Introduction to translations of Thyagaraja Krithis

Introduction to translations of Thyagaraja krithis.

By

P.R.Ramachander

Carnatic Music is the classical music which is popular in the South of India. One of the greatest composers for this music is Saint Thyagaraja. ( May 2, 1767 - January 6, 1847) His full name is Kakarla Tyaga Brahmam. He, along with his contemporaries Muthuswami Dikshitar and Shyama Shastry, form the Trinity of Carnatic music. He was a prolific composer and highly influential in the development of the South Indian classical music tradition. But he composed all his songs in Telugu , which was his mother toungue. Tyagaraja composed thousands of devotional compositions, most of them in praise of Lord Rama. His compositions remain very popular even today. People whose mother toungue is not telugu find it difficult to understand it completely. This is important because the emotional in put called Bhava can be put in the song, only if we understand the lyrics completely.
I have made an effort to translate some of his compositions in to English. I have a working knowledge of Telugu. But do not have the expertise needed to do this job. So I have depended almost completely on the Tamil translation of his compositions done by Brahma Sri T.S.Balakrishna Sastrigal in his book called Thyagaraja Upanishad.

Normally, a song of Carnatic music has three sections: Pallavi, Anupallavi and Charanam. The performer begins with the Pallavi, which are mounted with additional musical phrases in a progressive manner, called Sangatis and then goes to the Anupallavi, also sung with variations. He then returns to the pallavi again before proceeding to the Charanam. The song however, ends with the Pallavi. It is usually in Charanam that one finds the mudra (signature) of the composer. For example, Tyagaraja used his own name, while Muthuswami Dikshitar adopted Guruguha and Syama Sastri, Syamakrishna.( http://www.saigan.com/heritage/music/kritis.htm)

I hope my translation would help at least some people appreciate the nuances of the song lyrics written by Saint Thyagraja.