Annamayya describes the greatness of Lord Vishnu's feet in this sankeerthana.
బ్రహ్మ కడిగిన పాదము;బ్రహ్మము తానెని పాదము
brahma kaDigina paadamu; brahmamu taaneni paadamu
Word to word meaning:
బ్రహ్మ(brahma)= The Supreme, one of the Trinity ; కడిగిన kaDigina= which was washed by; పాదముpaadamu = feet;బ్రహ్మము Brahmamu= the supreme knowledge ;తానెని taaneni(taanu+ani/ tanamu +ani)=as oneself/ as the place;పాదము Paadamu=feet
Meaning:
These feet washed by Brahma;these feet are the abode of the Supreme Knowledge itself.
Discussion:
During Thretha Yuga, Vishnu incarnated as Vamana, a Dwarf, the first human form. Bali was the gradson of Prahlada and King of Asuras/demons. Bali conquered the three worlds and performed the Ashwameda yagnam on banks of Narmada. Bali was a powerful and righteous King. However, upon Indra losing his throne, his mother Aditi performs penance and asks Vishnu to help her son Indra. So Vishnu takes Vamana's form as a Brahmin and arrives at Bali's Ashwameda Yagnam. As a ritual, Bali offers to present the Brahmin with a gift. Vamana in return asks for three-foot space from Bali. Bali grants the wish, inspite of his Guru Sukracharya's warning, with the pride that he could easily give 3-foot space that too of a Dwarf.
So Vamana grows large in form and in the first foot covers the whole of the earth. In the second foot, he covers all the space outside, especially heaven.It is during this foot's travel through the heavens that Brahma takes the opportunity to wash his feet.
Annamayya is now referring to this episode and described the (Vishnu's)feet as the one which were feet washed by Brahma, the Supreme. Well that is the known fact from the story of Maha Bali. But Annamayya adds his description to it and says, the feet itself is the abode of the Brahmam, the Supreme Knowledge. He clearly distinguishes between the Supreme Being and the Supreme Knowlege.
( Off track discussion-This is a little illogical to me since Earth is a sphere and you cannot have both your foot on a sphere to cover it. May be Vamana was standing on another planet to claim earth or he was tricky! Hard to get! Or it is as simple as saying it figuratively that he placed his foot on the whole earth when his feet covered a large part of land :D. )
చెలగి వసుధ కొలిచిన నీ పాదము
బలి తల మోపిన పాదము
తలకగ గగనము తన్నిన పాదము
బలరిపు గాచిన పాదము
chelagi vasudha kolichina nee paadamu bali tala mOpina paadamu talakaga gaganamu tannina paadamu balaripu gaachina paadamu
చెలగి chelagi= to be pleasant/agreeable; to shine; వసుధ vasudha= the Earth; కొలిచిన kolachina= measured; నీ nee=your; పాదము paadamu= feet
బలి Bali= Bali; తల tala= head; మోపిన moopina=bore/endured; పాదము paadamu= feet;
తల కగ tala+kaga= top end+ to fade; to shrink; గగనము=Sky; తన్నిన tannina= kicked; పాదము paadamu= feet
బలరిపు Balaripu= cows; గాచిన gaachina= protect; పాదము paadamu= feet
Meaning:The Earth pleasantly measured this foot. Bali bore this foot on his head.The topmost end/ the lofty Sky was kicked by these feet. The cows were protected by these feet.
Discussion: Annamayya continues the story of Bali and describes the three-feet story. When He tried to set His foot on Earth, Mother Earth actually took the opportunity pleasantly to measure His feet. Bali bore His foot on his head. This same foot kicked the lofty Sky. While this was all in His Vamana avatar, Annamayya moves onto the next avatar Parashuram avatar in the last line where he says the cows were protected by these same feet.Parashuram was sage Jamadagni's son. Once when he is away, the cruel ruler Kartaviryarjun / Shahastrajun of the Haihaya clan, during one of his travels, stays at Jamadagni's ashram as a guest. The king is surprised and jealous of the prosperity of the ashram. He forcefully takes away the cows of the ashram, especially Kamadhenu, the Holy Cow. Upon Parashuram's return and knowing the atrocities of the king, Parashuram decided to fight the injustice. After trying peaceful means of getting back the cows, combated the King in fair fight and killed him and got the cows back to the ashram. Though the story continues further, this is the related story about the protection of cows in Parashuram Avatar.
