tyAgarAja_kritis_ series - krti for today - krti13 - aa daya SrI raghuvara- raaga aahiri

[Guest guest]

SrI:Dear rAma bhaktaas:

 

 

The kriti for study today is SrI tyAgrAjA’s ‘A daya SrI raghuvara’ in raga Ahiri. This kriti is considered to have been composed after a traumatic incidence in his life after which he was restored to health completely by SrI Rama and SrI SitA devi, this song is a moving appeal by swAmi to SrI rAmA to have compassion for him.

 

The audio as rendered by the famous Alaththur brothers is provided as a link in the content below.

 

dAsan

 

Oppiliappan koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

 

 

 

 

SrI:SrI raghunandana parabraHmaNe namaH

 

krti 13

Song A daya SrI raghuvara

rAga Ahiri

In the krti ‘A daya SrI raghuvara’ – raga Ahiri, SrI tyAgarAja appeals Lord to have compassion for him.

 

Pallavi

A daya SrI raghuvara nED(E)la

rAd(a)ya O day(A)mbudhi nIku

 

Anupallavi

mOdamutO sad-bhakti marmamunu

bOdhana jEsi sadA brOcina nIk(A daya)

 

Charanam

ninnu tiTTi koTTi himsa beTTinad(a)nniyu nann(a)na lEdA

enna rAni nindala tALumani

mannincaga lEdA

annamu tAmbUlam(o)sagi dEhamu

minna sEya lEdA

kanna talli taNDri mEm(a)nucu

tyAgarAjuniki paravaSam(I) lEdA (A daya)

 

Gist

 

O Lord SrI raghuvara! O Ocean of Compassion! Why wouldn’t You have that compassion today? Why wouldn’t You, who always protected me kindly by teaching the secrets of true devotion, have that compassion today? Didn’t You say “all violence perpetrated on you by abuse and beatings , amounts to having been done to Me”? didn’t You commend me to forbear abuses, no matter what happens? didn’t You make my body shine by offering food and betel leaves? didn’t You bestow on this tyAgarAja exhilaration by asserting that “We are the parents who bore You”?

 

Word-by-word Meaning

 

P O Lord (aya) SrI raghuvara! O Ocean (ambudhi) of Compassion (daya) (dayAmbudhi)! Why (Ela) wouldn’t You (nIku) have (rAdu) (rAdaya) (literally come) that (A) compassion (daya) today (nEDu) (nEDEla)?

 

A O Lord SrI raghuvara! O Ocean of Compassion! Why wouldn’t You (nIku), who always (sadA) protected (brOcina) me kindly (mOdamutO) by teaching (bodhana jEsi) the secrets (marmamunu) of true devotion (sadbhakti), have that compassion today?

 

C Didn’t (lEdA) You say (ana) “all (anniyu) violence (himsa) perpetrated (beTTinadi) (beTTinadanniyu) on you by abusing (tiTTi) and beating (koTTi), amounts to having been done to Me (nannu) (nannana)”? didn’t (lEdA) You commend (mannincaga) me to (ani) forbear (tALumu) (tALumani) abuses (nindala), no matter what happens (enna rAni)? didn’t (lEdA) You make (sEya) my body (dEhamu) shine (minna) by offering (osagi) food (annamu) and betel leaves (tAmbUlamu) (tAmbUlamosagi)? didn’t (lEdA) You bestow (I) on this tyAgarAja (tyAgarAjuniki) exhilaration (paravaSamu) by asserting that (anucu) “We (mEmu) (mEmanucu) are the parents (talli taNDri) (literally mother and father) who bore (kanna) You”? O Lord SrI raghuvara! O Ocean of Compassion! Why wouldn’t You have that compassion for me today?

 

Notes –

 

P – rAdaya – though this has been split as ‘rAdu+aya’; however, the word ‘aya’ does not seem to be available. It is not known whether this is a colloquial usage to mean ‘Lord’ (ayya). Any suggestions ???

 

C – In the book of TSV/AKG, the caraNa is divided into two; beginning from ‘annamu tAmbUlamu’ has been treated as the second caraNa. All other books contain the whole as a single caraNa.

 

C – mannincaga – this word means ‘forgive’, ‘respect’, ‘honour’, ‘obey’, ‘accede’ etc. In the present context, there is some doubt about meaning of this word, particularly in view of the background of the song given below. Any suggestions ??? To forgive appears right --V.Sadagopan

 

C - paravaSamu – the state of trance and the resultant bliss experienced by yOgis.

