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Meaning - Gist

O Most merciful Lord hari!
O Beautiful Faced Lord mukunda! O Lord rAghava! O Lord praised by indra and others! O Lord who bore the mandara mountain on his back!
O Lord who has Sun and moon as eyes! O Lord on whose lap lakshmI is seated! O Virtuous One! O Father of cupid!
O Lord who destroyed cruel people! O Lord who causes prosperity! O Lord whose beautiful body resembles rain-cloud! O Beloved of lakshmI!
O Immutable Lord! O Lord who is beyond qualities! O Lord who is embodied in all forms! O Lord who destroyed the arrogant pride of asuras!
O Lord who is the embodiment of the Whole! O Lord abiding in the Ocean of Milk! O Lord whose carrier is garuDa! O Lord who wears golden (hued) garments!
O Imperishable Lord! O Lord with nectarine Eyes! O Lord who has untiring shoulders (OR One who is on the side of celestials)! O Wielder of bow!
O Lord ranga nAyaka (of SrI rangam)! O Auspicious bodied! O Lord who destroyed the arrogance of rAvaNa!
O Lord reclining on the bed of SEsha! O Destroyer of the disease called Worldly Existence! O Mercy Crystal (OR) O Ocean of Mercy! O Bestower of Boons! O Lord praised by this tyAgarAja!

Protect me always.

Word Division - Word-by-word meaning

pallavi
pAhi parama dayALO harE mAm

Protect (pAhi) me (mAm), O Most (parama) merciful (dayALO) Lord hari (harE)!

caraNam
caraNam 1
sundara-Anana mukunda rAghava
purandara-Adi nuta mandara-aga dhara (pAhi)

O Beautiful (sundara) Faced (Anana) (sundarAnana) Lord mukunda! O Lord rAghava!
O Lord praised (nuta) by indra (purandara) and others (Adi) (purandarAdi)! O Lord who bore (dhara) the mandara mountain (aga) (mandarAga) on his back!
Protect me, O Most merciful Lord hari!

caraNam 2
pankaja-Apta hariNa-anka nayana
SrI-da-anka suguNa makara-anka janaka mAm (pAhi)

O Lord who has Sun – Friend (Apta) of Lotus (pankaja) (pankajApta) – and moon – deer (hariNa) marked (anka) (hariNAnka) – as eyes (nayana)!
O Lord on whose lap (anka) lakshmI (SrI-da) (SrI-dAnka) is seated! O Virtuous One (suguNa)! O Father (janaka) of cupid – whose banner (anka) is sea-animal (makara) (makarAnka)!
Protect me (mAm), O Most merciful Lord hari!

caraNam 3
krUra mAnava vidAra bhavya kara
nIrada-Abha su-SarIra mA ramaNa (pAhi)

O Lord who destroyed (vidAra) cruel (krUra) people (mAnava)! O Lord who causes (kara) prosperity (bhavya)!
O Lord whose beautiful body (su-SarIra) resembles (Abha) rain-cloud (nIrada) (nIradAbha)! O Beloved (ramaNa) of lakshmI (mA)!
Protect me, O Most merciful Lord hari!

caraNam 4
nir-vikAra guNa sarva rUpa dhara
pUrva dEva mada garva bhanjana (pAhi)

O Immutable Lord (nir-vikAra)! O Lord who is beyond qualities (nir-guNa)! O Lord who is embodied (dhara) in all (sarva) forms (rUpa)!
O Lord who destroyed (bhanjana) the arrogant (mada) pride (garva) of asuras (pUrva dEva)!
Protect me, O Most merciful Lord hari!

caraNam 5
pUrNa rUpa kalaSa-arNava sthita su-
parNa vAhana su-varNa cEla mAm (pAhi)

O Lord who is the embodiment (rUpa) of the Whole (pUrNa)! O Lord abiding (sthita) in the Ocean (arNava) of Milk – from where the pitcher (kalaSa) of nectar emerged (kalaSArNava)!
O Lord whose carrier (vAhana) is garuDa – the mighty winged (su-parNa)! O Lord who wears golden (hued) (su-varNa) garments (cEla)!
Protect me (mAm), O Most merciful Lord hari!

caraNam 6
raksha mAm-aniSam-akshara-amRta
rasa-aksha nirjara su-paksha cApa dhara (pAhi)

O Imperishable Lord (akshara)! O Lord with nectarine (amRta rasa) (aksharAmRta) Eyes (aksha) (rasAksha)! Please protect (raksha) me (mAm) ever (aniSam);
O Lord who has untiring (nirjara) shoulders (su-paksha) (OR One who is on the side of celestials)! O Wielder (dhara) of bow (cApa)!
Protect me, O Most merciful Lord hari!

caraNam 7
ranga nAyaka Subha-anga sUrya kula
pungava-ari mada bhanga sarvadA (pAhi)

O Lord ranga nAyaka (of SrI rangam)! O Auspicious (Subha) bodied (anga) (literally limbed) (subhAnga)!
O Lord who destroyed (bhanga) the arrogance (mada) of rAvaNa – the prime (pungava) enemy (ari) (pungavAri) of the Solar (sUrya) dynasty (kula)!
Protect me always (sarvadA), O Most merciful Lord hari!

caraNam 8
nAga Sayana bhava rOga nASa kRpA
rAgadE varada tyAgarAja nuta (pAhi)

O Lord reclining (Sayana) on the bed of SEsha – the serpent (nAga)! O Destroyer (nASa) of the disease (rOga) called Worldly Existence (bhava)!
O Mercy (kRpA) Crystal (rAgada) (rAgadE) (OR) O Ocean (sAgara) of Mercy (kRpA)! O Bestower of Boons (varada)! O Lord praised (nuta) by this tyAgarAja!
Protect me, O Most merciful Lord hari!

Notes

Variations - (Pathanthara)
² – vidAra – ra-dhAra : ‘ra’ means ‘fire’; and ‘dhAra’ means ‘rain’; may be SrI tyAgarAja uses this to mean ‘rain that extinguishes the fire called wicked people’.

⁵ – kRpA rAgadE – kRpA sAgara’ : One of the meanings of ‘rAgada’ is ‘crystal’. ‘Crystal’ comes under the general category of ‘maNi’ - gemstones. Probably, SrI tyAgarAja is using the word in the same sense as ‘wish-crystal’ (cintA maNi) – ‘mercy crystal’. characteristics of ‘crystal’ and other gems.

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References
¹ – makarAnka – The banner of kAma is makara.

⁴ – pUrva dEva – dAnavas were born of mother danu; daityas were born of mother diti; for both kaSyapa was the common father. Though enmity existed between cousins, only after the churning of the milk ocean and subsequent distribution of nectar wherein the dAnavas were denied nectar, they became sworn enemies to each other. Therefore, dAnavas – commonly translated as demons - are called ‘earlier celestials’ (pUrva dEva). SrImad-bhAgavataM, Book 8, Chapters 6 to 11 refers.

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Comments
³ - nir-vikAra guNa – The prefix ‘nir’ governs both ‘vikAra’ (nirvikAra) and ‘guNa’ (nirguNa). It has accordingly been translated; otherwise, the word ‘guNa’ by itself, cannot be properly translated. The same combination occurs in the kRti ‘dina maNi vamSa’ – rAga hari kAmbhOji also.

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pAhi parama dayALO - rAga kApi