Transliteration Scheme

sAmaja vara gamana - rAga hindOLaM

Tamil Version
Language Version

pallavi
sAmaja vara gamana sAdhu hRt-
sAras(A)bja pAla kAl(A)tIta vikhyAta

anupallavi
1sAma nigamaja sudhA maya gAna vicakshaNa
guNa SIla day(A)lavAla mAM pAlaya (sAmaja)

caraNam
2vEda SirO mAtRja sapta svara
3nAd(A)cala dIpa svIkRta
yAdava kula muraLI vAdana
vinOda 4mOhana kara tyAgarAja vandanIya (sAmaja)


Meaning - Gist
O Lord whose stately gait is like that of an elephant! O Protector of the Lotus of heart of pious people! (Or O Sun that blossoms the Lotus in the lake called heart of pious people)! O Lord who is beyond Time! O Celebrated One!
O Lord who is adept in the nectarine music - born of sAma vEda! O Lord who is virtuous by nature! O Ocean of mercy!
O Splendrous lamp on the mountain called the nAda consisting of the seven svaras born of nAdOMkAra! O Lord who incarnated in the race of yadu! O Player of flute! O sportive enchanter! O Lord worshipped by this tyAgarAja!
Please protect me.

Word Division - Word-by-word meaning

pallavi
sAmaja vara gamana sAdhu hRt-
sArasa-abja pAla kAla-atIta vikhyAta

O Lord whose stately (vara) (literally blessed) gait (gamana) is like that of an elephant (sAmaja)!
O Protector (pAla) of the Lotus – born of water (abja) of lake (sArasa) (sArasAbja) - of heart (hRt) of pious people (sAdhu) (Or O Sun that blossoms the Lotus in the lake called heart of pious people)!
O Lord who is beyond (atIta) Time (kAla) (kAlAtIta)! O Celebrated (vikhyAta) One!


anupallavi
sAma nigamaja sudhA maya gAna vicakshaNa
guNa SIla dayA-AlavAla mAM pAlaya (sAmaja)

O Lord who is adept (vicakshaNa) in the nectarine (sudhA maya) music (gAna) - born of sAma vEda (nigamaja)!
O Lord who is virtuous by nature (guNa SIla)! O Ocean (AlavAla) of mercy (dayA) (dayAlavAla)! Please protect (pAlaya) me (mAM).


caraNam
vEda SirO mAtRja sapta svara
nAda-acala dIpa svIkRta
yAdava kula muraLI vAdana
vinOda mOhana kara tyAgarAja vandanIya (sAmaja)

O Splendrous lamp (dIpa) on the mountain (acala) called the nAda consisting of the seven (sapta) svaras born of nAdOMkAra – mother (mAtRja) of head (SirO) of vEdas!
O Lord who incarnated (svIkRta) (literally appropriate) in the race (kula) of yadu (yAdava)! O Player (vAdana) of flute (muraLI)! O sportive (vinOda) enchanter (mOhana kara)! O Lord worshipped (vandanIya) by this tyAgarAja!


Notes

Variations - (Pathanthara)
4mOhana kara –mOhanAkAra.

References
1sAma nigamaja - SrI tyAgarAja says that music (gAna) was born from sAma vEda. According to ‘karnAtaka sangIta SAstra’ by SrI AS Panchapakesa Iyer, while Rk and yajur vEdas contain only three svara, sAma vEda contains all the sapta svara.

“Poetry is the essence of Speech; Music is the essence of Poetry; The Udgita of Sama Veda embodied by the Pranava is the essence of Music; Thus, this Omkaara (Pranava Nada) is the utmost, the most valuble , the final essence of all essences.” For more information on Sama Veda and its Connection to Music
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Comments
2vEda SirO – SrI tyAgarAja says that sapta svara were born from vEda Siras (vEda SirO). The following are some of the other statements of SrI tyAgarAja on the subject.

  1. In the kRti ‘O rAma rAma sarvOnnata’, - ‘vEda Siras’ has been used (vEda Siramulella nIvE daivamani) which tends to mean ‘upanishads’.
  2. In the kRti ‘sogasugA mRdanga’, ‘nigama Siras’ has been used (nigama SirOrthamu galgina nija vAkkulatO) which also seems to mean ‘upanishads’.
According to an article Upanishads are considered as 'Head of Veda'

In regard to sapta-svara, the following are some other statements -
  1. In the kRti ‘vidulaku mrokkeda’, ‘Sankara kRta sAma nigama’ means ‘sAma vEda created by Lord Siva’; and also ‘nAdAtmaka sapta svara’ to mean ‘the sapta svara are the core of nAda’.
  2. In the kRti ‘nAda tanumaniSaM’, it is stated that ‘nAda is the essence of sAma vEda – the highest of all vEdas’ (nigamOttama sAma vEda sAraM).
  3. In the kRti ‘rAga sudha rasa’, it is stated that nAdOMkAra is of the nature of sadASiva - ‘sadASiva mayamagu nAdOMkAra svara vidulu’.
  4. In the kRti ‘mOkshamu galadA’, it is stated that – the sapta svara comes out of praNava nAda – same as nAdOMkAra – (prANAnala samyOgamu valla praNava nAdamu sapta svaramulai paraga).
  5. In the kRti ‘SObhillu sapta svara’, it is stated ‘Rk sAmAdulalO vara gAyatrI hRdayamuna’ - ‘sapta svara is resplendent in the Rk, sAma and other vEdas and in the heart of gAyatrI’.
‘vEda Siras’ or ‘nigama Siras’ means ‘upanishad’; therefore, ‘mother of vEda Siras’ (vEda SirO mAtR) – would mean gAyatrI - Gayatri - Mother of Vedas

According to SrI tyAgarAja sapta-svara were ‘born of mother of vEda Siras’ (vEda SirO mAtRja). As everywhere SrI tyAgarAja states that sapta-svara were born of praNava or nAdOMkAra, ‘mother of vEda Siras’ would mean ‘praNava’ or ‘nAdOMkAra’ and not gAyatrI, because ‘gAyatrI’ itself is the elaboration of ‘praNava’. Therefore, ‘vEda Siras’ may mean ‘gAyatrI’ and not ‘upanishads’.

Alternatively, praNava (OMkAra) and gAyatrI should be considered as synonyms.

SrI tyAgarAja is a nAdOpAsaka. Therefore, anyone who is not a nAdOpAsaka would not be able to comprehend the truth behind the statements of SrI tyAgarAja only through intellectual gymnastics. Therefore, I leave it to the readers to reach their own conclusions.

3acala dIpa – In tamizh it is called ‘kunRin mEliTTa viLakku’ குன்றின் மேலிட்ட விளக்கு.
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