basavaNNa lyrics requested

[Lvenkat]

The eminent poet the late A. K. Ramanujan has translated kannaDa vacanAs
into english poetry . In "Speaking of S'iva" (page 19), a translation of
basavaNNA appears:

--------------------------------

The rich
will make temples for S'iva.
What shall I,
a poor man,
do?

My legs are pillars,
the body the shrine,
the head a cupola
of gold.

Listen, O lord of the meeting rivers,
things standing shall fall,
but the moving ever shall stay.

basavaNNA (820)
----------------------------

What a lovely poem!
Could someone supply the original kannaDa text transliterated into english
alphabets and also if possible supply the meanings of the individual
words. I am interested in setting the kannaDa original to free-form music
(as in a viruttam).

Thanks
C. M. Venkatachalam

[Lvenkat]

A few days ago I wrote asking for the original sAhitya for the following
lovely translation (A.K.Ramanujan) of a basavaNNa
vacana:

<< The rich
<< will make temples for S'iva.
<< What shall I,
<< a poor man,
<< do?

<< My legs are pillars,
<< the body the shrine,
<< the head a cupola
<< of gold.

<< Listen, O lord of the meeting rivers,
<< things standing shall fall,
<< but the moving ever shall stay.

<< basavaNNA (820)
----------------------------

I have received two responses both providing the sAhitya with meanings. I
am happy to share these replies with you.
------
bala...@badlands.NoDak.edu (Chandra S Balachandran) writes:

<Deleted>

>> uLLavaru shivAlayava mADuvaru.
>> nAnEnu mADuve? baDavanayyA.
>> enna kAlE kambha
>> dEhavE dEgula
>> sira honna kaLasavayyA
>> kUDala sangama dEva, kELayyA
>> sthAvarakkaLivuNTu jangamakkaLivillA.

>> uLLavaru = those who have; i.e. wealthy people
>> shivAlaya mADuvaru = will build shiva temples
>> nAnu + Enu mADuve = what will i do? [or can]
>> baDavanayyA = i am poor, o lord. [ayya used in the same
>> sense as in
>> tamizh or telugu]
>> enna = my
>> kAlE = feet themselves
>> kambha = pillar[s]

>> dEhavE = body itself [is]
>> dEgula = the temple
>> sira = head [sanskrit shiras]
>> honna = gold[en]
>> kaLasavayyA = dome, o lord
>> kUDala sangama dEva = lord of the confluence
>> kELayyA = listen
>> sthAvarakkaLivuNTu = sthAvarakke + aLivu + uNTu
>> for the building destruction exists
>> jangamakkaLivillA = jangamakke + aLivu + illa
>> for this body temple destruction is not [there]
---------------------

and

---------
vama...@mat.auckland.ac.nz writes

<Deleted>

>>I will write the KannaDa original alongside the English >>translation so
the word meanings will be clear. I think Mr. >>Ramanujan has done a very
nice translation.
>>I think Sangeetha Music Cassette company in Madras have a
>>comprehensive list of music cassettes in different
>>languages and should give a more complete information on
>>these Vachana recordings. Among the composers of Vachanas
>>are: Sarvajna (7 century AD?), BasavaNNa (11 Century, also
>>called Basaveshvara), Akka Mahadevi (11 Century).. I have
>>heard recordings of some Vachanas by both Karnatic (eg.
>>Bellur Sisters, R. K. Srikantan, P. B. Srinivas, S. P.
>>Balasubrahmanyam) and Hindustani musicians
>>(eg. Mallikarjun Mansoor, Basavaraj Rajguru, Shyamala
>>Jagirdar).Incidentally, you might like to know that
>>Bhimsen Joshi and Basavaraj Rajguru have sung
>>Purandaradasa Kritis in Hindustani style and some of
>>these are in HMV cassettes.

<Deleted>

>>(Raga Madhuvanti, Tri tAla)
>>
>>The rich ULLavaru
>>will make temples for S'iva. Shivalayava mADuvaru
>>What shall I, nAnena mADali
>>a poor man, baDavanayya
>>do?
>>
>>My legs are pillars, enna kAle' kamba
>>the body the shrine, dehave degula
>>the head a cupola shirave'
>>of gold. honna kaLasa vayya

>>
>>Listen, O lord of the meeting rivers,

>> koodala sangama deva kELayya
>>things standing shall fall, sthavara kaLivunTu
>>but the moving ever shall stay.jangama kaLivilla.
>>
>> basavaNNA (820)

----------------------------------

I would like to thank bala...@badlands.NoDak.edu and
vama...@mat.auckland.ac.nz for providing enthusiastic and illuminating
responses. What an exceptional emotional peak one hits on the expression,
kUDala sanagam dEva "kELayya"!

Thank you.
C. M. Venkatachalam

[Chandra S Balachandran]

Lvenkat (lve...@aol.com) wrote:

[chop]

: What an exceptional emotional peak one hits on the expression,

: kUDala sanagam dEva "kELayya"!

just a thought, not to suggest that you do it this way or that ... i tried
'singing' [note quotation marks! :-)], venkat. perhaps, as you sing it,
the emotional peak [at least in rendition], would be an ascending and
higher svara singing at sthAvarakkaLivuNTu ... hold the 'u', pause, and
then a soulful descent along jangamakkaLivilla.

cheers.
chandra.

i GOTTA learn music!