Thyagaraja Kriti - Syaama Sundaraanga - Raga Dhanyaasi

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

SyAma sundarAnga-dhanyAsi

In the kRti ‘SyAma sundarAnga’ – rAga dhanyAsi (tALa rUpakam), SrI tyAgarAja states that SrI rAma is the Lord of his liking.

pallavi
SyAma sundar(A)nga sakala
¹Saktiyu nIvErA

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anupallavi
²tAmasa rahita guNa sAndra
dharanu velayu rAmacandra (SyAma)

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caraNam
dushTa danuja mada vidAra
SishTa jana hRdaya vihAra
³ishTa daivamu nIvErA
ilanu tyAgarAju vErA (SyAma)

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Gist

• O Lord with beautiful dark-blue hued form!
  
• O Lord full of auspicious qualities, bereft of inertia (or ignorance)! O Lord rAmacandra effulgent on this Earth!
  
• O Lord who destroyed the arrogance of wicked demons! O Lord dwelling in the hearts of wise (or disciplined) people!
  
  
  • All the Gods are indeed You alone.
    
  • You alone are the God of my liking.
    
  • On the Earth (OR here), is this tyAgarAja apart from You?

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Word-by-word Meaning

pallavi
SyAma sundara-anga sakala
Saktiyu nIvErA

O Lord with beautiful (sundara) dark-blue (SyAma) hued form (anga) (literally limbs) (sundarAnga)! All (sakala) the Gods (Saktiyu) (literally powers) are indeed You alone (nIvErA).

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anupallavi
tAmasa rahita guNa sAndra
dharanu velayu rAmacandra (SyAma)

O Lord full of (sAndra) auspicious qualities (guNa), bereft of (rahita) inertia (or ignorance) (tAmasa)! O Lord rAmacandra effulgent (velayu) on this Earth (dharanu)!
O Lord with beautiful dark-blue hued form! All the Gods are indeed You alone.

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caraNam
dushTa danuja mada vidAra
SishTa jana hRdaya vihAra
ishTa daivamu nIvErA
ilanu tyAgarAju vErA (SyAma)

O Lord who destroyed (vidAra) (literally cut asunder) the arrogance (mada) of wicked (dushTa) demons (danuja)! O Lord dwelling (vihAra) in the hearts (hRdaya) of wise (or disciplined) (SishTa) people (jana)!
You alone (nIvErA) are the God (daivamu) of my liking (ishTa); on the Earth (OR here) (ilanu), is this tyAgarAja (tyAgarAju) apart (vErA) from You?
O Lord with beautiful dark-blue hued form! All the Gods are indeed You alone.

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Notes –
References –
² – tAmasa rahita – Though Lord is beyond all guNa – sAtvic, rAjasa, tAmasa - this specific reference may be to the two groups of incantations (mantra grAmam) known as ‘balA’, ‘ati balA’ bestowed on SrI rAma and lakshmaNa by sage viSvAmitra. By chanting these one would be able to overcome sleep, hunger and thirst. These mantras are considered as daughters of brahmA. (SrImad vAlmIki rAmAyaNa – bAlakANDa – Chapter 22)

Comments -
¹ - Saktiyu – Here the word stands for all the forms of the Supreme Lord worshipped by people. This is so because of the word ‘ishTa daivamu’ – Lord of his liking. SrI tyAgarAja states that the form of SrI rAma is the one of his liking – thus differentiating other forms of the Supreme Lord.

³ - ishTa daivamu – It is a phenomenon that every one – particularly devotees of Lord – develop liking for a particular form of the Lord depending on one’s temperament and family customs.

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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. श्याम सुन्द(रां)ग सकल
शक्तियु नीवेरा

अ. तामस रहित गुण सान्द्र
धरनु वॆलयु रामचन्द्र (श्याम)

च. दुष्ट दनुज मद विदार
शिष्ट जन हृदय विहार
इष्ट दैवमु नीवेरा
इलनु त्यागराजु वेरा (श्याम)

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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. ஸ்1யாம ஸுந்த3(ரா)ங்க3 ஸகல
ஸ1க்தியு நீவேரா

அ. தாமஸ ரஹித கு3ண ஸாந்த்3ர
த4ரனு வெலயு ராமசந்த்3ர (ஸ்1யாம)

ச. து3ஷ்ட த3னுஜ மத3 விதா3ர
ஸி1ஷ்ட ஜன ஹ்ரு2த3ய விஹார
இஷ்ட தை3வமு நீவேரா
இலனு த்யாக3ராஜு வேரா (ஸ்1யாம)

கார்வண்ண அழகிய வடிவோனே!
அனைத்து சக்திகளும் நீயே, ஐயா!

தாமத குணமற்ற, நற்பண்புகள் நிறைந்தோனே!
புவியில் ஒளிரும் இராமசந்திரா!
கார்வண்ண அழகிய வடிவோனே!
அனைத்து சக்திகளும் நீயே, ஐயா!

தீய அவுணர் செருக்கினை அழித்தோனே!
அறிஞர் (நல்லொழுக்கத்தோர்) உள்ளத்துறைவோனே!
எனக்குகந்த தெய்வம் நீயே, ஐயா!
இங்கு தியாகராசன் (உன்னின்று) வேறா?
கார்வண்ண அழகிய வடிவோனே!
அனைத்து சக்திகளும் நீயே, ஐயா!

சக்திகள் - தெய்வங்களைக் குறிக்கும்
தாமத குணம் - முக்குணங்களிலொன்று - இருள்வழி

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Telugu

ప. శ్యామ సుందరాంగ సకల
శక్తియు నీవేరా

అ. తామస రహిత గుణ సాంద్ర
ధరను వెలయు రామచంద్ర (శ్యామ)

చ. దుష్ట దనుజ మద విదార
శిష్ట జన హృదయ విహార
ఇష్ట దైవము నీవేరా
ఇలను త్యాగరాజు వేరా (శ్యామ)

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Kannada

ಪ. ಶ್ಯಾಮ ಸುಂದರಾಂಗ ಸಕಲ
ಶಕ್ತಿಯು ನೀವೇರಾ

ಅ. ತಾಮಸ ರಹಿತ ಗುಣ ಸಾಂದ್ರ
ಧರನು ವೆಲಯು ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ (ಶ್ಯಾಮ)

ಚ. ದುಷ್ಟ ದನುಜ ಮದ ವಿದಾರ
ಶಿಷ್ಟ ಜನ ಹೃದಯ ವಿಹಾರ
ಇಷ್ಟ ದೈವಮು ನೀವೇರಾ
ಇಲನು ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜು ವೇರಾ (ಶ್ಯಾಮ)

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Malayalam

പ. ശ്യാമ സുന്ദരാങ്ഗ സകല
ശക്തിയു നീവേരാ

അ. താമസ രഹിത ഗുണ സാന്ദ്ര
ധരനു വെലയു രാമചന്ദ്ര (ശ്യാമ)

ച. ദുഷ്ട ദനുജ മദ വിദാര
ശിഷ്ട ജന ഹൃദയ വിഹാര
ഇഷ്ട ദൈവമു നീവേരാ
ഇലനു ത്യാഗരാജു വേരാ (ശ്യാമ)

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Updated on 20 Oct 2010