pallavi
mA jAnaki 1cETTa paTTaga 2maharAjav(ai)tivi
anupallavi
3rAja rAja vara rAjIv(A)ksha vinu
rAvaN(A)ri(y)ani rAjillu kIrtiyu (mA)
caraNam
kAnak(E)gi Ajna mIraka mAy(A)kAram(u)nici Sikhi centanE(y)uNDi
4dAnavuni veNTanE cani aSOka taru mUlan(u)NDi
vAni mATalaku kOpaginci kaNTa 5vadhiyincakanE(y)uNDi
SrI nAyaka yaSamu nIkE kalga jEya lEdA tyAgarAja paripAla (mA)
pallavi
mA jAnaki cETTa paTTaga maharAjavu-aitivi
You attained greatness (maharAjavu aitivi) (maharAjavaitivi) because you married (ceTTa paTTaga) (literally take hand in marriage) our (mA) Mother jAnaki!
anupallavi
rAja rAja vara rAjIva-aksha vinu
rAvaNa-ari-ani rAjillu kIrtiyu (mA)
O Most excellent (vara) of Emperors (rAja rAja)! O Lotus (rAjIva) Eyed (aksha) (rAjIvAksha)! Listen (vinu);
You attained great (rAjillu) (literally shining) fame (kIrtiyu) as (ani) vanquisher (ari) (literally enemy) of rAvaNa (rAvaNAriyani)
because you married our Mother jAnaki.
caraNam
kAnaku-Egi Ajna mIraka mAyA-AkAramu-unici Sikhi centanE-uNDi
dAnavuni veNTanE cani aSOka taru mUlanu-uNDi
vAni mATalaku kOpaginci kaNTa vadhiyincakanE-uNDi
SrI nAyaka yaSamu nIkE kalga jEya lEdA tyAgarAja paripAla (mA)
Proceeding (Egi) (along with You) to the forest (kAnaku), donning (unici) shadow (mAya) form (AkAramunu) (mAyAkAramunici) without disobeying (mIraka) your command (Ajna) (kAnakEgiyAjna), remaining (uNDi) with (centanE) (literally near) (centanEyuNDi) Fire-God (Sikhi) (in Her true form),
having gone (cani) (in shadow form) along with (veNTanE) rAvaNa – the demon (dAnavuni), remaining (uNDi) at lanka under (mUlanu) (literally at the root) (mUlanuNDi) the aSOka tree (taru),
O Consort (nAyaka) of lakshmI (SrI)! did She not (lEdA) indeed bring (kalga jEya) (literally produce) great fame (yaSamu) to You (nIkE)
by not reducing him (rAvaNa) to ashes (vadhiyincakanE uNDi) (literally not slaying) (vadhiyincakanEyuNDi) by her eyes (kaNTa) by getting enraged (kOpaginci) by his (vAni) words (mATalaku)?
O Nourisher (paripAla) of this tyAgarAja! You attained greatness because you married our Mother jAnaki!
Notes
Variations - (Pathanthara)
References
4 - dAnavuni veNTanE cani - According to vAlmIki rAmAyaNa (AraNya kANDa) –
vAmEna sItAM padmAkshIM mUrdhajEshu karENa saH |
UrvOstu dakshiNEnaiva pari-jagrAha pANinA || (49 – 17)
tasyAs-tad vimalaM vaktram-AkASO rAvaNAnkagaM |
na rarAja vinA rAmaM vinAlam-iva pankajaM || (52 – 18)
“With his left hand he caught hold of the Lotus eyed sItA by her locks, while with his right hand he clasped her by her thighs.
Lying in the lap of rAvaNa in the air, that fair countenance of sItA did not shine bereft as she was without SrI rAma any more than lotus detached from it stalk.”
For a great bhakta like SrI tyAgarAja, abduction of sItA, by violating her physically, would look preposterous. Therefore, SrI tyAgarAja follows the line of adhyAtma rAmAyaNa. (SrI tulasidAsa also has adopted the same line in his rAmcaritra mAnas.) According to adhyAtma rAmayaNa, SrI rAma instructs sItA to hide her real form in the fire and don ‘shadow’ (chAya) form; to stay thus for one year till rAvaNa is killed and then be restored. Accordingly, it was not real sItA who was abducted by rAvaNa but her shadow (mAyA). Source – adhyAtma rAmAyaNa (tamizh) translated by ‘Harini’.
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5 - vadhiyincakanEyuNDi - At lankA, sItA was kept captive under an aSOka tree. There, when rAvaNa threatened sItA that she would be forcibly taken to the gynaeceum as his queen, sItA was indeed enraged and uttered the following words (as per vAlmIki rAmAyaNa – sundara kANDa, Chapter 22) –
asandESAttu rAmasya tapascAnupAlanAt |
na tvAm kurmi daSa-grIva bhasma bhasmArha-tEjasA || 20 ||
“Though I am capable of reducing you to ashes by my own power, I do not do so because I do not have the mandate of SrI rAma and also because I want to preserve the power of my asceticism.”
SrI tyAgarAja states that sItA, by sparing rAvaNa’s life, brought glory to SrI rAma as the vanquisher of rAvaNa.
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Comments
1 – ceTTa paTTu – Take hand in marriage - ‘pANi grahaNa’.
“pANi grahaNa (Vedic) - Literally this means ‘holding of hands’. Because this is the first most important Vedic ritual, scholars believe that this should be done during the auspicious time. Normally the bride folds fingers of her right hand into a conical form upwards and the groom holds it in his hand folded downwards by surrounding all her fingers. (One authority says that ‘If he holds her hand leaving her thumb then they both will have only female children and if he holds only her thumb leaving out the fingers, then they will have only male children’). The following prayers are recited by the groom:-
‘Hey maid, I am holding your hand so that you will have several good children and live happily with me till ripe old age. The God Aryama has given you to me to lead the life of a householder.’
‘The gods Bhaga and Agni were leading this life before me with you and have now given you to me for the purpose of raising my family.’
‘Hey Goddess Saraswathi, you are blessed with all the luck, riches and food and so we who have held our hands today, hope to get riches and pleasures by your blessing. I announce this loudly in front of all so that you will definitely bless me.’
‘Hey Maid, Let Vayu (god of wind) who has the capacity to travel in all directions, who keeps a gold coin in his hand to give to those who pray him and who is the friend of fire God (Agni) who has the capacity to purify everything as well as the capacity to make raw food eatable, enter your mind and make you love me for every minute of our future lives.’”
Source - pANi grahaNa - Vedic Marriage Rituals
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2 – maharAju – The literally meaning ‘emperor’ is not applicable here. This is a way of speaking in telugu for (a) benediction (b) prosperity, greatness or fame (c) and whole-hearted consent.
3 – rAjA rAja vara rAjIvAksha – the word ‘vara’ can be attached to either of the two epithets – ‘rAja rAja’ or ‘rAjIvAksha’.
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