tamboori meeTidava bhavAbdi dATidava -Ughabhoga by Sri Purandara Dasaru

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Hare Srinivasa ! thamboori meeTidava bhavAbdi dATidava tAlava taTTidava surarolu sEridava gejjeya kaTTidava kalaredeya meTTidava gAyana pADidava harimurthi nODidava puraMdara viTTalana nODidava vaikuMTakke ODidava This ugabhoga of Sri Purandara Dasaru is extremely rich with meaning. There are at least four or five levels that can be reached as per my limited ability. It is said that Ugabhogas are those padas which were composed by DAsaru during deep states of meditation and contain the essence of scriptural knowledge. First level: There is a loud and clear message here which rhymes with Vyasarajaru's sloka on Madhva matha - bhakthi with dAsa

bhava. The path to reach God is singular and that is "jiva ganAH harEr anucharaH mukthiH naija sukhAnubhutiH amAla bhaktih" - all jivas are the dasas of the Lord, mukthi is the experience of one's own self in the presence of the Lord and abiding devotion to the Lord is the one and only means. Kanaka Dasaru has also said, "dAsa nAgu vishEsha nAgu " The only way to become special is to become a dAsa. One is a special devotee because one feels bliss because of the presence of the Lord and makes others feel it. In the above devaranaama it is Kanaka Dasaru says that becoming a dasa is the only way to conquer the six diseases of the mind and move towards the goal of

mukthi. Purandara Dasaru in this ughaboga clearly portrays a HaridAsa. He also declares vehemently what the special results of being a dAsa are. As the word 'haridAsa' itself indicates, it means to surrender oneself completely to Hari. When one thinks the word 'HaridAsa' the image of 'Purandara Dasaru' with the tamboori, the tala kaTTe , the anklets on his feet dancing to the tune in his heart comes to the mind. DAsatva is a bhAva- means a state of mind. One cannot become a dAsa just by holding the requisite instruments in hand and wearing the bells on one's feet and dancing. One has to have acknowledged the supremacy of the Lord as the overlord of everyone and everything in the world and beyond, His limitless reach in terms of time, space and guNas and at

the same time realised the smallness and limited reach of the self in time, in space and in quality and performs each every activity only for the pleasure of the Lord as His service without any other ulterior motives. Lord Krishna in the BG 10.9 says "machchitA matgataH prAnA bodhayaMtaH parasparam kathayaMtascha mAm nityam tushyaMti cha ramaMti cha || A dAsa is one who can satisfy the above

..One's mind should be implanted in the Lord, engaging in activies concerning the Lord exhorting His glories to those who want to listen, narrating events related to Him as fas as possible . So it there is no doubt that to know the majesty we have to understand that we are His dasas(wether we accept it or not makes the difference) and that is what the first message is "Become a dAsa...., become a dAsa.........." Begin by holding the tamboori....... It leads to the second level: bhava- rebirth abdi - that which gives water- ocean in this context The ocean of samsaara which consists of repeated births. What happens when we hold a tamboori? Dasaru is talking about the various instruments that can aid one in the process of self realisation and God realisation. It is not just an aid but is one of the methods available to the common man for reaching the abode of the almighty. " Thamboori is the divine instrument which keeps the shruthi of the singer. The shruthi of the singer is very important in order bring the correct bhAva/emotion of the song. The first one- tamboori is for the shruthi. The second one- talakaTTe- is for tala - beats The third one-gejje is for laya -rythm- tuning the body and the mind to the beat . The fourth one is -vocal chords- to verbally express what is in one's heart and entreat the Lord . When these four are combined the singer is in complete surrender to the one whom he/she is propitating with that song. The gAyana is the series of words sung to the accompanyment of shruthi and conforms to tala and laya. In order to do this perfectly the singer

