Thyagaraja Kriti - Chera Raavademi - Rage Reeti Gaula

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

cEra rAvadEmi-rItigauLa

In the kRti ‘cEra rAvadEmi’ – rAga rItigauLa, SrI tyAgarAja ask the Lord to come to him.

P ¹cEra rAv(a)dEmirA rAm(a)yya

A mEra kAdurA ika mahA
mEru dhIra SrI kara (cEra)

C ²talli taNDri lEni ³bAla
tana ⁴nAthu kOru rIti
palumAru vEDukoNTE
pAlinca rAdA
⁵valacucu nEnu nIdu
vadan(A)ravavindamunu
talaci karagaga jUci
tyAgarAja sannuta (cEra)

Gist
O Lord rAma! O Brave like the Great mEru mountain! O Lord who causes prosperity! O Lord well praised by this tyAgarAja!
Why is it that You wouldn’t come to be united with me even now, after seeing me melting with love thinking of Your Lotus face? it is not appropriate.
In the same manner as a young (married) woman, having no parents, would seek her husband, I beseech You repeatedly; can’t You protect me?

Word-by-word Meaning

P O Lord (ayya) rAma (rAmayya)! Why is it (adEmirA) that You wouldn’t come (rAvu) (rAvadEmirA) to be united (cEra) with me?

A O Brave (dhIra) like the Great (mahA) mEru mountain! O Lord who causes (kara) prosperity (SrI)! It is not (kAdurA) appropriate (mEra);
O Lord rAmayya! Why is it that You wouldn’t come to be united with me even now (ika)?

C In the same manner (rIti) as a young (married) woman (bAla), having no (lEni) parents (talli taNDri) (literally mother and father), would seek (kOru) her (tana) husband (nAthu),
even when I beseech (vEDukoNTE) You repeatedly (palumAru), can’t (rAdA) You protect (pAlinca) me?
O Lord well praised (sannuta) by this tyAgarAja! Why is it that You wouldn’t come to be united with me,
even after seeing (jUci) me (nEnu) melting (karagaga) with love (valacucu) thinking (talaci) of Your (nIdu) Lotus (aravindamunu) face (vadana) (vadanAravindamunu)?

Notes –
Variations –
⁴ – nAthu – nAdhu : According to telugu dictionary, both words mean same.

References –
³ – bAla – a young woman below the age of 16 years.

Comments -
¹ – cEra rAvu - This kRti is in the bhAva of 'kAntAsakti' – love towards Lord as that of a wife to her husband. This is clear from the caraNa wordings 'talli taNDri lEni bAla tana nAthu kOru rIti' – like a parentless maiden seeking her husband. 'cEru' could be loosely translated as 'saMyOga' – fusion – as opposed to 'mixture' where individual substances retain their identity. The example given in the Dictionary is that of 'milk and water'. The Lord is like the proverbial swan which (Who) can separate the 'water' ('wateriness' of the devotee) and absorb him in Himself – in the milk ocean – vaikuNTha.
² – talli taNDri lEni – When there is some tiff between husband and wife, if the wife has parents, she would threaten to go to her parents'. However, if she has no parents, she puts up with the husband. SrI tyAgarAja brings out that, the attitude of a true devotee should be like that of a parentless woman so that she can ever seek her husband – the Lord - whole heartedly. To a devotee, worldly attachments are like parents to a woman. Development of an attitude of 'destituteness' is what referred here. sItA's fire ordeal and her subsequent resentment-less attitude in joining SrI rAma is an example of such an attitude. This is true 'SaraNAgati' – 'prapatti'. For more information, please visit –
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/cgi-bin/kbase/Pancaratra/Prapatti
⁵ – valacucu – lovingly - The 'anurAga' (supreme Love) as defined in nArada bhakti sUtra is meant here. Please also refer to kRti 'anurAgamu lEni' rAga sarasvati. For complete verses of nArada bhakti sUtras, please visit –
http://www.celextel.org/othervedantabooks/naradabhaktisutras.html