 

Background of the Song

 

The great exponent of harikathA – SrI TS Balakrishna Sastrigal, in his discourse ‘tyAgarAja caritram’, states that this song was sung by SrI tyAgarAja after the incident wherein his elder brother beat him and consequently SrI tyAgarAja remained in coma for more than five days. During that period of coma, Lord SrI rAma, along with sItA appeared before him and spoke to his soul (sUkSma SarIra) on the lines as stated in the song ‘ninnu tiTTi koTTi hiMsa beTTinadanniyu nannu’ – ‘the violence – verbal and physical – perpetrated on you amounts to having been done to Me’. Subsequently, the Lord is said to have soothed SrI tyAgarAja’s body by touching the wound; after the incident SrI tyAgarAja woke up, as if from sleep, fully recovered. According to SrI Balakrishna Sastrigal, in this song, SrI tyAgarAja asks the Lord to pardon his brother for the offence.

 

Additional Comments by Sri V.Sadagopan:

 

This kriti in the gamaka Vaarika Rakti rAgam of Ahiri to be sung in the early morning portrays the pathos and compassion typical to this raga bhAvam. In this kriti, ThyAgarAja SwamigaL thanks the Lord in a spirit of Mahaa ViswAsam for all His mahOpakArams for protecting him against the ills of the world and the abuses he suffered at the hands of his elder brother, JalpEsan, who threw the AarAdhana Moorthys of his younger brother into the Cauvery waters and beat him up for not pulling his weight in earning money for the joint family. After that sad incident, Jalpesan went his own way and ThyAgarAja SwamigaL had to split from the joint family and set up his own kudumbam to have uninterrupted kaimkaryam to Lord Raamachandran.

 

Aahiri is considered a "Scholarly Raagam" since it can be rendered effectively only by a VidhvAn with proper lakshya Jn~Anam. The arOhaNam and the avarOhaNam are:

 

AarOhaNam: Sa ri Sa Ga ma pa dha ni Sa (S Ri S G3 M1 P D1 N2 S)

AvarOhaNam:Sa ni dha pa ma ga ri Sa (S N2 D1 P M1 G3 R1 S)

 

The svarams are Shadjam, Suddha Rishabham, SaadhAraNa GhAndhAram, Sudha Madhyamam, Panchamam, Suddha Dhiavatam and Kasisiki NishAdham. Antara GhAndharam and Kaakali nishAdham appear in several places in the kritis for this Raagam to be handled with care as a BhAshAnga "Scholarly" raagam. It is typically considered a janya rAgam of Hanuma ThOdi (8th MeLam), it has also been linked to other MeLams like VakuLAbharaNam (14th), Soorya Kaantam (17th) and NaDa Bhairavi (20th).

 

ThyAgarAja SwamigaL has composed three Kritis in Ahiri Raagam and Sri Mutthuswami Dheekshitar and ShyAmA SaastrigaL have also composed beautiful krithis in Ahiri rAgam.

 

ThyAgarAja SwamigaL's other Ahiri kritis besides today's are: (1) ChallarE Raamachandruni poola (archana kriti for showering flowers on Lord Raamachandra) (2) PoolapAnpumeedha poorNa PavvaLimchu (for the Lord's sayanOtsavam at night) and (3) yetula gApADuduvO (self depreciation and naicchAnusandhAnam ), where the Saint requests Lord Raamabhdran to explain how He is going to protect him from the snares of SamsAric ills. The range of sanchAri bhAvams in these kritis of Sri ThyAgarAja SwamigaL demonstrates his extraordinary skills in benefiting from Sage NaradhA's blessings to him thru the gift of SvarArNavam as lakshaNa grantam to follow.

 

rAma dAsan

Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan

 

AUDIO:http://www.ibiblio.org/sadagopan/tyagaraja_kritis_project/audio/13ADayaSriRaghuvira.mp3 NOTE: Those who prefer to have a PDF or WORD document copy of this write-up can download either of the format from the following links:

 

WORD doc: http://www.ibiblio.org/sadagopan/tyagaraja_kritis_project/word_docs/kriti13_adayasriraghuvira.doc

PDF: http://www.ibiblio.org/sadagopan/tyagaraja_kritis_project/pdf/kriti13_adayasriraghuvira.pdf