shrI tyAgarAjamupAsmahE, shrI rAga, Adi tALa

P: shrI tyAgarAjamupAsmahE sangIta sangati kAraNam[1]

A: nityAnanda guruguhaM bhajEhaM

madhyamakAlagAnakartAram shrIrAgamudrapravaktAram[2]

;

c, rAma rAmAnujA rAmAnujEsha rAmAnujEshAcArya

rAmAnujEshAcAryAgrajAdyakhila[3] dEvnAma kRtiviracita

trimUrtiM santataM bhAvayE[4]

bhavasAgaravitaraNa nipuNataraM navarAganirUpaNa caturataraM[5]

svarasAhitya prakAraNam layasvarAdi[6] varashyAmakRShNamAshrayAmi[7]

Meaning of the song:

Pallavi: (I) worship Shri Thyagaraja, the inventor of the sangati in music.

Anupallavi: I praise the ever-blissful (nityanada) Dikshitar (guruguham), who introduced madhyamakala singing, who (invariably) ‘taught’ (or ‘announced’) the raga mudra (in his songs).

Charanam: They who composed songs on all devas including Rama, Devi (Rama’s, i.e. Vishnu’s sister[8]), Shiva (Rama’s sister’s Lord), Subrahmanya (Rama’s sister’s lord’s teacher), Ganesha (Rama’s sister’s Lord’s teacher’s elder brother) etc., (I) think of the trimurti always.

Who are adept at crossing the ocean of existence, skilled at defining (many) new ragas.

(I) take refuge in Shyama Shastri (Shyama Krishnam), who propounded the swara sahitya in music, was (among the) best in (especially) laya and swara.

Notation. (Shree Ragam, Adi talam)

Pallavi
	R ;	S ;	s - N_	; P_	P_ N_	,; s	R;
	shrI	tyA	garA	Aja	mupA	Asma	hE
R ;	M ;	P ;	(rp) ;	(pm) (mr)	; G	; R	S
san	gI	ta	san	gati	ikA	Ara	Nam
R ;	M ;	P ;	(pn) ;	(pm)(mr)	; G	; R	S
san	gI	ta	san	gati	ikA	Ara	Nam
R ;	M ;	P ;	PS^	(s^n)pm	r,G	; R	S
san	gI	ta	san	gati	ikA	Ara	Nam
R^ ;	S^ ;	(NP)	PS^	(s^n)pm	r,G	; R	S
san	gI	ta	san	gati	ikA	Ara	Nam
grs,	srmm	rmpp	mpnn	pns^s^	r^,s^,r^s^n,	s^nP;;	M R
san	gI	ta	san	gati	ikA	A	ra NaM
grS
M	(shrI…)


Anupallavi
S S	; S^	S^	R^ R^	G^ R^	; S^	(NP)	nS^,
nityA	Ana	nda	guru	guhaM	M bha	jE	haM
Pr^r^	(g^r^)r^s^	np(mp)	nsR^	(pn)S^	s^np	,mR	(gr)S
madhyama	kAlagA	Anakar	tAraM	shrIrA	gamudrA	Apravak	tAraM

ciTTa swaram
G R	S ;	N;	S P	N_ ;	N_ S	; ;	RR
M P	; P	N P	S^ ;	N P	; M	R ;	G R
; S	(shrI …)


Charanam
R ;	M R	; M	; N	P ;	R ;	M ;	P (ps)
rA	marA	AmA	Anu	jA	rA	mA	nujE
; S^	(np) ;	N^;	s^-R^	pnS^	R^ ;	; G^	R^ S^
Esha	rA	mA	nujE	E	shA	AcA	Arya
R^;	P^M^	r^-G^	R^ S^	; S^	(n p) (P	N S^)	R^ ;
rA	mA	nujE	Esha	AcA	Arya	Agr	jA
; S^	N N	N ;	N P	; M	P R	R R	G R
Adya	khila	dE	vanA	Ama	kRti	vira	cita
S	S	S^	R^	G^ R^	; S^	np	S^;
tri	mUr	tiM	san	tata	mbhA	Av	yE
PpR^	g^r^r^s^	Npmp	nsR^	pnS^	s^nP	pmrr	grS
bhavasA	garavita	raNanipu	NataraM	navarA	ganirU	paNacatu	rataraM

swarasAhityaM
svara	sA	hit	yapra	kA	raNa	M	laya
svarA	Adi	vara	shyA	makR	SHN	mA	shrayA
Ami	(shrI …)

[1] Thyagaraja is credited with popularizing sangatis in music. If the lyrics are changed to sangItaM sangati, then Thyagaraja would also get the (rightful) credit of popularizing music itself!

[2] Dikshitar also used to ‘teach’ the raga mudra in his songs. The word ‘pravaktR’ means ‘announcer’ or ‘teacher’. Other meanings include ‘eloquent speaker’ and ‘orator’.

[3] Unfortunately, pRAsam is sacrificed for yati.

[4] Each of the trimurti’s, and all of them together, get a verb each in the song so that their contributions are clearly demarcated: upAsmahE for Thyagaraja, bhajE for Dikshitar, bhAvayE for the trimurti’s (treated as a single entity) and later, AshrayAmi for Shyama Shastri.

[5] The trimurti’s, especially Thyagaraja and Dikshitar, have invented a number of ragas. Shyama Shastri is the only one to have composed a song in the raga Chintamani. Did he invent it?

[6] Shouldn’t Shyama Shastri get a special mention of his mastery over layam?

[7] Note that all composers are referred by their mudrAs rather than actual names. See here for Thyagaraja referring to himself, here for Dikshitar calling himself guruguha, and here for Shyama Shastri calling himself shyAma kRShNa

[8] This can be interpreted in two ways – one is (Bala) Rama’s sister. The other is the sister of Rama, the avatara of Vishnu, as used by Oothukkadu Venkatasubbaiyer in his song janani tripurasundarI