Saint ThyagarAjA and PrahlAdhA : part 2 on Sri Lakshmi Nrusimhan

[Guest guest]

Dear BhakthAs of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha BhagavAn :

 

In this year , when the 600th anniversary of

the founding of Ahobila Matam is being celebrated ,

I started writing earlier about Sri Lakshmi Nrusimhan .

 

If my memory serves me right , I wrote about

the first slokam of Adi SankarA's KarAvalampana

sthOthram and Shatpadhee . Here is the second in

the series of salutations to the Lord of Ahobilam ,

Prahlaadha Varadhan .

 

In this posting , I will cover the great devotion

that Saint ThyagarAjA had for "Naarasimha Vapu SrImAn" .

PrahlAdhA was the greatest model for Saint ThyagarAjA

as a parama bhakthA . The Lord , who blessed PrahlAdhA

became , as a result, very dear to our Saint of

ThiruvayyAru , who spent most of his life

on Sri Raama Naama Japam and sankeerthanam .

 

Our saint saw Sri Ramachandran as Sri Narasimhan and

Vice-versa . That is why in the middle of his

Opera known as PrahlAdha Bhaktha Vijayam

dealing with the victory of PrahlAdhA's bhakthi,

he pleads for the mercy of Sri RamachandrA

in the moving Yadhukula KaambhOji through

the words of PrahlAdhA :

 

" Daya sEyavaiaa Sadaya RamachandrA ,

dayanu konchamaina naadu talasusunna SItA

sukhamu "

 

( Oh My merciful Lord RamachandrA !

please bestow dayA on me ! Please confer on me even

a small portion of the daya (konchamaina )

and the aanandham that you blessed

SeethA Piratti with ! )

 

In another rare krithi of PrahlAdha bhaktha vijayam

opera set in NaagaghAndhAri Raagam ,

 

" Oh Raama Raama SarvOnnatha nee kiputOravamsana yElarA ,

GruNAkara "

 

( Oh Raamaa ! Oh the most supreme of all tattvams !

Why are you engaged in deceit now ? Oh my most merciful

Lord !) "Yee jagadhini ThyagarAjuni brOchudakee

jaala mika tALanu neevELanu"( In this world , I can not

bear with the acts and tricks of yours to stay away from

protecting me , your BhakthA , who trusts You utterly ) .

 

Here , the Raama BhakthA , Saint ThyagarAjA equates

himself to PrahlAdhA , who complained as the BhakthA of

Narasimha BhagavAn for not appearing before him in

PrahlAdha Bhaktha Vijayam .The mood of

the two bhakthAs longing for the Lord's darsanam is

identical . The celebration of Sri RamachandrA as

BhagavAn Narasimha is evident in the other krithis of

Saint ThyagarAjA's PrahlAdha Bhaktha Vijayam listed below :

 

RaaraamA IntithAka ( asAvEri ) ,

Sriraama JayarAamA ( MadhyamAvathi ) , Vandhanamu

Raghunanadhana ( SahAnA ) , RaambhirAma( SaavEri ),

yEti janmithi haa Oh RaamA ( VarALi ) ,

SallarE Raamachandrunipaini poola ( Aahiri ) ,

yentha paapinaithi nEmisEyuthu , haa yElAku

tALuthunE -Oh RaamA ? (GowLipanthu ) ,

yEmani vEkinthunE , Sri Raama Raama ( HusEni) ,

Nannu vitichikatalaguraa , Raamayaa vathalaguraa

( Reethigowlai ) , DayarAni DayarAni , Daasarathee

Raama ( Mohanam ) , NanubhrOvakanu-vidavanuraa Raama

( SankarAbharaNam ) , Nee naama rUpamulaku (sowrAshtram)

and other krithis .

 

In every one of the above krithis , Saint ThyagarajA's

anubhavam as Bhaktha PrahlAdhan is abundantly clear .

In between the krithis , Saint ThyagarAjA uses

gadhyam /vachanam (prose ) and Padhyam (gandha Padhyam

and seesa padhyam /poetry ) to offer his salutations

to BahgavAn Narasimhan Himself . I will cover in

the later postings the poetic skills of Saint

ThyagaraajA .Thus PrahlAdha Bhaktha Vijayam is

a tribute to his Ishta Dhaivam as well as

for the One worshipped by his Ishta Dhaivam on top

of the Ahobilam hills thru the Nrusimha PanchAmrutha

sthOthram ,which I had the good fortune to cover in

one of the recent issues of the Journal of North American

Nrusimha Priya published by Sriman ParthasArathy Dileepan .

 

In the next posting , I will cover the unique Narasimha-

Raama Bhakthi of Saint Thyagaraja as evidenced in

the Palaranjani ( Palamanjari) and Bilahari raaga

krtihis on ShOlingar Narasimhan and in other

krithis ,where he pays tribute to

the BhagavAn Sri Lakshmi Narasimhan .

 

Before concluding this posting , I will

quote the saahithya Vaakhyams of Palamanjari

krithi and give its meanings .

 

This krithi is a prayer to Sri Lakshmi

Nrusimhan to protect him as he stood in front

of Him (the powerful Yoga Narasimhan) at ShoLingar .

It could very well have been composed during

his visit to ThiruvallikkENi .

 

Palamanjari Krithi

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

 

Pallavi : Sri Naarasimha maam paahi

KsheerAbdhi kanyakA RamaNa

 

Anupallavi : DheenArthi nivAraNa bhavya guNa

Tithi tanaya timira Surya TrinEthra

 

CharaNam : PrahlAdha ParAsara Naaradha hruth pankEruha

neeraja bhandhO , AahlAdha kara bhavarhOga

samhAra Varadha ThyagarAjAdhi Vinutha (Sri Narasimha )

>From the CharaNa vAkhyam line , " AahlAdha Kara " ,

the one with the sign of inviting PrahlAdhan to

come near , one wonders , whether this krithi

is also a tribute to TeLLiya Singhar Uthsavar

of ThiruvallikkENi on whose hand we see the

AahlAvana mudhrai .Behind the Uthsavar there is

the Yoga Pattai Narasimhan at ThiruvallikkENi as well.

 

Meaning : O Lord Narasimha , You are the Sriya: pathi

( LakshmI's dear consort ) .You are the One ,

who banishes the sufferings of the meek .

You are by nature full of affection and humble

for Your dear bhakthAs and is easy for them

to approach You . Oh Lord , who is like the Sun

that chases away the darkness of Tithi's son ( HiraNyan )

with the power of Your three eyes ( Sun, Moon and

Agni ) ! Oh Lord , who is like the rising Sun ,

which makes the heart lotus of PrahlAdhaa ,

ParAsarA and NaaradhA blossom ! Oh compassionate relative

to the BhakthAs ! Oh boon-granting VaradhA !

Oh Lord , who invites Your BhakthAs to come close to

You with Your hand gesture ( AahlAdha Kara ) !

Oh Lord , who destroys the SamsAric afflictions !

Please protect me from the ills of SamsAram and

grant me mOksham !

 

Bilahari Krithi has longer Saahithya Vaakhyams .

I will cover it in the next posting .

 

Sri MaalOlan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Oppilaippan Koil Varadachari SadagOpan