NaadhAmritha UpAsakAs

Announcement

2008-06-05T00:47:00.001-07:00

Dear Readers/Stumblers,

Raam Raam

This blog is defunct since 2006. I request the folks who stumble across the blog to read through the archives. No more updates will be made until further announcement. I thank you for your patience and your time spent.

Raam Raam

Sri ThyAgarAja sathgurum AshrayE

2006-10-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

Dear all,

I invite you to read,sing and enjoy the following small incomplete keerthanam rendered on sathguru

Ragam: atAnA
talam: Adi

P:Sri thyAgarAja sathgurum AshrayE, O manasa

C:madhuramaina su-swara gAnamuthO SriRAmuni pUjinchi, bhajimchi SEvinchina (Sri thyAgarAja)

C: thAmasa rAjasagunamulanu pOgOtti sath-SAthvika bhakthinu anugrahinchina (Sri thyAgarAja)

This krithi is best rendered after rendering sathguru "bAlakanka-maya" in atAna rAgam

AdiyEn
thyAgayya and rAmAnuja dhAsan

Request to all

2006-08-23T08:42:00.000-07:00

Dear All,

NOTE: If you are a new reader, please take your time to go through the archives.

Lately,I have not been able to spend much time online and as a result I havent been able to continue the E-Kaimkaryam of maintaining this blog.If any of you are interested in maintaining and propagating the ideals behind this blog, please email me- sathgurudaasan@yahoo.com. I hope to continue doing the kaimkaryam as early as possible, for which i would like to seek the anugrahams of the greats and the greatest.

adiyEn
thyAgayya and rAmAnuja dhAsan

Temporary Break

2006-07-25T17:36:00.000-07:00

Dear All,

Since, I am preparing for my homecoming, I am unable to update the blog. I request one and all to patiently wait for me to resume blogging in about 2 weeks time.

Thank you for your support.

adiyEn
thyAgayya and rAmAnuja dhAsan

Pancharathnam Series -JagadhAnandhakAraka - Part 1

2006-06-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

Dear All,

Sri SeethA lakshmana hanumath SamEtha
Sri Sathguru prAnanAthAya jagadhAnandhakArakAya
Sri Kothanda kalyAna pattAbhirAmachandra parabrahmanE nama:

(Let us all invoke the blessings of the one who is always with SeethA dEvi, Lakshman and Hanuman and
The one who is the Lord of Sathguru thyAgabrahmams life and the One who is the creater of all the Joy in this world.
The one who is worshipped and (enjoyed) as KOthanda RAman,kalyAna rAman and PattAbhiRAman and
The one who is none other than the para brahmam.)

I am very pleased indeed to invite you all to be here and read,enjoy and benefit from the series of posts that I will be writing up on from this post onwards, for many weeks and months together, on the great pancharathnams of sathguru thyagabrahmam. With the blessings of my mAnasIka guru, sathguru thyAgabrahmam and all the sathbhAgawathAs of the present and past and with the permission and blessings of Sri Oppilappan KOil varadhAchARi Sriman V. SadagOpa Iyengar, who has authored a 350 page book(monograph) in tamil on the pancharathnams of Sathguru. Not very long time back, the book was made available online for the benefit and the enjoyment of all. This write up will most likely be an abridged and a customized version of the monograph along with my own personal anubhavams. I am sure that this write-up will bring the anugrahams of Sathguru and seethArAmachandran to everyone who reads with/ without great interest.

Just as a reminder, let me alert the reader to please read the Pancharathna mAhAthmyam post that i wrote a few weeks back. (archived)

Before I start, I would like to salute all the great souls, both present and pAst.

EndarO mahAnubAvulu, Anthariki Vandhanamulu. (Of course, we will all learn the greatness of this krithis for which alone nithyArAdhanA can be performed for sathguru)

The first pancharathnams that our Sathguru composed was set to tune in the nAtAi rAgam , that symbolifies veerya rasam (heroism).

We all know that one main reason bhagawan takes an avathar is for dhusta nigraham (defeat/destroy the evil).In rAmA avathar the greatest evil force was present in the form of rAvanan, who was a slave of the ten senses. Thus, Sriman nArAyanan willed to take avathAR as a human by the request of all the dEvAs to defeat rAvana and establish peace and happiness on earth. He could have done that very easily just like he killed hiranyakasipu in narasimha avathARam. But, he chose to be born to Dasharatha Chakravathy (the one who has controlled to 10 senses) , slained the rAkshasAs like ThAtakA, subAhu and marEEchan, married SeethA dEvi, observed 14 years of vAna vAsam (of exile), sought for the golden deer that seethA dEvi wished for and while doing so , he lost his dear seethA dEvi to RAvanan. He then went searching for his beloved. While doing so, he blessed and gave mOksha to jatAyu, the great old bird and then he went to old shabari's hut, tasted the fruits offered by her and granted her liberation. After that he helped Sugrivan and got rid of his grief by killing his enemy VAli. He befriended the monkeys and then gave Hanuman the power to cross the sea, who gave sita DEvi, her Lords ring, comforted her and made her happy by chanting ramA nAmA. Finally , he crossed the sea with help of the bridge built by monkeys and fought war with rAvana and his army , performed abhaya pradhAnam(protection) to Vibheeshan and killed rAVanan by using brahmAsthram. He also offered his sandals to bharathan and removed his suffering. He also have absolution(ShApa VimOchanam) to Ahalya when he stepped on a stone, which was none other than ahalya who was cursed to a stone by GauthamA. This is real heroism, saving some one who can never be saved by anyone else. (sooran). Our sathguru introduces such a valiant rAman , his ishtanAthan as jagadhAnandhakArakan , the one who gives happiness to everyone in this world in his first nAtai pancharathnam.

In this krithi, there are 10 charanams with a pallavi and anupallavi. In this post we will discuss the pallavi and anupallavi. The charnams will be covered and completed in small steps in later posts.
Out of the 10 charanams , three of them have the mudra of Sathguru as "ThyAgarAjanutha, Sri ThyAgarAja sannutha and ThyAgarAjAthinutha" >Prof SAmbamoorthy says that

"This krithi in nAtai is a garland of panegyrics on Sri RAma, a Sangeetha Rahasya pradarshini ( Musical revelations) and as ideal for voice-training exercises. It is also a belief that this krithi and the ARabhi RAgA krithi, Saadhinchane were composed by Sathguru by the request of ThanjAvur RAmA rAo, one of his primary disciples. Sri rAmA rAo requested his guru to compose some krithis for bhagawath ArAdhanam(worship) and sthuthi (praise) and to fulfil his request it is beleived that Sathguru has composed the krithis and blessed him.

One of the less known facts about this krithi is that when the group of words praising the Lord are separated, one ends up with Ashtothra Shatha nAmAvali like

Om jagandhAnandhakArakAya nama:
Om Jaya jAnaki prAnanAthAya nama:
Om gaganAthipa sathkula jAya nama:
Om rAja rAjeshwarAya nama:
Om SugunAkarAya nama:
Om SuraSEvyAya nama: (Click here to listen )

Our sathguru has embellished the krithis with lots of beautiful swarAlankArAs. Prof SAmbamoorthy has observed the following

1. Starting from the third charanam ," Indra neela mani sAnnipApa" until the 7 the charanam "PurAna pursha" , the charnams start uniformly with "PA pa SA PA pasA"

2 .In the 8th charanam, when one hears the sound of the pranavA (OM), there is a UllAsitha Gamaka prayOgA ( a blissful tune) that rises from madhya shadjama ( Sa) to thArasthAyi ShadjamA.

Let us now start with the pallavi.

JagadhAnadhakArakA jaya JAnaki PrAna nAyakA"

Our Sathguru introduces his ishtanAthan as jagadhAnandhakArakan ,who destroys the fear and blesses happiness and to the ones who have come seeking his refuge, even when one has done so many aparAdhams (sins). He is the one shows no disctinction between his friends and enemies. For eg, he gave mOkshA to rAvana just like he gave mOkshA to jatAyu and simlarly he gave mOksha to ThAtakA in the same way he gave MOksha to Shabari. He is the one who removed the fear of the monkey king , Sugreevan and blessed him with happiness. He removed the troubles of Vibheeshanan, who sought his feet and blessed him with the kingdom of LankA. By killing rAvanan, he gave mOkshA to him and happiness to the world and beyond.

Sathguru, thus worshipped, SReeRAmachandran, the one who was born in the Raghuvamsa , the one who blesses and comforts his devotees like the moon and the one who gives happiness to the heart (kumudha pushpam) of SeethA dhEvi as
"jagadhAnandhakArakA, jaya jAnaki prAna nAyakA , hey rAmA". The following slOka highlights the same

SreeRAmachandra karunAkara rAghvEndra
RAjendra Chandra raghuvamsa samudra |
Sugreeva NEthrayugaLothpala Poornachandra
SeethAmana: Kumudha chandra nAmO NamasthE ||

When the krithis is rendered, the pallavi is rendered for the longest time with lots of different variations (sangathIs) . The sangathis are for us to enjoy the sree rAmachandran as myriad of ways. Everytime one sangathi is rendered, there is a bhAva attached with it. Each of them, allows us to enjoy sreerAmachandran as jagadhAnandhakArakan in a myriad of different ways, the gunA that is highly enjoyable. Click here to listen.

Let us go to the anupallavi

gaganAdhipa sathkulaja rAja rAjeswarA|
SugunAkara SurasEvya bhavya dhAyakA sadhA sakala ||

Here sathguru celebrates SriRAmachandran as the one who rose out of the Surya vamsa( SUryA race) and as king of all the kings.

In SandhyAvandhanam, the sun (sooryan) is introduced as parabrahamam.(AsAvAdhithyO brahma)

It is beleived that the one who worships the sun as parabhramam during the its rising and setting time will be blessed with everything (Taithreeya brAhmanam). SreerAmachandran is born out of such a race. The same emotion is expressed by hanumAn is Sri SeethA rAma sthOthram

RaghUnAm Kuladheepam cha,NimeenAm kuladheepikAm |
SUrya Vamsa Samuthbutham, SOma vamsa SamuthbavAm ||

In the next part of the anupallavi, our sathguru praised and enjoys his Lord as

SugunAkara SEvya bhavya dhAyakA sadhA sakala

He praises him as sugunAkaran , the one who as per , ramayathE Ithi RAma:, blesses everyone and makes them happy by his sathgunAs (SugunAS). This is also reflected in the following slOkam of vAlmIkIs

Tvam Hee sathya vrathasUrO:
dhARmikO Thrta Vikrama: |
PareekshyakAri SmrithmAn
NisrushtAthmA SUharuthSucha ||

He praises SreerAmA as the one who keeps up the word, the one who always stick to the truth, the one with unlimited valuor, the one who always comes to the right conclusion and the one who always remembers the helps of his friends.

In the next part, sathguru thyAagabrahmam praises his Lord , with such sugunAS as the one praised and worshipped by the SuRAs (dEvAS)

In the last verse, he worships him as "SadhA sakala dhAyakA" . The word rAma is made up of a RA and a mA. There are so many evidences about the benfits derived out of chanting this thARaka nAmA. In RAmayana written by the tamil poet, kamban, it is said that

"Nanmayum Selvamum nALum NalkumE
Thinmayim pAvamum Sithanthu ThEyumE |
Jenmamum marnamum IndriTheerumEy
Inmayey IrAma Endru Irandu EzhuthinAl ||

He says that , by uttering the "RAma", we will all be blessed with eveything auspicious even within this birth. Also, all the evil and ill luck will vanish, there wont be birth and death and will certainly attain MOkshA (Liberation).
Click Here to listen to the anupallavi.

(Will be continued)

With sathguru dhivya kamala pADha smaranams,

AdiyEn
thyAgayya and rAmAnuja dAsan
Sarvam Sathguru prAnanAthAya JagadhAnandhakArakAya SeethARAmchandrArpanam.

RAga Rathna mAlikache - bhAga sEvimpa rArE

2006-06-23T12:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

srI:

jai sathguru sWAmina:
jAnakI kAntha smaranam, jai jai rAma rAmA.

The 59th dasakam in the SrinArayaneeyam composed by the great devotee of guruvAyoorappan,srinArAyana bhattathiri goes like this

rAgasthAvajyAyathey hi swabhAvAth mOkshOpaya: yatratha syAnnavAsyAth
thAsam tvEkam tadvayam labdhamAsIth bhAgyam bhAgyam pAhi mAm mArutheshA ||

He says that all the gOpikA sthrees went to krishna bhagavan only with intense love and desire to be with him. They left everything else behind. Friends, relatives, wealth ,everything behind.
This is rAgA in its highest form. Thinking bhagwan as ones bharthA (husband)and this bhAvam is refered to as nAyakA- nAyakI bhAvam. This kind of intense desire towards bhagawan gives jnAnam and mOksham.(mOkshOpAya) whereas
the desire for anything else gives only bhandham (attachment) and pApam (sin).

Only very few mahAthmAS have shown this kind of highest for of bhakthi bhAva. SRi nammAzhvAr, Sri AndAL, Sri RAmAnujAchArya are some of the mahAns in the vaishnava sampradAya who enjoyed this kind of sAThvikA nAyaka- nAyaki bhAvam. A pathivrathA (a chaste and loyal wife) will always think about her husband when separated even while performing the daily chores. Just like that, these mahAns performed all the karmAs but were always immersed in thoughts about bhagwAn.

Just like that sathguru has melted his ishtanAthan, sriRAmachandran with hundreds of krithis in the nAyaki bhAvam. Not only that, he has lived along with sreeRAman and has enjoyed him as koThanda Raman , kalyAna RAman, pattAbhi RAman,bAlya rAman, vEEra rAGhavan, sharanAgatha vathsalan and so on. When he enjoyed him so and so, all the bhAvam and the RAgam came out as beautiful krithis shining brilliantly like the rays of the morning sun.

Here, in this post, we are going to enjoy one such moving and highly enjoyable krithi in reethigowla rAgA , which i heard and learnt from brahmsri TS bAlakrishna sAstrigals upanyAsm in tamil.

The krithi starts with a special gift for sreerAmachandran.

pallavi:

rAGA rathna mAlikache ranjillunata hari shatha (rAGa)

Sathguru says he is offering rathna mALikAS to sree rAmachandran. Being very poor, how can he afford rathnA mAlAs? Not just one rathna mALA, but hundreds of them. Also, there are only 9 rathnaS right? (navarathnAs).
Stop wondering! He himself says what are those rathnAS. Shatha rAga rathna mAlikachE i.e 100s of rAgAs. Each rAgam is a rathnamAlika to sree rAmachandran.One doesn't need to have money to offer these garlands but sathbakthi and sangItha jnAnam.

rAgam also mean intense love for bhagawAn like those of the gOpikA sthrees. Thus, he is offering hundreds of rAGa rathna mAlikAs representing 100s of bhAva rAgAs. bhagavAnukku romba Aasapattu pOtta rAga rathna mAlAigal. (These are the garlands of rAga that our sathguru offered to bhagawAna with

Thus singing sathguru's krithis without those bhAva rAgAs is like flowers decorating a dead corpse. Both rAGam(musical sound) and anurAgam (desire to be with god) should be present. rAga lakshana can be obtained by constant practise but anurAgam can not be obtained so. anurAgam can easily be obtained through the anugrahAs of utthamAs like sathguru thyAGabrhmam. Let is move further in the krithi.

When one offers us something, we should thank him for that and we should feel happy that he has given us something. It can even be a very small thing. bhagAvan showed this in rAma avathARa when he tasted the fruits offfered by old shabari and in krishna avathARa when he partook food with vidhuran. Just like that, we should feel happy and content when someone offers us something. Sathguru says that his ishtanAthan will listen to his krithis with joy. (ranjillunata)

The anupallavi goes like this

bAga sEvinchi sakalabAgyamandu dAmu rArE.

He invites us all to his little house in thiruvaiyARu to enjoy the darshanam of sreerAmachandran adorning the rathna mAlikAs. More importantly and rightly, he asks us to listen, sing and enjoy those krithis, which adorn his rAGhavan. He asks us to enjoy those krithis, which gave joy to him and to sreeRAman. Somebody might ask, sir. why should i do that? Let us see what our sathguru says.

sakalabAgyamandu dAmu rARE. He says that one will be blessed with everything. (sakala bhAgyamandu ). Another person is asking already, athu eppadi avar appadi sollalAm , appadi enna thAn irukku andha krithigalil ( what is there after all in his krithis so that one can be blessed with everything). Brahmasri TS BAlakrishna sAstrigal says in his upanyAsam that some of his gurus had the perception that "thyAGaiyer krithis la appadi enna irukku. rAma enna kaapAthu, avana kApathiniyey, athey madhiri ennaiyum kApAthu, deekkshithavAL thaan neraiya sollirkAr ( what is there in his krithis, RAma,please save me, you saved gajEndrA on that day, just like that save me too.Only deekshithar has told us lot of things). Let us see sathgurus answer in the charnam, which goes like

naigama sath-SAshthra purAna sahithamada

He gives a foreword on his krithis , "vEdam,shat-Sastram, purAnam, Aagamam " everything is present in his krithis. He doesn't have to tell us. It is there but we are not digging those things. We are digging only " neravals, swarams, rAgAlApanA,tAnam pallavis et al". We quickly sing the keerthanam and rush to the swaram part so that we can display our manOdhArmic skills and our proficiency in music, which we got only through bhagawath and bhAgawatha katAkshams not just because we did hours of sAdhakam. We seldom realize that the saptha swarAs emerge from pranava nAdham . By getting closer to the pranava nAdham,we also gain mastery over the saptha swarAS. More importantly, we get sathbhakthi and are directed in sanmArgA. Thus, the main ingredients of sathgurus krithis are the sArAms of those veDAs and upanishads and the rAGAs are just spices that add flavour to the truths that are bitter to an average samsArin. Just like a mother who feeds her child with healthy but bitter food by mixing it along with something that the child likes and by uttering sweet words, our sathguru feeds us those krithis rich in the true values of life, which are bitter to an average samsArin by giving it rAGam and anurAGam. Let us continue with the charnam

yOgivarulu Anadhamu nondhE sanmArgamata

We are all bOGis. He says that ,yOgis, who have sacrificed everything will forget themselves and enjoy these krithis.

bhAGavathOthamulu koodi pAdE keerthanmulata

These krithis are sung in chorus by sathbhAgawathAs just like the group rendition of pancharathnams. When such a group renders his krithis, the joy we get knows no bound right?

thyAgarAju kadathEra thARakamani chEsina

Why did he sing those krithis? to please us or his contemporaries? or to impress his contemporaries and to get name and fame? Not at all. He himself says, "ThyAgarAju kadathEra thARakamani chEsina" . For getting his ishtanAthans krupai to get closer to him and to attain vaikunthA( kadaithEra).

What a beautiful krithi? One has to enjoy the taste of his krithis word by word. Not just stick to the notes and do sAthakam to attain musical harmony,melody and perfection.

This article is 90% based on Brahmasri TS BAlakrishna sAstrigals upanyASam and I have added my own comments occasionally. If there are mistakes in this write- up, it is only because of my ignorance and all credits go to Sathguru and Brahmasri.
I have attempted to render the krithi, based on what i heard from the upanyAsam,which will, of course will not be musically perfect as a seasoned carnatic musicians rendering. I am recording and sharing the audo just to share my anubhavams. SreerAman will listen to it anyway:) You may download it here.

Having known the greatness of sathgurus krithis from himself , i will most likely start posting on the pancharathnams one by one from the next post.

Also, I have recently added a podcast(streaming music) to the blog. Some of you might not like the auto-play feature that i have enabled. If you are one of them, let me alert you that the sound can be played, stopped, and paused anytime using the XSPF player. ( located on the left sidebar) .There is also a volume slider to control the volume.

with sathguru dhivya kamala pAdha smaranams,
adiyEn
thyAgayya and rAmAnuja dAsan.
sarvam seethArAmachandrARpanamasthu.

Sukhi EvarO Sukhi EvarO! EvvarO - RAma NAma

2006-06-21T06:06:00.000-07:00

What will happen if you start uttering a word repeatedly even without knowing

Whether it is a mere sound or some thing else

What is the content of the word

What is the meaning of the word

What is the essence behind the word

This repeated speaking of the same word in simple terms is called japam, with a count. If without count then it is dhyaanam.

Generally it is believed, why believed, to a good extent proved also, that all sounds "produce vibrations" around that subject utterer [one who speaks that word]. These vibrations create to human beings a positive or negative benefit depending on the word, the nature of it, and the good and bad intention of the person behind that word.

In such a situation, when that word is the name of our pet lord, and the intention of the person behind that uttering is simple and pure devotion to that lord, will it not produce immense benefits for him, around him, and confer benefits through him to the entire mankind?

That "maraa" by vaalmeeki gave him the eternal fame linked with the epic raamaayaNam. That "raamaa" by saint thyaagaraaja gave him the very "su-darsanam" of the lord raamaa. But has this continuous uttering of raamaa gave him the "sukham" - the enjoyment, the happiness, or welfare to him? Perhaps the answer will be a big "NO" for he himself asks "sukhi evarO, raama naama - sukhi evarO". Since he raised this question in the form of a krithi, the question itself makes clear he is the not sukhi. Then who else was it?

Further question arises, if he is not the enjoyer - sukhi - why then he continued that repeated uttering - japam. Dear bhakthaas, if, he has not continued that, perhaps we, you and I, need not worry about this person, discuss his "point" of "who is the sukhi?", sing his krithi with deep devotion on that raamaa, shed tears singing his krithi or hearing his krithi. That is the benefit he got, the name and fame even after his physical removal from this world.

Now the full krithi.

raagam: kaanadaa taaLam: dhEsaadhi

22nd mELa karthaa kharaharapriya janya
Aa: S R2 G2 M1 D N2 S
Av: S N2 P M1 G2 M1 R2 S

Composer: Sri thyaagaraajaa Language: telugu:

pallavi

sukhi evarO raama naama sukhi evvarO -- (sukhi)

meaning: who is the raamaa naama enjoyer?

anupallavi

sukhi evarO sumukhi evarO akhila saaramagu thaaraka naama -- (sukhi)

meaning: Who is the raamaa naama enjoyer? Who is that person having the good face [as a result of uttering the raama naama]? Like the pupil of the eye that liberating naama, which is the entire essence of all - that liberating raamaa naama, the enjoyer who is it?

charaNam

sathyamu thappaka sakala lOkulaku Bhrthyudai dhaiva bEdhamu lEka

nithyamaina susvarapu gaanamuthO nirantharamu thyaagaraaja nutha raama -- (sukhi)

meaning: that naamaa eulogised by thyaagaraaja, which is truth and nothing but truth in the entire world, guiding all people, without creating any difference or distinction between different gods, the eternal, with good quality singing made permanent, the enjoyer of that naamaa, who is he?

The question in the krithi is some thing fantastic - who is the happy person enjoying the raamaa naamaam. Not only that sukhi but the sumukhi - one who has a good face? Dear bhakthaas, now perhaps you will be clear that he is not the sukhi - the enjoyer. But he has not answered this question he himself raised, just left it unanswered. Does it mean that he is not aware of the answer? One thing he made clear in this krithi- he is not the enjoyer but he continued to do that raamaa naama japa, for he said, realised that it is thaaraka naamam- life saving naamam. Is this not the real karma yOgam - just doing the duty - my duty is to do japam - not enjoy the fruits of the japam - but really not aspiring for the fruits of that action of doing the japam.

karmaNi Eva aDhikaarasthE maa phalEshu kadhaachana|

maa karma phala hEthur Bhoormaa thE sangO~sthva karmaNi ||

2 -47 of srimadh bhagavath geethaa.

Now the scenes get changed.

Scene 1: Read the dialogue, taking place in kailaayam, the abode of sivan.

Paarvathi - Hey - praBhO! aham srOthum ichchhaami!

Meaning - Hey lord I want to hear [from you]

Sivan - Yes, dear, what is that you want to hear from me?

Paarvathi - This is what it is - paNdithai: nithyam vishNo: naama sahasrakam kEna upaayEna laghunaa patyathE?

Meaning - These learned persons, with what easy means, daily can read the 1000 naamaas of sri vishNu?

Now the slOkam: [dear bhakthaas, you all know this slokam is part of the phala sruthi slOkams in sri vishNu sahasra naamam]

kEna upaayEna laghunaa vishNOr naama sahasrakam|

patyathE paNdithai: nithyam srOthum ichchaami aham prabhO||

Sivan - vara aananE! Meaning - hey charming faced lady,

sri raama raama raama ithi ramE

raamE manOramE

raama naama sahasra naama thath thulyam"

meaning: I enjoy telling sri raama raama raama, and thereby delighted to repeat that raama naamam. For that is equivalent to telling 1000 naamaas of sri vishNu.

Now the slOkam- "sri raama raama raamEthi ramE raamE manOramE

sahasra naama thath thulyam raama naama vara aananE"

Doubt no.1: Is it that the "raama naama sukhi" is no body else other than sivan? This doubt comes because thyaagaraaja asked the question sukhi evarO? and completed the krithi without answering the question.

Scene 2: The very first sargam [chapter] of the first of the seven kaaNdam - divisions - baala kaaNdam of sreemadh vaalmeeki raamaayaNam starts with

thapa: svaadhyaaya nirathaam thapasvee vaagvidhaam varam |
naaradham paripaprachchha vaalmeeki: muni pungavam || 1-1-1

Meaning: the sage-poet Vaalmeeki, inquisitively inquired the divine sage naaradha, who is

- the thoughtful person even in meditation,

- an eternally studious sage in scriptures [about the truth and untruth]

- a sagacious thinker

- a sublime elucidator among all expert enunciators,

- a man who is a composite in his form for all merited endowments.

ka: nu asmin sampratham lOkE guNavaan ka: cha veeryavaan |
Dharmajna: cha krtajna: cha sathya vaakyO dhrDa vratha: || 1-1-2

Meaning: vaalmeeki to naaradha - Who really is that person in this present world who is

- a principled one

- a potential one,

- a conscientious one,

- a redeemer,

- a truth-teller

- who is determined in his deeds

chaarithrENa cha kO yuktha: sarva bhoothEshu kO hitha: |
vidhvaan ka: ka: samartha: cha ka: cha Eka priya dharsana: || 1-1-3

Meaning: the question "who he is" is continued -

- conduct- wise blended with good-conduct

- benign in respect of all beings

- adept

- able

- uniquely goodly to look to

aathmavaan ka: jitha krOdhO dhyuthimaan ka: anasooyaka: |
kasya biBhyathi dhEvaa: cha jaatha rOshasya samyugE || 1-1-4

Meaning: the question "who he is" is continued

- courageous

- controlled his ire,

- brilliant,

- non-jealous

- by whom even the gods are afraid when provoked to war

Ethath ichchhaami aham srOthum param koutoohalam hi mE |
maharshE thvam samartho~asi jnaathum Evam vidham naram || 1-1-5

Meaning: oh! Great Sage [to naaradha], all this I wish to listen from you, for you are a mastermind to know such kind of a man, for immense is my inquisitiveness, indeed.

When this question is asked by sri vaalmeeki to sage naaradha, naaradha maharshi immediately starts pouring out the sankshEpa raamaayaNam. From slokam 8 to 97 of first sargam is an abridged version of raamaayaNam.

Doubt no. 2: The doubt now comes to mind - is naaradha, the raama naama sukhi referred by thyaagaraaja, for unless he has enjoyed that taste, he can not just start and pour out at one go that "raama amirtham".

