Fourth Gana Raaga Pancha Rathnam in VarALi --part 2

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SRI :

NAMO NAARAAYANAAYA

 

Sakala bhuvana rathnam SarvasAsthrArtha Rathnam

Samara Vijaya Rathnam SacchidhAnandha Rathnam I

Dasa mukha Hara rathnam DhanavArAthi Rathnam

Raghukula Nrupa Rathnam Paathu Maam Raama Rathnam II

 

Isavara Samvathsaram , Marghazhi 25

" Orutthi MahanAi piRanthu " ThiruppAvai Dinam

January 9 , 1998

 

Dear Raama BhakthAs : I will cover the sAhithya vAkhyams

of Saint ThyagarAja celebrating the unmatched beauty of

Sri RaamA as a prelude to his celebration in the fourth

pancha rathnam in this posting . I will start on the actual

sahithyam in VarALi in the next posting . First , I will say a

few words about the VaraaLi raagam that was very dear

to Saint ThyagarAjA .

 

VarALi Raaga VisEsham and our Sadhguru"s krithis in VarALi

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

 

Prominent among the gana rAgAs is VarALi . It has GhandhAram

and Madhyamam as ChAyA svarams .This sarva svara gamaga

varika raagam can be sung at all times for NadhOpAsanA . Its rUpa

visEsahm can not be understood from text books . It has to be learnt

under a proper teacher . It is adorned by Suddha Rishabham ,

Suddha GAndhAram , Prathi Madhyamam , Panchamam ,

Suddha Daivatham and Kaakali NishAdham for its svarAs .

The sudhda rishabham of this rAgam hints at chathusruthi

rishabham during the " Ga Ri Ga " prayOgam . Therefore , it

has been said that the Rishabham of VarALi lies in the shadow

of the powerful GhandhAram ; it is recognized as a point lightly

touched upon in the fall from the flat GandhAram . This has

reference to the JeevAthmA- paramAthmA realtionship that

might fall outside the main stream of discussions of this posting .

 

Saint ThyagarAjA has taken note of this factor and has composed

atleast 15 krithis in VarALi Raagam to etch his multi-faceted

relationship with his ArAdhana mUrthy . He has celebrated

Sri Ramachandran's soundharyam , kalyaNa guNAs ,

and the blessings of Raama nAma japam . Kana Kana RuchirA

is one of the 15 krithis that he set in Raagam VarALi to

enjoy the saukumAryam and LaavaNyam of the Lord .

 

When one visits the house of the relatives of the Saint

in Tanjore ( Varahappiyer lane ) and has the darsanam of

the archA murthys there that our Sadhguru worshipped ,

one is amazed to see the small size of the vigrahams of RaamA

and his consort seated in Eka Peetam . For our Sadhguru ,

our Lord must have taken a human form and sat in front of

His devotee and conversed with him .

 

rUpa MahimA & VarALi rAga Krithi

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

 

Adhi Kavi Valmeeki celebrated the adhyadhbhutha

soundharyam of Sri Ramachandran this way in

his IthihAsam :

 

Aadhitya iva tEjasvi loka kAntha: Sasee yathA I

rUpavAn subhaga: SrimAn gandharbha iva mUrthimAn II

 

Saint Thyagaraja was a devout RaamaayaNa PaarAyaNar

during each day of his life . His father was known for his

RaamAyaNa pravachanams . He therefore enjoyed the beauty

of Sri Ramachandran just as Sage Valmiki did .

 

In the above verse , Sage Valimki states that Sri RamA had

the tEjas of Adithyan . He cooled the worlds with the power

of a full moon . He is like a manmathan in bodily beauty .

Thyagaraja swamigaL , who is the kali yuga avathAram of

Valmiki celebrated the beauty , the effugence and cooling

power in many of his krithis . Examples are :

 

apramEya tEjas : SowrAshtrA krithi -- RaghavAnya SUPRADHEEPA

 

apramEya tEjas : KedAra GowLai krithi ( O jagannadhayani

bilachitE ) -- Raajeeva nayana ! rAgendhu vadana ! raajillu

SitAramaNi hruth sadana ! RAVI KOTI TEJA !

 

Cool Beauty of the Moon ( Chandran ) : rAgendhu Vadana

in the above krithi ; mOhana Raama mukha Jitha sOma !

( One who defeated the Moon in his beauty ) .

 

Beauty exceeding that of Manmathan : PanthuvarALi krithi

( Sundaratara dEham vandEham ) -- " kundaratanamAptha

Kumudha sasAnkam , Kantharpa satha kOti Kaanthimathi

nishkaLangam (the blemishless Beauty that exceeds that of

hundred crore ManmathAs and who is like the cool Moon that

makes theblue lillies /neelOthpalams blossom at night ) .

 

Saint ThyagarAjA , who was forever engaged in the suguNOpAsanA

of Sri RaamA has saluted the Mohana Raaman as SundarAngan

with beauty exceeding that of crores of Manmathans in his

Navroz krithi ( NaapAli Sri RaamA bhUpAlaka sthomA ) this way :

 

koti Manmathulaina sAdigA nee sogasu

naadiunnathi madhini mEDi Sri RaamA

 

( Oh Lord , Your elegance and attractiveness is the integration

of crores of manmanthAs . My mind , which has been overtaken

by your beauty wants always to be immersed in the aanandha

anubhavam of Your soundharyam ) .

 

In his SuryakAntha Raaga krithi , he explained how the very same

beauty that enchanted him captivated the Rishis of SiddhAsramam,

when he walked with sage ViswAmithrA :

 

muddhumOmu yElAku selankanO

munuletlugani MOHINCHARO

 

Thyagaraja Swami wondered about the athilAvaNyam of

Sri RaamA's face and became one of the Rishis of

SiddhAsramam in wonderment .

 

In his RudrapriyA Raaga krithi , " LaavaNya Raama!

kannulAra jUtavE , AthilAvaNya Raama " , he saluted the unique

sogasu and dinusu of Sri Ramachandran this way :

 

nee manasu , neesogasu , needinusu vErE

taamasa matha Dhaivamula ThyagarAja nutha Divya

( LaavaNya RaamA )

 

Oh Lord with adhbutha soundharya rUpam ! Your beauty,

Your mind set , Your ways of blessing devotees have an

incomparable way ! When that is the case , why seek

the lesser Gods with Taamasa guNams ?

 

In his Kannada GowlA krithi, " Sogasu jUda TaramA , nee ? " ,

the saint asked : " Is Your ahyAsccharya soundharyam easy

to be enjoyed by anyone ? The beauty of your forehead ,

theluste of your eyes , the chest adorned with VakuLA garland ,

the coral red lips resembling the bimbhA fruit and the hands

holding the arrows and your bow ( Kothandam ) is beyond

description :

 

vara bimbha samAdhaaramu VakuLa samambhulayuramu

karadhrutha sara kOthanda marakathAnga Varamaina ( Sogasu )

 

At many krihtis , he will be expressing his exasperation over

saluting appropriately the unmatchable beauty of Sri RaamA

and will concede that even Adhi sEsha with his thousand heads and

ShaNmukhan with his six heads can not with all their heads and

tongues describe the beauty of the Lord properly . For instance ,

in his BindhumAlini krithi , Entha MuddhO ,entha sogasO " ,

the saint says with resignation , " Yevari valla varNimpa tagunO?

yenta Vaaralaina gAni kaantha chinthAkrAnthulainAru ? " . He expreesed

his asakthi ( powerlessness ) and said : " Oh RaamA ! Who can

adequately describe Your matchless beauty? Who can indeed

comprehend and describe the beauty and attraction of Your

subha tanu , which has created and rules over the universes ? ".

 

In his Kaikavasi rAga krithi ( VachamAgOcharamE , manasA

varNimpataramA ? ) , he concluded that Sr RaamA's besuty

is beyond speech and mind to grasp .

 

At another time , in a krithi set in raaga GuntakriyA

( Inthanusu VarNimpa taramA , BrahmEndrAdhulakaina ,

nee sogasu ) , he stated that Sri RaamA';s beauty can not

be desribed properly even by chathurmukha Brahma and IndrA .

 

In his atANA krithi , he cried out : Oh KaamakOti rUpa

RamachandrA ! Jn~ana SvarUpa RaamachandrA !

In this world and the other , there is nothing that I ask for

as a boon except the chance to see your beautiful

face and be immersed in the enjoyment of that beauty .

 

He addressed Sundara Raaman in his RamA manOhari

rAga Krithi as " SeethA ManOhara , SrungAra sEkhara "

and conceded in his danyAsi krithi that the beautiful ,

blue-hued Raaman is his sarva sakthi ( SyAma SundarAnga !

Sakala saktiyu neevErA ) .

 

In his KalyANa VasanthA krithi , " KanulA tagani " ,

he described his helpless state this way :

 

ManamOhanAnadha madha chakOra nayana kundaratana

chandra vadhana SundarAnga , ThyagarAja vinutha RaamA !

 

In this krithi , he went on to say that his mind is engaged

in the contemplation of the Lord's lotus feet , his eyes on

the beauty of the Lord and his ears on the naama sankeerthanam

of the Lord .

 

In his kEdArakrithi , " RaamA neepai " , he declared that

the water (saliva ) in his mouth flows only to recite the Lord's

nAmAs .

 

In the spirit of NishkaLangam , his mind was engaged in

enjoying the bliss of rememberance of the beauty of the Lord

and he described that state in his Janaranjani krithi , smaraNE

sukhamu :

 

Raama Naama sravaNamuvalla , nAma rUpamE hrudhayamunindi

prEma putta chEyaka lEthA nishkAma ThyagarAju sEyu nAma

 

(Oh People ! Raama rUpa dhyanam alone can yield indescribable

bliss . The moment the first wave of sound dealing with the name

of RaamA hits your ears , it will plunge you into the ocean of

nectarine bliss) .

