Evarani Nirnayinchiri - Tyagaraja Kritis (Eng)

Pallavi

evarani nirṇayiñcirirā ninn- eṭlārādhiñcirirā 1nara varul(evarani) evaru-ani nirṇayiñcirirā ninnu-eṭla-ārādhiñcirirā nara varulu-(evarani)

What did the most eminent people determine as to who You are? And, how did they worship You?

Anupallavi

śivuḍanō mādhavuḍanō 2kamala bhavuḍanō para-brahmamanō ninn(evarani) śivuḍu-anō mādhavuḍu-anō kamala-bhavuḍu-anō para-brahmamu-anō ninnu-(evarani)

What did the most Eminent people determine as to who You are – whether Lord Siva or Lord Vishnu or Brahma – One seated in Lotus or the Supreme Lord? And, how did they worship You?

Charanam

śiva mantramunaku 3ma jīvamu mādhava mantramunaku rā jīvamuyī vivaramu telisina ghanulaku mrokkeda vitaraṇa guṇa 4tyāgarāja vinuta (evarani) śiva mantramunaku ma jīvamu mādhava mantramunaku rā jīvamu-ī vivaramu telisina ghanulaku mrokkeda vitaraṇa-guṇa tyāgarāja vinuta (evarani)

For the Siva mantra – ‘ma’ is the soul; for the Vishnu mantra – ‘rA’ is the soul; I salute these great personages who understand this detail; O Munificient Lord, praised by this Tyagaraja! What did the most eminent people determine as to who You are? And, how did they worship You?

Variations

• ¹nara varu(levarani) – nara varu (evarani) - nara vara (evarani). If ‘nara varu’ is correct, then it could be connected to Pallavi. If ‘nara vara’ is correct, then it should be treated as an epithet of Lord and cannot be connected to Pallavi.
  • It is stated that Gopalakrishna Bharati (Tamil composer) – a contemporary of Tyagaraja visted latter and sang a song (Sabhapatikku) eulogising Lord Siva – that there is no God equal to Lord Siva. It is stated that then and there, Sri Tyagaraja extempore composed this song. If this is true, then ‘nara varulu evarani’ would be the correct rendering.
• ²kamala bhavuḍu – kamalā bhavuḍu : As the word here means ‘lOtus’, ‘kamala’ is appropriate (kamalā – lakṣmī).
• ³ma jīvanamu – mā jīvamu : From the discourse referred below, it is clear that the (second) syllable of ‘namaśśivāya’ is referred – ie ‘ma’ and not ‘mā’. Similarly, ‘rā’ is the second syllable of ‘nārāyaṇāya’; there ‘rā jīvamu’ is correct.
• ⁴tyāgarāja vinuta – tyāgarāja vinuta ninnu

References

• General - śiva mantra – mādhava mantra
• Please also refer to Kriti 'pēriḍi ninnu' – rāga kharaharapriya wherein Sri Tyagaraja expresses the same wonderment.

Commentary

• There is a story about initiation of (the hunter who later became) Valmiki by sage Narada. It is stated that he was so sinful that he could not repeat the mantra ‘rāma’; therefore, sage Narada reversed it as ‘marā’ and asked him to repeat the same which when chanted repeatedly becomes ‘rāma’. [Valmiki] (Invoke 'Dhyana')