Sri Tyagaraja Kriti Series: Kriti: bhakti biccam Raga:SankarAbharaNaM

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SrI:

SrI raghunandana parabraHmaNe namaH

Kriti: bhakti biccam

Ragam: SankarAbharaNaM

In the kRti – ‘bhakti biccamiyyavE’ – rAga SankarAbharaNaM, SrI tyAgarAja asks Lord to grant him alms of (desireless) true devotion.

Pallavi

bhakti biccam(i)yyavE bhAvukamagu sAtvIka

Anupallavi

muktik(a)khila Saktiki trimUrtulak(a)ti mElmi rAma (bha)

Charanam

prANamu lEni vAniki bangAru pAga

cuTTi ANi vajra bhUSaNam(u)ram(a)ndu

peTTu rIti jANaluku purAN(A)gama sAstra

vEda japa prasanga trANa kalgi(y)Emi bhakta

tyAgarAja nuta rAma (bha)

Gist

O Lord rAma praised by this devout tyAgarAja! Deign to grant me alms of pure or desireless devotion which is a fortune. It (bhakti) is much superior to emancipation, all kinds of powers and even the Trinity.

In the same manner as tying a golden turban to a corpse – one who has no life-breath – and decorating it on the chest with exquisite diamond ornaments, of what avail if the capability of chanting (or reciting) and discoursing of/on epics, Agama, sciences and vEda accrue to clever persons?

Word-by-word Meaning:

P Deign to grant (iyyavE) me alms (biccamu) (biccamiyyavE) of pure or desireless (sAtvIka) devotion (bhakti) which is a fortune (bhAvukamagu).

A O Lord rAma! It (bhakti) is much (ati) superior (mElmi) to emancipation (muktiki), all kinds (akhila) (muktikakhila) of powers (zaktiki) and even the Trinity (tri-mUrtulaku) (mUrtulakati); therefore, deign to grant me alms of pure or desireless devotion which is a fortune.

C In the same manner (rIti) as tying (cuTTi) a golden (bangAru) turban (pAga) to a corpse – one (vAniki) who has no (lEni) life-breath (prANamu) – and decorating (peTTu) (literally place) it on (andu) the chest (uramu) with exquisite (ANi) diamond (vajra) ornaments (bhUSaNamu) (bhUSanamuramandu), of what avail (Emi) if the capability (trANa) (literally might) of chanting (or reciting) (japa) and discoursing (prasanga) of/on epics (purANa), Agama (purANAgama), sciences (SAstra) and vEda accrue (kalgi) (kalgiyEmi) to clever persons (jANaluku)?

O Lord rAma praised (nuta) by this devout (bhakta) tyAgarAja! Deign to grant me alms of pure or desireless devotion which is a fortune.

Notes –

P – biccamiyyavE – this is how it is given in the book of TKG; in the book of CR, this is given as ‘biccamIyyavE’; in the book of TSV/AKG, this is given as ‘bikSamIyavE’. ‘biccamu’ is an appropriate telugu version for Sanskrit word ‘bhikSa’. ‘iyyavE’ is the appropriate version. Therefore, ‘biccamiyyavE’ has been adopted. Any suggestions ???

P – sAtvIka – this is how it is given in all the books. This is the telugu version of Sanskrit word which is spelt as ‘sAttvIka’.

P – sAtvIka bhakti – In the nArada bhakti sUtras, two types of bhakti are defined – ‘mukhya bhakti’ – Supreme or Primary Love and ‘gauNa bhakti’ – Secondary Love. The following verse is relevant –

gauNi tridhA guNa bhEdAd-ArtAdi bhEdAd-vA || 56 ||

“Secondary devotion is of three kinds, according to the qualities of the mind of person in whom it manifests itself; either it may be classified as sAttvika, rAjasika, and tAmasika; or it may be divided as Arta, jijnAsu and arthArtin as per statement in SrImad-bhagavad-gItA, Chapter 7.16â€

“....As this differentiation is based on the qualities of mind (sattva etc).....these three expressions of bhakti (sattva, rajas, tamas) are called gauNa bhakti as distinguished from mukhya bhakti which is devotion bereft of all taint.....The second classication is based on the differences in the motives (Arta etc). (Translation and notes by Swami Tyagisananda) (brackets mine)

SrI tyAgarAja states that ‘sAtvIka bhakti’ is superior (mElmi) to even emancipation ‘mukti’ which is the ultimate human realisation. When a devotee does not even seek emancipation, then it is mukhya bhakti and not gauNa bhakti. Therefore, neither of classifications stated above (based on qualities of mind – sattva etc and motives – Arta etc) would apply. This is explained in the following verse of nArada bhakti sUtras –

bhaktA EkAntinO mukhyA: || 67 ||

“Those are primary devotees who have one pointed love of God for His own sake.†(Translation by Swami Tyagisananda)

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in his ‘bhakti rasAmRta sindhu bindu’, verse 14 states that there are two types of bhAvAs – ‘sAttvika bhAvas that arise when the heart is overwhelmed by mukhya-rati from direct contact with SrI kRSNa’ and ‘sAttvika-bhAvas that arise when the heart is overwhelmed by gauNa-rati that are induced by a circumstance in which KRSNa is somewhat apart’. Accordingly, the sAttvika bhAva encompasses both mukhya and gauNa ratis.

This book (PDF) can be downloaded free from site –

http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/downloads/Sri_Bhakti_rasamrta_sindhu_bindu_pdf__36089_p/free.htm

A – muktiki mElmi (greater than mukti) – In this regard, please refer to tirumAlai of vaiSNava saint toNDaraDippoDi AzhvAr in praise of Lord of SrI rangaM –

paccai mAmalai pOl mEni pavaLavAy kamalac cengaNaccutA! amarar ERE! Ayar tam kozhundE! ennum,iccuvai tavira yAnpOy indira lOgam ALum,accuvai peRinum vENDEn arangamA nagar uLAnE! (2)

“Green great mountain-like body; coral mouth; lotus eyes; O Lord acyutA – the lion of celestials – the tender one of the cow-herds; other than the relish of uttering these words, even if I happen to attain the great joy of ruling the World of celestials, I do not desire it, O Lord abiding in the holy SrI rangam.â€

Please visit the sites – http://www.srivaishnavam.com/texts/tmalai_roman.htm The PDF version in Tamil may be downloaded from site –

http://www.prapatti.com/slokas/tamil/naalaayiram/tondaradippodiyaazvaar/tir umaalai.pdf#search='Tirumaalai

The following quote from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna clarifies how bhakti is greater than mukti –

“Hanuman kept the ‘servant ego’ after realizing God in both His Personal and His Impersonal aspects. He thought of himself as the servant of God. The great sages, such as nArada, sanaka, sananda, sanAtana, and sanatkumAra, after attaining the Knowledge of Brahman, kept the ‘servant ego’ and the ‘ego of Devotion’. They are like big steamships, which not only cross the ocean themselves but carry many passengers to the other shore.†(pp 500)

The is further certified by nArada bhakti sUtras –

sa tarati sa tarati, sa lOkAMstArayati || 50 ||

“He crosses indeed, he crosses this mAyA and carries also the world across it.†(Translation by Swami Tyagisananda)

P – bhakti biccamiyyavE – Give me alms of bhakti. While bhakti is the means to attain Lord, even that bhakti can spring only if there is grace of Lord. What a catch 22 situation! Which comes first – bhakti or grace? In my humble opinion, upto gauNa bhakti it is the man’s effort and the mukhya bhakti is the Lord’s grace. Though SrI tyAgarAja has placed the ‘sAtvIka’ at the end of the pallavi, that is the operative word of the whole kRti.

A – akhila Sakti – SrI tyAgarAja seems to refer to aNimAdi eight-fold siddhi.

C – pAga – this is how it is given in all the books other than that of TKG, wherein it is given as ‘bAga’. In view of the ensuing word ‘cutti’, it is clear that this refers to a ‘turban’ (pAga). However, as per dictionary, the correct word is ‘pAgA’. As elongation at the end might involve in change in metre, this needs to be checked. Any suggestions ???

C – jANaluku – According to SrI tyAgarAja, it is only through devotion that one can attain true insight into the purANas etc; any talk on these subjects by such persons (who are imbued with devotion) will carry weight. Otherwise, it is clever, but life-less talk.

C – rAma -In all the books other than that of TKG, this word is given at the end of the caraNa. This needs to be checked. Any suggestions ???

 

Additional Comments by Sri V. Sadagopan:

 

This kriti has two messages: One is at a philosophical level, where ThyAgarja SwamigaL identifies Lord Raama Chandra as Para dEvatai and seeks the Bikshai (alms) of Parama Saatveeka Bhakti. The other message is addressed towards deceitful BhAgavathAs, who are self-satisfied with bare learning (VaRattu padippu) and go after the trifles of siddhi and mislead people through their deceptive ways to gain their attention. SwamigaL is disgusted with these pOli bhAgavathAs and compares them to pitiable objects of decoration just like a corpse dressed in Jarigai turban and decorated with precious jewellery.

Saint ThyAgarAja is a Parama VaishNavar, who sought Moksham from Lord Raamachandran in his role as a Mumukshu. BhagavAn leads a jeevan desiring Moksham (Mumukshu) thru three stages (Bhagavad anubhava upavarNanam):

(1) Para Bhakti (2) Para Jn~Anam and (3) Parama Bhakti and then only accepts the surrender of the Jeevan at His sacred feet. During the ultimate stage of Parama Bhakti, the Jeevan becomes a liberated one (Mukta Jeevan) and qualifies for ecstatic and blemishless loving kaimkaryam to the Lord at SrI VaikunTham. In his Naaradha Bhakti Sutrams, Sage Naaradhar prays for his bhakti to grow through different stages to Parama Bhakti. Sage NaaradhA was the Guru for Saint ThyAgarAja and the Sishyar followed the path prescribed by his Guru to become a Parama VaishNava. This attainment of Parama Bhakti for Lord is revealed in the Saahitya Vaakyams of ThyAgarAja swamy, which emphasize SaguNa BrahmOpAsanam, Mahaa ViSvAsam and ananya bhakti. The way in which the evolving Bhakti of Saint went thru different stages like the application of a dye to a white cloth in different steps leading all the way to Parama Bhakti and SaraNAgathi has been described at length in the following two postings with ample quotations from relevant kritis:

(1) http://www.Ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/dec98/0089.html Bhakti and Prapatti: Part IV

(2) http://www.Ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/dec98/0092.html Bhakti and Prapatti: Part V

The references to the evolution of Para Bhakti blossoming into Para Jn~Anam and finally into Parama Bhakti is illustrated in the case of the Mudhal AzhwArs (Poygai, BhUtam and pEy AzhwArs). In the first centum (Mudhal NooRRandhAti), Poygai described manana paryanta Jn~Anam; BhUtam talked next in his second centum about Bhakti distilled out of Jn~Anam (Jn~Ana ParibhAga Bhakti, which is equal to darsana samaanAkAramaana DhyAnam/ nidhidhyAsanam); pEy AzhwAr in his third centum revealed the status of Parama Bhakti, which is complete visualization of the dhivya dampatis (ParipoorNa SaakshAtkAram).

Saint ThyagarAja asks for the boon of Parama Bhakti in this kriti set in SankarAbaharaNa Raagam known for its Saanta rasam.

Raama DhAsan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

 

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