ശ്രീ ഗണനാഥം ഭജാമ്യഹം

• രാഗമ് (rāgam)the raga
• കനകാങ്ഗി (kanakāṅgi)Kanakangi
• മേല (mela)the parent scale

anvaya രാഗമ് കനകാങ്ഗി [പ്രഥമഃ] മേല

chandas Prose, the heading of the song

മേല 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.

കനകാങ്ഗി 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.

• താലമ് (tālam)the tala
• ആദി (ādi)Adi
• പല്ലവി (pallavi)the pallavi

anvaya താലമ് ആദി പല്ലവി

chandas Prose, the heading of the song

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

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

• ശ്രീഗണനാഥമ് (śrīgaṇanātham)Shri Gananatha, lord of the ganas
• ഭജാമി (bhajāmi)I worship
• അഹമ് (aham)I

anvaya അഹമ് ശ്രീഗണനാഥമ് ഭജാമി

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.

• ശ്രീകരമ് (śrīkaram)who makes things prosper
• ചിന്തിതാര്ഥഫലദമ് (cintitārthaphaladam)who gives the fruit of whatever is thought of
• അനുപല്ലവി (anupallavi)the anupallavi

anvaya ശ്രീകരമ് ചിന്തിതാര്ഥഫലദമ് അനുപല്ലവി

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

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

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

anvaya ശ്രീഗുരുഗുഹാഗ്രജമ് അഗ്രപൂജ്യമ്

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

ഗുരുഗുഹ 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.

അഗ്രപൂജ്യമ് 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.

• ശ്രീകണ്ഠാത്മജമ് (śrīkaṇṭhātmajam)the son of Shrikantha
• ശ്രിതസാമ്രാജ്യമ് (śritasāmrājyam)whose kingdom belongs to those who come to him
• ശ്രീ (śrī)the pallavi returns
• ചരണമ് (caraṇam)the charanam

anvaya ശ്രീകണ്ഠാത്മജമ് ശ്രിതസാമ്രാജ്യമ് ശ്രീ ചരണമ്

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

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

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

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

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

anvaya രഞ്ജിതനാടകരങ്ഗതോഷണമ്

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

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

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

anvaya ശിഞ്ജിതവരമണിമയഭൂഷണമ്

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

ശിഞ്ജിത 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.

• ആഞ്ജനേയാവതാരമ് (āñjaneyāvatāram)who came down as Anjaneya
• സുഭാഷണമ് (subhāṣaṇam)whose speech is good

anvaya ആഞ്ജനേയാവതാരമ് സുഭാഷണമ്

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

ആഞ്ജനേയ 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.

• കുഞ്ജരമുഖമ് (kuñjaramukham)elephant-faced
• ത്യാഗരാജപോഷണമ് (tyāgarājapoṣaṇam)who nourishes Tyagaraja
• ശ്രീ (śrī)the pallavi returns

anvaya കുഞ്ജരമുഖമ് ത്യാഗരാജപോഷണമ് ശ്രീ

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

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

കുഞ്ജര 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.