En Palli Kondeeraiyaa : Arunachala Kaviyraayar

En paLLi koNDeerayyaa
raagam: mOhanam


28 harikaambhOji janya
Aa: S R2 G3 P D2 S
Av: S D2 P G3 R2 S
taaLam: aadi

Composer: Arunaacala Kavirayar
Language: Tamil 

pallavi
En paLLI koNDIrayya? shrI ranganAtharE nIr
(En) 

anupallavi
Ambal pUtta shaya paruvata maDuvilE-yavadaritta iraNDATri naDuvilE
(En)
caraNam 1
kOshikan shol kurittadarkkO? arakki kulaiyil ambu terittadarkkO?
Ishan villai murittadarkkO? parashurAmanuram parittadarkkO?
mAshillAda mithilEshan peNNuDanE vazhi naDanda iLaippO?
dUshilAda guhanODattilE gangai turai kaDanda iLaippO?
mIshuramAm citrakUTac cikarak kalmishai kiDanda iLaippO?
kAshinimEl mArIcanODiya gati toDarnda iLaippO?
OdikkaLittO dEviyai tEdi iLaittO? MarangaLezhunduLaittO?
kaDalai kaTTi vaLaittO? lankai ennum kAval mAnagarai iDitta varuttamO?
rAvaNAdigaLai muDitta varuttamO?
(En)
caraNam 2
maduraiyilE varum kaLaiyO? mudalai vAi magaLaittarum kaLaiyO?
edir erudai perungaLaiyO? Kanrai eDutterinda perugaLaiyO?
pudumai Ana mulaiyuNDu pEyin uyir pOkkiyaluttIRO?
adira Odivarum kuruvi vAyai iraNDAkkiyaluttIrO?
tudi shei AyargaLai kAkka vENDi malai tUkki yaluttIrO?
jati shei kAlinAl kALingan maNImuDi tAkkiyaluttIrO?
Marudam shAittO? Adu mADugaL mEittO?
sakaDuruLait teittO? kanjan uyirai mAittO?
arjunanukkAga sArathiyAi tEr viDutta varuttamO?
pOrilE cakkaram eDutta varuttamO?
(En)
caraNam 3
paDi tanilE mettavum nAnE ummai param enavE aDuttEnE
aDimai koLvIr ennaittAnE shempon aNi arangapperumALE!
taTam urainda karum pArai shApamadu taDuttu rakSittIrE!
viDa oNNAda kAkAsuranukkoru kaN viDuttu rakSittIrE!
koDumai koNDazhuda draupadaikkut tuyil koDuttu rakSittIrE!
maDuvil Anai mun ODi mudalaiyai maDittu rakSittIrE adupOl
vArum kripai kaNNAlE pArum manakkavalai tIrum
ninaitta varam tArum tArum en sAmi vaKSamEvum
mahAlakSmiyuDan perum pakSamAga ennai rakSikka ezhundirum
(En)

The lyrics in Tamil:

பல்லவி
ஏன் பள்ளீ கொண்டீரய்யா? ஸ்ரீ ரங்கனாதரே நீர்
(ஏன்)

அனுபல்லவி
ஆம்பல் பூத்த சய பருவத மடுவிலே-அவதரித்த இரண்டாற்று நடுவிலே
(ஏன்)

சரணம் 1
கௌசிகன் சொல் குறித்ததர்க்கோ? அரக்கி குலையில் அம்பு எறிந்த்ததர்க்கோ?
ஈசன் வில்லை முறித்ததர்க்கோ? பரசுராமனுரம் பரித்ததர்க்கோ?
மாசில்லாத மிதிலேசன் பெண்ணுடனே வழி நடந்த இளைப்போ?
தூசில்லாத குஹனோடத்திலே கங்கை துறை கடந்த இளைப்போ?
மீசுரமாம் சித்ரகூட சிகரத்தின் மிசை கிடந்த இளைப்போ?
காசினிமேல் மாரீசனோடிய கதி தொடர்ந்த இளைப்போ?
ஓடிக்களைத்தோ தேவியை தேடி இளைத்தோ? மரங்கள் ஏழும் துளைத்தோ?
கடலை கட்டி வளைத்தோ? இலங்கை என்னும் காவல் மாநகரை இடித்த வருத்தமோ?
ராவணாதிகளை முடித்த வருத்தமோ?
(ஏன்)

