O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord rAma! O Lord enamoured by lakshmI! O Benefactor of dependent people! O Lord who nourishes this tyAgarAja!
Word Division - Word-by-word meaning
pallavi
raghu nandana raghu nandana raghu nandana rAma
O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord rAma!
caraNam
caraNam 1
pADudu ninu vEDudu koniyADudu SrI rAma (raghu)
O Lord SrI rAma! I shall sing (pADudu) about You (ninu); I shall entreat (vEDudu) You and I shall extol (koniyADudu) You;
O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord rAma!
caraNam 2
kOriti ninu jEriti nanu dUrakumI rAma (raghu)
O Lord rAma! I desired (kOriti) and joined (jEriti) You (ninu); please do not rebuke (dUrakumI) me (nanu);
O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord rAma!
caraNam 3
EmO-ani nI manasuna EmarakE rAma (raghu)
O Lord rAma! Don’t be deceived (EmarakE) in Your (nI) mind (manasuna) that (ani) there is something else (EmO) (EmOyani);
O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord rAma!
caraNam 4
gati lEdu-ani pati nIvu-ani mati nE SaraNu-aNTi (raghu)
As (ani) there is no (lEdu) (lEdani) other refuge (gati), in my mind (mati), I (nE) sought (aNTi) refuge (SaraNu) (SaraNaNTi) that (ani) You (nIvu) (nIvani) are my Lord (pati) (literally husband);
O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord rAma!
caraNam 5
jAlamu nIku-Elanu nE tALanu SrI lOla (raghu)
O Lord enamoured (lOla) by lakshmI (SrI)! Why (Elanu) this procrastination or deception (jAlamu) by You (nIku) (literally to You) (nIkElanu)? I (nE) cannot bear (tALanu);
O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord rAma!
caraNam 6
gaTTiga ninu paTTina tanaku-iTTi vetalu-Ela (raghu)
Why (Ela) this kind of (iTTi) suffering (vetalu) (vetalEla) for me (tanaku) (tanakiTTi) who has held (paTTina) on to You (ninu) fast (gaTTiga)?
O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord rAma!
caraNam 7
nIkE daya nIkE dama nIku-evarE sATi (raghu)
Yours indeed (nIkE) is the real compassion (daya); Yours indeed (nIkE) is the real self-restraint (dama); whoever (evarE) is equal (sATi) to You (nIku) (nIkevarE)!
O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord rAma!
caraNam 8
ninu telisina ghanulanu nE dina dinamunu talatu (raghu)
I (nE) shall remember (talatu) every day (dina dinamunu) those great persons (ghanulanu) who know (telisina) You (ninu);
O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord rAma!
caraNam 9
mullOkamulu-allADina illE gati kAni (raghu)
Even if one wanders about (allADina) all the three Worlds (mullOkamulu) (mullOkamulallADina), one's own house alone (illE) is indeed (kAni) one's refuge (gati);
O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord rAma!
caraNam 10
ilanu-antaTa kala vAnaku jaladhE gati kAni (raghu)
For the rains (vAnaku) that pour (kala) (literally existing) everywhere (antaTa) on the Earth (ilanu) (ilanantaTa), the ocean only (jaladhE) is indeed (kAni) the destination (gati);
O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord rAma!
caraNam 11
guNamulalOna-aNigi-uNTE guNiyE gati kAni (raghu)
If one remains (uNTE) confined (aNigi) to the three qualities (gunamulalOna) (sattva, rajas, tamas) (guNamulalOnaNiguNTE), the Lord alone (guNiyE) (literally Virtuous) is the only (kAni) refuge (gati);
O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord rAma!
caraNam 12
enni vitamulu-unnAnu ninnE cEravale (raghu)
No matter how many (enni) methods (of worship) (vitamulu) are there (unnAnu) (vitamulunnAnu), all are bound to lead (cEravale) (literally join) to You (ninnE) alone;
O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord rAma!
caraNam 13
Srita mAnava hita-kara pAlita tyAgarAja (raghu)
O Benefactor (hita-kara) of dependent (Srita) people (mAnava)! O Lord who nourishes (pAlita) this tyAgarAja!
O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord raghu nandana! O Lord rAma!
Notes
Variations - (Pathanthara)
3 – illE gati – iTlE gati. From the examples cited in the caraNas 10 – 12, 'illE gati' seems to be appropriate. This is more so applying the prAsa-anuprAsa followed within each caraNa – mullOka – illE.
General –In some books, caraNa 1 is given as anupallavi.
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References
2 – mullOkamu allADina illE gati – Please refer to kRti 'kAla haraNamElarA' – Suddha sAvEri, wherein SrI tyAgarAja states – 'cuTTi cuTTi pakshulella ceTTu vedaku rIti...' (In the same manner as all birds search their tree (where their nest is located) by roaming here and there....).
4 – vAnaku jaladhE gati – AkASAt patitaM tOyaM sAgaraM prati-gacchati (sandhyA vandana SlOka).
5 – guNamulOnu aNiguNTE guNiyE gati - In this regard, the following verse from SrImad-bhagavad-gItA, Chapter 14 refers –
sattvaM rajas-tama iti guNAH prakRti-sambhavAH ||
nibadhnanti mahA-bAhO dEhE dEhinam-avyayaM || 5 ||
“sattva, rajas, and tamas – these three guNAs, O mighty-armed, born of prakRti, bind fast in the body the indestructible embodied one.” (Translation by Swami Swarupananda)
7 – enni vitamulunnAnu ninnE cEravale – sarva dEva namaskAraM kESavaM prati-gacchati (sandhyA vandana SlOka). Please refer to discourse of kAnci mAhAsvami.
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Comments
1 – EmarakE – In some books, this has been translated as ‘Don’t deceive’. In view of the words ‘nI madini’, ‘don’t deceive’ does not make sense.
6 - guNiyE gati – The meaning of the word 'guNi' in the present context is obscure.
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