Tyagaraja Kriti

Meaning - Gist
O Lord!

How does it matter if people have family, while Lord kRshNa –

adorned with peacock feather on the crest,
enemy of kaMsa,
essence-embodied,
found in Agamas, and
praised by this tyAgarAja,

is before them?

How does it matter, if those,

who at all times trust the Lord, by singing His praises,

abhorring cruelty etc., and
associating with Self-realised people,

have family?

How does it matter, if those,

who wander in such a jungle of Worldly Existence, which is devoid of true knowledge and indifference to Worldly objects,

endowed with yOga and meditation, and
by always chanting Your names,

become relinquishers of the fruits of various actions,

have family?

How does it matter, if those,

who, ever, whole-heartedly, worship the Feet-Lotus of the Lord,

rebuking cruel thoughts from the mind, and
engaging their wife and children in the service of the Lord,

have family?

How does it matter, if those,

who totally trust the Lord,

associating with bhAgavatas,
surrendering enjoyments etc., to Lord hari Himself, and
singing glory of the Lord in the best rAgas, accompanied by vINA music,

have family?

Word Division - Word-by-word meaning

pallavi
saMsArulu-aitE-Emi-ayyA Sikhi
pincha-avataMsuDu-eduTa-uNDaga

O Lord (ayyA)! How does it matter (Emi) if (aitE) people have family (saMsArulu) (saMsArulaitEnEmayyA),
while Lord kRshNa – adorned with peacock (Sikhi) feather (pincha) on the crest (avataMsuDu) – is (uNDaga) before (eduTanu) them (pinchAvataMsuDeduTanuNDaga)?

anupallavi
hiMsa-Adula-ella rOsi haMsAdula kUDi
praSaMsa jEyucunu-E proddu
kaMsa-arini nammuvAru (saM)

How does it matter, if those,
who at all (E) times (proddu) trust (nammuvAru) Lord kRshNa – enemy (ari) of kaMsa (kaMsArini), by singing His praises (praSaMsa jEyucunu) (jEyucunE),
abhorring (rOsi) cruelty (hiMsa) etc. (Adula ella) (hiMsAdulella), and
associating (kUDi) with Self-realised people (haMsAdula),
have family?

caraNam
caraNam 1
jnAna vairAgyamulu hInamu-aina-aTTi bhava
kAnanamuna tirugu mAnavulu sadA
dhyAna yOga yutulai nI nAmamu palkucu
nAnA karma phalamu dAnamu sEyuvAru (saM)

How does it matter, if those (mAnavulu),
who wander (tirugu) in such (aTTi) a jungle (kAnanamuna) of Worldly Existence (bhava) which is devoid of (hInamu aina) (hInamaina) (hInamainaTTi) true knowledge (jnAna) and indifference to Worldly objects (vairAgyamulu),
endowed with (yutulai) yOga and meditation (dhyAna), and
always (sadA) chanting (palkucu) Your (nI) names (nAmamu),
become relinquishers (dAnamu sEyuvAru) of the fruits (phalamu) of various (nAnA) actions (karma),
have family?

caraNam 2
krUrapu yOcanalu dUru jEsi tana
dAra putrula paricArakula jEsi
sAra rUpuni pAda sArasa yugamula
sAre-sAreku manasAra pUjincuvAru (saM)

How does it matter, if those,
who, ever (sAre-sAreku), whole-heartedly (manasAra), worship (pUjincuvAru) the Feet (pada yugamula) Lotus (sArasa) of essence (sAra) embodied (rUpuni) Lord,
rebuking (dUru jEsi) cruel (krUrapu) thoughts (yOcanalu) from the mind, and
engaging (jEsi) their (tana) wife (dAra) and children (putrula) in the service (paricArakula) (literally servants) of the Lord,
have family?

caraNam 3
bhAgavatula kUDi bhOgamulu-ella
harikE kAvimpucunu vINA gAnamulatO
Agama caruni SrI rAgamuna pADucu
tyAgarAja nutuni bAguga nammuvAru (saM)

How does it matter, if those,
who totally (bAguga) (literally nicely) trust (nammuvAru) the Lord praised (nutuni) by this tyAgarAja,
associating (kUDi) with bhAgavatas (bhAgavatula),
surrendering (kAvimpucunu) (literally make over) enjoyments (bhOgamulu) etc. (ella) (bhOgamulella) to Lord hari Himself (harikE), and
singing (pADucu) the glory of Lord – found (caruni) in Agamas – in the best (SrI) rAgas (rAgamuna) accompanied by vINA music (gAnamulatO),
have family?

Notes

Variations - (Pathanthara)
² – mAnavulu – yOga yutulai : mAnavuDu - yOga yutuDai. As the whole kriti is in plural form, ‘mAnavulu’ – ‘yOga yutulai’ seems to be appropriate.

⁴ – SrI rAgamuna – rAgamuna.
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References
¹ – haMsa – Another form of ‘ahaMsa’ – ‘I am that’ wherein ‘that’ refers to paramAtmA. Please refer to kRti of sadASiva brahmEndra – ‘khElati piNDANDE’ wherein he mentions ‘haMsas-sOhaM sOhaM-haMsamiti’.

³ - karma phalamu dAnamu sEyuvAru – relinquishers of fruits of actions - In this regard, the following verse from SrImad bhagavat gItA, Chapter 5 is relevant –

yuktaH karma phalaM tyaktvA SAntim-ApnOti naishThikIM |
ayuktaH kAma kArENa phale saktO nibadhyatE || 12 ||

"The well-poised, forsaking the fruit of action, attains peace, born of steadfastness; the unbalanced one, led by desire, is bound by being attached to the fruit (of action)." (Translation by Swami Swarupananda)
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Comments
² – dhyAna yOga – this has been taken as ‘dhyAna’ and ‘yOga’. However, it may also be taken as ‘dhyAna yOga’.

⁴ – SrI rAgamuna - In some books, this has been taken as the specific rAga – ‘SrI rAga’; however, even the current kRti is not in that rAga. Therefore, experts may comment whether the word refers to a specific rAga.
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saMsArulaitE - rAga sAvEri