Word Division - Word-by-word meaning
pallavi
SrI rAma raghu rAma SRngAra rAma-ani
cintimpa rAdE O manasA
O My Mind (manasA)! Won't You (rAdE) meditate (cintimpa) as (ani) ‘SrI rAma, raghu rAma, SRngAra (literally charming) rAma’ (rAmayani)?
caraNam
caraNam 1
taLuku cekkula muddu peTTa kausalya munu
tapamu-Emi jEsenO (kausalya
tapamu-Emi jEsenO) teliya (SrI)
Who knows (teliya) as to what (Emi) penances (tapamu) (tapamEmi) did kausalya perform (jEsenO) earlier (munu) to kiss (muddu peTTa) the Lord on His gleaming (taLukku) cheeks (cekkula)!
(who knows what penances did kausalya perform!)
O My Mind! Won't You meditate as ‘SrI rAma, raghu rAma, SRngAra rAma’?
caraNam 2
daSarathuDu SrI rAma rArA-ani pilva munu
tapamu-Emi jEsenO (daSarathuDu
tapamu-Emi jEsenO) teliya (SrI)
Who knows (teliya) as to what (Emi) penances (tapamu) (tapamEmi) did daSaratha (daSarathuDu) perform (jEsenO) earlier (munu) in order to addreess (pilva) the Lord as (ani) ‘O SrI rAma, come here (rArA)’ (rArAyani)!
(who knows what penances did daSaratha perform!)
O My Mind! Won't You meditate as ‘SrI rAma, raghu rAma, SRngAra rAma’?
caraNam 3
tanivi-Ara paricarya sEya saumitri munu
tapamu-Emi jEsenO (saumitri
tapamu-Emi jEsenO) teliya (SrI)
Who knows (teliya) as to what (Emi) penances (tapamu) (tapamEmi) did lakshmaNa – son of sumitrA (saumitri) perform (jEsenO) earlier (munu) in order to undertake (sEya) service (paricarya) of the Lord to his (lakshmaNa’s) heart’s content (tanivi Ara) (tanivAra)!
(who knows what penances did lakshmaNa perform!)
O My Mind! Won't You meditate as ‘SrI rAma, raghu rAma, SRngAra rAma’?
caraNam 4
tana veNTa cana jUci-upponga kauSikuDu
tapamu-Emi jEsenO (kauSikuDu
tapamu-Emi jEsenO) teliya (SrI)
Who knows (teliya) as to what (Emi) penances (tapamu) (tapamEmi) did sage viSvAmitra (kauSikuDu) perform (jEsenO) in order to exult (upponga) beholding (jUci) (jUciyupponga) the Lord following (veNTa cana) him (tana)!
(who knows what penances did sage viSvAmitra perform!)
O My Mind! Won't You meditate as ‘SrI rAma, raghu rAma, SRngAra rAma’?
caraNam 5
tApambu-aNagi rUpavati-auTaku-ahalya
tapamu-Emi jEsenO (ahalya
tapamu-Emi jEsenO) teliya (SrI)
Who knows (teliya) as to what (Emi) penances (tapamu) (tapamEmi) did ahalyA (ahalya) perform (jEsenO) in order to become (auTaku) a beautiful woman (rUpavati) (rUpavatiyauTakahalya) again, relieved (aNagi) of her distress (tApambu) (tApambaNagi)!
(who knows what penances did ahalyA perform!)
O My Mind! Won't You meditate as ‘SrI rAma, raghu rAma, SRngAra rAma’?
caraNam 6
dharmAtma caraNambu sOka Siva cApambu
tapamu-Emi jEsenO (cApambu
tapamu-Emi jEsenO) teliya (SrI)
Who knows (teliya) as to what (Emi) penances (tapamu) (tapamEmi) did the bow (cApambu) of Lord Siva perform (jEsenO) in order to touch (sOka) the holy feet (caraNambu) of the Lord – the Embodiment of Righteousness (dharmAtma)!