Scene 3: Sreemadh raamayaNam Baala kaaNdam sargam 2 [chapter 2]

maa nishaadha pratistaam thvam aagama: saasvathee: samaa: |
yath krouncha mithunaath Ekam avadhee: kaama mohitam || 1-2-15

meaning: Oh! No! Hunter, you will get an ever-lasting reputation for ages to come, by which deed of yours, you killed one male bird of the couple, when it is in its lustful passion.

aajagaama thatha: brahmO lOka karthaa svayam prabhu: |
chathur mukhO mahaa thEjaa dhrashtum tham muni pungavam || 1-2-23

meaning: Then lord brahma, the creator and lord of worlds, that great resplendent four-faced deity, arrived on his own, to see that eminent saint vaalmeeki. [1-2-23]

Comment: The presiding deities like brahma usually do not arrive on their own, but present themselves after long and great effort on penance. Otherwise he visits the scene when demon devotees do a big hue and cry as is general. But here brahma, the creator of worlds, one of the three trinities arrives in front of vaalmeeki on his own.

slOka evaasthvayaam badhDhO na athra kaaryaa vichaaraNaa ||
mathchchhandhaath eva thE brahman pravrththE ayam sarasvathee | 1-2-31

meaning: oh! brahma rishi, the above verse [sarasvathee] is composed by you at my wish alone, and there is no need to think otherwise.

raamasya charitham krthsnam kuru thvam rishi saththama |
Dharma aathmanO bhagavathO lOkE raamasya Dheematha: || 1-2-32

meaning: oh! The best sage, you shall render raama's legend in its entirety, of raama, who in the world is a virtuous, godly and sagacious person.

vriththam kathaya dheerasya yathaa thE naaradhaath srutham |
rahasyam cha prakaasam cha yadh vrththam thasya dheematha: || 1-2-33

meaning: Tell the legend unknown or known of that valiant, ingenious raama, as you heard from naaradha,.

raamasya saha soumithrE raakshasaanaam cha sarvasa: |
vaidhEhyaa: cha Eva yadh vrththam prakaasam yadhi vaa raha: || 1-2-34

meaning: raama's legend along with lakshmana, and of those demons also in its entirety, with that of vaidhEhi, that legend which is either revealed or un-revealed so far.

Point: That sage vaalmeeki uttered a slOkam on seeing the male bird fell by a hunter and after that brahma "on his own" appears in front of that sage and says "on my behest only you composed that slOkam. Now pour out that story of raama", he also complies with that.

Later a slokam is composed to highlight the contribution of vaalmeeki and also to pay respects to him at the beginning of reading raamaayaNam as the guru vandhanam -

koojantham raama raamEthi madhuram madhura aksharam

aaroohya kavithaa saakhaam vandhE vaalmeeki kOkilam ||

meaning: My prostration to the nightingale vaalmeeki who cuckoos 'raamaa, raamaa' the sweet honey letters [aksharam] among the sweet, in the form of branches of poetry [srimadh raamaayanam].

ya piban saththam raama charitha amrutha saagaram|

athrupthastham munim vandhE praachEthasam akalmasham||

meaning: To that faultless muni praachEthas [vaalmeeki- son of prachEthas], I always prostrate, who did not get satisfied even after drinking from the nectarian ocean called raama charitham.

Doubt no.3: one thing is clear here - perhaps the raama charitham is not that sweet and giving the sukham like that of the raama naamam. That is why he is still a non-satisfied person- athruptha: and cuckoos the naamaa "raama raama".

This leads to the doubt, is sri vaalmeeki the raama naama sukhi said by thyaagaraaja? - For other wise how that brahma will come in front and say now you start telling that raamaa's story.

Scene 4: Now let us see the maaruthi anjali slOkam

yathra yathra raghunaathha keerthanam thathra thathra krutham hasthaka anjalim

baashpa vaari pari poorNa lOchanam maaruthim namatha raakshaasa anthakam

meaning: where all raama's naama is being sung [or told or spoken], there maaruthi [the enemy of raakshasaas] [or] who annihilated raakshaasaas, stands bowing to raamaa with folded hands in anjali mudhra, eyes completely filled with tears.

Doubt no 4:

Point: This leads to the doubt and question that, is he not the raama naama sukhi. But if he is the sukhi, why he has to wander where all raghunaathaa's name is uttered? yathra yathra raghunaatha keerthanam thathra thathra maaruthi. Further why he denied himself the mOksham when offered by the very raama, so that he can stay always with that raamaa in front, whom he now enjoys by going places.

Scene 5: Now let us see another krithi by another very staunch raama bhaktha.

"O raamaa nee naamam entha ruchi raa, Emi ruchi raa raamaa - O raamaa" says bhadhraachala raama dhaasa [BRD] in his krithi in the raaga poorvi kalyaani.

Doubt no.5: Since by time period BRD is senior to saint thyaagaraajaa, perhaps ST had in his mind BRD to state "sukhi evarO raama naama sukhi evarO?".

But as history goes, BRD suffered so much at the hands of the muslim ruler of that place where BRD served as the official, whereas that muslim ruler had the dharsana sowbhaagyam of two youths coming and paying BRD's dues to the ruler. These two are raama and lakshmaNa. This also gives rise to a doubt that may be BRD may or may not be the raama naama sukhi addressed by ST.

By considering the above 5 scenes it has become very difficult who is the raama naama sukhi? Also where to look for the answer? Now see another krithi of same thyaagaraaja

raagam: suruti 28 harikaambhOji janyam
Aa: S R2 M1 P N2 S
Av: S N2 D2 P M1 G3 P M1 R2 S

thaaLam: dhEsaadi Composer: thyaagaraaja Language: Telugu

pallavi

geethaarthamu sangeetha aanandhamu

nee thaavuna joodaraa O manasaa -- geethaarthamu

geethaa arthamu - the meaning of sri bhagavath geetha

sangeetha aanandhamu - the pleasure or happiness derived from music

nee thaavuna joodaraa - please see the path

O manasaa - hey mind

meaning: hey mind, please see the meaning of bhagavath geetha, the pleasure [or is it happiness?] out of music. [it is understood here that 'hey mind without enjoying these why you are jumping places?'].

anupallavi

seethaapathi charaNaambujamulu idukonna

vaathaathmajuniki baaga thelusuraa

meaning: The son of wind god [that vaayu puthran hanumaan] knows very well, who has the lotus feet of seethaa's husband, the great raamaa in his mind always.

charaNam

hari hara bhaaskara kaalaadhi karmamulanu

mathamula marmamula neringina

hari vara roopudu harahaya vinuthudu

vara thyaagaraaja varadhuDu sukhi-raa

meaning: That hanumaan is the enjoyer the raama naama sukhi -who

has the boon of having monkey face,

knows well about hari the naaraayaNa, hara the siva, bhaaskara the sun god, yama the kaala or death god et al closely

knows the work and secrets of all religions, the meaning of bhagavath geetha.

is the boon giver to thyaagaraaja

Points:
1. hari vara roopudu sukhiraa - monkey faced hanumaan is the sukhi - raa - the enjoyer.

2. It is also said that hanumaan is another avathaaram of siva - rudhra avathaaram - so siva who claims one raama naama is the equivalent of 1000 names of sri naaraayaNa is the raama naama sukhi.

3. hari vara roopudu sukhi raa - it can also be said that naaradha is also hari vara roopudu - for once it is said naaradha met sri naaraayaNa and asked a boon to have a face like hari -the vishNu - hari aananam - bhagavaan also said - ok, granted. What naaradhaa had really is also hari aananam - the monkey face. Then naaradhaa has to do a lot more to get rid of that monkey face. [For hari also mean a monkey, a lion, a tiger, vishNu etc.] so hari vara roopudu can also be naaradha.

See how nicely the question put in one krithi is answered in another krithi. Dear bhakthaas, Now enjoy the raama naama sukham by singing both krithis one after the other.

dhaasan,
Vasudevan m.g.

SreeRAma pAdha mahimA

2006-06-14T12:14:00.000-07:00

Dear All,

As I mentioned yesterday in my previous post, starting this post, this blog will also feature bhakthi-rich "sathguru krithi anubhavams" of Sri MG. VAsudEvan, an active civil engineer and Carnatic music rasikA who spends his free time in learning and enjoying sathgurus krithis. It is indeed a great bhAgyam to archive such devout bhakthAs experiences over here because this blog is a place to express and share ones bhAvam (emotion). In his first post , let us all enjoy the mahAthmyam of SreerAma pAdham, courtesty Sathguru and Sri MG VAsudEvan. The previous post was on bhAva bhakthi and here in the krithi for this post, we will soon discover that our sathguru has taken the bhAVam of VibheeshanA and converses with SreerAmA.

Krithi : Sree RAma pAdhama

Many bhakthaas have given verses glorifying the holy feet of God. Recently we also had a new meaning for the `adi' - feet linked proverb - `adi udhavgiraarpOl aNNan thambi kooda udhava maattaargaL'. - Even brothers also will let down but once the lord's feet is taken as the refuge that will help in big way. Adi does not mean 'beating' here. In this article we are going to see a krithi, which glorifies the feet of the lord.

raagam: amrutha vaahini thaaLam: aadhi
composer: thyaagaraaja language: Telugu
pallavi:
sree raama paadhamaa nee krupa
jaalunE chiththaaniki raavE [sree raama paadhamaa]

meaning: hey, feet of sri raamaa, your sympathies [or mercy] on me is enough, please come into [or enter into] my mind.

anupallavi:
vaarija bhava sanaka sanandhana
vaasavaadhi naaradhaadhulella poojinche [sree raama paadhamaa]

meaning: the lotus flower born brahma, his sons sanaka and sanandhana, the dhEvendhran, the other son naaradha et al worship you, hey, feet of sri raamaa --

charaNam:
dhaarini silayai thaapamu thaaLaka
vaaramu kanneerunu raalchaga
soora ahalyanu joochi brOchithivi aa reethi
dhanyu sEyavE thyaagaraaja bhaagyamaa [gEyamaa] - [sree raama paadhamaa]

meaning: that ahalyaa, who was turned as stone, who was the patience personified, could bear the heat [of her husband's curse] and shed tears in that stone form for long time. You saved that `brave' `stone' ahalya [by turning her back to human form]. In the same way let me also be saved, thyaagaraaja, has the credentials to adore you, [sing] oh the feet of sri raama.

Note: the word 'gEyamaa' is a paata bEdham - another version of krithi - meaning singing.

Points or comments on the krithi:

1. About the raagam selection: The raagam is amrutha vaahini - `a river of nectar', or an army of nectar. This is a smooth and joyous raagam expressing happiness -`aanandham' - a raagam without much twists and turns, and very matching for the situation given below.

2. Situation: VibheeshaNan, the noble brother of wicked raavaNan, when standing in the sky, is anticipating the final nod from Sri raama, for having accepted vibheeshaNan's surrender, since he is coming from enemy camp. As such he is anxiously waiting in the sky along with 4 of his companions.

It appears or becomes an `endless wait' for him, for, there is considerable argument between raama, lakshmaNa and vaanara congregation. The arguments are mostly against his induction and a small quantum in favour, and is led by the vaanara king sugreevan, assisted by his prince angadhan, and other seniors like nalan, neelan, jaambhavaan, dhvividhan, maindhan, et al [about inducting vibheeshaNan into the group of raama and lakshmaNa, or the army of nectar].

VibheeshaNa is meanwhile thinking `hey raama - are you listening to such talks well well - evari maata vinnaavO balee balee' - kAmbOdhi Krithi of thyaagaraaja.

3. Acceptance of his surrender by sri raama is the flow of nectar: Finally, the wise hanumaan speaks. Sri raama also rules in favour of accepting vibheeshaNan, he descends and falls at the feet of raamaa. At this stage thyaagaraaja places this song, as sung by vibheeshaNan about the glory of raamaa's feet, which accepts his surrender.

Hearing that he, has been accepted as a member of raamaa's team,
the descending from sky on a positive note,
falling at the feet of raamaa are all joyous matter for him

Or to put it in a different language - is all `river like flow of nectar' - `amrutha vaahini' - to vibheeshaNa. As such the raaga selection for this krithi is very apt. Please note the sri thyaagaraaja has selected raagaas for his krithis, which are simply beautiful and matching to the situation and the predominant expression - `rasam' in the composition.

4. On the lyrics of krithi:

vaarija bhava is lotus born - brahma.
vaarija is lotus - the feet also appears as lotus.
That `lotus feet' is being worshipped - poojinche.
Who all do that pooja?
bhava - sivan,
vaasava - indhra,
sanaka, sanandhana, naaradha, aadhulu ella.

So it is clear in one interpretation - it is brahma, indhra, sanaka sanandhana naaradha.
In another interpretation - the list includes sivan also. That may be a specialty here. [inclusion of sivan in the list is not mentioned in the translations or meaning given in books.]

Another specialty - vibheeshaNa says - how ahalya is rescued from the thaapam - heat - aa reethi - in the same way let me be saved.
In the ahalaya episode - raama asked visvaamithra - what is this place - why it appears so much deserted, a good look in this place also has the appearance that somebody lived here for some time etc. But suddenly from that stone ahalya came out. In the same way, why not save me?For ahalya, no formal request to raama from her to save her, raama has no knowledge on who is being saved, etc. VibheeshaNa thinks `why not in same way of ahalya, me also? But what went just now as I witnessed from above is a rigorous questioning and counters within the team. I am worried what will happen for raama is listening to all these arguments and counters - evari maata vinnaavO?'
When vibheeshaNan, standing in the sky, is called to come down to earth, since his asylum is granted by sri raamaa, sri vaalmeeki states [in 2 slokams]

raaghavEna abhayE dhaththE samnathO raavaNa anuja: |
vibheeshaNO mahaapraajnO bhoomim samavalOkayath || 6-19-1

[note: 6 is yudhDha kaaNdam, 19 is chapter or sargam, 1 is the slokam number]

Meaning: While the assurance of protection having been given by Raama, the highly sagacious Vibheeshana the brother of RaavaNa bent down and glanced the earth.

khaath papaatha avanim hrushtO bhakthair anucharai: saha |
sa thu raamasya dharma aathmaa nipapaatha vibheeshaNa: || 6-19-2

Meaning: The virtuous vibheeshaNan descended joyously from the sky to the ground along with his faithful companions and alighted in the vicinity of raama.

Points:

1. Even while descending from the sky, joy flows like a river to vibheeshaNa and his company - so, is it not 'amrutha vaahini', as for as he and his team is concerned?

2. In the website www.valmikiramayan.net the author says for slokam two above

papaatha = descended
nipapaatha = alighted
Whereas for same word 'nipapaatha' in slokam 3 the author gives a meaning nipapaatha = fell prostrate.
Of course Sanskrit English Dictionary gives both meanings.

But I will use the slokam 3 meaning here also, viz. in slOkam 2 - since 'raamasya avanim nipapaatha' means he fell prostrate on raamaa's land. For he was all these days in raavaNa's land, now he has distanced himself [as he himself says in following slokam], flown himself and landed in a different land, which is raamaa's land. So as soon as he landed, he fell prostrate on the land - fell flat on the raamaa's land - to get that touch of the land, the feel of the land, the puNyam of the land.

Like these days, the VIPs when they land in a different country or place, then they touch that land, kneel down on the land; give a kiss to that land. {as the previous pope did once when he visited his homeland, and this incident and the photo became famous}. So what we do today is all nothing new or without precedence. We simply copy the yesteryears. We do these acts, perhaps, even without understanding the significance.

3. The same can be interpreted differently also, vibheeshaNa landed where raama's feet were there [or where raama was standing]. For a person surrendering, the lord's feet are more important. That is why 'sri raama paadhama nee krupa' - so 'raamasya avani' is raama's feet for vibheeshaNa.

Continuing -

paadhayO: saraNa anvEshee chathurbhi: saha raakshasai: |
abraveeth cha thadhaa raamam vaakyam thathra vibheeshaNa: || 6-19-3
dharma yuktham cha yuktham cha saampratham sampraharshaNam |

Meaning: Thereafter, vibheeshaNa, along with the 4 demons, fell prostrate and spoke to raama the following words, which were equally suitable and delightful.

anujO raavaNasya aham thEna cha asmi avamaanitha: || 6-19-4
bhavantham sarva bhoothaanaam saraNyam saraNam gatha: |

Meaning: "I am the younger brother of raavaNa and was humiliated by him. I sought refuge in you, who is the refuge for all the beings".

parithyakthaa mayaa lankaa mithraaNi cha dhanaani cha || 6-19-5
bhavadh gatham hi mE raajyam cha jeevitham cha sukhaani cha |

Meaning: Abandoning Lanka, friends and possessions, I place my kingdom, life and happiness at your disposal.

Point: VibheeshaNa now introduces himself as to 'who he is, what he did before this act of surrendering, what all he expect out of this surrender etc'.
Here, it is also understood, 'hey raama, how you did that saving act of ahalya without any questions, in the same way you accept me also without much questioning.
Already a lot of discussions took place, which I also observed from the sky' -'aa ahalyaa reethi dhanyu chEyavE'.

raama also does respond in the same way, simply, by an easy smile and soothing eyesight on vibheeshaNa. See slokam of vaalmeeki.

thasya thadhvachanam sruthvaa raamO vachanam abraveeth || 6-19-6
vachasaa saanthvayithvainam lOchanaabhyaam pibanniva |

Meaning: Hearing those words of vibheeshaNa, raama in a soothing tone and with a refreshing look in his eyes, spoke these words.
[What he spoke is not relevant to us from the krithi point of view and hence not considered]

Point: there in the ahalya episode - the eyesight was set on the stone and the paadha rajas - raamaa's feet dust - did the savior act. Here the eyesight was offering the soothing comfort, the 'bhagavath kataaksham' as it is called in 'paribhaashai' -- and assuring words then flows. How was the words - lOchanaabhyaam piban iva - amrutha vaahini - nectar flowing from eyes and mouth of raama for vibheeshana to drink and be saved in that 'krupa'. Is it necessary to call 'chiththaaniki raavE'. Yes. For us it is necessary - to bring that scene into our vision.

Dear bhakthaas - realize thyagaraaja has just poured heart and soul in his krithis, word by word following the srimadh raamaayaNam as could be seen above. Is it thyaagaraajaa's bhaagyam that he has done such krithis or is it our bhaagyam to have such krithis form such a raama bhaktha. I feel it is our bhaagyam. So enjoy that 'raama' amrutham, raama krupa, as well the krithi in full, that amrutha vaahini.

Dhasan
Vasudevan m.g.

Many thanks to Sri vASudEvan MG.

adiyEn
thyAgayya and rAmAnuja dASan

P.S Please spread and share your experiences with fellow bhakthAs and bhakthins.

BhAva Bhakthi, pancharathnams and ThyAgarAja RAmAyanam

2006-06-13T08:28:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

srI:

In the last post, we enjoyed the greatness of the pancharathnams and the thAna varna paddhathi. We also came to know that our sathguru composed the pancharathnams for the quick upliftment of his sishyAs sangeetham and bhakthi levels. As we all know, our sathguru believed that an increase in levels of nAdhoPAsana should be accompanied and enlivened by an equal/ greater bhakthi levels. Keeping this in mind , he has blessed his disciples (sishya paramapara) and all of us with the pancharathnAs. All that is required from the practitioner/listener is prapatti, which will give rise to humility and bhakti. Our Sathguru has wrapped up the essence of upanishadic truths which are very bitter to an average samsArin in his pancharathnams and asks us to feep up on them just like a mother who feeds her child with healthy but bitter stuff for the childs growth by wrapping/concealing it with a tasty food(something the child likes).

One doesnt have to know about any VEda ShAstrAs nor should have done any tapas/ observe any vratAS/perform yAga yagnAs/ visit punya sthalAs. They all require a high degree of discipline and focus , which is hardly achievable to a common man in this kali yugA.Keeping all this mind, the great dAsas and AchAryAs have devised a simple way through sravanam and keerthanam by surrendering into the lotus feets of all dAsAs and AchAryAs. Our punya bhoomi has given birth to sishyAs who have revered the pAdukAS (sandals) of their AchAryAs more than the lord himself.

One should listen (sravanam ) to the stories of god like the bhAgwatham and rAmAyanam . One should sing in praise the glories of the lord. (keerthanam). Here "bhAvam" (emotion) is very important. For ex, when a mother plays with her child, she embraces the child,hugs and kisses him and utters sweet words. A child would love to goto such a person. This act is full of bhAvam. Instead, one might buy a hundred dollar toy from singapore/usa and give it to a child. The child will touch something here and there and breaks the toy within seconds. Will the child be happy?

This kind of bhAvam should be there when listening and singing the glories of the Lord. There are so many different kinds of bhAVams one can develop and express by singing krithis in suswara sangeetham. Seing god as the upanishadic antharyAmin, as ones own child, as ones own father/mother(thalli/thandri),as ones friend, as ones intimate lover are some of the ways to express the sanchAri bhAvA. Old parents usually complain about their problems to their children and not to any one else. A mothers joy when seeing her new born baby knows no bounds. Even greater is her joy when her child grows old and becomes a noble person.
Just like these one can express all kinds of bhAvAS by imagining god in different forms. This is not so easily achievable. Can we enjoy the beauty and the valour and feel proud for seethaRAmachandran the way kausalyA would have felt when she would have seen her son break the Shiva dhanu or the way Vasishtar felt when sreerAma wielded a bow to kill maricha or the way old shabari felt when bhagawan tasted the fruits she had collected for him.

A mother rejoices the way her son eats the food to her husband, "Atho pArungo annA, namba kozhandha eppadi nannA sAppadarAnnnu,pAvam romba pasi pOla irukku". (Beloved, look at the way our son is eating the food, poor fellow, he should have been very hungry). How then would have shabari enjoyed when empurumAn himself was tasting the fruits after he searched and walked all around for SEethA dEvi.

The lord is not easily accessible even to the greatest of the rishis. How can a person who is dominated by rAjasa and thAmasa gunAS enjoy such bhakthi? Our sathguru had enjoyed all such bhakthi and bhAvAS and during that time, the krithis filled with pRAsA (poetical skills) and su-swara sangeetham will start to flow from his mouth. He did not have notebook and pen to sit ,think and compose those krithis. One well known and often quoted example is the krithis "ElA nee daya rAdhu" in the melting AthAna rAga when he starts the krithi magnificiently by singing "Bala kanaka maya (O BAla! Adorned with rich garments!) ChEla sujana paripAla ( O Protector of the virtuous)shri ramA lOla ( O Joy of ramA(lakshmi)) vidhritha sharajAlA (Wielder of Arrows) shubadha (Bestower of Auspiciousness) karunAlAvAla ( Treasure of Companinon) ghana neela navya ( O sky like hued) vana mAlikA bharana! (the one adorned with vanamAla ),ElA nee daya rAdhu".

after he had a darshan of his compassionate Lord seethaRama for a split second in the thirumanjana veethi (street) at thiruvaiyARu at noon time. Until ElA nee dayA rAdhu it is all sanskrit and they can be rendered with meter and felicity even without music. Where did it all come from? After chanting Rama nAma crores of times and with such bhakthi, the devaThA called "prASA" and the saptha swara dEvathas all get seated in the tongue. He has described all the delightful qualities of sreerAman here. One doesn't have to read the entire rAmAyana thousands of times. Even if one does read it , if one cannot enjoy its essence, who is sree rAman, what is the use of reading rAmAyan?

I have just given you one example based on a wonderful upanyAsam of Brahmasri TS BAlakrishna sAStrigal. I wouldnt have done enough justice to the way he had given it in his upanyAsam.

Now, it is for enjoying such kinds of bhakthi bhAvams for a common man in kaliyuga, our sathguru has blessed us with the pancharathnams.

Some might ask, sir , "naa nithyam kAlaila endhirchu, andha pRatah-kAlahthila pancarathna krithigalai sAdhakam pannitA pOdhumA" (would it be sufficient for me to wake up early in the morning and before sunrise, practise the pancharathnams). Athukku pEsAma neenga Paal dippOku poi pAl vAngittu vandhu thirumba paduthukkOngO. (You can instead goto your milk depot for buying some milk and go back to sleep). FYI, especially in Tamil Nadu, milk has to be purchased early in the morning before sunrise)

Practising/ listening to the pancharathnams with the appropriate bhAvams (will be discussed in future posts) of each krithi will lead to the experience of other advanced bhakthi bhAvams as quoted above. Thus, the pancharathnams are krithis that cleans up ones mind of the rAjasic and thAmasic gunAS that are inherently present in a common man in the kali yugA. Just like one takes bath to clean ones body, practising the pancharathnams with the bhAvams will clean up the mind so that one can advance to higher levels of bhakthi. This should be done in a daily basis.

How to experience the bhakthi bhAvAS?

The bhakthi bhaVAs are nothing but imagining and enjoying the lord as ones child, ones friend, ones parents, ones intimate lover and the like. These are nothing but taking the roles of King dasharatha, Mother KausalyA, Brothers lakshmana and bharathA, sage vasishTA and vishwamitra et al, citizens of AyOdhyA, as king janakA, as parashuRAmar, even as rAvana (for eg, when rAvAna approached SeethA dEvi who is none other than jegathAmbAl , he felt to himself, Amma , please come and rescue me from samsARa( because no one else can do it for him. He felt so because he was a gayathri dEvi upAsaka,So when he approached seethA DEvi, he saw for an instance the jegadhAmbAl). Imagining as one child , lover etc in not sufficient. One should express it. How then would one know it? The emotions were expressed as beautiful krithis in the case of our sathguru and this is what brahmasri T.S bAlAkrishna sAstrigal, a great devotee of Sathguru thyAgaybrahmam had rendered upanyAsams on so many times during his life time as "ThyAgarAja rAmAyanam". Being a great devotee of sri Rama, unlike other rAma bhakTas like tulasi dAs et al, it is often believed that sathguru didnt write a version of rAmayanAm ,which is untrue. Sathguru is considered as Sage vAlmiki's amsam. He is known as the AdhikaVi and rAmayanam is aAdhikAvyam(first poem).Sage VAlmiki rendered RAmAyanam with a flow after chanting crores of rama nAma. Just like that the sathguru rendered his krithis with a flow as he enjoyed being the differnt characters in rAmAyanA. Listening and practises such krithis with sathbhakthi will bring such a nearness to SreerAman and will give all the benefits of <b>RAmAyana pARAyanam (FYI, Parayanam is the repetition of any scripture or sacred words with complete concentration.) Such perception of sathgurus krithis were not well known until Brahmasri Sri TS Balakrishna sAstrigal gave upanyAsams in temples on thyAgarAja rAmAyanam for days together. Here is an abridged biography of him

--quote--

A retired Senior Executive of State Bank of India, Brahmasri Sastrigal started learning the wide spectrum of fundamentals required for performing Harikatha at the very tender age of 8 under the guidance of his father, himself a doyen in Puranic Upanyasakams called Brahmasri Sambamoorthi Ganapaadigal. The training included Vedas, Puranas, Sastras, Karnatic Music, and Multiple Languages like Tamil, Telugu, Sanskrit, Malayalam, Kanada and English.

His Tyagaraja Ramayana discourse is worth listening to a thousand times, such was his repertoire of the saint's kriti-s. His explanations and illustrations attracted pundit and illiterate alike.

Honours :
' 'Sat Kathamrita Kalanidhi & Bharat Kesari - Sri Sankaracharya of Kanchipuram
"'Bala Vyasa' - Sri Sankaracharya of Sringeri
'Harikatha Ratnakara - Sri Sankaracharya of Kanchi & Sringeri
Kalaimamani - Tamil Nadu Eyal Isai Nataka Mandram
'Sangita Kala Sikhamani' - Indian Fine Arts Society
'Gayaka Sikhamani' - Sabhas of Bombay
'Madhura Kala Praveena'

--Unquote--

Very recently, a punyavAn had uploaded and shared 10 volumes of Brahmasris "tyAgarAja rAmAyanam" (more than 10 hours). Brahmasri upanyAsams are all in Tamil, the native language of tamil nadu. You can download all othem from here .

Thus, Brahmasri always recommended to sing those krithis (krithis from thyAgarAja rAmyanam) during thyAgarAja utsavams instead of the pancharathnams because the best way to remember sathguru is to listen and render the krithis that our sathguru liked the most. The pancharathnams are for us and are supposed to be practised and listened daily not only on bahula panchamis/ other thyAgarAja utsavams.

