Thyagaraja Kriti - Evarikai - Raga Deva Manohari

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

a A i I u U
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
y r l L v
S sh s h

evarikai-dEvamanOhari

In the kRti ‘evarikai avatAramettitivO’ – rAga dEvamanOhari - SrI tyAgarAja sings praises of the Lord for having embodied on earth.

P ¹evarkai avatAram(e)ttitivO
ipuDaina telupa(v)ayya ²rAmayya (evarikai)

A avaniki ramm(a)ni pilicina ³maharAj(e)vaDO
vAniki ⁴mrokkeda rAma (evarikai)

C ⁵vEda varNanIyamau nAmamutO
vidhi rudrulaku mElmiyagu rUpamutO
mOda sadanamagu paTu caritamutO
⁶muni rAja vEshiyau ⁷tyAgarAja nuta (evarikai)

Gist
O Lord rAma - praised by this tyAgarAja – in the garb of an ascetic king!

At least now tell me as to for whose sake You took this incarnation (a) with a name described even in vEdas, (b) with a physical form so superior even to brahmA and rudra, and (c) with an impeccable (great) character which is the seat of great joy (for the listeners).

I salute that great person who called You to come to the Earth.

Word-by-word Meaning

P O Lord (ayya) rAma (rAmayya)! O Lord (ayya)! At least now (ipuDaina) tell me (telupu) (telupavayya) as to for whose sake (evarikai) You took (ettitivO) this incarnation (avatAramu) (avatAramettitivO).

A O Lord rAma! I salute (mrokkeda) him (vAniki) – that great person (maharAju) - who (evaDO) (maharAjevaDO) called (pilicina) You to (ani) come (rammu) (rammani) to the Earth (avaniki);
O Lord rAma! At least now tell me as to for whose sake You took this incarnation.

C With a name (nAmamutO) described (varNanIyamau) even in vEdas,
with a physical form (rUpamutO) so superior (mElmiyagu) even to brahmA (vidhi) and rudra (rudrulaku), and
with an impeccable (great) (paTu) character (caritamutO) which is the seat (sadanamagu) of great joy (mOda) (for the listeners),
O Lord - praised (nuta) by this tyAgarAja – in the garb (vEshiyau) of an ascetic (muni) king (rAja)!
O Lord rAma! at least now tell me as to for whose sake You took this incarnation.

Notes –
Variations –
² – rAmayya (evarikai) – rAmayya nIv(evarikai).

⁴ – mrokkeda – mrokkenu : mrokkeda seems to be appropriate word.

⁷ – tyAgarAja nuta (evarikai) – tyAgarAja nuta nIv(evarikai).

References –
⁶ – muni rAja vEshiyau – (in the garb of an ascetic king) - SrI tyAgarAja is reflecting the words uttered by SrI rAma Himself in response to kaikEyI’s words commanding Him to leave for forest – SrImad vAlmIki rAmAyaNa, ayOdhyA kANDa, Chapter 19 refers –

nAhamartha parO dEvi lOkamAvastumutsahE
viddhi mAmRshibhistulyaM vimalaM dharmamAsthitam 20

“I do not desire to live in the world as a slave to material gains. Know me to be devoted to immaculate righteousness like Rshis.”

Comments –
¹ – evarikai avatAramettitivO – for whose sake You took the incarnation (as rAma) - The great harikathA exponent SrI TS Balakrishna Sastrigal in his Thyagaraja Ramayanam states that SrI tyAgarAja implies rAvaNa in this kRti as the person responsible for making the Supreme Lord to incarnate as human being.

³ - maharAju - SrI tyAgarAja’s bhakti towards SrI rAma is so great that even His (SrI rAma’s) enemy (rAvaNa) deserves mention because, but for rAvaNa, the incarnation of SrI rAma would not have materialized.

The greatness of rAvaNa, in terms of his prowess, is well known. But he was also known as womanizer. However, in case of sIta, the way he conducted himself, is an intrigue, seen in the background of his reputation as a womanizer. Considering the fact that rAvaNa physically touched the dEvi and carried her on his lap, it really confounds one as to why he desisted from molesting her; but prayed for her consent to be his consort, for a whole year. It does not fit into the character of a womanizer. Also from today’s standard, this is inconceivable. Therefore, it is certain that rAvaNa knew what he was doing.

rAvaNa is no ordinary king. He is well-versed vEdas. He is a great musician. He recited sAma vEda on his vINA sacrificing his ten heads one by one to please Lord Siva. In his kingdom vEda adhyayana was very much prevalent as is seen by AnjanEya during his sojourn of lanka. For a king who sent his spies to daNDakA forest to find out about SrI rAma, it is very astonishing that he just looked on when SrI rAma and his army were building causeway over the ocean. Looking from this angle, rAvaNa was indeed waiting for SrI rAma to redeem him.

Therefore, there is no surprise in SrI tyAgarAja calling rAvaNa a great person (maharAju) for having brought SrI rAma to the Earth.

⁵ – vEda varNanIyamau – The purport of these words is not very clear. Whether the name ‘rAma’ is mentioned in the vEdAs or whether the two syllables ‘rA’ and ‘ma’ have been specifically extolled therein, is not known. However, please refer to Discourse of kAnci paramAcArya candraSEkharEndra sarasvati on ‘tAraka nAma’


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);
ओ,को,चो.. - O,kO,cO..(long);
औ,कौ,चौ.. -au,kau,cau..;

प. ऎवरिकै अवतार(मॆ)त्तितिवो
इपुडैन तॆलुप(व)य्य रा(म)य्य

अ. अवनिकि र(म्म)नि पिलिचिन महरा(जॆ)वडो
वानिकि म्रॊक्कॆद राम (ऎ)

च. वेद वर्णनीयमौ नाममुतो
विधि रुद्रुलकु मेल्मियगु रूपमुतो
मोद सदनमगु पटु चरितमुतो
मुनि राज वेषियौ त्यागराज नुत (ऎ)

Tamil

க,ச,ட,த,ப - 2-ख छ ठ थ फ; 3-ग ड द ब; 4-घ झ ढ ध भ
(ச3 - ஜ)
ஸ1 श - शिव - சிவன்
ரு2 ऋ - कृप - கிருபை

ப. எவரிகை அவதார(மெ)த்திதிவோ
இபுடை3ன தெலுப(வ)ய்ய ரா(ம)ய்ய

அ. அவனிகி ரம்(ம)னி பிலிசின மஹரா(ஜெ)வடோ3
வானிகி ம்ரொக்கெத3 ராம (எ)

ச. வேத3 வர்ணனீயமௌ நாமமுதோ
விதி4 ருத்3ருலகு மேல்மியகு3 ரூபமுதோ
மோத3 ஸத3னமகு3 படு சரிதமுதோ
முனி ராஜ வேஷியௌ த்யாக3ராஜ நுத (எ)

எவருக்கென அவதாரமெடுத்தாயோ!
இப்போழ்தேனும் தெரிவியுமய்யா; இராமய்யா!

அவனிக்கு வாயென்றழைத்த மகராசன்
எவனோ அவனை வணங்குகின்றேன், இராமா!
எவருக்கென அவதாரமெடுத்தாயோ!
இப்போழ்தேனும் தெரிவியுமய்யா, இராமய்யா!

மறைகளில் வருணிக்கப்பெற்ற பெயருடனும்,
விதி, உருத்திரர்களினும் மேன்மையான வடிவத்துடனும்,
களிப்பின் உறைவிடமாகும் உயரிய சரிதத்துடனும்,
முனியரச வேடமணிந்த தியாகராசனால் போற்றப்பெற்றோனே!
எவருக்கென அவதாரமெடுத்தாயோ!
இப்போழ்தேனும் தெரிவியுமய்யா, இராமய்யா!

விதி - பிரமன்
உருத்திரர் - சிவன்
சரிதம் - நடத்தை என்றும் கொள்ளலாம்
முனியரசன் - முனிவனின் மனப்பாங்குடைய அரசனாக

Telugu

ప. ఎవరికై అవతారమెత్తితివో
ఇపుడైన తెలుపవయ్య రామయ్య

అ. అవనికి రమ్మని పిలిచిన మహరాజెవడో
వానికి మ్రొక్కెద రామ (ఎ)

చ. వేద వర్ణనీయమౌ నామముతో
విధి రుద్రులకు మేల్మియగు రూపముతో
మోద సదనమగు పటు చరితముతో
ముని రాజ వేషియౌ త్యాగరాజ నుత (ఎ)


Kannada

ಪ. ಎವರಿಕೈ ಅವತಾರಮೆತ್ತಿತಿವೋ
ಇಪುಡೈನ ತೆಲುಪವಯ್ಯ ರಾಮಯ್ಯ

ಅ. ಅವನಿಕಿ ರಮ್ಮನಿ ಪಿಲಿಚಿನ ಮಹರಾಜೆವಡೋ
ವಾನಿಕಿ ಮ್ರೊಕ್ಕೆದ ರಾಮ (ಎ)

ಚ. ವೇದ ವರ್ಣನೀಯಮೌ ನಾಮಮುತೋ
ವಿಧಿ ರುದ್ರುಲಕು ಮೇಲ್ಮಿಯಗು ರೂಪಮುತೋ
ಮೋದ ಸದನಮಗು ಪಟು ಚರಿತಮುತೋ
ಮುನಿ ರಾಜ ವೇಷಿಯೌ ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜ ನುತ (ಎ)


Malayalam

പ. എവരികൈ അവതാരമെത്തിതിവോ
ഇപുഡൈന തെലുപവയ്യ രാമയ്യ

അ. അവനികി രമ്മനി പിലിചിന മഹരാജെവഡോ
വാനികി മ്രൊക്കെദ രാമ (എ)

ച. വേദ വര്ണനീയമൌ നാമമുതോ
വിധി രുദ്രുലകു മേല്മിയഗു രൂപമുതോ
മോദ സദനമഗു പടു ചരിതമുതോ
മുനി രാജ വേഷിയൌ ത്യാഗരാജ നുത (എ)

Updated on 23 Jan 2009