A daya sri raghuvara - Tyagaraja Kritis (Eng)

Pallavi

ā daya śrī raghuvara nēḍēla rādaya1 ō dayāmbudhi nīku ā daya śrī raghuvara nēḍu ēla rādu-aya1 ō dayā-ambudhi nīku

Sri Raghuvara! O Ocean of Compassion! Why wouldn’t You have that compassion today?

Anupallavi

mōdamutō sadbhakti marmamunu bōdhana jēsi sadā brōcina nī-(kā daya) mōdamutō sad-bhakti marmamunu bōdhana-jēsi sadā brōcina nīku (ā daya)

Why wouldn’t You - who always protected me happily, teaching the secrets of true devotion - have that compassion today?

Charanam

ninnu tiṭṭi koṭṭi hiṃsa peṭṭina- danniyu nannana lēdā enna rāni nindala tāḷumani manniñcaga2 lēdā annamu tāmbūlamosagi dēhamu minna sēya lēdā kanna talli taṇḍri mēmanucu tyāgarājuniki paravaśamī3 lēdā (ā daya) ninnu tiṭṭi koṭṭi hiṃsa peṭṭinadi anniyu nannu ana-lēdā enna-rāni nindala tāḷumu-ani manniñcaga2 lēdā annamu tāmbūlamu osagi dēhamu minna sēya-lēdā kanna talli-taṇḍri mēmu anucu tyāgarājuniki paravaśamu īlēdā (ā daya)

Didn’t You say “all torture perpetrated on you by abusing and beating, amounts to having been done to Me”? Didn’t You commend me to forbear abuses, no matter what happens? Didn’t You make my body glitter by offering food and betel leaves? Didn’t You bestow exhilaration on this Thyagaraja by consoling that “We are the parents who bore You”?

Variations

• In some books, the charana is divided into two; beginning from ‘annamu tāmbūlamu’ has been treated as the second charana.

Commentary

• ¹rādaya – though this has been split as ‘rādu+aya’; however, the word ‘aya’ does not seem to be available. It is not known whether this is a colloquial usage to mean ‘Lord’ (ayya).
• ²manniñcaga – this word means ‘forgive’, ‘respect’, ‘honour’, ‘obey’, ‘accede’ etc. In the present context, there is some doubt about meaning of this word, particularly in view of the background of the song given below.
• ³paravaśamu – the state of trance and the resultant bliss experienced by yOgis.
• Background of the Song - The great exponent of Harikatha – Sri TS Balakrishna Sastrigal, in his discourse ‘Thyagaraja Charitram’, states that this song was sung by Sri Thyagaraja after the incident wherein his elder brother beat him and consequently Sri Thyagaraja remained in coma for more than five days. During the period of coma, Lord Sri Rama, along with Sita appeared before him and spoke to his inner body (Sukshma Sarira) on the lines as stated in the song ‘ninnu tiṭṭi koṭṭi hiṃsa peṭṭinadanniyu nannu’ – ‘the toruture – verbal and physical – perpetrated on you amounts to having been done to Me’. Subsequently, the Lord is said to have soothed Sri Thyagaraja’s body by touching the wound; after the incident Sri Thyagaraja woke up, as if from sleep, fully recovered. According to Sri Balakrishna Sastrigal, in this song, Sri Thyagaraja asks the Lord to pardon his brother for the offence.