Syama Sastry Kriti

Meaning - Gist

O Lotus petal Eyed! O Daughter of Snow Mountain! O Mother SrI mInAkshi!
O Bestower of boons! O Ancient One! O Mother holding parrot! O Mother whose tresses are dark like honey-bees! O Queen Consort of sadA-Siva!
O Mother! O Ocean of Mercy!
O Moon Faced! O Mother!
O Enjoyer of recital of sAma vEda! O Abode of virtues! O Mother extolled by SyAma kRshNa! O SyAmALA dEvI holding parrot! O Mother who granted wishes to rati and manmatha!

I have always trusted Your feet-lotus only.
Please grant me welfare.

Please don’t be indifferent.
Is there a Goddess like You in this World?

Don’t You have the appellation of granting wishes to all those who have come seeking You?
Is it very burdensome to protect me?
I shall not be able to tolerate.

I besought You much to show compassion.
Why this trickery towards me?
It is not honourable because You are mercy-embodied.

You alone are my refuge.
Please protect me.

I have always trusted Your feet-lotus only.
Please grant me welfare.

Word Division - Word-by-word meaning

pallavi
sarOja daLa nEtri hima giri putrI
nI pada-ambujamulE
sadA namminAnu-ammA Subhamu-immA
SrI mInAkshi-ammA

O Lotus (sarOja) petal (daLa) Eyed (nEtri)! O Daughter (putrI) of snow (hima) mountain (giri)! O Mother (ammA)! I have always (sadA) trusted (namminAnu) (namminAnammA) Your (nI) feet (pada) lotus only (ambujamulE) (padAmbujamulE). Please grant (immA) me welfare (Subhamu) (SubhamimmA), O Mother (ammA) SrI mInAkshi (mInAkshammA)!

anupallavi
pArAku sEyaka vara dAyakI nI
valE daivamu lOkamulO galadA
purANI Suka pANI madhukara vENI
sadA-Sivuniki rANI (sarOja)

O Bestower (dayakI) of boons (vara)! Please don’t be indifferent (parAku sEyaka). Is there (galadA) a Goddess (daivamu) like (valE) You (nI) in this World (lOkamulO)?
O Ancient One (purANI)! O Mother holding (pANI) parrot (Suka)! O Mother whose tresses (vENI) are dark like honey-bees (madhukara)! O Queen Consort (rANI) of sadA-Siva (Sivuniki)!
O Lotus petal Eyed! O Daughter of Snow Mountain! O Mother! I have always trusted Your feet-lotus only. Please grant me welfare, O Mother SrI mInAkshi!

caraNam
caraNam 1
kOri vaccina vAriki-ellanu
kOrkelu-osagE birudu gadA ati
bhAramA nannu brOva talli
kRpA-AlavAla tALa jAlanE (sarOja)

Don’t You have (gadA) the appellation (birudu) of granting (osagE) wishes (kOrkelu) (kOrkelosagE) to all (ellanu) those (vAriki) (vArikellanu) who have come (vaccina) seeking (kOri) You?
O Mother (talli)! Is it very (ati) burdensome (bhAramA) to protect (brOva) me (nannu)? O Ocean (AlavAla) of Mercy (kRpA) (kRpAlavAla)! I shall not be able (jAlanE) to tolerate (tALa).
O Lotus petal Eyed! O Daughter of Snow Mountain! O Mother! I have always trusted Your feet-lotus only. Please grant me welfare, O Mother SrI mInAkshi!

caraNam 2
indu mukhI karuNincumu-ani ninu
entO vEDukoNTini
nA-andu jAgu-Elanu-ammA mariyAda
gAdu dayAvati nIvu (sarOja)

O Moon (indu) Faced (mukhI)! I besought (vEDukoNTini) You (ninu) much (entO) to (ani) show compassion (karuNincumu) (karuNincumani).
O Mother (ammA)! Why (Elanu) this trickery (jAgu) (jAgElanammA) towards (andu) me (nA) (nAyandu)? It is not (gAdu) honourable (mariyAda) because You (nIvu) are mercy-embodied (dayAvati).
O Lotus petal Eyed! O Daughter of Snow Mountain! O Mother! I have always trusted Your feet-lotus only. Please grant me welfare, O Mother SrI mInAkshi!

caraNam 3
sAma gAna vinOdinI guNa
dhAma SyAma kRshNa nutA Suka
SyAmaLA dEvI nIvE gati rati
kAma kAmyada kAvavE nannu (sarOja)

O Enjoyer (vinOdinI) of recital (gAna) of sAma vEda! O Abode (dhAma) of virtues (guNa)! O Mother extolled (nutA) by SyAma kRshNa!
O SyAmALA dEvI holding parrot (Suka)! You alone (nIvE) are my refuge (gati). O Mother who granted wishes (kAmyada) to rati and manmatha (kAma)! Please protect (kAvavE) me (nannu).
O Lotus petal Eyed! O Daughter of Snow Mountain! O Mother! I have always trusted Your feet-lotus only. Please grant me welfare, O Mother SrI mInAkshi!

Notes

Variations - (Pathanthara)
¹ - padAmbujamulE - pAdAmbujamulE.
² - karuNincumani – karuNincamani.

³ – ninu entO – ninnentO - ninunentO : when words ‘ninu’ and ‘entO’ are joined, the sandhi will be ‘y’ (ninuyentO) and not ‘n’ (ninunentO). Accordingly, ‘ninunentO’ does not seem to be appropriate. However, ‘ninnentO’ is correct.

⁴ - dayAvati nIvu - dayAvatI nIvu : as the statements ends with ‘nIvu’, it should be ‘dayAvati’ only.
⁵ - rati kAma kAmyada - rati kAma kAmya : ‘rati kAma kAmyada’ seems to be more appropriate.
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References
⁵ – rati kAma kAmyada - One who granted wishes to rati and manmatha – manmatha is stated to have been revived (without body – hence ‘ananga’) by Mother after he was burnt to ashes by Lord Siva. Please refer to saundarya lahari, verse 6 –

dhanuH paushpaM maurvI madhu-kara-mayI panca viSikhAH
vasantaH sAmantO malaya-marud-AyOdhana-rathaH |
tathApy-EkaH sarvaM hima-giri-sutE kAmapi kRpAM
apAngAt-tE labdhvA jagad-idam-anangO vijayatE ||

O Daughter of hima giri! Even that manmatha, to whom, flower is bow, bee-line is bow-string, arrows are five, spring is minister, malaya marut is chariot of war, being helpless by himself, receiving grace through Your side glance, conquers the whole world.

For more details on the verse.
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Comments

sarOja daLa nEtri - rAga SankarAbharaNam