Dear BhakthAs
:
It is my pleasure to
let you know about the release of
a delightful and
significant audio CD ROM by The Ahobila Mutt of
North America on the
most important topic of Saranagathi .
It is a Musical CD ROM
, a Naadha NaivEdhyam by
Srimathi Sumati Ramesh
of New Jersey and Mumbay .
Sumati is a gifted
musician , who has assembled an exquisite
garland of "
flowers " from AzhwAr , AchArya Sri Sookthis
and NaadhOpAsakaas like
Saint Annamayya and ThyAgarAja
SwamigaL . She is
placing this garland at the sacred feet of her AchAryan
(Srimath Azhagiya
Singar) and MalOlan with great bhakthi . It is indeed
a Naama KusumAnjali
by her
.
This
SaraNAgathy garland presented by Srimati Sumati Ramesh
is a
veritable Vyjayanthi
Maalai and carries the eternal fragrance
associated
with the uplifting
message of SataNagathi in all its aspects .
This is an audio CD ROM
that all Sri VaishNava Families and
Music lovers should
enjoy and reflect upon . Please send e-mail to
Sriman Rajaji , the
President of Ahobila Matam NA to acquire your copies
This Outstanding CD from
many aspects ( Sacredness of the subject ,
significance in our lives ,
Musical acumen displayed , AchArya anugraham
that it contains) is a most
desirable treasure to have in your family's
library
and listen to often .
This CD has been prized at
$ 15 to recover the costs invested ahead
to prepare and release it .
Your
support for
this kaimkaryam beyond $15 for each CD
is also most welcome to
cover the
expenses incurred . May Sriman
Narayana's
blessings
be with you and
your Family always !
Let us start now with the
enjoyment of the Saranagathi CD ROM .
1. Anugraha
BhAshaNam
********************************
Prakrutham
Azhagiya Singar , HH Sri Narayana Yathindhra Maha Desikan
blesses this CD with a
seven minute long anugraha BhAshaNam on
the importance of
SaraNAgathy anushtAnam in Sri VaishNava SampradhAyam
.
HH Srimath Azhagiya
Singar reminds us of the MahOpakArams of
our AzhwArs and
AchAryAs to show us the secure means of
SaraNAgathy
to gain Moksha
Siddhi and enjoy nithya Kaimkaryam and ParipoorNa
BrahmAnandham at Sri
Vaikuntam .
2. AchArya
Vandhanam
******************************
The musical
portion of the CD Rom statrs with the invocatory
piece
( Taniyan ) in Sanskrit that offers
its obesiance to HH Sri Narayana
YathIndhra MahA Desikan , the
current revered Jeeyar of Sri Matam .
It is sung in a very pleasing
early morning Raagam .
3. Guru Parampara
anusandhAnam
*********************************************
The second piece is from Swamy
Desikan's tribute to Sri VaishNava
Guru Paramaparai . This Tamil
Paasuram is from AdhikAra Sangraham
of Desika Prabhandham and is sung in
Raagam AabhOgi (Known for its
Janta Svara PrayOgam , which matches
the brisk Chantham of Swamy
Desikan's Paasuram ) in the Viruttham
style .
Here , Swamy
Desikan
pays his
praNAmams to his immediate
AchAryan for the sadhupadEsams that
he has recieved . Srimathy Chitra
Malolan says in her sleeve notes : "
Sri VaishNava SampradhAyam
is grand and rich in glory , as it
has been passed on to us from Lord
Sriman Narayanan Himself . Swami
Desikan venerates this unbroken
chain of Acharyas "
from his
immediate Acharyan (AatrEya Raamanuja )
to the PratamAchAryan , Sriman
Narayanan .
After the salutations to the AchArya
GhOshti , Sumathi selects
an elaborate piece to pay her tribute
to the Naayaka MaNi in
the necklace (haaram ) of
AchAryAs , Swami Ramanuja .
4. Bhaja YathirAjam in
Raaga Maalikai format
*********************************************************
This
Sanskrit piece has been bequeathed to
us
by Sri
RanganAthAchAr Swamy considered as
a disciple (?) of AchArya RaamAnuja
.
Sumati selects thirteen
beautiful ragams to bring out
the reverential
salutation of Sri RanganAthAchAr's
extensive coverage of
the Life and Vaibhavam of
AchArya Ramanuja .
Ninteen minutes have been
dedicated to this
Krithi .
These raagams in their
exquiste sequence are:
1) Hamsadhvani ( A
Raaga created by the 18th Century composer
Sri Ramaswamy Dikshithar
).
2) DhanyAsi ( a Janya
Raagam of 8th MeLam , Hanuma ThOdi
known for its Maadhuryam and mood of Bhakthi ; Morning Raaga
).
3) HamsAnandhi ( a
Beautiful Evening Raagam).
4)SahAnA ( a tender
Raagam ideal for humble prayers with pathos
and
nirvEdham seeking the boon
of BhagavAn's anugraham)
5) SaavEri ( another
tender Raagam with its exquisite gliding
between
shadjamam and Rishabha
svarams : " SaavE ReeyAha irukkum ") .
6) The Soaring and
Majestic KedAra Gowlai (Veera Rasam)
7) The pleading Hameer
KalyANi (usually used in nindhA sthuthi
to remind the Lord that
he has not done his duty of Bhaktha RakshaNam ).
8) The delectable
Aanandha Bhairavi dear to VeNu and Naadhasvara
VidhvAns.
9) Tilang ( Evening
6-9P.M Raaga known for the mood of VisrAnthy/Saanthi ).
10) Bage Sri ( another
auspicious Raagam dear to MahA Lakshmi ).
11) BehAg ( late night
Raagam / 9-12 Midnight )
12) Sindhu
Bhairavi ( Noted for its Karunaa Rasam
)
13) Desh ( a Luminous
Raagam like Chandra Kauns , Madhuvanthy ).
Srimathy Sumati
Ramesh's brilliant rendering of the tribute to
AchArya Ramanuja and
His message of SaraNAgathi is a wonderful
accomplishment . You
must hear this Bhajan style item with the hand
cymbals
echoing the beat in the
background .
5. Thirumangai Mannan's
outpourings on SaraNAgathi
*********************************************************************
The nirvEdham of
Klaiyan and His UpadEsamfor us to clelebrate
the power of
AshtAkshara Manthram to get freedom from
the cycles of births
and deaths ( Moksham) is a very personal
message .
The first Paasuram
"
VaainEn Vaadi VarunthinEn " ( Periya Thirumozhi 1.1.1)
is sung by
Sumati
in the Raagam Revathy dear to Lord RanganAtha.
The closeness
of
Revathy svarams to Vedic svarams used in
Saama Gaanam
make
this rendering of the Paasuram very moving
.
Sumati follows the
First Paasuram of Periya Thirumozhi
with the ninth Paasuram
of the same decad ( Kulam Tarum )
in the morning Raagam
of Bilahari . Here , Kaliyan points
out
the greatness of the
dhivya Naamam of NaarAyaNa and its
power to grant all the
worldly riches as well as the Parama
PurushArTam of
Moksham .
6. Tribute to Lord
Narasimha
*************************************
In this Bilahari Raaga
Krithi composed by Saint ThyagarAja
at Sholingar and set in
Misra ChApu TaaLam , Lord Narasimha
is the object of
his SaraNAgathi . The sleeve notes by Smt. Chitra
Malolan says : Saint
ThyagarAja says : " Only with the benevolence of
Lord Narasimhan
we
would have the bhAgyam of chanting his name ,
meditate upon
Him and
be in the company of His devotees , which are the ideal
values for a Sri
VaishNavan ".Sumati's rendering of this krithi
brings
out
the mood and mind set
for SaraNAgathy .
7.Tribute to Lord
VenkatEsa by Saint AnnamAchArya: BhavamulOna --
******************************************************************************************
The next krithi chosen
by Sumati is the famous Suddha DhanyAsi
Krithi of the srEshta
VenkatEsa BhakthA , AnnamayyA of TaaLappAkkam .
AnnamayyA was a key
sishya of the First Jeeyar of Ahobila Mutt ,
Sri Aadhi VaNN
SaThakOpa Jeeyar . The spirit of SaraNagathi is
evoked by AnnamayyA in
this krithi and the dhvani of it echos
are heard still in the
sanctum of the Lord of the Seven hills .
8. Swamy NammAzhwAr's
SaraNAgathy to Lord SrinivAsa at Thirumala
******************************************************************************************
In the classical
ThiruvAimozhi Paasuram ( 6.10.10) , Swamy NammAzhwAr
performs his
moving SaraNAgathy at the sacred feet of Sriya: Pathi
at
ThiruvEnkatam hills (
agalakillEn Paasuram) . It is the SaasthrOktha
SaraNagathi following
the way shown by Dhvaya manthram . Its tight links
to
Dhavya Manthram has
been extensively commented upon .
Here , Swamy
NammAzhwAr , who is eager to have his SaraNagathy fulfilled
quickly
approaches the Lord through MahA Lakshmi as PurushakAram ;
next
he describes clearly his svaroopam ( yennai AaLvAnE !) and
performs
SaraNAgathi( adiyEn
unnadikkeezh puhunthEnE ).
AchArya RaamAnuja
took
his cues from this Paasuram to perform
his SaraNAgathi in
front of the dhivya dampathis of Srirangam through
his SaraNAgathy
Gadhyam , where Acharya Ramanuja eulogized
the nithya yOgam (
nithyAnapAyini , agalakillEniRayamenRu ) .
As ananya SaraNan and
akinchanan , Swamy NammAzhwAr perforemed
his SaraNAgathy ( Unn
adikkeezh adiyEn amarnthu puhunthEnE/ NaarAyaNa
charaNou SaraNam
prapadhyE ) and AchArya Ramanuja followed that ancient path
.
Swamy NammAzhwAr is our
ParamAchAryar with unshakable links to
our PrathamAchAryan ,
Sriman NarayaNan . This Paasuram is the sheet
anchor for SaraNAgathy
in that it is an exact vivaraNam of SaraNAgathy
anushtAnam as per the
dhvya Manthram .
At ThiruviNNagar ,
Swamy NammAzhwAr revealed through his Ukthi
( ThiruviNNagar mannu
PirAn kazhalkaLanRi maRROr kaLaikaNilam
kaaNminkaLe) . Here at
ThiruvEnkatam , Swamy NammAzhwAr performed
his SaraNAgathi
anushtAnam . Swamy NammAzhwAr
performed SaraNAgathi
at ThiruvEnkatam not
for himself alone but for all of us and showed us
the way through this
anushtAna Paasuram .
Sumati has etched
the anubhavam of Swamy NammAzhwAr through
the use of KaambhOji
raagam ideal for elaboration of the spirit and
substance of
SaraNAgathy. Saint ThyagarAja was inspired to perform
his SaraNAgathy in
front of Lord RanganAtha with his elaborate
KaambhOji
krithi ( Oh RangasAyee)
with its many sangathis in the Pallavi . Sumati has
followed this rich
tradition . It is appropriate that her CD is going to be released
at Sri RanganAtha
Temple during AchArya Dinam celebration ( Sep 3-4,
2005).
9. Swamy Desikan's
NyAsa Dasakam : Description and AnushTanam of
SaraNAgathi
***********************************************************************************************************
Sumati now moves from
Swamy NammAzhwAr's Paasuram to the Sri Sookthi of
NyAsa Dasakam , where
Swamy Desikan instructed us about the mood behind
the SaraNAgathy , the
five angams of SaraNAgathi and performed the
SaraNAgathi
before his Ishta
Dhaivam , Lord VaradarAjan of Hasthi Giri at Kaancheepuram
.
