Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Carnatic composers (other than performing vidwans)
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nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Thyagaraja (umA-bharana , nija marmulanu and the supremacy of the lord rAma)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

umA-bharana and the supremacy of the lord rAma

Only the tyAgarAja exalts the supremacy of lord rAma over the Trinity !

The kriti “nija marmulanu” carries the description of lord rAma as the supreme enactor of the divine play of the Trinity ..

In it, the tyAgarAja says it is lord rAma who is responsible for “aja-gajarakSaka-gajaCarmambara-Adi gauna bhEdamula lilA

Here “aja” is brahmA, “gaja rakSaka” is viSnu and “gaja-CarmAmbara” of course is the elephant skin wearing Siva (from several puranic tales).

This lilA (or play or nAta-ka) is reflected also in (what else !) the nAta rAga classic “jagadAnanda-kAraka” (in the 7th stanza lord rAma is described as “purahara-sarOjabhava-kESava-Adi rupa”)

And in this "world" where rAma is the “jagadAnanda-kAraka”, the prop of the universe, he becomes naturally also the supporter of the goddess herself.

Now it becomes clear why umA-bharana is the rAga for this unique idea of the lord rAma's supremacy.

bharana implies bearing (or borne by etc) = supporting.

The other idea in this kriti is the tyAgarAja lamenting the lord ignoring the pujA and penance of various humble worshippers.

As he says more than once ..

1 nija marmamulanu telisina vArini nIvalayincdE

And

2. Sruti SAstra purANa-vidAdi Sanmatha niSThula nAma parAdula kshiti patula kumatulugA jEsina

Indeed there is a relationship between the word umA and the futility of penance.

Why ?

Because as noted by no less an authority than kAlidAsa , in his kumArasambhava , the word umA itself signifies the prevention of the penance of the goddess , by her own mother.

There is no coincidence or randomness in this rAga choice.

Likewise it is no coincidence that the kriti is a masterpiece (unless coincidence is merely the lords way of staying anonymous)

nija marmulanu – rAga umAbharana

Hyd bros.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xphutmXzJow

MSG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tXN8ZEKZx4

veena M jagannAtha rao
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_FKJJ8yV48

nAdopAsaka
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Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Thyagaraja (The tyAgarAjas ONLY gaula rAga kriti is also his MOST comprehensive penance ….“duduku gala”)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

The tyAgarAjas ONLY gaula rAga kriti is also his MOST comprehensive penance ….“duduku gala”

For the nAda-upAsaka, everything the vAggeyakAra does is relevant.

And naturally, everything the vAggeyakAra does NOT do is also relevant.

Therefore the question arises..

Why does the tyAgarAja Not have more than one kriti in gaula rAga ?

Now the casual rasika ( and also the lazy and the un-imaginative) is likely to say….”some kritis of the tyAgarAja in gaula rAga are lost”.

But this scenario is highly unlikely.

Why ?

Because many kritis of the tyAgarAja in the other “ghana rAgas” and also in the other “gaula-anta rAgas” have been well tended to over the last 200 years.

Indeed, such a well nurtured record makes it hard to insist that any other gaula rAga kriti of the tyAgarAja is lost…there are 66-plus combined kritis in the ghana rAgas and gaula-anta rAgas that have been the essential repertoire of the swara & frequency exercises of generations of “play-back” singers = vidwAns.

Some book-keeping shows that the tyAgarAja gives the nAda-sampradAya a combined 34-odd kritis in the gaula-anta rAgas (namely mAyAmAlava-gaula, kEdAra-gaulA, riti-gaula, nArAyana-gaula , kannada-gaula etc.) , as well as 2 kritis in nAta, 3 kritis in SrirAga, 14 kritis in varAli and 14 kritis in Arabhi (the other 4 ghana rAgas)…

Which brings us again to the question of what the vAggeyakAra has done or in this case… not done.

Why should this particular rAga gaula, a ghana rAga no less, have only one composition by the tyAgarAja ?

Unerringly, once again, the answer comes from the meaning of the rAga word and also from examining the kriti itself !

The answer has both necessary and sufficient aspects.

Together they silence self-styled, ignorant “historians” running amok with their distortions in the last several years, without any understanding why these kritis even exist.

The kritis are the result of nAda-upAsana. They are an individuals pujA.

First, the necessary portion of the answer.

The word “gaula” is an emblem of “purification” and purity

Traditionally the word “gaula” is used as a synonym for the pure or purified deity.

For example, the Dikshitar fittingly addresses the tiruvArUr nilOtpalAmbA with all the “gaula-anta” name rAgas.

And in the gaula rAga portion of the majestic “Sri viSwanAtham” rAgamAlika, the Dikshitar uses “gaula” in particular to describe the ash-smeared Siva, the lord of sacrifice where the ash also represents this purification. The Dikshitar says..

govindAdi-vinuta-gaulAngam
kSIra-kunda-indu-karpurAdi-vijaya-bhasita-uddhULita-gaulAngam

There can be no doubt..gaula is emblematic of purification, it is the purificatory rAga.

And now for the sufficient portion of the answer.

“duduku gala” is the single most extensive description of the tyAgarAjas penance

As one of the few 10 STANZA kritis of the tyAgarAja , “duduku gala” stands out.

Indeed it is actually “EntO duduku gala” when the pallavi wraps-around..emphasizing the multitude of his sins.

Whereas the tyAgarAja repeatedly professes some of his failings in other shorter kritis, (for e.g. the bilahari “tOli janmamu duduku”) etc. it is ONLY in “duduku gala” that the most detailed enumeration of his faults is given.

In one stroke, the tyAgarAja atones in this one kriti, for the entirety of his comprehensive sin.

Appropriately, he uses the “purificatory” gaula rAga.

And therein lies the answer to why there is only one kriti by the tyAgarAja in the rAga gaula.

Once completed, as the vehicle for his most-comprehensive atonement, the rAga has served its purpose and is no longer required by the redeemed tyAgarAja.

The nAda-upAsaka rejoices in the gifts of the vAggeyakAras.

duduku gala - gaula rAga

rAdhA-jayalakSmi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m55WmY9-xbM

MSS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5o-1LBaHsA

DKJ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJjw11Qs7mM

nAdopAsaka
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Re: (“Sata-rAga ratna mAlikA” – “ata-san-mArgam yOgivara” = the “hundreds of rAgas” musical path of the tyAgarAjas pujA)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

“Sata-rAga ratna mAlikA” – “ata-san-mArgam yOgivara” = the “hundreds of rAgas” musical path of the tyAgarAjas pujA

Post # 508 of this thread has shown how the idea of “mArga = path” is inextricably associated with the word “riti” of riti-gaula in the tyAgarAjas famous question on paths.. “dwaitamu sukhamA..advaitamu sukhamA ??”

Similarly post # 545 shows that in “bAlE bAlEndu bhuSani”, the dEvi as “riti-gaula” herself illuminates the yOgi’s “mArga = path”.

Therefore it is no coincidence that the idea of a “mArga = path = riti = way” is also at the center of yet another terrific kriti of the tyAgarAja in rAga riti-gaula.

Why ?

Because in the widely heard ritigaula kriti “rAga ratna mAlikA CE”, the unambiguous statement appears in the anu-pallavi..

"yOgi-varulu Ananda-mundEdu san-mArgam ata"

The pallavi and anu-pallavi summarize as

“The pujA with hundreds of rAgas is the only path of bliss for the nAdayOgi”

The Sata-rAga garland

It is not often considered but “rAga ratna mAlikA” refers to a garland of hundred rAgas, since the pallavi and also the Caranam, both end with the word Sata = 100…which then wraps-around.

As the tyAgarAja sings in the pallavi..

"rAga ratna mAlikA cE ranjillu nata hari Sata – rAga ratna mAlikACE"

And in the CaraNam

"tyAgarAju kadatEra tArakamaNi CEsina Sata – rAga ratna mAlikA CE"

The reference to the number Sata = 100 is noteworthy.

Why ?

Because the textbooks indicate that the tyAgarAja has kritis in approximately 220-230 rAgas.

The use of Sata = hundred = 100 is therefore highly appropriate, as a generic count of the tyAgarAjas output…( notice that the tyAgarAja didn’t say tens/daSa of rAgas or thousands/sahasra of rAgas )

The essence of the kriti is that the lifetime output of the tyAgarAjas musical pujA, is the only “mArga = path = riti = way” to enlightenment.

It is UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE to think the use of riti-gaula as the rAga is merely a coincidence.

brief asurA moment
And once again, all the generations of foolish-SiSyas and vicious-SiSyas and sundry notation-mongers are put on notice….in the nAda-sampradAya the only purpose of “rAga” is for pujA …… ..rAga is a tool for worship, (not the caricature it has instead become in the cult-of-the-performer kutChEris with their grotesque worship of the tools)

“rAga ratna mAlikA” is a fine example also of the dwitiya-akSara = “second syllable” rhyming..

And the tyAgarAja uses it to throw a crumb to the swara practitioners !

Why ?

Because the “ga” syllable of the dwitiya-akSara indicates awareness of the special nature of the ga (the gAndhAra) of ritigaula.

Indeed, the word Sata HAS to be introduced ONLY at the end of the line.

Why ?

Because otherwise the ga of rA-ga (or tyA-ga or bA-ga or nai-ga etc. etc. etc.) will not be the desired dwitiya-akSara = second syllable.

Of course the word Sata = hundred is needed to reinforce the lifetime output i.e. the entirety of the musical worship of the tyAgarAja.

The kriti is reproduced here . with red for dwitiya-akSara and blue for anta-akSara.

rA-ga ratna mAlikA CE , ranjillu nata hari Sata
bA-ga sEvinci sakala bhAgyamandudamu rA-rE (Sata)
nai-ga-ma SadAstra purANAgamamArtha sahitam-ata
yO-gi-varulu Anandamu nondEdu sanmArgam aTa
bhA-ga vatOttamulu gudi pAdE kIrtanamul-aTa
tyA-ga-rAju kadatEra tArakamaNi cEsina Sata

The powerful symmetry of the additional ending-syllable matching , shows that the anu-pallavi should also be properly “rArE Sata” instead of just “rA-rE”, as given incompletely and incorrectly in many textbooks.

(Sata) rAga ratna mAlikA CE – rAga ritigaula

ambikApuram S
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pWA_Sa-mhI

KVN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37XQfbxr1Nw

manda sudhArAni
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsRgibFQCys

nAdopAsaka
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Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Thyagaraja (nEnendu vEtAkudurA – the play of the tyAgarAjas fate = nAtaka bhAgya )

Post by nAdopAsaka »

nEnendu vEtAkudurA – the play of the tyAgarAjas fate = nAtaka bhAgya

The last 50 odd posts on this thread indisputably show that the tyAgarAja (like the Dikshitar), is using the rAga word name to influence and drive his choice of rAga.

The rAga word meaning is integrated into the rest of the words and ideas and theme when constructing the kriti.

And so we have, the paths of the “riti”-gaulAs, the sun of the tOdis, the kEsari for the “lion-rider”, the anurAga of the anuStubha dEvi = saraswati, the flowers of the vakulAbharana, the rAma-nAma sAram of the rAma-kriyA sAramEgAni , the tree-of-paradise of the mandAri etc. etc. etc. etc. and the other 70 odd kritis described in above posts.

To this lengthening list, another example is now added.

Indeed, in this particular case the connection between the rAga word and the kriti/idea confirms the rAga intended.

Previously, post # 497 showed how this same approach properly identifies the rAga lalitA for “sitamma mAyamma” (instead of rAga vasanta).

The rAga word-names bEhAg, sindhu-bhairavi, bhairavi and karnAtaka bEhAg

bEhAg and sindhu-bhairavi share the feature that neither the tyAgarAja, nor the Dikshitar or SyAmA SAStri have any kritis in these so-called dESya rAgas. ( Of course, this deficiency is more than made up by the mahArAja who is king of both bEhAg and sindhu-bhairavi with multiple kritis and padams in multiple languages).

For the former three composers, it cannot be unawareness of the words "bEhAg" or "sindhu" themselves.

Why ?

Because they have of course many kritis in bhairavi , and there are kritis in sindhu-rAmakriya (for example the tyAgarAjas evergreen “sudhA madhurya bhASini” or the Dikshitars “sadASivEna” ).

And there is also one solitary kriti in karnAtaka bEhAg.

Which brings us to the tyAgarAja kriti that is the subject of this post, namely “nEnendu vetAkudurA”.

Background

In the 1950’s compendium of the tyAgarAjas kritis, "The Spiritual Heritage of the tyAgarAja", collected over many decades by C. rAmAnujaCAri , Sri V. rAghavan admits to doubt about the rAga of this kriti (see page 12 of that text).

And then he incorrectly assigns it to rAga hari-kAmbOji !

Even Sri rAghAvan (for all his studies) was unable to see the connection between the kriti language and the choice of rAga, which is the true prism with which to fractionate the white-hot-light of the tyAgarAjas inspiration into its many radiant colors.

And Sri rAghAvan (and all his so-called "scholarly" students) missed ALL the connections between the Sri vidyA and the Dikshitar now being revealed on the Mutthuswamy Dikshitar thread.

“nEnendu vetAkudurA” – rAga karnAtaka bEhAg

Even a casual inspection of the short kriti “nEnendu vetAkudurA” reveals the intent of the tyAgarAja.

And it will now be shown how this intent translates to the rAga choice.

The organized crime families of the vAggeyakAras

The deceitful families of the vAggeyakAras tried to break the vows of the sAdhus born by happenstance into their midst.

The glaring example of the SSP and the Dikshitar is now on full display in the Mutthuswamy Dikshitar thread.

“nEnendu vetAkudurA” is considered to have been composed in the period when the tyAgarAja was looking for his pujA-idols, thrown into a river by his own brother.

As he searches for these physical and meta-physical idols, the true sAdhu blames HIMSELF for his distress !, although his agony is caused by his own criminal family !!

Indeed his statement “bhaktAgrEsara vESa”, ( = the fake-garb of a foremost zealot) , is the kind of taunt leveled at him by his family for not “monetizing” his kritis.

A similar organized “syndicate” trying to manipulate the Dikshitars legacy has been thoroughly exposed on the Mutthuswamy Dikshitar thread.

The other references to “duS-karma” and “dur-bhASya” in “nEnendu vetAkudurA” are easily also seen as references to this ORGANIZED CRIME family, even though the tyAgarAja assumes responsibility (like a true sAdhu).

AnAlgu mOmulavAni mora nAlakinca rAni

If even brahmA, the one with four faces and therefore four-fold the cries is ignored, what chance does the single-faced tyAgarAja have of finding his idol ?!

It is this bemoaning of his own fate and the uselessness of his search that is captured in the short kriti AND ALSO in the choice of rAga.

As the “play” of his own fate, this “nAtaka” of his “bhAgya”, the tyAgarAja picks the most natural vehicle , the rAga kar-nAtaka bEhAg for his kriti.

The word “bEhAg” is easily seen as derived from “bhAg”, ones “lot” or portion as well as “bhAgya”, ones fate.

And “nAtaka” is of course the play.

There is nothing random or vague or mysterious about the rAga choices of the sAdhus, when their kritis are seen as pujA.

Their sAdhana and dhyAna demands a constant clear focus and meditation.

Of course the vAggeyakAras are poets too but their pujA offerings are carefully chosen and measured, however swiftly and seamlessly the internal connections are made.

The poet W. B. Yeats captures it well..when he says in “Adam’s Curse”

‘A line will take us hours maybe;
Yet if it does not seem a moment’s thought,
Our stitching and unstitching has been naught”

No…the rAga choice and the pujA of the sAdhus has been made “random or vague or mysterious” only by generations of illiterate paramparAs hiding behind swara technicalities and notations, with zero respect and understanding of the vAggeyakAras words and ideas.

But the nAda-sampradAya cannot be denied, just like the tyAgarAjas own destiny cannot be denied.

Two centuries later, all nAda-upAsakas are enriched forever by the wondrous gifts of the vAggeyakAras.

nEnendu vEtAkudurA - rAga karnAtaka bEhAg

Hyd Bros.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHaBgb8WQzo

MSS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DueKuyFQcE

veena doraiswamy I.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR4thh3F8z4

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Thyagaraja (“grahabalam” versus “Sri rAma anu-grahabalam” & the rEva-guptis “secret”)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

“grahabalam” versus “Sri rAma anu-grahabalam” & the rEva-guptis “secret”

The kritis of the vAggeyakAras are not just clever arrangements of permutations of swara-frequency groups of this or that rAga for mere collateral amusement at a kutChEri.

An ignorant (and corrupt) music establishment has sought to deny, dilute and deface the essential aspect of the sAdhus pujA, in preference for the vain gymnastic exercises of air-pressure variation conducted in grotesque sabhAs.

Each kriti is constructed with a deeper sense of purpose and an idea of pujA.

The words of the kritis reflect these ideas and are hugely influenced also by the very meaning of the rAga word.

In this post yet another widely known kriti of the tyAgarAja is shown to illustrate exactly this worship and focus.

Two rEva-guptis – two deities , two births, two sAdhus and two secrets

The Dikshitars rEva-gupti "Saravana bhava guruguham"

rEva-gupti (the word) is correctly interpreted by the Dikshitar as the “one hidden by the bamboo” = "Saravana-bhava" in the dhyAna kriti of the tiruttani guruguha navAvarana as revealed in post # 723 and post # 724 of the Mutthuswamy Dikshitar thread.

And in its beginning with the SadAkSara mantra, the six lettered invocation to skanda is the proper and auspicious way to herald the majestic tiruttani guruguha navAvarana !

The meaning derives from rEva-ta = bamboo = Sara and of course gupta = hidden/secret.

Clearly the reference is to the birth of the skanda, found hidden in the reeds/grasses ( = rEva-gupta) along the river by the goddesses of the krittikA constellation.

It will be now be shown that the tyAgarAjas sole rEvagupti kriti also carries aspects of both birth and the stars/grahas !

daSarathas need for a son , the putrakAmESti yagna and the pAyasam given to kauSalyA

The rAmAyana has already been shown to be central to the thinking of the tyAgarAja (see for example post # 494 for how the wondrous mOhana kriti “nannu pAlimpa” reflects this )

The rAmAyana begins in the bAla-kAnda with the inability of the “star-chosen” wives of daSaratha (with their “immaculate” horoscopes) to give him a male heir.

As the legend goes, a putrakAma yagna was needed and only then the supreme lord viSnu infiltrates the wives secretly via pAyasam fed to them giving rise to the birth of rAma, lakSmana, bharata and Satrughana.

What a wonderful way to bring the lord and his anugraha to a needy planet.

The tyagarAja needs only 5 words to summarize these many ideas..

grahabalam Emi ? Sri rAma-anugraha balamE balam !

And the rAga rEva-gupti reflects this “gupta” = secret and finds its expression in this kriti.

The horoscopically chosen wives failed to give daSaratha a male heir.

It is only the pujA of the lord which summons him as the secret (gupta) pAyasam, germinating as the rAma avatAra.

An interesting play on numbers is also shown by the sAdhu/poet.

navagraha pidala panCa pApa mula anA graha mulu gala kAmAdi

the nine malefic effects of the planets/grahas (nava-graha pida)

the five great sins (panCa mahA pApa)

and

the six lusts (ana-Agraha) such as kAmA , krOdha etc..– “ana” is the root also of the Anna, the sixteenth part of the old rupee

and even with all the above details, the tyAgarAja also introduces a fine play on the word “graha” using the words in the short kriti !

graha, anugraha, vigraha, Agraha and nigraha

The nAda-upAsaka revels in the magical gifts of the vAggeyakAras.

grahabala Emi – rAga rEvagupti

Only a villain can really hurt this rAga or this kriti !

The artistes and providers are thanked for the fine renditions available..

alamElu mani
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwSsknmTR7Y

MSS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oPQmo-AZ9Q

priya sisters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1MURS01vNM

dikshita V
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P05gSin02fY

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Thyagaraja (The wonderland of rAga kApi through the looking glass of the tyAgarAja – kapi/kapa-ta/kappal/kappu)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

The wonderland of rAga kApi through the looking glass of the tyAgarAja – kapi/ka-pa-ta/kappal/kappu

The tyAgarAjas more-than-a-dozen kApi rAga kritis ALL have a relationship to the interpretation of the word “kApi” and its phonetic relation “kapi”.

Exhibit A - vira hanumatE – No less an authority than the Dikshitar links the word kApi to “kapi”, the word meaning “ape” in his hanumAn/AnjanEya kriti in karnAtaka kApi (see post # 589 of the Mutthuswamy Dikshitar thread)

But the tyAgarAja’s prism fractionates the entire spectrum of meanings of the word kApi , not just the word meaning “ape”..

And each meaning is also revealed in specific words of the kriti. These words are given in red below.

All meanings taken from “the spiritual heritage of tyAgarAja” the classic text by C.rAmanujaCari/v. rAghavan

Exhibits B through N

kApi from kapi = the ape devotee - hanumAn

1. atadE dhanyudurA

“satatam yAna-suta dhrtamaina” – where yAna suta is hanumAn

2. inta saukhyamani nE

Only ascetics recognize the essence of lord rAma

dAnta = ascetic = bhikSu = AnjanEya

Why ?

Because in the rAmAyana, AnjanEya approaches rAma and lakSmana as an ascetic

The kiSkindha kanda Chapter 3 stanza 4.3.2 says

kapi rUpam parityajya hanumAn mArutAtmaja”
“bhikSu rUpam tato bhEjE SathabuddhitayA kapi
h”

Which translates as

Casting off his monkey appearance , the wind-god's son hanumAn attained the persona of an ascetic, for that monkey is infatuated about rAghava

And that infatuation/devotion to rAma is the exact essence of “inta saukhyamani”

3. sundara daSaratha nandana

The tyAgarAja pointedly says "sugunudu anila tanayu," anila tanaya = hanuman

as well as references other apes = gavaya, gavAkSula

kApi from ka-pa-ta – perverseness = actions counter to good

Note that the epics are also known as “kapata nAtaka”, stories of treachery, scheming, “dice”, connivance and conspiracy - all of these are seen in the next 4 kritis !!

4. anyAyamu sEyakUrA

This is the lords perverse attitude (kApatyam) to the tyAgarAja when tormented by his own family.

Now here is yet another example of the sAdhu persecuted by his organized crime family…

He is begging for relief from the anyAyam he is being subjected to by his own brothers.

…wretched SSP and all fraudulent Dikshitar phonies/criminals take note !!

5. ennAlu nitrOva

bhuvilO bommA Atta – puppetry

“puppetry” is of course the essence of kapatyam,

6. nitya rupa evari

evari pAndityamu naduCurA

who is it that dares to stand in the righteous path, which scholar/pandit can use his pAndityam/scholarship to reverse/counter the lords will..

It can be said also...the modern usage of rAga darbAr sometimes for this kriti is misguided and does not stand up to scrutiny.

7. mivalla guna dOSa

One of the more graphic descriptions of “perverse” ways, dOSa or faults

The tyAgarAja says all faults, all perversions are his alone ! the lord is blemishless..

8. pAhi mAm Sri rAmaCandra

akkaratO pAdamulaku mrokkiti Ela parAku

Here again it is the lords perverseness.

The tyAgarAja (gently) accuses the lords ignoring him, considering it counter = kapata to his own well-being

kApi from kappal = boat

9. jutAmu rArE

The nauka Caritramu boat is defined as “puruhutula OdalO”, Oda is boat in the vernacular

10. pAhi parama dayAlO

The lords boat = vessel is the kalaSar-nava

floating in the ocean of milk – the kalaSa is a pitcher

kApi from kappu as “cover”, the benevolent umbrella as in Sarana = Saranagata

11. rAma pAhi mEgha SyAma

There is no better word for umbrella as a cloud, especially , the dark rain bearing cloud of Hindu imagination and scripture = mEgha

The appearance of the word in the first breath of this kriti signals the meaning of “kappu”, or cover.

12. rAma raghukula jalanidhi sOma

Sarana = shelter is a close relative of “umbrella” = kappu

The tyAgarAja gives this meaning of kApi = kappu as the word “SaranAgata

13. pAhi kalyAnarAma

“nA muddu vESamu” where vESa is dress/apparel used as “cover” = kappu

Summary

Only the lazy, ignorant, unimaginative and ultimately supremely corrupt can suggest that all these are coincidences.

The relationships found are real and true.

No one, (not even the nAda-upAsaka) has the imagination to make this up.

The motivations of the vAggeyakAras are well beyond the mere swara arrangements that kutChEri vidwans have reduced them to.

Understanding the choices they make, reflected in the words they use are key to nAda-upAsana.

The great tide of the nAda-sampradAya rolls on.

Sruti asserts itself.

satyam Eva jayatE,

Each kriti is well rendered in examples. Many thanks to artistes and providers.

kApi from kapi = the ape devotee - hanumAn

1. atadE dhanyudurA

s jayarAman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyvPyzcsaGc

2. inta saukhyamani nE

bombay jayaShree
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajcPhAbeZZw

3. sundara daSaratha nandana

amrita m
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkXzRgcbhp4

kApi from ka-pa-ta - perverseness

4. anyAyamu sEyakUrA

srirangam G
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb1tPgDJ-2A

5. ennAlu nitrOva

unknown
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-tBqGsBql4

6. nitya rupa evari

mukta
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBxJI2c1fSo

7. mivalla guna dOSa

MSS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1LZ80ZsEKg

8. pAhi mAm Sri rAmaCandra

viSnupriya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flFpeaWYWFo

kApi from kappal = boat

9. jutAmu rArE

amrita m
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmr6K3ujKIE

10. pAhi parama dayAlO

mallAdi bros.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2r9XYO4wKI

kappu - as “cover” – Sarana , SaranAgata

11. rAma pAhi mEgha SyAma

abhilAS v
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzXOP9oM_lE

12. rAma raghukula jalanidhi sOma SaranAgata

OST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elngKDm_kmA

veena gAyatri
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXl-R9fmhU0

13. pAhi kalyAnarAma

KBMK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faL0eTTWqPk

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis) ("Cinna nAdE nA CEyi pattitivE" - The hand-holding deity in the Ocean of existence )

Post by nAdopAsaka »

"Cinna nAdE nA CEyi pattitivE" - The hand-holding deity in the Ocean of existence aka “suguna vAri-nidhi” of the kalA-nidhi

The tyAgarAjas grasp of the kharaharapriya scale is seen not just in the main mEla # 22 rAga but especially in its so-called janyas.

The rAga kalAnidhi is one such.

In “Cinna nAdE nA, CEyi pattitivE” it takes the tyAgarAja only about 20 words to establish the (janya) rAga fully and firmly.

And when 3 out of the 20 words are “suguna-vAri-nidhi” one begins to realize the extent of the influence of the rAga name = kalA-nidhi on the kriti !

In fact the hand-holding image of “CEyi pattitivE” is EXACTLY aligned with the almost drowning upAsaka clinging to a life-line as he crosses the ocean (nidhi) of existence from "Cinna nAdE" = early childhood to final mOkSa.

Cinna nAdE nA – rAga kalAnidhi

R kauSik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob_3nSx711M

D rAdhikA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il6muyRuq3c

ramani flute
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyxXUw9CLJc

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Thyagaraja (“samsArulaitE nEmayya” – the tyAgarAjas rejection of family and the dawn of vairAgyam )

Post by nAdopAsaka »

“samsArulaitE nEmayya” – the tyAgarAjas rejection of family and the dawn of vairAgyam – Why this kriti is in rAga sAvEri and not SrirAga

The kriti “samsArulaitE nEmayya” is yet another example of the REJECTION by the tyAgarAja of his own family , in the search for his musical mokSa.

All the nAda-yOgis discard the trappings of the world.

And there is no stronger trapping than their own family !

The torment by family as well as rejection of these families is seen for both the tyAgarAja and the Dikshitar.

In the tyAgarAjas case, many of his kritis document his own brother/family desperate to monetize (= make money off) the sAdhus kritis.

And the scoundrel Dikshitar family/SSP tried to sell out the nAdayOgis legacy by falsifying kritis to appease corrupt zamindars of Ettayapuram…even attempting to change kSEtra and words ! (for e.g. the mEgharanjini to the yAdava-bhupati and the Suddha dhanyAsi (subrahmanyEna) to the pazhamudirColai (Arupadai skanda) sthala on the azhagar hill !! …

All for a few shawls and coins.

And then trying to cover-up the monstrous crime by hiding behind so-called notation and swara-gyAna…..this horrific and shameless conspiracy is now fully exposed on the Mutthuswamy Dikshitar thread.

Back to the kriti “samsArulaitE”

That the tyAgarAja is able to present in each of the Caranams of this kriti choices for the nAda-yOgi/sAdhu in preference to family ties = samsArikas, shows the extent of his torment and his motivation on this matter.

But the kriti “samsArulaitE” has two other highly interesting features.

1. A “nested” dwitiya-akSara structure (the so-called second syllable matching/rhythm)

It will be seen that the dwitiya-akSara is applied not just to the start of every line but also to the second part of each line within each Caranam!!

To illustrate this unique internal or nested rhythm, the entire kriti is reproduced here

In red are the standard dwitiya-akSara positions.

And in blue are the nested dwitiya-akSara built into the second parts of the Caranams.

Pallavi saM-sA-rulaitE nEmayya Sikhi piJ-chA-vataMsudEdutanundaga
Anupallavi hiM-sA-dulella rOsi haM-sA-dula gUdi prazaM-sA jEyuCunE proddu kaM-sA-rini nammuvAru

C1 jnA-na-vairAgyamulu-------hI-na-mainatti bhava
kA-na-namuna tirugu-------mA-na-vulu sadA
dhyA-na-yOga yutulai-------nI-nA-mamu palkuCu
nA-nA-karma phalamu-------dA-na-mu sEyuvAru

C2 krU-ra-pu yOCanalu-------dU-ru-jEsi tana
dA-ra-putrula-------pa-ri-CArakula jEsi
sA-ra-rUpuni pAda-------sA-ra-sa yugamula
sA-re-sAreku mana-------sA-ra-pujiJCuvAru

C3 bhA-ga-vatula gU--------di-bhO-ga-mulella
harikE-gA-vimpucunu--------viNa-gA-namulatO
A-ga-ma Caruni --------kI-rA-ga-muna paduCu
tyA-ga-rAja nutuni-------bAgu-ga nammuvAru

(in Car. 3 the rule is not followed strictly in the second pattern)

2. And now to the other interesting feature of this kriti – Correcting a 200 year error

The kriti is sung in rAga sAvEri but all the texts (foolishly) carry the line "Agama Caruni SrirAga-muna pAduCu"

Which suggests pointedly that the rAga for the kriti is SrirAga (i.e. rAga Sri !)

Is it possible that the tyAgarAja could use the construct “SrirAga muna pAduCu” and NOT have the kriti in rAga Sri ?

IMPOSSIBLE !!

On the other hand it is entirely reasonable for the line to have been

“Agama Caruni-ki rAgamuna pAduCu”

Here the offering of rAga is made for the Agama-Cara = hari, i.e. the hari who dwells (Caruni) in the Agamas.

“Agama Caruni-ki” replaces “Agama Caruni-Sri” and does not bring up any confusion with the choice of SrirAga !

Also, phonetically it is easy to see how the sound “-ki” has been mistaken for “-Sri”.

Generations of fools have been mouthing the words SrirAga (while singing in rAga sAvEri) without understanding what it is they are saying or bothering to comprehend what the nAda-yOgi/vAggeyakAras intend.

The usage “Agama Caruni-ki” is similar to the grammar in the usage in the madhyamAvati kriti “vinAyakuni valEnu” to the kAmAkSi dEvi where the tyAgarAja says “girAlu mukuni-ki rAjESi” ...(where the dumb receive the gift of speech in kAnCi)

Or similar to “tyAgarAjuni-ki ninnu vinA vErevvarE gati”– suraTi and several other such examples.

“Agama Caruni-ki” , “mukuni-ki” and tyAgarAjuni-ki” all use the construct “-ki” with the meaning “for” as in “for the subject” of the offering either “hari” or the dumb = muku or tyAgarAja.

And of course the tyAgarAja offers “rAga” directly as pujA-offering in many kritis e.g. “vara-rAga laya” – sEnju kAmbOji or “bhAva rAga layAdi saukhyamuCe” in Endaro – SrirAga.

So a 200 year (transliteration/typographical) error stands corrected when “Agama-Caruni-ki” replaces “Agama-Caruni-Sri”.

But a separate explanation for the choice of rAga sAvEri is also possible.

In rejecting the first and most powerful of the worlds trappings (the family), the tyagarAja ushers in the dawn of a new day of enlightenment.

It is this dawn of vairAgyam which is properly sAvEri , the iconic dawn/morning rAga !

Indeed, the word-meaning of sAvEri is also found in the image of the last Carana.

Why ?

Because sAvEri derives from sAvitri (of savitur, the sun-god) and sAvitri is also a symbol of saraswati.

And it is saraswati the vinA-playing goddess who serenades hari in the scripture.

The tyAgarAja says so himself as he ends the kriti…

harikE-gA-vimpucunu-viNa-gAna-mulatO
Agama Caruni-kI-rAga-muna paduCu
tyA-ga-rAja nutuni-bAgu-ga nammuvAru

And once again the vAggeyakAras message-in-a-bottle cast into the river of truth 200 years ago has come home to a grateful nAda-upAsaka.

samsArulaitE nEmayya” - rAga sAvEri

t jayarAman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydRqM0NXrYg

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Thyagaraja (dharma and karma - The tyAgarAjas two “E- tAvu-una” kritis, one each to rAma and gOvinda)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

dharma and karma - The tyAgarAjas two “E- tAvu-una” kritis - Why rAga yadukula kAmbOji for “EtAvuna nErCitivO” to rAma & Why rAga kalyAni for “EtAvuna rA nilakadu” to gOvinda

Before he achieves his deserved darSana, the tyAgarAja pursues the lord with complete dedication, traveling the musical landscape like his mentor, the minstrel nArada.

What abode are you in = EtAvuna

The search is exemplified in the two “E-tAvu-una” kritis, where the tyAgarAja opens with the age-old question to the lord “what (=E) abode (=tAvu) are you in (=una) ”.

200 years before Twitter, he asks (and answers) this profound transcendent question in less than 25 words per kriti !!

Additionally, to all nAda-upAsakas, it is of considerable interest that he poses it to 2 different avatAras of viSnu.

“EtAvuna nErCitivO” for rAma in rAga yadukula kAmbOji

The tyAgarAja offers several kritis to rAma in the rAga yadukula kAmbOji (hECarikagA rAmA, pAhi rAmaCandra raghava, SrirAma jayarAma, dayasEyavayya sadaya rAmaCandra, ni dayacE rAma etc. etc.)

So why is the choice of rAga yadukula kAmbOji for the “EtAvuna nErCitivO” (the abode-search question) kriti especially meaningful.

The choice derives from the unique nature of the question !

The question of “what abode is rAmas” is a clone of the related questions, “what is rAma”, “what is rAmas essence”.

Knowing the latter, implies the former.

And now it becomes possible to glimpse the nAdayOgis reasoning for choosing the rAga yadukula kAmbOji for “EtAvuna nErCitivO”

Why ?

Because the essence of rAma is dharma, the upholding of the code of morality in actions (karma).

And karma (action) and its choices and consequences is the core message of ….what else…..the sacred Bhagavad gitA, uttered by……who else, that other avatAra,…the yadukula krSnA !

Indeed it is the tyAgarAjas imagination and choice which illuminates the magnificent intersection of the two great epics of Hindu scripture.

In the nexus of dharma and karma, in the commonality of the rAmAyana and the mahAbhArata/bhagavad gitA), lies the answer to the abode of rAma !

rAma is the ancient Hindu idea of the morality of action, the dharma of karma. (see for e.g. the dharma-vati choice for the Dikshitars rAmaCandrasya dAsOham kriti)

And he resides in all those who act according to this dharma.

Yes…the dharma yOgi is the abode of rAma.

“EtAvuna rA” for gOvinda in rAga kalyAni

At the outset it should be noted that the name gOvinda is typically used for the krSnA avatAra (although it can be applied also to the overarching viSnu , same as murAri).

The nexus of krSna/gOvinda and lalitA

A thread on the ardhanariSwara is ongoing in the General Discussions.

In that thread it is noted that the deity “Srividya-rAjagOpAla” is worshipped by the Dikshitar as a form of ardhanAri , uniting rAjagOpAla with lalitA at mannArgudi.

This post is NOT suggesting that the gOvinda of “EtAvunarA nilakadu” is an ardhanAri.

But the intriguing aspect of this kriti is that as an immediate response to the question, the tyAgarAja asks if gOvinda is to be found in the female forms of the lalitA dEvi namely sitA (lakSmi), gauri (pArvati) and vAgiSwari (saraswati)

As he says

sItA gauri vAgISvari yanu
SrI rUpamulandA gOvindA ?

Although the tyAgarAja later in the kriti also seeks gOvinda in the panCa bhUta (the five elements) as well as in Siva and mAdhava and brahmA, it cannot be debated that the rAga used has a name itself taken from the lalitA sahasranAma= kalyAni !

Indeed, of the avatAras of viSnu, only krSnA sometimes takes on a female form (nArivEsa dhara ) to sport with the gOpis in vrndAvana.

And krSna also wears the nose-ring (the nAsAmani) iconic of goddesses.

And the tyAgarAja answers this question for the search for gOvinda also with a reference to the karma of the bhagavad-gitA.

How ?

Because he says

“SrI-karudaku tyAgarAja karArCita”

For he who does good, and acts good, (Sri-karu-da-ku) he is worthy of tyAgarAjas Ceta-pujA, the hand worship = karArCita, = worship with your actions and karmas.

the karma-yOgi is the abode of gOvinda.

Again and again, the nAda-upAsaka rejoices in the gift of the vAggeyakAras.

“EtAvuna nErCitivO” - rAga yadukula kAmbOji

MDR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cad9ZBiPuT8

veena bAlaCandar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wk0kGedR9g

sandhyavandanam s rao
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgX0bpOV--8

GNB
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oil1_3yINgw

“EtAvuna rA nilakadu” – rAga kalyAni

gAyatri veena
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6UmQAedZSk

flute jayaprada
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7sCT4HWnKk

DKP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNpVzBFyp_c

arasi
Posts: 16774
Joined: 22 Jun 2006, 09:30

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by arasi »

Wow!

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Thyagaraja (why the “darSana” kriti "haridAsulu vedalE" is in rAga “yamunA kalyAni “ )

Post by nAdopAsaka »

why the “darSana” kriti "haridAsulu vedalE" is in rAga “yamunA kalyAni “

The rAga “yamunA kalyAni” seems tailor-made for a kriti that invokes “hari gOvinda” of vrndAvana.

But the kriti “haridAsulu vedalE” being a vision or darSana kriti has a far deeper connection to “yamunA”

Why ?

Because surya = the sun is all-seeing (rig vEda 1.50.2/3 “sUrAya viSva-CakSase” , “adrSram asya kEtavo vi raSmayO janAm anu” )

And the “yamunA” being the daughter that issues from this all-seeing surya, is also considered “witness” to life.

Is it any wonder that the tyAgarAja picks the rAga “yamunA kalyAni” , as his own witness of the lord, for the ethereal “darSana” kriti “haridAsulu vedalE” !

Although it appears at first that the tyAgarAja is describing haridAsAs , dancing in complete rapture, it is really the dance of the nAdayOgis spirit that is invoking the darSana.

The interesting phrase “ san-ga-ti-gAnu mRdan-ga-gh-OshamulacE”, appears in the first Carana.

And the tyAgarAja produces 5 variations of the dwitiya akSara – in addition applying them TWICE in each line of the anupallavi and each of the 5 Caranams as shown in blue below.

ha-ri-dAsulu vedalE muccatakani, AnandamAye dayAlO
anupallavi
ha-ri-gOvinda na-ra-hari rAma kRSnAyani,
va-ru-saga nAmamu ka-ru-NatO jEyucu
caraNam 1
san-ga-ti-gAnu mRdan-ga-gh-OshamulacE
pon-gu-cu vIdhula kE-gu-cu-merayucu
caraNam 2
ca-kk-ani hariCE ci-kk-itimani madi
so-kk-ucu nAmamE di-kk-ani pogaducu
caraNam 3
di-tt-amuga naDu ka-tt-utOnadugulu
pe-tt-ucu tALamu pa-tti-galgallanaga
caraNam 4
jnA-na-mutO rAma dhyA-na-mutO manci
gA-na-mutO mEnu dA-na-mosangucu
caraNam 5
rA-ja-rAjunipai jA-ju-lu CalluCu
rA-ji-lluCu tyAgarA-ju-nitO kUDi

If “yamunA kalyAni” in the “jambupatE” of the Dikshitar is “nijAnanda amrta”, then “yamunA kalyAni” in the dance of the tyAgarAja is “AnandamAye dayA” , the complete bliss.

Even an iota of this bliss, is enough for the nAda-upAsaka.

The yesteryear duo rAdhA-jayalakSmi brings out the ancient ethereal melody crystallized by the tyAgarAjas vision

haridAsulu vedalE – rAga yamunA kalyAni

rAdhA-jayalakSmi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-j4zKEttIA

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re:Tyagaraja (ISa pAhimAm–Why the tyAgarAjas Sritapastirtha (lAlgudi) kSEtra kalyAni kriti has all 5 panCa-bhuta mudras)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

ISa pAhimAm – Why the tyAgarAjas Sritapastirtha (lAlgudi) kSEtra kalyAni rAga kriti has all 5 of the panCa-bhuta mudras

The tyAgarAja’s so-called lAlgudi panCa-ratna set of 5 kritis is well known.

But long, long before it was lAlgudi, the ancient kSEtra was Sri-tapas-tirtha, where the goddess Sri-mati, reaches her own holy destination in her own Siva, after her own tapas and pilgrimage ..tirtha-yAtra.

It is of some interest that only the tyAgarAja (i.e. neither the Dikshitar nor SyAmA SAStri) has worshipped at this Siva sthala kSEtra with his musical offering.

At Sri-tapas-tirtha kSEtra, the male deity is named “sapta-riSiSwara” and the female is named both “Sri-mati” and “mahAsampat-gauri”.

3 of the 5 kritis address this goddess Srimati… the tOdi “gati nivani”, the kAmbOji “mahita Sri pravrddha” and the bhairavi “lalitE Sri pravrddhE”.

Indeed Sritapastirtha is also known as “bhairavi-vana”, so the choice of rAga bhairavi for the goddess here is understandable.

This post is about one of the two kritis of the tyAgarAja that address the male deity, namely the kalyAni “ISa pAhimAm”.

The other kriti “dEva Sri tapastirtha pura nivAsa” in rAga madhyamAvati will be taken up in the ardhanAriSwara thread of the General Discussion, since it is uniquely relevant to that theme.

What is particularly special about ISa pAhimAm ?

Every one of the five bhutas (elements) , i.e. the panCa-bhuta is named in this kriti, as will now be shown.

The mudras = names/synonyms of the 5 fundamental element appear in each of the pallavi, anupallavi and one in each of the 3 Caranas.

The 5 words used for the 5 elements are as follows

jagat is mudra for vAyu , derived from ja-gat, from the motion of air, which is life-breath, of all that is born.

dahara is mudra for “gagana” or “space” as in the interior ether – see for example “dahar-AkASa” of the Dikshitars “Anandanatana prakASam” kEdAram masterpiece.

arnava is mudra for water as it implies water bodies = Oceans

bhu-lOka is mudra for prithvi

and finally

agni is mudra of course for agni , the fire element

The kriti is reproduced here in its entirety and the occurrence of the element word is shown in red.

pallavi
ISa pAhimAm jagad (ISa)

Anupallavi
Asharagana madaharana vilESaya bhUSa saptariS (ISa)

caraNam 1
SrInAtha karArcita dorikE nalpulakI darsana mEnAti tapah-phalamO nI nAmamu dorikE
SrI nArada gAnapriya dInArti nivAraNa paramAnanda-arnava dEvayAnApa janaka saptariS (ISa)

caraNam 2
vyAsArCita pAlita nijadAsa bhUlOka kailAsambanu palkulu nijamE sAreku ganti nI sAti
evvarayyA nI sAkSAtkAramuna vESatalella dolagE nIdE janmamu sAphalyamu

caraNam 3
sAmAdi nigama sanCAra somAgni taraNi lOCana kAmAdi khandana sutrAmArCita pAda
hEmaCala CApa ninu vinA mArevaru munimanO dhAma tyAgarAja prEmAvatAra jagad (ISa)

To those who are lazy and unimaginative (and essentially corrupt), the panCa-bhUta mudras appearing as shown above may appear as “mere coincidence” or “speculation”.

Fortunately the kritis were not written for these fools.

Indeed , it is also not enough to merely comprehend that the element mudras appear…

As always, for the nAda-upAsaka/s, the deeper questions to ask are …

Why is the tyAgarAja doing this ?

Why is the kriti in rAga kalyAni ?

And it is in the answers to these questions that the real music , melody and Sruti is found !

The answer/s lie in understanding the significance of the ancient place name Sri-tapas-tirtha.

As a Siva sthala, the Srimati dEvi’s tapasya culminates at the end of her own tirtha in her union with Siva –saptariSISa.

For the dEvi “Sri-tapas-tirtha” is the Siva-saptariSISa..

Conversely Siva also needs the dEvi to complete himself !

The rAga kalyAni (through its very word meaning as granting welfare/boons) expresses the dEvis ability to grant this completion to Siva.

Note that kalyAni is the typical rAga for the sarva-AshA paripurna Cakra in the Sri-vidyA, as seen in the Dikshitars navAvaranas denoting “fulfillment of all wishes…in this case the fulfillment is of the Siva of this kSEtra.

This is the essence of the kSEtra being communicated by the nAdayOgi, through the medium of his musical pujA.

Why is only this particular kriti (of the five) being used to display all five bhuta/element mudras ?

As noted earlier, there are 2 kritis to the male deity at this kSEtra.

It will be shown in another post (on the General Discussion thread) how the other kriti to the male deity, “dEva Sri tapastirtha nivAsa” corresponds to the ardhanAriSwara of this location.

ISa pAhimAm, the legend of saptariSiSa and the panCa bhuta

The appearance of all 5 bhuta (fundamental) elements in “ISa pAhimAm” is linked to the unique legend of the Siva-linga of this kSEtra, which “consumed” the seven riSiS to protect them.

All elements (earth, fire, water, ether-sky and wind) of course spring from these riSiS who are considered to represent the planets as well as the sun and the moon.

Unfortunately the prevalence and usage of the word lAlgudi has managed to submerge the essential identity of this ancient and important kSEtra, which derives from understanding the names “Sri-tapas-tirtha” and “saptariSiSa”.

That the “fundamental” teaching of this Siva-sthala comes from the tyAgarAja , (who is the consummate rAma bhakta) , shows the indifference of the nAdayOgi to petty, meaningless divisions.

And of course the name tyAgarAja is itself a synonym for the Siva as well.

The nAda-sampradAya , the mighty river of truth and light and Sruti flows unbounded.

Once again, the vAggeyakAras “message-in-a-bottle” cast into this river is received by a grateful nAda-upAsaka.

ISa pAhimAm – rAga kalyAni

OST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSjrI7jk2e8

amrita murali
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy3on66rVP0

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: tyAgarAja (Why “lAvanya rAma” is in rAga rudrapriya and “Sri mAnini manOhara” is in rAga purnaSadjam )

Post by nAdopAsaka »

Why “lAvanya rAma” is in rAga rudrapriya and “Sri mAnini manOhara” is in rAga purnaSadjam

Scores upon scores of posts, now teach the intimate relationship between rAga name/rAga icon to the nAdayOgis specific choice of sAhitya.

This understanding will now be used to clarify a 200 year-old festering problem.

Did the tyAgarAja have 2 kritis in rAga purnaSadjam (as some textbooks mis-lead) and none in rudrapriya ?

OR

Is there only one tyAgarAja kriti in purnaSadjam and only one tyAgarAja kriti in rudrapriya ?

Musicologists, academicians and other such dignitaries (OBLIVIOUS to the nAdayOgis specific words), have debated this without effective conclusion for more than a hundred years.

They have sat in their ego-chambers (aka echo-chambers/kutChEris) and in academy halls and discussed like technicians the variations of sound-frequencies and similar air-pressure disturbances, ignoring the very vehicle the vAggeyakAra uses to bring forth his pujA i.e. the words of the kriti.

The matter is resolved simply by looking at the very first word of each kriti !

1. There is zero doubt that the rAga purnaSadjam with its unique “mA ni ni” prayOga is exactly the rAga for the kriti “Sri mA ni ni manOhara”.

2. Which brings us to the “lAvanya rAma” kriti.

The word “lAvanya” implies charming or beloved.

And the synonym “rudra” applies also to Siva who is not coincidentally = tyAga-rAja (the deity).

And since rAma is beloved of tyAgarAja (the vAggeyakAra) the choice of rudrapriya for the usage “lAvanya rAma” made by the tyAgarAja becomes clear.

It is also entirely reasonable to expect that the experimenter tyAgarAja who has 20-odd kritis in (khara)-hara-priya would investigate the closely allied scale namely “rudra-priya” instead of completely ignoring it. (e.g. he also has only 3 kritis in the other close by “Sri rAga” )

Both kritis are super-short, less than 20 words so it is natural that the vAggeyakAra is compressing his thoughts, resulting in the rAga mudra/signature immediately surfacing in the very first words.

Indeed, the quality of a kriti is in delivering the rAga instantly with no ambiguity.

And so too does the initial word bring forward this focus…IT MUST.....because the nAdayOgi is focusing on the rAga as an entity of his pujA, that is formed around the words he is using.

In fact the classical text by rAghavan/rAmAnujaCAri from the 1940's gives "lAvanya rAma" in rudrapriya but this has been completely ignored.

It can also be noted that the tyAgarAja has several solitary kritis in certain usually rarer rAgas, like dipaka, kalAnidhi, supradipam, purnalalitA etc. etc. etc. etc. By extension this "rule" applies to both purnaSadjam and rudrapriya.

But the real reasons for these two kritis are anchored in the very words used by the tyAgarAja to open the kriti and begin his pure unalloyed pujA.

The “music industry” does an injustice to the nAdayOgis by suppressing the meaning of the words (for whatever reasons) in favor of the “content-less” air-pressure variation exercises they perform.

No rendition of “lAvanya rAma” in rudrapriya is available. It has become almost extinct, under the barrage of technical vidwAns ignoring or denying the words of the tyAgarAja.

Instead another rudrapriya of the Dikshitar is linked here, which also delivers both rAga word and obviously rAga melody immediately with its opening word i.e. rudrakOpajAta.

Sri mAnini manOhara – rAga purnaSadjam

rAmnAd K
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUo9Dg0eI9E

ravikiran
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKObrpQjpEs

ambikApuram S
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEHFrvSE_ak

rudrakOpajAta – rAga rudrapriya - Dikshitar

s rAjam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxRUOJTpnCE

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

'umai oru baagan' is widely used concept and imagery in SAIVITE lore.
Often , though rarely, the vigraham -internal- does not depict it as such.
More often, if not mostly, the devi is shown to be on the left side of the Lord's icon.
It is ONLY AT THIRUCHENGODE, that the ardha concept is LETERALLY shown in the vigraham itself,
================================================
it is not uncommon to add the usual epithets at each of the shrines though it may have no relevance to the sthalala puraanam.
=================================
Any way, the objection is only to apply ardha concept to Vishnava shrines , as it is alien to to the tradition.
=========================================
Lakshmi resides in the heart of Mahavishnu as a mole in his left chest. and needs no separate vigraham.
----
this is the accepted and nice tradition in orthodox vaishnava tradiotioin. this can be verified in any of the sites dedicated to vishnu.
=======
Thyagaraja swami was primarily a Raamaa devotee86 and saw Raama as an incarnation of vishnu. though sita is not fully to be identified with Lakshmi as Thayaar
As lakshmi is ever auspicious, prosperous, and joyous consort and boon giver.
------
Mixing of ramayana and vishnu has its limits. Bringing in some puranic stories of krishna leela, likewise, should not be mixed with vishnu and lakshmi.
!,
Earliest Aazhvaar paasurams are oùr guide.
Today,s quota

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Thyagaraja (Why the kriti "mA jAnakI" is in rAga kAmbOji )

Post by nAdopAsaka »

Why the kriti "mA jAnaki" is in rAga kAmbOji

For all the reasons explained on the separate thread, it is impossible to refute that the Dikshitar sees and illustrates precisely the “ardhanAri” in the “SrividyA-rAjagOpAla” deity of mannArgudi.

Noticeably the tyAgarAjas “boat” has not floated by this “SrividyA-rAjagOpAla” aspect of krSnA at mannArgudi, likely because the “naukA Caritram” is rooted in “vrndAvana” whereas the other is in dakSina dwAr-kA.

It becomes necessary to also make the following statements about the so-called “ardha concept”.

A rAga develops only when its notes are sung in multiple, different suitable juxtapositions. Even then it is not fulfilled without the vision/pujA of the vAggeyakAra (at least to the nAda-upAsakas).

The kritis (of but a few vAggeyakAras) also fully develop only when the underlying context/relationships of their words/choices are comprehended.

The ”ardha concept” is about “BALANCE” and is most certainly deeper than mere anatomical or any physical idol/icon depictions.

Tribute to this overarching balance is not the preserve of any narrow-minded sectarian thinking.

The nAda-upAsaka also rejects all lewd innuendo and imagery ascribed to the kritis by perverted thinking.

The sacred imagination of the nAdayOgis is not, should not and can not be limited by divisive ideologies, however pious they may be made to sound.

The concept of BALANCE is not limited to or by the ardhanAriSwara icon of tiruCEngOde.

This is why the Dikshitar and SyAmA SAStri refer to the “ardha-Saririni”, or “ardhAngini” or “pAdi sundari” at multiple kSEtras.

Indeed, the mahArAja (although an intense padmanAbhA devotee) describes this very “balance” at the kASi Siva-sthala, as “girijA-ardhAng” in the “viSweSwara darSana kar Cal man tum kASi” sindhu-bhairavi.

This “balance” manifests in DIFFERENT forms seen even in the tyAgarAja kritis, without requiring the specific ardhanAri form.

When the tyAgarAja places sitA on rAma’s lap as “dhara-jA anka-mu” in the “sundara daSaratha nandana” kApi kriti he also imples this “balance”.

When the tyAgarAja says that rAma attains his exalted status only by taking the hand of sitA dEvi, he also implies this “balance” ( “mA jAnaki cEta battaga”, the kAmbOji)

In this very same kriti, the tyAgarAja says that even her abduction by rAvana, does not upset the balance.

Why ?

Because the so-called lust (kAma) of rAvana is satisfied (bhOja) instead by a shadow form (mAYAkAra) of the goddess.

And we see at once the reason for the choice of rAga kAma-bOji for this kriti as well, embedded in the words/ideas expressed.

mA jAnaki – rAga kAmbOji

violin m Candramouli
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt5Ws7aQsPI

veena rEvati S
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LniYnaC1lEA

ranjani/gAyatri
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRb2JEmVq6U

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

It is a huge tragedy that sacred family concepts of both tradtional indian culture and the catholic world are increasingly under attack by the hippie liberals as well as so called
Pundits of indian culture. Surprisingly, it is the russian orthodox church, Catholic south america and african , buddhist asia that is upholding millennium old sartorial traditions and sacred values of family Life.
It is a pity that some people blinded by their knowledge of language ,defile the image of lord RAama himself.
Public display of physical proximity has always been condemned in indian and catholic societies.
On special occasions the wife is seated in the left lap of the husband in ceremonies. But do our parents go about displaying sports in front of us
Children.? Not in cultured familes.

It is intentional fraud to eqate lust and physical union and put tne blame on RAmaa and the saint poet
s. Fortunately, there are very few vigrahams of RAma in thamizh country. Is there any physical ardha depiction of badrachalam RAmaa?the pooja vigraham of RAma of Thyagaraja swamy is one of the loveliest. Shows the standard RAma sita,lakshmana and Hanuman .
Is there any MD kruthi which sings of RAma,,SIta as one union vigraham?
Would any body commit that sacrilege? Blasphemy?
If i deny the role of women in sustain
Ing cultural values and dharmic values, would i not be insulting my mother?
It is a nepharios derailer who mis represents dignity of women with drug smoking near nude sex crazy characters of the western world today. Fighting for LG and what not!
Fellows want to convert the country into huge nudist colony. Dress habits of wome folk in rura,l india never allow a stranger to see them.
,
How dignified indeed!
Have you seen bengali classics?
We could easily see where such ideas come from. SAD.

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Thyagaraja (the tulasamma who is balanced only by Srihari)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

the tulasamma who is balanced only by Srihari

There are many examples which refute the statements being made.

The kritis are all well known.

Indeed, bhadrACala rAmadAs is quite descriptive in describing sita and rAma reclining together....

(I repeat...any lewdness is only in the eyes of the perverted beholder)

bhadrACala rAmadAs - nannu brOva mani CeppavE -rAga kalyAni

lOkAntaranguDu SrIkAnta ninu gUDi EkAntamuna -Eka Sayya-nunna vELa


the annamACArya similarly describes alamElu and venkatEsa

annamACArya – paluku tEnEla talli – rAga AbhEri

paluku tEnela talli pavaLinCEnu. kaliki tanamuna vibhuni kalasinadi gAna


additionally the Dikshitar ENDOWS rAma with sitA (upEta as in gunOpEta, possessing)

the Dikshitar SrI rAmam ravikulAbdhi sOmam- rAga nArAyaNa gauLa

kushalava tAtam sItOpEtam


in the Dikshitars navAvaranas the goddess is described many times as

SivAkAra manCa stithE


The idea of “balance” is seen rather clearly in the tyAgarAjas words on the tula-sammA, where the word tula as balance itself is central.

dEvi SrI tuLasamma – rAga mAyAmAlavagaula

nIvu lEka trAsuna SrI hari sari nilvaka pOyEnata

venkatanArAyanan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nw6pZ_wtnI

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

There is no .balance, it is all forced,Nice krurhis on thulasi are distorted, it is a plant dear to all vaishnavites.
Why do people dress fully, if vulĝaŕity is in the eyes of the beholder?
The greatest poems and depiction of romance and love are in sangam literature, silappathikaaram, MutthoLlYiram and ThirukkuraL.
People who have not read them in depth, cannot understand the diffrrence between sentimental and erotic attachment.

nAdopAsaka
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Re: Tyagaraja (Why there are 2 “tulasi" kritis by the tyAgarAja in the symmetrical tetrachord rAga mAyAmAlavagaula )

Post by nAdopAsaka »

Why there are 2 “tulasi" kritis in the symmetrical tetrachord rAga mAyAmAlavagaula , one to the goddess and one to the lord

An understanding of the word “tulasi” is needed.

tulasi derives from the word "tula" (as in balance/scales) + "asa" (as in “without” or “to remove” )

It applies to the goddess as one who is only balanced by the lord/Srihari, otherwise she is unmatched/unweighable/unscalable.

Its name for the botanical plant comes from the usage of the tulasi leaf in various pujA rituals involving the lord and the goddess. (the “meaning” of the word is not derived from the mere plant name…the meaning of the word lies in the concept of balance)

An understanding of the rAga mAyAmAlavagaula is needed.

mAyAmAlavagaula is the most balanced of the mElas. Its very symmetry and balance is why it is often used as the initial teaching rAga.

An understanding of the kriti/s is needed.

In “dEvi Sri tulasammA”, the tyAgarAja says specifically “without her, Srihari loses his balance
The exact text is extracted in a previous post.

An understanding of “balance” is needed.

Indeed the idea of “balance” is so powerful, that the tyAgarAja creates 2 “tulasi” kritis in mAyAmAlavagaula,

one for the goddess "dEvi Sri tulasamma" noted above

and

one for the lord ... "tulasi dala mula CE"

In “tulasi dala mula CE”, the garland consisting of “sarasiruha, Campaka, punnAga etc. etc. and tulasi (see for example the “nava tulasi vanamAla” noted by the Dikshitar and scripture) is placed on the lords neck.

The symbolism intended by the tyAgarAja for this mAyAmAlavagaula kriti is again unquestionably of balance and stability.

The distinction and value of the sangam poets is not in question on this thread. It could be taken up in another thread.

tulasi dala mula CE – rAga mAyAmAlavagaula

Hyd bros.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJw9m3LldYo

veena ramana B
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox1yKqJSryg

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Thyagaraja (2 rAgas, 2 mantras & 2 mahAvAkyas - the tyAgarAjas garuda-dhwani & the Dikshitars hamsa-dhwani)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

2 rAgas, 2 mantras, 2 mahAvAkyas & 2 vAggeyakAras – the tyAgarAjas garuda-dhwani and the Dikshitars hamsa-dhwani

mahAvAkya are mantras which are the terse essence ( = tatva) of the teachings of a vEda/upAniSad.

A kriti can also be considered the essence of a rAga.

