Kurai Onrum Illai. Raga: Raagamaalika. Talam: Adi (rAgA: shivaranjani) Pallavi: kurai onrum illai maraimUrti kaNNA kurai onrum illai kaNNaa kurai onrum illai gOvindA Anupallavi: kaNNukku teriyAmal nirkkinrAi kaNNA kaNNukku teriyAmal ninrAluum enakku kurai onrum illai maraimUrti kaNNA Charanam 1: vEnDiyadai tandiDa vEnkaTEsan enrirukka vEnDiyadu vErillai maraimUrti kaNNA maNivaNNA malaiappA gOvindA gOvindA (rAgA: kApi) Charanam 2: tiraiyin pin nirkinrAi kaNNA unnai marai Odum jnAniyar maTTumE kAN pAr enrAlum kurai onrum enakkillai kaNNA enrAlum kurai onrum enakkillai Charanam 3: kunrin mEl kallaAgi nirkkinra varadA kurai onrum illai maraimUrti kaNNA kurai onrum illai marai mUrti kaNNAmaNivaNNA malaiappA gOvindA gOvindA (rAgA: sindhubhairavi) Charanam 4: kalinALukkirangi kallilE irangi nilaiyAga kOyilil nirkinrAi kEshavA kurai onrum illai marai mUrti kaNNA Charanam 5: yAdum marukkAda malaiyappA un mArbil Edum tara nirkkum karuNai kaDalannai enrum irundiDa Edu kurai enakku onrum kurai illai maraimUrti kaNNA maNivaNNA malaiappA gOvindA gOvindA gOvindA gOvindA gOvindA gOvindA gOvindA Meaning: Pallavi: I do not ("illai") have any ("onrum") problem ("kurai") Oh, KaNNa the vEdAs ("marai") personified ("murthi")! I do not have ("onrum illai") any problem ("kurai"), kaNNA! I do not have any ("onrum illai") complaint ("kurai"), Oh, gOvindA! Anupallavi: You are ("nirkinrai") invisible ("kannuku theriyaada"), Oh, kaNNA! But even ("ninraalum") when you remain invisible("kannuku theriyaada"), I ("yenakku") do not have any ("onrum illai") problem ("kurai"), Oh, kaNNA! Caranam1: When there is ("enrirukka") Venkatesan to give us ("thandhida") what we want ("Vendiyadhai"), we shall not want ("Verillai") anything ("Vediyadhu"), Oh, kaNNA! maNivaNNa! malaiyappA! gOvindA! Caranam2: You are standing ("nirkinrai") behind ("pin") a screen ("tiraiyin"), kaNNa! Only ("mattume") the wise men ("jnaaniyar") who are well-versed in the vEdAs ("marai Odum") can “see” ("kaan paar") you ("unnai"). Still ("enraalum") I do not have a ("onrum illai") problem ("kurai") (if I cannot see you). Caranam3: You ("varadaa") are standing ("nirkkinra") like a stone ("kallaagi") on the hilltop ("kunrin mel"). I do not have any problem ("kurai onrum illai") still. Caranam4: You have taken ("kalinaalukkirangi") this stone-form ("nilayaaga") recognising this kaliyugA ("kalile"). You are permanently here ("nirkinrai") in this temple ("koyilil"). Caranam5: You do not refuse ("marukkaada") the request ("yAdum") from your devotees. The ever-merciful ("karunai-kadal") Goddess Lakshmi ("kadal annai") is residing in your ("un") chest ("maarbil"). In that situation ("enrum irundida") what ("Edu") deficiency ("kurai") can I ("ennakku") have? I do not have any complaint ("kurai onrum illai"), kannA, maNivaNNa, malaiyappA, gOvindA! General comments: This song is unusual in several ways. First of all it is a rare composition by a person who is not a regular composer or a musician. Although Rajaji was a popular writer, he was not recognised as a composer. Secondly, unlike other devotional songs which lament the status of the composer and request the Lord to save them (authors) in this and the next life, this song does not lament nor request special favours. Instead, the song describes the contented state of mind of the composer. The composer does not want anything. He is just content with seeing and worshipping the Lord. He just admires the everlasting grace of Lord Venkatesa of Tirupati. Rajaji does not make any distinction here between Lord Venkatesa of Tirupati and the incarnation Krishna (known as kaNNAn in Thamizh). He uses the names interchangeably. He expresses only a common concept that the Lord, though present in the stone form, is taking care of the needs of the devotees. However, the concept comes out so crystal-clear when one hears the song. Perhaps it is the melody because there is no splendour of diction in this song. The words used are so commonplace. Another distinctive feature of this song is that this was sung by MS Subbulakshmi at her United Nations concert in 1969 arranged by the then UN Undersecretary-general C V Narasimhan. The song was set to music by Kadayanallur Venkataraman who has worked with MS for decades. It is now a highly popular song in the concert circuit. Almost every musician keeps it in his/her repertoire to be rendered either as a regular item towards the end or to be rendered at the request of the audience.
