moosina muthyalakele

This poem has an interesting flow, describing the aptness of each adornment offered/applied to Alamelmanga/Lakshmi. It is slightly intriguing as most of the reasoning Annamayya uses are more generic and can be attributed to any lady and not specifically to Lakshmi. For the first time, Annamayya does not give away the gist of the poem in the first stanza or that is what I felt.


మూసిన ముత్యాల కేలె మెఱcగులు - ఆసల చిత్తాని  కేలే అలవోకలు
moosina mutyaala kaele meragulu - aasala chittaani kaelae alavOkalu
Word-Word:
మూసినmoosina= closed; ముత్యాలmutyala=of pearls; కేలెkelee= to only; మెఱగులుmeragulu= glitter/ lustre; ఆసలaasala= of desires; చిత్తానిchittani= the mind;కేలేkelee= to only; అలవోకలుalavokalu= sports;
Meaning:
To closed pearls only is the glitter; only to the mind full of desires are the sports/play;
Discussion:
For the first time in Annamayya's poetry, I noticed that he does not give away what the poem is about in the first stanza. He rather makes these general statements about pearls and the mind. In the first line, he says that the pearls that are safely stored in a closed shell/box have more glitter. I'm guessing he is referring to the mind.

కందులేని మోముకేలే కస్తూరి - చిందనీకొప్పున కేలే చేమంతులు
మందయానమున కేలే మట్టెల మోత -గందమేలే పైపై కమ్మని నీమేనికి
kaMdulaeni mOmukaelae kastoori - chiMdanee koppuna kaelae seemaMtulu
maMdayaanamuna kaelae maTTela mOta -gaMdamaelae paipai kammani neemaeniki

Word-Word:

కందు kandu= blackness, darkness; లేనిleni= not having;మోముmomu=face;కేke= to;లేle=only; కస్తూరి kasturi= musk; చిందని chindani= which does not spill/scatter;కొప్పునkoppuna= hair tied as bun; కేలే =to only;చేమంతులుchemanthulu= chrysanthamum flowers

మందmanda= slow; యానమునyanam=marching; కేలేkelee= to only; మట్టెలmettalu= toe-ring; మోత motha=burden; -గంధమేలేgandhamele=sandal paste only; పైపైpai-pai=superficially; కమ్మని kammani=pleasant; నీnee=your;మేనికిmeniki= hue/color;
Meaning:
To Darkness-sans face, only is the Kasturi;
Not scattering hairbun, only chrysanthamum flowers;
For the slow walking only are the toe-rings' burden;
Sandal paste only superficially to the pleasantful, your hue;
Discussion:
Annamayya has a peculiar description in this poem.  It seems like he describes the daily ornamental preparation for the Godess(Padmavathi or Alamelmanga) He starts saying that Kasturi is applied only to the not-dark( fair-skinned) face.To a tight bun that does not scatter, flowers add more beauty and stay put for a longer time. The toe-rings made of pure silver or gold are known to hurt if one runs or stomps too often. Hence, they will be stay put for those who walk slowly. Finally, sandal paste is applied superficially to add to the beautiful color. 

భారపు గుబ్బల కేలే పయ్యద నీ -బీరపు జూపుల కేలే పెడామోము
జీరల బుజాల కేలే చెమటల నీ -గోరంట గోళ్ళ కేలే కొనవాండ్లు
bhaarapu gubbala kaelae payyada nee -beerapu joopula kaelae peDaamOmu
jeerala bujaala kaelae chemaTala nee -gOraMTa gOLLa kaelae konavaaMDlu

Word-Word:
భారపుbharapu=of heavy; గుబ్బలgubbala=breasts; కేలేkele= to only; పయ్యదpayyada=the upper garment on bosom; నీnee=your -బీరపుbeerapu=brave; జూపులjoopula= stares; కేలే kelee= to only;పెడామోముpedamomu(peda+momu)= (side+face) to turn face sideways;
జీరలjeerala=drooping; బుజాలbhujala=shoulders; కేలేkelee= to only; చెమటలchematalu= sweats; నీnee=your; గోరంటgoranta= Henna plant/leaves; గోళ్ళgollu= nails; కేలేkelee= to only; కొనవాండ్లుkonavandlu(kona+vandlu)=(end+)
Meaning:
Only to the heavy breasts is the upper garment
Only to the brave/steady stares is the side-face
only to the drooping shoulders are the sweats
Only to the henna (applied) nails is the ...........????
Discussion:
So it seems like Annamayya is describing the costume and the posture of Lakshmi. Annamayya adds human traits to Lakshmi. Women usually put a side-face with downward sight to avoid direct stares.  Annamayya refers to that trait and says that to the steady brave stares, is the sideward face recommended to avoid awkwardness. Another interesting thing (or awkward in today's culture) that Annamayya refers is to the sweat. And since he is referring to the posture of the shoulders that cause sweat, it can be deduced that he is referring to underarm sweat. Annamayya says that drooping shoulders, increase the possibility of (underarm) sweat. Finally, he refers to the nails that are applied with henna leaves and says for such nails is the "konavandlu".
I did not find the meaning to the word konaandlu. Any help to get the meaning would be highly appreciated.

ముద్దుల మాటల కేలే ముదములు నీ -యద్దపు జెక్కుల కేలే అరవిరులు
వొద్దిక మాటల కేలే వూర్పులు నీకు -నద్దమేలే తిరువేంకటాద్రీశు గూడి
muddula maaTala kaelae mudamulu nee -yaddapu jekkula kaelae aravirulu
voddika maaTala kaelae voorpulu neeku -naddamaelae tiruvaeMkaTaadreeSu gooDi

Word-Word:

ముద్దులmuddula= to sweet/loving; మాటలmatala= words/talk; కేలే kele= to only; ముదములు mudamulu=delightfulness; నీnee= your; -యద్దపుyaddapu= dyed/colored;జెక్కులchekkulu=cheeks; కేలే అరవిరులు=half-blossomed flowers;
వొద్దికvoddika= hesitant; మాటలmatla=words/talk; కేలేkele= to only; వూర్పులుoorpulu=sighs; నీకుneeku= to you; అద్దమేలేaddamele= mirror only; తిరువేంకటాద్రీశుడు Tiruvenkatadrishu+goodi (ThiruVenkata +adri +eeshu+goodi)=(ThiruVenkata+mountain+lord+along with)
Meaning:
To sweet talk only is the delightfulness;
To your colored cheeks only are the half-blossomed flowers
To hesitant words only are the sighs;
To you is the mirror only Venkatadri's Lord.
Discussion:
It is always delightful, when somebody talks sweetly. The cheeks of Lakshmi/alamelmanga are apparently have a different color compared to the rest of the face and so Annamayya refers to that and says that to the cheeks are the half-blossomed flowers. He could be refering to the tenderness of the half-blossomed flowers and comparing to the cheeks or just the color.I'm not sure. Any help would be appreciated.
Annamayya ends this poem by beautifully concluding that Venkatesha is the mirror to Lakshmi, in beauty and grace.

Comments and suggestions to help in better understanding of this poem are appreciated.

References:
[1] Lyrics from the blog by Sravan Kumar DVN and Lakshmi Sujatha
http://annamacharya-lyrics.blogspot.com/2006/12/96musina-mutyala-kele-meragulu.html
[2] Telugu to English dictionary by Paluri Shankarnarayana
[3]