Thyagaraja Kriti - Epaniko - Raga Asaveri

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

E panikO-asAvEri

In the kRti ‘E panikO janmincitinani’ – rAga asAvEri (tALa Adi), SrI tyAgarAja expresses his desire to extol the Lord in the same manner as sage vAlmIki and others did.

pallavi
E panikO janmincitin(a)ni
¹nIv(e)nca valadu SrI rAma nEn(E pani)

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anupallavi
SrI pati SrI rAmacandra nI
²cittamunaku teliyadA nEn(E pani)

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caraNam
³vAlmIk(A)di munulu narulu ninnu
varNinciri nA(y)Asa tIrunA
⁴mElmiyai(y)uNDu ⁵sad-bhaktulu
meccudurE tyAgarAja nuta nEn(E pani)

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Gist

• O Lord SrI rAma!
  
• O Consort of lakshmI! O Lord SrI rAmacandra!
  
• O Lord praised by this tyAgarAja!
  
  
• You should not think that I was born for some sundry purpose.
  
• Is it not known to Your mind?
  
  
  • vAlmIki and other sages and men extolled You;
    
  • will my (similar) desire be fulfilled?
    
    
  • It would be excellent;
    
  • true devotees would indeed commend.

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Word-by-word Meaning

pallavi
E panikO janmincitini-ani
nIvu-enca valadu SrI rAma nEnu-(E pani)

O Lord SrI rAma! You (nIvu) should not (valadu) think (enca) (nIvenca) that (ani) I (nEnu) was born (janmincitini) (janmincitinani) for some sundry (E) purpose (panikO).

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anupallavi
SrI pati SrI rAmacandra nI
cittamunaku teliyadA nEnu-(E pani)

O Consort (pati) of lakshmI (SrI)! O Lord SrI rAmacandra! Is it not known (teliyadA) to Your (nI) mind (cittamunaku)?
O Lord SrI rAma! You should not think that I (nEnu) was born for some sundry purpose.

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caraNam
vAlmIki-Adi munulu narulu ninnu
varNinciri nA-Asa tIrunA
mElmiyai-uNDu sad-bhaktulu
meccudurE tyAgarAja nuta nEn(E pani)

vAlmIki and other (Adi) (vAlmIkAdi) sages (munulu) and men (narulu) extolled (varNinciri) You (ninnu); will my (nA) (similar) desire (Asa) (nAyAsa) be fulfilled (tIrunA)?
It would be (uNDu) excellent (mElmiyai) (mElmiyaiyuNDu) (mElmiyaiyuNDu); true devotees (sad-bhaktulu) would indeed commend (meccudurE).
O Lord praised (nuta) by this tyAgarAja! O Lord SrI rAma! You should not think that I (nEnu) was born for some sundry purpose.

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Notes –
Variations -
¹ – nIvenca valadu – nannenca valadu. ‘enca valadu’ means ‘should not think’. Along with this usage, ‘second person’ would be appropriate. (You should not think). Further with the usage ‘nEnu’ at the end of pallavi, anupallavi and caraNa, in my opinion, ‘nannu’ becomes superfluous. Accordingly, ‘nIvenca valadu’ has been adopted.

² – cittamunaku – cittAniki’

⁴ - mElmiyaiyuNDu – mElmiyaiyuNDunu.

References -
³ – vAlmIkAdi munulu narulu – versions of rAmAyana –

Indian Versions - Kambaramayanam in Tamil; Sri Ramacharit Manas by Tulasidas in Awadhi (a dialect of Hindi); Gujarati version by poet Premanand; Bengali version by Krittivas; Oriya version by Balarama Das; Marathi version by Sridhara; Telugu version by Ranganatha; Kannada Ramayana by poet Narahari; Kotha Ramayana in Assamese by poet Madhava Kandali; Adhyathma Ramayanam Kilippattu - Malayalam version by Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan. Mappila Ramayana - popular amongst the muslims of Kerala and Lakshadweep. It is believed that there was an earlier Tamil version of Ramayana which has been lost.
Southeast Asian versions - Kakawin Rāmâyaṇa - old Javanese; Phra Lak Phra Lam - Lao language version; Hikayat Seri Rama of Malaysia; Thailand's popular national epic Ramakien; Ramakavaca of Bali, Maradia Lawana of the Philippines, the Reamker of Cambodia and the Yama Zatdaw of Myanmar.

Contemporary versions - Sri Ramayana Darshanam by Dr. K. V. Puttappa (Kuvempu) in Kannada and Ramayana Kalpavrikshamu by Viswanatha Satyanarayana in Telugu.

Comments -
⁵ – sad-bhaktulu meccudurE – The following verse from SrImad-bhAgavatam, Book 1, Chapter 5 is relevant –

nArada said –
tad-vAg-visargO janatAgha-viplavO
yasmin prati-SlOkam-abaddhavaty-api
nAmAny-anantasya yaSO-(a)nkitAni
yacchRNvanti gAyanti gRNanti sAdhavaH 11

“(On the other hand), that composition which, though faulty in diction, consists of verses each of which contains the names of the immortal Lord, bearing the impress of His glory, wipes out the sins of the people; it is such composition that pious men love to hear, sing and repeat to an audience.”

