Sri Tyagaraja Kriti Series: Kriti:bhaja rAmaM Raga:husEni

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SrI:

SrI raghunandana parabraHmaNe namaH

 

Song bhaja rAmaM

raaga husEni

In the kRti ‘bhaja rAmaM satataM’ – rAga husEni, srI tyAgarAja sings praises of the Lord.

 

Pallavi:

bhaja rAmaM satataM mAnasa

CaraNam 1:

amita subh(A)karaM pApa

timira vibhA karaM (bhaja)

CaraNam 2:

sata mukha nuta gItaM sakal-

(A)srita pArijAtaM (bhaja)

CaraNam 3:

pAlita lOka gaNaM parama

kapAli vinuta suguNaM (bhaja)

CaraNam 4:

sarOja vara nAbhaM yama

pur(A)rAti lAbhaM (bhaja)

CaraNam 5:

var(A)nanda kandaM nata

sur(A)di muni bRndaM (bhaja)

CaraNam 6:

kamanIya sarIraM dhIraM

mama jIv(A)dhAraM (bhaja)

CaraNam 7:

kara dhRta sara cApaM rAmaM

bharita guNa kalApaM (bhaja)

CaraNam 8:

bhava jala nidhi pOtaM sArasa

bhava mukha nija tAtaM (bhaja)

CaraNam 9:

vAt(A)tmaja sulabhaM vara

sItA vallabhaM (bhaja)

CaraNam 10:

rAja ravi nEtraM

tyAgarAja vara mitraM (bhaja)

 

Gist

O My Mind! Chant the names of Lord rAma always.

O My Mind! Chant always the names of Lord srI rAma -

(1) one who causes limitless auspiciousness;

(2) the Sun who quells darkness called sins;

(3) the one sung about by Lord siva – praised by rAvaNa;

(4) the celstial wish tree pArijAta for all those who sought refuge;

(5) the protector of the people of the World;

(6) the virtuous One praised by the Great Lord siva – who wears skulls (also beggar’s bowl);

(7) the one with the sacred Lotus navel;

(8) the Lord of Death (in the form of point of arrow of bow pAsupata) shot by Lord siva – the enemy of the demons of three cities;

(9) the root of the Supreme Bliss;

(10) the one saluted by celestials, others and the multitude of ascetics;

(11) the One with a lovable body;

(12) the valiant One;

(13) the prop of my life;

(14) the wielder of bow and arrow;

(15) the delighter of mind;

(16) a bundle full of virtues;

(17) the ship who (which) enables crossing the Ocean of Worldly Existence;

(18) the true Father of the chief brahmA;

(19) one who is easily accessible to AnjanEya – the mind-born son of vAyu;

(20) the Consort of the blessed sItA;

(21) one who has moon and Sun as His eyes; and

(22) the blessed friend of this tyAgarAja.

 

Word-by-word Meaning

P O My Mind (mAnasa)! Chant (bhaja) the names of Lord rAma (rAmaM) always (satataM).

 

C 1: O My Mind! Chant always the names of Lord srI rAma - one who causes (karaM) limitless (amita) auspiciousness (subhA) and the Sun – the illuminator (vibhA karaM) – who quells darkness (timira) called sins (pApa).

C 2: O My Mind! Chant always the names of Lord srI rAma -the one sung about (gItaM) by Lord siva – praised (nuta) by rAvaNa – the hundred (sata) headed or openings (mukha) and the celestial wish tree pArijAta (pArijAtaM) for all (sakala) those who have sought refuge (Asrita) (sakalAsrita).

C 3: O My Mind! Chant always the names of Lord srI rAma - the protector (pAlita) of the people (gaNaM) of the World (lOka) and the virtuous One (suguNaM) praised (vinuta) by the Great (parama) Lord siva – who wears skulls (kapAli) (also beggar’s bowl).

C 4: O My Mind! Chant always the names of Lord srI rAma - the one with the sacred (vara) Lotus (sarOja) navel (nAbhaM), and the Lord of Death (yama) (in the form of point of arrow of bow pAsupata) shot (lAbhaM) (literally thrown) by Lord siva – the enemy (arAti) of the demons of three cities (pura) (purArAti).