The detailed
meanings of Sri NyAsa Dasakam recited by us every day
is
Sumati has used Siva
Ranjani and Subha PanthuvarALi to bring out
the inherent beauty and
sacredness of this precious Sri Sookthi of
Swamy Desikan with
great Vaathsalyam and prEmai . adiyEn was deeply
moved by listening to
the rendering of Sumati with great care to the
uccharaNam
of the Sanskrit words
and the BhAvam behind the slOkams of this
Sri Sookthi .
Lord Sivan is none
other than Ahirbudhnyan , who performed His SaraNAgathi
at the sacred feet
of Sriman Narasimhan ( MlaOlan) through the
illustrious
Manthra Raaja Padha
SthOthram . This NyAsa Dasakam should be very
pleasing ( Ranjani)
to this Special Nrusimha Bhakthan .The Raagam
of
Subha PanthuvarALi is
dear to Sathya NaarayaNan , the SaraNAgatha
Vathsalan , who accepts
our SaraNAgathi with Svaroopa, Bhara and
Phala SamarpaNams
through our AchAryans .
9. MangaLam in
MadhyamAvathi : Vandhanam to Sri Vaikunta Naathan
******************************************************************************************
As a fitting finale ,
Sumati has chosen the MadhyamAvathi krithi of
VidhvAmsini-Saahithya
KarthA , Srimathy SanthAna Lakshmi of
Mumbay to evoke the
bliss of arival of the Mumukshu at Parama Padham
and the performance of
Nithya Kaimkaryam to the dhivya dampathys
there . This is the
ultimate experience for one , who has been blessed
with Moksha Siddhi
through the anushtAnam of SaraNAgathi .
In the Subhakara Raagam
of MadhyamAvathi with its many ranjaka prayOgams,
Sumati invokes the mood
of AchArya RaamAnujA's Sri Vaikunta Gadhyam ,
KurEsar's Sri Vaikuntta
Sthavam and Swamy Desikan's Parama Padha
sOpAnam 's PrApthi
parvam . with great bhAvam (emotional appeal) .
Sumati sings this
krithi set in a thristhAyi raagam known for its
concordance
of scales (Symmetrical
plain scales) that portrays exquisitely the Bhakthi and
KaaruNya rasams .
The many ranjaka prayOgams of this raagam are at the
emotional
rather than the
cerebral level , which fits very well with the mood of SaraNAgathi
.
One has to enjoy this
whole CD ROM with one's eyes closed and it is
superlative
aanandha anubhavam
.
Concluding observations
on the Musical aspects of the Raagams chosen
********************************************************************************************
Sumati's choice of
RaagAs are striking . Her selections are eclectic :
There are
RaagAs
with symmetrical plain scales : AbhOgi , MadhyamAvathi ,
HamsAnandhi
and
AbhOgi .
There are RaagAs with
asymmetrical plain scales : Bilahari , DhanyAsi , SaavEri , KedAragouLai and
KaambhOji .
There
are the RaagAs with Vakra Scales : SahAnaa , Aanandha Bhairavi ,
Hameer
KalyANi and Behag and there is the 45th Parthimadhyama
MeLa
Raagam of Subha
PanthuvarALi .
The Raagas and their
svaroopam are revealed in a manner that enhances
the RasAnubhavam for
the Listener .Please acquire this CD and experience
the outpourings of
AzhwArs and AchAryAs to help one and all to
practise
SaraNAgathy as a direct
and immediate means to Moksham irrespective
of
Caste , Creed , Colour
, Language or Gender .
DaasOham , Srimath
Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,
Oppiliappan Koil
VaradAchAri Sadagopan