eTula brOtuvO - Thyaraja's gem

Here is a gem of a song by Saint Thyagaraja. This song is set to Ragam Chakravaham, and Triputa Thaalam. The lyrics are:

pallavi
--------

eTula brOtuvO teliya EkAnta rAmayya

anupallavi
------------

kaTakaTa nA caritamu karNa kaTOramayya

charaNam
-------------

vaTTi goDDu rIti bhakSinci tirigiti
puTTu lObhulanu poTTakai pogaDiti
duSTulatO gUDi duSkrtyamulu salpi
raTTu jEsina tyAgarAjuni dayatO




Actually, in order to appreciate the song better, I felt that rearranging it a bit would make the meaning flow beautifully. Note that this rearragnement is puerly for the purposes of understanding lyrics and appreciating the emotion behind it, only. This is not intended to distort this great work of the saint.

To rearrange,  the CharaNam goes first, followed by Anupallavi and then, at the last, the pallavi.


Here it is:

kaTakaTa nA charitamu karNa kaTOramayya
vaTTi goDDu rIti bhakShinchi tirigiti
puTTu lObhulanu poTTakai pogaDiti
duSTulatO gUDi duSkrtyamulu salpi
raTTu jEsina tyAgarAjuni dayatO
eTula brOtuvO teliya EkAnta rAmayya

Meaning:

kaTakaTa nA charitamu karNa kaTOramayya - My story is horrible to hear. ( karNa kaTOram ayya - கர்ண கொடூரம் அய்யா)



vaTTi goDDu rIti bhakShinchi tirigiti  - I roamed about like a stray bull, intent only on voracious feeding


puTTu lObhulanu poTTakai pogaDiti - Just for livelihood, I indulged in flattering the rich misers


duSTulatO gUDi  -Associating with wicked men

duSkrtyamulu salpi -  I committed despicable acts


raTTu jEsina tyAgarAjuni dayatO - I don't know how you are going to protect this TyAgarAja, who had become notorious,  with compassion.



EkAnta rAmayya - O RAma, visible only to those who are thinking only of Him with single-minded devition

eTula brOtuvO teliya  - I don't know how you are going to protect me.



Look at how the saint packs a punch, in just 6 lines of this song!! To me, this songs sounds like the history of my own life, and I am sure many of us will relate to it. We waste away our precious life mostly, in pursuit of baser things, and not keeping our philosophical feet on the ground, and then, when s**t hits the roof, we go crying to God to bail us out of all our troubles with a magic wand.


Amazing.


- Dilip -