An article on bhakti and prapatti

[Guest guest]

namaskArams!

 

Several years back, I attempted to write my first article related to

religion and submitted it to our local Chicago tyAgarAja utsavam brochure.

It was also my first effort to understand the concepts of bhakti,

prapatti/SaraNAgati etc. The main intent of the article was to relate

tyAgarAja's compositions to bhakti and prapatti mArgams. I would like to

share some excerpts from my original article with the bhakti members.

 

I have zero knowledge about music, and would like to request

bhagavatOttamas and music experts to kindly bear with me and forgive me for

any misinterpretations, mis-quotes or misunderstandings.

 

 

rAma, nIvE gati

 

Bhakti and prapatti are the two paths for salvation. Both lead the souls to

the same end; the former is considered to be the more difficult one to follow

even though the two are intertwined sometimes. Constantly meditating about

God till the soul sheds the body is called bhakti. If one is unable to follow

this path of constant meditation for whatever reason, the alternative that is

suggested by SrI vEdAnta dESika is the path of prapatti, which involves serving

the lord with devotion throughout one's lifetime.

 

In this article, we will try to understand what bhakti and prapatti mean and

concentrate on how saint tyAgarAja lived, breathed and practised both bhakti

and prapatti in his life through his devotional compositions.

 

Bhakti:

 

Bhakti as outlined by prahalAda consists of

 

"SravaNam kIrtanam vishNO: smaraNam pAdasEvanam

arcanam vandanam dAsyam sakhyamAtmanivEdanam"

(SrImad bhAgavatam 7.5.23)

 

Constantly hearing about God, singing His glory, meditating about Him, serving

His lotus feet, worshiping, praying, acting as His servant and His friend

and finally offering oneself totally to God are considered the different

forms of bhakti.

 

prapatti:

 

SrI rAmAnuja has spoken with great enthusiasm about prapatti as a sure

strategy for salvation (SaraNAgati gadhyam). SrI vEdAnta dESika systemized

the whole concept of prapatti. His exquisite exposition of prapatti

postulates five essential angAs or requirements for prapatti:

 

1. AnukUlya Sankalpam or resolution to act as per God's will

2. prAtikUlya varjanam or resolution not to act against His will

3. mahAviSvAsam or having unshaken faith that He will give mOksham

4. kArpaNyam or realization that the individual is limited in his/her abilities

to observe the rigors of bhakti yOgam, have the modesty to accept this and

serve Him with humility

5. gOptr*tva varaNam or praying to God for His grace and protection even though

the individual is unable to observe the required rigorous discipline.

 

tyAgarAja's practice of bhakti and prapatti:

 

tyAgarAja rhapsodies in the highest bliss of divine communion. He was born

in the noble family of rAmabrahmam, who was delving deep in devotional

dedication to Sri rAma, and who sowed the seeds of selfless service and

sacrifice soaked with bhakti, in his son's mind. VAlmIki's rAmAyaNa enticed

young tyAgarAja, and he started seeing rAma in everything (yo mAm paSyati

sarvatra sarvam ca mayi paSyati - gItA 6.30). He followed his father's final

words that he should pray to, live for, sing about, and depend on, only rAma.

 

tyAgarAja's kr*ti and bhakti mArgam:

 

tyAgarAja uses all the nine forms of bhakti yoga suggested by prahlAda,

even though by far the most important path he chooses for his worship is

through kIrtana (singing the Lord's glory). He is said to have composed

about 24,000 songs about Lord rAma, even though only about 1,000 are

traceable now.

 

Through these kr*tis, saint tyAgarAja emphasizes the importance of

the other forms of bhakti mArga as well. He calls rAma-smaraNam (meditation)

itself the efficacious gangA-snAnam in "dhyAname varamaina" (dhanyAsi).

He expresses his longings for Lord rAma's pAda-sevA (serving the lotus-feet

of the Lord) in at least seven songs. In "raghunAyaka" (hamsa-dhvani)

he says he could never give up rAma's lotus feet. He uses arcanA (worship)

as a path of bhakti yoga in almost all his kr*tis by dedicating these to the

praise of his Lord SrI rAma. In "vaddanuNDunade" (varALi) he worships rAma

with flowers of gold, decorates Him and entertains Him with his songs and

dance. Again in "rA rA sItA" (hindOlam) he dresses rAma with golden clothes

and beautifies Him with kastUri tilakam and brilliance pearl necklace. He

longs to be His dAsya (servant) in "tava dAso'ham)" (punnAgavarAli) and

dedicates at least ten songs to this aspect. He calls rAmA his sakhA (friend)

in "sAmi kI sarI" (bEgada). "daya rAnI daya rAnI (mOhanam) establishes rAma

as his only friend ("cEli kAdu nI vE rAma"). tyAgarAja makes his Atma

nivedana (surrender of soul) through as many as 12 kr*tis. In "mAkelarA

vicAramu" (ravicandrikA) he leaves all his concerns to rAma who conducts the

drama in the whole universe with such great skill.

 

tyAgarAja is a bhakta par excellence. The last aspect of bhakti, viz. Atma

nivedana, leads us to the notion of prapatti. Just as we see all the

essential aspects of bhakti yoga reflected in his kr*tis, we also see the

spirit of total self-surrender (prapatti) soaked in his compositions.

 

tyAgaraja's kr*tis and prapatti mArga:

 

tyAgarAja's resolution to conduct himself in a way that will always please

his Lord rAma (anukUlya sankalpa) is displayed in "atade dhanyuDurA" (kApi)

where he talks about all the good practices to be undertaken to please the Lord.

'ninugA bhAvinci' in "viDajAladura" (janaranjani) shows his determined mind

which regards all tasks and sights as rAma Himself.

 

The notion of pratikUlya varjanam (determination to not do anything

which might displease God) is reflected in "nArAyaNa Hari" (yamunAkalyANi)

where he declares that he will not rely on transcient wealth, will not praise

rich men and will not visit places infested by greedy people. In

rAmAbhirAma (sAveri) he says he will not be after wealth or other pleasures

of this deceitful world. In "karuNa yelAgante" (varALi) he identifies the

activities that a true devotee should not indulge in - not serve even

kings, not eat meat, not drink, not be treacherous, etc. "bhaktuni cAritramu"

(bEgada) reinforces the same concept of pratikUlya varjanam.

 

tyAgarAja has mahA viSvAsa or unshaken faith in cherishing rAma in his

mind to attain salvation ("nI cittamu niScalamu nirmalmani ninne namminAnu"

in dhanyAsi). His supreme faith in surrendering all pleasures to God

is evident in "samsArulaite" (sAveri), "pAhi mAm hare" in saurAshtra, and

"enta veDu kOndu rAghava" (sarasvatI manOharI) reemphasize his unshaken

faith in rAma.

 

kArpaNyam or modesty that an ordinary mortal human being should have

in realizing his or her limitations and the possible inability to observe

the strenuous path of bhakti yoga, is suggested in many of his kr*tis.

In "prOddu pOyyEnu" (tODi), he describes how a person should realize

that his/her lifetime is mostly wasted in sleep, mundane pleasures,

flattery of others, getting infatuated with wealth and other possessions

and committing blunders, thus leaving no time for worshiping His Lord rAma.

With great modesty, he cries out to rAma to forgive him for any sins that

he might have committed, in "ETula brOtuvO" (cakravAkam), "tO linE jEsina"

(SuddhabangALa) and "tOli janmamuna" (bilahari).

 

This realization leads tyAgarAja to plead with rAma (goptr*tva varaNam)

to please protect him in spite of all his failures ("pAhi kalyANa sundara"

in punnAgavarALi). In "duDuku gala" (gouLa) he prays to rAma to save him

even though he might have sinned and not observed the rules for exemplary life.

 

"SrI rAma jaya rAma" (varALi), "ivaraku jUchinadi" (SankarAbharaNam)

and "O rAjIvAksha" (Arabhi) are some of the other kr*tis through which

tyAgarAja reveals that he is a great prapanna. In "aparAdhamula" (darbAr) he

takes refuge in rAma saying that he had been pretending to be a saintly soul

and eventually became unable to pay homage to rAma. "kannatanDi nApai"

(dEva manOhari) is the best example where he prays for rAma's compassion

and shows us how we should plead with the Lord not to deny us even

though we live only our daily routine life without being constantly

devoted to Him and without realizing the jIvAtmA-paramAtmA relationship.

 

Trailing Thoughts:

 

Pleased with His bhakta and prapanna the Lord did give moksha to

tyAgarAja ("mOkshayishyAmi mA sucah" - gItAcAryan) on pushya bahuLa pancami

day on 6th January, 1847, in his 88th year.

 

Like a flood, tyAgarAja's songs sweep away our mental debris,

floating us too, Godward. The foam of words and spray of thoughts

gushing from the fountain of bhakti in his mind bathe us in a sea

of luminous joy. His kr*tis fan the embers of God-activation in us.

May be, we too, will become oblivious of the lure of the earth one day,

and become bhaktas or prapannas and eventually reach the summum bonum

of life, viz. Godhead, as tyAgarAja did.

 

SrI rAmajayam

 

adiyEn,

Kalyani Krishnamachari

(kkrishnamachari)