C 5: O My Mind! Chant always the names of Lord srI rAma – the root (kandaM) of the Supreme (vara) Bliss (Ananda) (varAnanda) and the one saluted (nata) by celestials (sura) and others (Adi) (surAdi) and the multitude (bRndaM) of ascetics (muni).

C 6: O My Mind! Chant always the names of Lord srI rAma – the One with a lovable (kamanIya) body (sarIraM), the valiant One (dhIraM) and the prop (AdhAraM) of my (mama) life (jIva) (jIvAdhAraM).

C 7: O My Mind! Chant always the names of Lord srI rAma - the wielder (dhRta) of bow (cApaM) and arrow (sara), the delighter of mind (rAmaM) and a bundle (kalApaM) full (bharita) of virtues (guNa).

C 8: O My Mind! Chant always the names of Lord srI rAma - the ship (pOtaM) who (which) enables crossing the Ocean (jala nidhi) of Worldly Existence (bhava) and the true (nija) Father (tAtaM) of the chief (mukha) brahmA – born (bhava) in the Lotus (sArasa) (of navel of the Supreme Lord).

C 9: O My Mind! Chant always the names of Lord srI rAma – one who is easily accessible (sulabhaM) to AnjanEya – the mind-born (Atmaja) son of vAyu (vAta) (vAtAtmaja) and the Consort (vallabhaM) of the blessed (vara) sItA.

C10:O My Mind! Chant always the names of Lord srI rAma – one who has moon (rAja) and Sun (ravi) as His eyes (nEtaM) and the blessed (vara) friend (mitraM) of this tyAgarAja.

 

Notes –

P – bhaja rAmaM sataM mAansa – In the books of ATK and TSV/AKG, this is given once. However, this is given twice in the book of TKG. This needs to be checked. Any suggestions ???

General – in the book of TKG, the word ‘mAnasa’ is given at the end of each caraNa. However, in the book of ATK and TSV/AKG, the word ‘mAnasa’ is not found.

C1 – subhAkaraM – According to Monier’s Dictionary, ‘subha’ and ‘subhA’ mean same. Therefore, it has been translated as ‘subhA+karaM’ - meaning ‘one who causes auspiciousness’. This is fine. V.S

C2 – satamukha – This word has been used srI tyAgarAja in the kRti ‘dEhi tava pada bhaktiM’ addressed to Mother sItA. He says ‘sata mukha mada damanE’ which can be translated as ‘rAvaNa’ only. Hence, here also it has been taken as rAvaNa. Any suggestions ??? This is strange since RaavaNa had ten (daSa) heads and not hundred (Sata). DaSa Mukhan would fit better .. V.S

C4 – yama purArAti lAbhaM – During tripura samhAra, viSNu becomes the point of the arrow of the bow (pAsupata) which killed the three demons. Therefore, srI tyAgarAja describes Lord rAma (viSNu) as yama of the bow of Lord siva. Please refer to mahAbhArata – karNa parva – Sections 34–Please visit site –

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/m08/m08034.htm

C4 – lAbha – this word has many meanings – ‘gain’, ‘acquisition’, ‘attain’, ‘perception’, ‘knowledge’, ‘throw’ etc. Of these, ‘throw’ seems to be most appropriate – here the word ‘throw’ has been adapted as ‘shot’.

 

Additional Comments By SrI V Sadagopan swami:

This kriti belongs to the list of dhivya Naamaa kritis sung extempore during the rounds of Unchavrutti or during EkAdaSi Bahjanaas at home in front of his ArAdhana Moorthy . This is a Maanas upadEsa (instructions to his mind) kriti focused on the Naama Vaibhavam of the Lord and asking/pleading with the mind to chant the Raama Naamams always for its redemption.

The Raagam chosen is Huseni, a Janya Raagam of Karahara Priyaa MeLam. ThyAgaraja SwamigaL has composed kritis in this raagam like Yemani vEguntunE, Raghuveera RaNa dheera raa raa raajakumAra, VinatA suta raa raa, Raama Raama Raama SitArAma PaapaharaNa and Raamaa nine namminAnu. Saint ThyagarAjA’s contemporaries like Swati ThirunALL (Kanakamaya: MaNipravALa Padham), Melattur Veerabhadrayya (Svarajati) have composed in Huseni Raagam. Huseni is very much used in padhams for Bharata Naatyam, where the vipralambha sringAram is enacted. Here heroine’s distress over separation from the Lord is experienced.

The ArOhaNa /AvarOhaNa kramam for Huseni is:

S R2 G2 M1 P N2 D2 N2 S

S N2 D1 P M1 G2 R2 S

This kriti (Bhaja Raamam) has no anupallavi but has 10 long charaNams filled with Raama Bhakti of SwamigaL. Lord Raamachandran is saluted as “amita Subhakaran†(one who confers limitless auspiciousness to His devotees), Kamaneeya Sareeran (one with the most beautiful ThirumEni/dhivya MangaLa Vigrahan), AaSrita Vaatsalyan and Bhakta Sulabhan. The divine NaamAs of Sri Raamabhadran flow like a dam whose sluices are opened. The longing for the Lord (autsukyam) is the sanchAri BhAvam behind these dhivya Naamaa kritis. Sadhguru SwamigaL would sing and lead the way during these bhajanais and Veedhi valams and his disciples following him would sing after him and memorize them for posterity.

Sadhguru SwamigaL’s conviction was that the utterance and japam of the tAraka namam of the Lord with austerity brings limitless prosperity here on earth and vouches us a place in Parama padham (KshEmamu dhivya dhAmamu nitya nEmamu Raama Naamamu –Vandhanamu Raghunandana: sahAnaa kriti Passage).

Saint ThyagarAja has used the name of Raamachandra as the flower (Naama Kusumams) for His Vaachika worship. He instructs us in another kriti of his about the sukhAnubhavam of meditating on the Subhakara Raaman and keertanam of His thousands of NaamAs: “Srikarudau SrI Raamuni manasuna cintinchu SukhAmbukAntE, -- BrahmAnubhava sukhAmbukantE --mElu mElu RaamanAmasukham yee dharalO manasAâ€.

Sadhguru SwamigaL deeply believed in “Naama ghOsha janita santOshamâ€. He knew very well in the Kali yugam, Naama sankeertanam alone is the means (upAyam) for receiving the Lord’s anugraham to lead one to practice Bhakti Yogam or Prapatti yOgam and there are no other paths (Naanya: panthA vidhyatE). The Nattai Ghana raga pancharatnam, JagadhAnandhakA is the most celebrated example of dhivya NaamArchanai for the Lord (http://www.sadagopan.org --.Link is on the left as “anajali thru Naama Kusumamsâ€).

Paraphrasing Sri Sankara’s bhAshyam passage on SrI VishNu Sahasra Naamam, one can see the inspiration behind SwamigaL’s Mahaa ViSvAsam in Lord RaamachandrA’s names to get release from all sins thru samkeertanam of the Lord’s name, whether one is walking, standing, eating or drinking or sleeping:

Gacchan-tishtan-svapan-vaapi piBhan bhunjan- namas-tathaa,

Raama RaamEti samkeerttya muchyatE pApakanchukAth

HarEr-nAmaiva nAmaiva mama jeevanam

Kalou nAstyEva nAstyEva nAstyEva gatiranyathA

In his MukhAri kriti, TalacinandanE, SwamigaL summarized the Vedic significance of the Lord’s name: “VedasAramau nAmadhEyamunuâ€. With this central doctrine in mind, Saint ThyagarAja sang these dhivya Naama kritis on the streets of ThiruvayyARu during His Unchivrutti bhajans and transported every one around him to the highest state of bliss.

Raama DhAsan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

 

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/bhajarAmam.doc

 

PDF:

http://www.ibiblio.org/sadagopan/tyagaraja_kritis_project/pdf/bhajarAmam.pdf

 

AUDIO

http://www.ibiblio.org/sadagopan/tyagaraja_kritis_project/audio/bhajaramamBMKChorus.mp3