should be accomplished in the training of the respective components. Even after this,just singing without any feeling is not the gAyana that Dasaru is talking of. He is talking about the spontaneous expression when under the influence of the shruthi, tala and laya with total concentration on the subject which is Lord Purandara Vittala for him. How does one achieve such total concentration? This is handled in the next level. 3 rd level: Here we have seen that the tamboori is a stringed instrument which gives off a beautiful sound when strung. In order for the sound to be sweet and nice the tamboori should be tuned, the strings tightened appropriately and the person using it should know how to use it. Similarly this human body is the instrument which can be used by the soul, to do sadhana. In order for the sadhana to be done, the body should be mentally and physically fit, the mind and intellect in the body should be tuned to the Lord and the jiva should know the method to do the upasana of the Lord. If one knows and uses it then the sweet notes of devotion pleases the devotee as well as the Lord. bhakuthi

sukavO raMGa mukuthi sukavO Dasaru in one devaranama says that bhakuthi is itself a blissful experience and he asks Lord Rangantha which is better, bhakuthi or mukuthi. Also the well tuned mind in a healthy body can give the experience of blissful devotion not only to the one who practices it but to all those around. raMga ninna koMDaDuva maMgala Atmara saMgha sukha vittu kAyo karuNA sAgara "Oh Ranganatha, I entreat you to bestow on me the companionship of your great devotees who always sing Your praises because thier company gives me bliss." The person who is a devotee enjoys the blissful expereince of devotion as well as spreads the beatiful fragrance to others near him/her just as the tamboori gives off a pleasing note which enthralls the one who strings it as well as the one who listens to it. The tAla is the discipline which ensures which notes are held for what intervals of time. It makes the music more appealing to the mind. A

song sung in shruthi but without tAla lacks the same appeal as the one with tAla. Not only that the moment the tAla is missed the rAga automatically deviates from its original form and takes on a new pathway. So also discipline is extremely essential to keep the body and mind on the right track. If the mind is not kept in check then the route that one takes to reach the Lord changes. There maybe pitfalls and ups and downs and curves and deviations . Effectively the striaght path is lost and one suffers many more births in samsaara to come back on track.It is a diffucult thing to keep the mind in check. Arjuna says in the BG

5.34"chaMchalam hi manaH krishnAMy mind is fickle..... Then Krishna replies ," abyAsEna tu kauntEya.....I agree that the mind of man is fickle. But by constant practice one can obtain the steadiness required for spiritual study and contemplation." Anyone who studies music will attest to the fact that mastering the tala is very important and comes only with practice. The music lessons are designed to first tackle shruthi and then tAla. After all it is Purandara DAsaru who the pitAmaha of Carnatic music too. He would know exactly the steps to take and compares the steps to the adhyAtma steps . Next comes rhythm. It is the constant movement of the mind towards the Lord- . Dasaru says 'gejjeya kaTTidava kaLaredeya meTTidava"As a result of this constant movement towards the Lord, the enemies of the mind are trampled on. And what may they be? They are kAma, krodha, lObha, mOha,mada, matsarya. If these are removed from the mind, only then any kind of spiritual progress is possible . Who said so? Lord Krishna says so in BG 3.37. "The puissant power that drives one to commit henios sins is desire. It is anger too born of rajOguNa.The field of kAma is instaitable like a huge fire licking up all and reaching for more and more. It halts the progress in the spiritual field." Now the mind becomes reasonably clean and is fit for contemplation. What should one contemplate on ? Dasaru takes us on a tour of this. We have already seen that this tamboori is the one which gives the shruthi. Shruthi is nothing but the scriptures which contain the knowledge of God, His infinite attributes and His extreme compassion on the jiva gaNas. So one who understands that the Shruthi is the boat of knowledge which can take one accross this sea of samsaara is already on his/her way towards the eternal goal of all mukthi yogya souls. Dasaru is indicating and hinting what Srimad Acharya told in his Vishnu Tatva nirnaya's mangalacharana sloka' sadAgamaikavijNeyam samtItAksharAksharam nArayanaN sadA vaMde nirdOshAshesha sadguNam "One who can be known only from sadAgamas -Vedas, Brahma Sutras, the Puranas and the ItihAsas. One who is above Mahalakshmi the one with an imperishable body and the all others who have perishable bodies. To That NarAyana I salute, He is the one worth saluting as He has no defects and is completely full of auspicious attributes." So the green flag to commence the study is shown by Dasaru. He says ,'Just commence and you shall reach the abode." We also recollect the sloka from the BG6.40 in which Krishna reassures us that even a small step taken in this direction is not wasted."na hi kalyANakrit kaschitdurgatim tAtagachchati" The next is tAla.Just as tAla describes the boundary of the time for which each note should be held thereby making the music sweet and appealing to the heart or racous and displeasing.So also the shruthi has to be studied keeping in tune with the true Guru. One cannot cross the border of the teachings of the Guru for it that happens then all is lost. The discipline of being able to understand the shruthi according to the Guru's interpretation ensures that the result is the sweet nectar of the Lord's experience in one's own

