SrI:
Sri ThyAgarAja Swamigal has
composed number of moving Krithis
in AsaavEri Raagam
:
1) Lekanaa ninnu
2) DasaraTa
Nandana
3) Janakajaa
samEta
4) NammakanE Mosa
pODu
5) Ye
Paniki
6) Maam palavElasitaa
7) Raa Raamaa
IndithAkaa
8) Samayumu
Telisi
9) SarivEdalina
Most of them are set in Adi
TaaLam . Two are set in Roopaka
TaaLam and one in Misra
Chaapu ( Samayamu Telisi).
Sri Dikshithar's Navagraha
Kruthi , " Chandram Bhaja Maanasa "
is a famous one in AsaavEri
Raagam known for its KaaruNya
and Bhakthi rasam .
AsAvEri is a Janya Raagam of
the 8th MeLam , Hanuma ThOdi
with Chatusri Rishabham as
the BhAshAnga Swara . The GhAndhAram
is sung with Gamakam .
Let us enjoy one of the
AsvaEri krithis of this great Raama BhakthA today
.
Today's Krithi
:
*******************
Pallavi
: Lekanaa ninnu
juDDukOnnAru ?
Anupallavi : SrIkara !
KaruNAsAgara ! nirupama
chinmayaa ! Sritha chinthAmaNi ! neeyEDa
CharaNam 1: SoundharyamulalO
sukhamu Seethammaku ,
Soumithriki
ganalu jaaDala sukhamu
CharaNam 2 : Sundara
mukhamuna sukhamu Bharathuniki ,
Suj~nAna
roopamuna sukham Ripugnuniki
CharaNam 3: CharaNa
yugamanandhu sukhamAnjanEyuniki
varaguNa ThyagarAja varadhAnandhamu ( lEkanaa)
Commentary and Introduction :
****************************************
One
day , Sri ThyAgarAja SwamigaL was ready to
perform
his daily aarAdhanam for the Lord at his house
in Thirumanjana Veethi of
ThiruvayyARu . He saw the Raama
ParivAram around the throne of
Lord Raamachandra . He was
very happy to see there the Bhaktha-
BhAgavatha GhOshti enjoying
the Soundharyam , Soulabhyam ,
Swamithvam and Jn~Anam of
Lord Raamachandra .
ThyAgarAja SwamigaL began to
speculate on what was it
that served as the magnet for
each of those dearest to his Lord
that so intensively
attracted them . One by one , this great Raama BhkthA
figured out the distinct
reasons for
each of them ( SeethA DEvi ,
LakshmaNa , Bharatha ,
Shathrugna and AnjenEya ) to be so captivated
by the KalyANa guNAs of
Sri Raamabhadra and shared his reasonings
in a delightful
AsAvEri Raaga
Krithi .
The Meaning of the Saahithyam
( as per Sri C.Ramanujachari) *********************************************************************************
" Otherwise , Will they always be hovering about You with one heart
(yEka
hrudhayamulai) and deriving everlasting bliss ( nithyAnandhamu ) ?
Oh bestower of prosperity (
SrIkara) ! Ocean of Mercy ( KaruNA Saagara) !
Incomparable embodiment of
knowledge ( nirupama chinmayaa ) !
the wish-yielding gem to the
devotees ( sritha ChinthAmaNi )
!
In Your beautiful form , SitA
PirAtti derived Her happiness (
SoundaryamualO
Sukhamu
Seethammaku ) . In Your commands conveyed through
the movement of Your eyes (
Soumithriki ganalu jaaDalu sukhamu)
,
LakshmaNa derived pleasure .
In Your charming face , Bharata found
joy ( Sundara mukhamuna sukhamu Bharathuniki ) . In Your
personality
beaming with knowledge ,
Satrugna derived bliss ( Su-jnA~na
roopamuna
sukhamu
Ripugnaniki ) . In Your holy feet , AnjanEya found his happiness
( CharaNa
yugamanandhu sukhamaanjanEyayuniki ) " . Oh delight of
Thyagaraja and
the grantor of boons for him ! Why would otherwise
Your ParivAram be hovering
around You with one heart and deriving
such manifest bliss ?
Additional Observations
********************************
The athyantha Raama Bhakthi
of Saint ThyagarAja is revealed
by the choice of NaamAs by
which he addresses his dear Lord
in the anupallavi sectin
:
" SrIkara
, KaruNAsAgara , Nirupama chinmaya , Sritha ChinthAmaNi ! "
A .
Srikaran : Our Lord is SrIkaran , the bestower of every kind of prosperity
.
He is SrIkaran because He is
Sridharan , Sriya: Pathi .
He blesses one with any one
of the four kinds of PurushArTams : Dharma ,
arTa , Kaama and Moksham
. What he can give is hinted by the VedAs :
1. Courageous sons and
grandsons (brave progeny ) -- Rg Vedam : VIII. 102.8
2. Abundance of food : Aa
vaajiroopa nO gamath ( May He come to us
with
abundance of food)--- Rg Vedam : VIII.102.9
3. Strength to win over
enemies --Saama vedam : UttharArchikam 516.
Both
Internal and External enemies are implied here .
4. He grants the ultimate
Sukham of Moksham , the freedom from
the
cycles of births and deaths. He is SaraNAgatha Vathsalan
.
B. KarunNAsaagaran :
He is a shoreless Ocean of Mercy . His wish
( icchA ) is always to remove the dukkham of His devotees . He will
rush
from Sri Vaikuntam in a trice to remove the dukkham of the GajEndhran
,
who was losing in the struggle with the crocodile at the lotus pond .
C. Nirupama Chinmayan : He is
the possessor of limitless Jn~Anam .
He is ChidhAnandha Moorthy .
He instructed Brahma on the four Vedams
and their meanings and how to
use the VedAs to engage in the VyApAram of
Creation of the entities of
the Universe. He is HayagrIvan , Jn~Anandhamayan .
He is the base for all
VidhyAs and Nivrutthi dharmams .
D. Sritha ChinthAmaNi : He is
like the ChinthaaMaNi gem that can grant
all wishes of those that have
sought its protection : " Vaari Vazhangum VaLLal ".
For KuchEla , Sabari
, PrahlAdha , Droupathi and those who sought His rakshaNam
,
he blessed them with
the boons that they sought .
CharaNa Vaakyams: SithA
Devi's bliss
*************************************************
SithA PirAtti is overtaken by
the Unparalleled soundharyam
of Her Lord . She describes
Her status of being totally under the spell of
the asAdhAraNa
soundharyam of the
Lord this way :
Indhiraneelamum otthu iruNDa
kunchiyum
chandira vadhanamum thAzntha
kaikaLum
Sundara MaNivarait-thOLUmE
alamunthi
Yenn uyirai ammuRuval uNDathE
----Kamba RaamAyaNam : Baala KaaNDam
The beautiful blue color of
His body reminding the lustre of Indhra Neela gem ,
the dark black tresses
, the blemishless Full Moon-like Face , the long arms
reaching
down to His knees ,
the rounded and strong shoulders resembling a mighty
mountain and the enchanting
smile on the lips make me lose my senses .
So says SithA PirAtti
.
LakshmaNan's
aanandham
************************************
" LakshmaNO Lakshmi Sampanna:
" is the astute summing up of LakshmaNan .
The Lakshmi referred to is
the Kaimkarya Lakshmi . LakshmaNan is the one ,
who remonstrated against
Raama , when latter expressed disinterst in
LakshmaNa accompanying Him to
the forest . At that time , LakshmaNan
overcame his brother's
reluctance with the moving plea:
"aham sarvam karishyAmi
jAgrataH svapatatt ca te " . Oh Raama !
KaruNA Saagara
! SrIkara ! Sritha chinthAmaNi ! I will perform every
kaimkaryam for You , whether You are awake or asleep. Through the
facial
gestures alone , LakshmaNa was able to read the mind set of his brother and
engaged in those kaimkaryams that Lord Ramachandra wishd . That
made
hima krutArTan and gave him bliss.
Bharata's Joy :
*****************
" Sundara Mukamunu sukamu " . The Bhakthi that Bharata had for his
brother Raama
was exemplary . He is the PraTmOdhAharaNan for Raama Bhakthi : "
BharathAya Param
namOasthu tasmai praTamOdhAharaNAya BhakthibhAjAm " says Swamy
Desikan
in his Sri RanganAtha PadhukA Sahsaram . Bharathan was the first
among those
who possessed Raama Bhakthi (BhakthibhAjAm PraTamOdhAharaNan ) . Any
thing
associated with Raama evoked Parama Bhakthi in Bharata . His reverence
for
the PaadhukAs as the representative of Lord Raamachandra and ruling AyOdhya
in the name of the Paadhukais is a claasical example of BharathA's bliss ,
while
his brother had to be away in the forest for 14 years .
Shathrugna"s
bliss:
*************************
Shathrugna has been saluted
as a MahA Jn~Ani : " ShathrugnO nithya Shathrugna:"
( One who is eternally
vigilant against the temptations of his senses ) . His
Bhakthi
for a Bhaagavatha like
Bharatha instead of BhagavAn (Raama) has been compared
to
the Bhakthi of Madhura Kavi
AzhwAr , who dedicated himself to Swamy NammAzhwAr
and placed Bhagavaan as not
so important . Shatrugna's Bhaagavatha Seshathvam
is legendary . While his
brother Bharathan stayed at Nandigram ( outside AyOdhyA ) ,
Shatrugna looked after
the day to day operations of the kingdom to spare Bharatha
from distractions that
would affect his meditations on Raama and PaadhukA
aarAdhanam . After the
coronation , Shathrugna's ( this Jn~Ani's) bliss was
the overpowering Jn~Anam of
Lord Raamachandran .
HanumAn's Bliss:
***********************
Paadha Sevanam of the
Lord was HanumAn's aanandham . Meditation on
the CharaNa yugaLam ( sacred
pair of feet ) of the Lord is the Aanandham of
HanumAn. That is why He
hovers around the Lord as a Chiranjeevi .
Thus ThyAgarAja SwamigaL
figured out the specific bliss derived by
Sri Raama ParivAram and
linked himself to that Raama Bhaktha ghOshti .
Sri Raamachandra ParabrahmaNE
Nama:
Daasan , Oppiliappan
Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan
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