ThiruadhyayanOthsavam : Part III

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Ranganaatha BhakthAs :

In this posting , adiyEn will conclude the description

of the rest of the audio casette paying tribute to

ArchAvathArams in general and Sri RanganAthA in particular

prepared especially for the 1999 Thiru AdhyayanOthsavam .

 

** The fifteenth paasuram is a salutation to " Godhai

PiRanthavUr , Govindhan VaazhumUr " , SrivilliputthUr .

Azhagiya MaNavALa Daasar ( PiLLai PerumAl Iyengar)points out

that Godhai's glories are sought after for celebration

( kuRitthu oruvar koNDAdum--Godhai). This paasuram is

set in Raagam YamunA KalyANi to celebrate the KalyANOthsavam

between Godhai and RangamannAr as visualized

in the VaaraNam Aayiram paasurams of Godhai .

 

** The sixteenth paasuram of Iyengar is about the northern

dhivya dEsam of ThirukkaNDamkudi or Deva PrayAg on the banks

of Gangai . The Lord here is PurushOtthaman saluted by

PeriyAzhwAr (nalam thihazh-- and Moonrezhutthu athanai

Paasurams) . The Goddess is PuNdarikavalli and the vimaanam

is Mangala VimAnam . This paasuram is set in the most enchanting

Raagam of Revathi and starts with the words : MatthAl Kadal

Kadainthu VaanOrkku amuthu aLittha AtthA -- " .We must

remember that the PurushOtthaman at Srirangam

has Revathi a sHis janma Nakshathram .

 

** In the seventeenth paasuram of Ashta Prabhandham ,

Azhagiya MaNavALa Daasar salutes the 4000 dhivya

prabhandhams and his own AchAryan , ParAsara Bhattar.

This paasuram is set in BrindhAvana SaarangA .The salute

is also to Rangapura VihAran .

 

** The next four compositions selected by the artist

are from Swami Desikan's SthOthra granthams :Sri Sthuthi

(16th slOkam ), GodhA sthuthi ( fourth slOkam ),

passages from Sri Raghuveera Gadhyam in majestic Aarabhi and

the fourth slOkam of Sri Goplaa Vimsathi describing the Lord's

NavanItha Naatyam at Nandha Bhavanam in raagam NaadhanAmakriyA.

 

** The remaining selections are from Desika Prabhandham

dealing with Koil (Srirangam ), PerumAL ( VaradarAjan )

and VeRpu ( Thirumalai ). This section starts with a spirited

prayer to Lord HayagrIvA ( Visuddha Vij~na Ghana svarUpam )

in Raagam Naattai before the salutations to Sri RanganAtha,

Sri VaradarAjA and Sri VenkatEsan . Next comes the last song of

AdhikAra sangraham ( VeLLai Parimukar DesikarAi--) in Raagam

Naattai .AdhikAra sangraham deals with the 32 chapters of

Sri Rahasya thraya Saaram .The other raagams chosen for

the paasurams of AdhikAra Sangraham are in the remaining

Ghana Raagams :GowLai, Aaarabhi , VarALi and Sri.

The paasurams chosen for these Ghana Raagams are :

 

VeLlai Parimukar --Salutation to his AarAdhana Moorthy ,HayagrIvan

KaaLam Valampuri-- priase of Sri (RanganAtha) Naatha Muni

Yennyuir tanthu--Acharya Paramparai anusanthAnam from

Sri RaamAnujar up to Sriman NaarAyaNA

 

** Next , the scene shifts to the brilliant paasuram

of Swami Desikan in AdhikAra sangraham offering

tribute to the wonderful feet of Periya PerumAL ,which

performed so many miracles during KrishNAvathAram.

The sixteen individual lines of this Paasuram are

split into four Quarters and are sung in four raagAs:

Kaapi, BehAg , Sindhu Bhairavi and HamsAnandhi .The ThALam

is kaNDa chApu and the genius of Swami Desikan in handling

Chantha Nadai is demonstrated brilliantly .AdiyEn will

write more about this Paasuram on a future occasion , as

needed .

 

** The next Desika Prabhandha Paasuram chosen is from

Amrutha SvAdhini ,which is a summary of 11 Rahasyams

from Saara Saaram to Madhura Kavi Hrudhayam in 37 verses.

The chosen Paasuram is the famous one , where Swami Desikan

performs SaraNAgathi at the lotus feet of Lord RanganAthA with

all the five angAs ( KaarpaNyam/first line, PrAthikUlya Varjanam/

second line, AanUkoolya Sankalpam/3rd line , Mahaa VisvAsam/

4th line , and Gopthruva VaraNam/ fifth and the sixth lines

of the Paasuram). Aathma samarpaNam follows in the 7th and

the 8th lines of this 8-lined paasuram . The Raagam chosen is

the tranquil KaanadA to reflect the relief of a Prapannan

after Prapatthi.The mood of Bhara saamarpaNam and Aathma

NivEdhanam is beautifully brought out by the artist and team.

 

** The very last Paasuram from Desika Prabhandham is

another YeNN SeerAsiriya Viruttham ( 8-lined verse)

from AdhikAra sangraham dealing with the SthAna

VisEshAdhikAram (the 19th Chapter of Srimath Rahasya

Thraya Saaram ) : AarAtha AruL amudham Pothintha Koil..

This beautiful paasuram eulogizing the glories of

Sriranga KshEthram is sung in heroic SimmEndhramadhyamam.

This Paasuram is a tribute to the Uthsavar , KasthUri Rangan ,

who is recognized as Sri Raamachandran at Srirangam .

 

With this Paasuram , the tape comes to the conclusion .

The taping was done by the group itself on the Academy dais

without professional help . The choice of Paasurams and

the tuning in appropriate RaagAs and ThALams to echo

the mood of the paasurams and slOkams of Swami Desikan

are simply brilliant .

 

The very last sound that one hears in this tape is

the joyous peelings of the GhantA of Thirumalai to

symbolize the GhaNtAvataaran, Sri VedAntha Desikan .

 

SrimathE RanganAyaki SamEtha Sri RangarAjAya NamO nama:

Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan

[Guest guest]

Sri:

 

SrimatE Gopaladesika MahadesikAya Namaha,

 

Dear Sri Sadagopan Swamin,

 

Thank you very much for your superb series of postings on

AdhyayanOtsavam.

The references to Sri Ramanujacharya's SharaNagati Gadyam (Panguni

Uttaram

Serthi Sevai) and several works of Swami Desikan highlighting the

concept

of Prapatti to His Lotus feet make for delightful reading. Tirumangai

Azhwar cries out " VenkatamE VenkatamE " . Kulashekara Azhwar bursts out

in tears

at the Venkatachalam Hills and declares " EdEnum AvEnE " and " PadiyAy

Kidandu

Un PavazhavAy KAnbEnE " . Swami Nammazhwar performed Sharanagati at the

feet

of Lord Srinivasa. Swami Desikan aptly declares in the Daya Shatakam

" Nastvayi

BharanayasanAt adhikam " . Thanks for echoing all this in your notes.

 

Namo Narayana,

 

SriMuralidhara Dasan