Srirangam Postings : Part 13.2: Saint ThyagarajA's pancharahtnams

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri RanganAtha BhakthAs :

 

I will cover the meanings and annotated observations

on the Sriranga pancharathna Krithis in this posting

before going for the final stretch of this kaimkaryam

this week prior to concluding it on May 1 , AchArya

RaamAnuja Jayanthi day . May Lord RanganathA confer His

blesings on us to to raise successfuly the funds neeeded

to complete His Temple construction at Pomona , New York .

Please give generously for this temple for all bhakthAs

of Sri RanganAthA so that ALL of His bahkthAs can

come together and worship Him as at Srirangam .

 

The First Pancharathnam :Thodi Raaga DevathA performing SaraNAgathi

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The breeze from Cauveri banks was gently fanning

Sri RanganAthA seated on His golden horse as he was

being carried over the streets of Srirangam on that

chitthirai day . Saint ThyagarAjA got a glimpse of

the approaching Lord from his vantage point of

86 South Chittirai Veedhi next to VadampOkki Street .

The naadhasvaram and the other MangaLa vaadhyams

played . KattiyakkArars were shouting Sri RanganAthan's

progress through the streets. KarpUrAratthi was taking place

as the Lord received upachArams from each household .

Saint ThyagarAja caught the beauty of the Lord illuminated

by the theevattis of the night lighting the way of the Lord.

The joyous saint drank deeply the anubhavam of that beauty .

 

Thodi raaga dEvathai entered into him and emerged

as " Raaju vedale jutAmu rArE " krithi .The sAhithya

Vaakhyams are :

 

Pallavi : raaju vedalE juthAu rArE ; KasthUriranga

 

Anupallavi : tEjinEka samastha rAju lUDigamu jEya

tEjarillu navarathnapu divya bhUshaNamu liDiranga

 

CharaNam : KaavEri theeramanu paavanamagu Rangapurini

SrIvelayau CHITRA VEEDHILO vEkanga rAga

sEvanu gani surulu virulachE prEmanu pujimchaga

bhAvimchu ThyagarAju Baadaga VAIBHOGARANGA ( Raaju VedalE)

 

( Meaning and Comments ) : Saint ThyaarAja as a BhagavathA

invites here other BhagavathAs and BhakthAs to enjoy

the beautiful darsanam of the Lord and the sight of

the Lord's progressing procession on Chitthirai veethi

on horse back . He says : " Come one and All ! let us

enjoy this auspicious sight ! Sri RangarAjA is bedecked with

shining divya AabharaNams and is attended by the princes

on horse back . He is travelling on Chitthira veedhi of His

rAjadhAni made holy further by the flow of river KaavEri

that washes His sacred feet . This Srirangam has been made

fit by the Lord as the abode for His divine consort ,

Sri RanganAyaki , who is verily MahA Lakshmi . DevAs

are enjoying this blessed scene and are showering pushpa

vrushti on their Lord . Come one ! Come All! Please

woship the KasthUri Rangan as He celebrates His VaibhOgam

during this chaitthrOtsavam .Come All ! Worship the Lord

with devotion as ThyagarAja sings in this procession ( Veethi

valam ) of the Lord in His sacred city 's streets .

 

I recall with nostalgia , Sangeetha KalAnidhi Sri Ariyakkui

RaamAnuja Iyengar render this krithi with such bhAvam

many times .I might even have his rendering in my audio

archives. The Bombay sisters have recorded all of

the Sriranga Panchrathnams with anugraha vachanmas

( Savsthi vaachakams) from the Parama Padha Vaasi ,

His Holiness the 44th Jeeyar of Ahobila Mutt during

the occasion of his Raaja Gopura nirmANa kaimkaryam

at Srirangam .

