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Articles: Arts and Culture | !! nanu brOvamani cheppavE seetamma tallee !!
- Jasmine Meera
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Gopanna was a tax collector in the regime of Golconda Nawab.
He dreamt of constructing a worthy temple for his beloved Lord Srirama and making expensive adornments to Sita. Thinking little of the consequences, he kept the collected tax money with him to build the temple and buy the jewelry.
He paid dearly. He was incarcerated by the Nawab for 12 years .
We can witness the dark dungeon he spent his isolatory imprisonment even today.
In those 12 long years, he sang and prayed. He had the Lord for his company. He prayed, picked fights with Him, begged for His kindness, and even complained to Sita. Eventually, the Lord and Lakshmana unshackled and released him from the prison.
Gopanna became Ramadas. His temple at Bhadrachalam for Lord Rama stands majestically atop a hill. River Godavari flows by silently for the most time, but rises occasionally with alarming alacrity to wash up the Lord's abode.
Ramadas handed down his precious musical fruits of pain and devotion for generations to come.
Ramadas' lyrics are as gentle as the surroundings he lived in, and as colorful as the people he lived with. He displays an amazing array of emotions - devotion, compassion, romance, sacrifice, and even frustration in his words. He is linguistically more contemporary than Annamayya. He inspired Tyagayya.
There aren't many people who have not heard one or more of his Keertanas. They are easy to sing, have an intrinsic sense of music and flow effortlessly to become part of your thought train.
Here is a Keertana, rendered by Bala Murali Krishna, in Kalyani Raagam.
This is Ramadasa's gentle submission to Sita, asking her to bring up his case at the most appropriate moments. It presents the extent to which Ramadasa imbibed his Lord into his normal thinking.
All said and sung in an extremely sweet set of words dripping with affection,compassion, and humility.
nanu brOvamani (rescue) ceppavE (tell) seetamma talli |nanu brOvamani...|
'Oh Mother Sita, Please tell Rama to rescue me'.
nanu brOvamani ceppu nAree (womefolk) SirOmaNi (crown jewel)
'Oh, crown jewel of the ladyfolk, Please tell Him to save me'.
janakuni (King Janaka) kUtura janani jAnakammA (mother Janaki)
'Oh, Daughter of King Janaka, Janaki, please tell Him'.
prakkanu cEri cekkili (cheek) nokkucu
cakkaga marukELi (acts of cupid) cokkiyuMDeDu (immersed) vELa |nanu brOvamani...|
'as He joins you by your side, and pecks at your cheek with glee, and immerses himself in the acts of love, please bring up my case'.
adrija vinutuDu (Savior of Ahalya) BhadragireeSuDu (Lord of Bhadragiri hill)
nidra mElkonu (wake up) vELa nelataro (lady) bOdhiMci (tell him strongly) |nanu brOvamani...|
'as soon as the Savior of Ahalya and the Lord of Bhadragiri wakes up, please take him a class about me'.
Epilogue:
Centuries have passed. But the unfair and inhuman persecution of saints at the hands of the uncouth and boorish rulers has not stopped.
Ramadas stroy tells us that truth will triumph; innocence will triumph and the higher law of the Lord will triumph.
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