Welcome, What and How to use

Note: This introduction remains here only for what may glamorously be called archival reasons. It has been superseded by several introductory pages, which begin with this page.

Welcome! Tyagaraja sangeeta amrta is so much better enjoyed if we understand his lyrics well. This blog is our humble effort to aid such understanding by providing authentic lyrical translations of his kritis. Many good prose translations exist. But they can only deliver the meaning. A poetic translation can convey the beauty, intricacy and fervor of Tyagarja Swami's kritis much better. In the Carnatic tradition, as the composer is the librettist as well, a lyrical translation will highlight the beauty of the poetic aspect which may not often be fully enjoyed while listening to the music.

This is even truer, when we encounter extraordinarily beautiful poetry as kritis- such as the evergreen 'Manasa Sancharare'. It is such good music, that we often may not realize it is such good poetry too! A skillfully written lyrical translation can capture the beauty of the original Sanskrit verses in a way, no paraphrase or prose synopsis can. How else can we match the ebb and flow of the original? How else can we convey so fine an imagery like "mukhachandra chakore"? For me, personally, I have heard people sing even this short song, without a clue about its meaning, or just a rudimentary understanding, particularly in the years after it was featured in a famous movie. This to me was sad, because they just missed the joy of the original poetry! Nor could they fully communicate it to their listeners. For many years, I had wanted to translate this song into verse, and then one fine day, did do it. Then I sent it off to a friend. Eventually, this blog came into being. (As an aside, I have preferred the blog format as opposed to print, so that I may receive feedback, criticism and suggestions as the work is in progress and so can improve it; and if health issues and others do prevent me from completing this work, at least the portion I have completed, might still be available on the web.)

Another use of lyrical translations, is the cross-cultural context. Perhaps, someone from another culture interested in Carnatic music, may be able to "get" the kritis much better through lively poetry in a familiar language like English, than from a dry but faithful prose summary.

So, I will provide lyrical translations of Tyagaraja and other kritis in uncomplicated rhymed English verse here. I will also maintain sentence and line order, as in common printings and for the most part maintain even the word order, so that you don't need a separate word-for-word translation or other resources. I shall also include after each Kriti any pertinent cultural, literary and historical notes and gotchas. Once we have a sufficient number of kritis here, I shall try to provide notation and some manodharma improvisation examples, so that anyone trying to learn the kritis, can easily understand and sing. I will also experiment with metrically equivalent translations when possible and applicable. We will not restrict ourselves to Tyagaraja alone on this website, though he is the focus. Some other kritis will be included. The content here is being proofread. So, we can reasonably vouch for its authenticity. If you still find errors, let me know.

Poetry is a finer art than music, in the sense that, music being more fundamental, almost all people can appreciate it. Appreciating fine poetry is an acquired taste, needing some discernment. Even many well-educated people, read in music, do not have the turn of mind for poetry- and I have seen this personally, at the highest levels of science- PhDs who "get" music, but can't "get" poetry. But, if Tyagaraja's lyrics, i.e. his poetry had not been so powerful and evocative, would we even be speaking of him, two hundred years later? If one is not born with musical talent, there are so many academies and teachers, that may train one to be a musician. But there is no school, nor any training for becoming a poet. A poet must be born. We know that Sonti Venkatramana was Tyagaraja's main guru for music. But, whether it is Tyagaraja or your humble servant, there is no guru for writing poetry that we could speak of. Yet, over the centuries, we can name only one or two musicians like Tansen, but we can name many poets like Kalidasa, Dandin, Magha, Valmiki, Potana, Kambhar, Homer, Virgil etc. for each language. Ironically, more poets have gone down in history. Still, Poetry is an under-appreciated art; with Tyagaraja, an almost criminally neglected aspect. We hope the verses here fill some of that void. To sing Tyagaraja well by rote is one thing. To sing Tyagaraga with complete understanding and control, is completely another,- one that tells the Triton from the minnows.

Ultimately, Tyagaraja's music should not be listened to; Tyagaraja's music must be experienced as a whole!

About 600 of Tyagaraja Swami's kritis are now available. My estimate is that about 100-200 of his kritis lend themselves well to such lyrical translation. And strangely, some melodious and well liked kritis do not have much translatable lyrical content. An example is the popular "Sitamma maayamma"... where most of the kriti names the divinities and holy persons who, to him, make up Tyagaraja's circle. The sentiment is so nice, but still, we can't translate much beyond the literal. So, this blog will not contain kritis in any particular canonical order, but shall evolve on the basis of the transferable lyrical imprint in them. I hope to include as many of the 600 as possible.

I shall, I shall, I surely shall....
One of my foci for this attempt is this. Most often, writers on Carnatic music, because most of it is devotional, and the audience almost homogeneous culturally, presume an element of praxis in their intended readers, and may include praxis or devotional details, than only the musical, literary or critical. I shall try to respect the line between musical details and religion, so that the content here is still accessible and relevant to even those from cultures or beliefs. I shall not presume a kind of reader, and though rendering respectfully, I shall keep to one side of the line. For instance, for so many kritis, we may quote cross-references from Gita, Upanishads or puranas. That makes the work more re-interpretive commentation than a faithful presentation of musical, lyrical or literary detail. I shall provide such references only if they are absolutely necessary to convey the meaning of the original. I shall try to maintain a balance between the critical, academic and dispassionate, and the faithful and lively. I shall also claim some uniqueness in this regard, even for my small attempt, along with the few works in Carnatic music that are faithful, yet dispassionate.

A key feature of this site, is that I am presume no knowledge of Indian culture on the part of the reader. I would like to make Tyagaraja accessible to anyone, from anywhere, who is curious about Carnatic music. Therefore, the verse translations are intentionally uncomplicated and evoke familiar themes like "O come all ye faithful", "Joy to the world", "Ode to joy", "La belle dame sans merci", Shakespeare and "Scarborough Fair". The reader may well come from the opposite end of the world; I shall endeavor to gently introduce him to the culture of Tyagaraja's region, as we go along.

While we are looking mainly at the literary, philosophical and cultural aspects of Tyagraja here, I do plan to post musical details such as notation and improv examples from the past at some point. I am considering 100-150 kritis being posted here, as the threshold to cross before including musical detail, because by then, this blog would have met its purpose. Until then, you'll only find perfunctory musical details here.

It takes anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours to edit, translate, commentate, format and post a kriti. It may take up to 3 hours for a Pancharatna kriti. The actual time to translate and write the poetry is quite little. Much of the time goes towards cross-validation of the lyrics, in case that is required for a kriti. This depends on the number of known versions and any history of pitfalls. Depending on the subtlety of the kriti, it might take much time to commentate- the notes for the Pancharatna kriti are particularly copious. It takes so much time because we are trying to keep the content here as error-free and authentic as possible and to be the definitive source. In fact, I recall just the pronunciation guide on the left sidebar taking several hours although, the material in it, came from one of my books and I could just cut and paste from the manuscript. It still took several hours to wrestle with blogger and finally rewrite it from scratch in the pidgin-HTML that blogger will allow. The point is certainly not the time and effort we spend on the website, but the intent. Our intent is not to provide a compendium. but to provide a complete, reliable and enjoyable resource. Our aim, by casting new light on him, is to spread another dimension of the joy of Tyagaraja. Otherwise, when many books and websites already serve as compendia, there is no need for us to do this work afresh, that too, in the 21st century. But, besieged by endless professional and health trauma as I am, I can only spend an hour or two on this work each day. So, it will take some months before we finish this work.

We shall begin with 'Sri Ganapati ni' and end with 'Ni naama rupamulaku', as is appropriate. We will thus begin and end our journey in Sowraashtram. In some places, to give a better translation, we do take poetic licenses from the literal translation. So, always check the remarks after the kriti, where we will mention such cases. Once we have enough content in this blog, we shall move it to a dedicated website. If you would like any particular kriti posted, please email me.

When translating between two very different languages, it is not easy to maintain word order and still be readable. So, if you like our work, please let me know.

The format:
I shall post the sahityam (lyrics) for each kriti in Roman script, followed by the translation. If it is a Sanskrit kriti, I shall try to include Devanagari version also. Following this will be the notes. The Roman scripts used are IAST for Sanskrit and ISO 15919 for other languages. Tamil in particular, is given in the National Library of Calcutta standard, that is congruent with ISO 15919, but includes alphabets peculiar to Tamil. Follow the label on Tamil Transliteration in the left sidebar for the details. The reason to use IAST is that many readers of 'Sanskrit in Roman' are long familiar with this standard and we need not go to the ISO super-set unless needed. Also, many of my own scripts and programs to process and render Sanskrit are already fixed to IAST. A pronunciation guide for this script is always available on the left sidebar. For the Telugu and Tamil kritis here, I shall only provide the lyrics in Roman. I think this is enough because... you are reading this blog in English!! Duh! :)) When you want other scripts, it is always possible to use online tools to do the conversion, so that we can keep this website as uncluttered and usable as possible. Also, I shall use appropriate fonts and transliteration only in the lyrics. In the comments and elsewhere, I shall revert to more familiar phonetic transliterations using only the English alphabet, so that even the new reader can read quickly. So, intentionally, Siva shall be naṭēśa in the lyrics, but Natesha in the notes, so that it is not a taxing read. But, the actual pronunciation must always be kept in mind.

We may have grouped the lines differently for easier reading in the English version. So, the pallavi, anupallavi and charanam will be color coded in red, blue and green respectively, so that you can read them distinctly. To ensure the accuracy of our content, after preparing our material, we do check it with the main texts and popular sites as necessary. If we had any remarks to make on our findings, we shall include an "Extra Comments" section. Note that, to a reader, the "Comments" section is critical for understanding the kriti, and the content there, if the reader is not already privy to it, may only be missed at the cost of fully understanding the kriti. The "Extra Comments" section is used to provide more detailed information, our observations and notes on other books and websites. These may be useful to the more interested reader, but are not as critical as the "Comments" notes.

Definitions of key concepts: Many of the recurring themes and concepts in Tyagaraja's kritis, such as Nadopasana, or Utsava Sampradaya, are generally explained at the first or second occurrence. You may find any definition, by navigating this blog using the labels in the left sidebar. A glossary for those concepts commonly known in Indian culture, but not known in other cultures, such as the differences among Brahma of the Trinity, Brahman or the Supreme Self and Brahmans or the priests and scholars, is provided in the downloadable pdf versions.

PDF version: Each time we manage to complete a set of 20 kritis on this site, a new downloadable pdf version shall be provided. [PDF 'book' version of first 20 songs now available, as of Nov 1, 2009. Email us if you would like a copy]

Speed of delivery: At this point we are only going at the rate of 1 kriti a day; we hope to pick it up soon, and cover the whole in a few months.

Sources: The main, but by no means the only source of the original lyrics is the encyclopedic book by Prof. T. K. Govinda Rao. I have a handful of other print sources to cross-check lyrics. All other content, including the translations, be it verse or word-for-word, is original content written from scratch, just so you know who to blame.

Gotchas: There are some words in the lyrics of the kritis like "galade" which some would insist is more accurately "kalade" and "ganaleni" which is more accurately "kanaleni". There are also issues with the declensions of certain words. The more familiar versions are given here, often in agreement with the aforementioned book. The more fastidious reader may choose to prefer the latter versions. We shall provide a list of such aliters only in the pdfs, to keep the clutter in the blog low. Only obvious errors in common parlance may have been corrected in our lyrics. When our primary sources are contradictory and deadlocked, we may even resort to our skills in linguistics and philology. So, please note that we are aware of alternate versions and make a case-by-case decision on what to include in this site.

If you see boxes in the Roman lyrics instead of diacritics: This is a rare problem. We don't use special fonts. The original lyrics with the diacritics use only the Georgia or the Times font. The character encoding is set to the Unicode encoding, UTF-8. On most browsers this shouldn't pose a problem. They will probably be configured for UTF-8 encoding or to "auto detect" the encoding on the web page. Most probably your browser isn't taking Unicode and is reading the page as some other encoding. If you reconfigure it to read Unicode encoding, and/or to accept the encoding in the page, you should be fine. If this still doesn't work, you can email me your browser settings and other computer details like operating system etc, and I will look into it.

Lastly, blogger's formatting is terrible. I format content here for Firefox for a widescreen machine. If the formatting is bad on any other browser or screen setting, please let me know. The pdfs, if and when they come, may be better with formatting.


Contact: Requests and comments:email lyricaltyagarajablog@gmail.com We love to hear from you!

I shall sign off each post with /\ [the sign for namaste, or folded hands]

संगीतम् सर्व सिद्धाञ्जनम्। Music clarifies all. Music cleanses all.

Last updated- Nov 1 2009.

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UPDATE, April 20, 2010:

Changes to style: Based on feedback from readers and a review of the new approach I use here, I am making two key changes. Previously, I used to write one song each day and planned to write up to five, so that I covered most of Tyagaraja's oeuvre quickly. Now, subject to health and other vagaries, I plan to write no more than 2-3 songs a week. But, the commentary on the songs will be much more elaborate and comprehensive. I think this will serve the purpose of this website more, as my intent is not to merely provide a compendium of the songs, but to impart, clarify and augment the songs and the wealth in their lyrics.

Final form of this website:
I receive many requests for the book form of this site (Volume 1) and also some questions. I used to send out what was mainly a download of this site, as a pdf document. I have been revising this book form into a much more readable actual book. I will start sending this revised 'Volume 1' out, once it is ready. I do concur with some readers that this is a sufficiently researched work of some academic merit, in a sadly neglected aspect of Indian music. So, once I am sure that I have covered most of thematic content in the songs, on this website, I do fully intend printing this new approach as a serious academic work, as a book set in two volumes.

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Last updated and permanently superseded-May 30, 2010.

Tyagararaja Yoga Vaibhavam

Raga Ananda Bhairavi , 20 Natabhairavi janya
Aa: S G2 R2 G2 M1 P D2 P N2 S Av: S N2 D2 P M1 G2 R2 S
Taalam: Roopakam

##If formatting is off for the English verses and you see lines being split, please click on the picture below##

Lyrics: Pallavi: tyāgarāja yoga vaibhavaṁ sadāṣivaṁ tyāgarāja yoga vaibhavaṁ sadāśrayāmi tyāgarāja yoga vaibhavaṁ agarāja yoga vaibhavaṁ rāja yoga vaibhavaṁ yoga vaibhavaṁ vaibhavaṁ bhavaṁ vam Samashti Charanam: nāgarāja vinuta padaṁ nādabindu kalāspadaṁ yogirāja vidita padaṁ yugapadbhoga mokṣapradam yogarūḍha nāma rūpa viśva srṣṭyādi karaṇaṁ yugaparivṛtyabda māsa dina ghaṭikādyāvaraṇam śrī guruguhaguruṁ satcitānanda bhairavīśaṁ śiva śaktyādi sakala tatva svarūpa prakāśaṁ śaṁ prakāśaṁ svarūpa prakāśaṁ tatva svarūpa prakāśaṁ sakala tatva svarūpa prakāśaṁ śiva śaktyādi sakala tatva svarūpa prakāṣam

English verse: King of sacrifices' penance fanfare, All abiding- King of sacrifices' penance fanfare, I'm adoring, King of sacrifices' penance fanfare, King of mounts' penance fanfare King of paths' penance fanfare, Penance fanfare Fanfare Fare Ar Holy feet adored by the king of serpents, Abiding in the musical elements, Revered by the king of sages, In an instant, liberates past the ages. By the power of penance, the cause Of creation of many forms and names, They enthrall us past Time's games. Bliss, Sire to the warlord, Lord to the startling As Grace, Power and all truths shining, Giving, shining, In the True Form shining, Form of truth and so shining The form of all truths and so shining As Grace, Power and all truths shining!

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Comments:
Finally, Dikshitar makes his debut on our site. He is the sixth composer to figure here. My apologies to his many fans. His approach to music is vastly different, and would be tough to reconcile with the theme of this site. As small recompense, we have something flashy. For a change, I have posted a song that has more to do with poetry and word play than with esoteric concepts.

This song is about Tyagaraja, 'the king of renunciates', a form of Shiva and the presiding deity of the temple at Thiruvarur, where the Trinity was born. The main feature of the song are the two "yatis", roughly forms, used in the pallavi and the latter, faster Charanas. The Pallavi uses "Gopuccha yati", in that it elides syllable by syllable with each phrase, and so resembles the taper of a cow's tail or 'Gopuccha'. In the Charanas we find the "Srotovaha" or river yati, that accretes syllables with each phrase and so resembles a widening river.

About the verses: Before reading the English verses, please note a few things: There is a vast difference the alphabets of Sanskrit and English. Without getting very technical, we can simply say that the Sanskrit alphabet is more phonetic, as almost all letters make up a syllable. So, to show either of the yatis, we just need to elide or accrete by a letter, which will also be a syllable. But, in English this may not apply. Happen and open have 4 and 6 letters, yet two syllables each. Consider eliding the word 'phone' successively. We get phone->hone->one->ne, each with a very different pronunciation. This is what happens in English most often. So, in English, the nicer way to show the yatis, is to elide or accrete by a syllable. The effect will be consistent aurally. That is, in our verses, we will remove one syllable and not one letter, with each phrase.

Note that we could have made the verses a lot tighter to "look" more symmetric like the original; but wanted to preserve the word meaning and be faithful to the original, than paraphrase. Since the composer did not maintain the tightness he had earlier, in the Charanas, we too have followed suit. If you don't see the kriti or the verses in the proper shape, you need to maximize your browser window or make some other adjustment. This page is best viewed at a minimum width of 800 pixels. If you still can't see it clearly, there is a picture at the end of this song for you to see. I will remove this in a couple of days.

The verses and the words: Tyaga: Sacrifice. The practice of yoga is taken as a penance. Sadasivam-"The Eternal Shiva", or "Always pleasing", or "who holds all things". The word Shiva has myriad meanings. Later in the Charanas, Shiva is taken as Benevolence or Grace personified, to contrast with Shakti, the active force or Power. King of mounts: This refers to Kailasa, the abode of Shiva and hence Shiva. "King of paths": Raja Yoga is considered the "royal" path among the yogic paths. The two words "Bhavam" and "Vam" in the pallavi are tricky, as is how we have rendered them. Bhavam signifies many things, generally existence, a God etc. One way to take it, is to consider Shiva, the king of renunciation here, as delivering one across the ocean of worldly ties. In this sense, He is the "Fare" or passage, or even 'the fellow traveler' for this journey, taking two shades of the meaning. Again, "fare" as a noun also means state, or existence. So, this can also be taken. "Vam" is a syllable which stands for the cause of everlasting existence. Ar, pronounced the same as air, and which means "before", signifies that Shiva came before all things and all time, and so has has the same connotation as vam. Alternatively, we could use "air" instead of "ar", and could get the same meaning, as "air" is the root of existence too. This would also be acceptable while reading aloud. I used "ar" mainly for the visual effect, as it is contained in fare and fanfare. Warlord: Subhramanya, as the commander of Shiva's hosts. "Bhairavi": Fearsome, Startling. A form of Parvati or Shakti, Shiva's consort. "Sham": This syllable stands for munificence. "Tatvam":Truth(s) In the singular, it refers to the "mahavakyam" or "great statement" "tat tvam asi", or "Thou art that", which is the device by which the unity of all beings with the Brahman is arrived. In the plural, "sarva tatva" or all truths, there are 36 basic principles in Saivism or the school devoted to Shiva, from which they compose a theory of matter and the universe, and Godhead.

In the verses, a few other triplets which will work for the "Vaibhavam-bhavam-vam" elision, such as Glory, Glo(w), Lo; Bepraised, Praised, Raised and Renown, (K)nown, Own. Bhavam and Vam are a bit sketchy in this context and open to extrapolation, when compared to the rest of the pallavi. Own, as in all-pervasive and the cause of eternal existence and Lo! signifiying existence arising from nothingness by Shiva's will, will both sort of approximate to what vam stands for here and we can explain them away. Well, one isn't a real poet unless one can show that a microcosm exists in one's merest verse- particularly if one didn't actually put the microcosm there at the time of writing!

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Extra Comments:
To better appreciate the English verses and the yatis, here is one plain translation that I found on the web (courtesy of www.guruguha.org). Note that I am not criticizing this site in anyway; in fact I am making no comments either way. Their focus and the focus of this site, are vastly different. I would think this is from TKG's book, but I have not checked. Also note that, in general, I go out of the way to stay close to the original, but for my practice of preferring personifications to names of beings and the import to names of concepts, to more readily convey the meaning to a new reader unfamiliar with the subculture of Carnatic music's domain. So, I write Wealth for Lakshmi and so on in the verses and catch these up in the comments.

Pallavi:
I always think of the yogic glory of tyagaraja who is the representation of SAdashiva.
The yogic glory of Tyagaraja.
The yogic glory of the Lord of the mountain ie Kailasha.
The glory of the path of rAja yoga. The glory of yoga.
The glory
The one named bhava or the one that helps cross the ocean of samsara
The beeja of Amrta

Charanam:
The feet praised by the king of serpents.
The one who establishes himself in the stages of nada, bindu and kala.
The feet known to the king of yogis.The feet that are capable of bestowing enjoyment and liberation instantly.
The one who created the myriad names and forms of this universe by his yogic prowess.
The form of differentiated time represented by yugas, changes in time and measures like years, months, day, and ghatikas.

The father of guruguha.The form of sacchidAnanda and the Lord of Bhairavi.
The one who is the embodiment of all the 36 tatvas beginning with shiva and shakti.
The auspicious. The one who shines forth.The one who shines forth as the true form.
The one who shines forth as the meaning of the tatvam [ in the tatvamasi traipada]
The one who shines forth as all the tatvas.
The one who shines forth as all the tatvas beginning with Shiva and Shakti.






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Maanasa Sancharare

Raga: shyaamaa, 28 harikAmbhOji janya

Aa: S R2 M1 P D2 S Av: S D2 P M1 G3 R2 S
Taalam: Adi

Lyrics: Pallavi: मानस सन्चररे। ब्रह्मणि मानस सन्चररे॥ mānasa sancarare | brahmaṇi mānasa sancarare || Charanam: मदशिखि पिञ्छालन्क्रुत चिकुरे। महणीय कपोल विजित मुकुरे॥ madaśikhi piñchālankruta cikure | mahaṇīya kapola vijita mukure || श्री रमणी कुच दुर्ग विहारे। सेवक जन मन्दिर मन्दारे॥ śrī ramaṇī kuca durga vihāre | sevaka jana mandira mandāre || परमहम्स मुखचन्द्र चकोरे। परिपूरित मुरली रवधारे॥ paramahamsa mukhacandra cakore | paripūrita muralī ravadhāre ||

English verse: "In your mind, must you ponder, the Highest, in your mind, ponder. A fine peacock feather adorns His hair, Surpass a bud, His celebrated cheeks fair. In His consort Lakshmi's bosom, does he reside, As a wish fulfilling tree is He, where His devotees reside. Nectar, His moon like face is to the highest sage, Sweet music from His flute completes this visage. "

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Word for Word:
"Approach in your mind, the Brahman, approach in your mind, He who sports a beautiful peacock feather in His hair, whose illustrious cheek surpasses a blossom, Who resides in His consort Lakshmi's bosom, is the wish-fulfilling tree of His devotees' abodes, Whose moon-like face delights the eyes of the highest ascetic like drinking nectar, and (which visage) is filled by the stream of music heard from His flute."

