pallavi
rUkalu padi vElu-unna cEreDu
nUkalu gati kAni O manasA

O My Mind (manasA)! Even if one has (unna) ten (padi) thousand ( vElu) (vElunna) rupees (rUkalu) (literally coins or money), all that one needs (gati) (for a meal) is but (kAni) a handful (cEreDu) of broken rice (nUkalu) only.

anupallavi
kOkalu veyyi-unna
kaTTukonuTaku-okaTi kAni O manasA (rU)

O My Mind (manasA)! Even if one has (unna) a thousand (veyyi) (veyyunna) garments (kOkalu), all that one needs for wearing (kaTTukonuTaku) (at a time) is but (kAni) one (garment) (okaTi) (kaTTukonuTakokaTi) only.
O My Mind! Even if one has ten thousand rupees, all that one needs for a meal is but a handful of broken rice only.

caraNam
Uru-Elina tA paNDuTa mUDu mUra tAvu kAni
nUru bhakshaNamulu-abbina entO nOTiki-anta kAni
Eru niNDuga pArina pAtraku tagu nIru vaccu kAni
sArataruni harini tyAgarAja sannutuni maravakE manasA (rU)

Even if one rules (Elina) over entire town (Uru) (UrElina), all that one (tA) lies down (paNDuTa) is but (kAni) three (mUDu) cubits (mUra) of space (tAvu) only;
even if one gets (abbina) a hundred (nUru) varieties of food-items (bhakshaNamulu) (bhakshaNamulabbina), all that one can gulp is but (kAni) as much as (entO) a mouthful (nOTiki anta) (nOTikanta) only.
even if the river (Eru) flows (pArina) to the brim (niNDuga), all that water (niru) one can fetch (vaccu) is but (kAni) vessel-full (pAtraku tagu) only;
therefore, O My Mind (manasA), do not forget (maravakE) Lord hari (harini) - the Most Excellent One (sArataruni), well-praised (sannutuni) by this tyAgarAja.
O My Mind! Even if one has ten thousand rupees, all that one needs for a meal is but a handful of broken rice only.