Bagayenayya - Tyagaraja Kritis (Eng)

Pallavi

bāgāyenayya nī māyalentō brahmakaina koniyāḍa taramā bāgu-āyenu ayya nī māyalu entō brahmaku-aina koniyāḍa taramā

O Lord! How grand are the illusions of yours! Is it possible even for Brahma to fully comprehend and extol You?

Anupallavi

ī gāruḍamunu1 yonariñcucunu nē kādanucu2 palkuṭayu (bāgāye) ī gāruḍamunu1 onariñcucunu nē-kādu anucu2 palkuṭayu (bāgāye)

While declaring this magic formula, You also say ‘I am not the one who speaks.'

Charanam

ala nādu kauravula-naṇacamana alari3 dōsamanu naruni jūci pāpa4 phalamu nīku tanaku lēdani cakkaga pālanamu sēya lēdā tyāgarāja nuta ala-nādu kauravulanu aṇacamana alari3 dōsamu-anu naruni jūci pāpa phalamu4 nīku tanaku lēdu-ani cakkaga pālanamu-sēya-lēdā tyāgarāja nuta

That day when You commanded the person who considered war a sin (Arjuna), to subdue the Kauravas, and, looking at him, did You not expound well that ‘the results of sins do not accrue either to you or Me’? O Lord praised by Thyagaraja!

Variations

• ³alari - It is not clear whether Thyagaraja has used a Tamil word ‘alari’ or is whether the word is ‘adari’ or ‘allari’?

References

• ¹gāruḍamu - a spell to remove poision, delusion etc. To know more about Garuda Mantra, please visit -

[Garuda Mantra]

• ² nē kādanucu - Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter 10, verse 37 is relevant –
  • Lord kRSNa said - “Of the Vrshnis I am Vasudeva; of the Pandavas, Dhananjaya; and also of the munis I am Vyasa; of the sages, Usanas the sage.” (All translations by Swami Swarupananda)
  • Vrshni is the lineage of Krishna. The implication is that ‘though apparently, I am Krishna of the lineage of Vrshni, I am also You, therefore I am not I.’
• ³alari dōsamu - SrImad-Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 1, verse 28 and 45 are relevant –
  • Arjuna said – “Seeing, O Krishna, these my kinsmen gathered here eager for fight, my limbs fail me and my mouth is parched.Alas! We are involved in a great sin, in that we are prepared to slay our kinsmen, out of greed for the pleasures for a kingdom.”
• ⁴pāpa phalamu nīku tanaku lēdu – SrImad-Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter 2, verse 19 is relevant -
  • Lord kRSNa said – “He who takes this Self to be the slayer, and he who takes It to be the slain, neither of these knows. It does not slay, not is it slain.”

Commentary

• ¹gāruḍamunu – The words Lord Krishna as brought in Charana are referred here. Therefore, the Charana should be read first and then the Anupallavi – that is the sequence in this Kriti.