Atu karadani - Tyagaraja Kritis (Eng)

Pallavi

aṭu kārādani1 palkanabhimānamu lēka pōyenā aṭu-kārādu-ani1 palkanu abhimānamu lēka-pōyenā

Do You have no affection towards me even to say, ‘That is not appropriate’?

Anupallavi

eṭulōrtunu nē daya jūḍavayya ē vēlpu sēyu calamō telisi eṭula ōrtunu nē daya cūḍu-ayya ē vēlpu sēyu calamō telisi

How shall I bear the grief? O Lord! deign to show mercy; I do not know which God is doing trickery knowingly.

Charanam

vēda śāstrōpaniṣad viduḍaina2 nijapu dārini paṭṭi dāsuḍaina3 nādupai nepameñcitē tyāgaraja nuta (aṭu) vēda śāstra-upaniṣad viduḍu-ainā nijapu dārini paṭṭi dāsuḍu-aina nādupai nepamu-eñcitē tyāgaraja nuta (aṭu)

Is it correct to find fault with me who, even though learned in Veda, Sastra and Upanishad, has become Your devotee by adopting the true path (of surrender)? O Lord praised by Thyagaraja!

Commentary

• General – The context in which the kRti has been sung is not clear. Therefore, there may be errors in interpretation of the terms ‘aṭu kārādu’ in Pallavi and ‘ē vēlpulu’ in Anupallavi.
• ¹ aṭu kārādani – This is a colloquial usage in Telugu (kā+rādu) to say ‘it is not appropriate’, ‘it is not done’ or ‘it is prohibited’.
• ²viduḍaina – The word ‘aina’ in ‘viduḍaina’ would mean ‘even though’; the same word ‘aina’ in ‘dāsuḍaina’ would mean ‘become’. Going by the spirit of Thyagaraja’s Kritis, ‘surrender’ is superior to paths of Jnana or Karma (as asserted in Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter 18).
• ³nepameñcitē – Grammatically, the sentence is not complete, but ends with a question mark with ‘nepameñcitē?’. Therefore, ‘Is it correct’ has been added to complete the sentence.