Transliteration Scheme

sItA nAyaka - rAga rIti gauLa

Tamil Version
Language Version

pallavi
sItA nAyaka Srita jana pOshaka
1SrI raghu kula tilaka O rAma

caraNam
caraNam 1
niru-pEda bhaktula karikOta paDa lEka
giri pain(e)kkukoNTivO (SrI vEnkaTa giripai) (sItA)

caraNam 2
angalArpu jUci ranga puramuna
2celangucu paNDitivO (ranga puramuna) (sItA)

caraNam 3
kAcina bhaktula jUci(y)A balinE
yAcinci veDalitivO (A balinE) (sItA)

caraNam 4
3ASa minci ninn(A)Su 4jErer(a)ni
kISula jEritivO (jErerani) (sItA)

caraNam 5
jAlitO vaccu 5kucEluni kani gOpI
cElamul(e)ttitivO (kani gOpI) (sItA)

caraNam 6
6ingitam(e)rigi(y)uppongucu brOcu
bangAru dora(v)aitivO (nannu brOcu) (sItA)

caraNam 7
nI guNamula 7guTTu bAguga telisenu
tyAgarAja vinuta (telisenayya) (sItA)

Meaning - Gist
O Lord SrI rAma - Consort of sItA - the Distinguished One of the dynasty of SrI raghu - who nourishes those dependent! O Lord praised by this tyAgarAja!

1. Did You climb on the vEnkaTa giri unable to bear the torments of very poor devotees?
2. Did You lie down blissfully at SrI rangaM looking at the lamentation of devotees?
3. Did You set out begging that Emperor bali himself looking at those devotees who are waiting on You?
4. Did You join the monkeys because Your devotees reach You very quickly overwhelmed with love towards You?
5. Did You steal the clothes of the gOpIs looking at sudAma who was coming with grief?
6. Did You become that wonderful Lord who protects the (genuine) devotees joyously understanding their intentions or indications? Did you become that wonderful Lord who protects me?
7. The secret of Your qualities have well been exposed.

Word Division - Word-by-word meaning

pallavi
sItA nAyaka Srita jana pOshaka
SrI raghu kula tilaka O rAma

O Lord SrI rAma - Consort (nAyaka) of sItA - the Distinguished One (tilaka) (literally the auspicious mark on forehead) of the dynasty (kula) of SrI raghu - who nourishes (pOshaka) those (jana) dependent (Srita)!

caraNam
caraNam 1
niru-pEda bhaktula karikOta paDa lEka
giri paina-ekkukoNTivO (SrI vEnkaTa giripai) (sItA)

Did You climb (ekkukoNTivO) on the mountain (giri paina) (painekkukoNTivO) unable to bear (paDa lEka) the torments (karikOta) of very poor (niru-pEda) devotees (bhaktula)? (Did you climb up (pai) SrI vEnkaTa giri?)
O Lord SrI rAma - Consort of sItA - the Distinguished One of the dynasty of SrI raghu - who nourishes those dependent!

caraNam 2
angalArpu jUci ranga puramuna
celangucu paNDitivO (ranga puramuna) (sItA)

Did You lie down (paNDitivO) blissfully (celangucu) at SrI rangaM (ranga puramuna) looking (jUci) at the lamentation (angalArpu) of devotees? (Did you lie down blissfully at SrI rangaM (ranga puramuna)?)
O Lord SrI rAma - Consort of sItA - the Distinguished One of the dynasty of SrI raghu - who nourishes those dependent!
caraNam 3
kAcina bhaktula jUci-A balinE
yAcinci veDalitivO (A balinE) (sItA)

Did You set out (veDalitivO) begging (yacinci) that (A) Emperor bali himself (balinE) looking at (jUci) (jUciyA) those devotees (bhaktula) who are waiting (kAcina) on You? (Did You set out begging that (A) Emperor bali himself (balinE)?)
O Lord SrI rAma - Consort of sItA - the Distinguished One of the dynasty of SrI raghu - who nourishes those dependent!
caraNam 4
ASa minci ninnu-ASu jEreru-ani
kISula jEritivO (jErerani) (sItA)

