{"id":1164,"date":"2020-02-06T17:03:04","date_gmt":"2020-02-06T17:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/?p=1164"},"modified":"2020-02-06T17:03:08","modified_gmt":"2020-02-06T17:03:08","slug":"tyagarajas-ram-bhakti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/2020\/02\/06\/tyagarajas-ram-bhakti\/","title":{"rendered":"Tyagaraja\u2019s Ram bhakti"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Every year in the month of January on the auspicious day of attainment of samadhi<\/em>, Pushya Bahula Panchami<\/em>, the stalwarts of Carnatic music assemble at Thiruvaiyaru village in Tamil Nadu on the banks of the Cauvery to pay homage to one of the greatest composers of Carnatic music- Sri Tyagaraja.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year marks the 250 th birth anniversary of the composer-saint who is famously considered as a part of the classical trinity of Carnatic music, along with Muthuswami Dikshitar and Shyama Shastri. Tyagaraja was not only a great composer but also an exemplary devotee of Lord Rama. Rama was his ishtadevata<\/em> (personal deity) and most of Tyagaraja\u2019s compositions are dedicated to him. Indeed, it was Ram bhakti<\/em> that inspired Tyagaraja\u2019s sangeet<\/em>. According to one school of thought, bhakti<\/em> or absolute devotion to Sri Rama was the fountainhead of Tyagaraja\u2019s music and hence analysing his songs for technical merit may not be appropriate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What set Sri Tyagaraja apart as a composer was his undying devotion for Lord Rama. It is almost as if Lord Ram had sent Tyagaraja on this earth to sing his praises, as the glory of the Lord has been immortalised in Tyagaraja\u2019s kritis. Take for instance, his pancharatna kriti: Jagadaananda Kaarakaa <\/em>\u2013 where the saint extols the virtues of Lord Rama and exclaims in a striking charanam<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Puraana Purusha – Nru Varaathmajaa – Asritha Paraadheenakara<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viraadha Raavana Viraavana – Anagha Paraashara Manohara -Vikrutha Thiagaraaja Sannutha<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can be translated below as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ageless (\u201cpuraana\u201d) God (\u201cpurusha\u201d)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The son (\u201cjaa\u201d) of king (\u201cnru\u201d) Dasaratha (\u201cvaraathma\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The helper and protector (\u201cparaadheenakara\u201d) of the followers (\u201casritha\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slayer (\u201cviraavana\u201d) of Kara, Viratha, and Ravana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You delight (\u201cmanohara\u201d) the sinless (\u201canagha\u201d) Parashara muni.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Praised (\u201csannutha\u201d) by the imperfect (\u201cvikrutha\u201d) mortal Tyagaraja.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pathos associated with a devotee\u2019s longing for the divine is brilliantly evoked in Tyagaraja\u2019s Nagumomu ganaleni na jali telisi nanu brovaga rada<\/em> (I am not able to see your smiling face because I have become old, my eyes, I am unable to see. Why don\u2019t you come near me?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tyagaraja also celebrates the wedding of Lord Rama and Sita in the dainty kriti, \u2018Sita Kalyana Vaibhogame.\u2019 In fact, the epic, Ramayana served as inspiration for many of Tyagraja\u2019s kritis as renowned Carnatic Vocalist, N Vijaya Shiva points out that in content, emotion and raga choice, many of the bard\u2019s kritis can be traced to the Sundara Kandam of Valmiki\u2019s Ramyana 2 .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Ultimate Devotee of Lord Rama<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tyagaraja\u2019s prime disciple, Walajahpet Venkataramana Bhagavatar who documented his biography in palm leaves wrote of the saint:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Bhakti vishaye Prahlada eva swayam\u2019 \u2014 Prahlada exemplifies unflinching devotion to Lord Vishnu and so does Tyagaraja Swami. Legend has it that when Swami obtained Rama darshana, the Lord blessed him with boons of his choice. Swami said, \u2018Bhakti bikshameeyave\u2019 in Sankarabharanam which means, \u201cLord, if at all you want to give me something, grant me unadulterated devotion.\u201d Another instance is of the song Varalandu (in the Gurjari<\/em> raaga) in which he declares, \u201cNo other boon can satisfy me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Vishaka Hari points out, \u201chis kritis are replete with navarasa and serenity (sowkhya)\u201d 3 . All these put him on a par with Valmiki and one can truly consider him a Bhakta par excellence as his disciple concludes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYo Ramamritapana Nirjitha Sivaha Tham Tyagarajam Bhaje\u201d \u2014 I bow to that Tyagaraja Swami, who surpasses even Lord Siva in his incessant chanting of Rama’s name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author: Madhav Nayar<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article serves as a tribute to Sri Tyagaraja\u2019s undying devotion to Lord Rama, which was
\nthe foundation for his immense contribution to Carnatic music, to mark the composer-saint\u2019s
\n250 th birth anniversary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"quote","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3],"tags":[549,551,560,533,555,557,548,554,547,324,552,546,553,556,559,558,550],"class_list":["post-1164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-quote","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-history","tag-bhakti","tag-carnatic-music","tag-devotee","tag-devotion","tag-holy-trinity","tag-indian-classical-music","tag-ishtadevta","tag-kritis","tag-lord-rama","tag-music","tag-muthuswami-dikshitar","tag-sangeet","tag-shyama-shastri","tag-sita","tag-thanjavur","tag-thiruvaiyaru","tag-tyagaraja","post_format-post-format-quote"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1164"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1186,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164\/revisions\/1186"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisaras.org\/projectdhaara\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}