I have one more pleasant information to share with you. Starting next post, I will also include articles on sathguru's krithis as experienced by another rasika who is devoted to carnatic music (esp our sathgurus). His name is M.G VAsudEvan. He is a civil engineer in active service and he has already been contributing to the "Raama bhakthi" yahoo groups and www.karnatik.com . He has agreed to be a co-author of this blog. By this way, the readers can enjoy more of sathgurus krithis in a more frequent basis. He also writes on the krithis of devout krishna bhakta sri Oothukkadu VEnkata kavi. I am sure that this will add to another bhakthi rasA.

EndharO mahAnubAvulu, Anthariki Vandanamulu

with sathguru dhivyakamala pAda smaranams,
adiyEn
thyAgayya and rAmAnuja dASan.

Pancharathna MahAthmyam

2006-06-02T15:21:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

srI:

I concluded my previous post by stressing the greatness of the pancharathna krithis as the quickest and the easiest way to enjoy rAmabhakthi along with sathguru thyagabrahmam and his blessings. Only if one yearns for such a rare gift, the pancharathnams are always available to a person skilled/unskilled,vocally trained/untrained and to even the greatest of the sinners because the pancharathnams were specifically created by sathguru for the sake of his disciples with full mercy. His discilples are not only his direct disciples belonging to the 3 schools(umayAlpuram, thillaisthAnam and wAlllajAhpet) but also the whole sishya parampara(familiy of discliples) and in fact to everyone who doesn't know the sanmArgam (righteous path).

PancharathnAs - Five gems that glorify the Seven sWarAs.

Usually it takes years of vocal training to become a great carnatic music vidwAn/vidushi. The great vidwAns/vidushis of the past were able to achieve mastery over the sapthaswarAs by doing sAdhakAm (practise) at least 8-10 hrs everyday and even with such practise only after many decades they were able to become maestros. By soaking us with krithis in su-swara sangeetham they allow us to enjoy good music. They have gained wide recognition and they were all given titles like sangeetha
kalAnidhi,padmasri et al. That is the greatest influence they have had upon the society. The great musicians of the lore (during thyaGayyaS period) have been forgotton but we still remember thyagayyA and pay homage to him at least on every bahula panchami day. This is because he was a mahAnubAvar. He enlightened us on what could be achiveable through naadhOpasanA with sathbakthi.

Our sathguru composed the pancharathnams for 2 reasons.

1. His contemporaries were doubting his musical skills. In fact , some of his contemporaries who were experts manodharmists(skilled in rAGa alApana) , who were not able to see the greatness of Sathgurus krithis considered his krithis as "light poetry".

2. Some of his dicliples requested our sathguru to compose a set of krithis to advance their musical skills.

Thus , with both the above mentioned thoughts in mind, our sathguru decided to compose the five pancharathnams rich in musical,philospohical and lyrical depth and beauty so that he could change the perception of his contemporaries by showing them what is true sangeetham and at the same time bless his disciples with krithis that would not only enhance their musical skills but also educate them the righteous and royal path leading to rAma bhakthi sAmrAjyam.

Prof P SAmbamoorthy has described the greatness of such pancharathnams as given below

--quote--

"The pancharathnam,(five gems) in the ghana rAgAs,nAta,Gaula, Arabhi,VarAli and Sri rAgA- is the ThyAgarAjA's most scholarly contribution to SOuth Indian music. There is nothing to surpass them from the point of view od richness of musical composition or the flowing character of the SAhityA. His talent for conceiving melodies of variefated beauty, interwoven with phrases of sparkling designs is seen clearly in these pieces. Even ragas of admittedly limited scope like Gaula become major rAGAs in his hands. The pancharathnam has earned for him universal admiration Lofty heights have been reached in the sphere of Sangita Kavitham in these compositions. The sAhithyAs herein are noted for their fine poetic imagery.These five compositions serve to reveal the depth of his learning and his gifts in Sanskrit and Telugu.
To the student of RAga and rasa, these compositions are monumental examples to show how such feeligns as rapture, self-introspection,prudence, admiration , sustained joy and humility resulting from the recognition of greatness in others could effectively
portrayed by particular rAgAs and special phrases in them. The pancharathnams has powerful appeal.A high degree of technical skill is required to render them. They constitute fine examples of musical architectures. They are noted for their peerlessness."

--unquote--

Thus for obtaining greatness in carnatic music, the practise of the pancharthanams is the best and the easiest way. It is my belief that the practise of pancharathnams each and every prAthah kAlam (early morning) before sunrise after taking shower will help the CM aspirant advance quickly in carnatic music. That's not it.The icing on the cake is yet to come.

The greatness of TAnavArna paddhathi

Our sathguru chose the thAnavarna padhathi(style) for his pancharathnams. The thAnavarna padhathi is the recommended style for musical pracitce and are typically set in madhyama (middle) or duritha(fast) kAlA/tempo. There are 2 reasons for him to choose the thAnavarna padhathi.

1. He is a skilled vainika. This fact is not known to many people. He
used to play the poojArka veena in the thAna style. After knowing his Veena skills, his popular discliple, sri veena kuppaiyer, did not even say to his guru that he also knew to play veena for several years. There are 2 important skills a good vainika should have.

1. The usage of gamaka
2. The skill in thAna style.

So, what is this thAna/thAnam style?

The name "thaanam" comes from a false splitting of anantham repeated.The thAnam is a form of improvisation originally developed for the veena and consists of repeating the word anantham ("endless") in an improvised tune.The laws of sandhi dictate that the consonant at the end of the first word be dropped, hence "ananthaanantham". When the rule is applied to a long string of ananthams, you get

"ananthaananthaananthaananthaa..." which got falsely split as

"thaananthaananthaanan...", or "thaanamthaanamthaanam...".

This thAna is a sangeetha sampradAya that is used to glorify the universal form of god as "Endless thou art"(Anantham tvam).Both the Veda SamhithAs and the sageetha sampradAyam are 2 ways to worship God. That is why, sangeetham is called as "upa-vEdam". Both the vEdAs and the sangEethA represent the forms of God (nAdha and thAna roopams).

By knowing ,understanding the secrets behind the vEda samhithAs and for imprinting those tathvAs the AChAryAs (refered as GhanapAdis) use Ghanam and they show this way to their disciples. Just like that the great NAdhOpAsakAs like sathguru thyAgabrahmam use/recommend the ThAna varnAs for imprinting the meaning behind the krithis and the musical subtleties.

For having accelerated success in vEda SamhithA and Sangeetha jNAnA, both Ghana pAtam and ThAna varnam are higly important.The similarities between the above mentioned abhyAsAs(practises) are skillfuly identified by John Barlow and VeeNai Nageswara Rao:

--quote--

The endlessness (anantham tvam ) reflects that manner
of reciting a chant , which involves the breaking up of a text
into syllables and the subsequent reordering of them in all
combinations , both as a means of obtaining mastery over
the sound (aural ) system of the chant and of acquring insight
into the truths behind the text . This technique is known as Ganam.
This technique of ganam and the resulting rhythm through
the singing of taana varNams represent an instrumentalization
of the voice , that is , an emphasizing of the articulative
possibilities of the vocal apparatus( the consonants of
the language) at the expense of the tonal capabilities
(vowels and diphthongs ).The hierarchical rhythymic
structure known as taanam (based on gana gaanam of vedic
tradition ) consists of melodic lines built up over a
constant pulse from short phrases of 2 or 3 beats in
length ...... from these building blocks , larger architectonic
units (melodic lines , sections ) are shaped. The(musical )
phrases , when properly ordered , acquire a vector-like
quality , which points towards silence. This silence is
a positive rhythymic entity ,somewhat akin to a cadence , but
with its temporal force removed . This silence is both the end
of the preceding line or section and the beginning of
the following , just as the ultimate in musical control
is the mastery of silence , so silence is the resolution of
the endlessness(anantham ) of taanam "

This is the central goal of naadhOpaasanaa and nirvikalpa samaadhi , where Raama chaitanyaas like Saint Thyagaraaja are deeply immersed and have bhagavadh saakshaathkaaram and experience samslesham and vislesham (union and separation from the Lord ) and experience rapture during the sambhogam and despair during the occasions of the loss of that experience .

--unquote--

Thus by practising the pancharathna krithis with the above mentioned tathvams , one would not only progress in nAdhOpAsanA but more importantly it will bring all kinds of ShREyas with the blessing of Sathguru and that is exaclty why our sathguru has blessed us with the pancharathnAs not just to pay homage to him on bahula panchamIs. If one practises the pancharathnAs with bhakthi and shradhA , there is absolutely no doubt that SAtghuru ThyAgabrahmam will be along with us always and shower his blessings.

A Quick note about the RAga selection

Our sathguru chose the ghAna rAgAs (nAtai,gaulai,Arabhi,varAli and sri) for his pancharathnAs. The ghana rAgAs are known to be conducive to the ThaAnA style of music as discussed above. VainikAs always practise ghana RagA thAnams to gain mastery over the instrument.More imporatntly , the rAgAs very perfectly suit the bhakti ,sangeetha and sAhitha bhAvAs of each of the pancharathnams

The majestic nAtai pancharathnam, "jagadhAnandhakArakA " ,is a nAmAvali of 108 verses composed and set to tune by our sathguru to invoke the blessings of sreerAmachandran by performing sangeethOrchana and abhishEka.

The pancharathnam "Dudukugala" is set to tune in the self-remonstrative "Gaulai" raGA.

The next one , "SAdhinchanE" is set to tune in one of sAthgurUs favorite RAgAs, i.e Arabhi expressing how the leelAs of God have to be enjoyed and pleading and teasing him to show mercy upon us.

The fourth pancharathnam set to tune in the varAli rAGam clearly brings to life the kind of intense love a bhaktha should have for "RAma darshanam".

And finally, the sri rAga pancharathnam performs nAdhObhishEkam to all the mAhAnubAvars, bhAgawathAs and AchaRyAS.

I will be writing more and more on the pancharathnams in the upcoming
posts. There is so much to learn and enjoy as one goes deeper and and deeper into pancharathna territory, the territory ruled by rAma and sathguru bhakthi. I once again take pleasure to invite you all to be part of it and experience it with me only with the blessing of my ishtanAthan and mAnasikA guru, sathguru thyAgabrahmam.

Primary credit goes to his katAksham for he has made me not only to experience the greatness of pancharathnams but also to share them with you. SEcondly, I would like to thank Sri Oppiliappan Koil varAdAchAri Sri V.sadagOpan for happily granting me permission to use content from his Tamil book featuring 350+ pages on the pancharathnams.

with sathguru dhivya kamala pAdha smaranams,
adiyEn,
thyAgayya and rAmAnuja dAsan

Nithya PancharathnOthsavam

2006-05-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

It is my long time wish to write up on the pancharathnams of Sathguru thyAgarAja.

Starting from the next post, we are going to learn, listen and enjoy the greatest of the krithis of Sathguru thyAga-brahmam , which are very appropriately named as "pancharathnams" (five gems). Now, let me introduce you all to the pancharathnams as i view them. Before presenting my view, let me quickly give a brief general introduction. The pancharathna krithis are five ghana Raga krithis( Naatai, Gowlai,Arabhi,varAli and sri) of sathguru thyAgabrahmam.

The pancharathnams are not merely krithis of scinitilating vintage carnatic music that are rendered by a group of vidwAns and vidUshis on a bahula panchami day( the day sathguru attained the abode of srirAma). The pancharathnams are five sparkling gems that glitter with glory the greatness of Sathguru, his bhakthi, his jnAnam,his humility, his compassion and his respect,admiration for all the true bhAgawathAs and jnAnis who are like the honey bees relishing the honey-laden lotus flower of SreeRAmachandran.

Sathguru ThyAgabrahma ArAdhanA celebrated in ThiruvaiyAru draws people from all over the world (not just india). The musical grandeur that many people enjoy a great lot (with/without knowing ) is just the result of the music produced when the gems exemplifying his greatness jingle together. It is for the sake of the future generations , our sathguru has given the shape of truly peerless musical anubhavA to represent the gem of his qualities of bhagawath and BhAgawatha bhakthi (gem1), his humility (gem2), his compassion (gem3) and the jnAnam (gem4) that he had acquired through the anugRahAs of his guru,poorvAcharyAs and all the DAsAs and his musical talents (gem5) that he again was gifted because of the other four gems and because he considered nAdha-brahmam as his prAnanAthan-SriRAmabrahmam. Just like all the true bhakthAs and bhAgawathAs worship and relish the visual form of God, sathguru thyAgabrahmam worshipped and relished the sound form of God (Naadhabrahmam). He was always immersed in the athi-ramaneeya rAma roopam and nAdham.

Few knowledgeable persons of the past and the present were/are aware and have even written hundreds of pages on the thousands of upananishadic truths that are slyly wrapped outside by best of the worlds music hidden to an average "music-enthusiast".A true music admirer is a person who admires more than the music the person who created the music. Without such admiration and devotion coming right from the heart, those truths will be kept hidden. Just for the information of the reader that SriOppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri sri sadAgOpan has written a 350+ page book just on the pancharathna krithis. Unfortunately, most of the content in the book are accessible only to readers who know Tamil. So, for the benefit of everyone, I will use references from his book as and when needed.

In this complex and confused world ,people are struggling to know what is TRUTH, where is eternal peace or in other words where is God. Confused by the upanishidic statements like "Tath Tvam ASi" et al that applies only to jnAnis like sukha-brahmam, some people even goto the extent by using those facts that they got to know by skimming the upanishadic translations and they engage in discussions like if god is everywhere "Why should have to worship this that et al"? Why all this is needed?. Some people are complete atheists. Of course , there are humpty number of peoples with differnet kinds of views.

Another set of people are arguing upon the correctness in pronunciation of telugu, misappropriate usage of telugu words in his krithis et al . For me the kithis of ThyAgayya sound only a little bit like telugu. For me , his bhAshA is deva bAshA(whatever be the name) not really telugu. His krithis neither sound sanskrit, nor sound telugu, or any other language but a language to be used to communicate with him and srirAman.

To all of them, the krithis of ThyAgayya soundly resonate in unison with su-swara sangeetham that HE (gOD) is verily right here as NAdhabrahmam coming out of true bhakthAs with satbhakthi. Again, only a few can accept it. If lots and lots of people start accepting it and following the simplest way to reach him through bhakthi and nAdhOpAsanA, then god will have to retire from the cycle of srusti and sthithi(creating and destruction).

