Sri ParthasArathy of Thiru AllikkENi

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends :

 

Today is the day of TeppOthsavam for

Sri ParthasArathy at ThiruvalliKKeni . Like the waves

wafted by the sanchAram of the Teppam ,

my mind is soothed by the memory waves of my

days as a resident of this Divya Desam .

 

I was a resident of 31 Hanumantha Rayan

Koil St , while I was studying at VivekAnandhA

College , Mylapore. This street is on the south side of

the KairavaNi pushkaraNi .My father(Poundarikapuram

S.Varadachariar ) resided at Car St

for a few Years and for a few more at PeyzhwAr Koil St ,

which is right next to the temple of GeethAchAryan .

 

I taught Science for the twelfth grade students at

the National High School for a semester before

starting my Master's degree in Chemistry at

ANNAmalai UNiversity . The school is at T.P .Koil

Street ( TuLasingha PerumAL Koil /TeLLiyA Singha

PerumAL Koil Street ) . From my class room on the top

floor , I had the darsanam of the Vimanam of TeLLiya

Singha PerumAn . The morning prayer at the School was

" Krupai Koorndhu Yemmai Kaakum DayALA ,

Geethayai aruLiya ParthasArathE --ThiruvallikkENi

vaazh MaNivaNNA , nitya KalyANaa---- " .

 

My memories of ThruvallikkENi and Sri RukmaNi ,

Vedavalli Sametha ParthasArathy are very special .

Sri S.Rengarajan"s informative and deeply-researched

postings stirred up my memory of

my boyhood years at ThiruvalliKKENi . I want

to share with you some of my memories related

to the Naadha Naivedyam offered to Sri ParthasArathy

by three illustrious composers of Carnatic music tradition .

 

Sri Thyagabrahmam came here and offered his homage

and composed a krithi . I forgot the name of this Krithi

composed during the occasion of AiyyarwAL's visit to the temple

during his stay with his key disciple , VeeNai Kuppaiyer .

Perhaps one of the musical scholars of this group

can refresh my memory .

 

Sri Mutthuswamy Dikshithar composed a krithi in Raagam

Suddha DahnyAsi , a Janya Raagam of nata Bhairavi ,

the 20th MeLa Ragam. Suddha DanyAsi is an upAnga

Raagam that can be sung at all hours . This Samashti krithi

(Krithi without Anupallavi ) is made up of simple

but evocative Sanskrit phrases:

 

Pallavi : Sri PaarthasaarathinA Paalithosmyaham sadhaa

 

CharaNam : Gopasthree Mohitha VeNu ghAnEna

Sri RukmiNi manOllasakaaraNena

prapanchArthi hara dhAna nipuNa Vaikunta sthithEna

Tumburu Naarda NuthEna , Guru Guha SammodhithEna

( Sri ParthasArasArathinA Paalithosmi Aham Sadhaa)

 

In a companion posting of this day dealing with the slokams of

RanganAtha PaadhukhA Sahasram , I made reference to NaradA

reciting Saama Ghaanam on his VeeNa (slokam 451 of RPS)

and the Gopa Sthrees being enchanted with the VeNu GhAnam of

Sri KrishNa at Thiru Aaypaadi as a seven year old child (Slokam 460).

 

Sri Dikshithar"s charaNa vaakyams connect to both of the above

incidents ( gopasthree Mohitha VeNu ghanEna , Naarada Nuthena ) .

Sri Dikshithar also salutes the naipuNyam (mastery ) of the

Lord who gave us the Sarama Slokam ( Sarva DharmAn

Parithyajya --) as the Prapancha Arthi Hara Dhaana NipuNan .

Sri Dikshithar declares that he is always protected by

the Lord , who creates Joy in the mind of His consort RukmiNi

in His role as the one who responded to the message of

RukmiNi sent through the Brahmin to come to Her father's

capitol and take Her away . KrishNa came as His own Saarathy

and swiftly took Her away to DwarakA and married Her there .

This is waht Dikshithar is referring to , when he says ,

Sri RukmiNi manOllAsa KaaraNEna . As Her consort ,

ParthasArathy is also the source of RukmiNi's eternal joy.

 

The doctrines behind the goal of obtaining the Lord's lotus

feet as UpAyam and palan through performance of SaraNAgathi

are profound and closely linked to the Lord , who blesses

us with the kolam of PaarthasArathy at ThiruvallikkENi .

 

Sri Dikshithar"s pallavi statement that he is devoid of fear and that

he is always protected ( Paalithosmi Sadhaa ) by ParthasArathy

hints that he took refuge at the lotus feet of GeethAchAryan at

ThiruvallikkENi and felt comforted ny the Lord"s acceptance of

his SaraNAgathi .

 

Although we can easily cover volumes about the doctrine

(tattvam ) of ParthasArathy as the one and only SaraNyan for

the suffering (arthi ) jeevans , I will quote only one slokam

from Swami Desikan"s Rahasya Traya Saaram :

 

upanishadhAm anthE yasmAdh anantha dayA ambhudhE :

trutitha janathA soka: sloka: svayam samajAyatha I

tham iha vidhinA KrishNam dharmam prapathya sanAthanam

samitha durithA: sankA aathanka thyaja: sukham aasmahE II

 

(Meaning ) : We have performed SaraNAgathi in the proper way

in this birth and are devoid of doubts, sins and fears and are blessed

with peace and tranquility ; This came about because of our

saraNAgathi to that ocean of mercy who is the object of the

salutations of the upanishads . The Sarama slokam that

removes the samsAra bheethi and sorrow of the populace arose

out of its own accord from that limitless ocean of compassion ,

PaarthasArathy .

 

Those PrapannAs in the words of Swami Desikan

become immortal and attain Parama Padham , the

supreme abode of the Lord ( tEpi mruthyum athikramya

yaanthi tadh VaishNavam padham ) . Sri Dikshithar

must have felt that way , when he declared that he

is always protected by ParthasArathy .

 

The next two krithis on ThiruvallikkENi ParthasArathy

are by the talented composer Mysore Sadasiva Rao.

He was a disciple of the prime disciple of Saint ThyagarAjA ,

Walajapet VenkataramaNa Bhagavathar. he is well known for

introducing beautiful svara saahityAs in his krithis.

 

The two compositions on the presiding deity of ThiruvallikkENi

by him are : (1) " Sri ParthasArathE " in Bhairavi Raagam , another

janya Raagam of the MeLa Raagam , Nata Bhairavi . This

Bhairavi krithi is set in Khanda Jaathi Triputa TaaLam .The guru

of the Guru of Mysore SadAsiva Rao (Saint ThyagarAjA ) has

given us 18 krithis in raagam Bhairavi . Mysore sadAsiva Rao

followed in the path of his PrAchArya and dedicated the krithi

on ParthasArathy in Bhairavi raagam with Panchama svara eduppu .

He placed the svarasaahityam in the sthala mudrA of the krithi,

" ThiruvallikkENi nagarisa ". This krithi is in Sanskrit like

that of Sri Dikshithar.

 

The second krithi by Mysore Sadasiva Rao on ParthasArathy

is set in Raagam AtANA and TaaLam , Adhi . It is composed

in Telugu and starts with the pallavi , " Vaachaamagocharaundunai ".

As Swami Desikan visualized ParthasArathy as the supreme one

at the top of Upanishads , Mysore SadAsiva Rao visulaized

GeethAchAryan as the one beyond words and speech

( Yatho VaachA nivarthanthE , aprApya manasA saha ) .

This composer' s sahitya Vaakyams are known

for their powerful picturization . He composed another Krithi

on Lord NarasimhA ( TeLLiya Singham ) in Raagam KamalAmanohari ,

which is a powerful depiction of NarasimhAvathAram . KamalA is

MahA Lakshmi . Her Manoharan is Sri Lakshmi Narasimhan .

It is apt that Mysore SadAsiva Rao chose this Raagam to offer

his homage to TeLLIyasingha PerumAn .

 

Asmadh GurubhyO nama :

 

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan