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Etula brotuvo - Tyagaraja Kritis (Eng)

Pallavi

eṭula brōtuvō teliyadēkānta1,2 rāmayya
 I do not know how you will protect me, Lord Rama - my sole goal!

Anupallavi

kaṭa kaṭa nā caritamu
karṇa kaṭhōramayya (eṭula)
O Lord! Alas! my story (or conduct) is very harsh to hear.

Charanam

vaṭṭi3 goḍḍu rīti bhakṣiñci tirigiti
puṭṭu lōbhulanu poṭṭakai pogaḍiti
duṣṭulatō kūḍi duṣ-kṛtyamula salpi
raṭṭu jēsina tyāgarājuni dayatō (eṭula)
Like dry cattle, I wandered about eating; I praised those born-greedy for the sake of my stomach; I do not know how You would protect with compassion this Thyagaraja who has scandalized himself by committing many wicked deeds by joining the company of wicked.

Variations

  • 1teliya ēkanta – teliyadēkānta
  • 3vaṭṭi goḍḍu - paṭṭi goḍḍu - In all the books, the meaning taken is ‘stray’ (stray bull). The Telugu word for ‘stray animal’ is ‘cerugoṇḍi paśuvu’ - ‘ceruḍu paśuvu’ - ‘doṅga goḍḍu’. ‘paṭṭi’ is Tamizh word to mean ‘stray’ – ‘paṭṭi māḍu’ - ‘koṇḍi māḍu’ – ‘stray animal’.
    • ‘goḍḍu’ means both 'animal' and ‘barren’; ‘vaṭṭi’ means ‘utter’. If 'goḍḍu' is taken to mean 'animal', then 'vaṭṭi' may not be correct. ḥowever, if 'goḍḍu' is taken to mean 'barren', then 'vaṭṭi' may be correct. It is not certain whether Sri Thyagaraja has used a Tamil word here. Therefore, assuming he has not used a Tamil word, 'vaṭṭi' has been taken as correct and accordingly translated. However, as the (traditional) meaning taken in all the books is ‘stray’, it is possible that Sri Thyagaraja has used tamizh word ‘paṭṭi’. In view of the ensuing word 'tirigiti' (wandered), it is possible that 'paṭṭi' (stray) is the correct word.

Commentary

  • 2 ēkānta - this word has many meanings - 'privacy', 'sole aim', 'single pointed', 'unflinching', 'exclusive', 'non-dualistic' etc. In the present context, 'sole aim' may be suitable if looked from the angle of Sri Thyagaraja; if it is taken as an epithet of Sri Rama, then it might mean 'non-dualistic', but this may not be correct because Sri Thyagaraja always considered Lord Sri Rama to be beyond 'bhēda' - 'abhēda'.