IV.31 Kalki is the messianic future avatāra whose descent signals the end of this present Kali yuga. He is described as a master horse rider and completes the evolutionary order of avatāras that moves all the way from aquatic to purely human life.
The Five Dreadful Sins (pañca-mahā pātakālu, here mahāgha pañcakam) are—killing a brahman (brahma-hatya), drinking liquor (surā-pānam), stealing (steyam), being with a guru’s wife (guru aṅgana gamaḥ) and association with offenders of the first four sins (saṁsarga). The Five Gaits (in Sanskrit with their Telugu counterparts) are—amble (askanda i.e. ‘not-split,’ ravālu), trot (dhaurita, joḍana), gallop (recita, baviri), leap (valgita, caukaḷimpu) and vault (pluta, duvālam).
‘barbarians’ are kīkaṭulu. The armour (vāravāṇi) is like silver chain mail, knit together with lightning (vidyut-grantha).
IV.32 Viśvakarma is the celestial architect, here described as sudhāśana varthaki, literally ‘the carpenter for those who have ambrosia as their food’. ‘What a pity!’ is the Telugu exclamation akaṭā. ‘a fine home … decorated with gems’ is nilayamu maṇimayambu sārthamu. In some versions of the Āṇḍāḷ story, Viṣṇu has riches buried in Viṣṇucitta’s house, which later become a dowry for his future son-in-law Raṅganātha.
CHAPTER V
GODA
V.I Jāmbavati, daughter of the bear king Jāmbavat, is one of the eight principal wives of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. For Nīḷa, see Lakṣmi. The River Yamuna (udaya kaḷindā, literally ‘arising from Mount Kaḷinda’) is seen as flowing with black waters (cf. II.58 and Note II.58). The serpent Śeṣa once fell to Earth and merged with the Vĕṅkaṭa Hills. His hood is supposed to rest at Tirumala, his body at Ahobilam and his tail at Śrīśailam in western Āndhra. Yellow-Eyed Lion is haryakṣa.
V.3 This beautifully complex avatārika padyam written in the Mahā-sragdhara metre (cf. I.58) introduces the poem’s namesake, the goddess Goda Devi. The poet even embeds the word ‘goda’ in the verse, not explicitly, but rather subtly within a compound created with elision, or sandhi, literally ‘joining’. The phrase is kuḍuṅgodarakṣoṇi, or kuḍuṅga-udara-kṣoṇi, literally ‘thicket middle ground.’ The word udara can also mean ‘belly’, or even ‘womb’.
The image here is based on the idea of puruṣāyitam or ‘woman on top’ (TKR 472 upari-suratam), directly referred to in the verse as pai-prauḍhi and vīrāyitam. Here the woman is above the man in order to prove her sexual superiority, but she quickly becomes tired and turns over onto her back. The tender mango leaves that are like the Love God’s weapons (TKR 472 cigur-āku āyudham) announce the woman’s defeat (oṭambu ĕrigi). Unlike the more overtly sexual verses of other classical poets, Śrī Kṛṣṇadevarāya invokes lovemaking as both a passionate and generative act. This sensual poem of creation (cf I.2) leads directly to the discovery of the miraculous baby Goda, and sets the tone for the entire chapter that follows.
Although the poem is imbued with śṛṅgāra rasa or erotic mood, it also functions on a spiritual level (ādhyātmika). The couples who take shelter under the mango trees are like individual souls (jīvātmalu) seeking shade from the blazing sun, whose brilliance is likened to the all-powerful Lord above. The poem thus has interpretations that relate to both kāma and mokṣa. My thanks to Professor Dattatreya Shastri of Āndhra University for his insightful explanation of this verse.
V.4 This Utpalamāla poem slowly builds momentum as it leads the reader to the first vision of Goda. ‘baby girl, the Auspicious One’ is śubhāṅgi ŏkka bālam, literally ‘a child with blessed limbs’.
V.5 ‘every mark of beauty’ is sulakṣaṇa vitānam.
