Thyagaraja Kriti - Oka Maata - Raga Hari Kaambhoji

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

oka mATa-harikAmbhOji

In the kRti ‘oka mATa oka bANa’ – rAga harikAmbhOji, SrI tyAgarAja praises the qualities of the Lord.

P ¹oka mATa ²oka bANamu
³oka patnI vratuDE manasA

A ⁴oka cittamu-galavADE
oka nADunu maravakavE (oka)

C ⁵cira jIvitvamu ⁶nirjara
vara ⁷mOksham(o)sangunE
dhara ⁸baragE dEvuDE
⁹tyAgarAja nutuDu (oka)

Gist
O My Mind!
Lord SrI rAma is vowed to one Word, one arrow and one wife.
He has unwavering mind (OR single willed).
He confers long-life and non-decaying blessed state of emancipation.
SrI rAma - praised by this tyAgarAja is the God effulgent on this Earth.
Never forget Him.

Word-by-word Meaning

P O My Mind (manasA)! Lord SrI rAma is vowed (vratuDE) to one (oka) Word (mATa), one (oka) arrow (bANamu) and one (oka) wife (patnI).

A He has (galavADE) unwavering (oka) (literally one) mind (cittamu) (OR single (oka) willed (cittamu)); never (oka nADunu) (literally not even one day) forget (maravakavE) Him;
O My Mind! Lord SrI rAma is vowed to one word, one arrow and one wife.

C He confers (osangunE) long-life (cira jIvitvamu) and non-decaying (nirjara) blessed (vara) state of emancipation (mOkshamu) (mOkshamosangunE);
SrI rAma - praised (nutuDu) by this tyAgarAja is the God (dEvuDE) effulgent (baragE) on this Earth (dhara);
O My Mind! Lord SrI rAma is vowed to one word, one arrow and one wife.

Notes –
Variations –
⁵ – cira jIvitvamu – ciranjIvitvamu. According to Sanskrit Dictionary ‘cirajIvin’ is the correct word. However, as per Telugu dictionary, both ‘cira jIvi’ and ‘ciranjIvi’ are correct.

⁷ – mOkshamu – saukhyamu. If ‘saukhyamu’ is correct, then ‘nirjara vara saukhyamu’, would mean ‘heavenly comfort’. In my opinion, it is doubtful whether SrI tyAgarAja would ever commend ‘heavenly comfort’ as a goal.
The word 'nirjara' generally means 'celestials' (please see comment below). Therefore, taking 'nirjara' in that sense (celestials), 'mOkshamu' seems to have been interpolated as 'saukhyamu'. Therefore, ‘mOkshamu’ seems to be the appropriate word.

⁸ – baragE – baragu.

References -
¹ – oka mATa – one word – satya sandha – true to one's word. Please refer to statement of SrI rAma Himself – vAlmIki rAmAyaNa, ayOdhyA kANDa, Chapter 18 –

tad brUhi dEvi rAjnO yad-abhikAnkshitam |
karishyE pratijAnE ca rAmO dvir-nAbhi-bhAshatE || 30 ||

Addressed to kaikEyi –
"Therefore, speak out what you have got to say, O glorious lady! I shall do that which is coveted by the king and give my plighted word for it. Know that rAma does not speak twice."

Please also refer to - vAlmIki rAmAyaNa, ayOdhyA kANDa, Chapter 18

Comments -
² – oka bANamu – please also refer to kRti 'evariccirirA' – madhyamAvati, wherein SrI tyAgarAja praises the bow and arrows of SrI rAma - 'okaTEsi padi nUrai veyyai cekapikalADi Satrulanu aNacenaTa' - one (arrow) shot by You, multiplying into tens, hundreds and thousands, subdued Your enemies by confounding them;

oka bANamu (one arrow) - may be interpreted as ‘single aim’ or ‘never failing in one’s aim’.

³ – oka patnI – One of the reasons for which SrI rAma is called ‘maryAda purushOttama’ is his vow for single wife. This is one of ‘limits’ (maryAda) set by SrI rAma as opposed to even his own father – daSaratha – who is stated to have had 60,000 wives other than 3 queens.

In uttara kANDa (whose authenticity is disputed) (Chapter 91), SrI rAma, after banishing His wife to the forest, installed a golden statue of sIta for aSvamEdha yajna (Horse sacrifice); He did not remarry.

