Thyagaraja Kriti - Koti Nadulu - Raga Todi

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

kOTi nadulu-tODi

In the kRti ‘kOTi nadulu’ – rAga tODi (tALa Adi), SrI tyAgarAja states that chanting Lord SrI rAma’s name is more purifacatory than bath in holy rivers.

pallavi
kOTi nadulu ¹dhanushkOTilOn(u)NDaga
²ETiki tirigedavE O manasA

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anupallavi
sUtiga SyAma sundara mUrtini
mATi mATiki jUcE mahArAjulaku (kOTi)

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caraNam
³ganga nUpurambunanu janincenu
rangani kAvEri kani rAjillenu
pongucu SrI raghu nAthuni prEmatO
pogaDE tyAgarAju manavi vinavE (kOTi)

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Gist

O My Mind!

• Listen to the appeal of this tyAgarAja who exultingly extols Lord SrI raghu nAtha with great love.
  
  
  • There being thousands of rivers at the tip of bow (of Lord rAma), funny that you are roaming about for bath in holy rivers!
    
    
  • For those great persons who behold, every now and then, directly, the charming dark-blue form (of Lord rAma), there are thousands of rivers at the tip of His bow.
    
    
  • River ganga took birth at the feet of the Lord.
    
  • River kAvEri attained glory beholding Lord ranga nAtha.
  
  
  
• Therefore, funny that you are roaming about for bath in holy rivers!

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Word-by-word Meaning

pallavi
kOTi nadulu dhanushkOTilOna-uNDaga
ETiki tirigedavE O manasA

O My Mind (manasA)! There being (uNDaga) thousands (kOTi) (literally crores) of rivers (nadulu) at (lOna) the tip (kOTi) of bow (dhanuH) (dhanushkOTilOnuNDaga) (of Lord rAma), funny that you are roaming about (tirigedavE) for bath in holy rivers (ETiki)!

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anupallavi
sUtiga SyAma sundara mUrtini
mATi mATiki jUcE mahArAjulaku (kOTi)

O My Mind! For those great persons (mahArAjulaku) who behold (jUcE) every now and then (mATi mATiki) directly (sUTiga) the charming (sundara) dark-blue (SyAma) form (of Lord rAma) (mUrtini),
there being thousands of rivers at the tip of His bow, funny that you are roaming about for bath in holy rivers!

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caraNam
ganga nUpurambunanu janincenu
rangani kAvEri kani rAjillenu
pongucu SrI raghu nAthuni prEmatO
pogaDE tyAgarAju manavi vinavE (kOTi)

River ganga took birth (janincenu) at the feet (nUpurambunanu) (literally ornament for the feet - generally anklet) of the Lord.
River kAvEri attained glory (rAjillenu) (literally shone) beholding (kani) Lord ranga nAtha (rangani);
O My Mind! Listen (vinavE) to the appeal (manavi) of this tyAgarAja (tyAgarAju) who exultingly (pongucu) extols (pogaDE) Lord SrI raghu nAtha (raghunAthuni) with great love (prEmatO).
There being thousands of rivers at the tip of the bow of Lord rAma, funny that you are roaming about for bath in holy rivers!

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Notes –
References –
³- ganga nUpuramuna janincenu – Regarding birth of river ganga, the following verse in SrImad bhAgavataM – Book 8 – Chapter 21 is relevant –

dhAtuH kamNDalu-jalaM tad-urukramasya
pAdAvanEjana-pavitratayA narendra
svar-dhunyabhUn-nabhasi sA patatI nimArshTi
lOka-trayaM bhagavatO viSadEva kIrtiH 4

“O King, the water from Lord brahmA’s kamaNDalu washed the lotus feet of Lord vAmanadEva, who is known as urukrama, the wonderful actor. Thus that water became so pure that it was transformed into the water of the ganga, which went flowing down from the sky, purifying the three worlds like the pure fame of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”

Comments -
¹ – dhanushkOTi – This word may be interpreted in three ways – tip of bow (of Lord rAma) – tIrtha by that name (dhanushkOTi) – tip of spinal column (mEru daNDa) as described in kuNDalini yOga.

