Meaning of Vishamakara Kannan

[radhikashetty]

Can I please have the word-to-word meaning of this beautiful song.

Lyrics from another post. Thanks to Lakshman sir.

viSamakkAra kaNNan. rAgA: cenjuruTi. Eka tALA.
1: viSamakkAra kaNNan pollAda viSamakkAra kaNNan VEDikkaiyAi pATTu pADi
vidham vidhamAi ATTamADi nAzhikkoru lIlai sheyyum nanda gOpAla krSNan
2: nIla mEgham pOlE iruppAn pADinAlO nenjil vandu kuDiyiruppAn kOlap-pullAnkuzhal
Udi gOpigaLai kaLLam ADi konjambOra veNNai tADi enru kETTu ATTamADum
3: pakkattu vITTup-peNNai azhaippAn mukhAri rAgam enakkadu teriyAdenrAl nekkuruga
kiLLi viTTu (avaL) vikki vikki azhum pOdu idANDi mukhAri enbAn
4: kOlaik-koNDu shAlait-tuLaippAn adilE koTTum tayir aLLik-kuDippAn
shOlaikkuLLE tOzharaiyazaippAn avargaLukku toTTu toTTu shollik-koDuppAn vegu
sundaramAi mAmi oruvaL yashOdai vIDu sondamum koNDADi varuvAL
tOrAyamAi anda mAmi tUkkik-koNDAl angavaLai toDAda iDangaLellAm toTTu tolaippAn
5: veNNai pAnai mUDakkUDAdu ivan vandu vizhunginAlum kETkak-kUDAdu ivan ammA
kiTTE shollakkUDAdu sholliviTTAl aTTahAsam tAnga oNNAdu shummA oru pEccukkAnum
tiruDanenru sholli viTTAl un ammA pATTi attai tAttA attanaiyum tiruDarenbAn

Thank you.
Regards,
Radhika.

[mankuthimma]

Thank God . You asked only for the word to word meaning .
And not
What this song means to the Classical Music Scene of today . :$ 8)

[rshankar]

Kji - that's funny! Radhika - I will give you the meaning in a couple of days.

[radhikashetty]

Thanks Ravi. I just loved the performance of Ms. Priyadarshini Govind to this song.

[rshankar]

I figured. Smt. Ramya Ramnarayan's is also a wonderful version....

[radhikashetty]

That's nice to know. She is a very good performer. Have seen her performances.
Does she have it online for viewing?

[rshankar]

Does she have it online for viewing?

I do not think so.

Here is the meaning for vishamakAra kaNNan - for the caraNams that Smt. Priya Govind danced to.
caraNam 1
viSamakkAra kaNNan pollAda viSamakkAra kaNNan VEDikkaiyAi pATTu pADi
vidam vidamAi ATTamADi nAzhikkoru lIlai sheyyum nanda gOpAla krSNan

This precious (kaNNan) [1] young man who sings (pADi) songs (pATTu) in an amusing manner (vEDikkaiyAi), dances (ADi) many different sorts (vidam vidamAi) of dances (ATTam), and creates (Seiyyum) a (oru) nuisance/diversion (lIlai) every few minutes (nAzhikku) [2] is unpredictably mischievous (vishamakAra), and really evil (pollAda)!

caraNa 2
nIla mEgham pOlE iruppAn pADinAlO nenjil vandu kuDiyiruppAn kOlap-pullAnkuzhal
Udi gOpigaLai kaLLam ADi konjambOra veNNai tADi enru kETTu ATTamADum (viSamakAra kaNNan…)

(This precious darling) looks (iruppAn) like (pOlE) a dark/blue (nIla) cloud (mEgham), enters (vandu) our hearts (nenjil) and establishes himself (kuDiyiruppAn) there when he sings (pADinAlO), tricks (kaLLam ADi) the gOpIs (gOpigaLai) by playing (Udi) on his wonderful/beautiful (kOla) flute (pullAnkuzhal), and dances around (ATTamADum) asking (kETTu) thus (enru): 'give me (tADi) [3] just a small spat (konjampOra) of butter (veNNai)', (is unpredictably mischievous and evil)!

caraNam 3
pakkattu vITTup-peNNai azhaippAn mukhAri rAgam pADa solli vambuk(u) izhupaan enakkadu teriyAdenrAl nekkuruga kiLLi viTTu (avaL) vikki vikki azhum pOdu idANDi mukhAri enbAn (viSamakAra kaNNan…)

He will call out (azhaippAn) to the girl (peNNai) next (pakattu) door (vITTu), and incite (izhuppAn) a quarrel/dalliance (vambuku) by asking (Solli) her to sing (pADa) mukhAri rAgam. When she says (enrAl) 'I (enakku) do not know (teriyAdu) that (adu)', he will pinch (kiLLiviTTu) her really hard (nekkuruga) [4], and when she (avaL) starts to cry (azhumpOdu), with gasping breaths/whimpers (vikki vikki), (this precious young man who is unpredictably mischievous and evil) will tell her that (enbAn) 'this (idu) is indeed (tAnDi) mukhAri'!

caraNam 4
veNNai pAnai mUDakkUDAdu ivan vandu vizhunginAlum kETkak-kUDAdu
ivan ammA kiTTE shollakkUDAdu sholliviTTAl aTTagAsam tAnga oNNAdu
shummA oru pEccukkAnum tiruDanenru sholli viTTAl un ammA pATTi attai tAttA attanaiyum tiruDarenbAn (viSamakAra kaNNan…)

One should not (kUDAdu) ever cover (mUDa) the pots (pAnai) that have butter (veNNai); one should not (kUDAdu) ever ask/wonder/bemoan (kETka) even if he shows up (vandu) and swallows (vizhinginAlum) all that butter. One should not (kUDAdu) ever complain (Solla) to (kiTTE) his (ivan) mother (ammA), for if you do complain (SolliviTTal), it will not be possible (oNNAdu) to bear (tAnga) the tantrum (aTTagAsam) that is sure to follow. If you call (Solli viTTAl) him a thief (tiruDan enru) just (SummA) for the sake of an (oru) argument (pEccukkANum), (this precious young man who is unpredictably mischievous and evil) will brand/label/call (enbAn) everyone (attanaiyum) - your (un) mother (ammA), grandmother (pATTi), aunt (attai), grandfather (tAttA) as thieves (tiruDan)!

FOOTNOTES
[1] kaNNan/kaNNA are all terms of endearment that mean that the person is as precious as eyes
[2] A 'nAzhi/nAzhikai' is a measure of time in South India that is ~ 24 minutes long
[3] 'Di' is used as a term of familiarity
[4] nekkuruga literally means 'heart-meltingly'

[radhikashetty]

Thank you so much, Ravi.

[smala]

A lively fun song.

Ok. Spat of butter, sometimes used colloquially.

[vasanthakokilam]

Thanks Ravi for the detailed translation.

Hope this is not too out of place to vent something about this composition one more time.

The third charanam is what makes me not like this song that much. It is so out of place, does not fit into any of the popular Krishna mischiefs other than the general troublemaker and above everything else sustains and spreads the gross misconception about my favorite raga Mukhari. The raga name is out of place and out of time with respect to Krishna. It was inserted to take advantage of the utterly wrong but prevalent stereotypical rasa. I know it is a humorous line, people get a chuckle out of that and so artists tend to stress it that much more.. Which makes my problem worse.

I personally believe this is not an Oothukadu original, at least not that charanam. I may be wrong but that belief makes me sleep better karuNa and "urukkam" are entirely different from "azhugai". I have asked a few people if that azugai stereotype is as old as Oothukadu times. There is no evidence that it is that old, it seems to be a more recent origin. That adds credence to my belief that at least that charanam is not an oothukadu original. If someone has info that can shed more light on this, that will be great.

So, artists out there, when you sing this song ( we know you will since it is a fun song and it has mass popularity ), please sing this song without that charanam!! It will still be fun and entertaining.

[rshankar]

VK - a couple of points - I understand your request about avoiding it in vocal concerts, but for a dance piece, IMO, caraNam 3 and caraNam 4 (in that order) are the ones with built-in drama, and twists and turns - so avoiding caraNam 3 has the danger of making the whole piece a bit insipid. The second point is that if you are interested in the provenance of the composition (or even of that particular caraNam), it may be possible for Lji to reach out to Sri Ravi Kiran and pose that question to him.

[rshankar]

Ok. Spat of butter, sometimes used colloquially.

Actually I think I was lead to that use of 'spat' rather subconsciously: I remember bemoaning my rather inadequate translation of vambu in the previous caraNam. vambu, as I understand it, is not truly a quarrel, or a spat, but rather a sort of interference in another's business, or some sort of prelude to a dalliance - anyway, after a lot of going back and forth, I gave up and settled for quarrel/dalliance, but the idea obviously spilled into 'spat of butter'....

[vasanthakokilam]

Ravi, understood about the bharathanatyam context.

if you are interested in the provenance of the composition (or even of that particular caraNam), it may be possible for Lji to reach out to Sri Ravi Kiran and pose that question to him.

Lji, would it be possible for you to do that? Thanks.

[smala]

It appears there are some words that are just Tamil specific and defy translation...

Still, my take on the range of juvenile naughty-mischievous-pranks :

pollAdhu/avan - more wicked than evil, I'd guess.
viSamakAran - more of a meddlesome prankster than mischievous...
vambu - trouble....vambuk(u) izhupAn - will drag/get you into trouble (vIn vambu, often used as 'unnecessary trouble')

[pOkkiri is another - a few degrees beyond mischievous...]
[kurumbu - naughty, but not wicked...]

[Pratyaksham Bala]

shyama-priya:
bES, bES!

[smala]

Unrelated to this song but related to dance, in general, in India - considering that we pride oursevles on the centuries of glorious tradition in the arts, facilities are woefully inadequate and this Krishnaswamy sounds like an unprogressive bore :

http://www.thehindu.com/arts/dance/article1023370.ece

[smala]

rshankar - you missed one caranam - 4 from original lyrics posted.

[rshankar]

S-P - just saw that...will add that shortly...

[rshankar]

kOlaik-koNDu shAlait-tuLaippAn adilE koTTum tayir aLLik-kuDippAn
shOlaikkuLLE tOzharaiyazaippAn avargaLukku toTTu toTTu shollik-koDuppAn
vegu sundaramAi mAmi oruvaL yashOdai vIDu sondamum koNDADi varuvAL
tOrAyamAi anda mAmi tUkkik-koNDAl angavaLai toDAda iDangaLellAm toTTu tolaippAn

Using (koNDu) his staff (kOlai), he will poke a hole (tuLaippAn) in the pot (SAlai), and will drink (kuDippAn) the yougurt/curds (tayir) that pour (koTTum) from it (adilE). He will invite (azhaippAn) his friends (tOzharai) to meet in the garden (SOlaikkuLLE), and he will instruct (solli koDuppAn) [1] them (avargaLukku) with great care and attention (toTTu toTTu) [2]. A (oruvaL) very (vegu) beautiful (sundaramAi) lady (mAmi) will come (varuvAL) to yaSOdA's (yaSOdai) house (vIDu) celebrating (koNDADi) her relationship (sondam) to yaSOdA. However, on average (tOrAyamAi), when such a (anda) lady (mAmi) picks (tUkkik-koNDAl) him up, he will disturb her (tolaippAn) by touching (toTTu) her (avaLai) in inappropriate (toDAda) places (iDangaLellAm).

[1] teach his friends on how to pull pranks
[2] toTTu toTTu literally means 'by repeatedly touching' - In this context, I think it means 'he ensures that his audience pays full attention by physically holding on to them'