Tyagaraja Kriti

Meaning - Gist
O Lord raghu vara! O Bearer of Mountain – mandara or gOvardhana! O Reliever of sins of devotees! O Lord praised by celestials! O Lord who is dear to brahmA or brAhmaNas! O Lord of Peerless beauty or handsomeness! O Lord well disposed to pious people! O Lord praised by this tyAgarAja! O Source of auspiciousness!

Is it proper to forget me?

For a woman, even if she has parents and brothers, would one be equal to husband?
(For a woman), would other Gods and fine ornaments be equal to mangaLa sUtra?

Probably because of merits earned (by me), that You fulfilled my desire.
In my mind, I have fallen in love with You.

Word Division - Word-by-word meaning

pallavi
raghu vara nannu marava tagunA

O Lord raghu vara! Is it proper (tagunA) to forget (marava) me (nannu)?

anupallavi
naga dhara bhakta jana-agha nivAraNa (raghu)

O Bearer (dhara) of Mountain (naga) – mandara or gOvardhana! O Reliever (nivAraNa) of sins (agha) of devotees (bhakta jana) (janAgha)!
O Lord raghu vara! Is it proper to forget me?

caraNam
caraNam 1
talli taNDrulu-anna tammulu-unnA
polatiki-okaDu purushuNDu-aunA (raghu)

For a woman (polatiki), even if she has (unnA) parents - mother (talli) and father (taNDrulu) - and brothers - elder brothers (anna) (taNDrulanna) and younger brothers (tammulu) (tammulunnA),
would one (okaDu) (polatikiyokaDu) be equal to (aunA) husband (purushuNDu) (purushuNDaunA)?
O Lord raghu vara! Is it proper to forget me?

caraNam 2
para daivamulu bAgu sommulu
sura nuta 4mangaLa sUtramulu-aunA (raghu)

O Lord praised (nuta) by celestials (sura)! (For a woman), would other (para) Gods (daivamulu) and fine (bAgu) ornaments (sommulu),
be equal to (aunA) mangaLa sUtra (sUtramulu) (sUtramulaunA)?
O Lord raghu vara! Is it proper to forget me?

caraNam 3
cEsina puNya cayamu brahmaNya
Asanu-osangiti anupama lAvaNya (raghu)

O Lord who is dear to brahmA or brAhmaNas (brahmaNya)! Probably because of merits (puNya cayamu) earned (cEsina) (by me), that You fulfilled (osangiti) (literally bestowed) my desire (Asanu) (Asanosangiti);
O Lord of Peerless (anupama) beauty or handsomeness (lAvaNya)! O Lord raghu vara! Is it proper to forget me?

caraNam 4
manasuna nIkE marulu-konnAnu
sajjana hita tyAgarAja nuta Subha-Akara (raghu)

In my mind (manusuna), I have fallen in love (marulu-konnAnu) with You (nIkE);
O Lord well disposed (hita) to pious people (sajjana)! O Lord praised (nuta) by this tyAgarAja! O Source (Akara) of auspiciousness (Subha) (SubhAkara)! O Lord raghu vara! Is it proper to forget me?

Notes

Variations - (Pathanthara)
rAga – pantuvarALi - kAmavardhini.
¹ – tagunA – tagunA O.
² – tammulunnA – tammuluyunna.
³ – purushuNDaunA – purushuDuyaunA.
⁶ – tyAgarAja nuta – tyAgarAja vinuta.

⁷ – SubhAkara – Subhakara : If ‘Subhakara’ is correct, then it will be translated as ‘one who bestows auspiciousness’ (Subha-kara).
Top

References
⁵ – brahmaNya – One who is dear to brahmA or brAhmaNas. Please also refer to vishNu sahasranAmaM (661). The meaning as given in the following website is – ‘One who is a great friend of Brahman. The term Brahman includes in its connotation the Sastra, Tapas, Vedas, Truth, Knowledge, etc. Sree Narayana is a protector and friend of all these. Here Brahman means Jeeva-a friend of all individuals.’
Top

Comments
⁴ – mangaLa sUtramu – According to tradition, mangaLa sUtra (tAli or tAliboTTu – as is called in South India) is a simple thread with a piece of turmeric tied to it. It has now become an ornament of show. That is why SrI tyAgarAja compares it to ornament.

The whole kRti is in the kAntAsakti bhAva (love of God as that of a wife unto her husband) as defined in the ‘nArada bhakti sUtrAs’.
Top

raghu vara nannu - rAga pantuvarALi