తలఁబ్రాలు మట్టెల పాదాలు ॥విచ్చే॥
paṃcala
pasiṃḍi niggu vaccidērē siggu
vaṃcana
valapu tīpu vāluka cūpu
kaṃcapuṃbālakūḍu
kāṃ̐kalanīvāḍu
maṃcapu nī
talaṃ̐brālu maṭṭela pādālu ॥viccē॥
Literal
Sense:
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Poem Line
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Romantic Sense
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Philosophical sense
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పంచల పసిండి నిగ్గు వచ్చిదేరే
సిగ్గు
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A golden glow of modesty has come upon her.
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Subtle movements of sensitivity, delicacy and response arise naturally
in life.
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వంచన వలపు తీపు వాలుక చూపు
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Her loving sweetness and sidelong glances are enchanting.
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Attraction, attachment and approach unfold in their natural course.
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కంచపుంబాలకూడు కాఁకలనీవాడు
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Her tender, youthful beauty is taking form.
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Vitality, vigour, growth and creative energy are taking shape.
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మంచపు నీ తలఁబ్రాలు మట్టెల
పాదాలు
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Her beautiful form lies gracefully upon the bed.
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The internal movements of life come together, forming relationships
and a state of mutual coordination.
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Deeper Notes:
In this
stanza, Annamacharya appears to be describing the beauty of a woman. But on
closer observation, he seems to be depicting the subtle impulses that come
into being and naturally express themselves in life.
The
delicate touch of awareness suggested by “Vennelabomma” in the pallavi
now appears as modesty, affection, the sidelong glance, youth and other such
movements. These are not personal qualities belonging to an individual; they
are ways in which life unfolds itself.
Here,
action is not apparent. Modesty is doing what it does. Affection is doing what
it does. Attraction, response, intimacy and sweetness are each flowing in their
own directions. The whole world appears as a vast field of mutual
stimulation, in which one thing awakens another. The collective movement of
these awakenings is life.
This is
important. The poet is not describing a woman gradually growing into a form. He
is observing the internal movement expressed through a form that has come into
his view. The woman is one manifestation; what interests him is the movement
taking place through her.
And because
he is observing the movement rather than assigning it to an individual as an
act of choice, there is no one here to praise and no one to condemn. There is
only a rare glimpse of life unfolding in its own movement.
Second Stanza:
కోవిల కొసరుఁబాట
కొమ్మరో నీ మాట
తావులచెంగావి
నీ తళుకు మోవి
గోవ జవ్వాదికరంగు
గుబ్బల నీ మెఱుంగు
భావజు దాడి
రొదలు పాదపు నీ కదలు ॥విచ్చే॥
kōvila
kosaruṃ̐bāṭa kommarō nī māṭa
tāvulaceṃgāvi
nī taḻuku mōvi
gōva javvādikaraṃgu
gubbala nī me\ruṃgu
bhāvaju dāḍi
rodalu pādapu nī kadalu ॥viccē॥
Literal
Sense:
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Poem Line
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Romantic Sense
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Philosophical sense
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కోవిల కొసరుఁబాట కొమ్మరో నీ
మాట
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Your words are sweet like the song of the cuckoo.
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Responses, signals and invitations naturally pass from one living
being to another.
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తావుల చెంగావి నీ తళుకు మోవి
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Your lips shine like the red chengavi flower.
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External stimuli such as form, colour and radiance awaken responses in
living beings.
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గోవ జవ్వాది కరంగు గుబ్బల నీ
మెఱుంగు
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Your beauty is fragrant like javvadi (fragrance from a kind of cat).
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Fragrance, touch, form, sound and other sensations together create
relationships and responses.
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భావజు దాడి రొదలు పాదపు నీ
కదలు
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Your movement is like the assault of Manmatha.
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Various stimuli come together and generate feelings, desires,
attachments and movements.
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Deep Notes:
In the
first stanza, we saw beauty, affection and modesty taking shape. If the whole
of life appears as a vast charged field, one thing stimulating another, then
the movement of those stimulations is life itself. In this stanza, the poet
takes that movement further.
Here, word,
colour, fragrance and movement are working together. A word has no feeling of
its own. Colour has no intention of its own. Fragrance has no opinion of its
own. Yet a living being encounters them, responds to them, and gives them
meanings and values—attraction or aversion, liking or dislike.
In this
way, individual responses begin to act upon one another. They accumulate as
feelings; feelings take shape as patterns of personality; and such patterns
extend into relationships, society, rules, rights and entitlements. Eventually,
the living being can become caught in the very web of responses that it has
helped to build.
Annamacharya
is therefore not merely telling a love story here. He is observing, with
remarkable delicacy, how different stimuli in life meet one another and,
through their mutual movement, build human experience.
That is why
this stanza, while appearing on the surface to be a description of feminine
beauty and attraction, becomes something much deeper on closer observation: a
glimpse of how life weaves one response after another. They form layers, one
layer strengthening another. After countless responses, we begin to mistake
these layers for life itself.
Third Stanza:
ముద్దుల
నీ నగవు చిమ్ముల రతి బిగువు
అద్దలింపుఁ
గసరు మోహంపుఁ గొసరు
గద్దరి నీ
యలపు వెంకటపతి తలఁపు
అద్దపునీమోము
మోహనరతిసాము ॥విచ్చే॥
muddula nī
nagavu cimmula rati biguvu
addaliṃpuṃ̐
gasaru mōhaṃpuṃ̐ gosaru
gaddari nī
yalapu veṃkaṭapati talaṃ̐pu
addapunīmōmu
mōhanaratisāmu ॥viccē॥
Literal
Sense:
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Poem Line
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Normal Sense
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Philosophical sense
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ముద్దుల నీ నగవు చిమ్ముల రతి
బిగువు
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Your smile scatters kisses and tightens the bonds of love.
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Relationships, intimacy and mutual responses that have arisen between
living beings become deeper and more firmly established.
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అద్దలింపుఁ గసరు మోహంపుఁ
గొసరు
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Your charms stir and intensify attraction and enchantment.
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Experiences, memories and desires nourish one another and strengthen
the formation of personality.
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గద్దరి నీ యలపు వెంకటపతి
తలఁపు
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O Venkataapati! You keep us turning around you, as though in the
manner of a deceiver.
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Without understanding the nature of this enchantment, the living being
keeps moving within it, becoming tired in the process.
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అద్దపునీమోము మోహనరతిసాము
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Your face shines clearly in the midst of enchanting love-play.
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Once that mirror-like clarity is seen, the smallness of attraction,
attachment and romantic play becomes evident in relation to the whole.
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Deep Notes:
In the
first two stanzas, we saw how modesty, affection, attraction, response and
mutual stimulation gradually take shape in life. In this third stanza, all
these movements appear to reach their final intensity. But Annamacharya neither
condemns them nor praises them.
Attraction,
enchantment, attachment and experience are simply doing what they do. That is
the part of the environment we are living in. The living being becomes caught
in those attractions and begins to take them for life itself. This situation is
what the poet subtly points to through “గద్దరి నీ యలపు.” Here, gaddari
is not an accusation. It is a poetic way of pointing to the strange nature of
enchantment itself.
Then, on
the last line of the stanza, the direction of seeing suddenly changes. “అద్దపు నీ మోము” is the crucial line of the kīrtana. The poet,
after noticing the enchantment that has covered everything all along, suddenly
finds himself face to face with “అద్దపు నీ మోము”—a face
reflecting the observer. The beauty of all that has appeared so far—the
modesty, affection, attraction, youth and intimacy—now in an instant becomes
clear, mirror-like and unmistakable. In that clarity, the poet becomes aware of
“వెన్నెలబొమ్మ”.
Like an
electric bulb that suddenly lights up when current flows, the inner
relationships of life can, in a moment, become clear. In that clarity,
enchantments, attractions and erotic impulses no longer stand out as things of
special importance. There is no need to condemn them. Where that clarity is
present, they fall into their respective places by themselves.
The stanza
therefore does not end merely with a description of romantic beauty. It ends
with the seeing of “అద్దపు నీ మోము”—a clear
reflection of the observer. That is the point at which the whole movement of
the poem becomes visible.
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