 

he Second Pancharathnam :DevagAndhAri Raaga Devathai's saraNAgathi

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Saint ThyagarAjA had composed earlier a majestic

krithi entitled " Ksheera Saagara SayanA " in

DevagAndhAri Raagam . As he stood in front of the house

at Chitthirai veethi on that evening enjoying the Lord's beauty,

he wanted so very much to get closer to the Lord and

have a better sEvai . The crowd around him was making it

difficult to come closer . He was sad to see the opportunity

slip by . Suddenly , the procession stopped and the bearers

of the Lord's Vaahanam could not move . There was a great

concern about dhrushi dhOsham and the koil sippanthis

ordered the deva daasis and raaja daasis to perform

the appropriate dances at the junction of the streets of

west and south chitthira veethi to propitaite the Lord.

Even after that propitaitory act , the bearers of

the Lord's vaahanam did not gain their strength to

carry the Lord further . The ArchakA became possessed by

the Lord and he spoke the Lord's words commanding

the adhikhAris to bring His parama bhakthA closer

to Him for a better darsanam and koil MariyAdhai .

 

Saint ThyagarAja was brouhgt closer and the DevaghAndhAri

raaga devathai entered him through the krithi " vinarAdhA naa

manavi " . This raagam competed with the other raaga devathAs

to offer its saraNAgathi to the Ksheera Saagara Sayanan

now resting on His serpent bed on the banks of KaavEri river.

The saahithya vaakhyams are as follows :

 

Pallavi : VinarAdhA naa manavi

 

anupallavi : KanakAnga ! KaavEdi Ranga ! SrI Kaantha !

KaanthalElla kaamimchi pilachithE

 

CharaNam 1: tEjinEka bhAga tEruvunarAga

rAjasathulu jUchi rammani pilachithE

 

CharaNam 2: BhaagadhEya! VaibhOgaranga ! Sri ThyagarAjanutha

TaruNulu pilachithE

 

( Meaning and comments ) : Oh Svarna RangA ! Oh , the golden-

hued One resting at the banks of KaavEri ! Oh Lord of MahA Lakshmi !

Why wont You listen to my prayerful appeal ? When the ladies

including the royal party so affectionately sing and dance

for Your pleasure and call You , when You come out in

procession on horse back on the streets of Your rAjadhAni ,

why wont You respond to them ? You indeed are their Sotthu

( treasure ) .

 

After the Saint sang this krithi in the majestic DevaghAndhAri

raagam , a dheepArAdhanam was done and the Lord was pleased

and blessed the vaahanam bearers to regain their strength

to carry on with their Kaimkaryam . Thus was born the second

Pancharathnam .

 

I have heard Sangeetha KalAnidhi Semmangudi render this moving

appeal of a krithi by the bard in one of his special

recording released by oriental records few years ago .

 

The third pancharathanm : KaambhOji Raagam offering its saraNAgathi

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The mahAthmyam of the Saint of ThruvaayAru favored by

Sri RanganAthA led to the invitation by the temple officials

to the bard for an EkAntha Sevai of the Moolavar adorning

Mutthamgi that evening . The bard was thrilled and arrived

at the garbahgraham , where many AchAryAs , adiyArs and AzhwArs

stood ( Aranganin ThirumuRRam )over the preceding centuries and

drank deeply the beauty of Sri RangasAyee . The auspicious

KaambhOji raaga Devathai performed its SaraNAgathi with many

sangathis of the Pallavi of the krithi " Oh RangasAyee ! ) :

 

Pallavi: Oh RangasAyee ! pilachithE -Oh yanuchu raa raadhA ?

 

Anupallavi : Saarangadharudu jUci KailaasAdhipudu gAlEdhA ?

 

CharaNam : BhUlOkha Vaikuntam idhiyani neelOna neevE yuppOnghi

SrIlOludai yuntE maachinthadheerE dhEnnaDO ?

mElOrvalEni janulalO nE

migula nOgili divyarUpamunu

mudhyAla sarula yuramunu ghAna vacchithi ;

ThyagarAja hrudhbhUshaNa ! ( Oh RangasAyee )

 

(Meaning and Comments ) : Oh RangasAyee ! When I implore You to

come to me and beg You to bless me , why should you not come ?

Has not Lord SivA become the Lord of KailAsam with Your grace ?

