Thyagaraja Kriti - Mahima Tagginchuko - Raga Rishabha Priya

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

mahima taggincukO-rishabhapriya

In the kRti ‘mahima taggincukO’ – rAga rishabhapriya (tALa Adi), SrI tyAgarAja asks Lord not to be so strict with him.

pallavi
¹mahima taggincukO(v)ayya
mahini satya svarUpuD(a)nu
mahA rAja rAj(E)Svara nI (mahima)

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anupallavi
vihita mArga bhaktulugA mahAtmulu
velayaga vina lEdA svakIyamagu (mahima)

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caraNam
²paniki rAni panulu jEsi SaraN(a)nu
vAri vetalu tIrci brOcitivE
tanivi tIra namminaD(a)nucu SrI
tyAgarAja nuta tappul(A)Daku (mahima)

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Gist

O Great Overlord of Emperors! O Lord praised by this tyAgarAja!

• Please tone down Your own greatness of being Embodiment of Truth in this Earth.
  
  • Have we not heard of great souls existing as devotees in the decreed path?
    
  • Isn’t it that You protected by relieving the distress of those who, after having indulged in useless pursuits, sought Your refuge?
  
  
• Considering that I trusted You very fondly, please don’t nit-pick.

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Word-by-word Meaning

pallavi
mahima taggincukO-ayya
mahini satya svarUpuDu-anu
mahA rAja rAja-ISvara nI (mahima)

O Great (mahA) Overlord (ISvara) of Emperors (rAja rAja) (rAjESvara)! O Lord (ayya)! Please tone down (taggincukO) (taggincukOvayya) Your (nI) greatness (mahima) of being (anu) Embodiment (svarUpuDu) (svarUpuDanu) of Truth (satya) in this Earth (mahini).

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anupallavi
vihita mArga bhaktulugA mahAtmulu
velayaga vina lEdA svakIyamagu (mahima)

Have we not (lEdA) heard (vina) of great souls (mahAtmulu) existing (velayaga) (literally shining) as devotees (bhaktulugA) in the decreed (vihita) path (mArga)?
O The Great Overlord of Emperors! Please tone down Your own (svakIyamagu) greatness of being Embodiment of Truth in this Earth.

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caraNam
paniki rAni panulu jEsi SaraNu-anu
vAri vetalu tIrci brOcitivE
tanivi tIra namminaDu-anucu SrI
tyAgarAja nuta tappulu-ADaku (mahima)

Isn’t it that You protected (brocitivE) by relieving (tIrci) the distress (vetalu) of those (vAri) who, after having indulged (jEsi) (literally done) in useless (paniki rAni) pursuits (panulu) (literally tasks), sought (anu) Your refuge (SaraNu) (SaraNanu)?
Considering that (anucu) I trusted (namminADu) (literally He has trusted) You very fondly (tanivi tIra), please don’t nit-pick (tappulu ADaku) (tappulADaku);
O Lord praised (nuta) by this tyAgarAja! O The Great Overlord of Emperors! Please tone down Your greatness of being Embodiment of Truth in this Earth.

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Notes –
Variations –
¹ – mahima taggincukO – In all the books it is given as ‘mahima dakkincukO’ and the meaning derived in all the books is ‘tone down Your greatness’. In telugu the appropriate word for ‘tone down’ is ‘taggincukO’.

References –
² - paniki rAni pani jEsi SaraNanu vAru – The reference may be to sugrIva. He sought refuge of SrI rAma only to safeguard his own welfare.

The story of ajAmila in SrImad-bhAgavatam (Book 6, Chapters 1-3) is also relevant because, having wasted a whole life, at the death bed, he uttered the name ‘nArAyaNa’ – to call his son who has been named so. That was sufficient enough reason for the Lord to send his emissaries to rescue him from the clutches of yama kiMkaras.

Comments -
In the absence of any contextual reference, it is very difficult to translate truthfully such kRtis, particularly, vihita mArga – (decreed path) - tappulADaku – (don’t nit-pick) – what these refer to is not clear.

What SrI tyAgarAja wants to say, in my humble opinion, is that ‘I have surrendered to You (trusted You whole heartedly) in keeping with Your exhortation (SrImad-bhagavad-gItA, Chapter 18, verses 65 and 66); do not start nit-picking; now You keep Your side of promise.

The relevant verses of SrImad-bhagavad-gItA, Chapter 18 are –

man-manA bhava mad-bhaktO mad-yAji mAM namaskuru
mAm-Evaishyasi satyaM tE pratijAnE priyO(a)si mE
sarva dharmAn-parityajya mAm-EkaM SaraNaM vraja
ahaM tvA sarva pApEbhyO mOkshayishyAmi mA-SucaH 65,66

“Occupy thy mind with Me, be devoted to Me, sacrifice to Me, bow down to Me. Thou shalt reach Myself; truly do I promise unto thee, (for) thou are dear to Me. (65) Relinquishing all dharmA take refuge in Me alone; I will liberate thee from all sins; grieve not.” (66) (Translation by Swami Swarupananda)

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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. महिम तग्गिञ्चुको(व)य्य
महिनि सत्य स्वरूपु(ड)नु
महा राज रा(जे)श्वर नी (म)

अ. विहित मार्ग भक्तुलुगा महात्मुलु
वॆलयग विन लेदा स्वकीयमगु (म)

च. पनिकि रानि पनुलु जेसि शर(ण)नु
वारि वॆतलु तीर्चि ब्रोचितिवे
तनिवि तीर नम्मिना(ड)नुचु श्री
त्यागराज नुत तप्पु(ला)डकु (म)

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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. மஹிம தக்3கி3ஞ்சுகோ(வ)ய்ய
மஹினி ஸத்ய ஸ்வரூபு(ட3)னு
மஹா ராஜ ரா(ஜே)ஸ்1வர நீ (ம)

அ. விஹித மார்க3 ப4க்துலுகா3 மஹாத்முலு
வெலயக3 வின லேதா3 ஸ்வகீயமகு3 (ம)

ச. பனிகி ரானி பனுலு ஜேஸி ஸ1ர(ண)னு
வாரி வெதலு தீர்சி ப்3ரோசிதிவே
தனிவி தீர நம்மினா(ட3)னுசு ஸ்ரீ
த்யாக3ராஜ நுத தப்பு(லா)ட3கு (ம)

புவியில் மெய்ம்மை வடிவத்தோனெனும்
உனது மகிமையினைக் குறைத்துக்கொள்ளுமய்யா,
பேரரசர்களுக்கும் பேரீசனே!

விதித்த நெறியில், தொண்டர்களாக, சான்றோர்கள்
விளங்கினரென, கேள்விப் படவில்லையா?
புவியில் மெய்ம்மை வடிவத்தோனெனும்
உனது சொந்த மகிமையினைக் குறைத்துக்கொள்ளுமய்யா,
பேரரசர்களுக்கும் பேரீசனே!

பயனற்ற பணிகளை இயற்றி, (பின்னர்) புகல்
அடைந்தோரின் துயரங்களை தீர்த்து, காத்தனையே!
(உன்னை) உளமாற நம்பினவன் என்பதனால்,
தியாகராசனால் போற்றப் பெற்றோனே! (என்மீது) குற்றம் காணாதே;
புவியில் மெய்ம்மை வடிவத்தோனெனும்
உனது சொந்த மகிமையினைக் குறைத்துக்கொள்ளுமய்யா,
பேரரசர்களுக்கும் பேரீசனே!

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Telugu

ప. మహిమ తగ్గించుకోవయ్య
మహిని సత్య స్వరూపుడను
మహా రాజ రాజేశ్వర నీ (మ)

అ. విహిత మార్గ భక్తులుగా మహాత్ములు
వెలయగ విన లేదా స్వకీయమగు (మ)

చ. పనికి రాని పనులు జేసి శరణను
వారి వెతలు తీర్చి బ్రోచితివే
తనివి తీర నమ్మినాడనుచు శ్రీ
త్యాగరాజ నుత తప్పులాడకు (మ)

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Kannada

ಪ. ಮಹಿಮ ತಗ್ಗಿಂಚುಕೋವಯ್ಯ
ಮಹಿನಿ ಸತ್ಯ ಸ್ವರೂಪುಡನು
ಮಹಾ ರಾಜ ರಾಜೇಶ್ವರ ನೀ (ಮ)

ಅ. ವಿಹಿತ ಮಾರ್ಗ ಭಕ್ತುಲುಗಾ ಮಹಾತ್ಮುಲು
ವೆಲಯಗ ವಿನ ಲೇದಾ ಸ್ವಕೀಯಮಗು (ಮ)

ಚ. ಪನಿಕಿ ರಾನಿ ಪನುಲು ಜೇಸಿ ಶರಣನು
ವಾರಿ ವೆತಲು ತೀರ್ಚಿ ಬ್ರೋಚಿತಿವೇ
ತನಿವಿ ತೀರ ನಮ್ಮಿನಾಡನುಚು ಶ್ರೀ
ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜ ನುತ ತಪ್ಪುಲಾಡಕು (ಮ)

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Malayalam

പ. മഹിമ തഗ്ഗിഞ്ചുകോവയ്യ
മഹിനി സത്യ സ്വരൂപുഡനു
മഹാ രാജ രാജേശ്വര നീ (മ)

അ. വിഹിത മാര്ഗ ഭക്തുലുഗാ മഹാത്മുലു
വെലയഗ വിന ലേദാ സ്വകീയമഗു (മ)

ച. പനികി രാനി പനുലു ജേസി ശരണനു
വാരി വെതലു തീര്ചി ബ്രോചിതിവേ
തനിവി തീര നമ്മിനാഡനുചു ശ്രീ
ത്യാഗരാജ നുത തപ്പുലാഡകു (മ)

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Updated on 15 May 2010