Transliteration Scheme

mATi mATiki - rAga mOhanaM

Tamil Version
Language Version

pallavi
mATi mATiki telpa valenA muni
mAnas(A)rcita caraNa rAmayya nItO

anupallavi
1sUTig(o)kkaTE mATa cAladA
nATi modalukoni sATi lEni nItO (mATi)

caraNam
caraNam 1
pankaja vadana 2sarasa vinOda
3sankaTamula vEgamE tIrpa rAdA
Sankara priya sarv(A)ntaryAmivi kAdA
inka nA madi nIku teliyaga lEdA (mATi)


caraNam 2
karuNA sAgara 4paripUrNa nIku
sari vElpulu lEr(a)nucun(I)varaku
mora peTTina nApai(y)Ela parAku
varulu jUturu 5bhANDamunak(o)kka metuku (mATi)
caraNam 3
SRngAra SEkhara 6sura vairi rAja
bhanga
sujana hRt-kumuda bha-rAja
7mangaLa-kara rUpa jita rati rAja
8gangA janaka pAlita tyAgarAja (mATi)


Meaning - Gist


Word Division - Word-by-word meaning

pallavi
mATi mATiki telpa valenA muni
mAnasa-arcita caraNa rAmayya nItO

O Lord rAmayya whose feet (caraNa) are worshipped (arcita) in the minds (mAnasa) (mAnasArcita) of the sages (muni)!
Should it be told (telpla valenA) to You again and again (mATi mATiki)?


anupallavi
sUTiga-okkaTE mATa cAladA
nATi modalukoni sATi lEni nItO (mATi)

Isn’t only a single (okkaTE) word (mATa) directly (sUTiga) (sUTigokkaTE) enough (cAladA),
O Lord rAmayya whose feet are worshipped in the minds of the sages! Should it be told to You (nItO) – the peerless (sATi lEni) Lord from the very beginning (nATi modalukoni) (literally from that day) – again and again?


caraNam
caraNam 1
pankaja vadana sarasa vinOda
sankaTamula vEgamE tIrpa rAdA
Sankara priya sarva-antaryAmivi kAdA
inka nA madi nIku teliyaga lEdA (mATi)

O Lotus (pankaja) Faced (vadana)! O Joyful (sarasa) Sporter (vinOda) (of projection, sustenance and in-folding)! Can’t (rAdA) You relieve (tIrpa) my difficulties (sankaTamula) quickly (vEgamE)?
O Dear (priya) to Lord Siva (Sankara)! Aren’t You (kAdA) the inner controller (antaryAmivi) of everything or everyone (sarva) (sarvAntaryAmivi)? Is my (nA) mind (madi) still (inka) not (lEdA) known (teliyaga) to You (nIku)?
O Lord rAmayya whose feet are worshipped in the minds of the sages! Should it be told to You again and again?


caraNam 2
karuNA sAgara paripUrNa nIku
sari vElpulu lEru-anucunu-Ivaraku
mora peTTina nApai-Ela parAku
varulu jUturu bhANDamunaku-okka metuku (mATi)

O Ocean (sAgara) of Mercy (karuNA)! O Wholesome Lord (paripUrNa)!
Why (Ela) this unconcern (parAku) towards me (nApai) (literally on me) (nApaiyEla) who has so far (I varaku) entreated (mora peTTina) You that (anucunu) there are no (lEru) (lEruanucunIvaraku) Gods (vElpulu) equal (sari) to You (nIku)?
The eminent ones (varulu) would be watching (jUturu) (Your attitude); isn’t just one (okka) (boiled) grain of rice (metuku) for a pot (bhANDamunaku) (bhANDamunakokka) sufficient to test (in order to know whether the pot rice is cooked or not)?
O Lord rAmayya whose feet are worshipped in the minds of the sages! Should it be told to You again and again?
caraNam 3
SRngAra SEkhara sura vairi rAja
bhanga sujana hRt-kumuda bha-rAja
mangaLa-kara rUpa jita rati rAja
gangA janaka pAlita tyAgarAja (mATi)

O Epitome (SEkhara) of Charm (SRngAra)! O Lord who slayed (bhanga) rAvaNa – the king (rAja) of enemies (vairi) of celestials (sura)!
O Moon – Lord (rAja) of stars (bha) – who blossoms the lily (kumuda) of the heart (hRt) of the pious people (sujana)!
O Lord whose form (rUpa) causes (kara) auspiciousness (mangaLa)! O Lord who surpasses (jita) (beauty of) the cupid – the Consort (rAja) of rati!
O Lord from whose feet river gangA issued forth (janaka) (literally father)! O Protector (pAlita) of this tyAgarAja!
O Lord rAmayya whose feet are worshipped in the minds of the sages! Should it be told to You again and again?


Notes

Variations - (Pathanthara)
1sUTiga okkaTE mATa – nUtikokkaTE mATa.

3sankaTamula – sankaTamulanu - sankaTamulu : ‘sankaTamulu’ is not correct.
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References
4paripUrNa - The term is indefinable. However, the following upanishad SlOka is relevant –

OM pUrNam-adaH pUrNam-idaM pUrNAt pUrNam-udacyatE |
pUrNasya pUrNam-AdAya pUrNam-Eva avaSishyatE ||

“OM. That (Brahman) is infinite, and This (universe) is infinite. This infinite proceeds from That infinite. Taking the infinitude of This infinite (universe) That infinite remains same (Brahman) alone.”

Please also refer to an article on the verse

8gangA janaka - Regarding birth of river ganga, the following verse in - SrImad bhAgavataM, Book 8, Chapter 21

dhAtuH kamNDalu-jalaM tad-urukramasya
pAdAvanEjana-pavitratayA narendra |
svardhunyabhUn-nabhasi sA patatI nimArshTi
lOka-trayaM bhagavatO viSadEva kIrtiH || 4 ||

“O King, the water from Lord brahmA’s kamaNDalu washed the lotus feet of Lord vAmana dEva, who is known as urukrama, the wonderful actor. Thus that water became so pure that it was transformed into the water of the ganga, which went flowing down from the sky, purifying the three worlds like the pure fame of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”

Descent of ganga to Earth is given in SrImad-vAlmIki rAmAyaNa, bAla kANDa, Chapters 42 to 44. The complete story of ganga is found in Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva, section XXVI. Story of Ganga
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Comments
2sarasa vinOda – The exact meaning of this epithet is not clear. However, it has been translated as ‘joyful sporter – projection, sustenance and in-folding’.

5bhANDamunaku oka metuku – This is an adage. In order to ascertain whether rice is cooked properly or not, one takes out from the pot, just one (boiled) grain of rice and feels it. By this simile, SrI tyAgarAja seems to mean that ‘if You fail to protect me, it would be taken as a test case for Your attitude towards Your devotees’; this is further amplified by the previous words ‘the eminent ones are watching’. In tamizh, this is called ‘pAnaikku oru sORu padam’.

6sura vairi rAja bhanga – It is not clear to whom SrI tyAgarAja refers, because there are so many enemies for the celestials. However, it has been taken as ‘rAvaNa’ here.

7mangaLa kara rUpa jita rati rAja – The word 'rUpa' can be attached with either of the epithets as – 'mangaLa kara rUpa' or 'rUpa jita rati rAja' : 'mangaLa kara' and 'jita rati rAja' without 'rUpa' makes sense.
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