pallavi
nI 1bhajana gAna rasikula
nEn(e)ndu kAnarA rAma
anupallavi
2SrI bhava sarOj(A)san(A)di
SacI manO-ramaNa vandya ilalO (nI)
caraNam
saguNa 3nirguNapu nija dabbaralanu
4shaN-matamula marmam5(a)shTa siddhula
vagalu 6jUpa santasilla kaNTini
var(A)nana tyAgarAja vinuta (nI)
pallavi
nI bhajana gAna rasikula
nEnu-endu kAnarA rAma
O Lord rAma! I (nEnu) do not find (kAnarA) anywhere (endu) (nEnendu) those who relish (rasikula) songs (gAna) of chant of Your names and praises (bhajana).
anupallavi
SrI bhava sarOja-Asana-Adi
SacI manO-ramaNa vandya ilalO (nI)
O Lord worshipped (vandya) by Lord Siva (SrI bhava) (OR lakshmI and Lord Siva), brahmA – seated (Asana) in the Lotus (sarOja),
indra – delighter (ramaNa) of the heart (manas) (manOramaNa) of SacI (wife of indra) and others (Adi) (sarOjAsanAdi)!
O Lord rAma! I do not find anywhere in this World (ilalO) those who relish songs of chant of Your names and praises.
caraNam
saguNa nirguNapu nija dabbaralanu
shaN-matamula marmamu-ashTa siddhula
vagalu jUpa santasilla kaNTini
vara-Anana tyAgarAja vinuta (nI)
As You bestowed on me the vision (jUpa) (literally show) of –
truth (nija) and falsehood (dabbaralanu) of worship of ISvara - Lord with attributes (saguNa), and brahman – Lord without attributes (nirguNa) (nirguNapu),
the secrets (marmamu) of the six modes (shaN-matamula) of worship, and
the deceptive nature (or aspects) (vagalu) of the eight-fold (ashTa) (marmamashTa) supernatural powers (siddhula),
I beheld (kaNTini) (them) exultingly (santasilla);
O Lord with a beautiful (vara) face (Anana) (varAnana)! O Lord praised (vinuta) by this tyAgarAja!
O Lord rAma! I do not find anywhere those who relish chant of Your names and praises.
Notes
Variations - (Pathanthara)
3 – nirguNapu nija – nirguNa nijamu.
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References
4 – shaN-mata – Worship of Siva, vishNu, Sakti, kumAra (subrahmaNya), gaNapati and sUrya (Saiva, vaishNava, SAkta, kaumAra, gANapatya and saura- respectively). Please refer to shaN-mata – Worship for more details.
5 – ashTa siddhi – Eight-Fold siddhi - aNiman – become minute as atom; laghiman – extreme lightness; prApti – reach anything (moon with the tip of finger); prAkAmya – irresistible will; mahiman – illimitable bulk; ISitA – supreme dominion; vaSitA – subjugating by magic; kAmAvaSAyitA – suppressing all desires : Source – Monier’s Sanskrit Dictionary.
aNiman, laghiman, prApti, prakAmya, mahiman, ISitA and vaSitA and garimA – making oneself heavy at will – Source tamizh pingala nigaNDu.
Please also refer to SrImad bhAgavataM, Book 11, Chapter 15 (generally known as uddhava gIta) wherein eight primary siddhis and another 10 secondary siddhis are mentioned.
Please also refer to Patanjali Yoga Sutras (Chapter 3 – Powers).
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Comments
1 – bhajana gAna rasikula kAnarA – SrI tyAgarAja seems to take a dig at those who consider music as an instrument of enjoyment which bring delight to the senses as opposed to the uplifting nature of devotional songs.
2 – SrI bhava - this may either be taken as a single epithet – to mean Lord Siva or as two – lakshmI (SrI) and Lord Siva (bhava). However, taking together the ensuing words (brahmA and indra), it may not be appropriate to translate 'SrI' to mean 'lakshmI'.
5 – siddhula vagalu – the word 'vaga' may be translated as 'aspect' or 'deceptive nature'. In the kRti 'kRpAlavAla', SrI tyAgarAja states – aNimAdi siddhula mOsa buccedaru – people were ruined because of the (tempting nature of) siddhis. Accordingly, 'deceptive nature' may be more appropriate.
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6 – jUpa santasilla kaNTi – From the words of kRti, it is apparent that the Lord showed SrI tyAgarAja (a) truth and falsehood of formal and formless worship, (2) secrets of six modes of worship and (3) the aspects of siddhis. SrI tyAgarAja says that ‘as You showed (jUpa) these, I beheld (kaNTini) them joyfully (santasilla). This is how it has been translated in some books.
However, in some other books, it has been translated as ‘I have in vain explored fully the saguNa mArga and the nirguNa mArga, truth and falsehood, the six schools and the eight siddhis’. The wordings of the kRti do not permit the latter translation.
The pallavi and caraNa do not seem to have any coherence. May be SrI tyAgarAja wants to convey that 'results sought through worship of Lord with or without attributes, six modes of worship and attainment of siddhis can be easily achieved through the path of devotion (bhajana gAna)'.
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