V.6 ‘swelled with happiness at becoming a mother’ is pŏṅgi ā amayunun and ‘breast milk’ is nija stanyambu. Even though Viṣṇucitta’s ‘pious wife’ (dharma-gehani) did not give birth to the child, the idea is that her loving righteousness allows her to instantaneously produce mother’s milk.
GODA’S BEAUTY
V.7 For the next thirty verses, the poet describes the blooming adolescent beauty of Goda Devi. Unlike most Sanksrit descriptions of goddesses, which proceed upward from feet to head (āpāda-mastakam), like the description of Umā in Sarga I of Kāḷidāsa’s Kumārasambhava (see Note 1:33 in Heifetz 1985, 139), here the extended visualization of Goda’s body slowly moves from head to toe (cf. Raṅganātha in VI.98). This methodical approach of keśādi pādam, from hair to feet, approximates the progression of names found in the Lalita Sahasra-nāma; see TKR 476–77 for a comparative list.
The overall style of this section seems to follow, in both tone and content, the Soundarya Lahari, a praise poem to the goddess Sarasvati attributed to Śaṅkara, but almost certainly written by one of his many South Indian disciples. This section also bears testimony to the poet’s familiarity with Āṇḍāḷ’s own poetry, the Tamil Nācciyār Tirumoli and Tiruppāvai, which these Telugu poems are highly resonant with. A detailed analysis of this section in reference to these other works would make for a fascinating study of the interplay between Tamil, Sanskrit and Telugu.
This complex sīsa padyam introduces this section by describing Goda’s adolescence—the gradual development from girl to young woman that almost goes unnoticed (TKR 478 ĕvarikī tĕliyakuṇḍā jārukunnaṭlu). Like any transition, we usually notice the coming of the new rather than the passing of the old, and often, changes can feel both gradual and sudden (TKR 479).
I have tried to preserve the feelings of this poem but many things have been reinterpreted and repositioned. bŏma is a play on words meaning both kan-bŏmalu (eyebrows) and āṭa-bŏmmalu (play dolls). loga cŏccĕn I have translated as ‘reserved’. The phrase menu rŏcc-orvaka is unclear and I have loosely translated it as ‘she grew aware of her body’. I believe the phrase maybe referring to the beginning of menstruations (see VVS 358 and TKR 478 for other interpretations). vātĕra tŏṇṭikaivaḍi, ‘her lips were not like before’ and nābhi pĕṭṭukŏniyĕ, ‘her navel grew inward’ have been omitted. My thanks to Dr. G. Indira for her assistance with this verse.
V.8 ‘those names’ refers to commonplace descriptions of beautiful women, in this case Hemāṅgi (Golden Body), Aruṇoṣṭhi (Red Lips) and Candramukhi (Moon Face). śyāma means dark or black, but also refers to a teenage girl under the age of 16 (Brown 758). VVS 359 and TKR 479 have different readings, śyāmātvambu and śyāmāṅkambu respectively. The saying (vākyam) quoted here is śiraḥ pradhāna, literally ‘the head is most important’.
V.9 This short kanda padyam employs a play on the word cakra which can mean wheel, circle, ring, or Viṣṇu’s discus Sudarśana. āyata bhuja, ‘long-armed’ has been omitted. Kṛṣṇa is referred to as yadu-pati, Lord of the Yadus, and Love is Maruḍu.
V.10 Most young girls wear a decorative bŏṭṭu or tilakam, but only married women (sīmantini) decorate the part in their hair with red kuṁkum/sindhūra. The sīmantam, or part that extends to the forehead, is also the name of a ceremony performed for expecting mothers during their first pregnancy.
V.11 ‘Viṇāyaka’s night’ is caturthi niśa, the night of celebrating a special pūja to Gaṇeśa, commonly known in Andhra as Viṇāyaka Caviti. caturthi is the fourth day in a lunar fortnight and hence the moon is not full (asphāra indu). As the story goes, the Moon mocked the pot-bellied Gaṇeśa who was stuffed with sweets, and so Gaṇeśa cursed the Moon, saying that anyone looking at the moon on the night of Vināyaka Caviti would be falsely accused of wrongdoing. Here the standard upama of a moon-like face is inverted, the apakīrti or ill fame falling back on the Moon who is accused of theft (corambu).
