Thyagaraja Kriti - Nee Pada Pankaja - 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

nI pada pankaja-bEgaDa

In the kRti ‘nI pada pankajamula’ – rAga bEgaDa (tALa Adi), SrI tyAgarAja tells Lord that he is totally dependent on the Lord’s mercy.

pallavi
nI ¹pada pankajamulanu
nE nera namminAnu

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anupallavi
²bhU pAlula garvambul(a)Nacu korak(A)
paramESvaru cApamu druncina (nI)

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caraNam 1
kOpamutO munu tApasi(y)iccina
SApamuna ahalya anu-dinamu
cApa rAti tanu ³tApam(O)rva
lEn(A)penu kani paritApamu tIrcina (nI)

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caraNam 2
vana-ruha tulita nayana sankrandana
tanayuni bAdha sahimpani
⁴virOcana sutu mati kaligina bhayam(e)gayaga
ghanatama dundubhi ⁵penu tala tannina (nI)

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caraNam 3
jyA-vara nuta jyA-jA vara
⁶biDauj(A)varaj(A)Srita tyAgarAja
⁷jyA-var(A)ja rudr(A)vanI sura
bhAvanIya muni jIvan(A)niSamu (nI)

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Gist

O Lord with eyes resembling Lotus! O Lord praised by best archers! O Consort of sItA! O Lord vAmana! O Lord on whom this tyAgarAja is dependent! O Lord cherished by Lords vishNu, brahmA, Siva and brAhmaNas! O Lord who is the very life of sages!

• I have always trusted much Your Feet Lotus.
  
  
• I have always trusted much Your Feet-Lotus which -
  
  • broke the bow of Lord Siva for humbling the pride of the Kings.
    
    
  • relieved the pitiable condition of ahalya by finding her who could not bear the constant bodily distress as a black stone because of the curse angrily pronounced on her, earlier by her ascetic husband - gautama.
    
    
  • kicked away the weighty and huge head of dundubhi, in order to remove the fear caused in the mind of sugrIva who could not tolerate the troubles of his brother vAli.

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Word-by-word Meaning

pallavi
nI pada pankajamulanu
nE nera namminAnu

I (nE) have trusted (namminAnu) much (nera) Your (nI) Feet (pada) Lotus (pankajamula).

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anupallavi
bhU pAlula garvambula-aNacu koraku-A
paramESvaru cApamu druncina (nI)

I have trusted much Your Feet-Lotus which -
broke (druncina) the bow (cApamu) of that (A) Lord Siva (paramESvaru) for (koraku) (korakA) humbling (aNacu) the pride (garvambulu) (garvambulaNacu) of the Kings – Lords (pAlula) of Earth (bhU).

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caraNam 1
kOpamutO munu tApasi-iccina
SApamuna ahalya anu-dinamu
cApa rAti tanu tApamu-Orva
lEni-Apenu kani paritApamu tIrcina (nI)

I have trusted much Your Feet-Lotus which –
relieved (tIrcina) the pitiable condition (paritApamu) of ahalya by finding (kani) her (Apenu) who could not bear (Orva lEni) (lEnApenu) the constant (anu dinanu) (literally daily) bodily (tanu) distress (tApamu) (tApamOrva) as a black (cApa) stone (rAti) because of the curse (SApamuna) angrily (kOpamutO) pronounced (iccina) (literally given) on her earlier (munu) by her ascetic (tApasi) (tApasiyiccina) husband - gautama.

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caraNam 2
vana-ruha tulita nayana sankrandana
tanayuni bAdha sahimpani
virOcana sutu mati kaligina bhayamu-egayaga
ghanatama dundubhi penu tala tannina (nI)

O Lord with eyes (nayana) resembling (tulita) Lotus (vana-ruha)! I have trusted much Your Feet-Lotus which –
kicked away (tannina) the weighty (ghanatama) and huge (penu) head (tala) of dundubhi, in order to remove (egayaga) (literally fly away) the fear (bhayamu) (bhayamegayaga) caused (kaligina) in the mind (mati) of sugrIva – son (suta) (sutu) of Sun (virOcana) - who could not tolerate (sahimpani) the troubles (bAdha) of his brother vAli – son (tanaya) (tanayuni) of indra (sankrandana).

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caraNam 3
jyA-vara nuta jyA-jA vara
biDauja-avaraja-ASrita tyAgarAja
jyA-vara-aja rudra-avanI sura
bhAvanIya muni jIvana-aniSamu (nI)

O Lord praised (nuta) by best (vara) archers (jyA) (literally bow-string)! O Consort (vara) of sItA– born of Earth(jyAjA)!
O Lord vAmana - upEndra – younger brother (avaraja) of indra (biDauja)! O Lord on whom this tyAgarAja is dependent (ASrita) (biDaujAvarajASrita)!
O Lord cherished (bhAvanIya) by Lords vishNu – Consort (vara) of bhUdEvi - Earth (jyA) - brahmA (aja) (varAja), Siva (rudra) and brAhmaNas (avanI sura) (rudrAvanI)! O Lord who is the very life (jIvana) of sages (muni)!
I have always (aniSamu) (jIvanAniSamu) trusted much Your Feet-Lotus.

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Notes –
Variations –
¹ – pada pankajamulanu – pada pankajamula.

³ – tApamOrva lEnApenu – tApamOrvaniyApenu.

References –
² - bhUpAlula garvambulaNacu – The episode pertains to the test of strength in the court of the King janaka for the marriage of sItA. When sage viSvAmitra asks King janaka to show the bow of Siva, the King tells him that “not even the hosts of gods, demons, ogres, gandharvAs, yakshAs, kinnarAs and nAgAs were able to string the bow. How can there be any capacity in human beings”. As the bow was brought in, the sage asks SrI rAma to take a look at the bow “vatsa rAma dhanuH paSya”. Before any could see the total sequence of events, the bow broke when SrI rAma tried to string it.

⁴ - virOcana sutu mati galigina bhayamu – At the time making friendship with sugrIva, SrI rAma assures him that he would kill his brother vAli. However, since sugrIva did not know about SrI rAma and his prowess, he keeps on harping on the might of his brother. Whereupon SrI rAma asks sugrIva to tell what feat He should accomplish in order to prove his prowess. sugrIva points to seven gigantic sAl trees which he says vAli would be able denude them by shaking their boughs and he could pierce each one of them with his arrows. He also points to the huge carcass of the dundubhi lying there who was killed by vAli. Then SrI rAma kicks the carcass with his toe and hurls it to a distance of ten yOjanas – eighty miles. As the doubt of sugrIva was still not clear, SrI rAma takes an arrow and aims at the sAl trees; the arrow pierces all the seven trees in one go and returns to His quiver. Thus sugrIva was satisfied that SrI rAma would be able to kill vAli.

⁶ – biDaujAvaraja – biDaujas or viDaujas – name of indra – (7183)

⁶ – biDaujAvaraja – Younger brother of indra – upEndra - One of the names of Lord vishNu – the avatAra of vAmana - please refer to vishNu sahasra nAmaM – 151 and 152.

Comments -
⁵ – penu tala tannina– this is how it is given in all the books and the meaning derived is ‘kicked the body’. However, there is no word for ‘body’ here. ‘penu’ means ‘great’, ‘big’ etc; ‘tala’ means ‘head’; ‘tannina’ means ‘kicked’; ‘penu tala’ may mean ‘big head’; ‘tala tannina’ means ‘trample’.

In this regard, the following verses in SrImad-vAlmIki rAmAyaNa, kishkindhA kANDa, chapter 11 are relevant –

Evam-uktvA tu sugrIvam sAntvayaMl-lakshmaNAgrajaH
rAghavO dundubhEH kAyaM pAdAngushThEna lIlayA
tOlayitvA mahA-bAhuS-cikshEpa daSa-yOjanaM
asurasya tanuM SushkAM pAdAngushThEna vIryavAn 84,85

“Saying so and lifting, in sport the carcass of dundubhi with his toe, the mighty armed and powerful SrI rAma (a scion of raghu), the eldest (half-) brother of lakshmaNa, for his part hurled the dried up skeleton of the demon to a distance of ten yOjanas (eighty miles), (thereby) reassuring sugrIva.”

However, SrI tyAgarAja seems to follow adhyAtma rAmAyaNa in this regard. As per adhyAtma rAmAyaNa (Tamil translation by Harini), (kishkindA kANDa, Chapter 1), vAli twists off the head of dead dundhubi and flings it away, which falls near the ASrama of sage matanga. Therefore, instead of ‘kAya’ (body) (as mentioned in vAlmIki rAmAyaNa), it has been taken as ‘head’ (tala) of the asura.

