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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I thas been archived in :
http://www.sadagopan.org
 
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 -----
From: "rasika_tns" <rasika_tns@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <RaamaBhakthi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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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