V.12 This verse is based on the standard comparison of a woman’s eyes to those of a deer. Here the beauty of Goda’s eyes have surpassed (gĕlvaga) those of the deer, thus causing the jealousy or enmity (sūḍu). Goda’s brow is fair, scented and decorated with a bŏṭṭu. ‘fresh raw musk’ is pacci kastūri.
V.14 ‘rum’ is sīdhu, see Apte 988.
V.15 This poem is based on the fact that Can
dra and Lakāmi are brother and sister, both born from the Ocean of Milk. It is considered inappropriate for a woman to be outside of her home without earrings on. Moreover, a brother should never look at his sister in such a state. The red corners of her eyes ‘rāgam ŏppan kaṭākṣa’, are another mark of young beauty. My thanks to Dr. Ramavarapu Sharat Babu for his helpful explanation of this verse.
V.16 Another image based on the inversion and novel usage of stock metaphors. A woman’s nose is said to be fine and fragrant like a campaka flower, and her teeth straight and white like jasmine. In this case her teeth are so clear that they function like mirrors.
Compare this image to I.5, ‘karuppūram nārumo…’Nācciyār Tirumoli 7.1 and Mukku Timmana’s ‘nānā-sūna-vitāna-vāsanalan …’ in NRS 178.
V.17 The image here is based on the maturation of beauty. Her neck is more like a conch shell now because the sandalwood paste accentuates the lines of her neck, and her singing voice is more mature (see the next poem V.18).
V.18 In Indian music theory, there are three main octaves (tristhānamulu, or saptaks in modern parlance), viz. mandra (lower), madhya (middle) and tāra (upper).
V.19 Lotus stalks are filled with countless fibrous threads (bisamulu). ‘journey of her life’ is tanu-yātra.
V.20 This is one of the most complex images in the poem. It is based on the design of a bāsikam, a small golden pendant tied around the foreheads of brides and grooms at the time of their wedding ceremony, cf I.53. Here Goda’s chest is being compared to Rati’s bāsikam. The gold-lace tassels attached to the pendant string are like Goda’s sparkling armlets. My thanks to Dr. Ramavarapu Sharat Babu and Dr. G. Indira for their help with this verse.
V.22 While Rāma was pining for his beloved Sīta he overheard the love song of cakravāka birds, and out of frustration he cursed them that they be separated every night, only to be united during the day. A curse (śāpam) is believed to be black (kappu).
V.23 This voluptuous image is common to the medieval painting and sculpture of South India (cf. Kumārasambhava I.40). ‘grand old elders … straightforward truth’ is a fairly literal translation of ghanam-agu-vāru nija ārjavamu.
V.24 The next three poems make reference to a woman’s āru or nūgāru (Skt romāvaḷi), the fine line of hair that extends up from the navel. This mark of young feminine beauty is often admired by Indian poets. ‘cuts through the folds of his cloth-covered scabbard’ is ŏraton kuṭlu tunisi.
V.25 The term for snake is kuṇḍalini, a direct reference to the tāntric concept of kuṇḍalini śakti, a primal energy that lies ‘coiled’ at the base of the spine. Through yogic practice, this force can be channeled up through the body. ‘She Who Walks Like a Swan’ is aṇḍa-ja gāmini.
V.26 The idea here is that Goda’s arms and waist are so thin they almost disappear. Compare this to Śrīnātha’s Naiṣadhīya Caritramu II.21 in NRS 28.
V.27 The ‘three folds of skin above her waist’, tanu madhya vaḷī bhaṅgamulu, are conventional markers of female beauty.
V.28 ‘One Whose Breasts are Twin Koka Birds’ is koka-stani. The koka or kokila bird is the Indian black cuckoo. This verse is another example of hetu alaṅkāra, a poetic device of causality.
