শ্ৰী গণনাথং ভজাম্যহং

• ৰাগম্ (rāgam)the raga
• কনকাঙ্গি (kanakāṅgi)Kanakangi
• মেল (mela)the parent scale

anvaya ৰাগম্ কনকাঙ্গি [প্ৰথমঃ] মেল

chandas Prose, the heading of the song

মেল the parent scale — A mela is one of the seventy-two scales from which the other ragas are drawn. Kanakangi stands first in the list.

কনকাঙ্গি Kanakangi — The name means gold-limbed. Dikshitar wrote a song in each of the seventy-two, and this is the one for the first.

note The heading names the raga rather than giving words to sing. The letters in brackets are the notes of the scale.

• তালম্ (tālam)the tala
• আদি (ādi)Adi
• পল্লৱি (pallavi)the pallavi

anvaya তালম্ আদি পল্লৱি

chandas Prose, the heading of the song

আদি Adi — The commonest tala in Carnatic music, of eight beats.

পল্লৱি the pallavi — The opening line of a kriti, which comes back after every other section.

• শ্ৰীগণনাথম্ (śrīgaṇanātham)Shri Gananatha, lord of the ganas
• ভজামি (bhajāmi)I worship
• অহম্ (aham)I

anvaya অহম্ শ্ৰীগণনাথম্ ভজামি

chandas Irregular; set to the tala rather than to a metre

note The pallavi. In performance this line returns after each of the sections that follow.

• শ্ৰীকৰম্ (śrīkaram)who makes things prosper
• চিন্তিতাৰ্থফলদম্ (cintitārthaphaladam)who gives the fruit of whatever is thought of
• অনুপল্লৱি (anupallavi)the anupallavi

anvaya শ্ৰীকৰম্ চিন্তিতাৰ্থফলদম্ অনুপল্লৱি

chandas Irregular; set to the tala rather than to a metre

অনুপল্লৱি the anupallavi — The second section of a kriti, which follows the pallavi and leads back to it.

• শ্ৰীগুৰুগুহাগ্ৰজম্ (śrīguruguhāgrajam)the elder brother of Shri Guruguha
• অগ্ৰপূজ্যম্ (agrapūjyam)the one worshipped before all others

anvaya শ্ৰীগুৰুগুহাগ্ৰজম্ অগ্ৰপূজ্যম্

chandas Irregular; set to the tala rather than to a metre

গুৰুগুহ Guruguha — A name of Subrahmanya and the signature Muthuswami Dikshitar wrote into every song. Calling Ganesha his elder brother signs the song and states a fact of the family at once.

অগ্ৰপূজ্যম্ worshipped before all others — The right to the first worship at any rite, which Ganesha won and which is why he is invoked before anything begins.

• শ্ৰীকণ্ঠাত্মজম্ (śrīkaṇṭhātmajam)the son of Shrikantha
• শ্ৰিতসাম্ৰাজ্যম্ (śritasāmrājyam)whose kingdom belongs to those who come to him
• শ্ৰী (śrī)the pallavi returns
• চৰণম্ (caraṇam)the charanam

anvaya শ্ৰীকণ্ঠাত্মজম্ শ্ৰিতসাম্ৰাজ্যম্ শ্ৰী চৰণম্

chandas Irregular; set to the tala rather than to a metre

শ্ৰীকণ্ঠ Shrikantha — The one with the beautiful throat: Shiva, whose throat turned dark when he held the poison there.

চৰণম্ the charanam — The last and longest section of a kriti, which ends by leading back into the pallavi.

note The bracketed শ্ৰী marks where the singer goes back to the opening line.

• ৰঞ্জিতনাটকৰঙ্গতোষণম্ (rañjitanāṭakaraṅgatoṣaṇam)who takes delight in the coloured stage of the play

anvaya ৰঞ্জিতনাটকৰঙ্গতোষণম্

chandas Irregular; set to the tala rather than to a metre

ৰঙ্গ the stage — Ranga is both a colour and a stage, and ranjita is what has been coloured. The line plays on the pair.

• শিঞ্জিতৱৰমণিমযভূষণম্ (śiñjitavaramaṇimayabhūṣaṇam)whose fine jewelled ornaments ring as he moves

anvaya শিঞ্জিতৱৰমণিমযভূষণম্

chandas Irregular; set to the tala rather than to a metre

শিঞ্জিত ringing — Shinjita is the small sound anklets and bangles make. In a song the word is chosen for its own sound as much as its sense.

• আঞ্জনেযাৱতাৰম্ (āñjaneyāvatāram)who came down as Anjaneya
• সুভাষণম্ (subhāṣaṇam)whose speech is good

anvaya আঞ্জনেযাৱতাৰম্ সুভাষণম্

chandas Irregular; set to the tala rather than to a metre

আঞ্জনেয Anjaneya — Hanuman, son of Anjana. Songs of this kind will name a form taken by the god; the numbers printed before the words mark two readings the copies give here.

note The small numbers in the text are not sung. They mark where copies of the song differ.

• কুঞ্জৰমুখম্ (kuñjaramukham)elephant-faced
• ত্যাগৰাজপোষণম্ (tyāgarājapoṣaṇam)who nourishes Tyagaraja
• শ্ৰী (śrī)the pallavi returns

anvaya কুঞ্জৰমুখম্ ত্যাগৰাজপোষণম্ শ্ৰী

chandas Irregular; set to the tala rather than to a metre

ত্যাগৰাজ Tyagaraja — The Shiva of Tiruvarur, Dikshitar's own town. The famous composer of that name is a different person, born a generation later.

কুঞ্জৰ elephant — One of the many Sanskrit words for an elephant, chosen here for the sound it makes beside ranjita and shinjita in the lines above.