⁷ – jyAvara bhAvanIya – In some books, this is translated as ‘kings’; however, in my opinion, the context refers to the Trinity; therefore, this has been translated as ‘vishNu’ – consort (vara) of bhUdEvi – Earth (jyA).

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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. नी पद पंकजमुलनु
ने नॆर नम्मिनानु

अ. भू पालुल गर्वम्बु(ल)णचु कॊर(का)
परमेश्वरु चापमु द्रुञ्चिन (नी)

च1. कोपमुतो मुनु तापसि(यि)च्चिन
शापमुन अहल्य अनु-दिनमु
चाप राति तनु ताप(मो)र्व
ले(ना)पॆनु कनि परितापमु तीर्चिन (नी)

च2. वन-रुह तुलित नयन संक्रन्दन
तनयुनि बाध सहिम्पनि
विरोचन सुतु मति कलिगिन भय(मॆ)गयग
घनतम दुन्दुभि पॆनु तल तन्निन (नी)

च3. ज्या-वर नुत ज्या-जा वर
बिडौ(जा)वर(जा)श्रित त्यागराज
ज्या-व(रा)ज रु(द्रा)वनी सुर
भावनीय मुनि जीव(ना)निशमु (नी)

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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. நீ பத3 பங்கஜமுலனு
நே நெர நம்மினானு

அ. பூ4 பாலுல க3ர்வம்பு3(ல)ணசு கொர(கா)
பரமேஸ்1வரு சாபமு த்3ருஞ்சின (நீ)

ச1. கோபமுதோ முனு தாபஸி(யி)ச்சின
ஸா1பமுன அஹல்ய அனு-தி3னமு
சாப ராதி தனு தாப(மோ)ர்வ
லே(னா)பெனு கனி பரிதாபமு தீர்சின (நீ)

ச2. வன-ருஹ துலித நயன ஸங்க்ரந்த3ன
தனயுனி பா3த4 ஸஹிம்பனி
விரோசன ஸுது மதி கலிகி3ன ப4ய(மெ)க3யக3
க4னதம து3ந்து3பி4 பெனு தல தன்னின (நீ)

ச3. ஜ்யா-வர நுத ஜ்யா-ஜா வர
பி3டௌ3(ஜா)வர(ஜா)ஸ்1ரித த்யாக3ராஜ
ஜ்யா-வ(ரா)ஜ ருத்3(ரா)வனீ ஸுர
பா4வனீய முனி ஜீவ(னா)னிஸ1மு (நீ)

உனது திருவடித்தாமரைகளினை
நான் மிக்கு நம்பியுள்ளேன்

புவியாள்வோரின் செருக்கினை யடக்குவதற்காக, அந்த
பரமேசனின் வில்லினை முறித்த
உனது திருவடித்தாமரைகளினை
நான் மிக்கு நம்பியுள்ளேன்

1. சினத்துடன் முன்பு தவசியிட்ட
சாபத்தினால், அகலிகை நாளும்
கருங்கல்லுடலின் வெம்மை தாள
இயலாத அவளைக் கண்டு, பரிதாபத்தினைத் தீர்த்த
உனது திருவடித்தாமரைகளினை
நான் மிக்கு நம்பியுள்ளேன்

2. கமலம் நிகர் கண்ணா! இந்திரன்
மகனின் தொல்லைகளைப் பொறுக்காத,
பரிதி மைந்தனின் மனதில் எழுந்த அச்சம் பறந்தோட,
கனத்த, துந்துபியின் பெருந் தலையினை உதைத்தெறிந்த
உனது திருவடித்தாமரைகளினை
நான் மிக்கு நம்பியுள்ளேன்

3. சிறந்த வில்லாளிகள் போற்றும் புவிமகள் கேள்வா!
இந்திரன் பின்தோன்றலே! தியாகராசனின் புகலே!
பூதேவி மணாளன், பிரமன், உருத்திரன் மற்றும் அந்தணர்கள்
மதிக்கும் முனிவர்களின் வாழ்வே! எவ்வமயமும்
உனது திருவடித்தாமரைகளினை
நான் மிக்கு நம்பியுள்ளேன்

பரமேசன் - உருத்திரன் - சிவன்
தவசி - அகலிகையின் கணவராகிய கௌதம முனிவர்
இந்திரன் மகன் - வாலி
பரிதி மைந்தன் - சுக்கிரீவன்
துந்துபி - எருமை அசுரன் - வாலியால் கொல்லப்பட்டவன்
புவிமகள் - சீதை
இந்திரன் பின்தோன்றல் - உபேந்திரன் - வாமனர்
பூதேவி மணாளன் - அரி

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Telugu

ప. నీ పద పంకజములను
నే నెర నమ్మినాను

అ. భూ పాలుల గర్వంబులణచు కొరకా
పరమేశ్వరు చాపము ద్రుంచిన (నీ)

చ1. కోపముతో మును తాపసియిచ్చిన
శాపమున అహల్య అను-దినము
చాప రాతి తను తాపమోర్వ
లేనాపెను కని పరితాపము తీర్చిన (నీ)

చ2. వన-రుహ తులిత నయన సంక్రందన
తనయుని బాధ సహింపని
విరోచన సుతు మతి కలిగిన భయమెగయగ
ఘనతమ దుందుభి పెను తల తన్నిన (నీ)

చ3. జ్యా-వర నుత జ్యా-జా వర
బిడౌజావరజాశ్రిత త్యాగరాజ
జ్యా-వరాజ రుద్రావనీ సుర
భావనీయ ముని జీవనానిశము (నీ)

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Kannada

ಪ. ನೀ ಪದ ಪಂಕಜಮುಲನು
ನೇ ನೆರ ನಮ್ಮಿನಾನು

ಅ. ಭೂ ಪಾಲುಲ ಗರ್ವಂಬುಲಣಚು ಕೊರಕಾ
ಪರಮೇಶ್ವರು ಚಾಪಮು ದ್ರುಂಚಿನ (ನೀ)

ಚ1. ಕೋಪಮುತೋ ಮುನು ತಾಪಸಿಯಿಚ್ಚಿನ
ಶಾಪಮುನ ಅಹಲ್ಯ ಅನು-ದಿನಮು
ಚಾಪ ರಾತಿ ತನು ತಾಪಮೋರ್ವ
ಲೇನಾಪೆನು ಕನಿ ಪರಿತಾಪಮು ತೀರ್ಚಿನ (ನೀ)

ಚ2. ವನ-ರುಹ ತುಲಿತ ನಯನ ಸಂಕ್ರಂದನ
ತನಯುನಿ ಬಾಧ ಸಹಿಂಪನಿ
ವಿರೋಚನ ಸುತು ಮತಿ ಕಲಿಗಿನ ಭಯಮೆಗಯಗ
ಘನತಮ ದುಂದುಭಿ ಪೆನು ತಲ ತನ್ನಿನ (ನೀ)

ಚ3. ಜ್ಯಾ-ವರ ನುತ ಜ್ಯಾ-ಜಾ ವರ
ಬಿಡೌಜಾವರಜಾಶ್ರಿತ ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜ
ಜ್ಯಾ-ವರಾಜ ರುದ್ರಾವನೀ ಸುರ
ಭಾವನೀಯ ಮುನಿ ಜೀವನಾನಿಶಮು (ನೀ)

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Malayalam

പ. നീ പദ പങ്കജമുലനു
നേ നെര നമ്മിനാനു

അ. ഭൂ പാലുല ഗര്വമ്ബുലണചു കൊരകാ
പരമേശ്വരു ചാപമു ദ്രുഞ്ചിന (നീ)

ച1. കോപമുതോ മുനു താപസിയിച്ചിന
ശാപമുന അഹല്യ അനു-ദിനമു
ചാപ രാതി തനു താപമോര്വ
ലേനാപെനു കനി പരിതാപമു തീര്ചിന (നീ)

ച2. വന-രുഹ തുലിത നയന സങ്ക്രന്ദന
തനയുനി ബാധ സഹിമ്പനി
വിരോചന സുതു മതി കലിഗിന ഭയമെഗയഗ
ഘനതമ ദുന്ദുഭി പെനു തല തന്നിന (നീ)

ച3. ജ്യാ-വര നുത ജ്യാ-ജാ വര
ബിഡൌജാവരജാശ്രിത ത്യാഗരാജ
ജ്യാ-വരാജ രുദ്രാവനീ സുര
ഭാവനീയ മുനി ജീവനാനിശമു (നീ)

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Updated on 15 Feb 2010