4/2/25, 10:58 PM Thyagaraja Vaibhavam: Thyagaraja Kriti - Appa Rama Bhakti - Raga Pantuvarali

Thyagaraja Vaibhavam
Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Thyagaraja Kriti - Appa Rama Bhakti - Raga Pantuvarali

Transliteration–Telugu
Transliteration as per Modified Harvard-Kyoto (HK) Convention
(including Telugu letters – Short e, Short o) -

aAiIuU
R RR lR lRR
e E ai o O au M (H or :)

(e – short E – Long o – short O – Long)

k kh g gh n/G
c ch j jh n/J (jn – as in jnAna)
T Th D Dh N
t th d dh n
p ph b bh m
yrlLv
S sh s h

appa rAma-pantuvarAli

In the kRti ‘appa rAma bhakti’ – rAga pantuvarALi (tALa rUpakaM) – SrI tyAgarAja extols the potency
of rAma bhakti.

pallavi
appa rAma bhakti(y)entO gopparA mA(yappa)

anupallavi
trippaTalanu tIrci kaNTi reppa valenu 1kAcu(n)A mA(yappa)

caraNam 1
lakshmi dEvi valacunA lakshmaNuNDu kolucunA
sUkshma buddhi gala bharatuDu jUci jUci solasunA mA(yappa)

caraNam 2

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4/2/25, 10:58 PM Thyagaraja Vaibhavam: Thyagaraja Kriti - Appa Rama Bhakti - Raga Pantuvarali
2Sabari(y)engil(i)ccunA 3candra dharuDu meccunA
4abala svayamprabhaku daivam(a)cala padavin(i)ccunA mA(yappa)

caraNam 3
5kapivAridhi dATunA 6kaliki rOTa kaTTunA
aparAdhi tyAgarAjuk(A)nandamu heccunA mA(yappa)

Gist

Devotion to our father rAma is indeed very best!

That devotion to our father rAma, which, putting an end to the roaming of mind, protects (so
involuntarily) like eye-lids, is indeed very best.

Had it not been so -

would lakshmI dEvi so fervently love Him?
would lakshmaNa serve Him with such dedication?
would bharata, having such a sharp intellect, feel ecstatic beholding Him again
and again?

would Sabari offer (already) tasted fruits (unfit for offering)?

would Lord Siva glorify Him?
would the Lord bestow eternal state to the maid svayamprabha?

can a monkey leap across the mighty ocean?

can a woman tie the Lord to mortar? and
can bliss heighten to this defaulter tyAgarAja?

Devotion to our father rAma is indeed very best!

Word-by-word Meaning

pallavi
appa rAma bhakti-entO gopparA mA-(appa)

Devotion (bhakti) to our (mA) father (appa) (mAyappa) rAma is indeed very (entO) (bhaktiyentO) best
(gopparA)!

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4/2/25, 10:58 PM Thyagaraja Vaibhavam: Thyagaraja Kriti - Appa Rama Bhakti - Raga Pantuvarali

anupallavi
trippaTalanu tIrci kaNTi reppa valenu kAcu-A mA-(appa)

That (A) devotion to our (mA) father rAma, which, putting an end (tIrci) to the roaming of mind
(trippaTalanu), protects (kAcu) (kAcunA) (so involuntarily) like (valenu) eye-lids (kaNTi reppa), is
indeed very best.

caraNam 1
lakshmi dEvi valacunA lakshmaNuNDu kolucunA
sUkshma buddhi gala bharatuDu jUci jUci solasunA mA-(appa)

Devotion to our (mA) father rAma is indeed very best. Had it not been so -
would lakshmI dEvi so fervently love (valacunA) Him?
would lakshmaNa (lakshmaNuNDu) serve (kolucunA) Him with such dedication?
would bharata (bharatuDu), having (gala) such a sharp (sUkshma) intellect (buddhi), feel ecstatic
(solasunA) beholding Him again and again (jUci jUci)?

caraNam 2
Sabari-engili-iccunA candra dharuDu meccunA
abala svayamprabhaku daivamu-acala padavini-iccunA mA-(appa)

Devotion to our (mA) father rAma is indeed very best. Had it not been so -
would Sabari offer (iccunA) (already) tasted (engili) (SabariyengiliccunA) fruits (unfit for offering)?
would Lord Siva - wearer (dharuDu) of (crescent) moon (candra) - glorify (meccunA) Him?
would the Lord (daivamu) bestow (iccunA) eternal (acala) (literally steady) (daivamacala) state
(padavini) (padaviniccunA) to the maid (abala) svayamprabha (svayamprabhaku)?

caraNam 3
kapi vAridhi dATunA kaliki rOTa kaTTunA
aparAdhi tyAgarAjuku-Anandamu heccunA mA-(appa)

Devotion to our (mA) father rAma is indeed very best. Had it not been so -
Can a monkey (kapi) leap across (dATunA) the mighty ocean (vAridhi)?
Can a woman (kaliki) tie (kaTTunA) the Lord to mortar (rOTa)?
Can bliss (Anandamu) heighten (heccunA) to this defaulter (aparAdhi) tyAgarAja (tyAgarAjuku)
(tyAgarAjukAnandamu)?

Notes –
Variations -
rAga - pantuvarALi - kAmavardhini.

