ಶ್ರೀ ಗಣನಾಥಂ ಭಜಾಮ್ಯಹಂ

• ರಾಗಮ್ (rāgam)the raga
• ಕನಕಾಙ್ಗಿ (kanakāṅgi)Kanakangi
• ಮೇಲ (mela)the parent scale

anvaya ರಾಗಮ್ ಕನಕಾಙ್ಗಿ [ಪ್ರಥಮಃ] ಮೇಲ

chandas Prose, the heading of the song

ಮೇಲ 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.

ಕನಕಾಙ್ಗಿ 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.

• ತಾಲಮ್ (tālam)the tala
• ಆದಿ (ādi)Adi
• ಪಲ್ಲವಿ (pallavi)the pallavi

anvaya ತಾಲಮ್ ಆದಿ ಪಲ್ಲವಿ

chandas Prose, the heading of the song

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

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

• ಶ್ರೀಗಣನಾಥಮ್ (śrīgaṇanātham)Shri Gananatha, lord of the ganas
• ಭಜಾಮಿ (bhajāmi)I worship
• ಅಹಮ್ (aham)I

anvaya ಅಹಮ್ ಶ್ರೀಗಣನಾಥಮ್ ಭಜಾಮಿ

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.

• ಶ್ರೀಕರಮ್ (śrīkaram)who makes things prosper
• ಚಿನ್ತಿತಾರ್ಥಫಲದಮ್ (cintitārthaphaladam)who gives the fruit of whatever is thought of
• ಅನುಪಲ್ಲವಿ (anupallavi)the anupallavi

anvaya ಶ್ರೀಕರಮ್ ಚಿನ್ತಿತಾರ್ಥಫಲದಮ್ ಅನುಪಲ್ಲವಿ

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

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

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

anvaya ಶ್ರೀಗುರುಗುಹಾಗ್ರಜಮ್ ಅಗ್ರಪೂಜ್ಯಮ್

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

ಗುರುಗುಹ 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.

ಅಗ್ರಪೂಜ್ಯಮ್ 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.

• ಶ್ರೀಕಣ್ಠಾತ್ಮಜಮ್ (śrīkaṇṭhātmajam)the son of Shrikantha
• ಶ್ರಿತಸಾಮ್ರಾಜ್ಯಮ್ (śritasāmrājyam)whose kingdom belongs to those who come to him
• ಶ್ರೀ (śrī)the pallavi returns
• ಚರಣಮ್ (caraṇam)the charanam

anvaya ಶ್ರೀಕಣ್ಠಾತ್ಮಜಮ್ ಶ್ರಿತಸಾಮ್ರಾಜ್ಯಮ್ ಶ್ರೀ ಚರಣಮ್

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

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

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

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

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

anvaya ರಞ್ಜಿತನಾಟಕರಙ್ಗತೋಷಣಮ್

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

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

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

anvaya ಶಿಞ್ಜಿತವರಮಣಿಮಯಭೂಷಣಮ್

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

ಶಿಞ್ಜಿತ 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.

• ಆಞ್ಜನೇಯಾವತಾರಮ್ (āñjaneyāvatāram)who came down as Anjaneya
• ಸುಭಾಷಣಮ್ (subhāṣaṇam)whose speech is good

anvaya ಆಞ್ಜನೇಯಾವತಾರಮ್ ಸುಭಾಷಣಮ್

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

ಆಞ್ಜನೇಯ 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.

• ಕುಞ್ಜರಮುಖಮ್ (kuñjaramukham)elephant-faced
• ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜಪೋಷಣಮ್ (tyāgarājapoṣaṇam)who nourishes Tyagaraja
• ಶ್ರೀ (śrī)the pallavi returns

anvaya ಕುಞ್ಜರಮುಖಮ್ ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜಪೋಷಣಮ್ ಶ್ರೀ

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

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

ಕುಞ್ಜರ 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.