Srirangam---bhUlOka vaikuntham Part 3 Musical ArAdhana of Lord RanganAtha

Transcription

1 Srirangam---bhUlOka vaikuntham Part 3 Musical ArAdhana of Lord RanganAtha Pearl ornamentation of Sri Ranganathar at Srirangam In this article we will cover a musical eulogy of Lord Ranganatha by three different composers (in three languages-- Telugu, Sanskrit, and Thamizh). 1. Saint Thyagaraja ( ), of Carnatic Music Trinity fame, was a great devotee of Rama who preferred to worship his personal deity at his home in TiruvaiyARu rather than visit the various shrines to worship the deities. His devotion to Rama was legendary. Once he was persuaded by his disciples to undertake a pilgrimage. During one such trip he went to Srirangam. It was festival time in the month of Chitra and Lord Ranganatha was taken in procession on a golden horse mount. Thyagaraja was caught in the milling crowd at the corner of South and West Chitra streets and could not go near the Lord. He composed extemporaneously the kriti raju vedale jutamu rare kasturi ranga in ThODi ragam describing the glory of Srirangam and the beauty of the Lord in the procession. Shortly thereafter the bearers of the mount on which the Lord was seated could not move further. All efforts to move the procession by bringing dancing damsels to perform proved futile. One priest went into a trance and declared that the Lord will move further only when His devotee (Thyagaraja) was brought near the mount. Thyagaraja was brought to the scene and offered the prasadam. He then sang vina rada na manavi.. (Can t you heed my appeal?) (devaghandari ragam) in which he appealed to the Lord to grant the desire of the dancers and the devotees (including himself). Suddenly the mount bearers were energized and the procession started moving.

2 Thyagaraja was later accorded a private viewing of the Lord at the temple with due honors. Upon seeing the Lord (see the picture above) Thyagaraja burst into ecstasy and sang his now-immortal kriti O, ranga sayi.. (KAmbhOji ragam). (In all Thyagaraja composed 5 kritis on Srirangam known as Srirangam pancaratna kritis--among his 800 odd surviving kritis). The text of the song in Telugu script and Roman transliteration are given below along with the meaning. ఓ ర గ... పలల : ఓ ర గ ఓయన చ అన పలల : ర గ ధర డ క ల ప డ ల ఓ ర గ ఛరన : భ ల క క ఠ ఇ య ల న య ప ల ల య ట మ త నన ల రవ ల జన లల గ ల వయ ర పమ న మ య ల సర లయ రమ న న వ చ య గ జ హ ద భ షణ ఓ ర గ O ranga sayi... (RAgam: kambhoji, talam: Adi) Pallavi: O ranga SAyi pilicite Oyanucu ra rada Anupallavi: sarnga dharudu juci kailasadhipudu ga leda --O ranga CaraNam: BhUlOka vaikuntham idiyani nilona niveyuppongi SrI loludaiyunte ma cinta tiredennado melorva leni janulalo ne migula nogili divya rupamunu mutyala sarulayuramunu gana vacciti tyagaraja hrdbhushana --O ranga Meaning: O Lord reclining in ranga vimana! When I call you can t you come in due response? Didn t Lord Siva (holding the deer) become the Lord of KailAsa by beholding you? Considering this place (Srirangam) to be vaikuntham, and exulting all by yourself if you remain enamored with Lakshmi beside you when will our worries be eliminated? Having suffered a lot in the midst of people who could not tolerate others excellence, I have come to behold your divine form and your chest adorned with pearl ornaments. O Lord who adorns this Thyagaraja s heart! 2. Another doyen of the Carnatic Music Trinity, Muttuswami Dikshitar ( ), a prolific composer (in Sanskrit) who traveled all over India,

3 composed kritis on many deities in shrines all over India. He wrote 4 kritis on Srirangam kshetram of which the most popular one ranga pura vihara.. (BrundAvana saranga ragam) is given below. This song was popularized by the late M. S. Subbulakshmi. Dikshitar s kritis are known for their splendorous diction. Ranga pura vihara रङ ग प र वह र पल ल व: रङ ग प र वह र जय क दण ड र म वत र रघ व र अन पल ल व: अङ गज जनक द व ब न द वन स रङ ग न वरद रम न तरङ ग य मळ ङ ग वहङ ग त रङ ग सदय प ङ ग सत सङ ग चरणम: पङ कज क ल जल न ध स म वर पङ कज म ख पट ट भर म पद पङ कज जत क म रघ र म व म ङ क गत स त वर व ष श ष ङ क शयन भ सन त ष एण ङ क र व नयन म द -तर भ ष अकळङ क दपर ण कप ल वश ष म न-सङ कट हरण ग वन द व ङ कट रमण म क न द सङ कषर ण म ल कन द शङ कर ग र ग ह नन द ranga pura vihara ragam: brundavana saranga talam: rupakam Pallavi ranga pura vihara jaya kodanda - ramavatara raghuvira SrI Anupallavi angaja janaka deva brndavana sarangendra varada ramantaranga SyAmaLAnga vihanga turanga sadayapanga satsanga caranam pankajapta kula jala nidhi soma vara pankaja mukha pattabhirama pada pankaja jita kama raghu rama vamanka gata sita vara vesha SEshAnka Sayana bhakta santosha ENAnka ravi nayana mrdu-tara bhasha akalanka darpana kapola visesha muni -sankata harana govinda venkata ramana mukunda sankarshana mula kanda Sankara guru guhananda Meaning: (Source: The dweller of Rangapura! Victory unto thee who incarnated as KOdanDa Rama! The warrior of the Raghu clan. The father of cupid. The protector of celestials.

4 The boon giver to Gajendra.The one intimate to Lakshmi. The one who has the dark-hued bird as his mount. The one who is full of compassion. The one who is in the company of the noble-minded. The moon who rose in the ocean of the clan of the sun- the friend of the lotus. The revered lotus-faced. The one who was crowned as the king. The lotus-feet. The one who surpasses the cupid in beauty.rama of the raghu clan.the one who has the revered Sita sitting by his left. The one that lies recumbent on sesha.the one that delights his devotees. The soft-spoken one. The one that has the sun and the moon as his eyes. The one whose cheeks are like a blemishless mirror.govinda who came to rescue the sages from distress. The one known as VenkataramaNan, Mukunda and Sankarshana in his primordial form. The one that delights guruguha. 3. ArunAcala KavirAyar ( ), who preceded the Carnatic Music Trinity, wrote his magnum opus rama nataka kirttanaigal as an opera and presented it for approval in front of a learned audience at the temple in Srirangam. Its theme was based on KambarAmAyaNam written by Thamizh poet Kambar several centuries before. (Kambar also presented his work at the same venue). KavirAyar s work had a blend of simple, chaste, and colloquial diction clothed in melodious music. The prelude song (to) rama nataka kirttanaigal titled En palli kondirayya covers the entire story of RAmAyaNam in addition to a couple of episodes from Mahabharatham succinctly in very short verses. Only the pallavi, anupallavi, and the first caranam are given here with the meaning. ஏன பள ள க ண ட ரய ய?... (ர கம : ம ஹனம ; த ளம ; ஆத ) பல லவ ஏன பள ள க ண ட ரய ய? ரங கந த ர ந ர (ஏன ) அன பல லவ ஆம பல ப த த சய பர வத மட வ ல-அவத த த இரண ட ற ற நட வ ல (ஏன )

5 சரணம 1 க ஸ கன ச ல க ற த ததற க? அரக க க லய ல அம ப தற த ததற க? ஈசன வ ல ல ம ற த ததற க? பரச ர மன ரம பற த ததற க? ம ச ல ல த ம த லசன பண ண டன வழ நடந த இ ளப ப? த ச ல த க ஹ ன டத த ல கங கத த ற கடந த இ ளப ப? ம ச ரம ம ச த ரக டச ச கரக கல ம ச க டந த இ ளப ப? க ச ன மல ம ர ச ன ட ய கத த டர ந த இ ளப ப? ஓட க க ளத த தவ யத தட இ ளத த? மரங க ளழ ந த ளத த? கட லக கட ட வ ளத த? இலங க என ன ம க வல ம நக ர இட த த வர த த ம? ர வண த க ள ம ட த த வர த த ம? (ஏன ) En palli kondirayya? (ragam: mohanam; talam ; Adi) Pallavi En palli kondirayya? sri ranganathare nir (En) Anupallavi Ambal putta saya paruvata maduvile-avadaritta irandarri naduvile (En) CaraNam 1 kosikan sol kurittadarko? arakki kulaiyil ambu terittadarko? Isan villai murittadarko? parasuramanuram parittadarko? masillada mithilesan pennudan vazhi nadanda ilaippo? tusilada guhanodattile gangait turai kadanda ilaippo? misuramam citrakutac cikarak kalmisai kidanda ilaippo? kasinimel maricanodiya gati todarnda ilaippo? ODikkaLaittO deviyait tedi ilaitto? MarangaLEzhunduLaittO? kadalaik katti valaitto? ilankai ennum kaval ma^nagarai iditta varuttamo? ravanadigalai muditta varuttamo? (En) Meaning: Pallavi: Why are you reclining my lord, Sri Ranganatha (of Srirangam)? Anupallavi: You are resting in the island formed by the two rivers (KAvEri and kollidam) which originated from the pool, in the mountain, which is full of water lilies. Why are you reclining?

6 CaraNam1: Is it because you obeyed the order of the sage Viswamitra (to protect his yagna from the atrocities of the demons)? Is it because you killed the demoness tatakai by hitting at her abdomen with your arrow? Is it because you broke the bow of lord Shiva (to wed SItA)? Is it because you quelled Parasuraman's (incarnation of VishNu prior to Rama) arrogance? Is it because of your tiresome walk in the forest with chaste Sita (the daughter of the king of the city of mitila)? Is it due to the cumbersome task of crossing the Ganga in the boat of blemishless Guhan? Is it due to the difficult period of stay in the CitrakUTa mountain range? Is it due to your chase of marican (Ravana s uncle who disguised himself as the golden deer) wherever he ran? Were you tired after that? Did you get tired searching for your darling wife all over? Is it due to piercing the seven trees with a single arrow (this event relates to Rama's proving his valor to SugrIvan by sending an arrow straight through seven sal trees)? Is it due to bridging the ocean (to cross into Lanka)? Are you sorry to have demolished the fortress of Lanka? Is it perhaps due to your fatigue (or regret) from having destroyed Ravana and his gang? Are these the reasons for your recumbence? It is well known that the reclining posture (kidantha kolam) of the Lord in Srirangam is reflective of His posture in the Milky Ocean (kshira sagaram) but the kavirayar in his desire to glorify the Lord narrates the whole episode of Ramayanam in the format of a series of rhetoric questions pointing to each event as an arduous task which needed rest and reclination. Other composers too have sung kritis on Lord RanganAtha of Srirangam. The three kritis mentioned above are pretty much representative and seminal in content in terms of musical worship of Lord RanganAtha of Srirangam. A fine treatise titled RanganAtha mahimai dwelling on the musical tributes by Thyagaraja and Muttuswami Dikshitar can be found at 4.pdf Sethuraman Subramanian mahakavi@nc.rr.com