V.29 In this description of Goda’s buttocks (kaṭi), the phrase añca-padamu or ‘swan feet’ could be a subtle reference to a type of lovemaking nailmark mentioned in the kāma śāstras or love manuals (TKR 492).
V.30 This short but complex Teṭagīti verse employs three separate metaphors centered around a plantain tree (kadaḷi). The comparison of a woman’s thighs (tŏḍalu) to the thick and smooth trunk of a plantain tree is quite common (cf. V.3I and Kumārasambhava I.36), but the usage of the red flower and pink pistils as an extension of the metaphor is unique. I have flushed out this rather terse verse to make clear the imagery.
V.31 The umbrella (gŏḍugu) and vase (kalaśam) are signs of royalty and wealth. For clarity I have added ‘royal servants’, a comparison to Lord Viṣṇu who rules the world with Śrī (wealth) by his side. The kāma śāstras explain that husbands should ‘serve’ their wives by massaging their thighs. ‘Holds the Wealth of the World’ is an interpretation of vasudhalo ṣṭṭi śrī kala vāru.
The word karabha which can refer to the back of the hand from wrist to knuckles, or the trunk of an elephant (see Apte 336), are both conventionalized images for a woman’s thighs (ūruvulu).
V.32–33 These two verses are based on the curious comparison of a woman’s calves (Tel pikkalu, Skt jaṅghalu) to unhusked ears of corn (kalama garbhambu). This metaphor may be unique to Telugu as I have found no parallels in Sanskrit or Tamil.
Kāma is referred to as vala-rāja, the Lord of Love, and his parrots as his ‘family’ or kuṭumbamu (cf. II.37).
V.34 ‘water mixed with wax’ is lakka nīru. lac (from the Sanskrit lakṣā) is a type of red dye made from crushed insects and plant resin that women once used to colour the soles of their feet. As a goddess with lotus-like feet, Goda’s feet are already colourful. Here her shiny white toenails are likened to smiling teeth.
V.35 The ankles of women are likened to tortoises (kacchapamulu), while elephants are known for their regal gait. The rivalry (ugra kalaham) between ‘the turtle and the tusker’ is an ancient and longstanding one; and this verse explains its cause (hetu).
V.36 Fresh turmeric (nūtana haridra) is bright yellow, pale in comparison to Goda’s dark golden body. Over time however, turmeric darkens and almost turns black, the colour of shame or disgrace. The verse is an extended play on the word for night, which in most cases can also apply to turmeric. The word order here represents a progression from early to late night—rātri, niśa, tamisra, kṣapa and niśītha.
GODA’S LOVE FOR THE LORD
V.37 The epithets of Goda Devi are ‘Moon Faced One’, indu-vadana, and ‘Earth Goddess’, dhara-aṅgana. The ‘snake maidens’ or nāga-kanyalu are her friends because they dwell in the ground, ‘wedding songs that described the Lord’s virtues’, pariṇayāmeya-geyamulu anantu kalyāṇa guṇamulu, find mention throughout this section.
V.38 ‘Lord of Wealth’ is śrīśa. ‘Vaiṣṇava purāṇas’ most likely refers to the Bhāgavatam, i.e. the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, or possibly the Viṣṇu Purāṇa which is of particular importance to Śrī Vaiṣṇavas. Based on tradition, TKR 500–1 believes that a student of Rāmānuja, also named Viṣṇucitta, wrote the commentaries vyākhyālu rāstū, whereas I read racana as ‘told’ rather than ‘written’. VVS 376 glosses the phrase as vyākhyānamu ceyuṭa ceta as if Viṣṇucitta was auto-commenting as he recited the text.
The beautiful visualization of Goda with her ‘bun that leaned to one side’, ŏkka inta ŏraga iḍina dhammilla valayambu, is an iconic image found in all artistic and sculptural renderings of the goddess. This poem also includes a description of the eponymous act of wearing garlands intended for god, an image so important that the poet reinforces the idea in the very next poem V.39.
