ninnE nera namminAnu rA

rAga:   pantuvarALi  |   tALa:   rUpaka  |   Composer:   tyAgarAja   |   Language:   telugu  |   Composition:   kRti 


Pallavi

ninnE nera namminAnu rA
O rAma rAmayya
Show Word Meanings 		I fully believe in only you.
O Rama! O Ramayya!

Anupallavi

anni kallalanucu¹ ADi pADi² vEDi
pannaga-zayana nE cinna tanamu nADE (ninnE)
Show Word Meanings 		Treating everything (else) as false, beseeching you by dancing and singing,
since my childhood, O one reclining on the serpent!

Charanam

1.
vEda-zAstra-purANa vidyalacE bhEda-vAdamulu³ tIraka bhramayuᵃ vArala jUci (ninnE)
Show Word Meanings 		Having seen people being confounded, unable to resolve arguments about duality (and non-duality) with their (academic) knowledge of Veda, Sastra and Purana, I fully believe in only you.
2.
bhOgamula koraku bhuvilO rAjasammuna yAgAdulonariJci⁴ alayu vArala jUci (ninnE)
Show Word Meanings 		Having seen people wandering about this world seeking pleasure, by performing sacrificial oblations with base passion, I fully believe in only you.
3.
I janmamuna ninnu rAji jEsukona lEka⁵ rAjillarani tyAgarAja rAjaᵇ rAghava (ninnE)
Show Word Meanings 		Having realised that, in this life, none can shine forth without your assent, O Raghava, master of Tyagaraja, I fully believe in only you.

Variations

  • a bhramayu – bhramasE
  • b tyAgarAja rAja – tyAgarAja vandya

Commentary

  • 1 anni kallalanucu – considering all to be false. This would refer to statements in caraNas 1 (ascertaining ‘Reality’ with mere academic knowledge of Veda, Sastra and Purana) and 2 (performance of sacrificial oblations etc for the sake of enjoyment).
  • 2 ADi pADi –the typical Bhagavata approach of collective singing bhajans etc to the accompaniment of music and dance. Here the word ‘dance’ does not mean mere ‘postures’ or ‘shaking body and hands’, but spontaneous, rapturous, totally involuntary movements. Such dances are recorded in the life of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. However, as per bhramara-kITa nyAya , such voluntary actions too could result in achieving the aim.

    “The Bhramara or the wasp is said to sting the insects or the Kitas which it brings to its hive and through stinging them and poisoning them makes them feel its presence alone everywhere, at all times. The insects, so to say, meditate on the presence of the wasp, at all times, and in turn become wasps themselves thereby. This is to show that by meditating on the formula ‘Aham Brahma Asmi’ or ‘I am Brahman’ the Jiva becomes Brahman itself in the end.”

  • 3 bhEda vAdamulu – arguments about Bheda and Abheda. Bheda - Dvaita as propounded by Madhvacharya is considered as Bheda Vada.
    • Abheda – the Advaita Vedanta.
  • 4 yAgAdulonariJci – In this regard Srimad- Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter 3, verse 9 is relevant:

    “The world is bound by actions other than those performed for the sake of Yajna; do thou, therefore, O son of KuntI, perform action for Yajna alone, devoid of attachment.” (Translation by Swami Swarupananda)

  • 5 ninnu rAji jEsukona lEka – Whether one follows the path of knowledge or path of karma, unless it is done with a sense of surrender, the grace of the Lord – a sine-qua-non for realisation of ‘Reality’ – will not be forthcoming.

Renditions