pallavi
A daya SrI raghuvara nED(E)la
1rAd(a)ya O day(A)mbudhi nIk(A daya)
anupallavi
mOdamutO sad-bhakti marmamunu
bOdhana jEsi sadA brOcina nIk(A daya)
caraNam
ninnu tiTTi koTTi himsa peTTinad(a)nniyu nann(a)na lEdA
enna rAni nindala tALum(a)ni 2mannincaga lEdA
annamu tAmbUlam(o)sagi dEhamu minna sEya lEdA
kanna talli taNDri mEm(a)nucu
tyAgarAjuniki paravaSam(I) lEdA (A daya)
pallavi
A daya SrI raghuvara nEDu-Ela
rAdu-aya O daya-ambudhi nIku-(A daya)
O Lord (aya) SrI raghuvara! O Ocean (ambudhi) of Compassion (daya) (dayAmbudhi)! Why (Ela) wouldn’t You (nIku) have (rAdu) (rAdaya) (literally come) that (A) compassion (daya) (nIkA daya) today (nEDu) (nEDEla)?
anupallavi
mOdamutO sad-bhakti marmamunu
bOdhana jEsi sadA brOcina nIku-(A daya)
O Lord SrI raghuvara! O Ocean of Compassion! Why wouldn’t You (nIku),
who always (sadA) protected (brOcina) me happily (mOdamutO) by imparting (bodhana jEsi) the secret (marmamunu) of true devotion (sad-bhakti),
have that compassion today?
caraNam
ninnu tiTTi koTTi himsa peTTinadi-anniyu nannu-ana lEdA
enna rAni nindala tALumu-ani mannincaga lEdA
annamu tAmbUlamu-osagi dEhamu minna sEya lEdA
kanna talli taNDri mEmu-anucu
tyAgarAjuniki paravaSamu-I lEdA (A daya)
Didn’t (lEdA) You say (ana) “all (anniyu) the violence (himsa) - verbal (tiTTi) and physical (koTTi) - perpetrated (peTTinadi) (peTTinadanniyu) on you (ninnu), amounts to doing unto Me (nannu) (nannana)”?
Didn’t (lEdA) You commend (mannincaga) me to (ani) forbear (tALumu) (tALumani) abuses (nindala), no matter what happens (enna rAni)?
Didn’t (lEdA) You make (sEya) my body (dEhamu) glitter (minna) by offering (osagi) food (annamu) and betel leaves (tAmbUlamu) (tAmbUlamosagi)?
Didn’t (lEdA) You make (I) (literally give) this tyAgarAja (tyAgarAjuniki) ecstatic (paravaSamu) (paravaSamI) by consoling (anucu) (literally saying) “We (mEmu) (mEmanucu) are your parents (kanna talli taNDri) (literally mother and father who bore)”?
O Lord SrI raghuvara! O Ocean of Compassion! Why wouldn’t You have that compassion today?
Notes
Variations - (Pathanthara)
In some books, the caraNa is divided into two; beginning from ‘annamu tAmbUlamu’ has been treated as the second caraNa. All other books contain a single caraNa.
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References
Comments
1 – rAdaya – This has been split as ‘rAdu+aya’; however, the word ‘aya’ does not seem to be available. It is not known whether this is a colloquial usage to mean ‘Lord’ (ayya).
2 – mannincaga – this word means ‘forgive’, ‘respect’, ‘honour’, ‘obey’, ‘accede’ etc. In the present context, there is some doubt about meaning of this word, particularly in view of the background of the song given below. It has been translated here as ‘commend’.
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Background of the Song - The great exponent of harikathA – SrI TS Balakrishna Sastrigal, in his discourse ‘tyAgarAja caritraM’, states that this song was sung by SrI tyAgarAja after the incident wherein his elder brother beat him and consequently SrI tyAgarAja remained in coma for more than five days. During the period of coma, Lord SrI rAma, along with sItA appeared before him and spoke to his sUkshma SarIra on the lines stated in the song - ‘ninnu tiTTi koTTi hiMsa peTTinadanniyu nannu’ – ‘the violence – verbal and physical – perpetrated on you amounts to doing unto Me’. Subsequently, the Lord is said to have soothed SrI tyAgarAja’s body by touching the wound; after the incident SrI tyAgarAja woke up, as if from sleep, fully recovered. According to SrI Balakrishna Sastrigal, in this song, SrI tyAgarAja asks the Lord to pardon his brother for the offence.
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