Garavimparada - Tyagaraja Kritis (Eng)

Pallavi

gāravimpa rādā garuḍa gamana 1vādā nanu gāravimpa rādā garuḍa gamana vādā nanu

O Lord who proceeds on Garuda! Can’t You be kind to me? is there any dispute?

Anupallavi

śrī ramā 2manōhara śrita hṛdaya 2vihāra cēra rāvadēmirā śrī raghuvara 2dhīra (gāra) śrī-ramā manōhara śrita hṛdaya vihāra cēra rāvu-adēmirā śrī raghuvara dhīra (gāra)

O Beloved of Lakshmi! O Lord who abides in the hearts of those dependent on You! why wouldn’t You come to be united with me, O Brave Lord Raghuvara?

Charanams Combined

1. pērukaina lēdā 3pilicitē rā rādā sari- vāralāḍa lēdā vini varada karuṇa rādā māru palka vādā 4mummāru namma lēdā (gāra) 2. tanayuḍāḍu māṭa talli taṇḍrulakadiyāṭa kādā 5ninu pāḍina pāṭa vini nī muddu nōṭa- yēmana6 valadiccōṭa mādhavayiṅka7 tera cāṭā8 (gāra) 3. 9rūkalosagi konna sati 10rūpameṭlunnā śrī kara guṇamunna celi celimi vīḍaranna parāku nīku 11minna tyāgarāja 12vinutābhinna13 (gāra) 1. pēruku-aina lēdā pilicitē rā-rādā sarivāralu-āḍa-lēdā vini varada karuṇa rādā māru-palka vādā mummāru namma-lēdā (gāra) 2. tanayuḍu-āḍu māṭa talli-taṇḍrulaku-adi-āṭa-kādā ninu pāḍina pāṭa vini nī muddu nōṭa-ēmana-valadu-iccōṭa mādhava-iṅka tera-cāṭā (gāra) 3. rūkalu-osagi konna sati rūpamu-eṭla-unnā śrī-kara guṇamu-unna celi celimi vīḍaru-anna parāku nīku minna tyāgarāja vinuta-abhinna (gāra)

1. Won’t You (come) atleast for formality? won’t You come even if I call You? aren’t my peers ridiculing me? O Lord who Bestows boons! won’t You have mercy even after hearing (the ridicule)? is there any dispute about responding to me? don’t You believe me definitely? 2. Aren’t those words uttered by a child a fun for the parents? having heard the song sung by me about You, please do not say anything here with Your charming mouth; O Lord Madhava! why are You still behind a screen? 3. No matter how the look of a wife, gotten (in marriage) by paying fee – Sthree Dhana, is, O Lord who causes auspiciousness! O My father! if she is virtuous, one would not leave the companionship of that woman; is it noble for You to show unconcern? O Wholesome Lord praised by this Thyagaraja!

Variations

• ¹vādā – rāma
• ²manōhara – vihāra – dhīra : manōharā – vihārā – dhīrā
• ³pilicitē – pilicina
• ⁶ēmana valadiccōṭa – ēmana valaniccōṭa - ēmana valadēyiccōṭa
• ⁷iṅka tera cāṭā – ika tera cāṭā
• ¹⁰rūpameṭlunna – rūpamuleṭlunna. In either case, the ending vowel (unna) needs to be elongated (unnā) in keeping with the context to bring out ‘even if’.
• ¹¹minna – munna : munna - does not make sense.
• ¹²vinutābhinna - (vinuta + abhinna) – vinuta bhinna : vinuta bhinna - is not appropriate.

References

• ⁹ rūkalosagi – In olden days the bride groom used to pay money to the bride which was known as ‘kanyā dhanaṃ’ or ‘kanyā śulkaṃ’ – ie a girl’s property. The practice of vara dakṣiṇa – dowry – money given from the bride’s side to bridegroom, it seems, is a practice brought about very recently. A research article on the Hindu (Brahmin) marriage and the functions thereof, are given in the website – [Hindu Marriage]

Commentary

• ⁴mummāru – when a word is uttered thrice it is taken as final.
• ⁵ninu pāḍina pāṭa vini ēmana valadu – This is sort of running dialogue between Sri Thyagaraja and the Lord. It seems Sri Thyagaraja is asking the Lord not to comment on his song. Or it could mean something different also. As this involves a ‘bhāva’ – state of mind, it is not possible to render a correct translation unless one is gifted to have insight into the mind of the bard. If the translation is wrong, kindly excuse me. Translation of this portion is made even more difficult because of variations in the wordings as brought out in the next note.
• ⁸tera cāṭu – This might refer to the Grand Illusion (Maya) of the Lord also.
• ⁹rūkalosagi – In some books, this has been translated ‘a wife purchased for money, however, beautiful, cannot have such a lasting relationship with the husband as one who has been chosen for her virtues’. The wordings of the kriti does not bring out such a message, if we keep in mind that in olden days ‘kanyā śulkaṃ’ was in vogue wherein the bride-groom used to pay for the bride. Therefore, ‘rūkalosagi’ would mean ‘kanyā śulkaṃ’ and not ‘purchased’. Please refer to the previous notes on the same subject.
• ¹³abhinna – same as ‘pūrṇa’ - the term is indefinable. However, the following Upanishad Sloka is relevant –

  • ōṃ pūrṇamada: pūrṇamidaṃ pūrṇāt pūrṇamudacyatē |
    pūrṇasya pūrṇamādāya pūrṇamēva avaśiṣyatē ||

  • “OM. That (Brahman) is infinite, and This (universe) is infinite. This infinite proceeds from That infinite. Taking the infinitude of This inifinte (universe) That infinite remains same (Brahman) alone.”