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- Subject: [Oppiliappan] Fw: [RaamaBhakthi] Harikatha by TNSeshagopalan at The Music Academy on 3-2-2008-SadguruThyagaraja
- From: "Dr. Sadagopan" <yennappan@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2008 16:23:38 -0500
- Cc: "Saro" <sarojram18@xxxxxxxxx>
- List-id: <Oppiliappan.yahoogroups.com>
SrI:
Dear Srimathy (Dr,) Saroja Ramanujam :
I am delighted to rad your summary of
the Hari Kathaa KaalakshEpam of
Sangeetha KalAnidhi Srri TNS .
I wish I could have been there to enjoy it
.
Few years back , It has been my good fortune
to have created a Monograph on " Ghana Raaga
Pancha Ratnams " of Thyagaraja SwamigaL
to focus on His Raama Bhakthi as an echo of
Veda Mantrams and Dhivya prabhandhams
as well as Srimath RaamAyaNa SlOkams .
I thas been archived in :
the link on the left is :Anjali with Naama Ksumams .
Yourself and fellow Raama BhakthAs as well as
Musicologists would enjoy that monograph , which
has
300 plus pages .
NamO SrI RaaghavAya anisam ,
V.Sadagopan
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 8:27
AM
Subject: [RaamaBhakthi] Harikatha by TNSeshagopalan
at The Music Academy on 3-2-2008-SadguruThyagaraja
The harikatha was on Sadguru Thyagaraja and TNS had to pack the
subject
on which he could have elaborated for several days within the
time
limit of two and a half hours and he has valiantly done a marvelous
job
of it. All the highlights of the harikatha were brought within
the
stipulated time, proving that he could give a performance
par-excellence
in a duration however short.
I give below the
essence,(rasa) of the harikatha by TNS , which he
spiced with his wonderful
music, making it into a karnarasayanam, to the
best of my
ability.
In kaliyuga namasankirthana is enough to attain
moksha whereas in other
yugas one has to resort to more strenuous
methods like tapas, yajna etc
and Thyagaraja was a living example for this.
His bhakthi was no less
than that of Prahlada.
We are blessed
that Thyagaraja had more than 100 desciples who wrote
down his songs and it
was thus handed over to posterity.
But it is a pity that even
though numerous krthis of Thyagaraja were
known to exist only about 50 or
more are well known.
Thyagaraja had composed many krithis in one
raga each, with different
svarupa. Some of his krthis are easy enough to sing
even for a beginner
while some are difficult even for a trained
musician.
Thygaraja mentions that Lord Siva was the first among
those who revelled
in the Ramanama as he told Parvati that ramanama is
equal to the
thousand names of the Lord. TNS quoted from the
Pancharathnakrthi
`kankanaruchira' in which Thyagaraja says that Siva
and
Anjaneya are the witnesses for the glory of Ramanama, and TNS said
that
Anjaneya and Siva are one because Anjaneya is supposed to be the amsa
of
Siva. It is said that to die in Kasi is to attain mukthi because
Siva
whispers the Ramanama in the ear of the dying person in
Kasi.
Next TNS explained the term sadguru. Thyagaraja was born in
a family of
great devotees and was truly blessed with the grace of Srirama
,yet he
could reach the poornathva, perfection, only through a guru. This
is
becoming a rarity nowadays, he said, as the tapes and computers
are
replacing the guru ! TNS said gurus may be numerous(!) but to find
a
satguru is difficult. He defined the term guru as the one
who
dispels(ru) the darkness of ignorance(gu). Muthuswami Dikshithar
has
said, in his krthi about Lord Subramanya, who performed the role of
a
guru to him, `ajnanadhvaanthasavithre,' the one who is like a
sun to the
darkness of ajnana.
TNS compared guru to the rain-cloud
which takes the salt water from the
sea and transforms it into pure
water. If we approach any sastra, music
or any other, by ourselves it
will be like salt water. Thyagaraja says
that guru is like the nut which when
put into water clears it because he
clears our mind of delusions and doubts.
It is mentioned by Thyagaraja
in his krthi where he says `guruvechillaga'
etc. Similarly guru
will turn apasvaram to susvaram.
A satguru
is the one who an impart jnana, and he himself must have had
the anugraha of
his guru. A satguru assumes the roles of mother, father,
teacher and God to
his disciple. He shows the God he has experienced to
all. Thyagaraja had the
darsan of Rama which made him burst into the
description
`balakanakamayachea'etc. But, TNS asked, where was
the necessity of him to
raise a plaintive cry
`Elaneedhayaraadhu?' And he supplied the answer. It was
not for
his sake he said so but with a wish to show the world what he
has
experienced, he entreated Rama to give His darsan to all. This is
the
mercy of the saintly souls, that they feel ` yam pettRaunbam
peruga
ivvaiyagam,' "let the whole world experience the joy I have
felt."
