Thyagaraja Kriti - Maa Jaanaki - Raga 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

mA jAnaki-kAmbhOji

In the kRti ‘mA jAnaki ceTTa’ – rAga kAmbhOji – SrI tyAgarAja describes the greatness of sItA and how SrI rAma attained even higher greatness because of what she did and did not do.

P mA jAnaki ¹cETTa paTTaga
²maharAjav(ai)tivi

A ³rAja rAja vara rAjIv(A)ksha vinu
rAvaN(A)ri(y)ani rAjillu kIrtiyu (mA)

C kAnak(E)gi Ajna mIraka
mAy(A)kAram(u)nici Sikhi centanE(y)uNDi
⁴dAnavuni veNTanE cani aSOka
taru mUlan(u)NDi
vAni mATalaku kOpaginci kaNTa
⁵vadhiyincakanE(y)uNDi
SrI nAyaka yaSamu nIkE kalga
jEya lEdA tyAgarAja paripAla (mA)

Gist
O Most excellent of Emperors! O Lotus Eyed! O Consort of lakshmI! O Nourisher of this tyAgarAja!

Listen.
You attained greatness because you married our Mother jAnaki!
You attained great fame as vanquisher of rAvaNa because you married our Mother jAnaki.

(a) Proceeding (along with You) to the forest,
(b) donning shadow form, without disobeying your command,
(c) remaining with Fire-God (in Her true form),
(d) having gone (in shadow form) along with the demon,
(e) remaining at lanka under the aSOka tree,
did She not indeed bring great fame (as vanquisher of rAvaNa) to You by not reducing him to ashes by her eyes by getting enraged by his words?

Word-by-word Meaning

P You attained greatness (maharAjavu aitivi) (maharAjavaitivi) because you married (ceTTa paTTaga) (literally take hand in marriage) our (mA) Mother jAnaki!

A O Most excellent (vara) of Emperors (rAja rAja)! O Lotus (rAjIva) Eyed (aksha) (rAjIvAksha)! Listen (vinu);
You attained great (rAjillu) (literally shining) fame (kIrtiyu) as (ani) vanquisher (ari) (literally enemy) of rAvaNa (rAvaNAriyani)
because you married our Mother jAnaki.

C Proceeding (Egi) (along with You) to the forest (kAnaku), donning (unici) shadow (mAya) form (AkAramunu) (mAyAkAramunici) without disobeying (mIraka) your command (Ajna) (kAnakEgiyAjna), remaining (uNDi) with (centanE) (literally near) (centanEyuNDi) Fire-God (Sikhi) (in Her true form),
having gone (cani) (in shadow form) along with (veNTanE) rAvaNa – the demon (dAnavuni), remaining (uNDi) at lanka under (mUlanu) (literally at the root) (mUlanuNDi) the aSOka tree (taru),
O Consort (nAyaka) of lakshmI (SrI)! did She not (lEdA) indeed bring (kalga jEya) (literally produce) great fame (yaSamu) to You (nIkE)
by not reducing him (rAvaNa) to ashes (vadhiyincakanE uNDi) (literally not slaying) (vadhiyincakanEyuNDi) by her eyes (kaNTa) by getting enraged (kOpaginci) by his (vAni) words (mATalaku)?
O Nourisher (paripAla) of this tyAgarAja! You attained greatness because you married our Mother jAnaki!

Notes –
Variations –

References –
⁴ - dAnavuni veNTanE cani - According to vAlmIki rAmAyaNa (AraNya kANDa) –

vAmEna sItAM padmAkshIM mUrdhajEshu karENa saH
UrvOstu dakshiNEnaiva pari-jagrAha pANinA (49 – 17)

tasyAs-tad vimalaM vaktram-AkASO rAvaNAnkagaM
na rarAja vinA rAmaM vinAlam-iva pankajaM (52 – 18)

“With his left hand he caught hold of the Lotus eyed sItA by her locks, while with his right hand he clasped her by her thighs.

Lying in the lap of rAvaNa in the air, that fair countenance of sItA did not shine bereft as she was without SrI rAma any more than lotus detached from it stalk.”

For a great bhakta like SrI tyAgarAja, abduction of sItA, by violating her physically, would look preposterous. Therefore, SrI tyAgarAja follows the line of adhyAtma rAmAyaNa. (SrI tulasidAsa also has adopted the same line in his rAmcaritra mAnas.) According to adhyAtma rAmayaNa, SrI rAma instructs sItA to hide her real form in the fire and don ‘shadow’ (chAya) form; to stay thus for one year till rAvaNa is killed and then be restored. Accordingly, it was not real sItA who was abducted by rAvaNa but her shadow (mAyA). Source – adhyAtma rAmAyaNa (tamizh) translated by ‘Harini’.

⁵ - vadhiyincakanEyuNDi - At lankA, sItA was kept captive under an aSOka tree. There, when rAvaNa threatened sItA that she would be forcibly taken to the gynaeceum as his queen, sItA was indeed enraged and uttered the following words (as per vAlmIki rAmAyaNa – sundara kANDa, Chapter 22) –

asandESAttu rAmasya tapascAnupAlanAt
na tvAm kurmi daSa-grIva bhasma bhasmArha-tEjasA 20

“Though I am capable of reducing you to ashes by my own power, I do not do so because I do not have the mandate of SrI rAma and also because I want to preserve the power of my asceticism.”

SrI tyAgarAja states that sItA, by sparing rAvaNa’s life, brought glory to SrI rAma as the vanquisher of rAvaNa.

Comments -
¹ – ceTTa paTTu – Take hand in marriage - ‘pANi grahaNa’.

“pANi grahaNa (Vedic) - Literally this means ‘holding of hands’. Because this is the first most important Vedic ritual; scholars believe that this should be done during the auspicious time. Normally the bride folds fingers of her right hand into a conical form upwards and the groom holds it in his hand folded downwards by surrounding all her fingers. (One authority says that ‘If he holds her hand leaving her thumb then they both will have only female children and if he holds only her thumb leaving out the fingers, then they will have only male children’). The following prayers are recited by the groom:-

‘Hey maid, I am holding your hand so that you will have several good children and live happily with me till ripe old age. The God Aryama has given you to me to lead the life of a householder.’

‘The gods Bhaga and Agni were leading this life before me with you and have now given you to me for the purpose of raising my family.’

‘Hey Goddess Saraswathi, you are blessed with all the luck, riches and food and so we who have held our hands today, hope to get riches and pleasures by your blessing. I announce this loudly in front of all so that you will definitely bless me.’

‘Hey Maid, Let Vayu (god of wind) who has the capacity to travel in all directions, who keeps a gold coin in his hand to give to those who pray him and who is the friend of fire God (Agni) who has the capacity to purify everything as well as the capacity to make raw food eatable, enter your mind and make you love me for every minute of our future lives.’”
Source - Vedic Marriage Ritual

² – maharAju – The literally meaning ‘emperor’ is not applicable here. This is a way of speaking in telugu for (a) benediction (b) prosperity, greatness or fame (c) and whole-hearted consent.

³ – rAjA rAja vara rAjIvAksha – the word ‘vara’ can be attached to either of the two epithets – ‘rAja rAja’ or ‘rAjIvAksha’.


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. मा जानकि चॆट्ट पट्टग
महराज(वै)तिवि

अ. राज राज वर राजी(वा)क्ष विनु
राव(णा)रि(य)नि राजिल्लु कीर्तियु (मा)

च. कान(के)गि आज्ञ मीरक
मा(या)कार(मु)निचि शिखि चॆन्तने(यु)ण्डि
दानवुनि वॆण्टने चनि अशोक
तरु मूल(नु)ण्डि
वानि माटलकु कोपगिञ्चि कण्ट
वधियिञ्चकने(यु)ण्डि
श्री नायक यशमु नीके कल्ग
जेय लेदा त्यागराज परिपाल (मा)

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. மா ஜானகி செட்ட பட்டக3
மஹராஜ(வை)திவி

அ. ராஜ ராஜ வர ராஜீ(வா)க்ஷ வினு
ராவ(ணா)ரி(ய)னி ராஜில்லு கீர்தியு (மா)

ச. கான(கே)கி3 ஆக்3ஞ மீரக
மா(யா)கார(மு)னிசி ஸி1கி2 செந்தனே(யு)ண்டி3
தா3னவுனி வெண்டனே சனி அஸோ1க
தரு மூல(னு)ண்டி3
வானி மாடலகு கோபகி3ஞ்சி கண்ட
வதி4யிஞ்சகனே(யு)ண்டி3
ஸ்ரீ நாயக யஸ1மு நீகே கல்க3
ஜேய லேதா3 த்யாக3ராஜ பரிபால (மா)

எமது சானகியை கைப் பிடித்ததனாலன்றோ
பெருந்தகை யாகினாய்!

