Tyagaraja Kriti

Meaning - Gist
O Lord rAma! O Lord praised by great sages! O Bestower of Boons on gajEndra! O Supreme Lord! O Lord of the Universe! O Lord with nice soft speech! O Treasure-chest of jewels of virtues! O Lord of celestials with a body resembling that of sapphire! O Father of cupid! O Lord whose name is well praised by this tyAgarAja! O Lord whose feet are held by AnjanEya!

Isn’t it that You feel pompous that such a worthy, beautiful town has been found,

on the banks of river kAvErI, along with incomparable breeze from the malaya mountains,
which even Lord Siva would desire to look at,
as brahmins offer daily oblations in fire, beseeching and extolling You with vEda chant,
in their exceedingly beautiful houses with storeys and terraces?

Isn’t it that You feel pompous that, today You have got residence in an open golden altar studded with precious stones,

along with all kinds of best of fragrant flowers, the sweet notes of koel, the divine trees praised by sage Suka, sanaka and others, and
as sarasvati serves You nearby?

Having decided in Your mind to live near Lord Siva – resident of the sacred town of tiruvaiyAru, in the beautiful land of cOla, in this Earth,

isn’t it that You feel pompous that, in such a comfortable and prosperous town,
Your wife sItA and Your brother lakshmaNa are serving You on Your both sides?

Word Division - Word-by-word meaning

pallavi
muripemu kalige kadA rAma san-
muni nuta kari varada SrI rAma

O Lord rAma! Isn’t it (kadA) that You feel pompous (muripemu kalige)? O Lord praised (nuta) by great sages (san-muni)! O Lord SrI rAma - Bestower of Boons (varada) on gajEndra – the elephant (kari)!

anupallavi
parama purusha jagad-ISa vara mRdu
bhAsha suguNa maNi kOSa nIku (muripemu)

O Supreme (parama) Lord (purusha)! O Lord (ISa) of the Universe (jagat) (jagadISa)! O Lord with nice (vara) soft (mRdu) speech (bhAsha)! O Treasure-chest (kOSa) of jewels (maNi) of virtues (suguNa)!
O Lord rAma! Isn’t it that You (nIku) (literally to You) feel pompous? O Lord praised by great sages! O Lord SrI rAma - Bestower of Boons on gajEndra!

caraNam
caraNam 1
IDu lEni 1malaya mArutamu cE
kUDina kAvErI taTam(a)ndu
mEDala middelatO SRngAramu
mincu sadanamulalO
vEDucu bhU-surul2(a)gni-hOtrulai
vEda ghOshamulacE nutyimpa
jUDa SivuDu kOru yOgyamaina
sundaramagu puramu doriken(a)nucu (muripemu)

O Lord rAma! Isn’t it that You feel pompous that (anucu) such a worthy (yOgyamaina) beautiful (sundaramagu) town (puramu) has been found (dorikenu) (dorikenanucu)
on the (andu) banks (taTamu) (taTamandu) of river kAvErI along with (kUDina) incomparable (IDu lEni) breeze (mArutamucE) from the malaya mountains
which even Lord Siva (SivuDu) would desire (kOru) to look at (jUDa)
as brahmins (bhU-surulu), being offerers of oblations (hOtrulai) in fire (agni) (bhU-surulagni), beseeching (vEDucu) You, extol (nutiyimpa) You with vEda chant (ghOshamulacE) -
in the exceedingly (mincu) beautiful (SRngAramu) houses (sadanamulalO) with storeys (mEDala) and terraces (middelatO)?
O Lord praised by great sages! O Lord SrI rAma! - Bestower of Boons on gajEndra!

caraNam 2
sakala su-gandha rAja sumamulu
sa-lalitamagu kOkila nAdammulu
Suka mukha 3sanak(A)dula nutamaina
4sura taruvulu kaligi
nikaTam(a)ndu vANi koluva sura pati
nIla maNi nibha SarIra nEDu
prakaTamaina nava ratna khacita
hATaka maNDapa vAsamu kaligen(a)nucu (muripemu)

O Lord rAma - Lord (pati) of celestials (sura) - with a body (SarIra) resembling (nibha) that of sapphire – blue (nIla) diamond (maNi)!
Isn’t it that You feel pompous that (anucu) –
today (nEDu), You have got (kaligenu) (kaligenanucu) residence (vAsamu)
in an open (prakaTamaina) golden (hATaka) altar (maNDapa) studded with (khacita) precious stones (nava ratna) (literally nine kinds of jewels) along with (kaligi)
all kinds (sakala) of best (rAja) (literally royal) of fragrant (sugandha) flowers (sumamulu),
the sweet (sa-lalitamagu) notes (nAdammulu) of koel (kOkila),
the divine (sura) trees (taruvulu) praised (nutamaina) by sage Suka – parrot (Suka) faced (mukha) and sanaka and others (Adula) (sanakAdula), and
as sarasvati (vAni) serves (koluva) You nearby (nikaTamandu)?
O Lord praised by great sages! O O Lord SrI rAma - Bestower of Boons on gajEndra!

caraNam 3
I mahilO sogasaina 5cOLa
sIma(y)andu varamaina panca nada pura
dhAmuni centanu vasincuTakai
nI madin(e)ncaga
kAma janaka tyAgarAja sannuta
nAma pavana tanaya vidhRta caraNa
kshEmamuga vardhillu(n)aTTi puramuna sItA
bhAma saumitri prakka kolicedar(a)ni (muripemu)

O Father (janaka) of cupid (kAma)! O Lord whose name (nAma) is well praised (sannuta) by this tyAgarAja! O Lord whose feet (caraNa) are held (vidhRta) by AnjanEya – son (tanaya) of vAyu (pavana)!
Having decided (encaga) in Your (nI) mind (madini) (madinencaga) to live (vasincuTakai) near (centanu) Lord Siva –
resident (dhAmuni) of the sacred (varamaina) town (pura) of tiruvaiyAru – five (panca) rivers (nada), in (andu) the beautiful (sogasaina) land (sIma) (literally boundary) (sImayandu) of cOla in this (I) Earth (mahilO),
O Lord rAma! isn’t it that You feel pompous that (ani), in such (aTTi) a comfortably (kshEmamuga) prosperous (vardhillu) (vardhillunaTTi) town (puramuna), Your wife (bhAma) sItA and Your brother lakshmaNa – son of sumitrA (saumitri), are serving (kolicedaru) (kolicedarani) You on Your both sides (prakka)?
O Lord praised by great sages! O O Lord SrI rAma - Bestower of Boons on gajEndra!

Notes

Variations - (Pathanthara)

References
² – agnihOtri - from agni (fire) + hOtR (oblation) - Fire offering; an important Vedic sacrifice to Agni, consisting of milk, oil, and sour gruel, which the head of the family is expected to observe twice a day, before sunrise and after sunset. The priest who kindles the sacred fire is called agnihotri, also agnidhra – 'agnihOtri'
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Comments
¹ – malaya – Western Ghats abounding in sandal trees

³ – sanakAdulu – sana, sanaka, sanandana, sanAtana – mind born sons of brahmA.

⁴ – sura taruvulu – the five celestial trees – mandAra, pArijAtaka, santAna, kalpa vRksha, hari candana

⁵ – cOLa – the present tanjAvUr district and the surrounding areas formed part of erstwhile cOLa kingdom.
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muripemu - rAga mukhAri