O Lotus Eyed! O Lord rAma! O Lord rAmayya! O Merciful Lord! O Overlord of Kings! O Lord with blessed Qualities! O Supremely holy Lord! O Protector of this tyAgarAja!
Word Division - Word-by-word meaning
pallavi
SrI rAma dAsa dAsaH-aham ana
nIraja nEtra nIku-Ela sandEhamu
When I declare (ana) (literally say) 'I am (aham) servant (dAsaH) (dAsOham) of devotees (dAsa) of Lord SrI rAma', O Lotus (nIraja) Eyed (nEtra)! why (Ela) should You (nIku) (nIkEla) have doubt (sandEhamu)?
caraNam
caraNam 1
gaTTu kAna rAni guNTa rAma
paTTuka dATa nI pEru teppa-aNTa (SrI)
O Lord rAma! Worldly Existence is an ocean (guNTa) (literally pit or pond), the banks (gaTTu) of which could not (rAni) be seen (kAna); Your (nI) name (pEru) is said to be (aNTa) the raft (teppa) (teppaNTa) to hold (paTTuka) and cross (dATa) it (the ocean);
When I declare 'I am servant of devotees of Lord SrI rAma', O Lotus Eyed! why should you have doubt?
caraNam 2
kAma-Adi nakra bAdha tIrpa
rAmayya nI cEti cakramu lEdA (SrI)
O Lord rAmayya! In order relieve (tIrpa) the troubles (bAdha) of alligators (nakra) of desire (kAma) etc (Adi) (kAmAdi) (kAma, krOdha, lObha, mOha, mada, mAtsarya), isn't there (lEdA) the discus (cakramu) in Your (nI) hand (cEti)?
When I declare 'I am servant of devotees of Lord SrI rAma', O Lotus Eyed! why should you have doubt?
caraNam 3
cala cittamu-anu alalaku rAma
celagu nI vAma hastamu vairi-agunu (SrI)
O Lord rAma! For the waves (alalaku) called (anu) fickle (cala) mindedness (cittamu) (cittamanu), Your (nI) shining (celagu) left (vAma) hand (hastamu) is (agunu) the enemy (vairi) (vairiyagunu);
When I declare 'I am servant of devotees of Lord SrI rAma', O Lotus Eyed! why should you have doubt?
caraNam 4
mada matsaramulu-anu gajamulaku nI
pada kamala-ankuSa rEkha ankuSamu (SrI)
For (control of) the elephants (gajamulaku) called (anu) arrogance (mada) and envy etc. (matsaramulu) (matsaramulanu), the curved (ankhuSa) (literally hooked) line(s) (OR outlines) (rEkha) of Your (nI) feet (pada) Lotus (kamala) (kamalAnkuSa) is/are the goad or hook (ankuSamu);
When I declare 'I am servant of devotees of Lord SrI rAma', O Lotus Eyed! why should you have doubt?
caraNam 5
SOka-Adulu-anu parvatamulaku nI
kara-ankita vajra rEkha vajaramu (SrI)
For (shattering) the mountains (parvatamulaku) called (anu) grief (SOka) etc. (Adulu) (SOkAdulanu), the well-marked (ankita) strong (OR curved/forked) (vajra) line(s) (rEkha) of Your (nI) hand (kara) (karAnkita) is/are the thunder-bolt(s) (vajramu);
When I declare 'I am servant of devotees of Lord SrI rAma', O Lotus Eyed! why should you have doubt?
caraNam 6
aham-anu jaDatvamu-aNaci brOva
sahajamau nI cEti Saramulu lEvA (SrI)
In order to protect (brOva) us by sub-duing (aNaci) the idiocy (jaDatvamu) (jaDatvamaNaci) called (anu) egotism (aham) (ahamanu), aren't there (lEvA) arrows (Saramulu) naturally (sahajamau) in Your (nI) hands (cEti)?
