Thyagaraja Kriti - Nadopasana - Raga Begada

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

nAdOpAsana-bEgaDa

In the kRti ‘nAdOpAsanacE’ – rAga bEgaDa (rAga Adi), SrI tyAgarAja exhorts his mind to resort to nAdOpAsana which is performed even by the Trinity.

pallavi
¹nAd(O)pAsanacE Sankara
nArAyaNa vidhulu velasiri O manasA

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anupallavi
²vEd(O)ddhArulu ³vEd(A)tItulu
⁴viSvam(e)lla niNDi(y)uNDE vAralu (nAda)

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caraNam
mantr(A)tmulu yantra tantr(A)tmulu mari
⁵manvantaramul(e)nnO kala vAralu
⁶tantrI laya svara rAga vilOlulu
tyAgarAja vandyulu svatantrulu (nAda)

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Gist

O My Mind!

• Lords Sankara, nArAyaNa and brahmA are effulgent because of worship of (or meditation on) nAdA.
  
  
• Lords Sankara, nArAyaNa and brahmA -
  
  • sustainers (or redeemers) of vEdAs,
    
  • who are beyond the ken of vEdAs, and
    
  • who pervade the whole Universe –
  
  
• are effulgent because of worship of (or meditation on) nAda.
  
  
• Lords Sankara, nArAyaNa, and brahmA -
  
  • the essence of sacred syllables (mantra), mystical diagrams (yantra) and magical and mystical formularies (tantra),
    
  • who exist through many aeons, as also,
    
  • experts in stringed and percussion instruments and (vocal music) svara and rAga,
    
  • those saluted by this tyAgarAja and
    
  • other self-regulated –
  
  
• are effulgent because of worship of (or meditation on) nAda.

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Word-by-word Meaning

pallavi
nAda upAsanacE Sankara
nArAyaNa vidhulu velasiri O manasA

O My Mind (manasA)! Lords Sankara, nArAyaNa and brahmA (vidhi) (vidhulu) are effulgent (velasiri) because of (cE) worship of (or meditation on) (upAsana) nAdA (nAdOpAsanacE).

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anupallavi
vEda-uddhArulu vEda-atItulu
viSvamu-ella niNDi-uNDE vAralu (nAda)

O My Mind! Lords Sankara, nArAyaNa and brahmA -
sustainers (or redeemers) (uddhArulu) of vEdAs (vEdOddhArulu),
who are beyond the ken (atItulu) of vEdAs (vEdAtItulu), and
who pervade (niNDi uNDE vAralu) (niNDiyuNDE) the whole (ella) Universe (viSvamu) (viSvamella) –
are effulgent because of worship of (or meditation on) nAda.

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caraNam
mantra-Atmulu yantra tantra-Atmulu mari
manvantaramulu-ennO kala vAralu
tantrI laya svara rAga vilOlulu
tyAgarAja vandyulu svatantrulu (nAda)

O My Mind! Lords Sankara, nArAyaNa, and brahmA -
the essence (Atmulu) of sacred syllables (mantra) (mantrAtmulu),
the essence (Atmulu) of mystical diagrams (yantra) and magical and mystical formularies (tantra) (tantrAtmulu),
who exist through (kala vAralu) many (ennO) aeons (manvantaramulu) (manvantaramulennO), as also (mari),
experts (vilOlulu) in stringed (tantrI) and percussion (laya) instruments and (vocal music) svara and rAga,
those saluted (vandyulu) by this tyAgarAja and
other self-regulated (svatantrulu) –
are effulgent because of worship of (or meditation on) nAda.

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Notes -
Variations –
⁵ – manvataramulennO kala vAralu – mantramulenni kala vAralu.

⁵ – manvantara – manvantra : The correct word is ‘manvantara’.

⁶ – vilOlulu – vilOluru.

References –
¹ – upAsana - “yatha yatha upasate tatha bhavati - as you contemplate, so you become.” Refer to – discourse on bRhadAraNyaka upanishad, Chapter 1, 5th brAhmaNa by Swami Krishnananda

⁵ – manvantara - the period or age of a Manu (it comprises about 71 mahA-yugas, which are held equal to 12, 000 years of the gods or 4, 320, 000 human years or 1/14th of a day of Brahma); each of these periods is presided over by its own special Manu; six such Manv-antaras have already elapsed, and the 7th, presided over by Manu Vaivasvata, is now going on; 7 more are to come, making 14 Manv-antaras, which together make up one day of Brahma.
Source - Monier's Sanskrit Dictionary

For more on nAdOpAsana

Comments -
² – vEdOddhArulu – Redeemer of vEdas - may refer to hayagrIva or matsyAvatAra.

² - vEdOddhArulu – the plural form of this and other similar words – vEdAtItulu, .... mantrAtmulu etc – is honorific plural.

³ – vEdAtItulu – Those beyond the ken of vEda – may refer to ISvara as defined in patanjali yOga sUtras (I.24 to 27).

⁴ – viSvamella niNDiyuNDE vAralu – all-pervading - omni-present - The definition of ‘vishNu’.

⁵ – manvatramulennO kala vAralu – who exist through many aeons – may refer to brahmA.

⁶ – tantrI laya svara rAga vilOlulu – Experts in stringed and percussion instruments - may refer to tumburu, nArada, sarasvati, nandi etc.

Excepting for pallavi where SrI tyAgarAja refers to the Trinity, the personages mentioned in anupallavi and caraNa are not clearly understood. In all the books, all the personages mentioned in anupallavi and caraNa have been attributed to the Trinity only. As no other reference is available, the same has been adopted here also.

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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. ना(दो)पासनचे शंकर
नारायण विधुलु वॆलसिरि ओ मनसा

अ. वे(दो)द्धारुलु वे(दा)तीतुलु
विश्व(मॆ)ल्ल निण्डि(यु)ण्डे वारलु (ना)

च. म(न्त्रा)त्मुलु यन्त्र त(न्त्रा)त्मुलु मरि
मन्वन्तरमु(लॆ)न्नो कल वारलु
तन्त्री लय स्वर राग विलोलुलु
त्यागराज वन्द्युलु स्वतन्त्रुलु (ना)

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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. நா(தோ3)பாஸனசே ஸ1ங்கர
நாராயண விது4லு வெலஸிரி ஓ மனஸா

அ. வே(தோ3)த்3தா4ருலு வே(தா3)தீதுலு
விஸ்1வ(மெ)ல்ல நிண்டி3(யு)ண்டே3 வாரலு (நா)

ச. மந்த்(ரா)த்முலு யந்த்ர தந்த்(ரா)த்முலு மரி
மன்வந்தரமு(லெ)ன்னோ கல வாரலு
தந்த்ரீ லய ஸ்வர ராக3 விலோலுலு
த்யாக3ராஜ வந்த்3யுலு ஸ்வதந்த்ருலு (நா)

நாத வழிபாட்டினால் (மும்மூர்த்திகள்) சங்கரன்,
நாராயணன் மற்றும் நான்முகன் ஒளிர்ந்தனர், ஓ மனமே!

மறைகளைக் காத்தோர், மறைகளைக் கடந்தோர்,
உலகனைத்தும் நிறைந்திருப்போராக
நாத வழிபாட்டினால் (மும்மூர்த்திகள்) சங்கரன்,
நாராயணன் மற்றும் நான்முகன் ஒளிர்ந்தனர், ஓ மனமே!

மந்திர, இயந்திர, தந்திரங்களின் ஆன்மாவானோர், அன்றி
மன்வந்தரங்களெத்தனையோ உடையோர்,
நரம்பு, தோற்கருவிகள்,சுரம் மற்றும் ராகத்தினில் வல்லுனர்கள்,
தியாகராசன் வணங்குவோர் மற்றும் தன்னிச்சையாக இருப்போராக
நாத வழிபாட்டினால் (மும்மூர்த்திகள்) சங்கரன்,
நாராயணன் மற்றும் நான்முகன் ஒளிர்ந்தனர், ஓ மனமே!

இயந்திரம், தந்திரம் - தெய்வ வழிபாட்டின் சில முறைகள்
மன்வந்தரம் - மனுவின் காலவரை

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Telugu

ప. నాదోపాసనచే శంకర
నారాయణ విధులు వెలసిరి ఓ మనసా

అ. వేదోద్ధారులు వేదాతీతులు
విశ్వమెల్ల నిండియుండే వారలు (నా)

చ. మంత్రాత్ములు యంత్ర తంత్రాత్ములు మరి
మన్వంతరములెన్నో కల వారలు
తంత్రీ లయ స్వర రాగ విలోలులు
త్యాగరాజ వంద్యులు స్వతంత్రులు (నా)

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Kannada

ಪ. ನಾದೋಪಾಸನಚೇ ಶಂಕರ
ನಾರಾಯಣ ವಿಧುಲು ವೆಲಸಿರಿ ಓ ಮನಸಾ

ಅ. ವೇದೋದ್ಧಾರುಲು ವೇದಾತೀತುಲು
ವಿಶ್ವಮೆಲ್ಲ ನಿಂಡಿಯುಂಡೇ ವಾರಲು (ನಾ)

ಚ. ಮಂತ್ರಾತ್ಮುಲು ಯಂತ್ರ ತಂತ್ರಾತ್ಮುಲು ಮರಿ
ಮನ್ವಂತರಮುಲೆನ್ನೋ ಕಲ ವಾರಲು
ತಂತ್ರೀ ಲಯ ಸ್ವರ ರಾಗ ವಿಲೋಲುಲು
ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜ ವಂದ್ಯುಲು ಸ್ವತಂತ್ರುಲು (ನಾ)

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Malayalam

പ. നാദോപാസനചേ ശങ്കര
നാരായണ വിധുലു വെലസിരി ഓ മനസാ

അ. വേദോദ്ധാരുലു വേദാതീതുലു
വിശ്വമെല്ല നിണ്ഡിയുണ്ഡേ വാരലു (നാ)

ച. മന്ത്രാത്മുലു യന്ത്ര തന്ത്രാത്മുലു മരി
മന്വന്തരമുലെന്നോ കല വാരലു
തന്ത്രീ ലയ സ്വര രാഗ വിലോലുലു
ത്യാഗരാജ വന്ദ്യുലു സ്വതന്ത്രുലു (നാ)

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Updated on 11 Jan 2010