Untitled Document

Meaning - Gist
Let’s apply auspicious mark to ward off evil to the Lord.
Let’s apply auspicious mark to ward off evil at dusk to the beloved of lakshmI shining in His chest.

Let’s apply auspicious mark to ward off evil for the prosperity -

to the Lord who shines as consort of sItA,
to the Lord who is in the control of AnjanEya,
to the Lord who became a king in order to protect indra and others,
to the Lord who is fond of music, and
who is sung about by this tyAgarAja.

Word Division - Word-by-word meaning

pallavi
raksha peTTarE doraku

Let’s apply (peTTarE) auspicious mark to ward off evil (raksha) to the Lord.

anupallavi
vaksha sthalamuna velayu
lakshmI ramaNuniki sAya (raksha)

To the beloved (ramaNuniki) of lakshmI – who shines (velayu) in His chest (vaksha sthalamuna),
let’s apply auspicious mark to ward off evil at dusk (sAya).

caraNam
sItA karamunu paTTi celagina doraku
vAta-Atmajuniki ceyi vaSamaina doraku
puruhUta-Adula rakshimpa bAhujuDu-aina doraku
sangIta priya tyAgarAja gEyuDu-aina doraku-aiSvarya (raksha)

To the Lord (doraku) who shines (celagina) as consort (karamunu paTTi) (literally holding hand in marriage) of sItA,
to the Lord (doraku) who is (aina) in the control (ceyi vaSamu) (vaSamaina) of AnjanEya – mind-born (Atmaja) of Wind God (vAta) (vAtAtmajuniki),
to the Lord (doraku) who became (aina) a king (bAhujuDu) (bAhujuDaina) in order to protect (rakshimpa) indra (puruhUta) and others (Adula) (puruhUtAdula),
to the Lord (doraku) who is fond of (priya) music (sangIta) and who is (aina) sung about (gEyuDu) (gEyuDaina) by this tyAgarAja,
let’s apply auspicious mark for His prosperity (aiSvarya) (dorakaiSvarya) to ward off evil.

Notes

Variations - (Pathanthara)
¹ – raksha peTTarE doraku - raksha peTTarE doraku raksha peTTarE
² – sAya –jaya : sAya - is appropriate.

References
² – sAya raksha – performed at time of evening twilight (sandhyA) in tamizh it is called ‘andikkAppu’. Please visit the website for complete explanation about how periyAzhvAr also sang of ‘sAya raksha’, assuming himself to be yaSOdA – For all the ten pAsurams of Andikkappu
Tamil version, Divya Prabandham - First Thousand - Tamil (Page 33)

³ – ceyi vaSamaina – a true devotee can bind the Lord – there are many such instances – sahadEva binding kRshNa is one such example; that is why SrI tyAgarAja states that the Lord is in the control of AnjanEya. The following assurance of Lord from SrImad-bhagavad-gItA, Chapter 9 is relevant –

ananyAScintantO mAM yE janAH paryupAsatE |
tEshAM nityAbhiyuktAnAM yOgakshEmaM vahAmyahaM || 22 ||

“Persons who, meditating on Me as non-separate, worship Me in all beings, to them thus ever zealously engaged, I carry what they lack and preserve what they already have.”

Notes – “‘I carry etc’. Because while other devotees work for their own gain and safety, those who do not see anything as separate from themselves, do not do so; they even do not cherish a desire for life; so the Lord secures to them gain and safety.” (Translation and Notes by Swami Swarupananda)

⁴ – bAhuja – literally this means ‘arm-born’; the warrior (kshatriya) race is stated to sprung up from the arms of the Lord – Please refer to Purusha Suktam

brAhmaNO asya mukhamAsIt | bAhU rAjanyaH kRtaH |
Uru tadasya yad vaiSya | padbhyAM SUdrO ajAyata || 13 ||

"The Brahmin was the mouth and Rajanya, the warrior-princes were both arms, His thighs became Vaisya and His feet became Sudra."

⁵ – aiSvarya Ref to ashTa aiSvarya - prosperity or wealth
Top

Comments
¹ – rAksha – this is one of the activities performed at regular intervals by mothers to their children (and to newly-wed couples or at any other auspicious occasions like house-warming ceremony etc) to ward off evil (eye) and to bring prosperity. It is generally applied on the fore-head. This is done after a harathi with water mixed with turmeric. harati with a smouldering worn-out broom-stick is also made. Sacred ash is also applied as raksha. After hOma, the ashes of sacred fire mixed with water or ghee is applied on the fore-head. raksha is some-times worn at the wrist – rakshA bandhan (North India) and garuDa pancami (South India) performed by sisters for long-life of their brothers. karvA cauth (North India), kAraDaiyAn nOnbu (Tamil Nadu) and nAga pancami (South India) performed by wives for the long-life of their husbands is also a raksha. raksha is also worn as amulet either on the upper arm or as attachment to chain. A black-mark with anjana (colliriyum) is applied on the cheeks of babies against evil-eye. The tilaka worn by girls is sometimes applied a little off-centre as a raksha. Top

raksha peTTarE - rAga bhairavi