1 – kAcunA – this is how it is given in all the books. There is some doubt about this word. In my

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opinion, this should be ‘kAcu’ or ‘kAcE’ and not ‘kAcunA’. However, ‘n’ has been taken as sandhi and
translated accordingly.

2 – SabariyengiliccunA – SabariyengiliniccunA.

References -
2 – Sabari engili iccunA - ‘engili’ means ‘leftover of eatables’ – As per vAlmIki rAmAyaNa, AraNya
kANDa, Chapter 74 (rAma meeting Sabari), there is no mention of Sabari offering bitten and tasted
fruits. The following verses are relevant -

pAdyam-AcamanIyaM ca sarvaM prAdAt yathA-vidhi 7

..and offered (to the honoured guests) with due ceremony water to bathe their feet and rinse their
mouth with and every (other) form of hospitality, ...

Sabari said -
mayA tu saMcitaM vanyaM vividhaM purusha-rshabha 17
tavArthE purusha-vyAghra pampAyAs-tIra-sambhavaM 18

“O Jewel among men! Produce of the forest of every description growing on the brink of pampA has
therefore been gathered by me for you, O tiger among men!”

(Traditional version of Sabari offering tasted fruits.)

3 - candra dharuDu meccunA - The reference to Lord Siva is from phala ruti of vishNu sahasra nAma,
where dEvi pArvathi asks Lord Siva the means for hearing the thousand(s of) names of vishNu recited
by the learned every day. Lord Siva replies that simple repetition of the name of ‘rAma’ would be equal
to reciting vishNu sahasra nAma.

4 - abala svayamprabhA - The story of svayaMprabhA comes in the kishkindA kANDa of rAmAyaNa.
During their search of sIta, AnjanEya and others reach a divine cave, where they find a wonderful city
guarded by an aged ascetic woman by name svayamprabhA. She is daughter of merusAvarNi and has
been granted boons by Gods. However, vAlmIki rAmAyaNa doesn’t seem to contain any further
reference about her emancipation in the hands of SrI rAma. This is found in adhyAtma rAmAyaNa –
kishkindA kANDa – 6th Chapter.

5 - kapi vAridhi dATunA – Before leaping over the ocean AnjanEya utters these words to the monkeys
–

"As an arrow loosed by SrI rAma would fly with the speed of wind, I too would likewise course to lanka
guarded by rAvaNa. If I don’t find sItA in lanka, I shall certainly proceed with the same speed to
heaven. If I don’t find sItA in heaven even after exerting myself, I shall bring rAvaNa, in chains. At all
events I shall return successful with sItA" (SrImad vAlmIki rAmAyaNa, sundara kANDa, Chapter 1,
verses 38 – 42).

However, in spite of his best efforts he could not locate sItA – even though aSOka vana, where sItA

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was kept as captive, was just in his sight. He becomes despondent and even contemplates of
becoming an ascetic (ibid Chapter 13, verse 54). Then, drawing up courage, prays to rAma,
lakshmaNa and sItA and other Gods before venturing into aSOka vana (ibid, verse 59). And, there, he
finds sItA.

It is indeed strange that the grace of the very person who sent AnjanEya on this mission (SrI rAma)
and the person searched (sItA) should be sought. SrI tyAgarAja enjoys this contradiction in the kRti
'rAma rAma nIvAramu gAmA’ – rAga Ananda bhairavi wherein he states - 'marugu jEsukonunaTTi
mahima rArA’ – ‘O Lord who seems as if His Might is screened’. SrI tyAgarAja worshipped SrI rAma as
para brahman.

The great hari kathA exponent Brahma Sri TS Balakrishna Sastrigal explains (in his discourse on
‘Tyagaraja Ramayana’) the feat of AnjanEya leaping across the ocean as the effect of devotion of
AnjanEya. But when the bhakta develops ego and thus boastfulness, the job undertaken does not
fructify. The boastful AnjanEya at the beginning of the journey, realises his limits and hence prayer to
SrI rAma and mother sItA for their grace – for searching sItA herself.

6 - kaliki rOTa kaTTunA - The episode in kRshNAvatAra where yaSOdA ties SrI kRshNa – as a child –
to a mortar is mentioned here. The following verses in SrImad bhAgavataM, Book 10, Chapter 9 are
relevant –

sva-mAtuH svinnagAtrAyA visrasta-kabara-srajaH

dRshTvA pariSramaM kRshNaH kRpayA AsIt sva-bandhanE
nAyaM sukhApO bhagavAn dEhinAM gOpikA-sutaH
jnAninAM cAtma-bhUtAnAM yathA bhaktimatAm-iha (18,21)

“Perceiving the over-exertion of His mother, whose body was bathed in perspiration, the wreaths tied
around his braid fallen down, SrI kRshNa allowed himself to be bound by Himself out of (sheer)
compassion.
Lord kRshNa is not so easily accessible in this world to those identified with their body or even to men
of wisdom who have become one with Him; but only to those possessed of devotion to Him.”

Please also refer to kRti of Papanasam Sivan – ‘enna tavam saidanai yaSOdA’ wherein he wonders at
the fortune of a milk-maid who could tie the Supreme Lord to a mortar.

Devanagari

ऎ,कॆ ,चॆ.. - e,ke,ce..(short);

ए,के ,चे.. - E,kE,cE..(long);
ऐ,कै ,चै.. - ai,kai,cai..;
ऒ,कॊ,चॊ.. - o,ko,co..(short);

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