In anupallavi, SrI tyAgarAja states about those ‘great persons’ (mahArAjulu) who ‘directly perceive’ (sUTiga jUcE) the dark-blue form (SyAma sundara mUrti) of the Lord – which refers to SrI rAma holding the bow (dhanuH) in his hand, the tip (kOTi) of which extends up to the feet of the Lord.

In caraNam, he refers about two sacred rivers of India – ganga (born from the feet of vishNu in His avatAra as vAmana) and kAveri (on whose bank Lord SrI ranga nAtha abides). SrI tyAgarAja also refers to himself praising Lord raghu nAtha exultingly with love (pongucu prEmatO pogaDE). Therefore, by implication, he seems to include himself in the category of ‘great persons’ (mahArAjulu) as given anupallavi.

In the kRti ‘naDaci naDaci’, rAga kharahara priya, SrI tyAgarAja ridicules those who travel to the town of ayOdhya to see Lord rAma – who should be found in one’s inner recess (AtmArAma).

In the kRti ‘SrI rAma raghu rAma’ – rAga yadukula kAmbhOji, SrI tyAgarAja states ‘dharmAtma caraNambu sOka Siva cApambu tapamEmi jEsenO’ (what kind of penance did the bow of Siva perform in order to be touched by the feet of the Righteous Lord!). Accordingly, it is clear that when the bow was strung by SrI rAma, the tip of the bow was pressed by the toe.

‘kOTi nadulu’ (thousands of rivers) needs to be read in the context of two most sacred rivers – ganga and kAvEri – which SrI tyAgarAja refers in caraNam. The implication seems to be ‘when such sacred rivers owe their glory to the Lord, what to talk of other thousands of rivers (kOTi nadulu)’?

¹ – dhanushkOTi – dhanushkOTi tIrtha

As SrI tyAgarAja clearly decries any roaming for holy bath in rivers, this tIrtha (dhanushkOTi) should also be included in that category. Therefore, he does not seem to refer to ‘dhanushkOTi’ tIrtha.

¹ – dhanushkOTi - According to kuNDalini yOga, the vertebral column is called mEru daNDa. Please also refer to kRti of SrI tyAgarAja ‘ISa pAhi mAM’ where Lord Siva is described as holding bow of mEru – mEru daNDa – vertebral column (hEmAcala cApa).

“The spinal cord extending from the brain to the end of the vertebral column tapers off into a fine silken thread. Before its termination, it gives off innumerable fibres, crowded into a bunch of nerves.” kuNDalini yOga, e-book of svAmi sivAnanda (download)

kuNDalini yOga - more details.

Further, the word ‘nadulu’ can be explained by the ‘nerve currents of the astral body’ (see references above). Therefore SrI tyAgarAja could have used the word ‘dhanushkOTi’ to mean the tip of spinal cord around where, mUlAdhAra is stated to be located.

However, considering these, in my opinion, ‘dhanush-kOTi’ would mean the tip of bow of SrI rAma.

² – ETiki – This can be translated as ‘why’ (why do you wander). However, in view of the word ‘nadulu’ in the previous line, the meaning ‘river’ can also be applied (Eru – river) (Funny, You are roaming about for bath in holy rivers!). As seen from the books, traditionally this word seems to have been taken to mean ‘river’.

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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. कोटि नदुलु धनुष्कोटिलो(नु)ण्डग
एटिकि तिरिगॆदवे ओ मनसा

अ. सूटिग श्याम सुन्दर मूर्तिनि
माटि माटिकि जूचे महाराजुलकु (को)

च. गंग नूपुरम्बुननु जनिञ्चॆनु
रंगनि कावेरि कनि राजिल्लॆनु
पॊंगुचु श्री रघु नाथुनि प्रेमतो
पॊगडे त्यागराजु मनवि विनवे (को)

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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. கோடி நது3லு த4னுஷ்கோடிலோ(னு)ண்ட3க3
ஏடிகி திரிகெ3த3வே ஓ மனஸா

அ. ஸூடிக3 ஸ்1யாம ஸுந்த3ர மூர்தினி
மாடி மாடிகி ஜூசே மஹாராஜுலகு (கோ)

ச. க3ங்க3 நூபுரம்பு3னனு ஜனிஞ்செனு
ரங்க3னி காவேரி கனி ராஜில்லெனு
பொங்கு3சு ஸ்ரீ ரகு4 நாது2னி ப்ரேமதோ
பொக3டே3 த்யாக3ராஜு மனவி வினவே (கோ)

கோடி நதிகள் (ராமனின்) வில் நுனியிலிருக்க,
ஆறுகளுக்குத் திரிகின்றாயே, ஓ மனமே!

நேரிடையாக, கார்முகில் வண்ண எழிலுருவத்தோனை
அவ்வப்போது காணும் சான்றோருக்கு,
கோடி நதிகள் (ராமனின்) வில் நுனியிலிருக்க,
ஆறுகளுக்குத் திரிகின்றாயே, ஓ மனமே!

கங்கை (அவன்) திருவடியில் பிறந்தாள்;
அரங்கனை, காவேரி கண்டு, புகழ்பெற்றாள்;
பேருவகையோடு, இரகு நாதனை, பேரன்புடன்
போற்றும் தியாகாராசனின் விண்ணப்பத்தினைக் கேளடி
கோடி நதிகள் (ராமனின்) வில் நுனியிலிருக்க,
ஆறுகளுக்குத் திரிகின்றாயே, ஓ மனமே!

ஆறுகளுக்கு - புனித நீராடலுக்கு
எழிலுருவத்தோன் - ராமன்
கேளடி - மனத்தினைப் பெண்பாலில் விளிக்கின்றார்.

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Telugu

ప. కోటి నదులు ధనుష్కోటిలోనుండగ
ఏటికి తిరిగెదవే ఓ మనసా

అ. సూటిగ శ్యామ సుందర మూర్తిని
మాటి మాటికి జూచే మహారాజులకు (కో)

చ. గంగ నూపురంబునను జనించెను
రంగని కావేరి కని రాజిల్లెను
పొంగుచు శ్రీ రఘు నాథుని ప్రేమతో
పొగడే త్యాగరాజు మనవి వినవే (కో)

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Kannada

ಪ. ಕೋಟಿ ನದುಲು ಧನುಷ್ಕೋಟಿಲೋನುಂಡಗ
ಏಟಿಕಿ ತಿರಿಗೆದವೇ ಓ ಮನಸಾ

ಅ. ಸೂಟಿಗ ಶ್ಯಾಮ ಸುಂದರ ಮೂರ್ತಿನಿ
ಮಾಟಿ ಮಾಟಿಕಿ ಜೂಚೇ ಮಹಾರಾಜುಲಕು (ಕೋ)

ಚ. ಗಂಗ ನೂಪುರಂಬುನನು ಜನಿಂಚೆನು
ರಂಗನಿ ಕಾವೇರಿ ಕನಿ ರಾಜಿಲ್ಲೆನು
ಪೊಂಗುಚು ಶ್ರೀ ರಘು ನಾಥುನಿ ಪ್ರೇಮತೋ
ಪೊಗಡೇ ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜು ಮನವಿ ವಿನವೇ (ಕೋ)

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Malayalam

പ. കോടി നദുലു ധനുഷ്കോടിലോനുണ്ഡഗ
ഏടികി തിരിഗെദവേ ഓ മനസാ

അ. സൂടിഗ ശ്യാമ സുന്ദര മൂര്തിനി
മാടി മാടികി ജൂചേ മഹാരാജുലകു (കോ)

ച. ഗങ്ഗ നൂപുരമ്ബുനനു ജനിഞ്ചെനു
രങ്ഗനി കാവേരി കനി രാജില്ലെനു
പൊങ്ഗുചു ശ്രീ രഘു നാഥുനി പ്രേമതോ
പൊഗഡേ ത്യാഗരാജു മനവി വിനവേ (കോ)

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Updated on 02 Sep 2010