tappaganE
Sahityam
Pallavi
tappaganE¹ vaccunA tanuvuku² lampaTa³ nI kRpa
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Will Your grace come unless I leave off craving for the body?
Anupallavi
meppulakai koppulu⁴ gala
mETi⁵ janula jUci bhajana⁶ (tappa)
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mETi⁵ janula jUci bhajana⁶ (tappa)
Will Your grace come unless I leave off the ‘chanting of names’ done for the sake of fame praising those rich having mansions?
Charanam
rUkalakai paiki maJci
kOkalkaiyAhAramunaku
nUkalakai dhyAniJciti⁷
tyAgarAja nutuni bhajana (tappa)
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kOkalkaiyAhAramunaku
nUkalakai dhyAniJciti⁷
tyAgarAja nutuni bhajana (tappa)
I concentrated my mind only for money, fine clothes for the body and cereals for food; will Your grace come if I fail to chant the names of Lord praised by this Thyagaraja?
References
Commentary
- 1 tappaganE – the meaning in pallavi and anu-pallavi is ‘unless I leave off’; the meaning in caraNa is ‘if I leave off’. When joining the anu-pallavi and caraNa to pallavi ‘tanuvuku lampaTa ’ is superfluous.
- 3 lampaTa – The Sanskrit word means ‘desire’, ‘craving’ etc. However, the telugu word means ‘pain, trouble’; ‘lampaTuDu ’ means ‘one who has much craving’. In view of the preceding word ‘tanuvuku’ (for the body), the meaning ‘craving’ seems to be appropriate.
- In all the books, the pallavi has been translated as ‘the body will be subjected to trouble if the grace of the Lord fails to come’. However, in view of the word ‘vaccunA ’ – ‘will it come’, such a meaning does not seem to be appropriate.
- 2 tanuvuku lampaTa – ‘craving for the body’ – this is applicable only for pallavi. This cannot be used when connected to anupallavi and carana.
- 4 koppu – This word also has two meanings – ‘chignon or tuft on the head’ and ‘crest on the roof’. It is not clear whether this is an euphemism for the head-gear (talapAga ) worn by the Kings and rich. It has been translated as ‘mansions’ – being the implied meaning of palaces and mansions of Kings and rich where a crest (kalaza ) is placed at the top as an indication of their regality. The tamizh word ‘koppu’ has a meaning of ‘kombu’ meaning ‘branch’ or ‘horn’. In Tamil Nadu, a very proudy person is derided saying ‘he has horns’. Maybe Sri Thyagaraja is using ‘koppu’ in that sense. * Further, even ‘mETi janulu ’ would be sufficient to convey the meaning. However, in view of the adding further ‘koppu gala’, this clearly indicates a ridicule.
- 5 mETi janulu – Here Sri Thyagaraja means kings and rich.
- 6 bhajana – this is a ridicule meaning ‘praising the rich etc’.
- 7 dhyAniJciti – (meditation) this is another euphemism for concentrating one’s mind towards securing one’s welfare. This cannot be added to ‘tyAgarAja nutuni ’ – otherwise the thrust of the Kriti would be lost.