Having said all these , What other verses/slokams from other grantham/literary works other the glorious pancharathnAs need to be used for performing poojA straight from the heart with devotion not once a year amidst TV cameras and faces of hundreds of fancy dressed people but every morning before even taking a cup of milk/coffee?

I will continue this post some time during this week when i will write why I consider the pancharathnams as the best and quickest way to be with ThyaGabrahmam and SreeRamachachandran and company.

with sathguru dhivyakamAla pAdha and jAnaki kAntha smaranams
AdiyEn
thyAgayya and rAmanuja dAsan
krishna
sarvam sathguruprAnanAthAya seethArAmachandrArpanam

SathGuru's GurulEkha Etuvanti

2006-05-16T07:44:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

srI:

I am going to continue writing about my mAnasIka guru , sathguru sri thYAgabrahmam. This time instead of writing my thougts on the greatness of sathguru , let us all learn and enjoy his beautiful krithi in Gowri ManOhari RAgam, GurulEkha Etuvanti. Traditionally, this krithi is rendered by vidvans on the arAdhanA day just before rendering the pancharathnams

In the pallavi, sathguru says

"GurulEkha Etuvanti Guniki Theliyaka Bodhu/Podhu"

He says that without the grace of a Guru, no one , however virtuous , he may be, will know.

So, What has to be known and why without the grace of a Guru one can't know it?

Let us go into the Anupallavi

"Karukaina HrdrOga Gahanamuna Gottanu,Sath" (GuruLEkha)

meaning, no one however virtuous he may be, without the grace of the Guru . he will not know how to cut through the "forest of mental ills"

He introduces what needs to be known in the anupallavi. Why should one has to cut through the forest of mental ills? Why can't he just keep on enjoying the world without knowing the truth? Nice question. Yes, you can always keep enjoying the sukhams in the material world until you become really tired of it and then you yourselves realize that everything is temporary. Sri Sri anna(krishna premi swAmigal) in his upanyAsam says that people even at the age of 50 can not comb/ keep the kumkum/tilakam without looking at the mirror. That much importance people are giving to external appearances. They have no time to think about the antharyAmin(one who pervades everywhere). This is kaliyuGA. So, without knowing/ wanting to know the antharyAmin they keep on accumulating karmic accounts.Now, if at any stage in life one gets tired of all the alpasukhams and like to know about the Truth(bhagawAn) , how is it possible? Their minds have become "forests of mental ills". One might have done many noble acts like annadhAnam,conducting yAGAs and so forth but still one can not know how to get over the forest of mental ills without the helps of a Sathguru, who shows with mercy(karunathO) the sanmArgA. A sathguru has the qualities of srirAmachandran and he is like a cool moon that destroys the forest of mental ills like the sun that destroys darkness during sunrise.

In the Charanam, our guru lists down what are those that prevent us from heading towards sanmArgA

Thanuvu Sutha Dhana dhAra dhAyAdhi BhAndhavulu,
jenayinchi chedarujAlini karunathO,
manasunantaka chEyu mandhanuchu tathvaBodhana ChEsi kApAdu
thyAgarAjApthudagu (GurulEkha)

Living with the conception of body, son, wealth, wife , relatives and friends leads to cycles of births and death and this is asath. He doesn't mean to say , one has to become a sanyAsin. Mere change in attire and place won't help. One has to change his/ perception of everything. One has to eventually see god everywhere because without him, there can't be anything. For eg, when cristopher columbus discoverd america, know one in the world new about the big continent. So, when he went back to Europe , he showed evidence about the existence of the continent. In those days there were no photographs either yet people believed because of columbus's accounts(like I saw this and that and America was like that and so on) which they believed were true. He was the eyewitness because he has been there. How can people elsewhere can see/accept the existence of america if not for him. He took the effort and pains in the arduos journey. So, with his advice people slowly started to migrate to america. Just like that, a Sathguru shows us the sanmArgA because he has been there before and he knows it.

The knowledge and the acceptance of this truth can happen only because of sathgurus grace. He is the one who imparts this supreme truth by showing the medicine to cure all the forest of mental ills with infinite compassion.

ThyAgayyA says that his guru is not only his teacher but also his friend. Just like that let us all befriend and get the grace of the Sathguru thyAGabrahmam, whose krithis are like the bright golden rays of the morning sun that chase away the morning fog(kali bAdhAs).

Here, With his grace, I have rendered and recorded his krithi and I am offering it to all of you. Please listen to it with bhakthi and shraddha and not from a melody perspective. If so, you won't even get melody out of it because of my voice and at least meditate upon sathguru's lotus feets for a few seconds before listening to it.
If so, I am sure that HE will make you like the krithi (not my voice:).

Powered by Sathuguru ThyAgarAjar and Castpost

If you can't stream it, you can also optionally download from the following URL.

GuruLEkha-Sathguru ThyAgaBrahmam

Just in case,if you missed to check out my previous post on Sathguru , please do so and finally, LEt me also alert you about the new "Feed subscription " service that I have added to the blog. With that you can get updated delivered right to your mail box. Interested bhakthAs are requested to make use of it. Let me know if you have any concerns.

with sathguru's dhivya kamala pAdha smaranams,
krishna
sarvam sathguruPRAnanAthAyA seethArAmachandrArpanam

SathGuru ThyAga-Brahmam +Naadha Brahmam + RAma Brahmam= BrahmAnandam

2006-05-12T18:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

srI:

In this blog post, I am going to shed out and share my devotion,admiration and aspiration for sathguru sri thyAgabrahmam and I consider this as a bhAgyam to even write about him. I am very sure that words can't be used to express his greatness especially when coming from a "microscopic" personality like me when compared to his greatness but I am going to try and express my heart-felt feelings about him just because I want to share the unbounded pristine joy I am very fortunate indeed to experience when thinking about him/ practising his su-swara nAdhAmritha bhakthi rasAyana krithis. In fact , the right and the best way for me to pay respect would be to compose a string of krithis on him (just like many others) but since I am neither qualified nor talented and knowledgeable enough for such a noble task, I am content and happy in worshipping his krithis like "GurulEkha Etuvanti". May be with his katAkshams , a time will come when i can perform such a kaimkaryam.

HIS NAAMA MAHAATHMYAM- What is in a name?

Through his dEvAmruthavarshini krithi ( Evarani), he showed us the glory of the rAma nAmA as the word derived from "rA" from the AshTAkshari of "Om NamO nARAyanA" and "mA" in the panchAkshari of "Om NaMA ShivAya" and when the akshArAs are removed from the mantrAs , they become meaningless. Look at sathguru's choice of rAgam here ,symbolically indicating us that the rAma nAmA has got a potential to create a "deVamrutha" mazhai (rain) to cleanse the dry and dusty minds resulting from bAdhAs of kali.

Now, let us enjoy the greatness of HIS name. He was named "thyAgarAjan" after the presiding deity (Lord Thyagarja) @ ThiruvArur. True to his name, he has lived a life of thyAgam (sacrifice) where he ruled as the rAjA (king) of the kingdom of rAma bhakthi. (rAma bhakthi sAmrAjyam). Let me bring back the words of Brahmasri T.S BAlakrishna Sastrigal about Lord thyAgarAjA. In thiruvArur, Lord thyAgarAjan is blessing his devotees in the form of nAdha brahmam. In the temple's garba griha, there rests a box. Only a selected few of the temple priests who are very strict in discipline are allowed to open the box and perform poojA. What is there inside that box that is considered so sacred? It is nAdha brahmam. Even while performing the poojA , the priests are not allowed to see what is in there. They have to cover their eyes with a band and then only perform the poojA. Once a preist violated this rule and tried to peek into the box. After that he didn't see anybody. He lost his eyes. We can't say how true such stories are true but what is definitely true and what we need to incur through the story is that the nAdha brahmam is very sacred and in fact it is the sound manifestation of God. Once someone asked the question to a bhaktha "Why doesn't your swami have any shape/ form or anything for that matter?" The answer of that bhakthA was " My swami has given everything to his devotees including his form. All that is left is nAdha brahmam". Such is the greatness of Lord ThyAgarAjA of ThiruvArur. How can our sathguru be different?

Though he was named ThyAgarAjan, he is often refered as "ThyAga -brahmam". Only self-realized people are given the title (e.g Sukha-brahmam). While Sukha-brahmam's father was refered as a sage (VyAsa muni/ vyAsa bhagawAn), his son was considered as Brahman itself. Here is an interesting account taken from Mukkur sWami's upanyAsam that will clearly elucidate the difference.

---Quote---

"Shuka Brahmam was a practitioner of single-minded
Bhakti to Lord Narayana and none else. He was oblivious to the form
or appearance of any person or thing. He only beheld Lord Narayana in
every animate and inanimate object. One day he was walking by
a river where Apsara damsels were performing snanam bereft of any
clothing. However, they continued their act as if nothing had
happened. A short while later, Vedavyasa walked by and the same
Apsara damsels rushed to cover their bodies with their clothes.
Vedavyasa was somewhat enraged by this and demanded an explanation of
the damsels for their act. The damsels remarked in unison "Yes your
son walked by a short while before you. However, did he stop to talk
to us? No He just went his way. He is able to see Lord Narayana alone
in every being be it a mountain, an insect, or a human being. Whereas
You are endowed with Bheda jnAnam, i.e., you can make a distinction
between the being and their indweller, Lord Narayana. Therefore, we
acted as we did".1

---Unquote---

Just like shukha-brahmam, our sathguru was always immersed in nAdhAbrahmam and rAma-brahmam ( actually, his fathers name:).

Now why he has been given the title of "Sathguru". SathGuru literally means "true teacher" . Actually , he is the teacher of truth and nothing but the truth. Truth is verily Brahman and just like sukha-brahmam , sathguru thyAgabrahmam also revelled in SeethArAman, the embodiment of Brahman.

HIS DHIVYA GUNA-ATHISAYAAS

Sathguru lived his life by feasting his eyes(thus MIND:) on the roopam of "athi ramaneeya" rAman while his mouth (thus, MIND:) was singing the glories of him in su-swara nAdham while ears, body and soul enjoying and reverberating in the divine vibrations amidst the fragrance of the sacred thulasi leaves that he used for archanA. While doing so, tears from his eyes would roll down performing abhishEkam to his "jagadhAnandhakArakan". Will such an eyes ever be tempted to see gold? Will those ears like to listen narasthuthi ( songs praising average humans) or other kinds of so called "music"? Would the sound coming out of his mouth fail to please ANYONE? Would such a mind dwelve on low instincts? . During his time, there was a great scholar by the name Thoomu Narasimha DAs. He has got something to tell us about his meeting with sathguru.

---Quote---

Thoomu Narasimha Das, a great scholar, says that he visited Thyagaraja Swami in Madras. Narasimha Das says that he greatly benefited from this meeting. "Kesavananada Sankeerthanavali Vinti, bakthulu shishyulu kalasi koluva kanti, maadhuri vaibhavambu kanti, vinaya sathsampanna vivekambu kanti." In simpler words, Narasimha Das says that he saw a man of devotion and discipline, a person of wisdom and intellect and in a nutshell, a divine presence. Narasimha Das concludes his statement with the words, "Ajuniki AntharAni anubhavamunu kanti - premanoka saari pilichithe Ramudu Oyanuchu mArubalkunanta" or in simpe words, when Swami calls, Lord Sri Rama responds with an "Oh! Thygaraja, did you call me?. Thomu Narasimha Das says that his meeting with Sri Thyagaraja was an experience that even the creator of the world, Brahma could not have experienced. 2.

---Quote---

What sukruthams Narasimha dAs could have done to have gotten the opportunity to meet sathguru?

ThyAgayya has shown us the right path (san-mArga) in many of his krithis. Here comes his speciality. Truth is always bitter to an average samsArin. There are very few people who can speak the truth in soft and sweet words and the master of this art is none other than SeethArAmachandran.In his Aarabhi Raga (one of his favorite rAgAs) pancharathnam , he refers to this quality of his hero as "mrudhu suBAsha". ThyAgayya also possesed this quality. He has through many of his krithis softly and sweetly shunned the evil ways/ false practises and glorified the effectiveness of sanmArgA through sathbhakthi.

It is said that reading the rAmAyana once completely is an easy task. Reading here means , reading it from top to bottom by understanding the arthams (meaning) and also the artha tathvams (the subtle implications). Even this is considered easy but what is considered difficult is to lead a life like that of the lead character in the form of SriRamachandran. ThyAgayya lived and showed us how it is possible for one to develop such saathvic qualities that were inherent in srirAman. He showed us that just singing/listening to aesthetically pleasing music has no value rather he recommended practise of Bhakthi-nAdhOpAsanA. The following exerpt is from the esteemed Yogi , YajnavAlkyA.

--Quote--

The classical pronouncement on music of voice, of instruments like the Vina, on the mastery of sruti-s, swaras and the various rhythmic measures, is in the Smriti of Yajnavalkya who is esteemed as a Yogin. He says that the practice of music leads one to moksha, or liberation without strain i.e. without going through the rigors of yogic discipline or of the path or jnana: "One should clear one's mind of other ideas and with the mind and faculties in concentration, contemplate on one's Self, shining like a lamp within oneself. By singing the Saman-s in the proper manner, without interruption and with concentration, one attains by practice the Supreme Being. 3

--Unquote--

"Concentration"," without interruption", "purity of mind" are some very important words here. These words are like the "Ra" and "ma" aksharas of the ashtAkshari and panchAkshari mantrAs. Without those words, the vAkhyams of those great people have no real value. When the mind becomes pure , the other two attributes are easily obtained. But the greatest challenge is to make the mind pure by eliminating kAmA (lust), lObhA (greed) and krodhA (anger). This is one of the TApa TrayAs (Athi Dhaivic, Athi Bhauthic and AdhyAthmic). Athi Dhaivic is the misery caused due to circumstances beyond the control of some one ( earthquakes, flood, war, persistence). Athi bhauthic is the misery caused due to bhUthAs/ other forms of life (insects/other microorgs). The last one is AdhyAthmic i.e the misery caused due to ones own mind. Of the three, the second one can be avoided to some extend by keeping us and the surroundings clean. The first one could not be avoided as it is not under our control. The last one can be done and should be one/ at least efforts have to be made and that is yOgA, the simplest of which is bhakthi YOgA. All these kinds of YOgA can easily be abused/misused/underused. For example, one would perform meditation and other yOgic practises to generate name/fame (misused) or to derive temporary relief from wordly stress (under-used). People have been and are performing these with/without the knowledge of their real greatness without the intention of purfication of mind and without the attitude of sharAnagathi to the lOtus feets of God despite the philosophical teachings of both yester year and modern day philiosophers such as Swami ViVEkAnandA . That is the case with RAja yOga. Similarly jnAna yoGa can be mis-used to accumulate hoards of philosophical teachings through vain debates on the superiority of one branch of philosophy over other without refining ones character (like a donkey that carries a sack of Gold,thyAgayya says). Just like that , bhakti yOga can also be mis-used to gain name/fame (fake bhAgawathAs/pOli SAamiyaars:) or to accumulate wealth. We are living in the age of kAli the bAdhAs of which can really negate the gems of truth expounded by the great saints and philosophers of our past and present. For an average man in the kali yugA, the mental tranquility that one can derive from practising yOgA appeals more than developing purity/sanctity and similarly the musical aesthetics appeal more to the listener than developing good character and bhakthi using carnatic music. Artists/ rasikAs/ VaakhgEyakarAs who are very orthodox and those who really understand and practise Carnatic Music for the greater cause of purifying ones character and reaching the Supreme as recommended by Yogi YajnavalkyA are very very rare indeed. In the current age, if at all there are at least some people who can buy this concept and propagate them it is mostly due to Saint thYagayya who has in numerous krithis expounded to us the greatness of nAdhOpAsanA with simplicity and humility. No other composer (including the other trinites ) have done such great service of thyAgayya that should be cherised, practised and propagated for years to come without reducing its value (just like the popularity of yOGa for stress relief, even among Indians) and this is why I am not in favour of considering Carnatic Music as CM as a "stress- relief" music, "carnatic fusion" , CM in movies to decorate duets but only as bhakthi nAdhOpAsanA, only for which we are celebrating arAdhAnAs for him all over the world with/without true bhakhi and admiration for him:). In fact, I believe that just for his pancharathna krithis , one should perform bhakthi poorva ArAdhanA to him not on Bahula panchamis only but on a daily basis dedicating at least one hours time to pay homage with shraddhA and bhakthi every morning. I will write up on the mahAthmyams of the pancharathna krithis from my perspective in a future post. Now , if one can perform this kind of tribute to him every day, what else is needed? Ones mind becomes content and over a period of time (days,months/years) with Sathgurus grace one can acquire the qualities of RAmA that he had. Such people can develop the qualities of Hari (Hari Guna mani maya- EndharO mahAnubAvulu ,sri Raga pancharathnam) like TEjas, humilty, sharp intellect yet simple,humble and soft and sweet spoken and just by their mere thought, the countless sins of the devotees are burnt. (jagamellanu sudhA dhristhi ChE BrOchuvAru).

Sathguru ThyAgayya has composed different kinds of krithis , which can be classified as follows

--Quote--

1. SAdhanA Sampat - Means and aid to spiritual life

1a. VaiRAgyA - Freedom from passion for material and sense pleasures

1a1. Narasthuthi Garhana - Flattery of rich condemned.

1a2. Artha-GarhanA- Material values condemned
1a3. KAma - garhanA - Sense pleasures condemned.

1b. Nithya-AnithyA-VivEkA - Discrimination of the permanent and Evanescent Values.

1b1. ParamArtha prasamsA- Spiritual values praised.

1c. Sama-Dama etc. - Quietitude, sef-control , contentment etc.
1da. Satsanga and Gurubhakthi- SathsanghA, SAdhus, jnAnis,BhAgawathAs, Guru praised.
1db. Asaths, AsAdhUs, AjnAnis, Asad-bhAgawathAs denounced.
1dc. Special Guru nAradA praised.
1e. Kshetra-TirthAthanA- Pilgrimages

2. SangithA - Music as an accessory to devotion

2a. Sath-bhakthi SangITha prasamSA. -Music with bhakthi Praised.
2b. Sushka- SangItha garhanA - Mere music without devotion denounced.

2. Bhakthi YOGA

1a. Bhakthi Mahima PrasamsA - Praise of the greatness of devotion

1a1. SamsArAdi -Dhosha nivArakA- Antidote of SamsarA etc.

1a1. Bhakthi mAhAtmya- Exaltation of Devotion

1a3. nAma mahAtmya- Exaltation of Lord's Name.
1a4. Bhakta- mahAtmyA- Exaltation of Lords DEvotees.
1a5. Bhaktha- LakshanA- Characteristics of Devotees.

1b. Asad-bhakthi Garhana- Defective devOtion denounced

1b1.Formal worship, rituals etc condemned.
1b2. Bare learning, arts, miraculuous powers and faith in astrology condemned.
1b3. Asad Bhaktha Garhana - Defective devotees condemned

3. Alambana - Bhagawan - The Lord , object of devotion

1a. Ishtadaiva and Ananya bhakthi - Favorite Form of Deity and exclusive devotion to that Form
1b. RUpa. - His Form

1c. GunA - His Excellences

1c1. General
1c2. Grace, dayA, kshamA

4. SwarUpa - Conception of Lord

1a. Devotional
1b. Philosophical.
1c. Musical.

5. SthAyi-BhAva-SthirA Bhakthi -Steadfast devotion

6. SanchAri BhAvAs - Mood of the BhakhA.

1a. AutsukyA- Longing for :

1a1. Sannidhi- Constant Company
1a2. DarshanA- Seeking him and getting his katAksham

1a3. KeerthanA- Singing of him
1a4. SravanA- Listening to his Glory
1a5. SambhAshanA- Speaking with him
1a6. SEvanA- Serving him

1b. NirvEdA- Dejection, Despondency

1c. Athma-GarhanA and NaichyAnusandhAna - Self depreciation and recounting his own short comings
1d. Dainya and DainyOkhti- Plaintive Pleading.
1e. Amarsh, ROsha, ROshokthi - anger, remonstrance, grievance.
1f. Vitharka- Doubt, cognition
1g. Sraddha , VisvAsa- FAith and assurance of help.
1h. Narma- Playful liberty with Lord

1h1. Stuti- Praise playfully expressed.
1h2. PrArthanA- Prayer playfully expressed.
1h3. ROshOkthi- Remonstrance playfully expressed.
1h4. LIlAvarnanan- Lord described playfully

1i. Sva-Yogyata-kathana- His own claims and qualifications
1j. Bhaktha- SOdhana- His trials
1k. Manas- SambOdhana- Exhortation to his mind
1l. MangalAsAsanA- Pronouncing blessing on the Lord in devotion
1m. Kritajunta - Expression of gratitude.

7. AnubhAvAs and Bhakthi PrakArAs - Forms of Devotion

1a. Darsana

1a1. General
1a2. TirthayAthrA

1b.SravanA
1c. KIrthanA,BhajanA, NAmakIrthanA
1d. SmaranA, DhyAna- Contemplation
1e. PAdaSEvanA
1f. ArchanA, MurthiPUjA- Worship

1f1. AlankArA- Decoration of the Idol
1f2. SvAgatha- Welcoming the deity.
1f3. NaivEdhya - Offer of food
1f4. Archana-Offers of flowers worship.
1f5. Other UpachArAs.

1f5a- General
1f5b- Music Offering.
1g. Vandana
1h. DAsya
1i. Atma nivEdhanA- Absolute Surrender :

1ia. Bhagavad-Arpana- Offering everything to Lord.
1ib. SaranAgathi and Bhara-nyAsa- taking refuge in the Lord and laying all buden on the Lord.

1k. VAtsalyA - devotee as child and Lord as child.

8. Higher States of Devotion

1a. AvirahAsakthi-

1b. KAntAsakthi or NAyaka-NAyakA BhAvA (MAdhurya bhAvA)

1c. Bhagavad AnubhavA - God Realization - General
1d. TAdAtmyasakthi- (Advaita -BhAvA) - Oneness with Lord

4

--Unquote--

From the above classifciation , one can infer that our Sathguru lived his life with his music and with his Ishata Deivam while at the same time showed concern about the society and people. He has performed all kinds of bhakthi as specified by PrahlADA ( sravanam, Keethanam, VishnOr Smaranam, PAdha SEvanam ,Archanam, DAsyam, vandanam, Sakhyam and Aathma NiVedhanam ) through his nAdhOpAsanA. He has interacted with his lord just like one would interact with his "friend"/ "parents"/ "lover"/ "children". The speciality of our sathguru is when it comes to expression of the different sanchAri bhAvAs. Whenever he could not interact with his Lord as he would like to , he has expressed his autsukya feelings and has performed Aathma garhana and NaichyAnusandhAna (self- depreciation and recounting for his short-commings). In fact, for most of us ,the right selection of krithis for rendition should be from this category until we obtain the grace of sathguru so that we can render his krithis showing delight and praising the lords glories. In fact, we can't do any justice to the bhAvam that is supposed to be expressed through krithis that he used to perform abhishEka to his IshtaMurthy through the nava vidha bhakthi and higher states of devotion like MAdhurya bhAvA. Imagining God as a child/ Lover, worshiping, offering flowers to the IshtaMurthy with devotion (prEmAthmaka bhakthi) is never possible until one gets the bhagawath and BhAgawatha katAkshams. Thus, in order to progress to that level of bhakthi with/ without nAdhOpAsanA, it would rather make good sense to first start listening and /or practising the krithis that would train the mind to fixate upon the ramaneeya roopam of the ishatmurthy and think about his gunAthisayAs (krithis in catergories SAdhanA sampath,Autsukhya, NirVedhA,Aathma GarhanA, shraddhA, viswAsA etc) . Thus ,one should listen/practise those kind of krithis with sincere devotion instead of trying to learn krithis expressing other kind of advance bhakthi bhAvAs from a teacher(Guru) with great difficulty just for the sake of exhibition of talent. If that is the case , one can learn only very few of his krithis for the lifetime (which should actually be sufficient enough) but we also need to learn his other krithis so that they are propagated to future generations.So,If at all one wants to render/teach/listen those kind of krithis, one should at least have the smaranam(remembrance), contemplation of ones guru/ sathguru/ other bhAgawathAs in mind for them to really induce that bhakthi bAvA otherwise the music just ends with aural pleasure. With the above mentioned pre-requisites ,there is no place for ego and one doesnt have to worry about whether he will render it in a technically correct way. One has to practise/listen without worrying too much about the technical details and focus on the bhakthi aspect of music.The technical details will all fit in the right place automatically. ThyAgayyA has shown this to us through his numerous krithis but how much respect do we show to his words ,yet his arAdhAnAs are conducted worldwide. For him rAma nAmA is sweeter than the sweet divine music? How often do we chant rAmA nAmA? How many artists/ rasikAs chant rAma nAmA? Even if we chant, are our minds fully immersed in rAma nAmA and thyAgarAjA? Without bhakthi , we may be able to enjoy good music but without bhakthi , we cannot enjoy rAma nAma ruchi. ThyAgayya respecting his guru, Upanishad Brahmams advice has chanted "90 crores" of rAma nAmA when he got the darshan of his ishtamoorthy. Are we able to chant just for a minute with a pure mind ? He commands us in his krithi "Thalapullani nilipi , nimishamaina , ThAraka roopuni , Nija Tathavamu" ( At least for a minute , chant his nAMA by being fully aware of who RAMA is). Thus, our sathguru krithis are like the RICH AND SLEEK USER INTERFACES that present fact bites from Terabytes of data coming from the warehouses like bhAgwathA, rAmAyanA, gIThA and all other sruthis and shAstrAs. We are just spellbound by the pretty interfaces that hide an ocean of pearls of wisdom which are revealed when we perform a "search" ( seek shAranAgathi).

This write up of mine is ONLY an attempt to induce the same feelings that i have got for ThyAgayyA and his krithis in the minds of the reader. To conclude this post, I would just like to add a few lines another of his muthu-maniyAna ( jewel of a) krithi in SuddhaBangAla

"EELAAGANI VIVARIMPANENU ,CHAALA SWAANUBHAVA VEDHYAMEY,LEELASRUSHTA-JAGATHRAYAMANA, RAMA BHAKTHI SAAMRAAJYA MEMANAVULA KABBENO MANASAA,

AAMAANAVULA SANDARSHANA MATHYANTHA BRAHMAANANDHAMEY, RAAMA BHAKTHI SAAMRAAJYAMEY MEMAANAVULA KABBENO MANASAAA"

( IT CAN ONLY BE REALIZED BY SELF-EXPERIENCE AND DOES NOT ADMIT OF ANY DESCRIPTION IN WORDS, THE KINGDOM OF RAAMA BHAKTHI ITSELF CONFERS SUPREME BRAHMAANANDAM, THE SIGHT OF THOSE GREAT SOULS WHO HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH THE KINGDOM OF RAAMA-BHAKTHI ITSELF CONFERS SUPREME BRAHMAANANDAM)

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with sathguru dhiva pAdha Kamala smaranams and vandhanams,
krishna

SARVAM SEETHAARAAMACHANDRAARPANAM

References (Credits):

1. Sri Oppiliappan Archives

2.VidhyArthi

3.http://carnatica.net/special/music1.htm by Dr. V.Raghavan

4. Spiritual Heritage of thyAgarAjA by Dr V. RAghavan, C . RAmanujAchAri ( MUST HAVE BOOK)

Bhakthi-NAdhOpAsanA

2006-05-05T17:30:00.000-07:00

srI:

Dear Friends,

First and foremost, let me give you an idea of what you can expect from this blog. Through this blog , I wish to propagate the importance and the greatness of Bhakthi-NaadhOpAsanA and the nAdhOpAsakAs.

