viDemu sEyavE
Sahityam
Pallavi
viDemu¹ sEyavE nannu viDanADakavE²
Show Word Meanings
Please have Tambulam – betel leaves; do not desert me.
Anupallavi
puDami tanaya cEti maJci
maDupulanucu³ talaci talaci (viDemu)
Show Word Meanings
maDupulanucu³ talaci talaci (viDemu)
Considering these to be the nice rolls prepared by the very hand of Sita – the daughter of the Earth, please have Tambulam; do not desert me.
Charanam
rAja mAnyuDau saumitri ratna tamma paDiga paTTi
tEjarilla nilicinADu dEva dEva
jAji kAyalu Elakulu jApatri vakkalAkulu⁴
rAja rAja vara tyAgarAju prEmatOnosaGgE (viDemu)
Show Word Meanings
tEjarilla nilicinADu dEva dEva
jAji kAyalu Elakulu jApatri vakkalAkulu⁴
rAja rAja vara tyAgarAju prEmatOnosaGgE (viDemu)
O Lord of celestials! Lakshmana – son of Sumitra, respected by the kings - is shiningly standing holding (in his hands) the gem-studded spittoon; O Emperor par excellence! please have Tambulam, consisting of nutmeg, cardomoms, mace , (pieces of) arecanut and betel leaves, offered by this Tyagaraja with love; do not desert me.
Commentary
- 1 viDemu – betel leaves applied with lime, bits of betel nuts (arecanut) and spices like nutmeg, mace, clover, cardomom etc are taken after food which is also known as ‘tAmbUlam ’.
- 2 viDanADaku – do not desert - It is customary that guests are served tAmbUlam at the end of feast; Sri Tyagaraja states that ’now that I have offered You tAmbUlam ’, like a guest, do not leave (desert) (viDanADaku ) me because You are not a guest here.
- 3 maDupulu - betel leaves applied with lime are individually rolled and offered by the wife to her husband.
- 4
vakkalAkulu
– This may be translated as ‘betel leaves’ or ‘betel nut and betel leaves’. Customarily, betel leaves alone are never offered – or even sold by shops in Tamil Nadu even now – without betel nuts; when we ask for ‘betel leaves’ only, a few bits of grated betel nuts are bundled along. Similarly, lime (used in betel leaves) is also not offered separately.
- “The betel leaf is known by the name ‘vetrilai’ in Tamil, literally an ’empty leaf’. Paramacharya once asked the people sitting around him the reason for calling it an ’empty leaf’. When none could give the answer, he said that the usually edible plants don’t just stop with leaf; they proceed to blossom, and bear fruits or vegetables. Even in the case of spinach or lettuce, we have to cook them before we can take them. Only in the case of the betel leaf, we take it raw, and this plant just stops with its leaves, hence the name ‘vetrilai’ or ’empty leaf’.” - [[http://www.kanchiforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1775 vetrilai]]
- General – For some interesting articles on the betel leaves and how they are offered in South-East Asian countries, please visit the sites- [[http://www.mazatecgarden.com/products/Betel_Nut.htm Betel leaves-1]] [[http://www.myanmar.gov.mm/Perspective/persp1999/9-99/betel.htm Betel leaves-2]]