Did You join (jEritivO) the monkeys (kISula) because (ani) Your devotees reach (jEreru) (jErerani) You (ninnu) very quickly (ASu) (ninnASu) overwhelmed (minci) with love (ASa) towards You? (because (ani) your devotees reach (jEreru) (jErerani) you very quickly?)
O Lord SrI rAma - Consort of sItA - the Distinguished One of the dynasty of SrI raghu - who nourishes those dependent!
caraNam 5
jAlitO vaccu kucEluni kani gOpI
cElamulu-ettitivO (kani gOpI) (sItA)

Did You steal (ettitivO) (literally take) the clothes (cElamulu) (cElamulettitivO) of the gOpIs looking (kani) at sudAma (kucEluni) who was coming (vaccu) with grief (jAlitO)? (Did you steal clothes of gOpIs looking (kani) at sudAma?)
O Lord SrI rAma - Consort of sItA - the Distinguished One of the dynasty of SrI raghu - who nourishes those dependent!
caraNam 6
ingitamu-erigi-uppongucu brOcu
bangAru dora-aitivO (nannu brOcu) (sItA)

Did You become (aitivO) that wonderful (bangAru) (literally golden) Lord (dora) (doravaitivO) who protects (brOcu) the (genuine) devotees joyously (uppongucu) understanding (erigi) their intentions or indications (ingitamu) (ingitamerigiyuppongucu)? (Did you become that wonderful Lord who protects (brOcu) me (nannu)?)
O Lord SrI rAma - Consort of sItA - the Distinguished One of the dynasty of SrI raghu - who nourishes those dependent!
caraNam 7
nI guNamula guTTu bAguga telisenu
tyAgarAja vinuta (telisenu-ayya) (sItA)

O Lord praised (vinuta) by this tyAgarAja! The secret (guTTu) of Your (nI) qualities (guNamula) have well (bAguga) been exposed (telisenu) (literally known); (They have been exposed (telisenayya).)
O Lord SrI rAma - Consort of sItA - the Distinguished One of the dynasty of SrI raghu - who nourishes those dependent!

Notes

Variations - (Pathanthara)
1 – SrI raghu kula tilaka O rAma - SrI raghu kula tilaka
2 – celangucu – celangaga : celangucu - seems to be more appropriate.
3 – ASa – Asa : Though both ‘Asa’ and ‘ASa’ are correct, from prAsa-anuprAsa point of view, ‘ASa’ seems to be appropriate.

General – The repeated portion in each caraNa is not uniformly given in all the books. In some books, repetition is not at all given. Here, the version given in the book of TSV/AKG has been adopted.

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References
4 – jErerani – SrImad-vAlmIki rAmAyaNa, AyOdhyA kANDa, Chapter 117, Verses 1 – 4 (regarding SrI rAma leaving citrakUTa) refers –
“Thereafter, when the sages departed, Rama, reflecting again and again, found no pleasure to remain in that place for many reasons. It is here that Bharata, my mother along with the inhabitants of the city visited me. That memory haunts me, who lament for them daily. The dry dung of horses and elephants of that high souled Bharata's encamped army caused much spoliation (around here). ‘We shall, therefore, move elsewhere’, pondering thus, Rama along with Seetha and Lakshmana left that place.”

(SrI tyAgarAja jokingly states that SrI rAma left for daNDakAraNya in order to be away from human habitation so that his devotees would be deterred from reaching Him.)

5 – kucEla – The real name is ‘sudAma’, though popularly he is called kucEla because he was very poor wearing tattered garments (ku-cEla). This story appears in SrImad bhAgavataM – Book 10, Chapters 80 and 81. Gist of the story of sudAma (If the site does not open then go to http://www.urday.com and search 'Sudama'.)

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Comments
6 – ingitamerigi – One of the best examples is that of Lord coming to the rescue of draupadi when she was being disrobed in the assembly of kauravas in the presence of everyone.

7 – guTTu telisenayya – secret has been exposed. The purport seems to refer to the declaration of the Lord in SrImad-bhagavad-gItA –

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)

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