பேரரசர்களில் மேலோனே! கமலக் கண்ணா! கேள்,
இராவணனை வென்றோனெனத் திகழ் புகழும்
எமது சானகியை கைப் பிடித்ததனாலன்றோ!

கானகத்திற்கு (உடன்) சென்று, (உனது) ஆணை மீராது,
மாய உருவை யணிந்து, (தான்) அக்கினியிடமே யிருந்து,
(மாய உருவுடன்) தானவனுடன் சென்று, அசோக
மரத்தடியினிலிருந்து,
அவனது சொற்களுக்கு சினுமுற்று கண்களினாலாயே
(அவனை) வதைக்காதிருந்து,
மா மணாளா! புகழுனக்கே கிடைக்கச்
செய்தனளன்றோ? தியாகராசனைப் பேணுவோனே!
எமது சானகியை கை பிடித்ததனாலன்றோ
பெருந்தகை யாகினாய்!

அக்கினி - அக்கினி தேவன்
தானவன் - இராவணன்

Telugu

ప. మా జానకి చెట్ట పట్టగ
మహరాజవైతివి

అ. రాజ రాజ వర రాజీవాక్ష విను
రావణారియని రాజిల్లు కీర్తియు (మా)

చ. కానకేగి ఆజ్ఞ మీరక
మాయాకారమునిచి శిఖి చెంతనేయుండి
దానవుని వెంటనే చని అశోక
తరు మూలనుండి
వాని మాటలకు కోపగించి కంట
వధియించకనేయుండి
శ్రీ నాయక యశము నీకే కల్గ
జేయ లేదా త్యాగరాజ పరిపాల (మా)

Kannada

ಪ. ಮಾ ಜಾನಕಿ ಚೆಟ್ಟ ಪಟ್ಟಗ
ಮಹರಾಜವೈತಿವಿ

ಅ. ರಾಜ ರಾಜ ವರ ರಾಜೀವಾಕ್ಷ ವಿನು
ರಾವಣಾರಿಯನಿ ರಾಜಿಲ್ಲು ಕೀರ್ತಿಯು (ಮಾ)

ಚ. ಕಾನಕೇಗಿ ಆಜ್ಞ ಮೀರಕ
ಮಾಯಾಕಾರಮುನಿಚಿ ಶಿಖಿ ಚೆಂತನೇಯುಂಡಿ
ದಾನವುನಿ ವೆಂಟನೇ ಚನಿ ಅಶೋಕ
ತರು ಮೂಲನುಂಡಿ
ವಾನಿ ಮಾಟಲಕು ಕೋಪಗಿಂಚಿ ಕಂಟ
ವಧಿಯಿಂಚಕನೇಯುಂಡಿ
ಶ್ರೀ ನಾಯಕ ಯಶಮು ನೀಕೇ ಕಲ್ಗ
ಜೇಯ ಲೇದಾ ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜ ಪರಿಪಾಲ (ಮಾ)

Malayalam

പ. മാ ജാനകി ചെട്ട പട്ടഗ
മഹരാജവൈതിവി

അ. രാജ രാജ വര രാജീവാക്ഷ വിനു
രാവണാരിയനി രാജില്ലു കീര്തിയു (മാ)

ച. കാനകേഗി ആജ്ഞ മീരക
മായാകാരമുനിചി ശിഖി ചെന്തനേയുണ്ഡി
ദാനവുനി വെണ്ടനേ ചനി അശോക
തരു മൂലനുണ്ഡി
വാനി മാടലകു കോപഗിഞ്ചി കണ്ട
വധിയിഞ്ചകനേയുണ്ഡി
ശ്രീ നായക യശമു നീകേ കല്ഗ
ജേയ ലേദാ ത്യാഗരാജ പരിപാല (മാ)


Updated on 06 May 2009