Chakkani Raja - Tyagaraja Kritis (Eng)

Pallavi

cakkani rāja mārgamuluṇḍaga sandula1 dūranēla ō manasā cakkani rāja mārgamulu uṇḍaga sandula dūranu-ēla ō manasā

When there are nice royal paths, why enter bylanes? O Mind!

Anupallavi

cikkani pālu mīgaḍa2 yuṇḍaga 3chīyanu 4gaṅgā sāgaramēlē cikkani pālu-mīgaḍa2 uṇḍaga chī-anu gaṅgā-sāgaramu ēlē

When there are condensed milk and cream, why this detestable toddy?

Charanam

kaṇṭiki sundara-taramagu rūpamē mukkaṇṭi nōṭa celagē nāmamē tyāga- rājiṇṭanē nelakonnādi daivamē5 yiṭuvaṇṭi śrī sākēta rāmuni bhaktiyanē (cakkani) kaṇṭiki sundara-taramagu rūpamē mukkaṇṭi nōṭa celagē nāmamē tyāgarāju iṇṭanē nelakonna ādi daivamē iṭuvaṇṭi śrī sākēta rāmuni bhakti anē (cakkani)

What a most beautiful form as a feast to the eyes! what a name shining in the tongue of Lord Siva! and what an Ancient Lord firmly established in the very house of Tyagaraja! O My Mind! why enter bylanes when there is this nice royal path called devotion to such a Lord Sri Rama of Ayodhya?

Variations

• ⁵nelakonnādi daivamē (nelakonnna + ādi daivamē) – nelakonnadi daivamē’ – which does not seem to be correct. However, if it is 'nelakonnadhi daivamē', then it could be split as 'nelakonna + adhi daivamē', ignoring the error in the sandhi.

References

• ⁴gaṅgā sāgaramu – In all the books, this word has been taken as ‘toddy’ – a colloquial usage. However, no such word is found in any dictionary. In Sanskrit ‘tāla’, tālagarbha’ means toddy; in Telugu, ‘īṭa’, ‘kaḷḷu’, ‘tāṭikaḷḷu’, ‘nīrā’ are the words meaning toddy. Though the following explanation may be far-fetched, yet it may not be out of place.
  • Ganga and all other rivers are considered to be wives of Sagara – Varuna. Varuni is Varuna's female Energy (personified either as his wife or as his daughter, produced at the time of churning of the ocean and regarded as the goddess of spirituous liquor; Varuni also means ‘a particular kind of spirit’ (prepared from hogweed mixed with the juice of the date or palm and distilled) or ‘any spirituous liquor’. Therefore, instead of using the Varuni to mean toddy, Sri Tyagaraja might have used ‘gaṅgā sāgara’.
  • The word vāruṇī appears in Srimad-Bhagavatam in many places. It also appears in Lalita Sahasranamam – ‘vāruṇī mada vihvalāyai namaḥ’ meaning ‘Salutations to Her who is intoxicated with vāruṇī (the wine of spiritual bliss)’ (333).
  • According to a Quote from "Tyagaraja - Life and Lyrics" - William Jackson - Oxford University Press – “The reference is to Gangasagara Bhatt of Tanjore court, a toddy tippler about whom stories were in circulation in Tyagaraja's time. Toddy came to be called Gangasagara.” [Ganga Sagara Bhatt - Post #23]

Commentary

• ¹sandulu – Though Sri Tyagaraja has not specified what these bylanes are, obviously all paths other than Bhakti may be taken as bylanes.
• ²pālu mīgaḍa – this may mean milk and cream or cream only.
• ³chī – this is a colloquial expression of disgust when one encounters something detestable.