If You forget other things ( Bhaktha RakshaNam , PaarArthyam

reminded by ANDAL in Her ThiruppAvai , where She commands

the Lord to wake up and go about His duties and not to

slimber away in the comforting arms of Nappinnai )and give

Yourself up to the enjoyment ( Bhogam ) in the company of

Sri RanganAyaki here at Srirangam , Your Vaikuntam on

this earth , What will happen to me ? When will there be an

end to my sufferings resulting from living in the middle of

envy-ridden people , who can not stomach other people

making spiritual progress .

 

Oh Merciful Lord ! I stand before You beseeching Your

blessings as You present Yourself in Your beautiful

pearl-studded coat ( Mutthangi Sevai ) as You engage in

Your Yoga NidhrA .Oh the Divine One decorating my

heart space as a precious jewel ! Oh My chinthAmaNi rathnam !

Please respond to me ! Please do not tarry anymore !

Oh SeshasAyee of Srirangam ! Oh SaarangapANi ! Oh Kanaka RangA !

Oh VaibhOga RangA ! Oh KasthUri RangA ! Please heed my

prayerful appeal for your blessings .

 

The progressively emotion-laden Sangathis of this

pallavi are a delight to experience as sung by

Sangeetha KalAnidhi Srimathi M.S.Subbulaksmi .The sishyAs

assembled in Thiru Arangan's muRRam took faithful note of them

all and passed on to us so that we can share the bard's great

anubhavam at the Garbhagraham of SriranganAthA .

 

The saint's moving prayer reminds one of the lines from'

Swami Desikan's Sri Sookthis :

 

chinthArathnam Sulabhamiha na: Siddhi MokshAnurUpam

--Sri Bhagavadh DhyAna sOpAnam(BDS) : slOkam 1

 

DheenA nAtha: vysana samanam Dhaivatham DhaivathAnAm

---ibid

 

madhyam baahOr maNi vara ruchA ranjitham Ranga dhAmna:

---BDS : SLOKAM 6

 

KAANTHAM VAKTHRAM KANAKA TILAKAALANKRUTHAM RANGABHARTHU :

---- BDS : SLOKAM 8

 

Saint ThyagarAjA belongs to the category of rasikAs

described by Swami Desikan ( Ranga AasthAnE rasika

mahithan ) .The kshEthram is Ranga AasthAnam ( Sri Rangam ) .

There , the Lord delights all those rasikaas , who

are blessed with His darsana soubhAgyam . There is no

exception about this. Sri RanganAthA delights every one's

mind with His beauty and soulabhyam ( Ranjitha AsEsha

chitthE rasika mahithE ) .Such a rasikA was Saint from

ThiruvaiyAru , who gave us the KaambhOji krithi out of

his anubhava janitha paramAnandham .

 

The Fourth pancha rathnam : Invitaiton to the Ladies

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In our PerumAL sannidhis , the ladies stand on one side

and the males on the other side. When dignitaries arrive

at the Lord's sannidhi , rest of the people ( both male

and female )are some what pushed aside . Some thing

like this might have happened at Sri RanganAthan's

Thiru muRRam , when Saint ThyagarAjA was being

accorded with honors and special attention during

the EkAntha sEvai . Saint ThyagarAja , the most

compassionate one ,invited every one and especially

Ladies-- who get less attention in the traditional

societies--and invited them to enjoy the soubhAgyam of

the sevai of the Lord of Srirangam . This krithi is set

in Raagam Aarabhi . The saahithya Vaakhyams are:

 

Pallavi::: chuthAmu rArE sudhatulAra ! Rangapathini

 

Anupallavi: SeethApathi pUjyudata srunghAra sEkarudata

 

CharaNam 1: Sarigamchu saaluvata chowkDla pOgulaDa

paruvampu prAyamaDa ParamAthmuData , Rangani

 

CharaNam 2: Mukha nirjitha chandhruData muddhumADa lADunata

sukha mOsanghi BrOchunaDa sundarAnaDuta Rangani

 

CharaNam 3: Aagama sanchAruData-yakhila jagathpAluData

ThyagarAja sannuthuData taruNulAra Rangapathini

 

(Meaning ) : Oh Ladies ! Come along and join in to see Rangapathi !