The tyAgarAja and the Dikshitar each encapsulate a mahAvAkya in their kritis, utilising rAgas whose names are emblems for those mahAvAkyas !

garuda-dhwani – tatva meruga tarama

The garuda in the sAma vEda is the emblem of the sun, … “hiranya-pakSam varunasya dutam”… its golden-winged messenger.

And the sound of the garuda (its dhwani) heralds the wisdom of the sun and the sAma.

No wonder that the garuda-dhwani kriti of the tyAgarAja “tatva meruga tarama” carries in the anupallavi the mahAvAkya of the sAma vEda.….”tatvam asi”

hamsa-dhwani – vAtApi ganapatim

The swan in the iSOpaniSad ( of the yajur vEda) is the emblem of the inner self.

And the sound of the swan (its dhwani) is the hamsa-dhwani, i.e. the “so ham” mahAvAkya, that is exercised with breath control.

No wonder that the widely known hamsa-dhwani kriti of the Dikshitar “vAtApi ganapatim” , carries the breath control mantra/mahAvAkya reference in the words “vAta” and “catvAri vAgAtmakam pranava swarupam”.

the other garudadhwani kriti of the tyAgarAja and its “tatva” should also be recognized

garuda-dhwani - AnandasAgara midani dEhamu bhu-bhAramu

Here the flight motif of the eagle prevails..

Why ?

Because, as the translations say, the kriti implies …the body that does not float on the ocean of “naigama sangita-gyAna” is but a dead weight …

The garuda-dhwani as this “naigama sangita” is itself the vAhana of the nAdayOgi….

indeed… “He has become “that”, who flies on the garuda !”

For the tyAgarAja, the rAga name/mudra is embedded in the ideas his words are conveying, unlike the Dikshitar who is much more overt.

It is the inspired imagination of the nAdayOgis, whose wondrous kritis unlock the tatva packed into the single words “garuda” and “hamsa”.

For the nAda-upAsaka, the question is always…who put this candy in their mouth....and why…

tatva meruga tarama – rAga garudadhwani

KVN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v86ij5VhreU

mandolin Srinivas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saMhWYVBWQo

vAtApi ganapatim – rAga hamsadhwani

gAyatri veena
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hOL6nPpD0c

AnandasAgara midani – rAga garudadhwani

krittikA N
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwCEcOG4ag8

s rAjam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD53_c4Bq2A

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Thyagaraja (origin of the 2 "raghu" hamsadhwani kritis in the sOham mahAvAkya)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

Origin of the 2 hamsadhwani kritis in the sOham mahAvAkya - the relation of Aditya and the sOham

There is a reason BOTH the tyAgarAja's hamsadhwani kriti address raghu-rAma i.e. "Sri raghukula" and "raghunAyakA"

Why ? What ?

The sun or Aditya is extensively related in the scriptures to the Om/pranava and also to the “sO ham” mantra.

Indeed the mahAvAkya upAniSad, specifies that the knowledge that “Sun (= Aditya) is brahman” is obtained by chanting the ajapa mantra hamsa sOham.

In the very first stanza it says

vidyA hi kAnda antara AdityO jyOtirmandala grAhyAm
asAv AdityO brahmOtya ajapa yOpahitam hamsa sOham


And at once the impact of this upAniSad is seen in the tyAgarAjas EXACT choice of rAga for BOTH "Sri raghu-kula" and "raghunAyaka" as rAga “hamsadhwani”.

Why ?

Because “raghu” represents the Sun or the solar dynasty to which rAma belongs.

And invoking the rAga hamsa-dhwani (as an emblem of hamsa sOham) is the tyAgarAjas way of achieving his own Sun = raghu-rAma !

The more esoteric question is ….Why did the tyAgarAja sing 2 separate kritis with this same rAga and similar name/structure ?

A reasonable answer can be found in the mantra itself.

The mantra “sO ham” has 2 syllables, each intoned at different note.

Not surprisingly the two kritis each begin at a different note of the octave as well…..the Sadja and the gAndhAra.

The syllable sO (for sA = upper Sadja) is for the starting swara of “Sri raghukula” !

and

The syllable ham = ga-m (for ga = gAndhAra) is for the starting swara of “raghunAyaka” !

Indeed the tyAgarAja covered all aspects in his mapping of the mantra to his 2 kritis !!

It is the duty of the nAda-upAsaka to try to understand the words, and choices and reasoning behind the vAggeyakAras kritis.


Sri raghukula – rAga hamsadhwani

TVS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqpHXgaH1sI

raghunAyaka – rAga hamsadhwani

raghunAthan flute
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K31S2Z2TQ84

MDR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p0WEKVZjAY

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

Sangeetha gnaanamu bhakthi vina by smt.MS.
Aim of CM

https://youtu.be/HzbpPqgetCk

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

TiruvaiyAru Composition

Since TyAgarAja spent a major portion of his time in the temple city of TiruvaiyAru (Pa~ncanadi -- the bank of five rivers), we find a number of compositions dedicated to the presiding deity of the temple at TiruvaiyAru,
Lord praNatArttihara (shiva), and the Divine consort dharmasamvarddhani. The following k.rtis are all composed at this sacred place.

K.rtis on pa~ncanadIsha

illalO praNatArttihara
aThANA

EvarunnAru..
mALavashrI

Ehi trijagadIsha
sAra”nga

muccaTa brahmAdulaku
madhyamAvati

darshanamu sEya
nArAyaNagauLa

shiva shiva yena
pantuvarALi

dEvAdi dEva sadAshiva
sindurAmakriya
.........
In the madhyamAvati piece, "muccaTa brahmadulaku", TyAgarAja imagines Lord shiva in a form that is completely different from the usual description we are used to. The Lord, with his white captivating from, bedecked with jewels and rich flower garlands, is seated in an ornamented palanquin, with royal paraphernalia, carried by men of celestial bearings and with praises being sung by real devotees.

In the more popular "shiva shivayenarAdA" in rAgam pantuvarALi, TyAgarAja says --- "chanting the vEdas extols the Lord. Avoid all the fruitless talks and in the company of noble devotees, indulge in chanting the name of the Lord and singing his glory. Knowing that shiva is the Lord whom TyAgarAja bows down, chant the name of shiva eternally".


K.rtis on dharmasamvarddhani

karuNajUDavammA
tODi

parAshakti manuparAd
sAvEri

nIvu brOvavalE
sAvEri

bAlE bAlEndu
rItigauLa

amma dharmasamvarddhani
aThANA

vidhi shakrAdulaku
yamunAkalyANi

shivE pAhi mAm
kalyANi

innAllavalE
dEshya tODi

nannu kanna talli
kEsari/sindhukannaDa

amba ninnu nammiti
Arabhi

...
Excerpt from an article by Prof.P.P.Narayanaswami.
..to be continued.
..
Lyrics , transliteration and translatìon by
Sri.V.Govindan can be had from his website
Thyagarajavaibavam. Blogspot
muccaTa brahmAdulaku
madhyamAvati

There is a very intriguing line in the above cited kduthi. The bajan group in the deity procession, is singing the
Glory of HARI.,!
muccaTa brahmAdulaku
madhyamAvati
.

RSR
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Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

On his way back from Madras at Nagapattinam, Sri Tyagaraja sang two songs: Karmame Balvanthamayenu (Saveri) and Evaru theliya boyyeru (Thodi).
This info from srinivasaraos classic blog on thyagaraja.

RSR
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Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

Thyagaraja sang two kruthis on Neelàayathakshi, the goddeß at nagapatnam of tsunami , when he visited the plave while returning from kovoor and chennai.
She stands alone .
Translation by sri. V.govindan

Mother - Consort of Lord Siva – kAyArOhaNa!
O Mother nIlAyatAkshi stationed at the holy town of nAga puram! O Witness of all Worlds!
O Supremely holy!

Is fate so binding?

In this World, even though the rich (people) are sought, they could not relieve my pitiable condition;
therefore, having quickly set out, coming here (to this town), I reached Your holy presence;

yet, is fate so binding (that You would not show compassion)?

Lord of Ocean, becoming arrogant, tried to intrude into this land;
seeing You - endowed with bravery, always standing resolutely – he beheld You;


yet, is fate so binding (that the sea would enter into the land)?

My mind has no desire for money;
I have convinced my mind that Your grace alone is (real) wealth;
therefore, I have come to Your holy presence with fond hope;

yet, is fate so binding for this tyAgarAja – Your true devotee (that You would not show compassion)?

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

Second excerpt from the article Kshethra kruthis of Thyagaraja ,by Dr.P.P.Narayanaßawmy.



KANCHIPURAM
.
This excerpt deals with just three kruthis by Thyagaraja at Kanchipuŕam.,one on Kaamaakshi, and two kruthis on Varadharaja PerumaaL
.no kruthi on the two famous SIVA temples there. INTERESTING INDÈED,!.
......
Now to the excerpt.
........
KA~ncIpuram
At the request of Saint UpaniSad Brahmam, a head of the maTham, and a close friend of his father, TyAgarAja visited the ancient city of KA~ncIpuram, renowned for its numerous shiva and viSNu temples. Two k.rtis on Lord varadarAja, in the rare rAgams rAgapa~njaram (mELam 28 - s r m p d n d s; s n d m r s) and svarabhUSaNi (mELam 22 - s g m p d n s; s n p m g m r s) and one in madhyamAvati on Goddess kAmAkSi are available to us.
While this number is much smaller than the number of k.rtis shyAma shAstri or muttusvAmi dIksitar has composed on kA~ncIpuram deities, they have not composed any songs in these two rare rAgams. rAja ninnukOri (rAgam svarabhUSaNi).

The very popular composition in madhyamAvati "vinAyaku ni valenu" is the only available composition of TyAgarAja on Goddess kAmAkSi.

In an old LP recording, "kAmAkSi suprabhAtam", Smt M. S. Subbalakshmi has soulfully rendered this composition.

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Thyagaraja (The tyAgarAjas panCa-bhuta pujA to the pancAkSara panCa-nadiSa deity "pranatArtihara" of tiruvaiyAru)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

The tyAgarAjas panCa-bhuta pujA to the panCAkSara panCa-nadiSa deity "pranatArtihara" of tiruvaiyAru

The tyAgarAja’s 5 kritis to the panCa nadiSa deity "pranatArtihara" = (Siva the 5 syllable mantra deity = panCAkSara) deserve more careful examination than has been given to them.

It is shown in this post how each of the 5 kritis to the panCa nadiSa deity carries the mudra of one of the 5 bhuta/elements.

The panCa bhuta pujA has been used by the tyAgarAja in his panCa sets (sets of 5 kritis) at kOvur, at Srirangam and at Sritapastirtha revealed (for the first time) in several previous posts on this thread.

At tiruvaiyAru = panCanadi, the realization that each kriti of the tyAgarAjas to the pranatArtihara is linked to one fundamental element (bhuta) also opens the door to understanding the very rAgas chosen.

1. ilalO pranatArtihara – rAga athAna – prthvi bhuta

With the very first word the tyAgarAja signals the elemental pujA.

Why ?

Because the word “ila” is the earth.

But for good measure the tyAgarAja also gives the word “dharani” in this kriti.

Why the rAga athana for the prthvi element ?

athAna derives from the word for the elephant.,hathAna, atti, hasti etc.

The elephant has a very strong connection to the earth.

As the daughter of the earth, the goddess is nagajA, where nagajah is also a synonym for the elephant.
Indeed, the bhudEvis swaying walk is often described as “gaja-gAmini”…i.e. elephantine.

As an aside, in the tyAgarAjas own saurAstra rAga kriti, “Sri ganapatini” , the heavy footfall of the earth-shaking elephant-headed deity ganapati appears as “ghana tarambuganu mahipai padam”.

2. Ehi trijagadISa – rAga SAranga – vAyu bhuta

In “Ehi trijagadISa”, the rather obvious word “samira” appears which is the vAyu mudra.

Why the rAga SAranga for the vAyu element ?

Because as tripurAntaka, Siva wields his SAranga = bow/arrow, to destroy = purify the three cities of tripura.

Purification is exactly "pAvanam", the cleansing deriving from “pavana” = anila = vAyu.

3. darSanamu sEya – rAga nArAyana gaula – agni/tEja bhuta

This kriti carries the word “dIpa-lA varusalanu” (dipa = flame of a lamp which is used also by the Dikshitar at sadACalESwara for the agni bhuta).

The word “darSana” is key to this kriti. Notice also the usage "SivAkSara", confirming the panCAkSara mantra for this deity.

No darSana of Siva is possible without simultaneously seeing his consort, especially at tiruvaiyAru. This realization is key to understanding the rAga choice.

Why the rAga nArAyana gaula for the agni/teja bhuta ?

gaulA is of course a synonym of the dEvi.

But why rAga nArAyana gaula in particular..?

Why not one of the other gaulA’s (like mAyAmAlavagaula, or chAyA gaula or riti gaulA etc. etc).?

The answer lies in the unique name of the panCanadi dEvi ..she is known as “dharma-samvardhani”.

Naturally there is only one major icon for the idea of “dharma”in the entire sub-continent , namely rAma.

And as the rAma avatAra of this nArAyana, this icon of dharma, only nArAyana gaula qualifies for the proper "shining light" = dipa that illuminates the tyAgarAjas “darSana” of pranatArtihara & dharmasamvardhani

4. muccata brahmAdulaku - rAga madhyamAvati – jala bhuta

The jala icon appears as “nagabhuSanudu karunA nidhi".

The word “nidhi” is always water related.

The choice of the word “karunA” is key to understanding the rAga choice.

Why the rAga madhyamAvati for the jala bhuta.

As the ultimate symbol of mercy , the Siva swallows the poison emerging from the depths of the ocean churned up by the samudra manthana.

And there lies the connection, the samudra madhya poison comes to the top and becomes the nilakantha legend. “samudra madhyam-Avati”.

The added descriptor "nAgabhuSanudu karunA nidhi” confirms the poison swallowing image of the Siva, because of the serpent word.

And finally

5. Siva Siva Siva yanarAdA – rAga pantuvarAli AkASa/gagana/sky

Notably the word "mud-jagadiSwara" = tri-jagadiSwara (mudu = three) appears in this kriti which is similar to the word in the SAranga "Ehi tri-jagadiSwara"

No word as the AkASa element mudra is either given or needed for this kriti.

Why ?

Because the rAga name itself is the mudra for the sky element.

varAli being the moon , its path = pantha is found only in the sky..

panta-varAli IS the sky.

Any other kriti , other than these 5 at panCanadi to the Siva HAS to be considered SPURIOUS. Perhaps such kritis if they exist belong to some other location or are entirely bogus.

The panCAkSara nature of the deity , the relationship of each kriti to each of the 5 elements (panCa bhuta) shown and the logical connection of the rAga to the bhuta/element, RULE out any other kriti.

There is some confusion in the historical record, created mostly by unimaginative dullards (or worse, miscreants and distortionists) , who have not seen the panCa bhuta pujA organization and who have not understood the nature of the worship.

As noted, the panCa bhuta pujA is also conducted by the tyAgarAja in the 5 (exactly 5) kOvur sundarESa panCaratna kritis.

A separate series of posts will examine the 10 kritis to the dharmasamvardhani.

Why exactly 10 kritis for this goddess ?

Are the 10 kritis representative of the daSa mahAvidyAs ?

Or

Are the 10 dEvi kritis the poets image of 5 pairs of the dEvi , each representing, symbolically, the north and south banks of each of the 5 rivers, with one Siva kriti for each river.

It is panCa-nadi after all...5 rivers... and 5 akSaras in the Siva mantra

Stay tuned.

