Tyagaraja Kriti

Meaning - Gist
O Destroyer of sins! O Lord whose feet are worshipped by this tyAgarAja!

Is it in my capacity to behold Lord Siva?
Giving due consideration, You should pardon me.

Having worshipped the temple towers, very sacred flag staff, the figures of Gods carved in rock established on the ground, dances of damsels, rows of lamps, and the divine carriages of the Lord, I became external oriented.

Performing sixteen circumambulations by swaying slowly, uttering nicely words of abuse about others, I exulted looking at others’ wives; but I failed to chant the sacred twin syllable ‘Siva’.

Is it a matter of play to remain in a state of trance, firmly establishing (in the mind) the wonderful gold like form (of the Lord) and beholding (the form) again and again in the Lotus of the heart?

Word Division - Word-by-word meaning

pallavi
darSanamu sEya nA taramA

Is it in my (nA) capacity (taramA) to behold (darSanamu sEya) Lord Siva?

anupallavi
parAmarSinci nIvu nanu mannincavalenu Siva (darSa)

Giving due consideration (parAmarSinci) (literally examination), You (nIvu) should pardon (mannincavalenu) me (nanu).
Is it in my capacity to behold Lord Siva?

caraNam
caraNam 1
gOpurambulanu kaDu goppa kambamula bhU-
sthApitambagu Silala taruNula ATalanu
dIpAla varusalanu divya vAhanamulanu
pApa hara sEvinci bahir-mukhuDu-aiti Siva (darSa)

Having worshipped (sEvinci) –
the temple towers (gOpurambulanu), very (kaDu) sacred (goppa) (literally great) flag staff (kambamula),
the figures of Gods carved in rock (Silala) established (sthApitambagu) on the ground (bhU), dances (ATalanu) of damsels (taruNula),
rows (varusalanu) of lamps (dIpAla), and the divine (divya) carriages (vAhanamulanu) of the Lord,
O Destroyer (hara) of sins (pApa)! I became (aiti) external (bahir) oriented (mukhuDu) (mukhuDaiti); therefore,
is it in my capacity to behold Lord Siva?

caraNam 2
tarali padiyAru pradakshiNamulu-onarinci
para ninda vacanamula bAgugAnu-ADucunu
orula bhAmala jUci-uppongitini kAni
vara Siva-akshara yuga japamu sEyanaiti Siva (darSa)

Performing (onarinci) sixteen (padiyAru) circumambulations (pradakshiNamulu) (pradakshiNamulonarinci) by swaying slowly (tarali),
uttering (ADucunu) nicely (bAgugAnu) (bAgugAnADucunu) words (vacanamula) of abuse (ninda) about others (para),
I exulted (uppongitini) looking (jUci) (jUciyuppongitini) at others’ (orula) wives (bhAmala), but (kAni)
I failed (sEyanaiti) to chant (japamu) the sacred (vara) twin (yuga) syllable (akshara) (literally letter) ‘Siva’ (SivAkshara);
is it in my capacity to behold Lord Siva?

caraNam 3
hATaka samambaina adbhuta-AkRtini nE
nATa jEsukoni hRn-nALIkamunanu mATi
mATiki jUci mai maraci-uNDunadi-
ATalA tyAgarAja-arcita pAda Siva (darSa)

Is it a matter of play (ATalA) to remain (uNDunadi) in a state of trance (mai maraci) (maraciyuNDunadiyATalA) (literally bereft of body consciousness) by –
me (nE) firmly establishing (nATa jEsukoni) (in the mind) the wonderful (adbhuta) gold (hATaka) like (samambaina) (literally equal) form (AkRtini) (adbhutAkRtini) (of the Lord) and
beholding (jUci) (the form) again and again (mATi mATiki) in the Lotus (nALIkamunanu) of the heart (hRt) (hrn-nALIkamunanu)?
O Lord whose feet (pAda) are worshipped (arcita) by this tyAgarAja (tyAgarAjArcita)!
is it in my capacity to behold Lord Siva?

Notes

Variations - (Pathanthara)
General - In some books, anupallavi is combined with pallavi.

⁶ – tyAgarAjArcita pAda – tyAgarAjArcita supAda.
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References
⁴ – bahir-mukhuDu – One who exults in sensory perceptions which have external objects as their goal.

“Not letting the mind go out, but retaining it in the Heart is what is called ‘inwardness’ (antar-mukha). Letting the mind go out of the Heart is known as ‘externalisation’ (bahir-mukha). Teachings of Ramana Maharishi

Refer to lalitA sahasranAnamaM (871)– bahir-mukha su-durlabhA – “whose worship is difficult for those whose mental gaze goes outwards”. (Translation by Swami Tapasyananda)
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Comments
¹ – kaDu goppa kambamula – SrI tyAgarAja refers to flag staff - dhvaja stambha, the worship of which is considered equivalent to worshipping the Lord.

² - bhU-sthApitambagu Silala – Figures of Gods carved in rock established in the ground - This is to be seen in the light of what is stated in caraNa 3 about establishing the Lord in one's heart and beholding Him there. Until that stage is reached, we only see the stones in Temples and not the Lord. Please refer to tirumandiram (tamizh) by tirumUlar

marattai maRaittadu mAmada yAnai
marattin maRaindadu mAmada yAnai
parattai maRaittadu pAr-mudaR-bUdam
parattin maRaindadu pAr-mudaR-bUdamE (2290)

Think of Wood; Image of toy-elephant recedes;
Think of toy elephant; Image of wood recedes;
Think of elements five; Thought of param recedes;
Think of param; Thought of elements recedes;
(Translation by Dr. B Natarajan)

Please also refer to discourse of kAnci mAhAsvami regarding Temple Worship

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³ – taruNula ATalanu – this refers to the dance performed before Lord by temple appointed dancers – called dEva dAsi.

⁵ – padiyAru pradakshiNamulu – (16 circumambulations) – please refer to 'Discourse on Temple worship' cited above.
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darSanamu sEya - rAga nArAyaNa gauLa