சரணம் 2
மதுரையிலே வரும் களையோ? முதலை வாய் மகனைத்தரும் களையோ?
எதிர் எருதை பெருங்களையோ? கன்றை எடுத்தெரிந்த பெரும் களையோ?
புதுமை ஆன முலையுண்டு பேயின் உயிர் போக்கி அலுத்தீரோ?
அதிர ஓடிவரும் குருவி வாயை இரண்டாக்கி அலுத்தீரோ?
துதி செய் ஆயர்களை காக்க வேண்டி மலை தூக்கி அலுத்தீரோ?
ஜதி செய் காலினால் காளிங்கன் மணிமுடி தாக்கி அலுத்தீரோ?
மருதம் சாய்த்தோ? ஆடு மாடுகள் மேய்த்தோ?

சகடுருளை தேய்தோ? கஞ்சன் உயிரை மாய்த்தோ?
அர்ஜுனனுக்காய் சாரதியாய் தேர் விடுத்த வருத்தமோ?
போரிலே சக்ரம் எடுத்த வருத்தமோ? 

(ஏன்)

சரணம் 3
படி தனிலே மெத்தவும் நானே உம்மை பரம் எனவே அடுத்தேனே
அடிமை கொள்வீர் என்னைத்தானே செம்பொன் அணி அரங்கப்பெருமாளே!
ததம் உரைந்த கரும் பாறை சாபமது தடுத்து ரக்ஷித்தீரே!
விட ஒண்ணாத காகாசுரனுக்கொரு கண் விடுத்து ரக்ஷித்தீரே!
கொடுமை கொண்டழுத த்ரௌபதைக்குத் துகில் கொடுட்த்து ரக்ஷித்தீரே!

மடுவில் ஆனை முன் ஓடி முதலையை மடித்து ரக்ஷித்தீரே அதுபோல்
வாரும் க்ருபை கண்ணாலே பாரும் மனக்கவலை தீரும்
நினைத்த வரம் தாரும் தாரும் என் சாமி வக்ஷமேவும்
மஹாலஷ்மியுடன் பெரும் பஷமாக என்னை ரஷிக்க எழுந்திரும்
(ஏன்)

---

Line by Line Meaning: (mostly from Karnatic.com)


Pallavi: My dear Lord Srirangam Ranganatha, why are you lying down?

Anupallavi: You are resting in the island between the two rivers - which are the branches of the river Kaveri - which started from the mountain pool , which has abundant water lillies? Why is that? 

Charanam 1: 

Is it because you obeyed the order of the sage Kaushika? Who is better known as Viswamitra? (Lord Ram - the avatar of Srirangam Ranaganathar - who is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu - went with Vishwamitra to protect his yagnA from the demons - Tataka, Maricha and Subahu)

Is it because you killed the demoness Tataka by striking her at her abdomen with your arrow?
Is it because you broke the bow of lord Shiva?
Is it because you subdued Parasuraman's - which was another avatar of Lord Vishnu - anger and arrogance?
Is it due to your long tiresome walk with chaste Sita?
 Is it due to the arduous task of crossing the Ganga in the boat of blemishless Guhan?
Is it due to your long stay in the CitrakUTa mountain range?
Is it due to your tiresome chase of Maricha? - who took the form of the golden deer - all over the place?
Did you get tired after chasing him?
Is it because you got tired looking for your dear wife all over?
Is it due to piercing the seven trees with a single arrow 
Is it due to bridging the ocean - to cross into Lanka?
Is it because you were sorry to have demolished the fortress of Lanka?
Is it due to your regret from having destroyed Ravana and his gang?

Charanam 2 : 

Is it because of the tiring journey all the way from the jail to Matura?
Is it because of the effort involved in bringing back the son of the Guru who was devoured by a crocodile years back? 
Is it because of your fight with the demon who came as an ox? 
Is it because of your fight with another demon who came to kill Krishna as a lovely calf? 
Is it because of the tiredness caused by drinking milk from a new kind of a breast? and post that killing that demonness? 
Is it because of killing the demon who came in the form of a horse?
Is it because of lifting the mountain to safeguard the shepherd community which lived with Krishna when it was raining for 7 days and the whole place got flooded?
Is it because of your dancing on the head of "kalinga" - the snake ?
Is it because of your slaying the demon who came as air? 
is it because of the effort involved in herding the cows and goats?
Is it because of killing the demon who came in as a wheel? 
Is it because of slaying the king of all those demons - Kamsa? 
is it because of the tiredness from driving the chariot for Arjuna in the Mahabharata war? 
Is it because you had to take the chakrayudha during the war - and thereby breaking your own vow of "not taking any weapons" during the war? 