No…The vAggeyakAras pujA has not been wasted, cannot be wasted.

His message is received by all grateful nAda-upAsakas.

The nAda-sampradAya is reaffirmed.

1. ilalO pranatArtihara – rAga athAna – prthvi bhuta
OST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNPBT0ZQflc

2. Ehi trijagadISa – rAga SAranga – vAyu bhuta
RK Murthy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5h-wXuKtYo

3. darSanamu sEya – rAga nArAyana gaula – agni/tEja bhuta
Chittoor Subr. P
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2POu5uZlAgM

4. muccata brahmADulaku - rAga madhyamAvati – jala bhuta
rAjam S
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnSDNFpK8MI

5. Siva Siva Siva yanarAdA – rAga pantuvarAli - AkASa bhuta 
ranjani - gAyatri
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQvccYSyx0o

RSR
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Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

Thyagaraja swami lived upto his 70 th year at Thiruvaiyaru only.
At the invitaion of his manasika guru, a great scholar and Raama devotee, Upanishad brahmam , nearly 25 years senior to him,who was in a mutt in Kanchipuram, he set out to visit Lalgudi,
Srirangam, Kanchipuram, Thiruvotriyur,
Chennai, Kovur and on the way back,
he visited Nagapatnam.
..
In each of these places he had disciples.
Thiruvaiyar kruthis had been composed by him over many decades.
..
This is an attempt to arrange the kruthis in chronological order for information of students.

color=#BF0080]Lalgudi Pancharathnams –
[/color]
Lalite (Bhairavi),
Mahita pravrddha (Kambhoji),
Deva Shri (Madhyamavati),
Isha pahimam (Kalyani),
Gati nivani (Thodi)


color=#BF0080]Srirangam Pancharathnams[/color] –

Chuta murare (Arabhi),
O Rangashayi (Kambhoji),
Karuna judavayya (Saranga),
Raju vedale (Thodi),
Vina rAda nA (Deva Gandhari)

Kanchipuram –

Vinayakuni (Madhyamavati), Varadaraja (Svarabhushani)


Thiruvotriyur Pancharathnams –

Darini (Suddha Saveri),
Kanna talli (Saveri),
Sundari ninnu (Arabhi), Sundarinannindarilo (Begada),
Sundari ni (Kalyani)



Kovur Pancharathnams

I Vasudha (Sahana),
Kori sevimpa rare (Kharaharapriya), Shambho Mahadeva (Pantuvarali), Nammi vaccina (Kalyani), Sundareshwaruni Shankarabharanam)






Tirupati

Teratiyaga (Gowlipantu),
Venkatesha (Madhyamavati)


color=#800000]Madras[/color] –

Venugana (Kedaragoula)

Nagapattinam

Evaru teliya (Thodi)

RSR
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Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

Thyagaraja swami was invited to Chennai by a disciple who was a krushna devotee. Composed then.
https://youtu.be/h4GmG9KnVK0

k
Smt.M.S.Subbulakshmi

Gist and Thamizh translation by Sri.Govindan..
Thyagaraja vaibavam.blogspot



Gist
A thousand eyes are needed to behold kRshNa – one who is very fond of flute music.

A thousand eyes are needed to behold kRshNa while all the damsels, having braids like black-bees, come warding off evil sight over the Lord and saluting Him.

A thousand eyes are needed to behold kRshNa who comes –

as damsels, with faces like fully blossomed lotus, dance in different tempos, and holding each other's hands, look by side glances at the Lord,

as the damsels having parrot-like voices elegantly sing, and

as all celestials pray to the Lord - friend of this tyAgarAja.



குழலிசை விரும்புவோனைக் காண ஆயிரம் கண்கள் வேண்டுமடி

வண்டு குழலியர் யாவரும் கண்ணூறு கழித்துக்கொண்டு, வணங்கிக்கொண்டு வர
குழலிசை விரும்புவோனைக் காண ஆயிரம் கண்கள் வேண்டுமடி

அலர்ந்த பங்கய வதனத்தினர் வெவ்வேறு நடைகளிலாட,
ஒருவருக்கொருவர் கைகளைக் கோர்த்து, ஓரக்கண்களால் நோக்க,
கிளிக்குரலுடை வனிதையர் சொகுசாகப் பாட,
அனைத்து வானோரும் தியாகராசனின் நண்பனை வேண்ட, எழுந்தருளும்
குழலிசை விரும்புவோனைக் காண ஆயிரம் கண்கள் வேண்டுமடி

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

https://www.sangeethapriya.org/tributes ... tml#Puttur
.........
Krithis composed at Puttur

1 nAjIvAdhAra (bilahari )
‐-------
......
Krithis composed at Sholingar

1 narasimha .( bilahari)

2 SrI-nArasimha. (phalaranjani),

3 pAhi-rAma-dUta(vasantha-varaLi )

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

The tyAgarAjas 5 pairs of dEvi kritis that are EACH connected to the 5 panCanadiSa panCabhuta Siva kritis of tiruvaiyAru

Post by nAdopAsaka »

The tyAgarAjas 5 pairs of dEvi kritis that are EACH connected to the 5 panCanadiSa panCa bhuta Siva kritis of tiruvaiyAru.

For the last 200 years , the pujA of the supreme nAdayOgis has been submerged in insipid, parroted translations that have lost and obscured the basic connections between the kritis and the essential motivations of the vAggeyakAras.

The tiruvaiyAru kSEtra is a prime example of this neglect.

But the situation is changing, as evident from many posts on these very threads.

A post dated Jul 18, 2023, on this thread, establishes beyond a shred of doubt that the tyAgarAja conducts a panCa bhuta pujA offering 5 kritis , one to each bhuta , to the panCAkSara deity the panCanadiSa pranatArtihara Siva of tiruvaiyAru.

https://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopi ... 94#p379794

The tiruvaiyAru Siva-Sakti also forms an ardhanAri, the concept of balance and Siva-Sakti union, expressed more than a 1000 years ago by the tEvAram.

The tyAgarAja himself acknowledges the tiruvaiyAru ardhanAri with the words “Siva sAmba dEhi” in the “Ehi trijagadiSa” SAranga and with “SambarAri vairiki ardha Saririni” in the “karuna judavamma” tOdi.

And he uses several other potent words for this conceptual union (parASakti, parAtpari, OmkAri, SAmbhavi, SivE ) in the dharmasamvardhani dEvi kritis to cement his vision of the conjoined deity of this kSEtra.

For similar words the post on the Dikshitars ardhanAri icons in the 12 kritis of 6 Cakras of the tiruvArUr tyAgarAja and nilOtpalAmbA navAvaranas can be seen..

https://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopi ... 15#p379615

Therefore it is natural to look for the connections that exist between the tyAgarAjas Siva kritis and his dEvi kritis in the tiruvaiyAru kSEtra.

Those connections are now described.

The 10 dharmasamvardhani kritis of the tyAgarAja are organized as 5 pairs
1. “ninu brOva” in sAvEri and “parASakti manuparAdha” in sAvEri
2. “amma dharmasamvardhani” in athAna and “bAle bAlendu” in ritigaula
3. “karuna judavamma” in tOdi and “innAla vale” in dESya tOdi
4. “SivE pAhimAm” in kalyAni and “vidhi SakrAdulaku” in yamunA kalyAni
5. “amba ninu” in Arabhi and “nannu kanna” in kEsari

The pairing is further confirmed when each pair is aligned with one bhuta (and one Siva kriti)

It will quickly be seen that the following connections emerge.

The jala bhuta (and the kAvEri river)
“ninu brOva” in sAvEri and “parASakti manuparAdha” in sAvEri with the madhyamAvAti “muccata brahmAdulaku”
The 2 sAvEris represent water., with their phonetic similarity to the kAvEri, the main river of the pancAnadi.
Indeed, the tyagarAjas gives a SEPARATE kriti to the river kAvEri, “sAri vedalina”… in what else…rAga a-sAvEri.

The prthvi bhuta (and the elephant)
“amma dharmasamvardhani” in athAna and “bAle bAlendu” in ritigaula with the athAna “ilalO pranatArtihara”
Here the riti-gaulA is the “walk” (= riti/way) of the gaula dEvi which is always elephantine, the gaja-gAmini.
The athAna rAga choice is explained in the post linked above.

The AkASa bhuta (the track of the sun and the moon thru the sky)
“karuna judavamma” in tOdi and “innAla vale” in dESya tOdi with the pantuvarAli “Siva Siva Siva yanarAda”
tOdi is the sun, especually as it travels thru the sky, as the god of all activity and life.
And pantuvarAli is the path of the moon also thru the sky.
Both the tOdi’s and the pantu-varAli form a natural set related to the AkASa bhuta.

The agni/tEja bhuta (the flame/lamp of enlightenment)
“SivE pAhimAm” in kalyAni and “vidhi SakrAdulaku” in yamunA kalyAni with the nArAyana gaula “darSanamu sEya”.
darSana always implies light and enlightenment. Indeed “vidhi SakrAdulaku” is also regarded as one of the tyAgarAjas darSana kritis…(really… aren’t they all)

Indeed, the word “kalya” is root for this light as dawn or daybreak.

Why is kalyAn/kalyAni associated with light and therefore agni bhuta ?

The answer comes from no less than the vAlmiki rAmAyana… In the aranya kAnda of the rAmAyana 2-7-26 where the daSaratha installs rAma at dawn (kalyAn) after sending bharatA off – a key point of the Epic.

apa vAhya sa duShtAtmA bharatAn tava bandhuSu , kAlyAn sthApayitA rAmaM rAjyE nihatakantakE

The vAyu bhuta (the purifying “wind” of tripurahara and also of the lion rider durga-kEsari)
“amba ninu” in Arabhi and “nannu kanna” in kEsari with the SAranga “Ehi trijagadiSa”
kEsari is the lion vAhana of the vengeance filled lion riding durgA intent upon punishing the evil and purifying the worlds.
The roar of the lion is of course “rambhana”, leading naturally to the rAga Arabhi.
And SAranga has been shown to be tripuraharas bow and arrow cleaning up of the three cities.

All are emblems of the purifying wind., the pAvanam.

Summary
Only an unimaginative fool (or worse) can attempt to deny the careful structure of the tyAgarAjas pujA to the Siva-Sakti deities at the tiruvaiyAru kSEtra.

An unfortunate disclaimer must also be made…

No one should listen to any of these kritis or ANY of these vAggeyakAras if they have contempt for any of the ideas expressed in the kritis.

The nAda-upAsaka rejoices in the gifts of the vAggeyakAras.

1. “ninu brOva” in sAvEri
b. SreerAm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B4Im99jK8Q
2. “parASakti manuparAdha” in sAvEri
sowmya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpWSiYxdZZU
3. “amma dharmasamvardhani” in athAna
S rAjam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk9DDiK8kwI
4. “bAle bAlendu” in ritigaula
niSA r
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhEL6EwN9KE
5. “karuna judavamma” in tOdi
mallAdi bros.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz1lfi9QIVQ
6. “innAla vale” in dESya tOdi
prEma r
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQLjP5hqQLg
7. “SivE pAhimAm” in kalyAni
Rk Murthy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm0VUZ2RSsU
8. “vidhi SakrAdulaku” in yamunA kalyAni
prasanna v
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_AW_bQQjf8
9. “amba ninu” in Arabhi
Bombay sisters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_hckrHfNcw
10. “nannu kanna” in kEsari
Bombay jayaSri
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbXIKPZvrtE

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

shiva kritis by tyAgarAjar
S.No.    Kriti    Raga    Tala
1    evarunnAru    maaLavashree    Adi


2    dEvAdi dAva sadAshiva    sindhunAmakriya    Adi

3    kOri sEvimparArE    kharaharapriyaa    Adi

4    muccaTa brahmaadhulaku    madyamaavati    Adi

5    dEva shrI tapastIrthapura nivAsa    madyamaavati    tripuTa

6    sadaa madin    gambheeravani    Adi

7    ii vasuda    sahaanaa    Adi

8    dharshanamu sEya    naaraayaNa gowLa    Adi

9    sundarEshvaruni jUsi    shankarAbharaNam    Adi

10    shambhO shiva shankarA    shankarAbharaNam    Adi

11    ilalO praNathaarthi hara    aThaaNaa    Adi

12    rAga sadArasa    AnthOLika    Adi

13    shiva shiva shiva enaraadaa    kaamavardhani    Adi

14    shambhO mahaadEva    kaamavardhani    Adi

15    nammi vachchina    kalyaaNi    Adi

16    Isha paahimaam    kalyaaNi    Adi

17    Ehi thrijagadheesha    saaranga    Adi

18    naada tanumanisham    citta ranjani    Adi


19. gaTTigAnu nanu ceyi baTTE dennaTikO bEgada    rUpakam

Read more at: https://shaivam.org/scripture/English-S ... #gsc.tab=0

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

http://thyagaraja-vaibhavam.blogspot.co ... -raga.html

Thyagaraja Kriti - Baale Baalendu -
Raga Reeti Gaula

Translation by Sri.V.Govindan

பாலையே! பிறையணிபவளே!
பிறவி நோயைத் தீர்ப்பவளே!

நெற்றிக் கண்ணாளே!
அறம் வளர்த்த நாயகியே!
பல்லுலகையு மீன்றவளே!
பாலையே! பிறையணிபவளே!
பிறவி நோயைத் தீர்ப்பவளே!

1. பண்பினளே! என்னைக் காக்கத்
தாமதமேன்?
முற்றிலும் தூயவளே! நற்குணக்குவியலே!
பணிந்தோரைக் காப்பதில்
ஊக்கமுள்ளவளே!
பொன்மயமான
நல்லுடையணிபவளே!
நமன் பகைவனுக்குப் பிரியமான
இல்லாளாக இங்கு விளங்கினமைக்கு,
இலலிதையே!
உனது மகவென என்னை
மகிழ்வுடன் அழைக்கவேணுமம்மா;
பாலையே! பிறையணிபவளே!
பிறவி நோயைத் தீர்ப்பவளே!

2. சாரமானவளே! அனைத்து மறை வனங்களில் உறைபவளே! மின்னல்கள் கோடி நிகர்
உடலினளே!
வான் மடந்தையர்
பரிவாரத்தினளே!
தீயோரினின்று விலகி
யுள்ளவளே!
கிளி மொழியாளே!
திருவையாறு நகர்
உறைபவளாக
விளங்கினமைக்கு இனியெனது
எண்ணிறந்த குற்றங்கள் யாவற்றையும் பொறுத்து
பரிவு காட்ட வேணுமம்மா,
சிவையே!
பாலையே! பிறையணிபவளே!
பிறவி நோயைத் தீர்ப்பவளே!

3. எழிலியே!
ஐயாறப்பருக்கு இனியவளே!
வான் மடந்தையர்
திலகமே!
தியாகராசனின் வழிபாட்டினை
நிறைவேற்றுபவளே!
கொடியோரை நடுங்கவைப்பவளே! எனதுள்ளம் உனது திருவடிகளை
எவ்வமயமும் நியமத்துடன் வழிபடட்டும்;
இராமனின் சோதரியாக விளங்கும்
சியாமளையே!
அறம் வளர்த்த நாயகியே!
பாலையே! பிறையணிபவளே!
பிறவி நோயைத் தீர்ப்பவளே!
..............
பாலை - 16 வயதுக்குட்பட்ட பெண்
நமன் பகைவன் - சிவன்
கிளிச்சொல்லினள் - கீரவாணியெனப்படும் பண்ணாகவும் கொள்ளலாம்
வான் மடந்தையர் - இங்கு இலக்குமி, பார்வதி, வாணி ஆகியோரைக் குறிக்கும்

....
Rendered by
Maambalam Sisters
( vijaylakshmi and chitra)
https://youtu.be/DyWssL5JwZs

.?Gist
O Youthful Mother - adorned with digit of moon – the healer of the disease of Worldly Existence!
O Mother who has (third) eye in the forehead! O Mother SrI dharma saMvardhani (name of mother at tiruvaiyAru) - the Mother of all Worlds!
1. O Mother of Perfect Conduct! O Supremely Holy! O Mother of virtues who is eager in nourishing those who supplicate! O Mother who wears nice golden garments! O Dear Consort to Siva! O Mother SrI lalitA!
2. O Mother who is the Essence of everything, found in the grove of all vEdAs, whose body resembles a crore lightning (flashes)! O Mother who has celestial damsels as Her retinue! O Mother who is far removed from wicked people! O Mother whose voice is sweet like that of a parrot (or O Mother who is of the form of rAga kIravANi)! O Mother abiding in the prosperous town of tiruvaiyAru! O Mother SivA!
3. O Charming One! O Delighter of Lord Siva – praNatArti hara (name of Lord at tiruvaiyAru)! O Most Eminent of celestial women! O Mother who fructifies bhajana performed by this tyAgarAja! O Mother who is the terror of wicked lot! O Mother SyAmaLA who is effulgent as the sister of Lord SrI rAma! O Mother dharma saMvardhani!

Why delay in protecting me?
You being effulgent here, You should now happily call me as Your son and show affection towards me by forbearing all my numerous faults!
May my mind always worship Your holy feet with diligence.

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

SULinah, the fig tree of the Gita and the tyAgarAjas ONLY rAga SUlini kriti to krSna --“prAna nAtha birAna brOva”

Post by nAdopAsaka »

SULinah, the fig tree of the Gita and the tyAgarAjas ONLY rAga SUlini kriti to krSna --“prAna nAtha birAna brOva”

In the Gita 10.26, krSna says “aSvattha sarva-vrkSAnAm devarSinAm Ca nArada

Of the trees I am the aSvattha, the sacred fig, also known as the SUlinah.

A version of the same fig tree is also considered to be the bOdhi tree central to the Buddha.

And once again, it becomes clear, (to the dismay of many corrupt duffers ) that the rAgas are being chosen by the vAggeyakAras for their relevance to the deity, purely from their word meaning.

The technical aspects swaras etc. are entirely secondary.

None of the un-imaginative music books , musicologists , (corrupt) academicians, or translators is able to grasp this basic fact....

The kritis and their music originates not from the swaras but from the pujA of the nAdayOgis.

The flute that pierces the heart

The use of the very first word as "prAna" is also key.

Usually SUla = the spear is a weapon of Siva, taking life = prAna.

Indeed the tri-SUla = the trident, is one of his key icons.

But in the SUlini kriti, the tyAgarAja wields the flute of krSna as a SUla !, piercing the hearts of 16000 gOpis !

He says so himself , “vEnu gAna mu Ce padiyAru vEla gOpikalu” , (padiyAru vEla) = 16000 gOpis captivated by the sound of this flute , this SUla of a different kind.

prAna nAtha – rAga SUlini

s rAjam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GplNT8J6p9U

n rAmgOpAl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzQjbwrQw50

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

எனது) ஆருயிரே! விரைவில் காப்பாயய்யா
prAna nAtha – rAga SUlini
Nice translation by V.Govindan


குழலூதி, பதினாறாயிரம்
ஆய்ச்சியரைப் பேணிக்காக்கும்
(எனது) ஆருயிரே! விரைவில் காப்பாயய்யா

வெண்ணை, பாலாடைகளினால், வேடிக்கை மிக,
கண்ட (ஆயர்) சிறாரின் வயிற்றினை நிறைத்து,
சிறக்க ஒளிரும், தெய்வ உருவே!
சின்னக் கண்ணா! தயவு செய்து, தியாகராசனின்
ஆருயிரே! விரைவில் காப்பாயய்யா

ஆருயிரே - தலைவி தலைவனுக்கு
- யாராகிலும்
....
1
Who named this raga as soolini!
Thyagaraja swami is referring to baalakrushnan.
2
Equating the strains of flute music and the spear weapon, is too farfetched.
3
Shoolini it seems refers to durgadevi in some contexts. How do we relate the child krishna with the ferocious devi.?

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Thyagaraja (the “vivarana” within the “vivardhani”)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

the “vivarana” within the “vivardhani”

In the only known kriti of the tyAgarAja in the rAga vivar-dhani, the phrase appears

vinavE O manasA, vivaram buga nE tElpEda..

where the tyAgarAja says “listen !, I now describe clearly the requirements ...….of the sAdhana/nAdayOga etc. that lead to fulfillment.

vivarana (= vivaram-buga) is the word for “description”.

Is there any doubt (except to foolish, unimaginative trolls) that the word “vivaram” is the barely concealed rAga mudra for the rAga vivardhani ?

Usually the tyAgarAja does not use overt rAga mudras (unlike the Dikshitar), although the effect of the rAga name appears in scores upon scores of his kritis as shown in many posts here.

The appearance of the word “vivaram” again shows the impact of the rAga word name “vivardhani” on this kriti...which is the ONLY one in this rAga.

It is not a coincidence, as some of these clueless fools are hoping for.

vinavE O manasA – rAga vivardhani

alamElu mani
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLLMGSPr9S4

geeta rAja
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sTV9eDcpC0

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

Why was the raagam named Vivardhani?
What are the moods portrayed by this raagam?
Are there other kruthis in the same raagam used to describe elaborately on anything?
Boh boh panditha idham srunatham!

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Thyagaraja (The rAga bahudAri , the word “bahudha” , the many-splendored lord and the kriti “brOva bhArama”)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

The rAga bahudAri , the word “bahudha” , the MANY-splendored lord and the kriti “brOva bhArama”

The tyAgarAja has only one kriti in the rAga bahudAri but it is more than enough.

The word bahudAri derives from the word “bahudha” meaning “MANY”.

A early usage of the word is found in the rig vEda, in the famous sukta 1.164.46…the relevant portion is extracted here

Ekam sad viprA bahudhA vadanti agnim
Meaning
the One who is called by MANY names (by the sages), agni etc...

In “brOva bhArama” the tyAgarAja captures the essence of the word “bahudAri” by describing MANY different aspects of the lords greatness..

pallavi
brO-va bhAramA raghu rAma
bhu-vanamuElla nIvai nannuokani
anupallavi
1. SrI-vA-sudEva anda kOtla kukSini uncukO lEdA nannu
caraa
2. ka-la-Sa ambudhilO dayatOnu-amarulakai-adi gAka gOpi
3. ka-la-kai koNDalu-etta lEdA karuAkara tyAgarAjuni


1. He who absorbs the universe in his stomach.
2. He who lifts the mandara mountain during the sAgara manthana (churning of the ocean)
3. He who lifts the gOvardhana mountain that protects gOpis.

The kriti is an example of “reverse psychology”, whereby the tyAgarAja extols the MANY (bahudha) strengths of the lord in order to gain some relief for the insignificant tyAgarAja…as in asking “brOva bhArama”… is it too much of a burden…

The entire sAhityam/context is driven by the meaning of the word “bahudha”.

And the sAhityam drives the music of the kriti.

No further explanation is needed.

The tyAgarAja has summarised the meaning of the word perfectly with his own nAda-upAsana.

None of the MANY = bahudha, pitiful translations has any clue of the relationship of the rAga word to the kriti itself that is being established by the vAggeyakAra.

brOva bhArama – rAga bahudAri

ranjani-gAyatri
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UvBVJLE1AM

Hyd bros.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri8TPbea-ec

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

jagan-mOhini – The universe that is captive to the 7 notes – the tyAgarAjas sOpAna (ladder) within “SObhillu saptaswara”

Post by nAdopAsaka »

jagan-mOhini – The universe that is captive to the 7 notes – the tyAgarAjas sOpAna (ladder) within “SObhillu saptaswara”

Every kriti of the vAggeyakAras are a nAdayOgis realizations and anxieties and pujA. They are an individuals worship.

Like scores of posts show already, each kriti has an intimate message, a core teaching which is inextricable from the rAga used i.e. the vehicle used to bring forth the worship.

And in his jagan-mOhini kriti, the tyAgarAja reaffirms that in the nAda-yOga, the entire universe is captive of the 7 notes.

It is now shown that “SObhillu saptaswara” conceals a sOpAna = ladder just like the stairway-to-heaven = the sOpAna found in the Dikshitar’s “pArvati paramESwarau”.

The Dikshitar sOpAna was first revealed in post dated 13 Jun 2023 … Post # 822 bAhulEya’s bA(h)uli-“Sri pArvati paramESwarau”– sOpAna/ladder to vEdAranyam's ardhanAri of the Mutthuswamy Dikshitar thread.

It is linked here.. https://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopi ... 63#p379463

The sOpAna within the tyAgarAjas “Sobhillu saptaswara”

sOpAna is a ladder, a "stepped" approach where each rung/step is associated with a different awareness.

In the (ultra short) kriti (about 20 words)....there is exactly such a ladder !!

pallavi
SObhillu saptasvara sundarula bhajimpavE manasA
anupallavi
nAbhi hrt kantha rasana nAsAdula andu
Caranam
dhara rik sAmAdulalO vara gAyatri hrdayamuna
sura bhUsura mAnasamuna Subha tyAgarAjuni eda


It is presented by the tyAgarAja as an avarOhana – a descent.

The ladder = sOpAna = stairway-to-heaven – counting down

7 = sapta-swara that are constitute the totality of the yOgis nAda universe and aptivate/charm his entire world = jaganmOhini

6 = Sat-ja - The 6 notes (Sat) that are born (ja) from the base or mulAdhAra note = the Sad-ja ..the 6 depend on the base note.

Indeed, in his “nAda sudhA rasambilanu (in Arabhi rAga) the tyAgarAja uses the specific name “ArunnaOkati" for the six notes that make up 6 of the 7 swaras.

See Post dated 04 Apr 2022 https://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopi ... 46#p375646

5 body centers where the music is “produced” namely "nAbhi, hrt, kantha, rasa, nAsa"
These 5 centers themselves rest upon “the mulAdhAra center” (just like the 6 notes derive from the basal note)

4 vEdas (namely rik, sAma, yajus and atharva ) constituting Sruti, the truths expressed by the words/Sabda.

3 sets (each of 8 syllables) of the gAya-tri mantra – (“vara gAyatri hrdayamuna”) …the mantra which gives meter/laya and is the heart-beat of the approaching nAda.

2 types of minds “sura & bhusura mAnasa”, who have the ability to comprehend this music. In the tyAgarAjas vision, even the “suras” are enriched by the nAdayOga !

The 1 “Subha tyAgarAjuni-eda” = the fortunate individual who attains the bliss of the 7 notes.

As an ArOhana, or ascent, the sOpAna describes the ascent of the steps

The individual , who is part of the 2-fold cerebral community (both earthly and heavenly), applying the laya of the 3-fold gAyatri “meter” to the words/Sabda of the 4-fold Sruti (vEdas), produces sound through the techniques of the 5-fold body centers and the technical knowledge of the 6-fold derived swaras.

But techniques and laya and words are NOT enough.

It is only with the proper basis/mulAdhAra that the 7-fold = sapta-swara nAda stage is reached which captures and illuminates the universe.

As the tyAgarAja also says in his famous hindOla kriti, this is the light at the summit = the “sapta-swara nAdACala dipa

200 years before Twitter, the tyAgarAja needs only about 20 words to summarize his own profound sOpAna/ladder.

But unlike the raucous babble of Twitter, the 20 words ride on the wings of the jaganmOhini rAga.

It is the nAda-upAsakas duty to understand and revel in the vAggeyakAras message.

SObhillu sapta-swara – rAga jaganmOhini

Rk murthy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyqi6qf9b0c

veena sAmbaSivam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLXP2vg0qQk

violin MSG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwrBWUtH4PU

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

https://www.sangeethapriya.org/tributes ... ithis.html
.
Saint Thyagaraja



Kovur Pancharatnam

Tiruvotriyur Pancharatnam

Lalgudi (Tapastirthapuram) Pancharatnam
Srirangam Pancharatnam
Krithis composed at Kanchipuram
Krithis composed at Tirupati
Krithis composed at Puttur
Krithis composed at Sholingar
Krithis composed at Tiruvayyaru
Krithis composed at Naagapattinam
Other group Krithis

Ghana raaga Pancharatnam
Sri Naarada Pancharatnam
...

Kovur Pancharatnam

Sl # Krithi Raga Tala Rendered by
1 ShambhO-mahAdEva panthuvarALi rUpaka Nedunuri , MSS ,
2 I-vasudha sahanA Adi Nedunuri , TNS , Sattur-Sisters
3 kOrisEvimpa-rArE Kharahapriya Adi TRS ,
4 nammivacchina kalyANi rUpaka TRS ,
5 sundarEshwaruni ShankarABharaNa Adi Oleti , Unknown ,
Tiruvotriyur Pancharatnam

Sl # Krithi Raga Tala Rendered by
1 sundari-nI-divya kalyANi Adi Satur , BMK , Padma-Narayanaswami
2 sundari-nannidarilO bEgade rUpaka NCV , Jaya-Krishnan ,
3 darini-telusukontini ShuddhasAvEri Adi SSI , MLV , Santanam
4 sundarI-ninu Arabhi chApu Vijaya-Murthy ,
5 kannatalli-nIvu sAvEri Adi Mysore-Doraiswami-Iyengar ,

Lalgudi (Tapastirthapuram)
Pancharatnam

Sl # Krithi Raga Tala Rendered by
1 gatinIvani tOdi Adi Suguna-Varadachari ,
2 lalitE-SrI Bhairavi Adi SPS-Disciples , TMK ,
3 mahita-pravrddha kAmbhOji Triputa LGJ , Bombay-Sisters ,
4 devaSrI-tapastIrtha madhyamAvati Triputa MSS , Lalgudi-Jayaraman ,
5 ISha-pAhimam kalyANi rUpaka PSN ,

Srirangam Pancharatnam

Sl # Krithi Raga Tala Rendered by
1 karuna-jUDavayya sAranga Adi Alathur-Brothers ,
2 chUtamurArE Arabhi rUpaka MMI , Rita-Rajan ,
3 O-rangasAyI kAmbhOji Adi SSI , TMK ,
4 vinarAdanA devagAndhari Adi Nedunuri , SSI ,
5 rAju-vedala tOdi rUpaka ARI , Radha-Jayalakshmi , KVN


Krithis composed at Kanchipuram

Sl # Krithi Raga Tala Rendered by
1 varadarAja swaraBhuShaNi rUpaka Somu ,
2 varadA-navanItASha rAgapanjaram Triputa
3 vinAyukuni-valenu madhyamAvati Adi Radha-Jayalakshmi , DKP , TMK

Krithis composed at Tirupati

Sl # Krithi Raga Tala Rendered by
1 teratIyagarAdA gouLipantu Adi OST , MDR ,
2 venkateshA-ninu madhyamAvati Adi Alathur-Brothers , TVS , G-S-Mani

