NEETHU CHARANAMULE

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri vaishnava perunthagaiyeer

 

The vibheeshaNa saraNaagathy has a very special place in Srimadh

RaamaayaNam. It is very important for us, the Sri vaishnavaas. Here, in this

write up, the same topic is enjoyed through the soulful krithis of our Saint

composer, musician and Sri raama bhaktha, Sri Thyaagaraajaa [sT].

 

This write up is based on the clues given by my friend and colleague (who

has earlier given clues on the saadhinchanE krithi) and brought to shape as

this write up by me.

 

Raagaas and krithis selected, their meaning and significance:

1. Harikhaambodhi- the 28th mELakartha raaga - undEthi raamudu okkati,

entharaa nee, enthuku nirdhaya, sani thOdi dEvE, dinamaNi vamsa

2. KhaambhOdhi- maa jaanakee

3. SimhEndra madhyamam- the 57th mELakartha raaga- neethu charaNamulE,

natha jana paripaalaka

4. Khamaas- seethapathi naa manasunaa

5. Sudhdha seemanthini- a janya raaga of 8th melakartha - jaanakee

ramaNa

 

Harikhaambodhi- the name of the raaga (or word) is to be split as hari + ka:

+ ambhOdhi or ambhudhi to understand the meaning of the name. Hari, the

saakshaath NaaraayaNan, parama pada naathan creates the entire srushti by

first creating ka: the brahmaa and rest through him.

 

"Naarayanan padaiththaan naanmuganai, naan muganum than mugamaai

sankaranaiththaan padaiththaan" is the famous lines of "naan mugan

thiruvanthaathi" paasuram no 1 by thirumazhiai aazhvaar. Brahmaa produces

all the creatures subsequently with water as one of the important components

to carry out his creation. Water- ambhu- is abundantly available in ocean-

the ambhOdhi. So ka+ ambhOdhi is khaambhOdhi. It is well established and

beyond doubt that all creatures except very few need water for sustenance.

 

- Like wise hari + ka: + ambhudhi the harikaabhodhi raaga is also the base

from which many raagaas take birth. This raaga is a favourite one to ST and

he has 10 krithis in this raaga. To quote all janya raagas of this

harikaambhodhi will be a big list and two important janya raagams are

khambhodhi and khamaas considered here in this write-up.

 

Khamaas: the word kha also means sun besides brahma, maas is month in

samskrutham. The raaga khamaas is like sun month- quite hot to handle, if

not sung or played properly / correctly will hurt the singer/ player (means

lead into other raagaas).

 

Sudhdha seemanthini: Seemanthini in samskrit [or samskrutham] means woman.

Sudhdham is pure and sudhdha seemanthini is a pure woman. In this raagam ST

has a song addressing Raamaa as "jaanakee ramana" - Oh the husband of

ever-pure jaanakee, even though she was kept in prison in ashokavanam by

raavaNan. The raaga selection itself indicates, says or signifies that point

very well.

 

Simhendra madhyamam: This 57th mElakarthaa raagam signifies- indraah: madhyE

simha: - lion among Kings. Indra is the king of dEvalOkam. Indra is also a

personification of beauty [that is why kunthi in mahabharatham wanted to

have a son through indran and got arjuna who is liked by ladies for his

beauty]. Indra also means devaas and devaas have come as monkeys and hence

raama is simha among indraa: - indra madhye simha. Even though there are

many such indraas available, raamaa is the Lion among indraas. Raamaa is

also the personification of beauty combined with vil power (not only will

power but also vil power), hence he is lion among indraas. The raaghava

simham is there in the middle among a lot of monkeys and bears.

 

Like that there are many beautiful raagaas- indra like raagas- kingly and

beautiful- but this one- at times it roars, at times it takes rest with a

special gambhiram- all like a lion. Hence simhendra madhyamam.

 

The scene in Raamaayana: [scene 1] Vibheeshana is arguing with his elder

brother RavaNa and king of lanka that already much damage was done by

hanumaan -the monkey ambassador of Lord raamaa sent mainly in search of

seetha, raama's wife. Hanumaan met seetha in lanka, [the main function in

his ambassadorial work fulfilled nicely], and wanted to show his prowess by

destroying some parts and burning some parts [extra works on

self-initiative].

 

To consider certain modern management aspects in raamaayaNam, the duty of

the servant is to carry out the master's orders first. That work of finding

seetha was carried out by hanumaan successfully. Then, on his

self-initiative, certain extra works can be carried out by the servant,

which can and will facilitate the master in his mission subsequently or give

added advantage to the master. That exemplifies the capacity of the servant.

After completing the main task, Hanumaan on self initiative destroyed part

of lanka and lit on fire some portion. That proved the capacity of servant

and it also glorified the master in selecting such a capable ambassador.

 

Vibhishana expresses himself and his belief, during his arguments, that

raama is saakshaath mahaavishnu. The Lord alone has come as raama in the

krithi undEthi raamudu okkati by ST

 

undEthi raamudu okati ooraka chedi poku

chanda maarththaaNda madhya maNdalamu nanu selanguchu

thaamasaadhi guna rahithudu dharmaathmudu sarvasamudu kshEmakarudu

 

meaning: the sarva vyaapi raaman is the single whole and soul of the entire

world (param poruL). Do not think easy about raama. He is the shine for the

sun. He is completely rid of thaamasa gunam. He is the dharmaathmaa. He

treats all equal. He is the savior for all.

 

Vibheeshana also adds

oka maata oka baaNamu oka pathnee vrathudE

oka chiththamu kalavaadE oka naadunu

chiranjeevithvamu nirjara vara soukya mosagunE

dharabaragE dhEvudE

 

meaning: Raama is a man of virtues like one word, one arrow, one wife. He is

a man of concentration and clear in his ideas without any waywardness. He is

capable of giving boons like long life without aging, [nirjara] etc.

 

[scene 2] Vibheeshana's effort to convince ravana failed. He took off from

Lanka. He comes to the sky and asks the pardon and wishing to surrender to

the Lord feet. Now ST comes out with the song "Neethu charanamulE" Oh raama

I am asking you please accept my surrender at your feet.

 

Neethu charaNamulE gathiyani neradha nammina vaadanuraa raamaa

Paapa karmamu niNduraa- indhu pada pada nE jaalaraa

E apakaari yaiyanu nannElukO

 

O raama I have come with the strong belief that you are my protector-

rakshakan and I have come to surrender to you. I have committed many sins

and please forgive me for my sins and accept me

 

Vibheeshana asks the surrender from the heights of sky, where he is standing

or positioned himself with his accompanists. Hence the song also starts at

the high pitch, so that Raama and others who are in the ground can hear it.

 

Note: This and the song natha jana paripaalaka in simhendra madhyamam bear a

controversy that these two krithis were not composed by ST but done in our

age by contemporaries to us (viz during 1950 to 2000). But there are others,

who say these are by ST only. We will for this elaboration consider these

were composed by ST only.

 

Here the raamaayaNa slokam 17 of 17th sargam of yudhdha kaandam is worth

referring- which reads- nivEdhayath maam kshipram raaghavaaya mahaathmanE

sarva loka saraNyaaya vibheeshaNamupasthitham/

 

[scene 3] Vibheeshana continues his appeal and tries to convince raama and

his team. VibheeshaNa wants himself to be taken into the inner circle of

raama and his aides. So he has to do lot of canvassing. He continues his

praise of raama.

 

dinamaNi vamsa thilaka laavaNyaa dheena charaNya

manavini baguga madhi nidhalanchuka

chanuvuna nElu chaaluka gnaalu- dinamaNi

sarva vinutha nanu samrakshinchanu garvamulElaga suvaarevarE

nirvikaara guNa nirmala karathrutha- dinamaNi

 

meaning: Oh surya kula thilaka! The beautiful Lord! The last resort for

incapacitated (or incapacity stricken) people! Please consider my request

seriously in your mind and then show your love to me and protect me. Oh

blemishless Lord, why you take pride without saving me from my distress.

 

[scene 4] Vibheeshana feels, perhaps raama is not convinced about his

appeals. So he does his act of convincing by talking about the purity of

raamaa's dEvi and to remove any trace of doubts that may come in the mind of

raama, starts addressing raama in the raaga sudhdha seemanthini "Oh Jaanakee

ramaNa". He is also of the opinion that this may help in raamaa's acceptance

of his surrender.

 

To add weight to his arguments in favour of sitaa, he adds the krithi maa

jaanaki setta bettaka in raaga khaambhOdhi. Since maa sri mahalakshmi now in

the garb of seethaa has also come from ambhudhi the raaga of khaambhOdhi

-selection is also very apt.

 

[scene 5] Again he pleads to the Lord to accept his surrender while the

discussions are going on. So the krithi "enduku nirdhaya" why you are

showing this sympathy-less-ness.

enthuku nirdhaya evarunnaaruraa

indhu nibhaanana inakulachandana

parama paavana parimalabagana

nE paradhEsee phapavEkaasi - enthuku

 

meaning: Oh Raama! Why are you not showing your karuNai to me? Who is there

for me to save me Oh raama who has a moonlike face and cool like moon. You,

one who makes all clean and holy, please remove my anxiety because I am

paradEsi. You are a person who treats friends and foes alike and hence

please accept me.

 

Once more pleading goes on from vibheeshana's side since there is delay in

conveying the acceptance and he also hears arguments against the acceptance

by raama. ST adds one more krithi seethaapathE naa manasunaa in khamaas. The

raaga indicates that vibheeshana is unable to bear the heat of the delay in

acceptance of the surrender hence raaga khamaas.

seethaapathi naa manasunaa sidhdhaanthamani unnaanuraa

vaathaathmajaathula chenthanE varNinchina nee palukulella

prEma joosi naapai pedhdha manasu jEsi nee mahmalella nindhaara joopi

ee mahima ni bhayamEdi kanna maata raamachandra-

 

meaning: Oh seethapathi! I believe in my mind as true and certain, what You

told hanumaan and others. Please show me your love, your fame and consider

my request with your large heart and prove your words of "Why you are afraid

of when I am here?".

 

[scene 6] After much deliberation, the surrender is accepted by raama with

the very famous sloka "sakruteva prapannaaya thavaasmeethi cha yaachathE/

abhayam sarva bhoothEbhyO dhadhaamyEthadh vratham mama// slokam 33 of sargam

18 of yudhdha kaandam". ST pours out the song sani thodi dEvE in

harikhambhodhi for this.

 

sani thOdi dEvE kani karamutho kani karamidi chira kaalamu

sukamanubavimpa vEgamE pathithula brOchE pattadhi kaarini

paramaarththa matha vasishtaanusaariNi

dhyuthi nirjitha satha sambaraarini dhureeNa- sani

meaning: Please go and bring him, please go with sympathy and bring him fast

so that he can enjoy in my company.

 

[scene 7] The song natha jana paripalaka nannu brovavE in the simhEndhra

madhyamam raaga starts in madhyama sruthi. By that time the surrender was

accepted by raama, vibheeshana and his accompanists have descended down to

the ground and his praising of raama can be heard by all, so madhyama sruthi

is adopted by ST.

 

natha jana paripalaka nannu brovavE

sruthi moralida lEthaa soothradhaari neevE kaathaa

jitha manOrathulaku mouna ya

 

Oh! Raama, the saraNaagatha rakshakaa, you are the player in the puppet

show (the man who controls the strings of the dolls in the show). You have

undergone suffering to save the munigaNam. Your feet are the protection for

us.

 

Thus the songs even though apparently may convey ST's pouring from his heart

the songs are also well in lines of happenings in raamaayaNam. Hear the

krithis and enjoy the meanings, link with raamaayaNam and sink in the

bhakthi of raama

 

Daasan vasudevan M.G.