C3: I have sought your refuge in this earth.
Please give me shelter by accepting my surrender, Oh gold-adorned Ranganatha! (arangam= Srirangam; perumAL= vishnu).
You delivered Ahalaya from her curse by stepping over the stone (to which she was cursed by her sage-husband Gautama after her illicit encounter with Indra).
You also protected KAkAsuran
When Draupadi (in Mahabharatha) was humiliated, by getting subjected to disrobing in the assembly hall at Hastinapura, you protected her by letting her garment grow beyond bounds
You also protected the elephant by killing the crocodile when the latter was dragging the elephant into the water by grabbing its leg.
Just like protecting all the above, please shower your grace on me, cure my misery, and give me boons. Please get up and protect me with your consort Mahalakshmi! 

The Stories in this Krithi : 

This is a fantastic krithi. For many reasons. 

1) It has the complete story of Ramayana in first Charanam; the story of Mahabharata in the second charanam and the story of how Lord Vishnu protected his devotees in the the third charanam

2) It is in a slightly amused, satiric tone - in which Lord Vishnu is asked questions on why he has chosen to lie down and sleep at Srirangam 

3) The poetry is simply breathtaking (those who understand Tamil surely would love this krithi)

Let us look at the stories. 

Charanam 1 : The complete story of Ramayana is given here. The episodes given here are those which evidently take "effort" and hence can become the reasons why the Lord is tired!



Arunachala kavirayar starts with the scene where the sage Viswamitra comes and takes Rama away to the jungles. Rama is a prince and he is not used to walking in the forests. But, that is precisely what had happened. it must be really a tiring one. 









Then comes, the slaying of Thadaka. It is not easy to kill her. Thadaka is enormous. She has the strength of many thousands of elephants. And, Rama hesitated to kill her because he had never killed anyone before. And also because, thadaka is a woman. There is the psychology involved of a valarous prince thinking about his first kill becoming that of a woman. so, from both a physical effort involved and also from a mental strain of "should I kill" and also "should I kill a woman" and "should I kill a woman as my first kill", there is tremendous mental effort involved here. it must be tiring. 

Then comes the scene where Rama goes to the "Swayamwaram" of Sita and the bow of Shiva is there. He has to lift it. it is a big bow and all others who had come to the swayamwara had failed. Rama takes it - although effortlessly, it must have taken enormous effort to do it without effort! 










Next is the scene where he subdues Parashurama. Parashurama gives the Vishnu Bow - which was supposedly stronger than the 'Rudra bow" which Rama just broke in the swayamwara. It again must have taken enormous effort. Not only he took the bow, but also put an arrow in the bow and banished parashurama for ever and that again must have taken enormous physical and mental efforts. 

The next scene is where Rama goes away from Ayodhya with Sita. By walk. Imagine a prince, who has never had to walk for anything, walking to the jungle! That too, on the day that he was supposed to have become the King! With his wife and brother following him. Leaving behind his loved ones. Just to ensure that he kept his father's promise...!  That surely takes a lot of effort and hugely tiring. 














Then he crosses the ganges on Guha's canoe. Leaving the place where they had taken rest. Leaving behind Guha also..

Then he goes across the chitrakuda mountain range. 















He then chases the golden deer Maricha for a long time and kills him finally when he understands he has been tricked. The chase is tiring. The killing of the deer, which was probably the only thing Seetha had asked for from Rama, must have been really draining. And the realization that he has been tricked by the asuras must have been hugely painful...








Then he runs and searches for Sita all over the place. He comes across Sugriva and to prove that he can kill Vali, Rama pierces 7 huge trees with just one arrow. 







Post that, with the help of sugriva and other Monkeys, he builds a bridge to go to Srilanka. Building that bridge and walking across to Srilanka must have taken huge efforts. 

He then fights with breaks the huge fortress of a city which was Srilanka. He then fights with and kills the demon king Ravana. 











All of these events mentioned in charanam one are the ones which take huge efforts. Not only physical efforts but at times these are ones which also pose dilemmas and hence mental effort. The words used in the charanam show the 'mental' effort here. for example, the word "varuttamo" which is used when Rama destroys Lanka and Ravana shows the pain Rama had while destroying - which must be done - yes - but what a lovely city and it has come to such a stage to be destroyed; what a great warrior is Ravana! It has come to a stage that he must be killed - all that dilemmas and pain that such a great soul as Rama would have gone through. 

It is also interesting that some of the other "effort taking" scenes from Ramayana have not been touched here. For example, the killing of Vaali. This is something which is a hotly debated scene in Ramayana. Vaali's fight was with Sugriva. And yet, Rama killed him. Without directly being involved in the fight. "is that right or wrong?" is something which is hotly debated. This must also have taken huge effort. And yet, this is not mentioned in the krithi. I often wonder is it because this is a moot point in the Ramayana. There is another scene which often is celebrated as the scene showcasing Rama's valour and that is the killing of the huge army of Kara and Dhushana. Here is a person, slaying the entire army of demons singlehandedly. Why was this left out? I am not sure.

Charanam 2: 

Here, the story of Krishna comes up. Krishna came to Matura - and He had to come when it was all dark and raining. That child had to undertake a travel the day it was born. It had to come from one place - from the prison where Devaki and Vasudeva were imprisoned - all the way to Matura. While it was Vasudeva who brought Krishna on his head, imagine the pain the child had to go through on the day of its birth! Being separated from his mother, separated from his father, coming to an alien place, coming through all that rain and in the middle of the raging river....it can be very tiring indeed!!

From the day of the birth, the song jumps immediately to the day Krishna completes his education. Krishna studies at the gurukula of Sandeepani Muni. Krishna, his brother Baladeva and his friend Sudhama all study there. At the completion of the studies, Krishna asks his guru what Dakshina he should give. The guru asks for his son, who was eaten alive by a crocodile to be returned to him. Krishna goes, fights with the crocodile demon and brings his Guru's son alive again!

The poet thinks of the other asuras who tried to kill Krishna. The one who came as ox









   the one who came as a calf

the one who came in as a horse








 the one who came in as air

the one who came in as a wheel...how many demons and to kill all of them, repeatedly, does tire out one!!

the rakshasi (demon) boothana who came as a person who wanted to give the child her breast milk but whose life was drunk out by the Krishna child, .

Then the poet thinks of the Govarthana incident. This little child, lifted the Govardhana Mountain on his little finger! It is raining everywhere. Indra is angry because Krishna had stopped the puja usually done to him and this time around, the mountain govardhana got the puja instead of Indra. And, Indra ensured torrential rains everywhere! 7 days of rains and the entire Matura is submerged. It cannot take any rain anymore. All the people come and appeal to Krishna. The little child smiles and lifts up the Govardhana mountain. All the people stay under the mountain. The rain continues unabated for the next 7 days. The Krishna child carries on the mountain...wouldn't it be tiring?






Then, suddenly one day, the cows of Brindavan & Matura start dying. They go to the Yamuna to drink water. kalinga, the serpent demon spews poison and the water becomes poisoned. The cows and the people who went along with the cows are dead. Krishna comes to the rescue again. He goes into the river. He catches hold of kalinga. Climbs upon the poisonous snake and dances. Hits out at kalinga's crown and makes him realize his mistakes. But, doing all that would be really tiring, right?












The poet thinks of all that time spent herding the cows and the goats. Wouldn't that be tiring? From the morning to evening taking care of the cattle? 

Then, when Krishna and Balarama go to Kamsa's court, Krishna slays Kamsa there and frees up his biological father and mother : Vasudevar and Devaki. How much of effort would that have taken?!

Here is the living God, Krishna and he is the charioteer of Arjuna! Takes care of Arjuna for the entire 18 day Mahabaratha war. How tiring that must be!

And in the war, Krishna had to take up the Chakra ayhudha (the divine wheel that adorns Vishnu's hands and which can cut the enemy's head and come back to Vishnu's hands). This is an interesting sub story in itself. Krishna had taken the promise of not fighting with any weapon during the mahabharatha war. That is why he was functioning as the charioteer to Arjuna. However, during the war, Bhishma was fighting relentlessly and Arjuna was holding back since Bhishma was his grandpa. Krishna advises Arjuna to go all out but Arjuna does not listen to it. Krishna gets really angry. He says that He will himself finish off Bhishma and takes up the chakrayudha, almost breaking his promise. Seeing this, Bhishma smiles and puts all his weapon on the chariot that he was in, welcoming Krishna. However, Arjuna stops Krishna in time. Arjuna promises to take care of Bhishma and thus Krishna takes back the chakrayudha. What a dilemma and what a pain to decide to break the promise!

Here also, a few key incidents have been left out!! One of the key ones from Krishna's younger days is the day when his foster mother, Yashodha ties him up on a 'ural' when he eats sand. But, the Krishna child goes with the 'ural' and breaks open the two trees in the backyard, thus freeing up the Kandarvas who were there as trees due to the curse of a saint. This is a key incident in many songs. But, does not find a place here. 

Krishna, with the help of Satyabhama also is said to have killed Narakasura. That also does not find a place here. 

Krishna abducts Rukmini to marry her. That does not find a place here. 

Krishna saves the unborn child Parikshit from the brahmastra. 

All the above would have taken great effort and thus, must be tiring...somehow they don't find a place / a mention in the song!

I would really love to meet Arunachala Kavirayar and ask him to understand the reason! Who can understand the heart of a great poet? Only another great poet!! I would love if somebody can explain why some of the other key incidents have not been mentioned!

Charanam 3 : 

In this, Arunachala kavirayar becomes a devotee. All the mischief of the previous 2 charanams are gone! He cites the incidents where Rama and Krishna save the devotees from pain : 

Rama delivers Ahalya from her curse where she stays as a stone. 

Krishna saves Draupati from humiliation by making her sarees grow even as Duchchathana tries to remove the saree in the midst of everyone in the Kaurava shabha. 















As Lord Vishnu, He saved the elephant from the crocodile. 














Like all these, Kavirayar asks the Lord to save him too from pain and misery. He asks Vishnu to come and protect him along with his consort, Mahalakshmi, who is always there at the heart of Maha Vishnu. 

It is a tradition to pray to Vishnu always along with MahaLakshmi and never alone. Kavirayar fulfills this tradition also in the final charanam by invoking Goddess MahaLakshmi and prays to God and Goddess together to save him. 

A beautiful song!

I am again not very sure why the first two stanzas alone are very popular while the third stanza is not as popular. In most kutcheris, one can see that the song is sung up to the first two charanams. the third charanam is hardly ever sung. 

It may be because the first two charanams have that satiristic - mischievious elements in them which is completely missing in the last charanam? Not very sure!!



Enjoy the song here! (all of them only upto the first two charanams only!)

Vasantha Kokilam

Aruna Sairam

Sowmya

Ela Ni Dayaradu : Thyagaraja : Atana

Elaa nee dhayaraadhu - baalakanakamaya
raagam: aThaaNaa 

Lyrics from : karnatic.com




29 dheera shankaraabharaNam janya
Aa: S R2 M1 P N3 S
Av: S N3 D2 P M1 P G3 R2 S
taaLam: aadi
 
Composer: Tyaagaraaja
Language: Telugu

pallavi
Ela nI dayarAdu parAku jEsE vELa samayamu gAdu


anupallavi
bAla kanakamaya cEla sujana paripAla shrI ramAlOla vidhrta sharajAlaA
shubada karunAlavAla ghananIla navya vana mAlikA bharaNa (Ela)


caraNam 1
rArA dEvAdi dEva! rArA mahAnubhAva rArA rAjIvanEtra raghuvara putrA
sAratara sudhA pUra hrdaya parivAra jaladhi gambhIra danuja samhAra
madhana sukumara budha janavihAra sakala shrutisAra nAdupai
(Ela)


caraNam 2
rAjAdhirAja muni pUjitapAda ravirAjalOcana sharaNya ati lAvaNya
rAjadharanuta virAjaturaga sura rAja vandita pAda-aja janaka dina-
rAjakOTi samatEja danuja gajarAja nicaya mrgarAja jalajamukha
(Ela)


caraNam 3
yAgarakSaNa parama bhAgavatArcita yOgIndra su-hrdbhAvita Adyanta
rahita nAgashayana vara nAgavarada punnAga sumadhara sadAgha-
mOcana sadA gatija dhrta padAgamAnta cara rAgarahita shrI tyAgarAjanuta
(Ela)

---

Core Meaning:

Ela nI dayarAdu parAku jEsE vELa samayamu gAdu  

Thyagaraja starts with a very comfortable and familiar calling of the lord : he calls him 'Ela'. It is a word used in telugu where you know the person you are talking to and are in a comfortable position to address him in the tone of the person who has known him for years. "Hey my dear boy! Come here" is the tone adopted here. He asks him why he has not cared till now. It is the time to care and yet he has not cared to come till now. Is it the way to treat me? There is no time for such things! 

bAla kanakamaya cEla sujana paripAla shrI ramAlOla vidhrta sharajAlaA
shubada karunAlavAla ghananIla navya vana mAlikA bharaNa (Ela) 

Thyagaraja continues in the same tone. Here he says : O my dear boy! O Bala! You are full of golden garments! You are the protector of good virtuous people.You are one who is taken up by Lakshmi! You are the one who does 'jala' with your arrows. Sara = arrows; jala = who does magic with it. Here, it means the one who wields a whole host of arrows. 

You are the one who bestows auspeciousness. Shubada = auspeciousness; from the root word 'shubam'. You are the one who is full of mercy : 'Karunalavala'. You look like a dark rain cloud and colored a dark blue : 'Ghana nila'. You wear garlands made of fresh forest flowers : 'navya vana malika abharana'

rArA dEvAdi dEva! rArA mahAnubhAva rArA rAjIvanEtra raghuvara putrA
sAratara sudhA pUra hrdaya parivAra jaladhi gambhIra danuja samhAra
madhana sukumara budha janavihAra sakala shrutisAra nAdupai

The music reaches a cresendo here. The beauty of telugu language comes to the fore here. Thyagaraja continues. "Rara"  : come! Come oh my boy! Come! Who are you? I know who you are. You are the head of all devas (devadhideva). Come! You are the most noble person (mahanubhava). Come! You have lotus eys (Rajiva Netra). You are the blessed descentant of king Raghu (Raghu vara putra). Please do come.

Oh my dear excellent boy! Your heart is full of bliss. So does your family's (of saints and people like me!). You are majestic like an ocean. You are the slayer of asuras (dhanuja)

Oh you are so beautiful. You are like cupid in your good looks. You reside in the hearts of wise people and saints! You are the essence of all vedas and sastras and all knowledge. In spite of all this, why are you unconcerned about me? (nadupai)

rAjAdhirAja muni pUjitapAda ravirAjalOcana sharaNya ati lAvaNya
rAjadharanuta virAjaturaga sura rAja vandita pAda-aja janaka dina-
rAjakOTi samatEja danuja gajarAja nicaya mrgarAja jalajamukha

You are the king of kings (Raja adhi Raja) . Your feet are those praised by munis (Muni pujita padha)  and sages and the wise ones. You have eyes as the Sun and the Moon (Ravi raja lochana). You are the one who offers refuge to those who have none. You are the most beautiful one.  

You are the one who is praised by Lord Shiva, who wears the crescent moon (Raja dhara nuta). You are the Lord Vishnu who flies on the majestic bird Garuda (turaga viraja). You are the one whose feet are worshipped by Lord Indra (sura raja vanditha pada). You are the one who is the father of Brahma (aja janaka)

You are the God of the day (Dina Raja)! Your splendour and brilliance is like a crore Suns put together (koti sama teja). You are like the lion, the king of animals, which slays multitude of elephants. Like that, you kill all the demons and asuras. You are the who has the lotus face. 

yAgarakSaNa parama bhAgavatArcita yOgIndra su-hrdbhAvita Adyanta
rahita nAgashayana vara nAgavarada punnAga sumadhara sadAgha-
mOcana sadA gatija dhrta padAgamAnta cara rAgarahita shrI tyAgarAjanuta

You are the one who protects yagas (yaga raksana). You are the one who is worshipped by the highest of the devotees (parama bhagavatha archita). You are the one who is loved and resides in the hearts of great yogis (yogindra suhrd bhavitha). You are one who has no start or end (Adi anta rahita). You are like a blessed elephant who takes rest on a serpent (naga shayana vara naga). You wear the flowers of punnaga (punnaga suma dhara). You are the one who always gives us freedom from our sins (sadha agha mochana). Your feet are always held by the one born of the wind God (sada gatija dhrta pada) ! Agamas and sastras dwell in you (agama anta cara)! You are the one who is without any desires (raga rahita)! You are the one who is praised by this Thyagaraja!

