#AuthorIndumatiRaman My spiritual engagement with Sri Tyagaraja began when I was in school and heard my mother sing the soulful kritis. After I returned from Kalakshetra’s gruelling training, my mind was full of images from those kritis transforming into dance. My first attempt was the Saurashtra kriti Sri Ganapati. It became a permanent item of my repertoire. I began to study the thesis of Dr. V. Raghavan in the book ‘The Spiritual Heritage of Tyagaraja’ by C. Ramanujachari. And gradually the concept of “Sumathi Tyagaraja”, an Ekaharya presentation took shape. The beauty of his musical compositions magnetized me as much as his philosophy, his life events and the spiritual message carried in them. I studied all the books on him, some were available in our home library and bought others.
Soon my
obsession translated into writing a dramatized novel of Tyagaraja’s biography
based on his life. I discovered one of my earliest published articles about
Tyagaraja’s message to humanity.
#SriTyagaraja
#Tyagabrahmam #Thiruvaiyaru #Tyagarajakritis #SumatiTyagaraja # #SpiritualHeritageofTyagaraja
#TyagarajaAradhana
[ This
article appeared in Bhavan’s Journal dated January 1-15, 1988, to coincide with
the Sri Tyagabrahmam’s annual Aradhana celebrations held at Thiruvaiyaru
(Thanjavur). This is an unedited
version]
Our country
is a punyabhumi of saints and seers. They have shown us the way to
peace, personal, national, global. One such was Tyagaraja (1767-1847). Born on
Monday the 27th Chaitra, Sarvajit, Shukla Saptami, Pushya,
corresponding to May 4, 1767, at Tiruvayyaru, in Tamil Nadu. Sri Tyagaraja
poured out his adoration of Sri Rama in songs of matchless verbal beauty,
melodic charm and poetic appeal.
According to
our religious faith, each individual soul should aspire to free from the cycle
of birth and rebirth. To achieve this, sacrifices, baths, fasts and endless
rituals are practised. Although nurtured in an environment steeped in sacred
lore, Tyagaraja did not hesitate to decry the blind performance of rituals; the
first pre-requisite for higher aspiration, was the purity of the heart and
mind.
“There are
those, who in ignorance
Claim
sacrifice leads to bliss
Are there any
fools perchance
Who believe
indeed it is?
Traces of
past births compel
Sensuous joys
and avarice
True wisdom
is lost and Sensitivity to life, too.”
(Kriti
Yagnadulu. Jayamanohari Raga)
The
saint spent his years chanting the Lord’s name with intense love. He
expostulated that this alone would lead one to eternal salvation. A pure mind
was the only pre-requisite for a true aspirant. Meditation and telling of beads
had no value if the mind wandered. Neither high birth nor bodily strength would
guarantee Brahman. Pilgrimage was an unnecessary exercise to seek what was
already in one’s heart. Saffron robes did not make one spiritual. A dip in a
sacred river or a diet of medicinal leaves would not wash away the sins of our
mind if it was full of greed and pride.
“Let us
surrender feats of muscle.
The mastery
of tounge, art or mime.
Knowledge
rings not a bell
At Heaven’s
door at the end of time
Worship of
the Lord alone
Purity and
truth, O Mind!
When by the
devotee is shown
Bliss is
granted by the Lord so kind”.
(Kshinamai in Mukhari Raga)
The
enlightened saint further derided those who pledged their actions and life to
the planets. These statements must have been considered blasphemous in those
days when society was rigidly ruled by orthodox priests and scholars. Tyagaraja
realised the futility of pinning faith in the benevolence of the planets, to bless
our present and forecast the future.
“The nine
benevolent planets
Of what
strength theirs combined?
A mere
glance gently sets
on the
devotee pure of mind.
The Lord’s
mercy and power.
Destroy lust
and sin.
And choice
blessings and shower.
On whom to
Tyagaraja are akin”
(Grahabalamemi
in Revagupti Raga)
Even today
events like marriages and journeys are undertaken after piously consulting the
stars, their formation, and the possibilities of escaping the malevolence of
the planetary combinations. Tyagaraja berates the commercialization of this
highly scientific subject. Every calamity that befalls, one is blamed on the
horoscope. A pure, devoted man leading a life of virtue can never be harmed by
planetary malevolence.
Today
religion is still the dynamite which shatters our minds with anger and pride-
with grievous results. Communal disharmony rears its head again and again weakening
the fibre of unity. Our roots are common, but custom and belief separate our
countrymen. Tyagaraja himself was a staunch devotee of Sri Rama. He sang
hundreds of songs describing the Lord in his multi-faceted glory.
But he also made it plain that he condemned as
useless disputes over different faiths. He described those who aroused
sectarian differences as inferiors with a false sense of pride. Tyagaraja
refers to corrupt practices in society and they are as true today as they were
in his life-time.
This indeed is the Age of corruption
When men
build homes of stone
And gather
men to serve
Enrich the
body, hunger the soul
Forget duty
to their kin
Slothfully
eye ill-forgotten gains
Shrewd to trade,
blind in lust
Prey to
disease, inheritance dwindled
Decried by
society, overlooked by God
only to be
born and born again.
Despair
wrought by foolish minds
Will not
wisdom prevail?
To reveal
that unfortunate deal
With men of
cunning, results
In honour, lust and also wealth?
Will not wis
prevail?
To reveal,
that to covet
What
evaporates like the dew,
is fool’s
paradise indeed. The only thing of permanency
is Love and Service to the Lord.
(Kriti
Enduku Baga Teliyadu in Mohanam)
In another
song, (Sarijesi Veduka), he says how often we see that only those who are
well-versed in enjoyment of the senses and indulge in flattery get appreciation
and reward: pure and simple men who have followed the path of devotion
sincerely, are objects of ridicule.
The
pattern of today’s society is still the same, and the solution too remains the
same. It is only the path of virtue which will help the progress of men.
