ಕೃಷ್ಣನಾ ಕೊಳಲಿನಾ ಕರೆ

The mesmerizing sound of Lord Krishna's flute is described through the act of a housewife running towards the source of sound, abandoning the all-important house work ... That the raga ♫भैरवी, or ♫ಸಿಂಧು ಭೈರವಿ, has been chosen to bring out the lyrical essence visualized by the poet, ಪು ತಿ ನ, is noteworthy.

Acknowledgments are due to my dear friend, Alamelu Iyengar, the poet's daughter, for helping me present the correct lyrics. (Disclaimer: If mistakes still exist, you can attribute them to me, the blog post author).

चिंगारी कोई भड़के, तो सावन उसे बुझाए

When you discover some good characteristic about a matter than you knew previously, there is a certain immense pleasure.

I first heard this song nearly four decades ago. Even though I liked the song, and even hummed it on occasion, I didn't know that it is in Raag Bhairavi; neither did I know it projected a certain sadness by invoking the ideas in proverbs such as the Fox Guarding the Hen house.

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There is a Kannada proverb with a similar import: ಬೇಲಿಯೇ ಎದ್ದು ಹೊಲ ಮೇಯ್ದರೆ

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सुमिरण कर ले मेरे मना

A moving rendering of the Guru Nanak composition by Pt. Jasraj. The Guru exhorts:

"Meditate on the Lord, Oh my mind,
Otherwise, your life will be over without the Lord's name."

The first video (1988) is a concert to present, along with Smt. M S Subbulakshmi, Mahatma Gandhi's favorites. This particular number starts at 10:15 in the video.

There is another rendering (2004) Pt. Jasraj has provided along with Kavita Krishnamurthy and Dr. L. Subramanian.

तुम आ जाना भगवान

A simple composition that seeks God.

रसके भरे तोरे नैन, सावरिया

Male lover pleads to the female not to make him restless, by describing her eyes as full of रस, love.

ಸತ್ಯವಂತರಿಗೆ ಇದು ಕಾಲವಲ್ಲ

This song is a somewhat cynical view of life, as seen through the eyes of ಪುರಂದರದಾಸ, the 16th century poet & philosopher. The title of the song can be translated literally as:

This is not the time for truthful people ...

The song elaborates on how unrighteous people end up enjoying comfortable life, and the righteous end up suffering in their life. Perhaps this situation was more seen frequently during his lifetime, and produced the cynical outlook captured in this song.

The song's special significance for me is that I used to hear it, quite regularly, from my late paternal grandmother.

(It appears that this song can be rendered in different ragas; the video by D K Pattammal is in ♫भैरवी).

दोस्त दोस्त न रहा, प्यार प्यार न रहा

A man is dejected because of betrayal by his friend.

ज्योत से ज्योत जगाते चलो

The poet writes a very simple set of lyrics to promote universal brotherhood, to suggest actions particularly when we meet the poor, unhappy, under-privileged, etc.

I first heard this song in Kargal, as shown in the map below.


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हमें तुमसे प्यार कितना, यह हम नहीं जानते

"You don't know how much I love you ..."