Sri KrishNa BhakthAs :Part III Sri KashEthraj~nyaa

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri KrishNa BhakthAs :

 

KshEthraayyA (also Called KshEthraj~nyaa and

KshEthriyulu) was a contemproary of Venaktamahi,

the AchAryan for Sri Raamaswamy Dikshithar ,

the father of the famous Sri Mutthuswamy Dikshithar.

The time was mid 18th century .

 

He is from Muvvapuri , a hamlet near GhantasAlA

in KrishNA district .He was a Telugu Smartha Brahmin

like Sri NaarAyana Theerthar and Saint ThyagarAjA .

He is unparalleled in composition of Padhams soaked

in nava rasams .He adorned these padhams in rakthi and

apoorva raagams .He was prolific in composing Padhams .

The Naayika -naayikA bhavam experienced by ParakAla ,

ParAnkusa and Venkata Nayakis come to our mind ,

when we listen to the Padhams of KshEthrayyaa .

 

There are three types of Nayakis in Bharatha Saasthram :

UtthamA , MadhyamA and AdhamA. When composing his padhams

dealing with Lord KrishNA , KshEthrayyA focused on

the feelings and mental state of the Utthama naayaki .

 

The SrungAra rasam is dominant in these padhams .

The SringAram here is dealing with divine love .

The moods of the 8 kinds of SrungAra Naayakis are

captured in his padhams with appropriate choice of

Raagams and rasams created by the saahithya Vaakyams

and svarakkOrvai. The eight SrungAra Naayakis are :

 

(1) SvAdhIna BahndhrikA: A satisfied Naayaki, whose

Naayakan does not disappoint her .

 

(2) Vaasaka sajjikA: One who readies herself with alankAram

to greet her returning Naayakan .

 

3) VirahOthkaNDithA : One who has viraha thApam due to

vislEsham (separation from her Naayakan): one is

reminded of the soul stirring pulampals of Parakaala

nayaki at ThiruppullANi by the sea side .

 

4) VipralabdhA: One who has been cheated by her Naayakan .

 

5) KaNDithA : One who chastises the misbehaving Naayakan

with anger .

 

6) KalahAnthrikA : One suffers from loneliness after

praNaya Kalaham .

 

7) AbhisArikA : One who secretly rushes to her Naayakan's

location all alone with courage .

 

8) PrOshitha BarthrikA : One who suffers from the separation

of her Naayakan , who is away on a mission .

 

It was mentioned earlier that KshEthrayyaa was an incarnation

of Sri Jaya DevA . The kaledioscopic moods of RaadhA in Gita-

Govindham are seen abundantly in the padhams of KshEthrayyaa.

 

KshEthryyaa was born in the village of Muvvapuri ,where

the presiding deity was Gopaala Murthi . Even as a boy ,

little Varadaiah ( the name KshEthrayyaa was acquired by

him due to his KshEthrAdanams)was fascinated by the Gopaala

Moortham at the temple. A wandering ascetic noticed

the theevra Bahkthi of Varadaiah and initiated him into

Sri GopAla Moola manthram .The boy grew upto be a young man

and all the time , he spent most of his time singing songs

about GopAlan and the sublime love RaadhA had for KrishNA

celebrated by Sri JayadEvA . Rest of the time , he was

absorbed in meditation . There was a young deva daasi attached

to the temple and as she heard the divine music of Varadaiah ,

she danced for those songs just a PadmAvathi did for

JayadEvA's songs at Puri JagannAth .The walls of the temple

reverberated to the sound of music and the ankle bells

of the dancer . Soon the young man, Varadaiah had to

leave the village due to the jealous gossip .His heart

was filled with divine love and he travelled from one

KshEthram to the other and the lyrical rhapsody

housed in sublime musical scales and taaLams filled

the land .Today we have only 300 of his padhams

left . Veenai DhanammAL and her family members,

SangItha Kalaanidhis BrindhA and MukthA have

preserved them for us.

 

The famous padhams of KshEthrayyaa on Lord

VeerarAghavA of ThiruveLLUr , Kaanchi Varadhan ,

Tillai ThirucchitthirakooDatthu GovindarAjan

and Srirangam RanganAthan are well known . All his

padhams have the mudrai of MuvvagOpAla .How he incorporated

his divine love into the paddhams is illustrated

by the words of the following padhams used by

Bharatha Naatyam dancers over the years:

 

" Oh Rama Rama ! ( the name of the sakhi) should I

see his face (the face of the ungrateful Muvva GopAla)

again? My earlier contacts (with him) are sufficient ".

 

Some of the SringAra Bhakthi-laden padhams of KshEthryyaa

are as follows:

 

1. Manini VinavE (SankarAbharanam)

2. Ayyayyo Vegatayene (naadhanAmakriyA )

3. Ninnu Juda ( PunnagavarALi)

4. Eriti Vegintune( GauLipanthu)

5. YemO Teliyadu (SaavEri)

6. Aligite ( HusEni)

7. Etuvanti Vade (NilAmbari)

8. Yaalane Vaanipai ( KhAmbhOji).

 

For these Sri KrishNa Bhakthi-laden Padhams ,

KshEthrayyaa also used rare raagams and

the raagams with limited sanchAram like

Saindhavi,GhantA, Ahiri, NavrOj and

KarnAtaka Kaapi .The raagAs and the rasams

blend beautifully and the sweetness of diction

in chaste Telegu is suffused with artha pushti.

Such is the greatness of this Sri KrishNa BhakthA !

 

Sri KrishNAya Thubhyam Nama:

Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan