Fourth Pancharathnam of Saint ThyagarAjA in VarALi Raagam: Part 1

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Isvara Samvatsaram , Margazhi Month

Vaikunta EkAdasi Dinam

Anrivvulaham alanthAi adi pORRi ThiruppAvai Dinam

January 8 , 1998

 

 

Dear BhakthAs :

 

As I went through the tributes paid by ANDAL

in Her ThiruppAvai to Sri RamachandrA on this

"Anrivvulaham aLanthAi " day , my thoughts go back

to the VarALi pancha-rathnam of Saint ThyagarAjA

( Kana Kana ruchirA Kanaka Vasana ninnu ) ,

where he drank deep the sarvAnga Soundharyam

of his Ishta dhaivam , Sri Ramachandran .

 

KaruNA Rasam , Veera Rasam and Bhakthi

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

 

Our Sadhguru chose Jaala VarALI ( Rishi Chakra

mELam ) for this pancha rathnam . This is the 39th

mELa karthA . It is filled with KaruNA rasam .

 

As an aside , the Rasams ( emotional experience of

beauty ) is divided into eight groups : SringAra , Haasya ,

KARUNAA , Raudra , Vira , Bhaayanaka ,Bhibhatsa and

Adbhuta. Later , two more RasAs-- Shanta and Bhakti --

were added . ANDAL , AzhwArs and Saint ThyagarajA enjoyed

one or other of the RasAs , when they experienced BhagavAn

( Bhagavad anubhavam ) . There are interrealtionships between

these rasAs in Bhgavad anubhavam . For instance , Vira rasam

has overlap with KaruNA rasam . Vira Rasam has some overlap

with Raudhram ( sinam ) . We will restrict ourselves to

a discussion on how the Vira rasam celebrated by ANDAL

in her ThiruppAvai has built-in links to KarunA rasam

of Sri Ramachandran .

 

Vira Rasam and KarunA rasam

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

 

Dr. Suchitra Sen has pointed out that Sage BharathA ,

the author of Naatya Saasthram has divided Vira Rasam

into four subdivisions :

 

(1) Daana Vira ( Giving away ; certainly

it takes courage and fortitude to give things away --ahankAram ,

mamakAram leading to Saathvika ThyAgam )

 

(2) Dharma Vira ( courage to follow the path of Dharma

against all obstructions ; Sri Rama was celebrated by

Swami Desikan as DharmO vigrahavAn or the embodiment

of Dharmam )

 

(3) Yuddha Vira ( Valour in battle celerated in the Yuddha

khAndam of Srimadh RaamAyaNam by Sage Valmiki )

 

(4) DayA vira ( Expression of Mercy and compassion even to

offenders , once they perform SaraNAgathi ) .

 

Dr.Sen says: " Valour , generosity,courage , strength

and righteousness are all qualities that are expected in

heroes worthy of worship . These qualities are the very

essence of Vira Rasam . We can now see how ANDAL 's

worship of the Vira Rasam of Sri Ramachandran and

Saint ThyagarajA's worship of His KaaruNyam and

soundharyam overlap .

 

ANDAL's Salutaion to Sri VeerarAghavan

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

 

ANDAL has saluted Ramachandran thrice in Her ThiruppAvai

and recalled the veeryam and bhaktha dAkshiNyam of

Her Lord and experienced Adhbuta rasam as well :

 

(1) SinatthinAl tennilankhaik kOmAnaiccheRRa ,

manatthukkiniyAnai ,----12 th ThiruppAvai

( Sinam here includes Raudhra Rasam , which is

distinct from vira rasam ; cheRRa refers to Vira Rasam )

 

(2) pollA arakkanaik kiLLIkkiLanthAnaik keerthimaip paadi

---- 13 th ThiruppAvai

( KiLLIkiLanthAnai refers to the Yuddha Viram )

 

(3) senRangu tennilankhai seRRAi thiral pORRi

----- 24 th ThiruppAvai ( Today's ThiruppAvai )

 

( Yuddha Viram , Dharma Viram and Dhana Viram

is celebrated by ANDAL here . Sri Rama won the battle ,

estabished dharmam and gave away the kingdom

that He won to VibhishaNA , HIs saraNAgathan

and crowned him as the Lord of LankhA )

 

The prowess( Viram ) of VeerarAghavan is celebrated

here in all its four aspects . ANDAL saluted Vijaya Raghavan

and His valor in the spirit of Her fellow AzhwArs :

 

KallAthavar Ilankai kattazhittha KaakutthanallAl

oru dhaivam yAnilEn--Thirumazhisai

 

silainAl Ilankai seRRA DevanEdEvanAvAn

---- Thondardipodi

 

nuDankidayai munnilankai vaitthAn muraNazhiya

munnoru nALL tann vilankai vaitthAn thOL

--- Poygai

 

Tangayai mUkkum Tamayanai talayum taDitthavem

Daasarathi --- PeriyAzhwAr

 

malai athanAl aNaikkatti mathiLalinkhai azhitthavanE

--- Kulasekarar

 

KaRpAriramapirAnai allAl MARRUM kaRparO --

--- NammAzhwAr

 

Ilankai mannan mudiyoru patthum thOLirupathum

pOyudira tann nedumthiNN silai vaLaittha Dayarathan

sEy yenran saraN -- Thirumangai

 

All of the passages from Divya Prabhandham quoted here

are salutations/celebrations of the Vira Rasam of

VeerarAghavan in all its four aspects .

 

Why Sri Ramachandran's Veeram was special to ANDAL?

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

Sri Ramachandran is known for His Eka pathni , Eka BhANam

and Eka Vachanam vratham . He was no dvibhAshi . Once He gave

a promise and accepted one as SaraNAgathan, there was

no need for Him to restate His intentions to execute His promise.

He did not need more than one arrow to destroy His target . He looked at

other women as sisters and Mothers and observed Ekapathni vratham .

For ANDAL , this Eka pathni vratham is very sweet to reflect

compared to all the harassment that she received ,

while dealing with KrishNA as a gOpi . He was married to

sixteen thousand pathnis at Dwarakai as He obseved

grahasthAsramam . Thus , Ramachandran becomes

" manatthukkiniyAn " ( sweet to the mind to reflect upon ) for Her

in this context .

 

Saint ThyagarajA's anubhavam of "Manatthukkiniyan "

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

 

For Saint ThygaarAjA , the chinthanA of Mohana Raman was like

tasting nectar . Sri Raamabhadran was indeed his

" manatthukkiniyan " . He explains his bhagavad anubhavam

of the beauty of Raamachandran in his sowrAshtra krithi

( nEramA ? Raama Raama! ) this way :

 

" Is it an unpardonable offense on my part , Oh the prop

of my life ( jeevAdhAra )! , if I had been forgetful in my mind

for a short moment on seeing your unsurpassable beauty ?

The fact was that in my ardent worship , I was at a loss to know

whether I should hug Your blessed feet to my bosom or press them

to my eyes , and overpowered by this supreme Bliss , I lost control

over myself for the time " .

 

He said in His AtANA krithi ( RaarA RaguveerA ) ,

" Oh RaghuveerA ! Every day I visualize You in my

mind and get transported with Anandham ( anudhinamananu

ninu manasunu kanugOni AnandhamAyE DhayALO )

 

In his SankarAbharaNa krithi , NaapAli Sri RaamA ,

he confessed : " Oh My saviour RaamA ! ---- Your

exquisite beauty , which can be matched only by

myriads of ManmathAs , has firmly implanted itself

in my mind --"

 

In his ThOdi krithi , Ninnu vinA sukhamu gAna ,

he experineces the beautiful form , powers ,

His bow , arrows and mellifluous speech and sweet

conversation ( rUpamu prathApamu sara chApamu ,

sallapamuala KARUNAA RASA PARIPURNA VARADHA

mridhu vaarthalu gala raagarasika ) . He concludes

this anubhavam with the wonderment : " Oh what a delight

to my mind ! My body is thrilled ! "

 

The origin of VaraaLi pancha-rathnam

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

 

Oneday during his daily ArAdhanam , Saint ThyagarAjA

completed Thirumanjanam for the Lord and dried the Lord's

limbs from Thirumanjanam water . He dressed the Lord

in PeethAmbharam . He applied Vermillion and KasthUri

Tilakms . He adorned the Lord with flower garlands

that he had constructed . As he saw the Lord shining

with Sarvanga Soundharyam , the flood gates of his emotion

broke lose and out poured the krithi , Kana Kana ruchirA ,

Kanaka vasana ninnu " in VarALi raagam to celebrate

the Lord's unmatchable beauty .

 

kasthUri TilakaOjvalam smithamukham chinmudhrayAlankrutham I

SeethA LakshmaNa Vaayu puthra sahitham SimhAsanasthm BhajE II

 

susnighdham neelakEsam

sputamathuramukham SundarabhrUlalAtam I

dheerghAksham chArunAsAputamamala-

maNi srENikAdhanthapankthim II

 

bhimbhOshtam katinataramahOraskamAjAnubAhum

mushtigraahyaavalagnam pruthughanamudhOru-

jangAngrimeeLE II

 

Saint ThyagarAjA offered his salutations in VarALi

to this Lord, his Lord with KasthUri tilakam , smiling face ,

long eyes , beautiful arms, charming eye brows and

possessing all sAmudhrikA lakshaNams . We will

enjoy the beauty of the VaraaLi raaga pancha rathnam

in the subsequent postings .

 

Sri Ramachandra ParabrahmaNE Nama :

Sri Vaikunta NaathAya nama:

 

ThiruviNNagar VaradAchAri Sadagopan

 

 

 

On one day , Saint