Krithis composed at Puttur

Sl # Krithi Raga Tala Rendered by
1 nAjIvAdhAra bilahari Adi SSI , Santanam ,

Krithis composed at Sholingar

Sl # Krithi Raga Tala Rendered by
1 narasimha bilahari Triputa Vr-Krishnan ,
2 SrI-nArasimha phalaranjani Adi BMK , G-S-Mani ,
3 pAhi-rAma-dUta vasantha-varaLi rUpaka MDR , Hyderabad-Brothers ,

Krithis composed at Tiruvaiyyaru


Sl # Krithi Raga Tala Rendered by
1 amba-ninnu Arabhi Adi Seetha-Rajan ,
2 amma-dharmasam aTANa Adi Charulatha-Mani ,
3 bAlE-bAlEndu rItigouLa Adi Aruna-Sairam , RK ,
4 ehi-trijagadISha sAranga chApu BMK , SPS-Disciples ,
5 ennallu-tirigEdi malavaSrI Adi Rita-Rajan ,
6 ilalO-pranatArthi aTANa Adi MVI , Vr-Krishnan , TBM
7 innallavalE dEsige-tOdi chApu Malini-Rajan ,
8 karuNa-jUdavammA tOdi Adi Hyderabad-Brothers , TMT , Bombay-Sisters
9 mucchaTa-bhramha madhyamAvati Adi G-S-Mani , Mukta ,
10 nannu-kannatalli kEsari Adi TMT , Vijay-Shiva , Sowmya
11 nIvu-brOvavale sAvEri Adi Mangalam-Shankar ,
12 parAShakti sAvEri Adi CVB , MSS ,
13 ShivE-pAhimAm kalyANi Adi A-Sundaresan ,
14 vidhi-sakrAdulu yamunAkalyANi rUpaka SPS-Disciples ,

Krithis composed at Nagapattinam

Sl # Krithi Raga Tala Rendered by
1 karmamE-balavanta sAvEri chApu Sitaraman ,
2 evaru-teliyaga tOdi rUpaka

Ghana Pancharatnam

Sl # Krithi Raga Tala Rendered by
1 jagadAnandakAraka nATa Adi MSS ,
2 duDukUgala gouLa Adi Alathur-Brothers , Mambalam-Sisters ,
3 sAdhinchenE Arabhi Adi Mambalam-Sisters , GNB ,
4 kana-kanaruchirA varaLi Adi SSI ,
5 endarO-mahAnuBhAvulu SrI Adi ARI ,

:D Sri Naarada Pancharatnam

Sl # Krithi Raga Tala Rendered by
1 nAradaguru darbAr Adi RKS , SSI , Malladi-Brothers
2 nAradamuni panthuvarALi chApu MSS , TRS ,
3 SrI-nAradamuni Bhairavi Adi
4 SrI-nArada-nAda kAnada rUpaka ARI , G-S-Mani ,
5 vara-nArada vijayaSrI Adi MSS , TRS ,

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Thyagaraja (nAga-swarAvali – the trumpeting of elephants and the tyAgarAjas “Sripate ni pada”)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

nAga-swarAvali – the trumpeting of elephants and the tyAgarAjas “Sripate ni pada”

The rAga nAgaswaravali is yet another example of how the tyAgarAja uses the rAga word meaning to develop both his sAhityam and his melody.

“Sripate ni pada” - The short kriti opens like an elephant trumpeting as the heavy elephantine footfall of the lord fills the world (ni pada Cintana jivanamu) of the vAggeyakAra.

And why not ..

nAga (the word) itself means elephant.

Notably the tyAgarAja goes on to cite both Indra (who rides AirAvata, the white elephant)

as well as

the dik-rAjas, the aSta-dikpAla, who ride the aSta dik-gajAs, the 8 elephants of the 8 cardinal directions. (AirAvata is the one of these)

No vidwAn, academician or musicologist , of last 200 years ( including v. rAghavan ) has had the imagination to connect the rAga choice to the vAggeyakAras pujA.

Why ?

Because they are more interested in worshipping the technicians of the kutChEri stage, the “playback artistes”, who reduce the kritis to mere variations in air-pressure, stripped of the vAggeyakAras words, motivations, intent and worship.

So that there is no escape from this conclusion (especially for the old and young trolls), the kriti Is reproduced here.

pallavi
SrIpatE nIpada Cintana jivanamu
anupallavi
nE paradESi nA gAsi bApavE Canuvana daya jEsi
caraNam
rAjAdhi rAja ravikOTi tEja pUjinCi ninn
indrA dulu dig-rAjulai
velaya lEdA rAjillu SrI tyAgarAjuniki


There is also no question the phrase “nA gAsi” is the embedded rAga mudra for “nAga-swarAvali”, showing further how deeply the rAga word affects the lyric.

It is not a coincidence, as these fools would like to believe…(.that is if they even considered the words at all )

Yet again, rasikas forum becomes the platform for spreading the essential truth of the nAdayOgis musical legacy and upAsana, submerged so far by the cacophony of kutCheris.

SrIpatE nIpada Cintana jivanamu – rAga nAga-swarAvali

MSG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INMBC4vpmwM

gAyatri V
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtyPjy90eIU

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

Ravi Rajagopalan writes in guruguha.org about raga names.

...The assignment of such older names of ragas to the melodies of the compositions of Tyagaraja (such as Sarasvati Manohari) without relevance as to the identicality, was a post 1850 AD development. In fact, it is on record that Tyagaraja never revealed the raga names when he taught the compositions to his disciples and only much later after his death with the advent of printing did the assignment of raga names to the melodies happen. The effect was that in quite many cases wrong names came to be assigned to the ragas arbitrarily without taking into account the textual history of the raga concerned. Sarasvati Manohari is one such victim of misnaming whereby the older raga name came to be assigned to the melody of “Enta Veduko” without effecting a check whether the melody found in the composition corresponded to the scale of the raga as per grammar.
Ironically today so synonymous
is the raga name “Sarasvati Manohari” with “Enta Veduko” so much so that the actual or true melodic identity which is found in Dikshita’s composition “Sarasvati Manohari” is looked upon with suspicion!
And it has to be placed on record that this aberration which came to be inflicted on this raga cannot and should not be used to advance the proposition that the raga itself evolved by dropping N3 and acquiring N2, as we have musical history of spanning 1700 to 1906 AD
...
RSR adds

If this is the situation, how relevant is our quest for the naming of raaga, choice of raaga by the cojposer for his kruthi and its esoteric significance?
It simply diverts our attention from the music to mere textual acrobatics in shoe horning to suit our interpreration.

The real appreciation of musical aspect is not related to lyrics and theme.
Can we not feel the bliss of a kruthi without knowing the language, raaga name, its origin and grammar, name of the composer etc which are all exteraneous to the beauty of the music..melody? In fact that is true music appreciation.

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

The rAga “phala-manjari”, its word meaning and its meaning in NOT one, BUT 2 of the tyAgarAjas kritis

Post by nAdopAsaka »

The rAga “phala-manjari”, its word meaning and its meaning in NOT one, BUT 2 of the tyAgarAjas kritis

There is nowhere to hide from the truth, for the unimaginative, corrupt, narrow-minded and ignorant.

The kritis are NOT merely air-pressure variation patterns , devoid of language, rAga choice, and words/ideas/kSEtra and pujA.

Yet again, it is another rAga choice made by the tyAgarAja which illustrates how the music “industry” and ALL its conniving panderers, have corrupted the essential worship of the vAggeyakAras, who are individuals, sAdhus and nAdayOgis.

The word “manjari” is used for a blossoming sprout , in particular the “tulasi” plant, which is used in specific pujA to the avatAras of viSnu.

phala-manjari then is (obviously) the fruit of this pujA.

The tyAgarAja gives us not one but two kritis in rAga phala-manjari.

In “Sri narasimha” the blossoming refers to the avatAr/nectar rising from the sAgara-manthana.
As the tyAgarAja says in the kriti ”kSirAbdhi kanyakA ramana

In “sanAtana paramapAvana” the blossoming refers to the rAma avatar rising like the moon.
As the tyAgarAja says in the kriti “rAjAdhipai Anvaya sAgara , rAju nivai vilasallitE”.

i.e. rAma is “raghukula jalanidhi sOma”, the nectar rising from from the ocean of the solar dynasty.

Both kritis capture the essence of the word “phala-manjari” through these specific words.

No !

It cannot be refuted that the rAga word dominates the sAhityam and imagery, either in these 2 kritis or in the scores of other kritis of the tyAgarAja revealed already.

No !

The kritis were NOT written for technicians to sit in kutChEris, mumble through the air-pressure variations and seek applause from clueless “fans”.

The vAggeyakAras deserve better than the casual dismissal of their thoughts/choices/words simply because the languages they use are alienating to some.

rasikas forum is the platform where the truths of the vAggeyakAras legacies are being revealed, after 200 years of untruth, deliberate dilution, and misrepresetation leading ultimately to falsification.

Those disenfranchised by the languages should find other avenues.

Sri narasimha – rAga phala-manjari

BMK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlS8q5h1bg4

sanAtana paramapAvana – rAga phala-manjari

priya sisters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSWWlyBwXBY

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

https://www.sangeethapriya.org/tributes ... ithis.html
.
We can get full list of compositions here.
The list is unique because we can re.order the list by the raagams.
https://www.sangeethapriya.org/tributes ... ithis.html

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

mahima takkinCukO – the mahAtmas (= rSis) of the rSabhapriya mEla rAga kriti and its embedded rAga mudra

Post by nAdopAsaka »

mahima takkinCukO – the mahAtmas (= rSis) of the rSabhapriya mEla rAga kriti and its embedded rAga mudra

The 61st mEla rAga rSabhapriya (= ratipriya) shines in a different, ethereal light….basking in the glow of the nearby mElas latAngi and vACaspati.

Of course “mAra ratipriya” of the Dikshitar and “ghana naya dESikA” of kOtiSwara Iyer are the well known stars of this constellation.

The tyAgarAja UNAMBIGUOUSLY gives the rAga mudra for “rSabha-priyA” = the lord who is adored by the rSis/mahAtmas using the phrase.

vihita mArga bhaktulugA mahAtmulu, vElayaga vina lEdA svakIyamagu

translation
“has the lord heard of these wise men know to be his devotees, who adhere to the vihita mArga (the righteous path)

Once again, the rAga word name is seen to influence the sAhityam of the tyAgarAja ( to the dismay of all those who deny the value of the vAggeyakAras words and those fools who do not read/understand these words..literally or figuratively..)

Indeed, it has become axiomatic !!!...

mahima takkinCukO – rAga rSabhapriya

N santAnagOpAlan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSba5M2WEwA

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

From the blog of Smt.Anuradha Mahesh
..
Tyagaraja composed only three songs in Anandha Bhairavi.
They are ‘‘ksheera saagara vihaara’ (an ustsava sampradaaya keertana)

‘raama raama Sri varamu’
(a divya naama samkeertana)

and ‘neeke teliyaka’. Never heard the last two.
..
http://translationsofsomesongsofcarntic ... ihara.html
...
Last edited by RSR on 14 Aug 2023, 10:19, edited 1 time in total.

Pratyaksham Bala
Posts: 4164
Joined: 21 May 2010, 16:57

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by Pratyaksham Bala »

RSR wrote: 14 Aug 2023, 09:56... ‘raama raama Sri varamu’ ...
Is it 'rAma rAma nI vAramu' ?

RSR
Posts: 3427
Joined: 11 Oct 2015, 23:31

Re: Thyagaraja (Krithis)

Post by RSR »

Is it 'rAma rAma nI vAramu' ?
Yes. Thank you.
..
http://thyagaraja-vaibhavam.blogspot.co ... aramu.html
....
http://thyagaraja-vaibhavam.blogspot.co ... -raga.html
.
உனக்கே தெரியாமற்போனால்
நானென்ன செய்வேனய்யா?

பல்லுலகிற்கும் ஆதாரமானவனாகியும், எனது
உள்ளத்து, கொழுந்துவிட்டெரியும் துயரம்
உனக்கே தெரியாமற்போனால்
நானென்ன செய்வேனய்யா?

எங்கெங்கு நோக்கினும், எவருடன் பகர்ந்தாலும்,
எவரை வணங்கினாலும், எவரை வழிபட்டாலும்,
அங்கங்கு (அவரவர்) நீயாகவே தோன்றுதற்கு; உனது
திருவடித் தாமரையினை தியானித்தது
ஏனென, தியாகராசனால் சிறக்கப் போற்றப்பெற்றோனே!
உனக்கே தெரியாமற்போனால்
நானென்ன செய்வேனய்யா?

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

Re: Thyagaraja (rSabha – those who are the best and most excellent)

Post by nAdopAsaka »

rSabha – those who are the best and most excellent

The word derives from the rAmAyana as used by vAlmiki for Sabari describing her devotion to the most excellent/foremost of mankind = rAma.

It is used generically since then for all those who are the best and excellent .

Only a fool would think that the tyAgarAja is unaware of Sabari or the rAmAyana.

In his “rSabha-priya” kriti noted in post above "mahima takkinCukO", the tyAgarAja applies it to all mahAtma’s = rSis.

And rAma becomes rSabha-priya = rAma, who is extolled by the best/foremost riSis.

Sabari in the rAmAyana – aranya parva Chap. 74

अद्य मे सफलम् तप्तम् स्वर्गः चैव भविष्यति |
त्वयि देव वरे राम पूजिते पुरुषर्षभ || ३-७४-१२

tvayi dEva varE rAm pujitE puruSa-rSabha 3-74-12

Seen also in later stanza…”Evam ukta mahAbhAgah tadA Am puruSa-rSabha”.

Summary
Not only must there by gyAna Sakti , knowing what/where to look for knowledge

there must also be icchA Sakti – the desire to find out

and the will to act to complete the desire = kriyA Sakti

nAdopAsaka
Posts: 878
Joined: 20 Jul 2020, 17:05

The mukha-hari = darSana kriti “Entani nE varnintunu” of Sabari's vision of the lord rAma

Post by nAdopAsaka »

The mukha-hari = darSana kriti “Entani nE varnintunu” of Sabari's vision of the lord rAma

The heart-melting legend of Sabari has been discussed in post #522 of the Mutthuswamy Dikshitar
16 May 2021

https://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopi ... 71#p371471

in the context of the Dikshitar’s “rAmaCandra dAsOham” -dharma-vati kriti for its choice of rAga and theme....uniquely tailored to both the steadfastness of Sabari and the dharma code of the lord rAma.

The tyAgarAja is no less aware of the momentous occasion.

He enshrines with rAga mukhAri the fabled “mukhA-mukham” (Facetime) of Sabari with the Lord.

And he gives the broken down , decrepit old woman with her half-eaten fruits the status of a deity !

Plus he ensures the Facetime image and the direct rAga mudra further by singing “ina-kula pati sa-mukham”.

sitAs dharma code

The comparison to the “wives of sages” ..."dAntulu varakAntalu" suggests the tyAgarAja is thinking also of the sitA-dEvi’s (rAmas own spouse) unwavering faith.

Indeed there are similarities between the broken-down old woman, imprisoned by age and the frightened young one, imprisoned by suspicion, holding on to their ideals.

But there is little doubt that when he says “kanulAra sEvinCi kammani phalam..” , it is the tyAgarAja himself who is offering the sweet fruit !

Can it said (by anyone who is sane) that the choice of rAga mukhAri is some coincidence....

Impossible.

Entani nE varnintunu - rAga mukhAri

veena k.S subhASini
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2WovWYdE0g

KVN
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twIA-DTiZJ0

r rAja
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irmgoicjPfI

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