heart. In music, if the beat is maintained then a rythm arises which makes one sway to it. It could take one off one's feet in bliss and one begins to dance. Dance is an expression of joy felt in the heart while experiencing music. Music which is not experienced in the heart but just listened to with the ears does not awaken any such feelings. Most of us may not have begun to dance upon hearing the music we enjoy but we do have the expereince of unconsious tapping of the feet or clapping the hands which are also expressions of bliss which comes with total immesion in the song and its purport. So also if one's study of the scriptures is done properly with the guidance of the correct guru by becoming the guru's slave then every input that the senses receive go inside and are associated with the exquisite attributes of the Lord. As a result the devotees becomes mesmerised by the Lord's presence and begins to dance to express himself. Every output that comes from such a person is a jewel of devotion. It may be a word but it becomes a sloka, it may be a sentence , it becomes a song . Dasaru continues to say that such a person who is singing with so much of devotion to the Lord is sure to please the Lord and the Lord by His immense Grace bestows His vision to such a devotee. Finally after that the devotees moves

into the class of aparOXa jNAnis and shruthis have proclaimed that the only way to go to vaikuMTa is by the vision of the Lord and no other. So we move step by step to see how the Shruthis can take us upwards to our goal. Fifth level: Even deeper we come to the main import. A Tamboori is an instrument which has to be played by the master musician . The tamboori is our self and the master musician is the Lord who plays through MukyaprAna devuru who has crossed samsaara. The sentence(tamboori meeTidava bhavAbdi dATidava) in this context is not a mere affirmation or confidence booster asking the layman to begin sadhana but

here it proclaims the Lord's overlordship on all the tambooris(souls) as well as proclaiming that the Lord is the One who was never tied down in bondage but is always above it and He plays the world activities through PrAna devuru. If we realise and expereince that our soul/existence is in the complete control of the All powerful Lord and submit to His will always then we have become the instrument in the hands of the Lord our soul begins to sing the glory of the Lord just as the Tamboori gives off music when strung. In the Bhagavad Gita 11.33 Krishna instructs Arjuna "nimmita mAtram bhava savya sAchin.." Lord Krishna says ," Be simply a figure-head (a nominal instrument) O abidextrous warrior." Lord Krishna says in BG 18.61 to 18.63 "O Arjuna the Lord is seated in the hearts of all embodied beings , engaging them at will in different deeds spinning them around like a machine/instrument. " Understanding that and accepting it gracefully always aware that His benevolence and compassion is equal to becoming the instrument. "tAlava taTTidava surarolu sEridava" .The one who does the work through the inspiration of the Lord is "MukyaprAna devuru" is one of the suRas means the higher end souls who serve the Lord directly. He mukyaprAna tramples on the preachers of wrong knowledge(kaLaredeya meTTidava) and shows the correct path to the devotee by watching over the devotees every step. At this stage if a devotee sings His glory then the Lord comes in person and gives His darshan by His extreme grAce on such a devotee and one who see the Lord is one who goes to VaikuMTA. Sri KrishnArpanNamastu I am not the doer,

Lord Hari is the doer Whatever He makes me do is His worship by His Grace R.Parimala

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