pAvanamagu nI pAda bhajanamu sEyuTakaina
dOva¹ lEbaramainadi dEvarayindu nEn(E)
pAvanamagu → HolynI → YourpAda → feetbhajanamu-sEyuTaku-aina → for chanting of glorydOva → pathlEbaramu-ainadi → become nil - zerodEvara → Lord-indu → in these nEn(E)
O Lord! Paths for chanting the glory of Your Holy Feet has become nil; what boon shall I ask of You in these?
Charanams Combined
zrI raghuvara sakalAdhAra nI manasuna
kOrina panulanu pada sArasamula² nA
manasAraga viDavananE sAratara³ vairAgyamu
sAreku satata gati kumAruni pAlainadi⁴ (E)
zrI raghuvara sakala → everything-AdhAra → substratumnI → yourmanasuna → in the mindkOrina → desiredpanulanu → taskspada → feetsArasamula → lotusesnA → mymanasAraga → on my own accord - whole-heartedlyviDavanu → shallt not forsake - leave-anE → thatsAratara → bestvairAgyamu → resolve - indifference to Worldly objectssAreku → eversatata-gati-kumAruni → Anjaneya - son of Wind - ever movingpAlainadi → has become that of (E)
O Lord Sri Raghuvara! O Substratum of all! the best resolve that - ‘I shall never forsake, on my own accord, the privilege of carrying out the tasks desired in Your mind, and also (the privilege of holding) the Lotus of Your Holy Feet’, has for ever become that of Anjaneya – Son of Wind God – ever moving.
nIla ghanAbha sadA kAlamu nI bhaktula
jAlamulanu kani paripAlana jEyucu
nIv⁵OlikagA jUcE mEluna kala saukhyamu
bAluDagu ripughnuni pAlaiyuNDaga⁴ ninn(E)
nIla → dark-blueghana → cloud-Abha → splendoursadA-kAlamu → always - evernI → yourbhaktula → of devoteesjAlamulanu → problems - distresskani → lookingparipAlana-jEyucu → while governingnIvu → You-OlikagA → secretlyjUcE → watchingmEluna → in the fortunekala → existingsaukhyamu → comfortbAluDagu → who is youngsterripughnuni → of SatrughnapAlaiyuNDaga → having become that ofninnu → You-(E)
O Lord with a splendour of dark-blue cloud! The comfort existing in the fortune of You observing secretly, while ever being engaged in the task governing Your devotees, by finding out their problems, having become that of the Youngster Satrughna, what boon shall I ask of You?
nI mahimala vinagA nAmamunu talacagA
bhUmini pada rEkhalanEmarakanu kanagA
tAmarasa nayana guNa dhAma manasu karagE
prEma rasamu bharata svAmi pAlaiyuNDaga⁴ (E)
nI → Yourmahimala → greatnessvinagA → while hearingnAmamunu → Your nametalacagA → while rememberingbhUmini → on the Earthpada → feetrEkhalanu → prints - marks-Emarakanu → unfailinglykanagA → while lookingtAmarasa → lotusnayana → eyedguNa → virtuesdhAma → abodemanasu → mind - heartkaragE → meltingprEma → loverasamu → nectar - juicebharata → BharatasvAmi → great devoteepAlaiyuNDaga → having become that of (E)
The privilege of drinking the nectar of Love which makes one’s heart melt obtained while –(a) hearing Your greatness, (b) remembering Your names, and (c) unfailingly beholding Your Foot prints on the Earth as You walk, O Lotus Eyed! O Abode of virtues! having become that of Your great devotee Bharata, what boon shall I ask of You?
The fortune of rendering service to You, which relieves hunger and sleep, by always adhering to bent of Your mind, without committing any mistakes, has become that of Lakshmana – Son of Sumitra - the expert in decoration; therefore, what boon shall I ask of You?
zrI hari bharita zara samUha sadA ninu hRd-
gEhamunanu kani dur-dAhamulanu rOsi
vivAhanuDu⁷ nIvanu mOhambunanu maraci
sOhamanu sukhamu vaidEhi pAlaiyuNDaga⁴ (E)
zrI hari bharita → largezara → arrowsamUha → collectionsadA → alwaysninu → YouhRd → heart-gEhamunanu → in the abodekani → beholdingdur-dAhamulanu → evilsome desiresrOsi → rejectingvivAhanuDu → married - to hernIvu-anu → that You aremOhambunanu → possessiveness - infatuationmaraci → forgettingsOham-anu → of being absorbed - 'I am He'sukhamu → bliss - comfortvaidEhi → SitapAlaiyuNDaga → having become that of (E)
O Lord Sri Hari! O Lord having large collection of arrows! The bliss of being absorbed in You by (a) ever beholding You in the abode of one’s heart, (b) rejecting all the evilsome thirsts and (c) even forgetting the possessiveness that You are married (to her), having become that of Sita, what boon shall I ask of You?
I jagatini kala sukha rAjini mari nirjara
rAja padambula nEnI janmamunaDuganu
rAja vadana zrI tyAgarAjuni madikeppuDu
rAja⁸ pathamulaitE jayamau kAni (E)
I → thisjagatini → in the Worldkala → found - existingsukha-rAjini → enjoymentsmari → ornirjara-rAja → Indra - Lord of celestials - non-ageingpadambula → status - positionnEnu → I-I → thisjanmamunu → in the life - birth-aDuganu → shall not beseechrAja → moonvadana → faced zrI tyAgarAjuni → of Thyagarajamadiki → to the mind-eppuDu → alwaysrAja → royalpathamulu → path - paths-aitE → ifjayamau → it will be successkAni → only (E)
O Moon Faced! In this life I shall not beseech You for - either the enjoyments found in this World or even the status of Indra – king of non-ageing; to the mind of this Thyagaraja, it will be success only if it is Royal path (that of devotion to Your Lotus Feet); therefore, what boon shall I ask of You?
Renditions
Variations
1dOva lEbaramainadi – dOvalE paramainadi : dOva lEbaramainadi
- is appropriate
2sArasamula – sAramula : sArasamula
- is appropriate.
4‘pAlaiyuNDaga’, ‘pAlainadi’, ‘ninnu’
- are not given uniformly in all the books.
5OlikagA – pOlikagA : OlikagA
- is appropriate.
6alaGkAriyagu – alamu kAryamu : alamu kAryamu
- does not convey any sense.
Commentary
‘‘‘Gist’’’ - The personsages – Anjaneya, Satrughna, Bharata, Lakshmana, Sita - all of them have been bestowed with boons which I could ask of You. They are not going leave their privileges. These boons indeed are the royal paths of worshipping Your holy feet, which this Thyagaraja would always adopt. Therefore, I am at loss to understand as to what other boons shall I ask You. Worldly enjoyments, nay even the position of Indra, are of no interest to me.
1dOva lEbaramainadi
- (path is non-existent – there are no paths) – All the possible methods (paths) – as described in C1 to C5 have been appropriated by others; therefore, Sri Thyagaraja wonders as to what other boon he can ask – this has been made clear in C6.
3sAratara
– this can be taken as an epithet of Lord also. In that case, it will mean ‘O Excellent Lord!’.
7vivAhanuDu
– Sri Thyagaraja states that though Sita is married to Sri Rama, she has rejected even the conjugal rights in order to enjoy the bliss of being One with the Lord (sOhaM
) and seeing Him in her inner recess rather than outside. Indeed, she is no longer the spouse of Sri Rama – but a devotee. Therefore, the place that Sri Thyagaraja accords to Bhakti is so tall that it diminishes even the role of consort of the Lord.
8rAja pathamulu
– Elsewhere in the Kriti ‘cakkani rAjamArgamu
’, Sri Thyagaraja states that when the royal road of devotion is spread before him, why should he follow any short cuts.