Aadhi Kavi VaalmIki says that Sri RanganAthA was worshipped by

Sri RaamachandrA . He is indeed the treasure house of all charms.

He is wearing today a shawl that is priceless. He adorns beautiful

ear ornaments. He displays His saamudrikhA LakshaNams befitting

One of prime age ( paruava vAlibhan/ILankumaran ). Above all these

aspects of His matchless beauty , He is indeed the Parama-

Purushan celebrated and saluted by the VedAs and Upanishads as

the SarvAdhAran , JagadhAnandhakan and Jagath Rakshakan .

His most beautiful face defies the full moon in its beauty ;

His words are spoken with such maadhuryam , which makes His speech

liltingly sweet . He confers the bliss of happiness ( Aanandham )

on His devotees. He is the most lovable personality with whom

one readily falls in deep love. He permeates all aagamAs and

the VedAs .Oh Ladies ! Please come forward and enjoy the beauty

of this Lord of Srirangam .

 

Fifth pancharathnam : An appeal for the Mercy of Saaranghadharan

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Saint ThyagarAjA was overcome with feelings of his

utter helplessness and appealed for the Lord's mercy.

That appeal emerged in the form of a heart-rending

krithi set in the BhaashAnga Rakthi Raagam ,

SaarangA . In another SaarangA raaga Krithi ,

he had asked Sri Ramachandra to understand his

helpless state and asked Him to shower mercy on

him : " Yemi thova palkumA yiganu nE nenthu pOdhu

Sri RaamA "( Oh RaamA my dear One ! Where am I to go ?

What am I to do ? What steps should I take ?

Please tell me what to do . Please have karuNA

and cast your benovlent glances on me ! ). In a similar

mood , Saint TyagarAja stood before the Parama

KaaruNeekan , Sri RanganaathA and prayed for the boon

of becoming the object of the Lord's DayA . The saahithya

Vaakhyams are as follows :

 

Pallavi : KaruNa juDumayya ! Maayayya ! KaavEDi rangayya

 

Anupallavi: parama purusha ! vinu maa-paali pEnnidhAnamA !

Varaha nalugurilO-vara mOsagi karamiDi

 

CharaNam : chAraDEsi kanulachE jElangubhaya

naacchArulatOnu marisadhbhakthaluthO

ALwArulathO neevu vara naivEdhyamula

naaragimchu vELala HarithyAgarAjuni karamiDi

 

( Meaning ) : Oh Parama PurushA ! Oh Lord RanganAthA

residing on the banks of KaavEri ! Oh Grantor of choice

boons , Oh VardhA ! Look at me with dayA and listen to

me; Hold me by the hand , bless me with boons and your

benovolent grace at the time when You are enjoying

the company of Sri Devi and Bhudevi as well as Your

Bhaktha SironmaNis and THE AAZHWAARS at Your BhOga Mantapam .

At that pleasant time , when You are partaking your

naivEdhyam , Please hold my hand and have mercy on me !

 

Srirangam is revered as BhOga mantapam in our tradition ;

Thirumalai is known as Pushpa Mantapam and KaanchIpuram

as the Thyaga mantapam .Saint ThyagarAjA was eager to

appeal to the Lord of BhOga mantapam , just as AchArya

RaamAnuja chose the time , when the Lord was enjoying

the company of Sri RanganAyaki on the panguni Uttaram

day and offered his SaraNAgathi and received the great

boon by choosing that favorable moment of union of

the Lord with His divine consort on EkAsanam .

 

Thus concludes the Sriranga Pancha Rathna Krithis

bequeathed to us by Saint ThyagarAjA in a spirit of

SaraNAgathi at the lotus feet of the Lord of Srirangam .

May we ALL be blessed by performing SaraNAgathi to

this Lord , who is going to have His home at Pomona ,

New York in few months .

 

In the remaining postings , I will cover selected paasurams

of the AzhwArs saluted by Saint ThyagarAja in his Saaranga

Raaga Krithi .

 

Subhamasthu

 

Srirangam saraNya DampathigaL ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan