Re: on the NJ/NY SatAvadhAnam

Ramakrishna S. Pillalamarri (pkrishna@ARL.MIL)
Tue, 10 Sep 96 2:07:23 EDT 

The poem requested by Devarakonda Srinivasa Rao is:

          linga nishidhdhakal valaci lingani, 
          mEcakakandharun triSU lingani,
          sangatALi lavalingani,
          nIlakacanvidAtR yAlingani,
          kRshNa cEluni halungani, 
          rAmakRshNa kavilingani kIrti hasince dikkulan.. !!
 
First, an apology for inadvetently posting to the whole group, what 
should have gone just to Devarakonda Srinivasa Rao; the short note 
that the above poem was posted by Dokka Ramabhadra Rao sometime ago.
 
During the recent SatAvadhAnam in NY/NJ, MNPS recounted this poem, 
in one of his digressions (these add fragrance to the golden feat 
of the avadhAnam itself). He explained the meaning of the poem. I don't 
remember the meaning of the first occurrence ("linga nishiddhakal"), 
but the rest of it, I do remember.
 
It refers to tenAli rAmakrishNa's "keerti". The poetic convention is 
that "keerti" is white; as white as white can be. Thus this "keerti" 
was making the rounds to see who else was also "white". Setting aside 
the first reference, 
 
        * mEcakakandharun triSU lingani,
        it found Lord Siva, white with ashes all over his body; yet his 
        neck was black, (being "neela-kanTha" or "garaLa-kanTha"), 
 
        * sangatALi lavalingani, (forgot, will post by the end of the week)
 
        * nIlakacanvidhAtR yAlingani,
        it found Saraswati, who is all-white, except for her dark black           
        tresses,
 
        * kRshNa cEluni halungani, 
        it found Balarama, who is supposed to be white (?), except           
        for his dark robes (Is this mentioned in bhAratam or bhAgavatam?), 

because all of these have some fault,

        * rAmakRshNa kavilingani kIrti hasince dikkulan.. !!
        It concluded with a smile that no one else has a claim to 
        being better!
 
The beauty of the poem is of course in the "idea" of it, and also 
the clever way the word "lingani" is repeatedly used, in many meanings.
 
Ramakrishna
 
PS: About Jampala's note that the question and answer about the four
apsaras knocking on his door, it may have happened at many other places.
It is possible that he may have used it (of course, the question has 
to be asked) at the Houston event, which Chitten Raju (one of the two 
AP's) attended. Actually, that question was asked by Appajosyula 
Satyanarayana, who may or may not have attended ATA at Houston.
 
It is possible for the answer to be adapted for a variety of questions. 
Such as what would you do if Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva came to you and 
...... It is possible that the questioner asked it knowing the answer 
form MNPS, just to get the audience to experience the delivery of that 
answer.
 
Frequently avadhAnis recount some of their better and popular items 
at other events. A few times I even asked them to do that, so the 
current audience would hear it.
 
On another matter, I think it was mentioned that the dattapadis were 
done in pieces, 2-lines at a time. However it was not specifically 
brought out that the first two-lines of the 15 dattapadis were done at 
the beginning of the event in the morning, and the concluding two lines 
of them, at the end of the event, perhaps after 11pm!