[repost]excerpts from jashuva's bApUjI
Prasad Chodavarapu (prasad@acm6.me.uiuc.edu)
Thu, 30 Jan 1997 09:02:49 -0600 (CST)
nEDu bApU nalabhai tommidO vardhanti. ii rOju alahAbAdlO, ii madhyanE
velugulOkoccina bApU astikalu nimajjanam cEsAru. 49 kaTina samvatsarAlainA,
bharatakhanDam, mottam prapancam kUDA bApU lEni lOTu tIrcalEkapOyAyi.
rOjulu gaDustunna koddI, "coming generations will find it hard to believe
that such a man ever walked on the face of this earth" anna mATalu marI nijam
avutunnAyi. bApU cUpina mArgam manamantA EnADO vadilEsAm, inka migilindi
aayana gurtu mAtramE. aa velugu lOnimci ayinA, manandarilO inkoka bApU
udayistADani aaSatO, jAshuvA gunDe lOtullOnci pravahimcina "bApUjI" numci konni
padyAlu (intaku mundE PALANA post cEsinavi), tirigi post cEstunnAnu.
jAtyahamkAramtO pRElApincina churchill numci, tana prANam, antaku minci
ii Bhuviki migilina aakhari aaSani harimicina gADsE dAkA, bApU viluva teliyaka
aayana prasAdincina svEccAvAyuvulu pIlustU, aayananu nimda jEsE InATi adhamula
dAkA, evvarU bApU mundu nilabaDi talettukOgala vALLu kAru. jAshuvA annaTlu,
bApU ii bhuvini marokkasAri velasina krIstu, buddhuDu.
iiSwar allA tErO nAm, sabkO sanmati dE bhagavAn
lO bhagavantuDu bApUnE.
<REPOST of sri PALANA's post on jAshuvA's bApUjI>
Article: 30437 of soc.culture.indian.telugu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian.telugu
From: nlp55@cas.org (PALANA)
Subject: telugudESaBakti gEya'lu #6 - ba'poojii by guRRam ja'shuva
Message-ID: <1995Oct6.224327.2894@chemabs.uucp>
Keywords: Patriotic songs Telugudesabhakti geyalu Bapooji Gurram Jashuva
Date: Fri, 6 Oct 1995 22:43:27 GMT
ON THE OCCASSION OF BIRTH CENTENARY OF navayuga kavicakravarti GURRAM JASHUVA
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ba'poojii
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navayuga kavicakravarti guRRam ja'shuva
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When India got independence, Jawaharlal Nehru said in his speech
"Long years ago we made a TRYST WITH DESTINY, and now the time comes
when we shall redeem our pledge. At the stroke of midnight hour, while
the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes,
which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to new,
when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds
utterance."
--Jawaharlal Nehru, August 14, 1947.
The same Nehru gave a memorable speech on the occassion of sudden and
unnatural demise of Mahatma Gandhi saying "THE LIGHT HAS GONE OUT AND WE
ARE ALL IN DARKNESS."
Heart-broken Jashuva after hearing the news of death of Mahatma, reached
his pen and wrote verses praising the great soul, Gandhi. This piece of
Jashuva's poetry on Mahatma is called "ba'poojii". His ba'pooji brings
Mahatma back to life in front of the readers' eyes. Jashuva's ba'pooji
is vivaceous.
Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre in their "Freedom at Midnight" say
"To a century fraught with violence, Mohandas Karamchand "Mahatma"
Gandhi offered an alternative - nonviolence and civil disobedience. In
Churchill's famous phrase, a "HALF-NAKED FAKIR", Gandhi crisscrossed his
nation on foot and in third class railway cars to stress his identity
with the impoverished masses. He took tea at Buckingham Palace with the
King, dressed in the home-spun cotton sheet that was his uniform."
That is what Jashuva describes at the beginning of his ba'poojii:
evaDii yardhadigambarESvaruDu ma'
yimDla bravESimpa nam
cavama'nambuga carcila'Daga
bakimgha'm soudhamun drokki haim
davaja'tiiyata liinu mElpilaka na'
Tyamba'Da, Srii ja'rjiBoo
dhavu nimTan Palaha'ramul salupu ta'tan
ga'mdhi nrcimcedan.
Jashuva elevated Mahatma Gandhi's image taking the Churchill's words of
ridicule in his matchless and stupendous words of Telugu poetry. One
feature of Bapooji I noticed is that Jashuva calls Mahatma in several
names without repeating the name he used prior. Here he calls Mahatma
(1) "ardhadigambarESvaruDu" and (2) "ta'ta".
Jashuva says "Gandhi faught with the highly inflammable foreign rulers
without taking a step back and without loss of a single drop of blood
and won the battle of independence. He is the Barata Muni. He is the
kshama' prava'si. This grand old man fell a prey to the bullets." Look
how he expresses his deep sense of sorrow in the poem below:
BaggunamamDu siimanarapa'luratODa nedirci venakkukun
daggaka raktapumjinuku nashTamuga'ni svara'jya yuddhamun
negginaTTi Ba'ratamuni pravarumDu kshama'prava'si, ya'
mugina pamDu, Bonamayi pOyene nEDu tupa'kigumDlakun.
In the above poem Jashuva calls Mahatma (3)" Baratamuni" and
and (4) kshama' prava'si
In the poem below Jashuva says:
idiyE pOvaDama' ! jagajjanaka ! ra'nEra'vuga' ! nooTa mu
ppadiyEDul, manuva'Dananna nuDikin Bamgambu va'TillenE ?
Jashuva calls Gandhi "jagajjanaka" (5) in the above poem.
gamTakoTTinama'diri mimTiyamdu
mamDucunna'Du camDama'rta'mDamoorti
Ba'ratajyOti gappuna na'ripOva
mujjagambuna jiikaTi mummarimce.
Jashuva calls Gandhi "Ba'ratajyOti" in the above poem.
Darkness prevails all over the three worlds as the eternal flame of
Bharata dESa has gone out.
kalika'lammuna kEsukriistuvani vakka'Nimce digdESamul
tuluval salpina ga'yamul marala niilO dOci yEsupraBun
dalapimcen Rjuvayye niidagu mahatvaSrii, Bavatya'gaSa
ktulalO nenni svara'jyamul, BuvanavaikumThambu limpa'runO
Jashuva says "Gandhi! You are the Jesus Christ in these time of Kali
(kalika'la)."
Examine the following poems and see how many names he had to offer:
Baratavarshambiinu vajra'ladhanara'Si
tookambunaku heccudooguva'Du
mooDumoortula daya'viBooti pratyamga'na
ta'mDavimceDu pavitrasvaroopi
padivElayEmDla lOpala dhara'dEvata
kaniyeRmgani jaganmunivarumDu
anugu dammulu kOrukonu svara'jya'rdhamai
pastumDi Sushkimcu pamDumusali.
The descriptive names Jashuva used to carve out the character of Gandhi
in his poetry (as seen in the above poem) are: (6) pavitra svaroopi, (7)
jagnmunivarumDu, (8) pamDu musali.
gOcipa'ta GaTTukoni ja'tima'nambu
nilipinaTTi Kadaru nEtaga'Du
viSvasa'marasya vi~na'na samdha'ta
ka'mita prada'ta, ga'mdhita'ta.
Kadaru nEtaga'Du (9), viSvasa'marasya vi~na'na samdha'ta, and (10)
ka'mita prada'ta are other alternative names Jashuva used in the above
poem.
The more striking and attractive poem is the following one wherein
Jashuva emerged out with words (names) of admiration, adoration, and
sauvity. Such a sweet way he describes Gandhi's service to
mankind and love towards poor, leaves a permanent imprint in the
readers' hearts.
vimata Boopatula dOpiDigumduja'tilO
diipambu beTTina dinakarumDu (11) dinakarumDu
ma'navatvamunu BoomamDalambuna nella
ca'Tina ya'ca'rya cakravarti (12) aca'rya cakravarti
satya'grahambunu Sastraca'lana vidya
Buviki deccina maha'purushamouLi (13) maha' purushamouLi
nimna ja'tula kamTi niirambu duDici ya'
Sva'simcu niRpEda ba'mdhavumDu (14) niRpEda ba'mdhavumDu
There are two remarkable lines here. Jashuva says that Gandhi was the
one who spread (rather preached) "ma'navatvam" and also adds that
Mahatma was the one who wiped the tears rolling down the cheeks of the
untouchables, hence, became the kinsman of the poorest (nirupEda
ba'mdhavuDu). As in most of his poetic works, in ba'poojii also,
Jashuva took the opportunity and context in reminding the social
injustice done to and social status of the untouchables in India. The
above poem is a good example of Jashuva's service to the untouchables
and the poor through his penmanship.
Visit the rosery of words that Jashuva used to express his anger and
sorrow at the demise of Mahatma. The words in these poem, I call
rosery, as Jashuva was offering his prayers to his beloved leader, the
Mahatma. The poems are:
kalamul kaitalu moogavOyinavi, SOkadhva'mta muppomgi ka
nnuluvOyen, sakala prapamcamunakun dODtOBayaBra'mtamai
balahiinambayi toole Ba'ratamu, viSvavya'pi ba'pooji, gum
DelalOnumDi pavitraraktamu cita'gnin gra'gi GOshimpagan
In the above poem Jashuva mourns "Sacred blood effusing the heart of
Mahatama cries aloud in the funeral pyre."
vEyEDu ldalakrimdulaina, BaratOrviicakramii vimtagO
sa'yin sa'mi digambarESvaru nahimsa'moorti, Sa'mtikshama'
vya'ya'ma sthirunetti pemcukonu Ba'gyam bunnadE ? ma'nadii
ga'yambii matamattacittula talal KamDimci, ka'lpimcinan.
Jashuva says in the above poem "Will this wound heal even if the
religious fanatics are beheaded and the heads are incinerated?"
This is viplava'tmaka kavitvam (revolutionary poetry). This line "
ma'nadii ga'yambii matamattacittula talal KamDimci, ka'lpimcinan"
reminds me of Sri Sri's poetry and upto some extent Digambara Kavula
poetry. Jashuva calls Mahatama here "ahimsa'moorti" (15).
All religions were one and the same for Gandhi. Examine in the
following poem how Jashuva describes Gandhi's love and tolerance towards
all the religions.
accapu GraistavumDanucu namjalibaTTiri kraistavOttamul
poccemulEni BouddhuDani pooja lonarciri bouddhaBikshakul
muccarakimci ma' musalma'nani palke durushkalOkamul
acca maha'tmuDannanuDikarhuDu ga'mdhiPakiiru Demtayun.
Christians payed respects to this Pakir saying that he was one hundred
percent Christian. Buddhists offered prayers to Gandhi declaring that
he was a Buddhist without a begging bowl. The entire Turk world greeted
him identifying him as a Muslim. This Pakir is an absolute Mahatma.
Jashuva's ba'poojii is a garland of flowery words which disseminate
fragrance of character, service to humanity, and universal love of
Mahatma offered to the departed great soul. Jashuva's ba'poojii is an
embodiement of patriotism, memoranda to the society, words of compassion
to the oppressed, suppressed, and have-nots, salutations to the great
soul (Mahatma), and above all a golden casket of unparallel Telugu
poetry of (self) condolences after the sudden demise of Mahatma.
Salutations to ja'shuva and prostrations to the Mahatma!!!
---pa'lana
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References:
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1) ba'poojii (1955) : guRRam ja'shuvakavi, Komdapalli Publications,
Rajahmundry. (price 1 rupee)
2) sa'hitya'nuSiilana (1993) : Prof. N. Gangappa, Telugu Dept.,
Nagarjuna University, AP
3) samagra a'mdhrasa'hityam (1991) : Arudra, Vol. 13, a'dhunika yugam.
4) Freedom at Midnight (1975) : Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre
Simon & Schuster, NY.
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I bought the original book "ba'pooji" at the Komdapalli Bookstore.
I paid a rupee last year. Price has not changed much for this book since
1955!
Sri Tikkavarapu Ramireddy, a freedom fighter and a true follower of Mahatma
Gandhi, encouraged and supported Jashuva (financially also) in getting this
book in print. Jashuva dedicated his ba'poojii to Sri Tikkavarapu Ramireddy.
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POSTED TO NURTURE TELUGU CULTURE AND LITERATURE IN THE NORTH AMERICA.
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PALANA
CAS
COLUMBUS
OH
DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed above are not those of the CAS.
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