Complete translation of SrImad-bhAgavataM

This kRti might be the fore-runner to, what is described as, ‘tyAgarAja rAmAyaNa’. In this kRti, SrI tyAgarAja seems to seek permission of Lord Himself for what he describes as ‘Sata rAga ratna mAlika’ (garland of hundreds of exquisite rAgas) in kRti ‘rAga ratna’ – rAga rItigauLa. Please also refer to kRti ‘ElAvatAra’ – rAga mukhAri, wherein SrI tyAgarAja asks whether the Lord was born for the purpose of bestowing boons on him for composing such a ‘garland of hundreds of exquisite rAgas’.

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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. ए पनिको जन्मिञ्चिति(न)नि
नी(वॆ)ञ्च वलदु श्री राम ने(ने पनि)

अ. श्री पति श्री रामचन्द्र नी
चित्तमुनकु तॆलियदा ने(ने पनि)

च. वाल्मी(का)दि मुनुलु नरुलु निन्नु
वर्णिञ्चिरि ना(या)स तीरुना
मेल्मियै(यु)ण्डु सद्भक्तुलु
मॆच्चुदुरे त्यागराज नुत ने(ने पनि)

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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. ஏ பனிகோ ஜன்மிஞ்சிதி(ன)னி
நீ(வெ)ஞ்ச வலது3 ஸ்ரீ ராம நே(னே பனி)

அ. ஸ்ரீ பதி ஸ்ரீ ராமசந்த்3ர நீ
சித்தமுனகு தெலியதா3 நே(னே பனி)

ச. வால்மீ(கா)தி3 முனுலு நருலு நின்னு
வர்ணிஞ்சிரி நா(யா)ஸ தீருனா
மேல்மியை(யு)ண்டு3 ஸத்3ப4க்துலு
மெச்சுது3ரே த்யாக3ராஜ நுத நே(னே பனி)

நான் எந்தப் பணிக்கோ பிறந்தேனென
நீ எண்ணலாகாது, இராமா

மா மணாளா, இராமசந்திரா! உனது
உள்ளத்திற்குத் தெரியாதா?
நான் எந்தப் பணிக்கோ பிறந்தேனென
நீ எண்ணலாகாது, இராமா

வால்மீகி முதலான முனிவர்களும் மனிதர்களும் உன்னை
வருணித்தனர்; எனது ஆசை தீருமா?
மேன்மையானதாக இருக்குமே! நற்றொண்டர்கள்
மெச்சுவரே! தியாகராசனால் போற்றப் பெற்றோனே!
நான் எந்தப் பணிக்கோ பிறந்தேனென
நீ எண்ணலாகாது, இராமா

எந்த பணிக்கோ - ஒரு குறிக்கோளின்றி என
எனது ஆசை - அங்ஙனமே இறைவனை வருணிக்க

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Telugu

ప. ఏ పనికో జన్మించితినని
నీవెంచ వలదు శ్రీ రామ నే(నే పని)

అ. శ్రీ పతి శ్రీ రామచంద్ర నీ
చిత్తమునకు తెలియదా నే(నే పని)

చ. వాల్మీకాది మునులు నరులు నిన్ను
వర్ణించిరి నాయాస తీరునా
మేల్మియైయుండు సద్భక్తులు
మెచ్చుదురే త్యాగరాజ నుత నే(నే పని)

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Kannada

ಪ. ಏ ಪನಿಕೋ ಜನ್ಮಿಂಚಿತಿನನಿ
ನೀವೆಂಚ ವಲದು ಶ್ರೀ ರಾಮ ನೇ(ನೇ ಪನಿ)

ಅ. ಶ್ರೀ ಪತಿ ಶ್ರೀ ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ ನೀ
ಚಿತ್ತಮುನಕು ತೆಲಿಯದಾ ನೇ(ನೇ ಪನಿ)

ಚ. ವಾಲ್ಮೀಕಾದಿ ಮುನುಲು ನರುಲು ನಿನ್ನು
ವರ್ಣಿಂಚಿರಿ ನಾಯಾಸ ತೀರುನಾ
ಮೇಲ್ಮಿಯೈಯುಂಡು ಸದ್ಭಕ್ತುಲು
ಮೆಚ್ಚುದುರೇ ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜ ನುತ ನೇ(ನೇ ಪನಿ)

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Malayalam

പ. ഏ പനികോ ജന്മിഞ്ചിതിനനി
നീവെഞ്ച വലദു ശ്രീ രാമ നേ(നേ പനി)

അ. ശ്രീ പതി ശ്രീ രാമചന്ദ്ര നീ
ചിത്തമുനകു തെലിയദാ നേ(നേ പനി)

ച. വാല്മീകാദി മുനുലു നരുലു നിന്നു
വര്ണിഞ്ചിരി നായാസ തീരുനാ
മേല്മിയൈയുണ്ഡു സദ്ഭക്തുലു
മെച്ചുദുരേ ത്യാഗരാജ നുത നേ(നേ പനി)

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Updated on 23 Sep 2010