Post 1 raama balama Dear sri vaishNava perunthagaiyeer, During the general elections, we hear this word 'charisma' attributed to a particular person. Then he / she is hyped, elevated, and / or projected as a 'charismatic leader' who is capable of winning the elections single handedly. This word as per thesaurus means * appeal, * charm, * magnetism, * allurement, * personality, * attraction, etc. A particular insignificant local candidate also gets a 'winning edge' once this charismatic leader appeals for voting to this candidate, who otherwise is an 'easily' defeat-able candidate. Such is the power of this 'charismatic' personality. Now a story - In earlier days [1950 to 1960 - that decade] in the tamil magazine named 'kalaimagal' one Mr. K.Srinivasan used to write a column 'thalainagaril irundhu'-means - 'from the capital'. This person might have been associated with 'The Hindu' family. I do not remember those details. What this Mr. Srinivasan wrote is important for us. The time was during the first or second general election [regime of pandit Jawaharlal Nehru]. He wrote "even a 'lamppost' also would have won easily the general elections in the name of Nehru and the congress party for which Nehru appealed to the people to vote". That is all because of the "charisma" of Nehru. Of course he used the term 'laanthar kambam' in tamil - perhaps many may not know now what it is. For those days villages did not have electricity, and hence no street lights. A kerosene lamp is the streetlight. A person appointed for that purpose lighted the lamps. He kept the lamps in a tall stone post, with glass covering on sides and a small metal dome covering, so that the lights did not go off in flowing wind. That stone post even though carried the lamp at its top would always be 'in dark'. That post is what he meant for these insignificant winning candidates because of Nehru's charisma. Though it is a bit derogatory on the candidate's stature and capacity, it also adequately explained or showed the "charisma" of Nehru wielded during those days. [This magazine kalaimagaL was founded by late K.V.Jagannathan, tamil orator known for his punning tamil, who was related to Sri thamizh thaaththaa U.V.Swaminatha iyer. Now also this magazine is published but circulation is very low and perhaps many may not know such a magazine issue is coming out. These are not relevant to our topic but incidentally some old story must also be told for younger ones in the list]. When this is the case for ordinary mortals, then how much 'charisma' must my 'raama' have or should have. Or how much charisma his name, that hallowed 'raama naama', should have you can visualise. That is what is my point in this writeup. That is what saint thyaagaraaja also asks raama himself, about raama's personality, capacity, charisma etc - 'is it that you are capable or is it that your name is capable'. Here is that question in the form of a beautiful krithi by sri thyaagaraaja. Of course there is a comment that this krithi is not original of thyaagaraaja and is ascribed to him. For us it is not a matter on or about the authorship. Our interest is the krithi and raama's glory. Hence let us not worry who wrote the krithi. Now the krithi -- raagam: aanandha bhairavi 20 naTabhairavi janya Aa: S G2 R2 G2 M1 P D2 P N2 S Av: S N2 D2 P M1 G2 R2 S taaLam: aadi Composer: Thyaagaraaja Language: Telugu pallavi nee balamaa naama balamaa nijamuga balkavE O raama -- nee meaning: hey raama, please tell me truthfully, 'is it that you are strong or is it that your naama is strong' anupallavi sree bhuja maa thalli balamaa seela aathmathO soubhaktha balamaa -- nee meaning: Is it that my mother (maa thalli) has the strength associated with Her soulful character / or diligence [seela guNam] and her straight and good devotion [su-bhakti]? charaNam giri raaja jaamaathaadhi aja sura raaja kaanchana raaja bhayahara raaja raavaNa raaja bheekara thyaagaraaja- nutha dhaama bheema -- nee meaning: One who removes the fear of all those like - giri raaja himavaan's son in law - that lord siva - that brahma also called aja - the king of dhEvaas - king dhEvEndhra - that sura raajaa - the king of gold - kubEra - kaanchana raaja and at the same time is ferocious on that king raavaNa - that raama - about whom this thyaagaraaja says 'the asylum is the strong you, oh raama, or is it your naama?' Situation for the krithi: In one of the websites, I located this comment about which I have my reservation. Why and what it is, is explained as below. Quote -- Here thyaagaraaja asks Raama "Are you more powerful or is your name more powerful or my Mother Seetha's POOJA more powerful and so on. In the back of thyaagaraaja's mind he must have been thinking about a small episode that is narrated in some versions of Ramayanam though not in Vaalmeeki's. It is as follows. When the Vaanara Sainyam was building the bridge across the ocean by throwing rocks into the sea, Raama, who was watching them, also took a small rock and threw it into the sea. While the rocks thrown by the Vaanaraas floated, that one raama - HE - threw went down into the sea. Raama was embarrassed and turned round to see if any one had observed his action. Sure enough Anjaneya was looking at HIM with a smile. He called Anjaneya and asked him if he had seen anything. Anjaneya said 'Yes'. 'What did you see?' asked raama. 'Lord Raama, I saw you observing the sainyam throwing rocks into the sea. Then I saw you also take a rock and throw it into the sea. Then I saw the rock sinking into the sea. Then I saw you looking embarrassed and turning round to see if anyone has observed all these' said AnjanEya. Raama asked 'Well. Why did the rock I threw go down?' Anjaneya replied, 'My Lord, there is no mystery in this. The answer is very simple. The vaanaras are chanting your name and saying "JAI SRI RAM' and throwing the rocks. But you just threw it. I was able to cross the ocean by just saying 'RAM, RAM, RAM'. But you yourself need a bridge for the same purpose. At the end of this YUGA, you will go back to Heaven. But Your name will be here forever. Your name, my Lord, is so powerful that it can achieve even what you cannot achieve'. RAMA WAS STUNNED. Thyaagaraaja must have visualised this entire scene and so he asks Raama "NEE BALAMA NAAMA BALAMA" - unquote My version of situation for the krithi is - "hanumaan thinks about raama and his naama balam after his tail is put on fire. Also he thinks is it the mother seethaa's character balam. Hanumaan was not feeling the heat, and in fact chill, even though he could see the tail is burning. I give my version based in vaalmeeki's slokams. Whereas the above writeup above is based on some stories, perhaps on hearsay or has no direct reference from vaalmeeki. [as already stated therein in the quote itself]. On raaga selection: it is aanandha bhairavi - seethaa is now happy, for she heard her lord's name, she received the ring of raama and gave her choodaamaNi to hanumaan to be given / shown to raama as proof of his having met her - also learnt about raama lakshmaNa's welfare, the association with the monkey king sugreeva etc - all through hanumaan. Hanumaan is also happy for his mission of finding out seethaa is fulfilled, he met her, talked to her, convinced her and prevented her from not committing a suicide, got evidence from her for having met her, also met raavaNan and could suggest to him to return seethaa for his own survival etc. Also since hanumaan is about to create a fearful scene in lanka with same fire burning now at his tail. So on one side 'aanandham', another side fear or ferocity or 'bhairavam'. So 'aanandha bhairavi' = pleasure + ferocity combined. As I already stated more than once, thyaagaraaja selects raagams just more apt to the situation, and that raagam name itself gives clues to the situation in raamaayaNam. Points on the krithi and comments we will see in next post. Dhasan Vasudevan M.G. DISCLAIMER: This Message and its contents is intended solely for the addressee and is proprietary.Information in this mail is for L&T Business Usage only. 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