ANNAMACHARYA
221.
ఎంత సోదించి చూచినా యెన్నెన్ని చదివినా
eMta sOdiMchi chUchinA yennenni chadivinA
తెలుగులో చదవడానికి ఇక్కడ నొక్కండి.
Introduction:
You need
not search the stars or scan the scrolls -
one song suffices.
Annamacharya, seer of silence,
sifted the centuries for truth
and set it to verse.
His words
- not echoes, but embers —
carry the breath of fallen empires,
forgotten sages,
and barefoot pilgrims.
This
grace is no worldly wealth.
Before it slips beneath the dust,
let it be heard -
not my voice,
but his, through mine.
For time
levels kings and wanderers alike.
All names are shadows —
unless one sings them
into light.
SYNOPSIS
This life is meant to be lived -
not to teach others with pride,
nor to swell with ego.
For those who surrender to the Lord of Lords,
life becomes a path of flowers.
For those who don’t,
it remains a path of thorns.
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అధ్యాత్మ కీర్తన |
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రేకు:
155-6 సంపుటము: 2-262 |
Copper
Leaf:55-6 Volume:
2-262 |
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ఎంత సోదించి చూచినా యెన్నెన్ని చదివినా
వింతలై న నీమూర్తి వెసఁ దెలిసేమా ॥పల్లవి॥ లోకములో సముద్రములోఁతు చెప్పఁగరాదట
ఆకాశ మింతంతని యనరాదట
మేకొని భూరేణువులు మితి వెట్టఁగరాదట
శ్రీకాంతుఁడ నీమహిమ చెప్ప చూపవశమా ॥ఎంత॥ అల గాలి దెచ్చి ముడియగాఁ గట్టఁగరాదట
వెలయఁ గాలము గంటు వేయరాదట
కలయ నలుదిక్కులకడ గానఁగరాదట
జలజాక్ష నీరూపు తలపోయఁగలనా ॥ఎంత॥ కేవలమైన నీమాయ గెలువనేరాదట
భావించి మనఁసు జక్కఁ బట్టరాదట
దేవ యలమేల్మంగపతివి నీశరణే గతి
శ్రీవేంకటేశ నిన్నుఁ జేరి కొల్వవశమా ॥ఎంత॥
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eMta sOdiMchi
chUchinA yennenni chadivinA
viMtalai na
nImUrti vesa delisEmA ॥pallavi॥ lOkamulO
samudramulOtu cheppagarAdaTa
AkASa miMtaMtani
yanarAdaTa
mEkoni
bhUrENuvulu miti veTTagarAdaTa
SrIkAMtuDa
nImahima cheppa chUpavaSamA ॥eMta॥ ala gAli dechchi
muDiyagA gaTTagarAdaTa
velaya@M gAlamu
gaMTu vEyarAdaTa
kalaya
naludikkulakaDa gAnagarAdaTa
jalajAksha
nIrUpu talapOyagalanA ॥eMta॥ kEvalamaina
nImAya geluvanErAdaTa
bhAviMchi manasu
jakka baTTarAdaTa
dEva
yalamElmaMgapativi nISaraNE gati
SrIvEMkaTESa
ninnu jEri kolvavaSamA ॥eMta॥
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ఎంత
సోదించి చూచినా యెన్నెన్ని చదివినా
వింతలై న నీ మూర్తి వెసఁ దెలిసేమా ॥పల్లవి॥
వెసఁ = వెంటనే, Immediately
Literal
Meaning: No matter how much one investigates or how many
scriptures one reads, can one truly grasp the wonder that is your divine form,
instantly and directly?
Explanation:
ఎంత
సోదించి చూచినా (eMta sOdiMchi chUchinA)
"ఎంత సోదించి చూచినా" (No matter how much one searches): Every search has an end-goal — usually a desire to reach something we already assume we know. But if we truly know where God is, why would there be any need to search?
And if we don’t know, how can we claim to have "seen" the
unknown”?
Through this line, Annamacharya questions the assumptions and illusions hidden
beneath our so-called spiritual seeking.
"ఎన్నెన్ని చదివినా" (No matter how much one reads): Annamacharya saw education as a process of accumulating what is already known - not as a path to liberation or inner freedom. That is why he often criticized the limitations of formal learning and the ego hidden within intellectual pride.