కామిని పాపము కడిగిన పాదము - పాము తలనిడిన పాదము
ప్రేమతొ శ్రీ సతి పిసికెడి పాదము -పామిడి తురగపు పాదము
kaamini paapamu kaDigina paadamu - paamu talaniDina paadamu praemato Sree sati pisikeDi paadamu -paamiDi turagapu paadamu
కామిని Kaamini= Ahilya, lady with desires; పాపము paapamu= ; కడిగిన kadigina= washed away; పాదము Paadmau=feet; - పాము paamu= Snake, Kalinga; తలనిడిన Talanidina= stand on head; పాదము paadamu= feet;
ప్రేమతొ Prematho= With love; శ్రీ Sri= Lakshmi; సతి sati= wife; పిసికెడి Pisikedi= massage; పాదము paadamu= feet; -పామిడి ??(close word పామరుడి pamarudu= ignorant,illeterate man); తురగపు= mind thought; పాదము paadamu= feet
Meaning: Kamini's sins were washed by these feet, these feet stood on the Snake's head. With love Sri, your wife, massages these feet; an ignorant/illeterate man's mind is on these feet.
Discussion: Annamayya shifts into Ram, and Krishna, avatars, in this stanza. First he refers to the episode of Ahilya's transformation from stone to human form. Ahilya was Sage Gauthama's beautiful wife.Indra with his lustful desire enters Gauthama's ashram during Sage Guathama's absence and impersonates as Sage Gauthama. Ahilya even though sensed Indra's impersonation, yielded to his desire due to her vanity that her beauty drew the King of Celestials to her. Sage Gauthama upon knowing the truth, curses Indra to lose his manhood and Ahilya to become a stone with no senses. On beseeching Gauthama, he tells her that the curse would be nullified when Lord Vishnu in Ram avatar places his feet on the stone. During his travel to Mithila, Lord Rama sets Ahilya free from her curse when his feet touch her stone form. In Krishna Avatar, the poisonous snake Kalinga living in Yamuna taken by his pride poisoned and threatened the people near the river. While playing with his friends, Krishna enters the river to get the ball and dances on Kalinga. Here Annamayya refers to that episode when he says that these feet stood over on the Snake's head. The third line describes how His wife Sri, massages the feet. The usual scene in Vaikuntum is that Vishnu rests on the snake while Lakshmi massages his feet. Finally, Annamayya says that His feet are the only resort for the ignorant minds. Pamarudu is a word used to describe the illiterate common-man. By illeterate, it means one who does not understand the nuances of the Supreme Truth(Para Brhma) and who cannot gain knowledge from the sacred texts.
పరమ యోగులకు పరి పరి విధముల - పరమొసగెడి నీ పాదము
తిరువేంకటగిరి తిరమని చూపిన - పరమ పదము నీ పాదము
parama yOgulaku pari pari vidhamula - paramosageDi nee paadamu tiruvaeMkaTagiri tiramani choopina - parama padamu nee paadamu పరమ Parama= Supreme, greatest; యోగులకు Yogulaku= for Yogis/saints, పరి పరి Pari Pari= many many; విధముల Vidhamula=ways/methods,పరమొసగెడి paramosegadi(parama+osegadi)= the greatest to give/present,నీ పాదము Nee padamu= your feet. తిరు+వేంకట+గిరి Tiru+Venkata+Giri= Tirumala Venkata Mountain, తిరమని Tirumani= the white clay used by Vaishnavas to make mark on forehead; చూపిన Choopina= has shown ;పరమ పదము= Supreme word, Salvation; నీ nee= your; పాదము Padamu= feet;
Meaning: To the greatest of Yogis/ saints,your feet have given/presented in many ways. The Tirumala VenkataGiri's soil/clay has shown the Supreme Truth/Salvation asYour feet.
Discussion: The first sentence is self explanatory in the sense that Lord's feet appeared in many ways to the Yogis. The second sentence is a little tricky. Tiramani or Tirumannu actually means white clay. the last few words mean that lord's feet are the source of Salvation. But putting together the first few words was difficult. Annamayya mentions the Tirumala Mountains and the white clay but relating it to Lord's feet, a little difficult.
/>References:
[1] Lyrics from http://annamacharya-lyrics.blogspot.com/2006/10/22brahma-kadigina-padamu.html
[2] Balamurali's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBYO76BM5Qg
[3] MS SubbaLakshmi's [4] http://pushti-marg.net/bhagwat/greedy-kings.htm
[5]Telugu to English Dictonary by Paluri Shankarnarayana
