Tyagaraja Kriti

Meaning - Gist
O The Great One! O Lord praised by this tyAgarAja!

How long shall I wander? How long?
Having taken countless bodies, how long shall I wander nicely in this forest of Worldly Existence, by harassing others like thieves?
Becoming worried day and night that there is nothing for tomorrow’s food and having forgotten the worship of the Lord vishNu, how long shall I wander like those who perform (worship daily)?
Having earned even salt and camphor by unchavRtti and filling the stomach, how long shall I wander seeking fame boasting oneself to be great person?
In order that neighbours should become stunned and invite me to be their guest, how long shall I wander telling them that I properly (or patiently) perform worship and chanting till evening?
Though I have understood, long back, the faults existing in me, how long shall I wander without abandoning them?

Word Division - Word-by-word meaning

pallavi
ennALLu tirigEdi-ennALLu

How long (ennALLu) shall I wander (tirigEdi)? How long (ennALLu) (tirigEdiyennALLu)?

anupallavi
enna rAni dEhamulu-etti-I saMsAra gahanamu-andu
pannuga cOrula rIti parulanu vEgincucunu (ennALLu)

Having taken (etti) countless (enna rAni) bodies (dEhamulu), how long shall I wander nicely (pannuga),
in (andu) this (I) (dEhamulettiyI) forest (gahanamu) (gahanamandu) of Worldly Existence (saMsara),
by harassing (vEgincucunu) others (parulanu) like (rIti) thieves (cOrula)? How long?

caraNam
caraNam 1
rEpaTi kUTiki lEdu-ani rEyi pagalu vesanamu-ondi
SrI pati pUjala maraci cEsina-aTTi vAri vale nEnu-(ennALLu)

Becoming (ondi) worried (vesanamu) (vesanamondi) day (pagalu) and night (rEyi) that (ani) there is nothing (lEdu) (lEdani) for tomorrow’s (rEpaTi) food (kUTiki) and
having forgotten (maraci) the worship (pUjala) of the Lord vishNu – the Consort (pati) of lakshmI (SrI),
how long shall I (nEnu) wander like those (aTTi vAri vale) who perform (cEsina) (cEsinaTTi) (worship daily)? How long?

caraNam 2
uppu karpUramu varakunu-unchavRtticE-Arjinci
meppulaku poTTa nimpi mEmE peddalamu-anucu (ennALLu)

Having earned (Arjinci) even (varakunu) (literally up to) salt (uppu) and camphor (karpUramu) by unchavRtti (unchavRtticE) (literally living by gleaning) (varakununchavRtticEnArjinci) and filling (nimpi) the stomach (poTTa),
how long shall I (nEnu) wander seeking fame (meppulaku) boasting oneself (mEmE) (literally we are) to be (anucu) a great person (peddalamu) (peddalamanucu)? How long?

caraNam 3
bhramanukoni irugu porugu bhakshimpa rammani pilva
amarucukO pUja japamunu-AsAyamu cEtunu-anucu (ennALLu)

In order that neighbours (irugu porugu) should become stunned (bhramanukoni) and invite (pilva) me to be (rammu ani) (literally to come) (rammani) their guest (bhakshimpa) (literally for partaking food),
how long shall I wander telling them that (anucu) I properly (or patiently) (amarucukO) perform (cEtunu) (literally usually perform) (cEtunanucu) worship (pUja) and chanting (japa) (japamunu) till evening (AsAyamu) (japamunAsAyamu)? How long?

caraNam 4
nAyandu-uNDE tappulu nADE telusukoNTi kAni
bAya viDuvaka mahAnubhAva tyAgarAja vinuta (ennALLu)

Though (kAni) I have understood (telusukoNTi), long back (nADE), the faults (tappulu) existing (uNDE) in (andu) me (nA) (nAyanduNDE),
O The Great One (mahAnubhAva)! O Lord praised (vinuta) by this tyAgarAja! how long shall I wander without abandoning (bAya viDuvaka) (literally keep separate) them? How long?

Notes

Variations - (Pathanthara)
General – the order of caraNas 1 and 2 are interchanged in some books.

³ – telusukoNTi – telusukoNTivi. ‘telusukoNTivi’ means ‘You have known’; ‘telusukoNTi’ means ‘I have understood’. Therefore, there is a contradiction.

However, the subsequent words, ‘bAya viDuvaka’ mean ‘do not abandon’ or ‘without abandoning’. But, ‘bAya viDuvaka’ is to be joined to pallavi ‘ennALLu tirigEdi’. Therefore, ‘bAya viDuvaka’ with the meaning ‘without abandoning’ seems to be correct. Accordingly, ‘telusukoNTi’ seems to be the correct word.
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References
¹ – enna rAni dEhamuletti – Accoring to Sant Kabir, before being born as a human being, one passes through 84 lakh yOnis. Kabir Sahib says “Following the mind you went into the forest, and obeying the mind you again went back into the town. And working according to the advice of the mind, you are going back into the cycle of eighty-four lakhs births and deaths.” – Exposition on Kabir : Songs of Kabir
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Comments
² – unchavRtti – livelihood by gleaning – gathering ears of corn left by reapers. As per manu smRti (Chapter 4), the rightful living for a brAhmaNa is to glean food (Rta) or living on what is given unasked (aMRta).

In the modern context, those who follow this path of living, daily go round the streets singing songs on Lord and accept food articles (not food) offered by the households. The grain so gathered is cooked and taken by the family as meals for that day. They are not expected to hoard even for the next meal.

The house-holders consider it to be a merit to offer food articles to those who perform unchavRtti. Normally only rice and pulses are offered; however, SrI tyAgarAja says here that even salt (uppu) and camphor (karpUramu) have been collected so. complete translation of manu smRti
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ennALLu tirigEdi - rAga mALavaSrI