EesamanOhari Krithi : ManasA SrI Raamachandruni

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Today , we will focus on the above EesamanOhari

Krithi of Saint ThyagarAjA:

 

Pallavi:

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ManasA! SrI Raamachandhruni-maravakE,

yEmarakE ; Oh (manasA)

 

Oh My mind! Do n't you forget our Lord Raamachandran

even for a moment ! Do n't become careless and dupe

yourself by such lapses in chinthanam of Him & His glories!

 

Anupallavi

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Munu puDDunu BuDDina mouni kruthamou

mUDunnAradhyaayamula jUchukO( ManasA)

 

If You get in to doubts about His greatness ,

please rush to read the two chapters from SrImad

RaamAyaNa (Third and Sixth of Baala KhAndam)

blessed to us by the ant-hill born ,

ancient Sage , VaalmIki and see how

he glorified our Lord and revelared His

loftiness as ParamAthmA.

 

CharaNam

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srusti pushti nashti jEyu panulu

nikrushta manuchunu thrimoorthula kOsagi

thushtuDai BharagE sadhbhaktha-

manObhIshtamu licchu ThyAgarAjanuthuni (ManasA)

 

Relegating the not so important functions of

creation , protection and destruction to

the Trinity (BrahmA , VishNu and SivA), He

has chosen for Himself , the work of granting

the boons desired by His dear BhakthAs. Oh My

Mind! Do n't forget even for a moment SrI Raamachandran

of such unique glory !

 

Comments:

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1.EesamanOhari is a Janya Raagam of the 28th mEla

Raagam , Hari KaambhOji. It is raagam that can be

sung at all times. Saint ThyAgarAja chose this raagam

to remind his mind to think about Him at all times.

This krithi is sung between weighty krithis.

 

2. In the anupallavi, the great Raama Bhakthar asks

his mind specifically to read the third and the sixth

sargaas of RaamAyaNam about the greatness of Raamachandran ,

if his mind ever gets confused on this matter.

 

Among the 500 sargams that make up SrImad RaamAyanam ,

Saint ThyagarAjA picks these two sargams for his mind.Why?

Saint ThyagaraajA performed SrImad RaamAuyaNa PaarAyaNam

every day . He was throroughly conversant with every

sargam of the epic glorifying Lord Raamachandran. The third

sargam of Baala Kaandam is a succinct outline of

the entire epic , SrImad RaamAyanam given by Sage Vaalmiki

himself after Brahma and Sarasvathi empowered him

to compose this IthihAsam . It is a marvellous

synopsis . Here , the sage visualizes the entire deeds

that happened in this avathAram as Lord Ramachandra and

goes on to describe His superlative valour ,

friendship to all, universal popularity , capacity

to forgive the offenders if they sought His refuge ,

soulabhyam and His vow to speak the truth

and uphold dharma :

 

Janma Raamasya sumahadh veeryam sarvAnukoolathAm

lOkasya priyathAm kshAnthim soumyathAm sathyaseelathAm

 

--SrImad RaamAyaNam : Baala KaaNdam: 3.10

 

In the sixth sargam , the splendour of the invincible

city of AyOdhyA and the prosperity of the citizens of

AyOdhyA during the reign of King DasaraTA is described.

The glory of the avatara nagaram of Lord Raamachandra

and His limeage is saluted here.

 

There are those , who think that Saint ThyAgarAja

was referring to the third and sixth chapter of

AdhyAthma RaamaayaNam(AR) in this song instead of

the SrImad VaalmIki RaamAyaNam. In the third sargam

of AdhyAthma RaamAyanam , the composer refers to

Mother Kousalya's joy and incredibility that such

a divine child was born to her. She had just given

birth to the infant and on gazing at the just born

child's apramEya tEjas, she is overcome by the incredible

blessing that happeened to her of becoming the mother of

ParamAthmA Himself. In the sixth cahpter of AR,

King Janaka recounts what Naarada had told him

about ParamAthma Himself being born as the son of

King DasaraTan.King Janaka continues and states

that Sage Naarada revealed that the ParamAthmA

incarnated to protect and bless His devotees , who

sought refuge in Him. Saint ThyagarAja was familiar

with AR since he refers to other incidents from

this Kaavyam , which differs some what from

the Aadhi Kaavyam of Sage Valmiki . The context

however ( the reference to the third and the sixth

sargams ) seem to be closer to AR instead of VR.

 

3. VishNu and Raamachandra are one and the same.

Latter is an avathAram of VishNu NaarAyaNan.

Saint ThyagarAja was a great Raama BhakthA

and to him , even VishNu as Jagath Rakshakan

was somewhat less exalted compared to his

Ishta Dhaivam , SrI Raamachandran . In other

krithis , he will also express similar thought.

For example,in the VeeravasathA krithi, Emani Pogadhura ,

the Saint states explicitly that Raamachandran

gave Sathva , RajO and TamO guNams to VishNu,

Brahma and Siva to perform their duties of

Protction , creation and destruction , while he

kept Bhaktha rakshaNam to Himself as ThriguNAtheethan .

Saint ThyagarAja salutes RaamA as the SaguNa Brahman ,

who is superior to VishNu. It may be viewed as " poetic hyperbole"

or unalloyed devotion to his ishta dhaivam , Lord Raamachandra.

Anyway , the Composer visualizes and salutes Raama as

the VaradharAjan ( boon giver) and SaraNAgatha Raksha

dharma vrathi ( One with the sworn vow to protect those,

who sought refuge in Him ).Saint ThyagarAja points out

in this Krithi that Lord the Lord's avathAram

was for fulfilling the sought after wishes of

His sadh-bhakthAs ( Sadh-bhaktha ManObhIshtam).

 

For SrI VaishNavAs, the sixth chapter of

SrImad Thraya Saaram is the guiding code.

 

SrI SitA SamEtha SrI Raamachandra parabrahmaNE nama:

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan