Of Kritical Importance: An Ode on Gratitude
The last leg of this philosophical and spiritual voyage
Here we stand today, each of us an inconspicuous speck of matter on a cosmic scale, trying to incessantly feed ourselves with the thought of ‘I’ and ‘Me’.
Think of it — our planet has been supporting life and livelihood since time immemorial; several great thinkers, philosophers and inventors have been supporting the growth of humanity while bearing the brunt of misconceptions, and at times having to pay with their lives; generations of our ancestors and elders have been toiling to give us this life we live. Identifying all such people who have helped us or who help us is also rather futile, for we will end up gazing with wide-mouthed wonder. All that these thoughts lead to is a singular emotion — Gratitude!
Gratitude and reverence are the only means by which we can extend an infinitesimal thanks towards this galaxy of people. “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants” said Sir Isaac Newton, nearly three centuries ago. Fast forward to a century later, alongside the lush green banks of Kaveri, one would find the bard of Thiruvaiyaru, echoing the same sentiment. Sri Thyagaraja in his golden composition expresses his Namaskarams (salutations) to all the great souls, who led him to the path of spiritual bliss and realization — Endaro Mahanubhavulu Andariki Vandanamu!
This is the last of the Pancharatna Krithis rendered during Sri Thyagaraja Aaradhana (Remembrance) at Thiruvaiyaru.
Setting this composition to a peppy yet lilting Sri Raga, Thyagaraja recognises it as his good fortune to have all these Mahanubhavas (great people) to look up to. While writing about Sri Raga in his Sangeeta Sampradaya Pradarshini, Sri Subbarama Dikshitar (musician, composer and author) states in glowing terms that it is the most mangalakara ragam — that which bestows all auspiciousness and good fortune when sung — similar to Thyagaraja’s interpretation of the raga. Perhaps, Endaro Mahanubhavulu would serve as the finest use of Sri raga, one that captures the composer’s sentiment of gratitude to the fullest.
Delving into the composition
As the twelve-stanza composition progresses, the composer elucidates the various qualities a spiritual soul would have. In the first two charanams, there is one clear quality established — ability to control the mind.
manasa vanacharavara sanchaaramu nilipi (Charanam 2)
(Great are) those who meditate, seek and find the supreme in the deep forests of their mind.
Next comes complete surrender without any reservations. This is followed by various other attributes, listed throughout the song. Those who understand the hidden truths from our Vedas, Shastras and Puranas (Charanam 9); those who experience perennial bliss, immersed in the ocean of peaceful and true bhakti (devotion) (Charanam 6); those who delight in the greatness of various attributes of the divine (Charanam 8); those who discard flawed faiths that do not promote true devotion (Charanam 8) — these and many more such hallmarks are attributed to a good soul (Mahan) in the ballad.
Is it just these qualities that define a Mahan or is there anything more to it? No questions are left unanswered by Thyagaraja. According to him the greatness of these Mahans is not attributed to their virtues alone but also to how they direct these qualities in helping the society.
hari guna manimaya saramulu galamuna shobhillu bhakta kotulilalo
telivito celimito karuna galgu jagamellanu sudha drstice brocu varu (Charanam 5)Many are such devotees who adorn a necklace that shines, a necklace made of gem-like qualities of the lord himself. These blessed souls with sound discernment, abundant love and concern for humanity, protect it with their able care.
The list is almost there. However, how can there not be a musical twist when it is Thyagayya composing the song? Firm knowledge of bhava (emotion), raga (tune), swara (notes) and tala (rhythm) are emphasized in not one but two stanzas.
patita pavanudane paratparuni gurinci paramarthamagu nija margamutonu
baducunu sallapamuto svara layadi ragamula deliyu varu (Charanam 4)
endaro mahanubhavulu andariki vandanamuMany are those who sing earnestly in the choicest of language about the supreme, with mastery over various elements of music while adhering to the path of truth. My salutations to all such great souls.
…bhava raga layadisaukhyamuce cirayuvul galigi
niravadhi sukhatmulai tyagaraptulaina varu (Charanam 9)A long life ingrained with everlasting joy derived from music with cognizance of all its elements is a treasure trove that many great souls cherish.
Thyagaraja, in the course of the composition, not only salutes these great people, but subtly provides us a set of qualities and virtues we must strive to imbibe in order to better ourselves in our spiritual journey.
Do listen to this vintage recording of Endaro Mahanubhavulu, being performed at the 139th Thiruvaiyaru Thyagaraja Aaradhana back in 1986. If you think listening to this recording is mesmerising, then having been there amidst all the stalwarts of Carnatic Music back in the day, singing in memory of Sri Thyagaraja would have been nothing less than magical. This gives us a small insight into the magnificence of Sri Thyagaraja, a Mahanubhava indeed.
A Brief History of the Thiruvaiyaru Thyagaraja Aaradhana
The Thiruvaiyaru Thyagaraja Aaradhana is commemorated on Pushya Bahula Panchami, the anniversary of the composer’s demise, where star musicians, music students, music lovers and the public get together to pay their tribute to the composer by rendering the Pancharatnams in a synchronous chorus.
Sri Thyagaraja passed away in 1847, and the 173rd Aaradhana was conducted this year. Does this mean this practice has existed for 173 years? Yes and no. Homage has been paid every year on the anniversary, but not as per the current format, which is only a seventy-year-old practice.
The Aaradhana has a long history attached to it, but let us focus on this one phenomenal person who was very instrumental in making the event what it is today — Bangalore Nagaratnammal. A Devadasi and a phenomenal musician with a very successful career, Nagaratnammal decided to dedicate her life’s earnings to Thyagaraja’s legacy, for it was his compositions that helped her in earning considerable wealth. She bought the land on which the Samadhi (grave) stood and built a temple for the composer, completing it in 1926.
Following the completion of the temple, on the coming of the Aaradhana day, the same lady who had done so much in the memory of Sri Thyagaraja and the one who ‘owned’ the land in which the temple was constructed was herself denied entry into the event for her being a woman. Undeterred in her resolve, she started a parallel Aaradhana, featuring various women artists, pulling all the crowd and making her event a huge success.
This continued until 1940, after which matters were resolved between the rival factions and a first united Aaradhana was held in 1941. Earlier, musicians could render the songs of their liking, but with the unification in place and soaring popularity of the event, the necessity to identify a set of compositions that could be rendered in common aroused. In 1942, the first ever announcement that a Pancharatnam would be rendered was seen. By 1949, the swelling musical crowd led to the Pancharatnams being rendered as a large group and it has come to stay for years together. In her will in 1952, Nagaratnammal writes that the Aaradhana will continue to happen in the Samadhi land as long as women are allowed to perform in front of Thyagaraja. In its own way, the Aaradhana is also a story of breaking social taboo and liberating the society from shackles of inequality.
The origin of the Aaradhana is a special story in itself. Moreover, the origin of the Pancharatnams has a history too.
The Pancharatnam — this term has become synonymous with Sri Thyagaraja’s works. He did compose Pancharatnams (five gems), as in sets of five compositions as an ode to each of four different temple towns. Those compositions were intended to be together. However, were the five songs we commonly refer to as Pancharatnam today intended to be this group? It is hard to say. There is assuredly one point of commonality — the songs we refer to as the Pancharatnams today are all composed in ‘Ghana’ ragas (read about ghana in the first article of this series), but is there any other common factor? No. There is no theme uniting the compositions; anecdotes suggest that they were composed in various stages of Thyagayya’s life; the structural differences are striking; one composition is in Sanskrit while the rest are in Telugu; the differences are many!
There seems to be an overall agreement that it was not the composer, but eminent musician Harikeshanallur Sri Muthaiah Bhagavathar who selected these musical gems from the large corpus of the composer’s work. Was there a particular basis on which this was done? When we listen to these songs being rendered in a group in any part of the world, we will get an answer to that question. Not everything can be explained, some things are best experienced. The sheer joy and energy derived from the Ghoshti Ganam (choral rendition) of these five songs is a testimony to the fact that the choice of these songs were made for the best.
Here we are at the end of five songs — each a masterpiece in its own right. Together, they convey the Navarasas (read about the use of navarasas in the Pancharatnams, in our fourth article of this series), the various relationships Sri Thyagaraja had with his lord, and the lyrical and musical genius that the composer was. We also saw snippets of various other songs, each stamped by the composer with his style and ingenuity, but is there a singular song that conveys the essence of what the composer meant?
Choosing such a song out of so many is difficult. Individual opinions and ideas come into play and the choice is very subjective. But having read and understood many songs of the composer in the course of working on this series, here is a philosophy the composer definitely subscribes to.
pudami suta sahayudai celange
purnuni atmaramuni gudi ada
nadaci nadaci jucera ayodhya
nagaramu kanareTo unite with him — he who is the consort of the daughter of the earth — Sita; he who is infinite; importantly, he who manifests himself in one’s own soul and self — people went all the way to Ayodhya and still couldn’t find him.
The same philosophy is conveyed in the last stanza of the last Pancharatnam, a fitting finale to these magnum opus creations.
prema muppiri gonu vela namamu dalacevaru
ramabhaktudaina tyagarajanutuni nija dasulaina varu
endaro mahanubhavulu andariki vandanamuThey who meditate on the name of the Lord in their hearts with a flood of devotion become the true devotees of the Lord, who is praised by Thyagaraja. My salutations to all such great souls!
With this we conclude our series on the Ghanaraga Pancharatnam. Research for every article has opened our eyes to new dimensions of proficient poetry and music of Sri Thyagaraja — a Vaggeyakara in its true sense. A visionary that he is, the philosophy conveyed in all his compositions stay true till date. Hope you enjoyed reading the series as much as we did while putting it together.
In Sri Thyagaraja’s words,
tyagaraja vinutuniki
vara gajarajaadi bhakta varaduniki
jaya mangalam nitya shubha mangalamMay there always be victory and prosperity!
This article was written in collaboration with Shashvat Jayakrishnan.
References:
- “How did the Pancharatna kritis originate?” — V. Sriram, The Hindu
