Tyagaraja Kriti

Meaning - Gist

Listen to the grandeur with which sage nArada -

one who is replete with nectar of vEdAnta beyond the ken of differentiation and non-differentiation,
with his golden lute shining on his pure white body,
at every step, playing on the lute, with ardent love that is never separated from him,
meditating always on the Lotus Feet of Lord SrI hari, and
reciting the names of Lord nArAyaNa,

set out, with exceeding joy, in order to convey good tidings to prahlAlada, and
proclaiming that, in this World, victory is certain for those who listen to the secrets of the effulgent Lord SrI hari - the benefactor of tyAgarAja.

Word Division - Word-by-word meaning

pallavi
nArada muni veDalina
su-guNa-atiSayamu vinarE

Listen (vinarE) to the grandeur (su-guNAtiSayamu) (literally eminent manner) with which sage (muni) nArada set out (veDalina).

anupallavi
sAreku SrI hari pada sArasamula
dhyAnincucu nArAyaNa nAmamulanu
pArAyaNamu-onarincucu (nArada)

Listen to the grandeur with which sage nArada set out,
meditating (dhyAnincucu) always (sAreku) on the Lotus (sArasamula) Feet (pada) of Lord SrI hari and
reciting (pArAyaNamu onarincucu) (pArAyaNamonarincucu) the names (namamulanu) of Lord nArAyaNa.

caraNam
caraNam 1
bhEda-abhEda rahitamagu vEdAnta
rasa bharituDu-AhlAdamu mIraganu
prahlAduniki Subhamu telupanu (nArada)

Listen to the grandeur with which sage nArada –
one who is replete with (bharituDu) with nectar (rasa) of vEdAnta beyond the ken of (rahitamagu) (literally bereft of) differentiation (bhEda) and non-differentiation (abhEda) (bhEdAbhEda) –
set out with exceeding (mIraganu) joy (AhlAdamu) (bharituDAhlAdamu),
in order to convey (telupanu) good tidings (Subhamu) to prahlAlada (prahlAduniki).

caraNam 2
kaDu tella dEhamuna pasiDi
vINe merayaga tAnu-eDabAyani
prEmatOnu-aDugaDuguku vAyincucu (nArada)

Listen to the grandeur with which sage nArada set out –
with his golden (pasiDi) lute (vINe) shining (merayaga) on his pure (kaDu) white (tella) body (dEhamuna), and
at every step (aDugaDuguku), playing (on the lute) (vAyincucu) with ardent love (prEmatOnu) (prEmatOnaDugaDuguku) that is never separated (eDabAyani) from him (tAnu).

caraNam 3
rAjillina SrI tyAgarAja sakhuni
marmamulanu I jagatini vinnavArikE
jayamu jayamu jayamu-ani (nArada)

Listen to the grandeur with which sage nArada set out proclaiming that (ani),
in this (I) World (jagatini), victory is certain (jayamu jayamu jayamu) (jayamani) for those who listen (vinnavArikE) to the secrets (marmamulanu) of the effulgent (rAjillina) Lord SrI hari - the benefactor (sakhuni) of tyAgarAja.

Notes

Variations - (Pathanthara)
rAga - pantuvarALi - kAmavardhani.
² – prahlAduniki – prahlAdunaku.
Top

References
¹ - bhEda - dvaita as propounded by madhvAcArya is considered as bhEda vAda. bhEda vAda and madhvAcArya.

¹ – abhEda – advaita vEdAnta.

¹ – bhEdAbhEda – dvaita-advaita
Top

In the shaT-padI SlOka of Adi Sankara, the principle of bhEdAbhEda is reflected –

satyapi bhEdApagamE nAtha tavAhaM na mAmakInastvam |
sAmudrO hi tarangaH kvacana samudrO na tArangaH || 3 ||

"Oh! Protector! Even with the difference (between You and me) passing off, I become Yours but You do not become mine. Indeed (though there is no difference between the waves and the ocean) the wave belongs to the ocean but nowhere (never) does the ocean belong to the wave." (3)
Top

Comments
¹ – bhEdAbhEda rahita vEdAnta rasa bharituDu – One who is replete with nectar of vEdAnta, beyond the ken of differentiation (dvaita) and non-differentiation (advaita).

In second caraNa, sage nArada is stated to set out with - ‘tAnu eDabAyani prEmatOnu’ – love that is never separated from him – manifestation of para-bhakti (aka mukhya bhakti or anurAga) as defined in ‘nArada bhakti sUtra’ (attributed to sage nArada). In my opinion, SrI tyAgarAja calls ‘para-bhakti’ as ‘bhEdAbhEda rahita vEdAnta’.
Top

³ - jayamu jayamu jayamu – repeating thrice indicates assurance.

This kRti forms part of dance-drama ‘prahlAda bhakti vijayam’. In this kRti, SrI tyAgarAja depicts how sage nAra proceeded to meet prahlAda to convey news about Lord hari’s impending visit to meet prahlAda.
Top

nArada muni - rAga pantuvarALi