This is what made Arunagirinathar to ask Lord Muruga to come
in front with
all his realatives and vehicle in the Mayilviruttham
`athalachedanaaraada.'
Thyagaraja expressed this wish in many of
his krthis, like `sreeganapathini
sevimparaare,' `choothaamu
rare, ` rajuvedala choothaamuraare,' and
`baaghasevinchi
sakala bhaagyamandhudhaamu rare, in his krthi
`ragaratna
malikache' in reethigoula , in all these inviting people to come
and
share the joy of the darsan of the Lord.
TNS said that the
great souls have not written autobiography or made
someone to write
their biography and their works themselves serve this
purpose. Rama showed
the world how to follow dharma by his conduct , the
dharma which He spoke
about in Krishnavathara. His life is an
illustration as to how one should
behave in the role of a son, king,
master, brother etc. The Kural
says'vaiyatthu vaazvaangu vaazbavan
vaanuraiyum dheivatthuL vaikkappadum,'
which means that the human
being who lives according to dharma is equal to
God. Rama was God
Himself and hence there is no need to say how much more it
would have
been true for one who is vigrahavan dharamah. TNS said that how
else
could a devotee who worships such a deity like Rama be but
like
Thyagaraja. He, like Rama whom he worshipped, gave all he had to
those
who approached him with devotion, all that he had being nothing else
but
nadhavidhya. His whole life was spent in going on unchavrtthi for
the
sake of worshipping Rama and the rest of the time was spent in
the
aradhana of Rama through music.
Thyagaraja showed that
music is the only path to salvation an asks
boldly whether one who has no
knowledge of music and devotion,
sathbhakthisangeethajnanaviheenulaku, can
attain moksha in his krthi
`mokshamugakladha.' TNS explained the
words
`veenaavaadhanaloludou sivamanovidha merugaru,' as the
veena
mentioned in the krthi is the human being who himself becomes a
veena,
when the pranava becomes the sapthasvaras and flows through the
heart
strings which is the veena tuned by devotion. This secret is known
to
Siva, says Thyagaraja and one who does not know this cannot get
moksha
is the meaning of the words. The one who knows this is referred to
by
Thyagaraja as `vedajanithaveenaavaadhanthathvajna.' So what is
meant is
the deivaveena, and a good veena playing should resemble vocal
singing and
the words should be heard with the laya inherent. TNS also
sang briely
the sloka of Adisankara in soundaryalahari which is about
Sarasvati covering
her veena when Ambika uttered a sound in
appreciation, because of her shame
that her playing of the veena is
nothing against the sound that came
from Ambal.
Thyagaraja has also given the lakshana of good
music.in his krthi
`kaddhanuvariki' in thodi, said TNS and explained
the charanam
of the krthi, .niddhuraa niraakarinchi, muddhugaa
thamburaapetti,
suddhamaina manasu che susvaramutho.' You can achieve
something only
by giving up something else. So Thyagaraja says niddhuraa
niraakarinchi,
giving up sleep as one who is fond of sleeping can learn
nothing. Next
he says muddhugaa thamburapetti, which means that one should
hold the
thambur gracefully, and does not mean the thamburapetti,(
the
electronic) as it is prevalent today, quipped TNS. One could
achieve
even this much but the next requirement is very difficult, said
TNS,
namely, suddhamaina manasu.che susvaramutho, to achieve a purity of
mind
and sing pure music. So one should have so much discipline to
master
music when only it becomes the path to
moksha.
Thyagaraja has brought out the whole Ramayana in one
krthi,
`sriraghukula,' as in the sloka called
ekaslokiramayana
`poorvam raama thapovanaanigamanam,' which describes the
whole
Ramayana in one sloka. In that krthi soon after the mention
of
`sriraghukula mandhubutti' meaning `being born in
Raghukulam,
Thyagaraja says `seethaanujaikonina ,' accepted the
hand of Seetha.
This , TNS said is in-keeping with the view of
Thyagaraja that the
ramavathara is the best as he mentions in the krthi
in the raga kolahalam,
`pathivesmulalo raamavesamu
bahubhaaganutsu.' This is because the
divine mother , has come along
with Rama unnlike in other
avatharas. Ramavatara begins only after
seethakalayanam whereas
Krishna married Rukmini much later after showing
His divinity to all by His
leelas. TNS remarked that the only similarity
between the two avataras is
that both killed a woman first, Rama killed
Thataka and Krishna killed
Poothana!
Thyagaraja also showed the real purpose of
Raamavatara as bhaktha
paripalana and not Ravaana vadha as it may
be commonly thought. He
says, `paramabhakthulanupaalanamu tseyu,' in his
krthi
`Sriraghukula .' TNS said that Rama did
bhakthaparipalana
through out showering His grace to man , bird and beast.
His mercy was
irrespective of caste or creed and whether it was a bird,
or a monkey
or a huntress or even the brother of his enemy He was the
same. Sabari
was twice blessed, said TNS, as her ascent to heaven and
attainment of
moksha was witnessed by Rama Himself.
Rama
was the personification of music to Thyagaraja. He asks
`evarani
nirnayinchiriraa? whom did the great souls take you
for?' TNS said that
Thyagaraja asks a question and will supply the
answer in the charanam. He
defines the ramasvarupa in the line
`sivamantharamunaku maa jeeavanu,
maadhavamanthramunaku raa jeevanu
,' the essence of he siva manthra is
"ma" and that of Vishnu
is "ra" and both joined together in Rama. TNS said
that the
vidvans have the responsibility of knowing the meaning
and split the
words correctly in singing the krthis. He jocularly
remarked that it
would look as though Thyagaraja has confirmed his belief in
the efficacy
of ramanama which could be easily uttered anytime, by
the
krthi'dhyaaname,' if the last word of the pallavi
`manasaa
raama' is joined with `dhyaname' while repeating the line
to
sound like `madhyaname' which gives the impression the
ramanama
can be said in madhyanam, afternoon! Similarly he demonstrated how
the
krthi `maamavathu sri sarasvathi kaamakotipeetanivaasini,'( of
Mysore
Vasudevachar ) should be sung with a break while repeating the
pallavi as
otherwise joining the nivasini with mamavathu without a break
sounds like
`cinema!' and hence one should take a breath before
repeating the
line.
TNS quoted from Kamban `moolamum naduvum,' where Hanuman
tells
Ravana that Rama is the :Lord Himself who has left all his other
weapons
and came to Ayodhya carrying only the bow, `orukaivil
Endhi
ayoddhivandhaan.' TNS remarked that Hanuman was called
`sollin
selvan' by Rama which could be broken as sol+in+selvan meaning
that
he is the selvan possessing the rich wealth of the sweet name
Rama,
`in sol'
Continuing the svarupa of Rama as the
sangeetham itself TNS explained
the Thyagarajakrthi `naadhasudhaa
rasambilanu,' where Rama is
described as the music itself in humanform,
`naddhasudhaarasam
bilanu narrakrthi aaya.' And his bow is the raga, the
svaras are the
bells on his bow etc and the sangathis are His
conversations and it is
sarasa, full of essence (sa+rasa) and also enjoyable
(sarasa). Then TNS
spoke about the sangathis. He said `sangathi pOdaradhu
peria
sangathi!' Thyagarja's sangathis are like the lotus slowly
opening
its petals in the sunlight of Ramakripa and the technique of
sangathis
developed today is the boon of Thyagaraja. TNS said "avar
kOdu pOttaar
mattRavaa rOdu pOttaa."
Sangeetha jnanam without devotion, said
Thyagaraja will not secure
salvation, `sangeethajananmu bhakthivina
sanmaargamu galadhe .'
TNS said the musician is similar to a knower of
Vedas if his music is
involved with bhakthi and it should be visible by mere
looking at him
because sangeetha sasthrajnana is capable of providing
saaroopyamukthi,
as described by Thyagaraja in his mukhaari krthi.
(saaroopyamukthi means
attatining a form similar to the
Lord)
TNS next mentioned about the variety of bhavas Thyagaraja
brought into
the same raga, sometimes .within one krthi. Atana
portrayed different
moods as in `Elaneedhaya raadhu,' he said and sang
the krthi to
demonstrate it which was a treat to rasikas. In the charanam
Thyagaraja
calls Rama affectionately and TNS sang it displaying the full
beauty of
the lyric. Then he gave an explanation for the use of the
word
raajeevanethra by Thyagaraja, who was undoubtedly familiar
with
Valmiki. In Balakanda where Visvamithra asks Dasaratha to send Rama
the
latter replied that Rama was just a boy and could not face the
asuras.