⁴ – oka cittamu – ‘cittamu’ also means ‘will’. In vishNu sahasra nAma, one of the names of the Lord is ‘siddha sankalpa:’ (253)

“Siddhasankalpah -Sankalpa means “intellectual willing and wishing”. One who gains all that He wishes for, or One who immediately gains what He wills is called Siddha-sankalpah. Ordinarily we fail to gain what we demand because of the disintegration within ourselves. The Lord, the Perfect, is One who instantaneously gains all that He wishes; hence the Upanishads define Him as the Satya Sankalpavaan.” – Source – vishNu sahasra nAmaM - Meanings

The very act of consecration of vibhIshaNa with the Lordship of lankA, even before the commencement of war effort, indicates this unfailing will - 'oka cittamu' of rAma.

⁵ – cira jIvitvamu nirjara vara mOkshamu – AnjanEya is called ciranjIvi. SrI tyAgarAja seems to mean ‘bhukti’ and ‘mukti’ here.

⁶ – nirjara – non-ageing - Generally this word is translated as 'celestials'; however, here this word qualifies 'mOksha' – and indicates the non-decaying state of liberation.

⁹ – tyAgarAja nutuDu – this may either be joined to 'dhara baragE dEvuDE' or to the pallavi. However, the former version is more appealing.

General – the word endings 'E' – vratuDE, galavADE etc. – is the feminine addressing form. In many kRtis, SrI tyAgarAja addresses his mind like 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. ऒक माट ऒक बाणमु
ऒक पत्नी व्रतुडे मनसा

अ. ऒक चित्तमु-गलवाडे
ऒक नाडुनु मरवकवे (ऒ)

च. चिर जीवित्वमु निर्जर
वर मोक्ष(मॊ)संगुने
धर बरगे देवुडे
त्यागराज नुतुडु (ऒ)

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. ஒக மாட ஒக பா3ணமு
ஒக பத்னீ வ்ரதுடே3 மனஸா

அ. ஒக சித்தமு-க3லவாடே3
ஒக நாடு3னு மரவகவே (ஒ)

ச. சிர ஜீவித்வமு நிர்ஜர
வர மோக்ஷ(மொ)ஸங்கு3னே
த4ர ப3ரகே3 தே3வுடே3
த்யாக3ராஜ நுதுடு3 (ஒ)

ஓர் சொல், ஓரம்பு,
ஓர்மனை விரதத்தோனடி, மனமே

ஓர் சித்தமுடையவனடி;
ஒரு நாளும் மறவாதேடி;
ஓர் சொல், ஓரம்பு,
ஓர்மனை விரதத்தோனடி, மனமே

நீண்டாயுளும், குன்றாத,
உயர் வீடும் அளிப்பானடி;
புவியில் திகழும் தெய்வமடி,
தியாகராசனால் போற்றப் பெற்றோன்;
ஓர் சொல், ஓரம்பு,
ஓர்மனை விரதத்தோனடி, மனமே

மனை - மனைவி

Telugu

ప. ఒక మాట ఒక బాణము
ఒక పత్నీ వ్రతుడే మనసా

అ. ఒక చిత్తము-గలవాడే
ఒక నాడును మరవకవే (ఒ)

చ. చిర జీవిత్వము నిర్జర
వర మోక్షమొసంగునే
ధర బరగే దేవుడే
త్యాగరాజ నుతుడు (ఒ)

Kannada

ಪ. ಒಕ ಮಾಟ ಒಕ ಬಾಣಮು
ಒಕ ಪತ್ನೀ ವ್ರತುಡೇ ಮನಸಾ

ಅ. ಒಕ ಚಿತ್ತಮು-ಗಲವಾಡೇ
ಒಕ ನಾಡುನು ಮರವಕವೇ (ಒ)

ಚ. ಚಿರ ಜೀವಿತ್ವಮು ನಿರ್ಜರ
ವರ ಮೋಕ್ಷಮೊಸಂಗುನೇ
ಧರ ಬರಗೇ ದೇವುಡೇ
ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜ ನುತುಡು (ಒ)

Malayalam

പ. ഒക മാട ഒക ബാണമു
ഒക പത്നീ വ്രതുഡേ മനസാ

അ. ഒക ചിത്തമു-ഗലവാഡേ
ഒക നാഡുനു മരവകവേ (ഒ)

ച. ചിര ജീവിത്വമു നിര്ജര
വര മോക്ഷമൊസങ്ഗുനേ
ധര ബരഗേ ദേവുഡേ
ത്യാഗരാജ നുതുഡു (ഒ)

Updated on 12 Apr 2009