           

An interesting point about this song as given by karnatic.com  is this :  

This is a song which starts with the anupallavi first. The pallavi is normally sung later. This is also a song composed by Thyagaraja when he finally saw Rama. 

http://thyagaraja-vaibhavam.blogspot.com tells this : 


In the 1st charanam, in the place of 'madana sukumara", there is also a practice of singing the words "dasaradha kumara". But, 'madana sukumara' is what is used here.

My point of view : In terms of rhyming, both sound good. However, after listening closely to both Yesudas and TVS singing, I decided to use only 'madana sukumara'. Also, in the entire song, Thyagaraja continuously talks about Rama the youth and his beauty. So, 'madana sukumara' is consistent with this usage.

Beauty of the song and the stories from it: 

Thyagaraja sings this in Raag Atana. Atana typically has a very majestic tenor to it. Almost commanding! Though thyagaraja implores the lord in every single sentence, the tenor of the Raaga lends it a commanding quality. And, the way Thyagaraja begins, with the 'Ela'! sets the tone for the entire song. 

bAla kanakamaya cEla sujana paripAla shrI ramAlOla vidhrta sharajAlaA
shubada karunAlavAla ghananIla navya vana mAlikA bharaNa (Ela) 

In the anupallavi, thyagaraja tells us about the reason for Ram's birth - the reason why Lord Vishnu took the Rama avatar. The key reason is " sujana paripala" - to protect the good ones who were being tormented by the evil like Ravana. To do this, Rama did magic with his bow and arrows : "vidhrta shara jala" He killed fourteen thousand demons - the Kara Dhooshanas all alone. That is the magic being talked about here. And, the hint 'vana malikabharana' - the one who wears the garland of forest flowers gives us all the clues about the story here!

rArA dEvAdi dEva! rArA mahAnubhAva rArA rAjIvanEtra raghuvara putrA
sAratara sudhA pUra hrdaya parivAra jaladhi gambhIra danuja samhAra
Madhana sukumara budha janavihAra sakala shrutisAra nAdupai

The second reason for Rama's birth is talked about here. Though Thyagaraja gave ample hint of this in the previous charanam itself, he clarifies it here. Rama is Devadi deva. He is mahanubhava. He is beautiful with his lotus eyes. He is majestic like the ocean. He is the essense of all the vedas and sastras. He resides in the heart of jnanis and sages. But, all this is for what? All this is to kill the demons!! All this is for "danuja samhara"!The reason for the avatar of Rama is to get rid of demons such as Kara, Dhooshana and Ravanas. That is being talked about by Thyagaraja in this charanam.

yAgarakSaNa parama bhAgavatArcita yOgIndra su-hrdbhAvita Adyanta
rahita nAgashayana vara nAgavarada punnAga sumadhara sadAgha-
mOcana sadA gatija dhrta padAgamAnta cara rAgarahita shrI tyAgarAjanuta

 Finally, in this charanam, Thygaraja talks about Lord Vishnu and not just Rama. Lord Vishnu delivers us all from our sins. He has no desires and the moment we become one with Him, we become desireless too. Like the tamil verse 'Tiruk Kural' says, 

" பற்றுக பற்றற்றான் பற்றினை அப்பற்றை 

  பற்றுக பற்று விடற்கு" 

means this : have desire for the one who has no desires. And, have that desire so that you can be cured of all desires.

Like this, Thygaraja talks about the final destination in the 3rd charanam : Vishnu is without any desire. He resides in the heart of yogis who have no desires. Like that, by constantly worshipping him, let us also become ones without any desire. 

In this song, the pain of Thygaraja comes through clearly. His waiting for years, the love for Lord Rama, the pain that he has not yet seen the Lord, the fact that the Lord protects all the sadhus and good ones and yet he has not yet come to protect Thyagaraja, the fact that the Lord resides in all the yogis and yet Thyagaraja is not able to see the Lord in his heart - all that pours forth. 