Across the world, education (చదువు) typically
means a structured progression of learning. In this light, “ఎన్నెన్ని చదివినా” points to the incapacity of any structured
system to grasp the unknown God.
వెసఁ దెలిసేమా (vesa
delisEmA)
This expresses the futility of intellectual effort in comprehending the divine. Neither rational inquiry (సోదించుట) nor scriptural study (చదవటం) can capture the mysterious and astonishing presence of the Lord (వింత మూర్తి).
Our usual process of understanding - first seeing, then comparing with prior ideas, and then interpreting or feeling -is inherently limited.
The
phrase “వెసఁ దెలిసేమా”
questions whether such divine truth can ever be known instantly, without that
entire process mentioned above, without mediation or filters.
Implied
Meaning:
It subtly
presents a profound paradox: All effort ends
in confusion. Real clarity comes when mind becomes still.
First
Stanza:
లోకములో
సముద్రములోఁతు చెప్పఁగరాదట
ఆకాశ మింతంతని యనరాదట
మేకొని భూరేణువులు మితి వెట్టఁగరాదట
శ్రీకాంతుఁడ నీ మహిమ చెప్ప చూపవశమా ॥ఎంత॥
మేకొని
= పూనుకొని, by
taking up a task, to indulge. మితి = పరిమితి, పరిమాణము, limit, quantum,
Literal
Meaning:
They say the ocean’s depth cannot be fathomed,
The sky’s vastness cannot be measured,.
No one can count the grains of the earth —
O Srikanta, are your glories even farther beyond thought or numbers.
Interpretive
Commentary:
In this stanza Annamacharya talks of the physical entities we can witness.
మేకొని భూరేణువులు మితి వెట్టఁగరాదట = No one can count the grains of the earth.
To count
the dust upon the earth - even wisdom fails the quest;
No mind has measured it, nor machine has passed the test.
O Srikanta, such are Your glories - beyond all word or dime;
In singing You, Annamacharya touches the Divine.
Upanishadic
Resonance:
This aligns directly with the Upanishadic dictum:
यतो वाचो निवर्तन्ते, अप्राप्य मनसा सह। (“యతో వాచో నివర్తంతే, అప్రాప్య మనసా సహ)” "That from which speech returns, along
with the mind -unable to grasp it." (Taittiriya Upanishad)
Annamayya’s
line “చెప్ప చూపవశమా” becomes a Telugu echo of this
verse. It tells us that the truth surfaces (in the person) where thought and speech
end.
Second
Stanza:
అల
గాలి దెచ్చి ముడియగాఁ గట్టఁగరాదట
వెలయఁ గాలము గంటు వేయరాదట
కలయ నలుదిక్కులకడ గానఁగరాదట
జలజాక్ష నీరూపు తలపోయఁగలనా ॥ఎంత॥
వెలయఁ గాలము
గంటు వేయరాదట = "No one can etch an everlasting mark upon the flowing
stream of time."
Literal Meaning: The wind cannot be caught and tightly bound in a bundle. No one can leave an everlasting mark upon the flowing stream of time. No matter how many directions you turn, the end remains elusive and unclear. O Lotus-eyed One, do I possess the ability to hold and contain Your form in my mind?
Interpretive
Commentary:
In
this stanza Annamacharya talks of the ungraspable entities we feel, but do not
understand. Also, implied is that Annamacharya is finding God in our very ugly World.
- Wind You can feel it, but you cannot tie it down.
- Time: You can sense its passing but cannot hold it back.
- 4 Directions: Turn anyway, what is known remains incomplete.
And
then comes the plea:
"How
can I even begin to recall your form?" This is more than
humility. It’s the recognition that even thought - the mind’s inward act
of shaping an image — falls short.
By the end of this stanza, Annamacharya removes even the last refuge of the seeker - contemplation. All that is left is adoration without thought, a sinking into silence.
The first stanza denied scale.
The second stanza denies grasp.
Together, they prepare us for letting go — so that something truer
than thought may bring.