Devanagari Version

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. चेर रा(व)देमिरा रा(म)य्य

अ. मेर कादुरा इक महा मेरु धीर श्री कर (चे)

च. तल्लि तण्ड्रि लेनि बाल तन नाथु कोरु रीति
पलुमारु वेडुकॊण्टे पालिञ्च रादा
वलचुचु नेनु नीदु वद(ना)रविन्दमुनु
तलचि करगग जूचि त्यागराज सन्नुत (चे)

Tamil Version with Meaning

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. சேர ரா(வ)தே3மிரா ரா(ம)ய்ய

அ. மேர காது3ரா இக மஹா மேரு தீ4ர ஸ்ரீ கர (சே)

ச. தல்லி தண்ட்3ரி லேனி பா3ல தன நாது2 கோரு ரீதி
பலுமாரு வேடு3கொண்டே பாலிஞ்ச ராதா3
வலசுசு நேனு நீது3 வத3(னா)ரவிந்த3முனு
தலசி கரக3க3 ஜூசி த்யாக3ராஜ ஸன்னுத (சே)

(என்னைச்) சேர வாராததேனய்யா, இராமய்யா!

முறையன்றய்யா, மகா
மேரு (நிகர்) தீரனே! சீரருள்வோனே! இன்னமும்
(என்னைச்) சேர வாராததேனய்யா, இராமய்யா!

தாய் தந்தையற்ற இளம்பெண்
தனது கணவனைக் கோருதல் போன்று,
பன்முறை வேண்டிக் கொண்டாலும்
பேணலாகாதா?
காதலுடன், நானுனது
வதனத் தாமரையை
நினைந்து உருகியிருக்கக் கண்டும்,
தியாகராசனால் சிறக்க போற்றப் பெற்றோனே!
(என்னைச்) சேர வாராததேனய்யா, இராமய்யா!

Telugu Version

ప. చేర రావదేమిరా రామయ్య

అ. మేర కాదురా ఇక మహా మేరు ధీర శ్రీ కర (చే)

చ. తల్లి తండ్రి లేని బాల తన నాథు కోరు రీతి
పలుమారు వేడుకొంటే పాలించ రాదా
వలచుచు నేను నీదు వదనారవిందమును
తలచి కరగగ జూచి త్యాగరాజ సన్నుత (చే)

Kannada Version

ಪ. ಚೇರ ರಾವದೇಮಿರಾ ರಾಮಯ್ಯ

ಅ. ಮೇರ ಕಾದುರಾ ಇಕ ಮಹಾ ಮೇರು ಧೀರ ಶ್ರೀ ಕರ (ಚೇ)

ಚ. ತಲ್ಲಿ ತಂಡ್ರಿ ಲೇನಿ ಬಾಲ ತನ ನಾಥು ಕೋರು ರೀತಿ
ಪಲುಮಾರು ವೇಡುಕೊಂಟೇ ಪಾಲಿಂಚ ರಾದಾ
ವಲಚುಚು ನೇನು ನೀದು ವದನಾರವಿಂದಮುನು
ತಲಚಿ ಕರಗಗ ಜೂಚಿ ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜ ಸನ್ನುತ (ಚೇ)

Malayalam Version

പ. ചേര രാവദേമിരാ രാമയ്യ

അ. മേര കാദുരാ ഇക മഹാ മേരു ധീര ശ്രീ കര (ചേ)

ച. തല്ലി തണ്ഡ്രി ലേനി ബാല തന നാഥു കോരു രീതി
പലുമാരു വേഡുകൊണ്ടേ പാലിഞ്ച രാദാ
വലചുചു നേനു നീദു വദനാരവിന്ദമുനു
തലചി കരഗഗ ജൂചി ത്യാഗരാജ സന്നുത (ചേ)

Updated on 23 Nov 2008