श्री गणनाथं भजाम्यहं

• रागम् (rāgam)the raga
• कनकाङ्गि (kanakāṅgi)Kanakangi
• मेल (mela)the parent scale

anvaya रागम् कनकाङ्गि [प्रथमः] मेल

chandas Prose, the heading of the song

मेल 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.

कनकाङ्गि 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.

• तालम् (tālam)the tala
• आदि (ādi)Adi
• पल्लवि (pallavi)the pallavi

anvaya तालम् आदि पल्लवि

chandas Prose, the heading of the song

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

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

• श्रीगणनाथम् (śrīgaṇanātham)Shri Gananatha, lord of the ganas
• भजामि (bhajāmi)I worship
• अहम् (aham)I

anvaya अहम् श्रीगणनाथम् भजामि

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.

• श्रीकरम् (śrīkaram)who makes things prosper
• चिन्तितार्थफलदम् (cintitārthaphaladam)who gives the fruit of whatever is thought of
• अनुपल्लवि (anupallavi)the anupallavi

anvaya श्रीकरम् चिन्तितार्थफलदम् अनुपल्लवि

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

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

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

anvaya श्रीगुरुगुहाग्रजम् अग्रपूज्यम्

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

गुरुगुह 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.

अग्रपूज्यम् 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.

• श्रीकण्ठात्मजम् (śrīkaṇṭhātmajam)the son of Shrikantha
• श्रितसाम्राज्यम् (śritasāmrājyam)whose kingdom belongs to those who come to him
• श्री (śrī)the pallavi returns
• चरणम् (caraṇam)the charanam

anvaya श्रीकण्ठात्मजम् श्रितसाम्राज्यम् श्री चरणम्

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

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

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

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

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

anvaya रञ्जितनाटकरङ्गतोषणम्

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

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

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

anvaya शिञ्जितवरमणिमयभूषणम्

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

शिञ्जित 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.

• आञ्जनेयावतारम् (āñjaneyāvatāram)who came down as Anjaneya
• सुभाषणम् (subhāṣaṇam)whose speech is good

anvaya आञ्जनेयावतारम् सुभाषणम्

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

आञ्जनेय 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.

• कुञ्जरमुखम् (kuñjaramukham)elephant-faced
• त्यागराजपोषणम् (tyāgarājapoṣaṇam)who nourishes Tyagaraja
• श्री (śrī)the pallavi returns

anvaya कुञ्जरमुखम् त्यागराजपोषणम् श्री

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

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

कुञ्जर 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.