karuNa yElAgAnTE
Sahityam
Pallavi
karuNayElAgaNTEnI vidhamE
kalyANa sundara rAma
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kalyANa sundara rAma
O Most auspicious and Handsome Lord Sri Rama! To the question as to what is the sign of grace of the Lord, I answer that it is in this manner.
Anupallavi
paramAtmuDu¹ jIvAtmuDu okaDai
paragucuNDu bhakta parAdhInuni (karuNa)
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paragucuNDu bhakta parAdhInuni (karuNa)
To the question as to what is the sign of grace of the Lord who is ever engaged in the welfare of His devotees in whom (devotee) both Supreme Lord and the Indwelling Lord are effulgent by becoming one, I answer that it is in this manner.
Charanams Combined
anRtambADaDu alpula vEDaDu
su-nRpula koluvaDu sUryuni² maravaDu (karuNa)
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su-nRpula koluvaDu sUryuni² maravaDu (karuNa)
To the question as to what is the sign of grace of the Lord, I answer that it is in this manner – he (devotee) would – (a) not utter falsehood; (b) not beseech petty minded; (c) not serve even benevolent kings; and (d) not forget the worship of Sun.
mAmsamu muTTaDu madhuvunu trAgaDu
para-himsala sEyaDu erukanu maravaDu (karuNa)
\t
Show Word Meanings
para-himsala sEyaDu erukanu maravaDu (karuNa)
\t
To the question as to what is the sign of grace of the Lord, I answer that it is in this manner – he (devotee) would – (a) not touch meat; (b) not drink any intoxicants; (c) not cause injury to others; and (d) not forget what he has learnt.
mUDISaNamula³ vADaDu jIvan⁴-
muktuDai tirugu mudamunu jUpaDu (karuNa)
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muktuDai tirugu mudamunu jUpaDu (karuNa)
To the question as to what is the sign of grace of the Lord, I answer that it is in this manner – he (devotee) would – (a) not use or enjoy the three kinds of desires - wife, children and wealth -; and (b) not show the delight of wandering as living free.
vaJcana sEyaDu varulatO⁵ boGkaDu
caJcala cittuDai saukhyamu viDuvaDu (karuNa)
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caJcala cittuDai saukhyamu viDuvaDu (karuNa)
To the question as to what is the sign of grace of the Lord, I answer that it is in this manner – he (devotee) would – (a) not deceive anyone; (b) not utter falsehood with blessed or pious people (or) with others; (c) not abandon the comfort (or) truth by becoming wavering minded.
To the question as to what is the sign of grace of the Lord – the Lotus eyed who is the protector of this Thyagaraja - I answer that it is in this manner – understanding that the Lord is always a witness to one’s actions, he (devotee) would not deviate from the aim of attaining it.
Variations
- 5 varulatO – parulatO
References
- 4 jIvan muktuDai tirugu – The state of a Jeevan Mukta is defined by Adi Sankaracharya in his jIvanmuktAnanda lahari
- 6
sAkSiyani telisi
– Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter 13, verse 22 is relevant –
- “And the Supreme Purusha in this body is also called the Looker-on, the Permitter, the Supporter, the Experiencer, the Great Lord, and the Highest Self.” (Translation by Swami Swarupananda)
Commentary
- 1 paramAtmuDu jIvAtmuDu okaDai – The state of Jeevanmukta as brought in Charana 3.
- 2 sUryuni maravaDu – Sun or savitR has a most distinguished place in the Vedas. As Sun is the most apparent cause of generation, sustenance and destruction of all living organisms, Sri Thyagaraja might have singled out Sun as not to be forgotten; alternatively, this may refer to Nitya karma - daily oblations.
- 3 mUDISaNamu vADaDu – The saint Arunagiri Nathar in his Thiruppugazh calls it as ‘mUvAsai ’.
- 6 sAkSiyani telisi – This can be applied to both Lord and the devotee. However, in view of the subsequent statement ‘lakSyamu viDuvaDu ’, it seems that this is to be applied only to the Lord.
- 7 andu – This word has two different meanings – (1) in (2) attaining; in the present context, ‘in’ does not seem to make any sense. Therefore, the other meaning ‘attaining’ has been adopted.