pallavi
enta muddO enta sogasO
evari valla varNimpa tagunE
anupallavi
enta vAral(ai)na kAni 1kAma
cint(A)krAntul(ai)nAru (enta)
caraNam
2atta mIda kanul(A)saku dAsulai
satta bhagavata vEsulairi
3dutta pAla ruci teliyu sAmyamE
dhurINuDau tyAgarAja nutuDu (enta)
pallavi
enta muddO enta sogasO
evari valla varNimpa tagunE
How (enta) charming (muddO) and how (enta) elegant (sogasO) is He! Whoever (evari valla) is capable (tagunE) of describing (varNimpa)!
anupallavi
enta vAralu-aina kAni kAma
cinta-AkrAntulu-ainAru (enta)
No matter (aina kAni) how great (enta) people (vAralu) (vAralaina) are, they became (ainAru) besieged (AkrAntulu) by thoughts (cinta) (cintAkrAntulainAru) of lust (kAma).
How charming and how elegant is He! Whoever is capable of describing!
caraNam
atta mIda kanulu-Asaku dAsulai
satta bhagavata vEsulairi
dutta pAla ruci teliyu sAmyamE
dhurINuDau tyAgarAja nutuDu (enta)
Being slaves (dAsulai) to lust (Asaku), they fear their mothers-in-law (atta mIda kanulu) (kanulAsaku);
yet, they pretend (vEsulairi) as true (satta) devotees of the Lord (bhagavata).
Much like (sAmyamE) jug (dutta) knowing (teliyu) the taste (ruci) of milk (pAla)!
How charming and how elegant is He - praised (nutuDu) by this tyAgarAja – who bears burden of the Universe (dhurINuDau)! Whoever is capable of describing!
Notes
Variations - (Pathanthara)
1 - kAma – kAnta.
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References
Comments
2 – atta mIda kanulu – being slave to lust, and thence to the wife, one does not dare transgress orders of mother-in-law. Therefore, whatever they do, they watch whether it has the approval of their mothers-in-law (atta mIda kanulu).
3 – dutta pAla ruci teliyu sAmyamE – much like jug knowing the taste of milk. Tamil siddhar ‘siva vAkkiyar’ has stated same as under -
"சுட்ட சட்டி சட்டுவம் கறிச்சுவை யறியுமோ?"
'suTTa saTTi saTTuvam kaRic-cuvai-yaRiyumO’ – will (fired) clay-pot and ladle know the taste of curry?
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When read in conjunction with Anupallavi wordings – ‘minds besieged by lust’ (kAma cintAkrAntulu), this would mean that those whose minds are besieged by lust – but pretend to be true devotees - cannot know the beauty of indwelling Lord. Similar sentiment is expressed in the kRti ‘rAma nIyeDa’ – rAga kharaharapriya –
kAmini vEsha dhAriki sAdhvI naDatalEmaina telusunA
“Can a person playing the role of a woman know anything about the conduct of a chaste woman?”
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