Tyagaraja Kriti

Meaning - Gist

O Lord SrI raghuvIra!
O Substance and non-substance! O Generous Lord! O Prop of Universe! O Lord of Wonderful virtues!
O Lord with body resembling the hue of rain-cloud! O Lord SrI rAma!
O Sun who blossoms the heart-Lotus of sItA! O Wish-Tree of people who are dear to You! O Vessel to carry across the ocean of sins! O Lord born in the Solar dynasty! O Father of brahmA! O Lord residing in the city of ayOdhyA who grants my wishes!
O Lord whose hands reach as far as knees! O Resplendent Moon faced! O Lord worshipped by indra! O Unborn praised by this tyAgarAja!

Please come and govern me.
Is it reasonable to torment me?

Please support me without taking note my faults.
For me, who is a wanderer in the jungle of Worldly Existence, Your substantial name alone is the means to traverse it.
Being the son-in-law of Earth, why this delay even after knowing my distress?
Please protect me.

Please feel free to come.

Word Division - Word-by-word meaning

pallavi
rArA nannu-ElukOrA SrI raghu-
vIra nannu-Eca mErA

O Lord SrI raghuvIra! Please come (rArA) and govern (ElukOrA) me (nannu) (nannElukOrA). Is it reasonable (mErA) to torment (Eca) me (nannu) (nannEca)?

anupallavi
sAra-asAra-udAra akhila-
AdhAra-adbhuta guNa dhArALamuga (rArA)

O Substance (sAra) and non-substance (asAra)! O Generous (udAra) Lord (sArAsArOdAra)! O Prop (AdhAra) of Universe (akhila)! O Lord of Wonderful (adbhuta) (akhilAdhArAdbhuta) virtues (guNa)!
O Lord SrI raghuvIra! Please feel free (dhArALamuga) to come and govern me. Is it reasonable to torment me?

caraNam
caraNam 1
dhArA dhara-Abha SarIra nAyeDa nIvu
nEramu-ennaka-AdukOrA SrI rAma
samsAra kAnana vihAruDaina nAku
sAramau nAmamE tArakamu-aurA (rArA)

O Lord with body (SarIra) resembling (Abha) the hue of rain-cloud (dhArA dhara) (literally water carrier) (dharAbha)! O Lord SrI rAma! You (nIvu) please support (AdukOrA) me without taking note (ennaka) of faults (nEramu) (nEramennakayAdukOrA) in me (nAyeDa).
For me (nAku) who is a wanderer (vihAruDaina) in the jungle (kAnana) of Worldly Existence (samsAra), Your substantial (sAramau) name alone (nAmamE) is (aurA) the means to traverse (tArakamu) (tArakamaurA) it.
O Lord SrI raghuvIra! Please come and govern me. Is it reasonable to torment me?

caraNam 2
sItA hRt-kamala khadyOta-Apta jana pAri-
jAta-agha vanadhi pOta-abja hita kula
jAta rakshincu vidhAta janaka ishTa
dAtavaina sAkEta-AgAra (rArA)

O Sun (khadyOta) who blossoms the heart (hRt) Lotus (kamala) of sItA! O Wish-Tree (pArijAta) of people (jana) who are dear (Apta) (khadyOtApta) to You! O Vessel (pOta) to carry across the ocean (vanadhi) of sins (agha) (pArijAtAgha)!
O Lord born (jAta) in the Solar – friend (hita) of Lotus (abja) (pOtAbja) - dynasty (kula)! Please protect me (rakshincu), O Father (janaka) of brahmA (vidhAta)! O Lord residing (AgAra) in the city of ayOdhyA (sAkEta) (sAkEtAgAra) who grants (dAtavaina) my wishes (ishTa)!
O Lord SrI raghuvIra! Please come and govern me. Is it reasonable to torment me?

caraNam 3
rA jAgu-Ela dhara jAmAtavai
nA jAli-erigi O A-jAnu bAhuDa
virAjamAna dvija rAja-Anana sura
rAja-arcita tyAgarAja nuta-aja (rArA)

Being the son-in-law (jAmAtavai) of Earth (dhara),why (Ela) this delay (jAgu) (jAgEla) even after knowing (erigi) my (nA) distress (jAli) (jAlerigi)? Please come (rA), O Lord whose hands (bAhuDa) reach as far as knees (A-jAnu)!
O Resplendent (virAjamAna) Moon (dvija rAja) faced (Anana) (rAjAnana)! O Lord worshipped (arcita) by indra – Lord (rAja) (rAjArcita) of celestials (sura)! O Unborn (aja) praised (nuta) (nutAja) by this tyAgarAja!
O Lord SrI raghuvIra! Please come and govern me. Is it reasonable to torment me?

Notes

Variations - (Pathanthara)
¹ – dhara jAmAtava nA – In all the books this is given as ‘dhara jAmAtavaina’ or as ‘dhara jAmAtavai na’. In my opinion, it should be ‘dhara jAmAtavai nA’ and ‘nA’ is required to be connected to ‘jAlerigi’. This is more so, looking from prAsa-anuprAsa also.
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References
² – dvija rAja – Moon is called twice-born (dvija) because he was born once to Sage atri and anusUya and again during the churning of Milk Ocean. Birth of Moon to Sage atri.
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Comments
² – virAjamAna dvija rAjAnana – SrI tyAgarAja often uses ‘virAja’ to mean garuDa. However, ‘virAjamAna’ is a telugu word meaning ‘resplendent’, ‘shining’. ‘dvija rAja’ means ‘bird’ (garuDa) and ‘moon’. However, in view of the ensuing word ‘Anana’ (face), this word (dvija rAja) has been translated as ‘moon’.
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rArA nannElukOrA - rAga saurAshTraM