‘flower basket’ or gūḍa is also a ‘basket in which a Vaishnavite devotee keeps his images used in worship’ (Brown 235).
V.39 ‘thin cīra’ is a dukūlamu. ‘around her breasts’ is qualified with tāvulu uppitalan meaning ‘where fragrance is born’. I have omitted this phrase that may refer to kuṃkum being used around her armpits as a type of anti-perspirant/deodorant (see TKR 501 vāsana līnagā). ‘shouted’ is vĕcca ūrcucu, literally ‘hot breathing’. ‘But one day’ has been added to separate this line from the previous part of the poem which describes Goda’s daily routine.
V.40 dvitiyākṣara prāsa is a ‘rhyming’ device in which the second consonant of each line is repeated across all four pādas. This technique is quite common in classical Telugu and can be found in all the poems written in the Sanskrit vṛtta metres, as well as the Telugu kanda padyam. In this poem, not just one but three syllables (tri-prāsa) are repeated. pā-ḍi-na appears in each line as pāḍina (sung), pāḍinan (justly), kāpāḍina (saved) and tropāḍina (fell).
This poem marks the beginning of Goda’s nindā stuti, or ‘praise through blame or censure’. This highly personalized style of eulogizing god is common to bhakti poetry and is a likely extension of modalities that originated in the akam poems or ‘love poems’ of Tamil Saṅgam literature. Goda’s recapitulation of Viṣṇu’s avatāras has a critical and rather colloquial tone, functioning like a perfect foil to Viṣṇucitta’s majestic panegyric found in Chapter IV. Note how the poet consistently uses the informal Telugu pronouns itaḍu and ataḍu, ‘this man’ and ‘that man’ respectively (cf. Note IV.17).
Underlying this entire section however, is Goda’s burning love (tāpam) for Lord Viṣṇu. The immediacy of this mode adds to its effective realism. Goda behaves, towards god himself, like any abandoned lover, pining away, and constantly oscillating between anger and desire.
V.41 VVS 379 takes sura-mauni as a compound word meaning ‘god-sage’ and applies it to Vāmana, Paraśurāma and Buddha. The words for fish (gaṇḍĕ) and black turtle (nalla dāsarigāḍu) are used for base simplicity. ‘stirred’ is uḍikiñcu, to boil, cook, enrage or offend.
V.43 ‘To me, all creatures are equal’ is an interpretation of the Sanskrit ātmavat sarva bhūtāni. ‘have no voice’ is noru leni.
V.44 ‘aquatic births’ is jalajatva, referring to the matsya (fish) and kūrma (tortoise) avatāras.
V.46 This poem begins with the word mŏdalu or ‘at the beginning’ which relates to the pre-purāṇic origins of the god Viṣṇu. The appellation Upendra or Indrānuja, the younger brother of Indra, seems to relate to Viṣṇu’s descent as the celibate Vāmana, intimated by the phrase vaṭuvu ayyu, i.e. to become a celibate or bachelor. TKR 506 glosses Upendra as indruni tammuḍu vāmanuḍu. The earliest Vedic reference to Viṣṇu is as Tri-Vikrama, the Triple Strider, a direct link to his three paces as Vāmana.
Bhṛgu’s first wife Diti (see Srinivas Rao 299) gave birth to the Daityas, a group of asuras. Once, when these demons were chased by Lord Viṣṇu, Diti gave them shelter and hid them behind her own body. When Viṣṇu released his Sudarśana discus and killed Diti, Bhṛgu cursed Viṣṇu (or in this case Upendra) that he would suffer the loss of a wife. This curse was only realized aeons later in his Rāma avatāra. The story is told in the Uttara Kāṇḍa of the Rāmāyaṇa, a later appendage to the epic that deals in part with Rāma’s poignant abandonment of Sīta. A similar story is told about Uśana, another wife of Bhṛgu and mother of Śukra, the guru of the asuras. ‘divine act’ is deva kāryam.
The Giver of the Worn Garland KRISHNADEVARAYA'S AMUKTAMALYADA Page 16