Lyrics of "varadaraja ninnu" Song with Meaning

స్వరభూషణి - రూపకం 

వరదరాజ నిన్ను( (నినుఁ) గోరి వచ్చితి మ్రొక్కేరా  || వ || 

సురులు భూసురులు చుట్టి చుట్టి సేవించే         || వ || 

వరగిరి వైకుంఠమట - వర్ణింప( దరముగాదట - ని

ర్జరులను తారకములలో( - జంద్రుడై  మెఱయు(దువట

వర త్యాగరాజనుత - గరుడసేవ జూడ               || వ || 

varadaraaja ninnu( gOri vacchiti mrokkEraa

surulu bhuusurulu chuTTi ChuTTi sEvinchE

varagiri vaikunThamaTa - varNimpa( DaramugaadaTa-ni

rjarulanu taarakamulalO( - jandrudai me~rayuduvaTa

vara tyaagaraajanuta - garuDasEva juuDa

Ninnu (ninu) = you; kori = desiring; vacchiti = have come; mrokkEra = (I) pray to you, salute you;

Surulu = devatas; munulu = the rishis; bhu-surulu = vipras, Brahmin devotees; chutti = going around, circumambulate; sevinche = serve with devotion; 

nirjarulanu = the celestials, devatas; tarakamulalo = among the stars; (among the stars of celestials O Varadaraja, You are like the Moon. Thus You outshine all others with all the splendor)

(A quick detour (digression) here: Tyagaraja shares with us some secrets of "upasana = ఉపాసన". That is in the tradition of bhakti, how do we approach the Lord (Rama)? It could be a flower, a leaf, scented water, uttering His attributes, or simply a physical act or gesture. The most important thing is - right now, at this moment how to focus on Varadaraja and put our total attention on the procession in the precincts of holy temple. 

Earlier I used to think (prematurely without proper exhaustive study) that only Annamacharya composed lyrics with exceptional picturesque imagery – bringing to our eyes the exact scenes with utmost fidelity and detail. I presumed (without scholarly evidence) in a hurry that Tyagayya’s compositions lacked vivid colorful painting of “an incident or scene”. I was utterly wrong; I changed my immature opinion right after this song. Of course, the songs in “Nauka-Charitramu” tucked away in some old cassette box also depict beautiful scenery. 

Now coming to the second stanza (pallavi): For a quick comparison (for those people who never got a chance to visit Kanchi City, TN), the Garuda seva function happens in Tirupati also every year. In the procession primacy is given to Lord Varadaraja. He (i.e., the utsava murti ఉత్సవ మూర్తి ) is ensconced (rather enthroned) in royal attire at the center with all other devatas surrounding on the slowly moving chariot; the car being pulled by Garuda, the celestial carrier of Lord Vishnu. There at the center every perfume (floral scent), light, flowers, offerings, and colors abound. All the other performers take a subordinate role (position) and act accordingly to serve the Lord (Narayana).  The procession proceeds slowly with stops (pauses) in between; there would be attractive glittering dances and chorus singing interspersed with divine chants along the procession. Obviously the composer visited the temple on such a special festive occasion and composed the song, probably extemporaneously on the spot. Here are the links to YouTube videos:

Rendition by Amritha Murali  

Though the song is quite brief with one stanza (pallavi) it captures our attention due to the undulating melody – like the undulating flight of a dove the sound stays vibrating in the air (and in our inner mind) for a long time. The famed temple is worth visiting at least once in a lifetime; luckily our parents visited as part of the pilgrimage to Tirupati. Lord Narayana (other than the peda Venkanna పెద వెంకన్న  at Tirumala) always is more accessible to the devotees, it seems. Of course we have to climb more than twenty steps to enter the main inner Sanctum Sanctorum.

If I may, I will conclude my comments with an observation thus: In our obscure yet modest vibrant village there were a number of temple processions. Often they used bring the "utsava murthis" on a cart drawn either by people or ox during the night, usually after 9 or 10 pm. The nights used to be a bit cooler then. Our mother would wake us up from deep sleep and we would go into the street with a platter full of rice, jaggery, turmeric, kumkum, and some flowers. With some luck mother would put a few rupees as a small token of "gratitude" to the priest. With half closed eyes we would stretch our necks to get a glimpse of our local "Venugopala Swamy" (or Siva) seated on the cart. Those little innocent acts of devotion taught us very invaluable insights into bhakti, tradition, and faith. For the young it is very important to put some reserve account in ones spiritual account; preferably it should start very early in life. Later the "peer pressure" and other worldly influences would interfere in spiritual growth. By sheer grace this post was completed at the auspicious eve of Janmashtami (Lord Krishna's birth).

Copyright 2026 by the author.