Dasarathi Satakam is a Telugu Bhakti Satakam, a popular form of Telugu poetry

Telugu poetry

Telugu poetry is verse originating in the southern provinces of India, predominantly from modern Andhra Pradesh and some corners of Tamilnadu and Karnataka.- Origins :...

. It was written by Kancharla Gopanna during 17th century. It consists of 104 poems. Dasarathi means son of Dasaratha

Dasaratha

Dasharatha was a king of Ayodhya of the Ikshvaku dynasty whose life story is narrated principally in the Hindu epic Ramayana...

, who is the mythological Hindu king Rama

Rama

Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...

. The makutam for all the poems at the end dASarathee karuNApayOnidhee! (O son of Dasaratha, the ocean of mercy)

Beginning

Sree raGhurAma, cAru tulasee daLa dhAma, Sama kshamAdi SRM

gAra guNABhirAma, trijagannuta Saurya ramAlalAma, du

rvAra kabaMdha rAkshasa virAma, jagajjana kalmaShArNavO

ttAraka nAma, Bhadragiri dASarathee karuNApayOnidhee!

Some examples

kaMTi nadeetaTaMbu, boDagaMTini Bhadra nagAdhi vAsamun,

gaMTi neelA tanUja nurukArmuka mArgaNa SaMKhacakramul,

gaMTini mimmu, lakshmaNuni gaMTi, gRtArthuDanaiti, nO jaga

tkaMTaka daitya nirdaLana, dASarathee karuNApayOnidhee!

caraNamu sOkinaTTi Sila javvani rUpaguTokka viMta, su

sthiramuga neeTipai girulu dElina dokkaTi viMta, gAni, mee

smaraNa danarcu mAnavulu sadgati jeMdina deMta viMta yee

dharanu? dharAtmajA ramaNa, dASarathee karuNA payOnidhee!

Last poem

In the last verse, he describes himself this way: "Allana Linga Mantri Suthudu(son), Atreya Gothrudu, Adi Sakha , Kancherla Kulothbhavudu,
Gopakavindrudu ". His give name was Gopanna . His father was Linganna Mantri (Minister), a surname he kept as a result of one of his forebearers being a minister at the court of a king.

aLLana lingamanTri suTudaTrija GotrajuDadiSaKa Kam

carla kulOdBvum dambrasiDidanai BhavadamkiTambuGa

NeLaKavul NuTimpa raciYinciti gOpakaVinDrudan Jaga

dvaLaBa Neeku dAsudanu dASarathee karuNApayOnidhee!