karuNiso ranga karuNisO

Composer: Sri Purandaradasa

Raag: Jogiya; Taal: Tritaal (Hindustani)

Translated by Sri Chakravarthi Madhusudana

 

pallavi

 

karuNiso ranga karuNisO

hagalu iruLu ninna smaraNe mareyadante

charaNas

rukumaangadanante vrata maaDalariyenO
shukamuniyante stutisalariye
bakavairiyante dhyaanava maaDalariye
devakiyante etti muddisalariye                                  1

garuDanante pottu tirugalu ariye

kareyalariyeno kariraajanante
vara kapiyante daasya maadalariye
siriyante sukhavittu sevisalariyeno                             2

baliyante daanava koDalariyeno bhakti-
chalavanariye prahlaadanante
olisalaarenu arjunanante sakhanaagi
salaho devara deva purandaraviThala                       3

Translation

Bless me, Ranga, bless me

So I will never forget to remember you night and day

 

I do not know how to perform vratas like Rukmaangada

Nor do I know how to praise you like the sage Shuka

I do not know how to contemplate on you like the Enemy of Baka *

Neither can I hold and adore you like Devaki did.

 

I cannot carry you and wander about like Garuda can

I cannot call out for you as the King of Elephants did **

I do not know how to be a servant like Hanumaan

I do not know how to serve and make you happy like Sri Lakshmi.

 

I do not know how to be charitable like Mahaabali

Neither have I the persistent devotion of Prahlaada

Unlike Arjuna, I do not know how to cherish you as a friend

Please help me, Purandara  ViThala, God of all gods.

 

(*Means Bhimasena. In this context, it probably means Sri Madhvacharya who is believed to be an incarnation of Bhima.  **Reference is to the story of Gajendra Moksha)

The late Pandit Bhimsen Joshi’s rendition is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KJk-yC_MSs