That's how I see what is commonly refered to as "carnatic music"(CM), which is just another casual term refering to some form of music , like "western music" or "hindustani music". Based on my experiences alone I am and I will be writing my posts here. Through this blog my intentons are not to offend any others personal opinions/ to induce discredit to the glorious CM pathanthara. I simply would like to identify certain important aspects of CM(from now onwards BN, for bhakthi nAdhOpAsanA) that a CM enthusiast should seriously take into consideration at some point in his life (The sooner the better). Also, I am continuing to write based on the assumption that the reader understands the need of bhakthi.I am continuing to write based on the assumption that the reader understands the need of bhakthi and realizes its importance.

As i term , bhakthi nAdhOpAsana is all about nAdhOpAsanA for cultivating sthira/sthAyi bhakthi. It is not about "playing around" with swaras/saahithyas focused on giving a better public performance and expecting/ receiving appreciation or for other trivial results. Before talking more about bhakthi music, let me digress a bit on bhakthi as i view it from my perspective.

Bhakthi is induced by being close to bhakthAs, bhAgawathAs and thus the bhagawAn or the "Brahman". Thus, Bhakthi can't be "cultivated" by frequently visiting temples where most people pay visit to seek material favours from God. I mentioned that bhakthi has to be "cultivated", means developed step -by-step. Bhaktha pRahlAdA has already very clearly shown how all bhakthi can be cultivated

"srvanam kIrthanam VIshnO: smaranam, pAdha Sevanam, DAsyam, Archanam,vandanam,sakhyam and Aatma NivEdhanam,"

sravanam/ listening to the glories and bhagawan nAmA is the base from which bhakthi starts. KIrthanam/ Singing the glorious of bhagawAn and his nAmA really kindles the spirit and establishes the swaroopam of the lord in our mind and convinces our mind to do further services to bhagaWan willingly and happily. This is sath mArgA ,definitely pleasing to listen but really really difficult when it comes to actually following especially with multitudes of kali bAdhAs.

With this knowledge, when one starts to follow the nava vidha bhakthi mArgAs, can anyone reap the benefits? Sathuguru ThyAgayyA in his pOOrna chandrikA krithi, "telisi rAma chinthanathO nAmamu " questions if chanting "rAma rAma" a thousand times with the thoughts of ramA (woman)/ other mundane thoughts help in anyway? (such a wonderful krithi, will write an entire post on it later). Now comes the problem, the mind has to be controlled and should be pure. Well, the upAyam (means) and the UpEyam( end) are known to us. What else is needed? It is the character that makes a big difference. When a great bhAgawathA / rishi / nAdhAmrutha upAsakA , who has by all means surrendered to the divine by giving up all selfishness and is devoid of all tAmasikA gunAs, chants the mantra/ gives upadEsam to the aspirant , it makes a huge difference. That is exaclty why the words of the great seers like the Kanchi Seer Sri ChandraSekharEndra swamigal and other poorna kAmAs (fully content, without any desires) are sweeter than honey. They are verily the mahAnubhAvAs that our Sathguru thyAgayya has praised in his peerless Sri RAga krithis "EndarO mahAnubAvulu" (again , a krithi that can be studied and enjoyed for days). Closely associated with this is the vAishnavA philosophy of prapatti and sharanAgathi and as i have mentioned in my previous post ,by surrendering and reaching our bhagawans divya kamala pAdams , we find those mahAnubAvAs singing the glories of bhagwan(pAdukA rathnAs). A secular anology will be to compare those mahAnubAvulus to an expert programmer who knows how to effectively use a programming language by putting in practice the best practises and not only that he also effectively communicates them to others. Any corporation would be ready to hire him any time. Just like that , by seriously taking the advice of those great souls ( nAdhOpAsakAs here) with shraddhhA and bhakthi thereby gaining their katAkshams, I am sure that one can enjoy brahmAnandam not "AlpAnandam" . "shradhA and bhakthi" are two very important terms here in this context. Developing Guru/BhAgawatha bhakthi itself is very similar to developing bhakthi towards God. All those nava vidha bhakthi mArgAs of prahlAda should also be applied here as much as possible.

With all that foreground, let me now talk about what you are going to be expect through this blog. Developing Guru/BhAgawatha bhakthi ( nAdhoPAsakAs/the saptharathnAs here ) is the main focus of this blog. I seek the blessings of those great souls I am going to use some helpful refernce material that I come across to write up posts (of course with a personal flavour) on their lives and teachings (through their krithis) to truly understand their mahAtmyams and strive to leverage the guru bhakthi levels. Of course , this is not a task that can even be completed in one life time. Definitely most of my posts will have a thyAgayyA touch because he is my most favorite mAnasIka guru. I personally invite him to be with me all the time even when my mind fails to think about him. Just like me, some of you might have feelings for Sri Muthuswamy dikshithar and will have a greater admiration of his krithis. If any of you is lke that ,please feel free to contribute your inputs.

What is coming up next?

Sathguru ThyAgayya- A personal GlOrification and Idolification :)

MahAtmyams of pancarathnAs of Sathguru and more...

Also, please feel free to drop in your ideas on how to improve content delivery (all those logistics) .

With sathguru dhivyakamalapAdha smaranams

krishna

sarvam jagadhAnandhakArakAyA seethArAmchandrArpanam

Dhivya mani-pAdukAs

2006-04-04T06:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

srI:

I am very pleased to start this blog dedicated to my saptharathnAs of carnatic music.These souls were able to experience and share the bliss that the vedas refer to as "Anantham Tvam" or "Endless Thou ArT". These were the souls who delighted in the sight of their Ishtadeivams ,offered garlands of su-swara sangeetham and worshipped them heartfully with the nava vidha bhakthi mArgAs as recommended by Srimad BhAgawatham.

DhyAnamu KRitha Yuga dhalli
YAga Yajnamu TRetha yuga dhalli
Archana dWapara Yuga dhalli
KEERTHANAMAATHRATHI KALIYUGA dhalli

thus, strongly emphasizing the greatness of bhakthi maarga through keerthanam/sangeetham.

Why is sangeetham recommended? Sangeetham is saama vedam. Our Lord himself says in bhagawath gItA ,

"Of all the vedAs , i am sAma"

The great ranganAtha bhakthA, swAmi vedAntha DEsikan in his Sri RanganAtha PadhukA Sahasram has most beautifully and
creatively celebrated the greatness of the naadham (agreeble musical sound) produced by Lord's pAdhukAs.

He says,

muraBhinmaNipAdhukE! BhavathyA: sthuthimAkarNayathAm mayA
nibaDdhAm avaDhIrayasIva manjunAdhaIrachamathkAravachAmsi dhurjanAnAm

Meaning

Oh Lord's Paaduka! IS it that You produce the melodious music to drown, with a disdain, the noise of bad men,who
tend to prattle some criticism about my hymn on You? I presume so.

In yet another slOkA, he questions if the lord is here in SriRangam or in Vaikuntha by refering
to the naadham produced by the Lord's PaadhukE.

"svadhathE kimihaIva ranganAThO
mayi thiShTan yadhi vA padhE parasmin
ithi prucChasi dhEvi!nUnamasmAn
maDhuraIsthvam maNipAdhukE! ninAdhaI"

He refers to the paadhukA as paadhukA DEvi.

In

"avarODhagathasya rangaBharthurgathiShu vyanjithagarBharathnanAdhA
prathisamllapasIva pAdhukE!thvam kamalAnUpuramanjushinjithAnAm
"

he queries if the dhivya naadham is produced when Sri RanganAthan travels on the PAdhukAs to the inner
chambers of RanganAyaki, the melodious sounds raised by coming together of gems adorning the paadhukAs
appeat to be converging with the dhivya naadham generated by the ankle ornaments of srI ranganAyaki
moving towards her Lord to welcome Him.

In yet another slOka, he says very clearly that the paaDhukAs have received the greatest bliss through
their attachment with the lOtus feet of ranganAthA.

"muraBhiccharaNAravindharUpam mahithAnandhamavApya pUruShArtham
anaGhaIrmaNipAdhukE! ninAdhaIrahamannAdha ithIva gAyasi thvam"

Like this , there are many slOkAs in Sri RanganAtha paadhuka Sahasram which gloriously praise the dhivya naadham produced by
the paadukAs of sri ranganAthA.

In

"maDhuvaIripadhAmbhujam BhajanthI maNipAdhAvani! manjushinjithEna
paTasIva muhu: svayam prajAnAmaparOpajnyamariShTashAnthimanthram"

our swamin says that the paadhukAs produce the naadham very much like the some powerful mantra
to ward off all the evil of samSAris.

In the SlOkA

shruthiBhi: paramam padham* murArE:
anidhankAramanEvamithyupAttham
idhamitThamithi bravIShi nUnam
maNipadhAvani! manjuBhi: praNAdhaI:

he praises the padhukAs of the Lord which pronounce in sweet tones, "it is like this" and "it is like this"
while even the VedAs only say "it is not like this " and "it is not like this".

In the next slokA,

munaya: praNiDhAnasanniruDdhE
hrudhi rangEshvararathnapAdhukE! thvAm
vinivEshya viBhAvayanthyananyA:
praNavasya praNiDhim thava praNAdham

our swami equates the naadham generated by the paadhukAs with the naadham
the yogis meditated upon to keep their mind from wavering. This is equivalent
to meditating upon the pravavAkAra naadham. Thus both the yogis and the naadhOpAsakAs
meditate upon the divine nAdham generated by the paadhukAs of our Lord to keep the
mind fixed upon our Lord who is antharYaamini.

In

maDhuram maNipAdhukE! pravrutthE BhavathI rangapathErvihArakAlE
aBhayArThanayA samaBhyupEthAnavisamvAdhayathIva manjunAdhaI:

he says that the paadhukEs produce the sweet sound as our Lord starts walking ,indicative
of telling " Refuge has been granter, No Fear!" .

Like this , the Sri RanganAtha PaadhukA sahasram is a garland of poetic beauty describing
the greatness of the PaadhukAs of our Lord.

In yet another slOkA, our swAmi had pointed out the greatness of NAdhOpAsana as mentioned in
the Scriptures. It is believed that our Lord becomes visible at the end of NAdhOpAsanA.
Even the Yogis meditate on the pranava nAdham before controlling their minds to find our Lord
inwards.After they stop hearing the sound , they start hearing the sweet sounds of our Lord

He says that the naadham arising out of the paadhukAs appear like upagAnam (accompanying mmusic) for
the SAma VEdis who sing in praise about the glories of our Lord.

In one of his slOkAs, our swami makes a very beautiful revelation. He says

--Quote--
" Jeevans commit sins and PerumAl get angry and decides that they should not have the
awareness of auspicios matters leading to sadhgathi but MahALakshmi, our ever compassionate
ambA (mother) decides to help the suffering jeevans, who have incurred Her Lord's anger.
--UnQuote--

She blesses with boons in the form of gems. When those gems collide against each other to produce
soul-awakening sweet sounds, thus saving the erring jeevans to become objects of gods mercy.

It is believed that mahAlakshmi is the daughter of Samudhra RAjan and Cauveri is the wife of Samudhra
samudhra rAjan. Our Lord is the son-in-law of Cauveri and samudra RAjan. The parents of ranganAyaki
gave the dowry of gems from the depths of oceans to their daughter. Our ambA, places them inside our
Lord's pAdhukAs to alert her about the arrival of her Lord, when he visits His mother-in-law's house.
The gems collide each other and make a sweet sound that provides advance information for the
mother-in-law.

I will get back to this sloka to make a very intersting note after visiting swAmis other slOkAs.

In another sloKA, our swAmi says that the sweet sounds arising from the two pAdhukAs appear like
the two paadhuKas are fighting for their superiority but our Achyuthan actually shows no difference to
them. I made an interesting observation about this. Towards the end , I will start writing about my
observations.

Each of our swAmis verses are so beautiful that it appears as if the swAmis verses are also one of the
gems in our lords PAdhukAs.

In yet another slOkA, he highlights thus the importance of prapathi. He refers our lord as "Aanrusamsyan"
,meaning protecter of ALL chEthanAs. All that is requires is seeking his lotus feet where the sweet sounds
are produced by his pAdhukAs.

Just hearing the sweet sounds produces by the pAdhukAs won't suffice. Practising nAdhOpAsana without
respecting the vEdhAs and other scriptures won't get us any closer to our Lord. Our swamy
hence says

--Quote--

"Oh Mother ManipaadhukA of the Lord! The sound looks to me as the words that You
address the people who transgress the VEdAs ( which are the pramAnAs pointing to your greatness)
with a disdain, "No, you should not do this "

--Unqoute--

In another slOkA, he tells us about the greatness of the paadhukAs that represent the KArunya swabhAvam
of our Lord. He says that when people around srirangam towards their end of life cry in fear, the paadhukAs
just like a loving mother , offering through her musical melody, a kindly consolation. Such is our
mahAtmyam of our prabhu's manipAdhukAs.

He says that the paadhukAs are like the jewelbox embedded with the gems for our Lords golden lotus feet
decorated with the VEdhAs.

He goes further to explain the greatness of the pADhukA nAdham. He says that the dhivya naadham reveals
to those who are close to her about the secret of the vedhAs that decorate the our lords lOtus feet, which
usually takes several years to get to know otherwise.

In another touching slOkA, our swami pleads for the presence of the dhiva pAdhukA naadham during the last
moments of his life when he can't even request for it.

Like these our great swami has composed thounsand sthOthrAs in praise of the manipAdhukAs of our Lord.
He has also implied that the pAdhukAs are nothing but the great Saints like nammAzhvAr and the sweet nAdham actually comes from
the recitation of his ThiruvAimozhi.

Just like the great nammAzhvAr , ranganAyaki thAyAr has given a no of such gems from the banks of cauvEry, to praise our Lord.
These gems are actually the naadhOpAsakAs like the trinities of carnatic music.

He says that our Lord even stops listening to the music played by Saint nAradA with his special veenA and enjoys the
even sweeter nAdham generated by his pAdhukA rathnams.

I thus seek the kaTakshams of those dhivya nAdha upAsakAs in this blog dedicated to them and their dhivya nAdhA.

..Will be continued

Credits to SriPedia

sarvam sITArAmachandraarpanam

SeethaRaamachandra ParabrahmanE nama:

2006-03-29T18:36:00.000-08:00

May the saptharathana moorthies bless us all .

sarvam sItArAmachandRarpanam