Announcement

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.