ramA ramaNa
Sahityam
Pallavi
ramA ramaNa rArA¹ O
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O Beloved of Lakshmi! Please come.
Charanam 1
samAnamevaru vinumA nA manavini
tamAsu² pogaDa taramAahi patikini (ramA)
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tamAsu² pogaDa taramAahi patikini (ramA)
Who is equal to You? Please listen to my prayer; is it possible even for Sesha – the King of serpents – to sing praises of Your glory?
Charanam 2
budhAdyavana dazarathArbhaka manO-
rathambosagu suma rathArha sad-guNa (ramA)
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rathambosagu suma rathArha sad-guNa (ramA)
O Protector of wise and others! O child of King Dasaratha! You are indeed worthy of the aerial Pushpaka car which bestows one’s wishes; O Lord of virtues!
Charanam 3
kalArtha³ bhUSa sakalArtha zaza dhara
kalA dhara nuta vikalArti saMhAra⁴ (ramA)
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kalA dhara nuta vikalArti saMhAra⁴ (ramA)
O Lord who is adorned with all arts and their meanings (or opulence)! O Real Meaning of everything! O Lord praised by Lord Siva – One who wears the digit of moon – bearer of hare-marks! O Lord who relieves the distress of destitutes!
Charanam 4
raNAdhi zUra zaraNAgata tvac-
caraNaM⁵ bhava tAraNambu cEsunu (ramA)
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caraNaM⁵ bhava tAraNambu cEsunu (ramA)
O Great Hero of the battle! Your holy feet will ferry those who have sought Your refuge across the Ocean of Worldy Existence.
Charanam 5
mukhAbjamunu zata mukhAri jUpu
samukhAna kolutu durmukhAsura haraNa (ramA)
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samukhAna kolutu durmukhAsura haraNa (ramA)
O Enemy of Ravana – multi headed! Please show me Your Lotus face; I shall serve at Your Holy presence; O Slayer of demon Durmukha!
Charanam 6
birAna brOvaga rAdA zrImad-aga
rAja dhara tyAgarAja sannuta (ramA)
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rAja dhara tyAgarAja sannuta (ramA)
Can’t You protect me quickly? O Lord who bore the mandara – the blessed king of mountains! O Lord well-praised by this Thyagaraja!
Renditions
Variations
- Order of Charanams are not uniform in all the books.
- 1 ramA ramaNa rArA – these words are found repeated in some books.
- 2 tamAsu - tamAmu : tamAmu - is wrong.
- 3 kalArtha - kalArdha
- 4 samhAra – saMhara .
- 5 tvaccaraNaM – Atma caraNambu : tvaccaraNaM - is appropriate
References
- suma rathArha – Please refer to SrImad Valmiki Ramayana, Uttara Kanda, Chapter 41, about arrival of Pushpaka Vimana as ordered by Kubera, to be at the disposal of Sri Rama. Sri Rama, after worshipping it, sends it away asking it to come as and when He desires.
- zata mukha – one of the epithets of Ravana. In the kRti ‘dEvi tava pada’ rAga zahAna , Sri Thyagaraja calls Mother Sita as ‘zata mukha mada damanE ’ – one who destroyed the arrogance of Ravana. In some books, this word seems to have been translated as Mayil Ravana – brother of Ravana. The story of Rama killing of Mayil Ravana also known as ‘Mahi Ravana’ is contained in the following website – [[http://www.punjabkesari.com/Religion/KillingRavana.htm Mayil Ravana]]
- durmukhAsura – A demon in the army of Ravana.
Commentary
*tamAsu – this word may be split as ‘tama+asu ’. In Telugu, the word ‘asamu ’ derived from Sanskrit word ‘yazas ’ means ‘fame’, ‘glory’ etc. However, in this case, the form of the ‘asamu ’ when used as ‘tama+asu ’ is not clear. This word could be ‘tamAsu ” or ‘tamAsamu ’.
- manOrathambosagu – Though this has taken qualifying ‘Pushpaka’ car, it is also possible to translate as addressed to the Lord - ‘please grant my wish’.
- kalArtha This word can be split as ‘kalA+artha ’; yet the meaning of the epithet ‘kalArtha bhUSa ’ is not very clear.