Tyagaraja Kriti

Meaning - Gist

O Lord rAma!
O Quintessence! O Destroyer of the arrogance of demons! O Lord of Beautiful form! O Virtuous! O Youth! O Consort of lakshmI! O Lord belonging to the Ocean of Solar dynasty! O Lord replete with nectarine juice!
O Lord SrI hari! O Consort sItA – blessed daughter of King of vidEha! O Lord who has garuDa as carrier! O Lord who burst open bodies of enemies! O Lord who has long arms like SEsha! O Lord found in the society of pious people! O Queller of arrogance of enemies! O Lord abiding in the hearts of ascetics!
O Primeval Lord! O Lord besought by celestials and etc.! O Lord praised by sanaka and others! O Destroyer of six (internal enemies) tendencies - kAma etc. (kAma, krOdha, lObha, mOha, mada, mAtsarya)! O Lord without beginning, middle (and end)! O Lord saluted by Lord Siva and others! O Destroyer of pride of argumentative!

Your grace should come on me.
Otherwise, of what significance am I?

As everything - vEda, SAstra, purANa etc., proclaim that You alone are the refuge,

Your grace should come on me.
Otherwise, of what significance am I?

Word Division - Word-by-word meaning

pallavi
nI daya rAvale gAka nEnu-enta vADanu rAma

O Lord rAma! Your (nI) grace (daya) should come (rAvale) on me; otherwise (gAka) of what significance (enta vADanu) am I (nEnu) (nEnenta)?

anupallavi
vEda SAstra purANamulu-anni
nIvE gati-anucu mora peTTu ganuka (nI)

As (ganuka) everything (anni) - vEda, SAstra, purANa etc., (purANamulu) (purANamulanni) proclaim (mora peTTu) that (anucu) You alone (nIvE) are the refuge (gati) (gatiyanucu),
O Lord rAma! Your grace should come on me; otherwise of what significance am I?

caraNam
caraNam 1
sAra-sAra kAntAra cara mada
vidAra sundara-AkAra suguNa
sukumAra mA ramaNa nIraja-Apta kula
pArAvAra sudhA rasa pUra (nI)

O Quintessence (sAra sAra)! O Destroyer (vidAra) of the arrogance (mada) of demons – forest (kAntAra) dwellers (cara)! O Lord of Beautiful (sundara) form (AkAra) (sundarAkAra)! O Virtuous (suguNa)!
O Youth (sukumAra)! O Consort (ramaNa) of lakshmI (mA)! O Lord belonging to the Ocean (pArAvAra) of Solar – friend (Apta) of Lotus (nIraja) (nIrajApta) – dynasty (kula)! O Lord replete with (pUra) nectarine (sudhA) juice (rasa)!
Your grace should come on me; otherwise of what significance am I?

caraNam 2
SrI harE vara vidEhajA-adhipa vi-vAha
daLita ripu dEha SEsha sama
bAha sajjana samUha vairi mada
dAha mauni hRd-gEha nAdupai (nI)

O Lord SrI hari (harE)! O Consort (adhipa) (literally Lord) sItA – blessed (vara) daughter of King of vidEha (vidEhajA) (vidEhajAdhipa)! O Lord who has garuDa – bird (vi) - as carrier (vAha)! O Lord who burst open (daLita) bodies (dEha) of enemies (ripu)!
O Lord who has long arms (bAha) like (sama) (literally equal to) SEsha! O Lord found in the society (samUha) of pious people (sajjana)! O Queller (dAha) of arrogance (mada) of enemies (vairi)! O Lord abiding (gEha) in the hearts (hrt) (hrd-gEha) of ascetics (mauni)!
Your grace should come on me (nAdupai); otherwise of what significance am I?

caraNam 3
Adi dEva dEva-Adi mRgya
sanaka-Adi vinuta kAma-Adi shaD-guNa
hara-Adi madhya rahita-Adi tyAgarAja-
Adi vandita vivAdi mada haraNa (nI)

O Primeval (Adi) Lord (dEva)! O Lord besought (mRgya) by celestials (dEva) and etc. (Adi) (dEvAdi)! O Lord praised (vinuta) by sanaka and others (Adi) (sanakAdi)! O Destroyer (hara) of six (shaD) (internal enemies) tendencies (guNa) (literally quality) (shaD-guNa) - kAma etc (Adi) (kAmAdi) (kAma, krOdha, lObha, mOha, mada, mAtsarya)!
O Lord without (rahita) beginning (Adi) (harAdi), middle (madhya) (and end)! O Lord saluted (vandita) by Lord Siva (Adi-tyAgarAja) (rahitAdi) and others (Adi) (tyAgarAjAdi)! O Destroyer (haraNa) of pride (mada) of argumentative (vivAdi)!
Your grace should come on me; otherwise of what significance am I?

Notes

Variations - (Pathanthara)
³ – sudhA rasa pUra – sudhA rasa pUrNa.

⁴ - SEsha sama bAha – SEsha sama vAha : The latter version does not seem to convey any meaning.
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References
¹ – sAra-sAra – Quintessence - The following verses from bRhadAraNyaka upanishad are relevant –

..... tasyOpanisat – satyasya satyam-iti;
prANA vai satyaM, tEshAm-Esha satyaM || II. i. 20 ||

“..... Its secret name (upanishad) is ‘the Truth of truth.’ The vital force is truth, and It is the Truth of that.”

prANasya prANamuta cakshushaS-cakshuruta
SrOtrasya SrOtraM manasO yE manO viduH |
tE nicikyur-brahma purANam-agryaM || IV. iv. 18 ||

“Those who have known the Vital Force of the vital force, the Eye of the eye, the Ear of the ear, and the Mind of the mind, have realised the ancient, primordial Brahman.” (Translation by Swami Madhavananda.)
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² - sukumAra – the form of Lord SrI rAma when he went along with sage viSvAmitra for protection of sacrificial oblation.

⁵ – Adi tyAgarAja - In some books, this has been rendered as ‘worshipped by Lord Siva’. It is not clear whether the word ‘Adi tyAgarAja’ means Lord Siva (tiruvArUr). At ‘tirukkArAyil’ (tirukkAravAsal), the Lord is known as –‘Adi tyAgarAja’ or ‘Adi viDangar’

⁶ - vivAdi mada haraNa – Destroyer of pride of argumentative - An example of this is found in SrImad vAlmIki rAmayaNa – ayOdhya kANDa – Chapter 109, where SrI rAma demolishes the arguments of sage jAbAli.
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Comments

nI daya rAvale - rAga tODi