Purandaradasa Kritis
  1. Ambiga Naa Ninna Nambide

Ambiga Naa Ninna Nambide
Composer : Purandaradasa

ambiga nA ninna nambide
jagadambAramaNana nambidhe

tumbida harigOlambiga adak-
kombattu ChidhragaLambiga
sambhramadndali nInambiga ada-
imbu nOdi nadesambiga||1||

hattu bobbuLigaLambiga adake
muttaidu muttive ambiga
muttigoLagAdenambiga enna
etti konDoyyo nInambiga ||2||

Aru tereya nODambiga hada
mIri barutalide ambiga
ArindalAgadu ambiga ada ni-
vArisi dATiso ambiga ||3||

hoLeya bharava nOdambiga
adara seLevu nODu Ghanavambiga
suLiyoLu muLugade ambiga
enna seLedhukonDoyyo nInambiga||4||

satyavembude huTTambiga
sadA bhaktiyembude pathavambiga
nitya mUruti namma purandara viTalana
mukti manTapakoyyo ambiga||5||



Meaning taken from the web.. Given by Dr.Shrikaanth K.Murthy

This song is an appeal to Siva(who is considered a guru), the husband of jagadambA-pArvati. He is adressed as ambiga-boatsman. This song is allegorical wherein the body is called a boat with 9 leaks(body orifices)

1) tumbida harigOlu- a loaded raft/boat(parisal in tamizh)-refers to burgen of previous karma.
adake ombattu tUtugaLu ambiga -it has 9 leaks
smbhramadindali -with zeal/zest
adara imbu tiLidu naDesu ambiga- lead it by being aware of its strengths and weaknesses.

2) ahttu bobbuLigalu- 10 bubbles referring to the 10 jnAnEndriyas(5) and karmEndriyas(5)
adake muttu aidu muttive- it is surrounded/engulfed/attacked by 5 pearls.(there is a punon the word muttu here. The inner meanig of 5 pearls is not clear to me.
muttige oLagAde ambiga- I came under the spell of the pearls
ennanu etti konDoyyo- please emancipate me(lifte me and take me away)

3)Aru tereya nODu ambiga- see the 6 waves referring to ariShadvarga
hada mIri barutalide- they are coming beyond limits
Arindalu Agadu ambiga- it is not within the power of anyone other than you
ada nivArisi dATiso ambiga- please remove/cure it and help the boat (me)cross (the bhava sAgara)

4)hoLeya bharava nODu ambiga-see the force/size in the river
adara seLevu nODu ghana ambiga-see is strong current
suLiyoLu muLugade ambiga- without letting me drown in the whirlpool
enna suLidu konDoyyo- take me away from here

5)satyavembude huTTu ambiga- truth is the birth
sadA bhakti embude patha ambiga- always devotion is the path
nitya mUruti namma puranaraviThalana muktimanTapake oyyo ambiga- take me to the abode of deliverance that is purandara viThala(ViSgNu) who is the eternal presence.
The last caraNa describes the way out of samsAra.

I have plit the word so that it is easy to pick up the meanings. Also while writing sAhitya, I have written so that prAsa is not affected.
Dr.Shrikaanth K.Murthy