An absolutely gem of a song. Pure poetry throughout. The language dances around. The words weave magic.  

Take the anupallavi:bala, cela, paripala, rama lola, shara jala, karunala vala, ghana nila...the "la" sound goes on and on..

Take the 1st charanam : Rara, rajiva netra, raguvara putra...and then saratara, sudha pura, parivara, gambira, samhara, sukumara, janavihara, shruti sara...the 'ra' sound goes on and on..

Take the 2nd charanam. It is full of Rajas! Rajadhiraja, raviraja, rajadharanuta, virajaturaga, sura raja, aja janaka, dina raja, sama teja, danuja, gajaraja, mrgaraja, jalaja...

Take the 3rd charanam : it is full of  'agas'  : 'naga' shayana, 'naga' varada, pun 'naga', sadhagha, 'sada ga' tija, 'padhaga' manta, cara raga, 'thyaga' rajanuta... 

The words dance around you. When it is sung by great musicians, you can see Lord Rama in all His splendour. You can see him doing mayajal with his bow and arrow. You can see him saving sadhus and munis. You can see him smiling and listening to the song. You can see the saint Thyagaraja calling out for Ram. You can see Thyagaraja crying throughout the song, calling Him to come and rescue him.  An absolutely beautiful, majestic song.

Song in Tamil : (From http://thyagaraja-vaibhavam.blogspot.com : This site also gives the word by word meaning of the song in both english and also in tamil. Beautifully written)

ப. ஏல நீ தய ராது பராகு
ஜேஸே(வே)ல ஸமயமு காது


அ. பால கனக மய சேல ஸுஜன
பரிபால ஸ்ரீ ரமா லோல வித்ருத ஸர
ஜால ஸுபத கரு(ணா)லவால கன
நீல நவ்ய வன மாலி(கா)பரண (ஏ)


ச1. ராரா தே(வா)தி தேவ ராரா மஹானுபாவ
ராரா ராஜீவ நேத்ர ரகு வர புத்ர
ஸாரதர ஸுதா பூர ஹ்ருதய
பரிவார ஜலதி கம்பீர தனுஜ
ஸம்ஹார மதநசுகுமார புத ஜன
விஹார ஸகல ஸ்ருதி ஸார நாதுபை (ஏ)


ச2. ரா(ஜா)தி ராஜ முனி பூஜித பாத ரவி
ராஜ லோசன ஸரண்ய அதி லாவண்ய
ராஜ தர நுத விராஜ துரக ஸுர
ராஜ வந்தித ப(தா)ஜ ஜனக தின
ராஜ கோடி ஸம தேஜ தனுஜ கஜ
ராஜ நிசய ம்ருக ராஜ ஜலஜ முக (ஏ)


ச3. யாக ரக்ஷண பரம பாகவ(தா)ர்சித
யோ(கீ)ந்த்ர ஸுஹ்ருத்-பாவி(தா)(த்ய)ந்த ரஹித
நாக ஸயன வர நாக வரத
புன்னாக ஸும தர ஸ(தா)க மோசன
ஸதா கதிஜ த்ருத ப(தா)க(மா)ந்த சர
ராக ரஹித ஸ்ரீ த்யாகராஜ நுத (ஏ)

Songs that you can listen to / download : 

One of my favorites - though it is from a film (salangai oli) - is sung by Janaki and goes upto only the first charanam. But, I think the beauty of the words and the song come out clearly and beautifully through janaki's voice : http://www.mediafire.com/?qrquwmdzutm

Other possible downloads : (From : arvindsdad.blogspot.com)

1. ttp://www.mediafire.com/?t0y49uecgze Baala kanakamaya - K. J. Yesudoss
2. http://www.mediafire.com/?lafvdreg3bj Baala kanakamaya - T. V. Sankaranarayanan
3. http://www.mediafire.com/?xicnkwwbm20 Baala kanakamaya - Nithyashree
4. http://www.mediafire.com/?2mbgtaeiwdk Baala kanakamaya - Aruna Sairam
5. http://www.mediafire.com/?vmhvrbb2101 Baala kanakamaya - S. Janaki
6. http://www.mediafire.com/?hujwgxxaml1 Baala kanakamaya - Sowmya

Some Youtube moments for you: 

1) Nityashree Mahadevan :

2) Malladi Brothers:

3) MS :