When I declare 'I am servant of devotees of Lord SrI rAma', O Lotus Eyed! why should you have doubt?
caraNam 7
dush-karmamu-anu koNDalu-egaya sEya
nish-kalmasha pavanajuDu-uNDu sadaya (SrI)
O Merciful (sadaya) Lord! In order to fling away (egaya sEya) the mountains (koNDalu) (koNDalegaya) called (anu) wicked deeds (dush-karmamu) (dush-karmamanu), blemish-less (nish-kalmasha) AnjanEya – son of Wind God (pavanajuDu) is there (uNDu) (pavanajuDuNDu);
When I declare 'I am servant of devotees of Lord SrI rAma', O Lotus Eyed! why should you have doubt?
caraNam 8
janana maraNamu-anu suDini nilpa
ghanamaina nI-Ajna kAdanu vaDini (SrI)
In order to arrest (nilpa) the cycle (or vortex) (suDini) (literally whirl) called (anu) birth (janana) and death (maraNamu) (maraNamanu), isn’t there (kAdanu) Your (nI) mighty (ghanamaina) command (Ajna) (nIyAjna) over Time (vaDini)?
When I declare 'I am servant of devotees of Lord SrI rAma', O Lotus Eyed! why should you have doubt?
caraNam 9
jAtiki-okaru kUDinAramu prIti
cEta telusukoNTimi nAma sAramu (SrI)
We have assembled (kUDinAramu) together one (okaru) from each caste or creed (jAtiki) (jAtikokaru) and have lovingly (prIti cEta) understood (telusukoNTimi) the essence (sAramu) of Your name (nAma);
When I declare 'I am servant of devotees of Lord SrI rAma', O Lotus Eyed! why should you have doubt?
caraNam 10
pannuga bhavamu-ati ghOramu rAma
ninnu vinA-anya daivamulanu kOramu (SrI)
O Lord rAma! The nice (looking) (pannuga) Ocean of Worldly Existence (bhavamu) is (indeed) very (ati) (bhavamati) dreadful (ghOramu); we shall not beseech (kOramu) any (anya) God (daivamulanu) (literally Gods) other than (vinA) (vinAnya) You (ninnu);
When I declare 'I am servant of devotees of Lord SrI rAma', O Lotus Eyed! why should you have doubt?
caraNam 11
vara guNa rAja-adhi rAja rAma
parama pAvana pAlita tyAgarAja (SrI)
O Overlord (adhi rAja) of Kings (rAja) (rAjAdhi)! O Lord rAma with blessed (vara) Qualities (guNa)! O Supremely (parama) Holy (pAvana) Lord! O Protector (pAlita) of this tyAgarAja!
When I declare 'I am servant of devotees of Lord SrI rAma', O Lotus Eyed! why should you have doubt?
Notes
Variations - (Pathanthara)
In some books, the order of caraNas is given differently. As the logical sequence of the caraNas, as given above, seems appropriate, the same has been adopted.
1 – dAsOham ana – dAsOham.
2 – sandEhamu – sandEham.
3 – paTTuka – paTTukO. Though this word has been translated as ‘to hold’, the form of the word is not clear.
4 – kAmAdi – kAmAdulanu.
5 – cittamanu alalaku - cittamanu alalakunu.
7 – dushkarmamanu - dushkarmamulanu.
8 – sEya - rAma.
9 – pavanujuDuNDu - pavanujuDuNDa.
11 – kUDinAramu – sAramu : kUDinAram - sAram.
12 – ghOramu – daivamulanu kOramu : ghOram – daivamu kOram.
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References
Comments
1 – SrI rAma dAsa dAsOham – this may be also taken as ‘servant of bhadrAcala rAma dAsa’; SrI tyAgarAja mentions SrI rAma dAsa’s name in the kRtis ‘bRndAvana lOla’ – raga tODi and ‘kshIra sAgara Sayana’ – rAga dEva gAndhAri.
6 – ankuSa rEkha – This may either refer to the curved lines of the feet of the Lord or the outline(s) (rEkha) of (the Lord's) feet which generally resembles a hook.
10 – sadaya – this may also be attached to the word 'pavanajuDuNDu' to mean 'AnjanEya is there mercifully'.
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