rAma rAma gOvinda

saurASTra Adi tyAgarAja telugu kRti

Sahityam

rAma rAma gOvinda nanu¹ rakSiJcu mukunda

O Lord Rama! O Lord Rama! O Lord Govinda! Please protect me, O Lord Mukunda!

kali yuga manujulu nIku mahAtmyamu²
kaladu lEdanE kAlamAyegA (rAma)

Aren’t the times such that people of this Kali age doubt (or question) whether You have any greatness or not?

kAmuni dAsulu nA palukula vini
kAvalasinaTulanADanAye kadA (rAma)

Isn’t it that the slaves to lust, even after listening to my words, happen to speak as suited to their whims?

pAmarulanu kani siggu paDucu mari
mOmu marugu jEsi tiruganAyenu (rAma)

Isn’t it that seeing the wicked, one has to go about feeling ashamed and also covering one’s face (to avoid them)?

krovvu gala narula koniyADaga ciru³
navvulatO nanu jUDanAye⁴ kadA (rAma)

Isn’t that because I extolled head-strong people, they happen to look at me with a derisive smile?

mati hInulu zrI pati dAsulakI
gati rArAdani palkanAye kadA (rAma)

Isn’t it that idiots happen to sneer that such a (pitiable) condition should not have come about to the devotees of Vishnu – Consort of Lakshmi?

namminADanE pErukaina nI
tammunitOnaina palkavaitivi⁵ (rAma)

Considering that I trusted You, You wouldn’t put a word at least to Lakshmana – your brother – even for a formality (to look after me)!

kAryAkAryamu⁶ samamAyenu nI
zauryamendu dAcukoNTivayyO (rAma)

Righteous actions and forbidden actions happen to be on same footing; Alas! where have You concealed Your heroism?

rAka⁷ rAka bratukiTlAyenu⁸ zrI
tyAgarAja nuta taruNamu kAdu (rAma)

O Lord praised by this Thyagaraja! Gradually, the state of affairs happen to come to such a pause; this is not appropriate time (to neglect me).

¹ nanu rakSiJcu – rakSiJcu
Charana 1 is given as Anupallavi in some books.
² mahAtmyamu – mAhAtmyamu . In Sanskrit, ‘mAhAtmya ’ is the appropriate word; as per Telugu Dictionary ‘mahAtmyamu ’ is a correct word.
⁵ palkavaitivi – palkanaitivi : palkavitivi - is appropriate.
⁷ rAka rAka - rAga rAga

⁶ kArya akArya – In this regard the following verse from Srimad- Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 16 –

³ ciru navvulatO – Here it means derisive nature of smile.
⁴ jUDanAye – From the flow of the wordings, this has been applied to ‘head-strong people’; however, this may be applied to Lord also – that ’the Lord looks at Sri Thyagaraja derisively’.
⁸ bratuku iTlAyenu – the state of affairs has come to such a pause – what Sri Thyagaraja brought out in the earlier Charanas.