Gowlai Pancha Rathnam --Part 5 ( Sixth charanam plus )

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhakthi Group members :

>From the sixth to the ninth , the charaNams are

longer and reach a crescendo in terms of its

poignancy and rich meanings .

 

Sixth CharaNam

******************

 

teliyani naDa viDa kshthrulu vanithalu svavasa

mowDakupadEsimchi , santhasilli svaralayampu

lerumgakanu seelAthmudai subhakthulaku

samaanamanu ( DuDuku gala nannE dora koDuku )

 

In this charaNam , Sadhguru swamigaL refers to three

items :

 

1. His hard , unfeeling heart

2. His life as a pOli bhagavathar to impress others

with his bhakthi ti deceive them

3. His existence without awareness of the sanctity

of svaram , tALam and musical marmams

 

First , he confesses to Sri RamA that he had led a

life devoid of compassion to others' sufferings . He begs

for forgivance for having been indifferent to the sufferings

of others . His nirvEdham over this deficiency reminds one

of the naicchAnusandhAnam of the great AchArya ,

Sri ALavandhAr , where he describes himself as :

" asuchim , avineetham, nirdhayam , alajjam ,

maam digh " . He describes himself

as impure ( in thoughts) , immodest , harsh ,

and shameless over his performance of acts that are

prohibited by sAsthrAs . He acknowledges that

he deserves to be condemend by one and all .

 

Our Sadhguru confesses that he is hard hearted and

does not have the j~nAnam & good conduct that arises out of

a true understanding of Svaram , Raagam and TaaLam .

It is interestig to relate to this statement of our Sadhguru ,

who mastered the master treatise on music known

as SvarArNavam presented to him by his guru ,

Sage NaaradA . He still felt that he had not reached

a full understanding of the mysteries of NaadhOpaasanA

that would ultimately lead to his siddhi . That is the type of modesty

that one should cultivate regarding one's "scholarship " .

 

We will digress now to focus on his celebration of the

approach of the Lord through NaadhOpAsanA .

He invited one and all to come and acquire sarva

sowbhAgyam by worshipping the Lord through

NadhOpaasanA with the utmost reverence for

Svaram and Layam in one of His Reethigowlai krithis

( Bhaaga sEvimchi sakala bhAgyamOndhudhAmu rArE ) .

 

He explained further the sanctity of NaadhOpAsanA

in his Sri Raaga krithi this way :

 

naadhasvaramanu navarathnapu vEdhikapai

sakala leelA vinOdhuni paramAthmuni Sri Raamuni

paadhamulanu , ThyagarAja hrudh bhUshaNuni ,

naama kusumamulachE pUjimchE

nara janmamE manasA

 

Here he explains that the fruit of gaining birth as

a human being is acheived , when one seats

Sri RaamA on a navarathna simhAsanam made up

of svarams originating from praNava nAdham and

then worshipping Him with the flowers

of His divya NaamAs .

 

In his SaaLaka Bhairavi krithi , " Sangeetha Saasthra

j~namu sArUpya soukhatamE " , he revealed

that the precision of intellect developed from

a correct undrstanding of Sangeetha sAsthra J~nanam

will lead to one of the four types of Moksham

known as SaarUpyam .

 

Finally, in his sankarAbharaNa krithi , " Svara rAga

sudhArasayutha Bhakthi svargApavargamurA " ,

he declared that the Bhakthi mingled with

svara and Raaga J~nanam is equivalent to

Svargam and Moksham .

 

Saint ThyagarAjA , who is the greatest connoseiur

of Sangeetha Saashram had us in mind , when he

chastised himself as the hard hearted and unfeeling one ,

deficient in the understanding of the fine points of

raagam , svaram and thALam . Even a samsaari

can attain mOksham according to our Saint ,

if he or she practised naama sankeerthanam

with full control over raagam , svaram and layam

( samsArulaithE nEmayaa --SavEri krithi ) .

He condemend himself to set an example for us .

This is the ancient tradition of AchAryAs to help

us cultivate humility and perseverance .

 

Finally , he focuses on the pOli bhagavathars in this sixth

charaNam . He refers to himself as having lived as

naDan , ViDan and Kshudhran . NaDan means

a dancer or an actor ; viDan means a buffon or a

voluptiary sensualist . Kshudran means adhaman or

a small , mean man , who overpowers women with

his clever talk and gets his way and thus is engaged in

durAchArams. Sadhguru swami compares himself to

these three characters and laments for the dorai mahan ,

who can rescue him from this pitiable state . He implies

that Sri Ramachandra , the son of the emperor DasarathA

alone is the only one with the power to pull him

out of his misery .

 

Seventh CharaNam

**********************

 

dhrushtiki sArambhagu lalanA sadhanArbhaga

sEnAmitha dhanAdhulanu dEva dEva ! nEra

nammithini ghAkanu padhAbhja bhajnambhu

marachina ( DuDuku gala )

 

( Meaning ) ; dEvAthi dEva! RaamachandrA! I believed

that beautiful women , house , fields and other property

are lasting wealth and became deluded ; I strayed away from

worshipping Your sacred feet and have descended into

the depth of miseries . Who is going to come to the rescue

of myself , who is a treasure house of all durguNAs ?

Which dorai mahan is going to rescue me?

 

Sri Sadhguru SwamigaL's cry into the night reminds

one of the bhyAg raaga krithi of Purandara Daasa :

" yAkE mUkanAthyO manuja , yAke mUrkanAth ".

Here , Daasar has upadEsam for those cruel men ,

who mindlessly chase perishable sukhams and

skip the worship of the eternal Lord , who blesses

one with lasting mOksha sukham .

 

Saint ThyagarAjA equated his status to such a mUrkA

and pleaded for rescue by Sri RaamA . He says that

he forgot to heed the advise of Adhi SankarA's

Bhaja Govindham slOkam , where the AchArya

warns men not to be intoxicated by the

female body's beauty and advises them to remember that

they are " mamsavasAthi vikAram " . Sadhguru says that

he let his mind wander over the anga soundharyam

of the ladies and missed out on the incomparable and

pristine beauty of the Lord known for His sarvAnga

soundharyam that is insatiable to experience as

AarAvamudhu ( AparyApthAmrutham ) . Sadhguru had

again us in mind , when he chastises himself

over his " derelict conduct " .

 

Purandara Daasar is even more explicit in his

panthuvarALi krithi " Nampa thiru ee dEha nithya valla " .

He says " ambhujAkshana bhajisi sukhiyAku manujA ,

yelu raktha maamsakaLamElE sarmatha hOthikE

voLaga malamUthrAdhi krimikaLiravu halavu

vyAdhiyapeetu pancha bhUthanAdu

baluhu dEhavanecchi ketapEtA manujA " .

Daasar mercilessly gives here an accurate description of

our corporeal state seeking pleasures at the expense

of seeking the grace of the Lord through His

aarAdhanam and nAma sankeerthanam .

 

Saint ThyagarAjA points out that the chasing of

the fast disappearing youth , physical beauty

and material wealth/selvam ( selvOM , selvOm )

as lasting entities and abandoning the dhyanam

of the Lord's anga soundharyam ( a la ThiruppANa

nAthan-- Saalampana yOgam ) or anantha kalyANa

guNAs ( nirAlampana yOgam ) is a great durbhaagyam

in the rarest of lives as a human being ( arithu arithu

maanida piRavi arithu ) . Saint ThyagarAjA counts

himself as one of those unfortunate ones and begs

for the Dorai mahan to come to his rescue in a hurry .

 

AzhwAr AchAryAL ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Sri SeethA LakshmaNa Hanumath samEtha

Sri Raamachandra parabrahmaNE Nama:

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan