pallavi
lEmi telpa 1peddal(e)varu lErO
anupallavi
2A mahimal(e)lla mAni I mahilO puTTirO (lEmi)
caraNam
3nI rUpamunu pUni manasu nirmalulai(y)uNDa lEdA
dhArA-dhar(A)bha SarIra 4tyAgarAja vinuta (lEmi)
pallavi
lEmi telpa peddalu-evaru lErO
Are there no (evaru lErO) great souls (peddalu) (peddalevaru) who would inform (telpa) You about my penury (lEmi)?
anupallavi
A mahimalu-ella mAni I mahilO puTTirO (lEmi)
Are there no great souls who would inform You about my penury? or,
are they born (puTTirO) in this (I) World (mahilO) shedding (mAni) all (ella) those (A) mights (mahimalu) (mahimalella)?
caraNam
nI rUpamunu pUni manasu nirmalulai-uNDa lEdA
dhArA-dhara-Abha SarIra tyAgarAja vinuta (lEmi)
Are they not (lEdA) existing (uNDa) here, donning (pUni) Your (nI) Form (rUpamunu), as pure-minded (manasu nirmalulai) (nirmalulaiyuNDa)?
O Lord whose body (SarIra) has the splendour (Abha) of rain-cloud (dhArA-dhara) (literally water bearer) (dharAbha)! O Lord well-praised (vinuta) by this tyAgarAja!
Are there no great souls who would inform You about my penury?
Notes
Variations - (Pathanthara)
2 – A mahimalella – I mahimalella. As the word ‘mahima’ has not been explained in this kRti, the word ‘I’ (this) may not be appropriate. Therefore, ‘A’ (those) has been adopted.
3 – rUpamunu – rUpamuna. As ‘rUpamunu’ is appropriate, the same has been adopted.
4 – tyAgarAja vinuta – tyAgarAja nuta.
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References
3 – nI rUpamunu pUni – this refers to the stage of sArUpyaM. The four stages of mukti are – sAlOkya – being co-located with Lord, sAmIpya – being in the neighbourhood of Lord , sArUpya – being of likeness of Lord, sAyujya – union with Lord. The following verse from Adi Sankaracarya’s Sivananda Lahari (verse 28) is relevant –
sArUpyaM tava pUjanE Siva mahA-dEvEti saMkIrtanE
sAmIpyaM Siva-bhakti-dhurya-janatA-sAMgatya-saMbhAshaNE |
sAlOkyaM ca carAcarAtmaka-tanu-dhyAnE bhavanI-patE
sAyujyaM mama siddha-matra bhavati svAmin kRtArtOsmyahaM ||
O Lord of bhavAnI! I attain -
to similarity of form with Thee by performing Thy ritualistic worship;
to closeness with Thee by singing Thy praise;
to residence in Thy heavenly plane by associating and conversing with Thy noble devotees; and
to oneness with Thee by contemplating on Thy form constituted of the whole of this living and non-living world.
Thus in this very embodiment I shall attain life’s fulfilment.
(Translation by Swami Tapasyananda)
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“To reach the world of the ishTa-devatA (Chosen favourite deity) and live in that world is called sAlokya-padavI. The next stage is the sAmIpya stage. This is the stage where one lives in the beatific presence of that God. The next stage which is sArUpyam is the process of becoming that very form by continuously meditating on the form. The ultimate is the sAyujya-padavI where one becomes in essence the object of one's adoration. This is an identity status, both in form and essence.” (Discourse of kAnci mAhAsvAmi on saundarya lahari)
“gajEndra was, by the touch of the Supreme Lord, instantly freed from the ignorance of being bound, and had achieved the selfsame form with four arms and yellow garments (sArUpya-mukti)....” (Srimad- Bhagavatam.VIII.4.6)
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Comments
1 – peddalu – great souls – SrI tyAgarAja explains ‘peddalu’ in general terms in caraNa as ‘donning Your form’ (nI rUpamu pUni). Therefore, anupallavi (are they born shedding those mights?) should be read after caraNa. That seems to be logical sequence of the kRti.
In one book, such ‘great souls’ have been referred as ‘nitya sUri’. garuDa, AnjanEya, tuLasi etc are considered as ‘nitya sUris’
3 – nI rUpumunu pUni – this might refer to personages like garuDa, AnjanEya, sage nArada. SrI tyAgarAja considered sage nArada as his guru – please refer to kRti ‘SrI nArada muni’ rAga bhairavi.
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