 

In the spirit of the RaghavAshtaka Krithi , Saint ThyagarAja

visualized the sarvAnga Soundharyam of the Lord and lost

himself in ecstasy :

 

hema kuntala mandithAmala kantadEsamarinthamam

sAtha kumbha mayUra nEthgra vibhUshaNEna vibhushitham I

charu nUpura hAra kousthubha karNa bhUshaNa bhUshitham

Bhaanu vamsa vivardhanam praNamAmi Raghava kunjaram II

 

In one of his gadhya sections , Saint ThyagarAjA visualized

Sri RaamA as Sri VaikuntanAthan ( ubhaya pArsvOjwalitha

karNa kuntala nindhitha chandra mandala, sEvitha muni

mandala : Sriman NaarAyaNa ) and revealed that it was

Sriman NaarAyaNan , who took the form of a human to

bless the denizens of this earth in a sankarAbharaNa

divya naama anjali krithi :

 

vara bhUsha vamsa BhUsha natha pOshaNa

mrudhu bhaashaNa ripu bheeshaNa

nara vEsha naka BHEshana vara sEsha bhUsha

tOshitha Anaga

 

( O priceless gem of the noble Soorya Vamsam !

Bhaktha raksha ! O Lord who converses charmingly

with Your devotees ! O Maste rwho frightens Your enemies

in the battle field and scatter them to the four corners !

O Lord who incarnated as a human being to bless

the people of this earth ! O powerful one who pierced

the seven tak tree trunks with one arrow ! O YajamAnA

who is eulogized by the Lord wearing serpents as His

jewelery ! O Blemishless nirdhOsha Parabrahmam!

Oh RaamA ! How can I begin to describe Your rUpa mahimai ? )

 

In his Mohan akrithi , Nannu Paalimpa , he addressed

the Lord as ThyagarAja PrEmAvatharan and asked his

Lord a question : O my Master!Did You come before me

as a rsult of your comprehension that my life's goal is

to enjoy the beauty of Your face ? ( Vanaja Nayana mOmunu

jUchudajeevanamani nenaruNa MANASU MARMAMU TELISI ,

nanu paalimpa nadachi vacchithivO ? ) . Did You walk all the way

to give me the darsanam of Yours with the peral garlands on

Your chest moving with Your gait and with the shining arrows

and Bow in the company of Jaanaki MaathA ? ( karmauna

sara kOdhanda kAnthithO , TaraNi TanayathO ,

ThyagarAchArchitha , Nanu paalimpa nadachi vacchithivO?)

 

In hisDevaghAndhAri raaga krithi , he vowed that he will

never ever forget the beauty of the Lord , who was like

a new manmathan even in his sleep :

 

MaravakarA Navamanmath arUpini ,aajanma

hrudhrAjeevamuthO , pujimchurA , Thyagaraja-

nuthuni manasA

 

In his KamalA ManOhari krithi , " nee muddhu mOmu

jUpavE " , he declared that the meditation over the Lord's

beauty makes his hair stand on end and he can not forget

that experience ( Pulakarinchani pUjasethugAni kalanaina

maRava sukkalarAyani pOlu )

 

In his ThOdi raagaKrithi ( Nee dayarAvalekAga ) , he saluted

the Lord standing in front of him with the integrated essence

of the 32 sAmudhrikA lakshanams :

 

sAra Saara kaantharasasaramatha vidhAra SundarAkAra

SuguNa SukumAra Maara ramaNa neerajAdha kula paarAvAra

sudhA rasa pUrNa ( Nee dayarAalEkAga )

 

In his Suddha SaavEri Krithi , he invited all of us to

come together and enjoy the " Maara kOti nibha dEha

SukumAra Raaja Mohana Ragunandanan " and perform

pradakshiNms around Him :

 

LakshaNamulu kala Raamuniki PradakshiNamonarinthAmu rArE

 

He stated time and again that his mind was thrilled over the thought

of the beauty of the Lord and that there is no one to match that

soundharyam that enraptured him ( manasukenthO Aanandhamai

meiyipulakarinchaga , ninuvinA Sukhamu gaana neeraja nayanA )

 

He submitted to the Lord that His ApramEya tEjOmaya

rUpa lAvaNyam spurred him to compose hundreds of

krithis ( Keethana SathakamonarchE , Raaga Rathna

maalikachE ) in gems of Raagas and adorned the divyAnga

Sundaran with those gem studded necklaces .

 

To this Lord of unsurpassable , indescribable beauty ,

he confided about his darsana sowbhAgyam of His

subhAsrayam and sundara dEham filled with sarvAnga

soundharyam in his VarALi pancharathna krithi

starting with the pallavi , " Kana Kana ruchirA , Kanaka

vasana ninnu " .

 

Sri Raamachandra ParabrahmaNE Nama :

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan