Word Division - Word-by-word meaning
pallavi
ninnu-anavalasinadi-Emi rAma
nannu-anavalenu gAka
O Lord rAma! Why (Emi) should I blame (anavalasinadi) You (ninnu) (ninnanavalasinadEmi)? I (nannu) (literally me) am only (gAka) to be blamed (anavalenu) (nannanavalenu).
anupallavi
kanna taNDri nI kanna vElpulu-
evaru-unnArurA Apanna rakshaka nE (ninnu)
O My Father (kanna taNDri) (literally Father who bore me)! Which (evaru) Gods (vElpulu) are there (unnArurA) (vElpulevarunnArurA) (for me) other than You (nI kanna)? O Saviour (rakshaka) from misfortunes (Apanna)!
O Lord rAma! Why should I (nE) blame You? I am only to be blamed.
caraNam
caraNam 1
kana sairincani dur-janula bhAshaNa lEka
manasuna nenaruna ninu jUcinAnA
anudinamunanu nE ninu kana sajjana sEva
vinayamunanu nijamuga jEsinAnA (ninnu)
Did I behold (jUcinAnA) You (ninu) in my mind (manasuna) with love (nenaruna), instead of (lEka) indulging in talks (bhAshaNa) with disgusting (kana sairincani) (literally unbearable even to look) evil-some people (dur-janula)?
Did I (nE), truthfully (nijamuga) and humbly (vinayamunanu), perform (jEsinAnA) service (sEva) to virtuous people (sajjana) in order to behold (kana) You (ninu) (in my mind) always (anudinamunanu) (literally everyday)?
O Lord rAma! Why should I blame You? I am only to be blamed.
(I indulged in talks with disgusting evilsome people; I did not perform service to virtuous people which would have enabled me to behold You in my mind with Love.)
caraNam 2
vinavayya manavini sanaka-Adi vinuta nE
dhanamunu konina bhAmanu prEma mIra
enayaka manasu-anu vanajamunanu-ati
vEgana pAdamuna pUjanu-onarincinAnA (ninnu)
Please listen (vinavayya) to my appeal (manavini), O Lord praised (nuta) by sage sanaka and others (Adi) (sanakAdi)!
Did I (nE), very (mIra) lovingly (prEma), perform (onarincinAnA) worship (pUjanu) (pUjanonarincinAnA) at Your Holy Feet (pAdamuna) in the Lotus (vanajamunana) of (anu) my heart (manasu) (manasanu) (literally mind) with utmost (ati) (vanajamunanati) energy (vEgana) (literally speed)
instead of enjoying (enayaka) wealth (dhanamunu) and wife (bhAmanu) gotten (konina) in marriage?
O Lord rAma! Why should I blame You? I am only to be blamed.
(I failed to, lovingly, perform worship at Your Holy Feet in my heart; instead I enjoyed wealth and wife.)
caraNam 3
kali mAnavulu sEyu cala kAryamulanu
nEnu-ilalOnu teliyaka valaciti kAni
kalalOnu kaligina kalumula valenu-enci
valacaga balu tapamulu jEsinAnA (ninnu)
Here (ilalOnu) (literally in this World), I (nEnu) (nEnilalOnu) desired (valaciti) the deceitful (cala) tasks (kAryamulanu) undertaken (sEyu) by ordinary (kali) (literally of kali yuga) mortals (mAnavulu), though unknowingly (teliyaka);
but (kAni), considering (enci) such tasks like (valenu) (valenenci) riches (kalumula) found (kaligina) in dreams (kalalOnu) and instead of desiring (valacaga) them, did I perform (jEsinAnA) severe (balu) penances (tapamulu)?
O Lord rAma! Why should I blame You? I am only to be blamed.
(Though unknowingly, I desired deceitful tasks performed by ordinary mortals which I should have treated as dream objects and shunned; instead I should have performed severe penances.)
caraNam 4
jalaja-Apta kula vara tilaka vInula nI
kathalu vinnA balu pApamulu pOnu kAni
kalumula palukula celulu vaSyulu kAni
toli janmamula pUjA phalamu-EmO teliya (ninnu)
O The Most (vara) Distinguished (tilaka) of the Solar – benefactor (Apta) of Lotus (jalaja) (jalajApta) - dynasty (kula)!
Even worst (balu) sins (pApamulu) will go away (pOnu) if one listens (vInula vinnA) (literally hearing in the ears) to Your (nI) stories (kathalu);
however (kAni), I do not know (teliya) whether (EmO) it is the result (phalamu) (phalamEmO) of worship (pUjA) performed in my previous (toli) births (janmamula) that lakshmI – Goddess of wealth (kalumula celi) and sarasvati – Goddess of speech (palukula celi) (celulu) could not become favourable (vaSyulu kAni) to me (in this birth);
O Lord rAma! Why should I blame You? I am only to be blamed.
(Even worst sins will go away by listening to Your stories; I do not know whether it is the result of worship performed in my previous births that lakshmI and sarasvati could not become favourable to me in this birth.)
caraNam 5
Sara cApa dhara yOgi vara nuta paripUrNa
nara rUpa niratamu vara tyagarAja
paripAla sura bhUmi surulanu sthiramuga
karuNincu birudu nI karamuna meraya (ninnu)
O Wielder (dhara) of bow (cApa) and arrow (Sara)! O Lord praised (nuta) by blessed (vara) ascetics (yOgi)! O Perfect One (paripUrNa)! O Human (nara) embodied (rUpa)! O blessed (vard) Lord who protects (paripAla) this tyAgarAja at all times (niratamu)!
As the medallion (birudu) of showing steadfast (sthiramuga) compassion (karuNincu) towards celestials (sura) and brAhmaNas (bhUmi surulanu) (literally celestials on the Earth) shines (meraya) in Your (nI) hands (karamuna),
O Lord rAma! why should I blame You? I am only to be blamed.
(You are famous for being compassionate towards celestials and brAhmaNas; obviously, I do not seem to deserve Your compassion.)
Notes
Variations - (Pathanthara)
3 – tapamulu – tapamunu - tapamu.
4 – vinnA – It is given as ‘vinna’ in all the books. However, in the present context, the ending vowel should be elongated to mean ‘if’.
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References
1 - sanakAdi - sana, sanaka, sanatkumAra, sanandana – mind born sons of brahmA.
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Comments
2 – prEma mIra – very lovingly - from the arrangement of words, this should be attached to ‘dhanamunu konina bhAmanu’ (wealth and wife). However, it would be more appropriate to attach to ‘pUja’.
5 – celulu – Goddesses – applies to lakshmI and sarasvati in a combined manner. However, for the purpose of translation, the singular form (celi) has been taken.
6 – paripUrNa nara rUpa – ‘paripUrNa’ may be taken as qualifying ‘nara rUpa’ – ‘total human embodied’ because that is how SrI rAma considered Himself and behaved so.
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