The reason is implied in the word `raamo raajeevalochanaH'
by
which Dasaratha refers to Rama. A lotus `raajeeva' will close at
the
sunset and the asuras are known to appear only in the night when the
eyes of
Rama which are like lotuses will close with sleep as. he was
`oonoshodasavarshaH,' not even sixteen.
Then TNS referred to
the pisode of the king of Tanjore calling
Thyagaraja, the very fact
that he did so was enough to distress
Thyagaraja to whom Rama was
everything, `dhanadhaanyamu dhaivamu
neevaiyundaka,' as he says in the
ranjani krthi,
`dunmargachara.' He was so pained that he asks
himself whether
he had any desire for wealth unconsciously which made
others think that
he may accept the offer of the king. `Nidhi tsaalasukhamaa
raamuni
snnidhisevaa sukhamaa nijamuga phalgu manasaa.' Another time he
was
told by Vadivelu , one of the Tanjore quartet,
that
MaharajaSwathithorunaal wished to meet him. This made him
exclaim
`padhavini sathbhakthiyu,' that the true exalted position is
the
service of Rama. This krthi, a beautiful one ,said TNS, shows the
height
of vairagya of the devotees like Thyagraja , similar to that
of
Veedantadesika who composed vairagyapanchakam in which he
exclaims,
`asthi me hasthisailagre vasthu paithaamaham dhanam,', when
his
friend Vidyaranya wanted to call him to the court of Krishnadevaraya.
In
his krthi `daasarathee neernamu theerppa naavasamaa,' Thyagaraja
puts
it all to the glory of Rama that he was revered by all.
TNS then
referred to the krthi of Thyagaraja `mithribhagyame,'
in karaharapriya where
Thyagaraja marvels at the way Lakshmana places
Rama on the oonjal and
sings. This krthi gives the essentials of good
music. Thyagaraja himself had
s shown how Rama should be placed on the
oonjal in his
krthi'uyyaalaoogavayya.' In the karaharapriya
krthi he says,
,'bhagugavindha raagamulanu aalaapamu tseyagameu
pulkarinchaka,' and this
dispels the doubts of sceptics whether
Thyagaraja did alapana etc. He says
Lakshmana sang elaborately doing
alapana in apoorvaragas so that it created
horripilation to the
listeners. TNS said this is the way the raga alapana
should be sung and
his rasikas who have heard him sing the raga alapana will
have no two
opinions about this, especially when he said one should
sing
élaborately yet leave the listeners longing for more! This is
exactly
the experience of the rasikas of TNS! As he said while
defining
brahmanandham, it is the capacity of the musician to show the
divinity
he has experienced through his music to the listeners. I would like
to
add that to get that experience the rasika must be sahrdhya his
mind
tuned to that of the musician. As TNS said later , for that one
needs
the grace of the Lord.
The question whether Thyagaraj
would have sung svaras is answered by his
pancharathnakrthis, said TNS. In
the nata pancharathna krthi the
svaras `SPMRSPMR,etc., rishabha
which is the vivadi svara stands
prominently repeated many times like so many
nandis we see before we get
into the sanctum sanctorum of the temple of Siva.
Not only that , in the
beginning itself Thyagaraja united Rama with
Seetha, in
`jayajaanakeepraaNanaayakaa' to give us the darsan of the
Lord
and the Divine mother together. Other charanas of the krthi also
abound
in svara combinations which clearly stand as beacon-lights for
the
posterity in svara singing. The lyric is also rich in rhetoric
beauty
even without music, said TNS, like ashtapadis, which even when read
loud
as a poetry creates a joy to the listener. He cited the
charanam
`karadhrthasarajaala,' to illustrate this.
The lyric
of Thyagarajakrthis itself portrays the different emotions,
said TNS as in
`ethudanilachithe ,' where he starts with
entreaty and proceeds to accusation
in the charanam, which is full of
rhetoric charm. So is the charanam of
`Elaneedhayaraadhu..'
His compositions are not mere fantasy but actual
experience of the
presence of Rama.
Finally Thyagaraja has
handled even the topics that are like walking on
razor's edge like the
nowkacharithram with full of rasa without
virasa.
I have presented a
picture to the best of my knowledge which is no way
comparable to the
excellent exposition of TNS which is all this and much
more, added with his
brilliant music. I only endeavour to convey an
idea of his
harikatha to the rasikas who did not have the opportunity
to
witness it personally. I hope that I have done a reasonably good job
of
it.
[Non-text
portions of this message have been removed]
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http://www.sadagopan.org
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