pallavi
1kaTTu jEsinAvu 2rAma bandu
anupallavi
maTTu mitamu lEn(a)TTi 3dEvatA
matamulalO 4jorabaDudAm(a)NTE (kaTTu)
caraNam
mA 5matamulanu lalATamuna
pitAmahuDu vrAya lEd(a)nucunu mari mari
6kAma madamulaku hitav(a)nucu
7nishkAma tyAgarAjuku 8tOcE (kaTTu)
pallavi
kaTTu jEsinAvu rAma bandu
O Lord SrI rAma (Implied addressing)! You have bound (kaTTu jEsinAvu) me as the ‘slave (bandu) of rAma’.
anupallavi
maTTu mitamu lEni-aTTi dEvatA
matamulalO jorabaDudAmu-aNTE (kaTTu)
Even if I wanted to (aNTE) venture (jorabaDudAmu) (jorabaDudAmaNTE) into (any of the) innumerable (maTTu mitamu lEni aTTi) (lEnaTTi) paths (matamulalO) of (other) Gods (dEvatA), (I could not do so because) You have bound me as the ‘slave of rAma’.
caraNam
mA matamulanu lalATamuna
pitAmahuDu vrAya lEdu-anucunu mari mari
kAma madamulaku hitavu-anucu
nishkAma tyAgarAjuku tOcE (kaTTu)
As (anucunu) brahmA (pitAmahuDu) (at the time of birth) has not ordained (lalATamuna vrAya lEdu) (literally not written on the forehead) (lEdanucunu) (that such and such to be) my (mA) path (matamulanu) (literally set of opinions),
again and again (mari mari), it occurs (tOcE) to this desire-less (nish-kAma) tyAgarAja that You have bound me as the ‘slave of rAma’,
because (anucu) those (other) paths are conducive to (hitavu) (hitavanucu) (harmful tendencies like) desire (kAma), arrogance etc (madamulaku).
Notes
Variations - (Pathanthara)
4 – jorabaDudAmaNTE – jorabaDudAmanna.
8 – tOcE – tOcu.
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References
6 – kAma madamulaku – the six internal enemies - kAma, krOdha, lObha, mOha, mada, mAtsarya.
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Comments
1 – kaTTu jEsinAvu - In books ‘kaTTu’ seems to have been translated as ‘spell’, ‘magic spell’.
2 – rAma bandu – The word ‘bandu’ may be translated as ‘prison’, ‘prisoner’, ‘restraint’. However, in my opinion, SrI tyAgarAja seems to imply ‘slave’ of ‘bonded labour system’ which was prevalent in many parts of India. The person so bonded and their descendants become slaves of the creditor. Bonded Labour (Abolition).
3 – dEvatA matamulu – the six modes of worship - Saiva, Vaishnava etc.
5 - matamulanu lalATamuna pitAmahuDu vrAya lEdu – brahmA has not ordained one’s religion. This is socially more relevant today when religions have become a source of disharmony.
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6 – kAma madamulaku hitavanucu – The path of devotion (bhakti) is common for all the six modes of worship. SrI tyAgaraja has, in many kritis, criticised those who differentiate between forms of worship. Therefore, it would not be correct to say that all modes of worship, other than that of vishNu (SrI rAma), is conducive to development of desire etc. It seems that SrI tyAgarAja implies methods other than 'bhakti' like 'sacrifical oblations etc performed for the sake enjoyment' and other (esoteric) forms of worship like ‘kaula mArga’. It is actually the motive which matters. In this regard, SrImad-bhagavad-gIta, Chapter 3 is relevant –
yajnArthAt-karmaNO(a)nyatra lOkO(a)yaM karma bandhanaH |
tad-arthaM karma kauntEya mukta sangaH samAcara || 9 ||
“The world is bound by actions other than those performed for the sake of yajna; do thou, therefore, O son of kuntI, perform action for yajna alone, devoid of attachment.” (Translation by Swami Swarupananda)
7 – nishkAma – it is also possible to translate this as an epithet of Lord. However, traditionally, as given in the books, this word has been taken to refer to tyAgarAja. Therefore, the same has been retained.
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