బంటు రీతి కొలువు ఈయవయ్య రామా
తుంట వింటి వాని మొదలైన మదా
దుల గొట్టి నేల గూల జేయు నిజ
రోమాంచ మను ఘన కంచుకము
రామ భక్తుడను ముద్ర బిళ్ళయు
రామ నామ మను వర ఖడ్గ మివి
రాజిల్లు నయ్య త్యాగరాజుని కే
बंटु रीति कॊलुवु ईयवय्य रामा
तुंट विंटि वानि मॊदलैन मदा
दुल गॊट्टि नेल गूल जेयु निज
रोमांच मनु घन कंचुकमु
राम भक्तुडनु मुद्र बिळ्ळयु
राम नाम मनु वर खड्ग मिवि
राजिल्लु नय्य त्यागराजुनि के
baṇṭu rīti koluvu īyavayya rāmā
tuṇṭa viṇṭi vāni modalaina madā
dula goṭṭi nēla gūla jēyu nija
rōmāñca manu ghana kañcukamu
rāma bhaktuḍanu mudra biḷḷayu
rāma nāma manu vara khaḍga mivi
rājillu nayya tyāgarājuni kē
Meaning
Pallavi: Grant me service in the manner of a guard, O Rama.
Anupallavi: True service that strikes down Manmatha, the bearer of the sugarcane bow, and pride and the rest of that band, and fells them to the ground.
Charanam: The thrill of the hair standing on end as a stout coat of armour; ‘I am Rama’s devotee’ as the badge of office; the Name of Rama as the fine sword: may these shine on Tyagaraja.
About this bhajan
Tyagaraja asks for a job. He wants to stand at Rama’s door as a bantu, a palace guard, with a uniform made of bhakti: goosebumps for armour, the badge of a Rama-bhakta, and the Name for a sword. The enemies he will guard against are Kama, pride and their kin, the six inner foes. Hamsanadam was a rarely heard raga until this kriti carried it into every concert hall, and the song is short enough that it is often sung in the brisk middle of a programme. Bhajana groups sing it on Rama Navami with the refrain repeated many times.
Telugu text: te.wikisource.org, ‘బంటు రీతి కొలువు’ (త్యాగరాజు కృతులు, హంసనాదం); checked against karnatik.com c1003