Let us understand this marvellous statement thru
interpretation of great surreal painting William Higginson’s “Metamorphosis”
By placing
familiar objects in unfamiliar contexts, Higginson disorients us, challenging
our sense of history and perception. The dreamlike symbols in his work seem to
float across time, probing the transient nature of existence and the cyclical
patterns that govern life.
Evolution
in Continuum:
From a withered pear fruit emerge roots and tiny leaves - a vision of new hope
sprouting. And yet, the shrivelled, cracked surface reminds us that no
transformation happens without some pain or friction. As elders say, childbirth
is like being born again — a way to describe the pain of labour. In this
painting, the earth is not just a passive backdrop but an active participant.
The mammoths emerging from behind hills seem to proclaim the endless cycle of
birth and change - how indistinct and fragile the boundary of “beginning”
really is. Creatures, land, and humanity all appear as participants in a grand
evolutionary continuum.
A Wonder
and A Master:
Many of Higginson’s symbols hold profound significance. A lone man with a
suitcase is something like a curious boy staring at a passing train of mammoths,
- it evokes the sense of an endless journey. The suitcase carries illusory memories,
his clothes, a veneer of civilization. But he stands not as part of the
creatures around him, but as one who believes he owns them — a symbol of human
arrogance and limitation. The desolate, desert-like land speaks of how,
ultimately, man must face reality alone. Each mammoth is distinct — reminding
us that evolution is no mass-production factory. Every being faces its own
unique, unpredictable challenges in life.
Flow of
time: Ultimately,
Higginson’s painting underscores the impermanence of human life, and the
boundlessness of time. His imagery, though wordless, evokes the texture of
dreams — gently depositing in the viewer’s mind the vast, immeasurable flow of
time itself.
Trying to
place a clock on such a current called time - to say "So-and-so was born
in this era and died on that date" - is not just laughable; it is untrue.
Shalivahana, Vikrama eras have faded into oblivion. Eventually they will vanish
from books. The same fate awaits all our current time-keeping systems.
This links
seamlessly with Annamacharya’s cryptic phrase: “వెలయఁ
గాలము గంటు వేయరాదట” —
“One cannot mark an hour on the flow of time.” Just as time, like wind, leaves
no permanent trace, no one can etch history into flowing reality.
శ్రీవేంకటేశ నిన్నుఁ జేరి కొల్వవశమా ॥ఎంత॥
Literal Meaning: The Illusion is not just hard; it’s un-defeatable. The mind cannot "settle" even after effort. So, there is no self-willed path to liberation. The only recourse is surrender - not to knowledge, but to Lord Venkateshwara.
కేవలమైన నీ మాయ గెలువనేరాదట (kEvalamaina
nImAya geluvanErAdaTa)
“This mere delusion of yours impossible to
overcome.”
Bhagavad Gita
7.14 says the same thing: दैवी
ह्येषा गुणमयी मम माया दुरत्यया | daivī hyeṣhā guṇa-mayī
mama māyā duratyayā Meaning:
My divine energy Maya, consisting of the three
modes of nature, is very difficult to overcome.
Jiddu
Krishnamurti’s silence — that thinking cannot bring clarity, and only surrender
to choiceless awareness might bring release.
"భావించి మనఁసు జక్కఁ బట్టరాదట"
The mind cannot be stilled through sheer intention, reflection,
or effort.
It does not find quiet by contemplating quietness.
Like ripples that disturb water, thought cannot create
stillness.
True rest comes only when the ‘doer’ dissolves — not through
striving, but in the stillness that follows its absence.
“శ్రీవేంకటేశ నిన్నుఁ జేరి కొల్వవశమా”
O
Venkatesha, how can we ever reach you and serve you by our own effort?
Unless you draw us near, even our worship remains out of reach.
Interpretive Flow (Meaning and Tone)
This stanza shows a
transition from outer symbolism to inner surrender. Unlike the earlier
visual-experiential stanzas, here Annamacharya confronts a spiritual dead-end:
- Māyā is invincible - it’s not just
hard; it’s un-defeatable.
- Even contemplation fails - the mind
cannot "settle" even after effort.
- So, there is no self-willed path to
liberation.
- The only recourse is surrender - not to knowledge, but to the
divine, Venkateshwara.
