Thyagaraja Kriti - Kanna Tandri - 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

kanna taNDri-dEvamanOhari

In the kRti ‘kanna taNDri’ – rAga dEvamanOhari, SrI tyAgarAja pleads with Lord to have mercy on him.

P kanna taNDri nApai
karuNa mAnakE gAsi tALanE

A ¹ninna sEyu panulu nEDu gAka
vEr(e)nna lEd(a)nucu vEmArulaku (kanna)

C ²eduru tAn(a)nE ingitamb(e)rigi
cedaran(I)ka panc(E)ndriyam(a)Naci ninnu
vadala lEni ³dhairya-SAli kAd(a)ni
madana kOTi rUpa tyAgarAja nuta (kanna)

Gist
O Father who bore me! O Lord of the Form of a crore cupids! O Lord praised by this tyAgarAja!
Please do not withhold Your grace from me constantly on the ground –
(a) that other than performing today the same jobs which I did yesterday, I do not think of anything else; and
(b) that I am not such a brave person who would not leave You by understanding the indication that Self is in front of me, and subduing the five sense organs, without allowing them to be scattered.
I won’t be able bear the grief.

Word-by-word Meaning

P O Father (taNDri) who bore (kanna) me! Please do not withhold (mAnakE) Your grace (karuNa) from me (nApai) (literally on me); I won’t be able bear (tALanE) the grief (gAsi).

A O Father who bore me! Please do not withhold Your grace from me constantly (vEmArulaku) (literally a thousand times) on the ground
that (anucu) other than (gAka) performing today (nEDu) the same jobs (panulu) which I did (sEyu) yesterday (ninna), I do not (lEdu) (lEdanucu) think (enna) of anything else (vEru) (vErenna);
I won’t be able to bear the grief.

C O Father who bore me! Please do not withhold Your grace from me because (ani),
I am not (kAdu) (kAdani) such a brave person (dhairya-SAli) who would not (lEni) leave (vadala) You (ninnu) by,
understanding the (erigi) indication (ingitambu) (ingitamberigi) that (anE) Self (tAnu) (literally oneself) (tAnanE) is in front (eduru) of me, and
subduing (aNaci) the five (panca) sense organs (indriyamu) (pancEndriyamaNaci), without allowing (Ika) them to be scattered (cedaranu) (cedaranIka);
O Lord of the Form (rUpa) of a crore (kOTi) cupids (madana)! O Lord praised (nuta) by this tyAgarAja!
I won’t be able to bear the grief.

Notes –
Variations –
¹ – ninna – ninnu : In the present context, ‘ninna’ is the appropriate word.

References –
³ - dhairya SAli - Refer to kaThOpanishad, ‘parAnci khAni’ (II.i.1) as to why we always look outward and not inward.

Comments -
¹ – ninna sEyu panulu nEDu gAka – being content with following daily routine only. In the Western Dances, fox-trot is a famous dance – this is also known as ‘on the spot’ dance. While we seem to stepping back and forth, we ultimately remain where we were. Similarly, the net result of our daily routines is that ‘to-day we are where we were yesterday’.

²– eduru tAnu – SrImad-bhagavad-gItA, Chapter 7 is relevant –

bahUnAM janmanAmantE jnAnavAnmAM prapadyantE
vAsudEvaH sarvamiti sa mahAtmA sudurlabhaH 19

“At the end of many births, the man of wisdom takes refuge in Me, realising that all this is vAsudEva (the innermost Self). Very rare is that great soul.” (Translation by Swami Swarupananda)

As per vishNu sahasra nAma (332) – vAsudEva means –

“One who is at once both Vaasu and Deva. Vaasu means ‘One who dwells in the physical equipments of all living creatures as its indweller (Jeeva)’; Deva means ‘One who revels or One who illumines’. Thus, Vaasudevah means ‘One who lives in the physical equipment as though conditioned by them, and yet, who is the Vital Consciousness in the light of which every experience is illumined. The Lord is the One who dwells in all things of the universe and He is at once the Supporter of the entire world.

Also, directly, it can be taken to mean, One who is born as the Son of Sri Vasudeva in the Jail of Kamsa, the Blue-Boy of Brindaavana. He is called Vaasu as He veils Himself with His own Maayaa; Deva means ‘He who sports, wishes to conquer, conducts, shines, creates and moves’. In the Udyoga Parva of Mahabharata, we read, ‘Like the Sun with his rays I am covering (Deva) in all beings and hence, I am called Vaasudeva’.

Vishnupurana says, ‘‘as He resides everywhere in and through all things, He is termed Vaasudevah’. All beings remain in the Supreme, and He in all being and hence, the Omnipresent is called the Vaasudeva.”
(Meanings based on commentary of Adi Sankaracharya)
vishNu sahasranAma

² – eduru tAnanE ingitamberigi cedaranIka pancEndriyamaNaci – The senses (pancEndriya) seek gratification from external objects. Once all the external objects are resolved as ‘vAsudEva’ – eduru tAnu – there is no scope of senses to be scattered (cedaru) in pursuit of gratification. As a consequence, the senses get subdued (aNaci).

³ – dhairya SAli kAdani – this can be interpreted in two ways – ‘probably you think that I am not brave enough to ...’ and ‘because I am not brave enough to...’ Though both make sense in the context, the second meaning seems to be more appropriate because of the Anupallavi word ‘vEmArulaku’ – ‘again and again' - that Lord is withholding His grace again and again. The Lord being the vAsudEva, He knows what the capability of His devotee is and there is no need for the devotee to assure Him of that.


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. कन्न तण्ड्रि नापै
करुण मानके गासि ताळने

अ. निन्न सेयु पनुलु नेडु गाक
वे(रॆ)न्न ले(द)नुचु वेमारुलकु (क)

च. ऎदुरु ता(न)ने इंगित(म्बॆ)रिगि
चॆदर(नी)क प(ञ्चे)न्द्रिय(म)णचि निन्नु
वदल लेनि धैर्य-शालि का(द)नि
मदन कोटि रूप त्यागराज नुत (क)

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. கன்ன தண்ட்3ரி நாபை
கருண மானகே கா3ஸி தாளனே

அ. நின்ன ஸேயு பனுலு நேடு3 கா3க
வே(ரெ)ன்ன லே(த3)னுசு வேமாருலகு (க)

ச. எது3ரு தா(ன)னே இங்கி3தம்(பெ3)ரிகி3
செத3ர(னீ)க பஞ்(சே)ந்த்3ரிய(ம)ணசி நின்னு
வத3ல லேனி தை4ர்ய-ஸா1லி கா(த3)னி
மத3ன கோடி ரூப த்யாக3ராஜ நுத (க)

ஈன்ற தந்தையே! என்மீது
கருணை மறுக்காதே; துயரம் தாளேனே

நேற்று செய்த பணிகளே இன்றும்; இஃதன்றி
(நான்) வேறெண்ணவில்லையென, தொடர்ந்து
ஈன்ற தந்தையே! என்மீது
கருணை மறுக்காதே; துயரம் தாளேனே

எதிரில் தானேயென்ற குறிப்பறிந்து,
சிதற விடாது, ஐம்புலன்களை யடக்கி, உன்னை
அகலாத துணிவுடையவன் அல்லவென,
மதனர் கோடி உருவத்தோனே! தியாகராசனால்
போற்றப்பெற்றோனே!
ஈன்ற தந்தையே! என்மீது
கருணை மறுக்காதே; துயரம் தாளேனே

எதிரில் தானே - தன்னுள்ளுறை இறைவன் அனைத்துயிர்களிலும் உள்ளான் என - இங்கு, 'தான்' என்பது 'வாசுதேவன்' எனப்படும் உள்ளுறை இறைவனைக் குறிக்கும்

Telugu

ప. కన్న తండ్రి నాపై
కరుణ మానకే గాసి తాళనే

అ. నిన్న సేయు పనులు నేడు గాక
వేరెన్న లేదనుచు వేమారులకు (క)

చ. ఎదురు తాననే ఇంగితంబెరిగి
చెదరనీక పంచేంద్రియమణచి నిన్ను
వదల లేని ధైర్య-శాలి కాదని
మదన కోటి రూప త్యాగరాజ నుత (క)

Kannada

ಪ. ಕನ್ನ ತಂಡ್ರಿ ನಾಪೈ
ಕರುಣ ಮಾನಕೇ ಗಾಸಿ ತಾಳನೇ

ಅ. ನಿನ್ನ ಸೇಯು ಪನುಲು ನೇಡು ಗಾಕ
ವೇರೆನ್ನ ಲೇದನುಚು ವೇಮಾರುಲಕು (ಕ)

ಚ. ಎದುರು ತಾನನೇ ಇಂಗಿತಂಬೆರಿಗಿ
ಚೆದರನೀಕ ಪಂಚೇಂದ್ರಿಯಮಣಚಿ ನಿನ್ನು
ವದಲ ಲೇನಿ ಧೈರ್ಯ-ಶಾಲಿ ಕಾದನಿ
ಮದನ ಕೋಟಿ ರೂಪ ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜ ನುತ (ಕ)

Malayalam

പ. കന്ന തണ്ഡ്രി നാപൈ
കരുണ മാനകേ ഗാസി താളനേ

അ. നിന്ന സേയു പനുലു നേഡു ഗാക
വേരെന്ന ലേദനുചു വേമാരുലകു (ക)

ച. എദുരു താനനേ ഇങ്ഗിതമ്ബെരിഗി
ചെദരനീക പഞ്ചേന്ദ്രിയമണചി നിന്നു
വദല ലേനി ധൈര്യ-ശാലി കാദനി
മദന കോടി രൂപ ത്യാഗരാജ നുത (ക)

Updated on 25 Jan 2009