(who knows what penances did the bow perform!)
O My Mind! Won't You meditate as ‘SrI rAma, raghu rAma, SRngAra rAma’?
caraNam 7
tana tanayanu-osagi kanulAra kana janakuNDu
tapamu-Emi jEsenO (janakuNDu
tapamu-Emi jEsenO) teliya (SrI)
Who knows (teliya) as to what (Emi) penances (tapamu) (tapamEmi) did king janaka (janakuDu) perform (jEsenO) in order to behold (kana) the Lord to the satiation of his eyes (kanulAra) by offering (osagi) his (tana) daughter (tanayani) (tanayanosagi) to the Lord as wife!
(who knows what penances did king janaka perform!)
O My Mind! Won't You meditate as ‘SrI rAma, raghu rAma, SRngAra rAma’?
caraNam 8
daharambu karaga karamunu paTTa jAnaki
tapamu-Emi jEsenO (jAnaki
tapamu-Emi jEsenO) teliya (SrI)
Who knows (teliya) as to what (Emi) penances (tapamu) (tapamEmi) did sItA (jAnaki) perform (jEsenO) in order to hold (paTTa) the hand (karamunu) of the Lord as her heart (daharambu) melted away (karaga) in bliss!
(who knows what penances did sItA perform!)
O My Mind! Won't You meditate as ‘SrI rAma, raghu rAma, SRngAra rAma’?
caraNam 9
tyAgarAja-Apta-ani pogaDa nArada mauni
tapamu-Emi jEsenO (A mauni
tapamu-Emi jEsenO) teliya (SrI)
Who knows (teliya) as to what (Emi) penances (tapamu) (tapamEmi) did the sage (mauni) nArada perform (jEsenO) in order to extol (pogaDa) the Lord as (ani) the benefactor (Apta) of this tyAgarAja (tyAgarAjAptayani)!
(who knows what penances that (A) sage did perform!)
O My Mind! Won't You meditate as ‘SrI rAma, raghu rAma, SRngAra rAma’?
Notes
Variations - (Pathanthara)
There is no uniformity in the books in regard to word ‘munu’ appearing in caraNams. Therefore, the version given in the book 'Compositions of Tyagaraja' by Sri TK Govinda Rao has been adopted.
The repetition of part of each caraNa is not uniform in all the books. Therefore, the version given in the ibid book has been adopted.
‘teliya’ appearing in the caraNams is not uniformly given in the books. The version given in the ibid book has been adopted.
1 – raghu rAma – jaya rAma
2 – cintimpa – cintinca.
3 – peTTa – peTTu. Considering the similar usages in other caraNams, ‘pilva’, ‘sEya’, ‘upponga’, ‘sOka’, ‘kana’, this also should be ‘peTTa’ and not ‘peTTu’. However, if 'peTTu' is correct, then it will be translated as ' Who knows as to what penances kausalya, who kisses the Lord on His gleaming cheeks, did perform!'
5 – tanivAra – tanitapara. 'tanitapara' does not seem to be correct as no such word could be located in the dictionary.
6 – dharmAtma – dharmAtmu.
7 – Siva – Sivu.
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References
Comments
2 – cintimpa rAdE – In all the books, this has been translated as ‘won’t You meditate’. However, taking into account the examples given in the caraNas, one has to perform a lot of penances in order to behold the Lord; it would not happen just by simply thinking of Him. Therefore, in my humble opinion, the word ‘rAdE’ would take the meaning ‘impossible’ (impossible to think or comprehend). However, in keeping with the traditional meaning as given in the books, the same has been adopted.
4 – rArA – this is how parents call their child (male). It cannot be suitably translated in English.
5 – tanivAra – As per telugu Dictionary, the correct usage is ‘tanivi tIra’. However, ‘tIru’ and ‘Aru’ have similar meanings.
8 – tyAgarAja Apta – In one book, ‘tyAgarAja’ has been attributed to Lord Siva.
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