Aa:S R1 G2 P D1 S
Av: S D1 P G2 R1 S

taaLam: cApu/Adi
Composer: NaaraayaNa Teertar
Language: Sanskrit

pallavi

pAhimAm pAhimAm parama krpALO

anupallavi

dEhi mE tvayi dEva dEva ratim

caraNam 1

asura samhAra shrI vijayagOpala amara samrakSana shrI vijayagOpAla
vAsudEva tanaya shrI vijayagOpAla vAsavAdi vinuta shrI vijayagOpAla

caraNam 2

sangIta lOla shrI vijayagOpAla sadguNa shIla shrI vijayagOpAla
shrngAra rasa pOSa shrI vijayagOpAla shrtajana pAla shrI vijayagOpAla

caraNam 3

dhIra guNOddhAra shrI vijayagOpAla dhEnukAdi haraNa shrI vijayagOpAla
nArada munigEya shrI vijayagOpAla nArAyaNa tIrtha shrI vijayagOpAla

Meaning:

By Aparna from Neccheli (original article here, reproduced with permission)

Carnatic Compositions - The Essence and Embodiment
-Aparna Munukutla Gunupudi

pAhi pAhimAm - Rescue
parama krupALO - super kind one
dEhi mE - give me
Tvayi - your
dEva - godly
Subhakthim - devotion
asura - demons
samhAra - destroyer
srI vijayagopAla - victorious gOpAla
Amara - celestial bodies of Indra loka
samrakSana - protector
vijayagopAla - victorious gOpAla
vasudEva - Vasudeva
tanaya - son
srI vijayagopAla - victorious gOpAla
vAsavAdi - VishNu and others
Nuta - praised by
vijayagopAla - victorious gOpAla
sangIta lOla - enjoys music
srI vijayagopAla - victorious gOpAla
sadguNa - virtuous
sIla - character
srI vijayagopAla - victorious gOpAla
sringAra - beautiful/romantic
rasa poora - full of essence
vijayagopAla - victorious gOpAla
shrtajana pAla - protector of good people
srI vijayagopAla - victorious gOpAla
dhIra - valorous
guNAdhAra - full of virtues
vijayagopAla - victorious gOpAla
dhEnukAdi - Dhenukasura and other demons
haraNa - destroyer
vijayagopAla - victorious gOpAla
nArada munigEya - praised by saint narada
vijayagopAla - victorious gOpAla
nArAyaNa tIrtha - NarAyana theertha
vijayagopAla - victorious gOpAla

Summary:

Oh kind one, please rescue me and bless me with devotion towards gods. Oh son of vasudEva, victorious gOpAla, you destroyed the demons and protected the celestial bodies of Indra lOka, and you are praised by Indra and others. Oh victorious gOpAla, you are virtuous, romantic, enchanted by music and you protect the good people. Oh, victorious gOpAla, you are an embodiment of valor and good qualities, killer of the demon DhenukAsura, and nArada and nArAyana teertha sing in praise of you.

Saint Narayana teertha wrote in Sanskrit, Sri krishna Leela Tharangini, songs mostly in praise of Krishna. They are most commonly used in Kuchipudi dance repertoire, called tharangam. As you can see, this song is full of praises for victorious, valorous and virtuous Krishna. However, he refers to Krishna as the destroyer of DhenukAsura and others. DhenukAsura is a demon in the form of a donkey. He along with his attendants lived in a palm grove. Krishna and Balarama, along with their friends were in-charge of herding the cows. Following the cows, they go near the palm grove. Their friends immediately tell them not to enter that region because the DhenukAsura is very strong and he kills everyone who enters the palm grove. In spite of the warnings, the brothers, merely under ten years of age, enter the forest and start to destroy the palm trees. Hearing the disturbance, DhenukAsura approaches them and tries to kill but Balarama holds his hind legs and spins him until he is out of breath. Hearing this news, his attendants approach them and both the brothers destroy them all. It is a story that demonstrates the strength and valor of young Krishna and Balarama. Other cowherds were pleased that cows could graze freely in the palm grove, now that the demons were destroyed. They praise Krishna and Balarama for their valorous deeds and protecting nature. Similarly, Krishna also destroys kALIya to save the cows and cowherds from venomous snake kALIya. The people of Brindavanam considered Kishna as the life of all lives, father of all fathers and master of all mystic powers. We wish all fathers a great father’s day and pray to lord Krishna to bestow the best blessings upon everyone.

Notation:

Other information:
Lyrics contributed by Lakshman Ragde. Meaning contributed by Aparna Gunupudi via Neccheli.