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Comments:
This famous kriti is by the great 18th century saint Sadashiva Brahmendrar. Even when it is not sung, this poem is exceedingly beautiful in the original Sanskrit. To match its meaning and flow better, I have given a more poetic verse translation, that takes some license. So, I have given a separate word-for-word translation also. The allusion of course, is to Sri Krishna. The 'paramahamsa' is actually Sadasiva Brahmendra's stamp. Although I have literally translated paramahamsa, perhaps we can also respectfully take it to denote he himself. Hamsa or the swan is particularly important in Hinduism and is often associated with the mystical Manasa Sarovar lake. Swans signify purity, spiritual development and liberation. So, enlightened scholars are called Paramahamsa, to indicate transcendence and that they can at once reach the ethereal spheres. For the phrase "kuca durga", I have taken the more direct meaning. It may be useful to mention that the chakora bird, often mentioned by Sanskrit poets, was said to live on moonbeams alone and so, Sri Krishna's face gives nectar-like delight to the sage.

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Kannan piranthaan and art songs

Lyrics: kaṇṇaṉ pirandāṉ engaḻ kaṇṇaṉ pirandāṉ inda kāṟṟathai eṭṭu disaiyilum kūṟiḍum tiṇṇamuḍayāṉ maṇi vaṇṇamuḍayāṉ uyar devar talaivaṉ puvimisai thōṉṟiḍa paṇṇai isaippīr neñjil puṇṇai oḻippīr inda pāriṉile tuyar nīṅgiḍum enṟidai eṇṇisai koḻvīr naṉgu kaṇṇai viḻippīr ini ēdum kuṟaivillai vedam tuṇai unḍu sankaran vandān iṅgu maṅgalam enrāṉ nalla candiraṉ vandiṅgu amudai poḻindanaṉ baṅgam onṟillai moḻi maṅguvadillai inda pārin kaṇmunbu vānattile niṉṟu gaṅgaiyum vandāḻ kalai maṅgayum vandāḻ inba ādiparāsakti anbudaṉ yendinaḻ sengamalattāḻ engil poṅgum mugattāḻ tirudēviyum vandiṅgu siṟappuḍan niṉṟaṉaḻ

English verse: The Lord's come, our Lord's come, Far and wide proclaims the wind, Firm as ever, the Blue Hued's come Has the Lord of the gods, says the wind. Sing and heal the pain in your heart, That, the grief of the world, shall begone; Fixed on Him, awaken, for your part, The Word's with us for all wants are gone. Shiva blessed us with good tiding, With the nectar of moonlight exceeding; No blemish, no wane of the tongue, Upon the sky, in the world's eye, sung. The Ganges and Speech, were beheld As Power, with love, the Babe, had held. The red lotus, Her face shames, As Wealth attends His myriad games.

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Comments:
We cannot well appreciate art or music without a study of contrasts. We have throughout seen songs in the kriti form and reckoned them as poetry. Here we go the other way. We have a song by the poet patriot Subrahmanya Bharathi, on the birth of Krishna. This song is what one would call an "art song". It was first written as a poem and was then set to music for a solo singer or a small chorus. In common music genre parlance, it would fall in the classical easy listening and classical categories. In common performances, it is orchestrated and not improvised. The first line becomes a refrain. It does not well fall into the kriti form, such that one could attach embellishments at different points. It is also in a rare raga, Saranga tarangini, in which there are only a few kritis and uses the misra chapu talam. However, the song is generally rendered in only one precise way. So, the raga and taalam were not given earlier, nor were the ascent and descent of the raga. Nor were the lyrics put forth in our usual kriti, color coded format, as the music is mostly predetermined and this is different from what we have seen. I think this music setting was by the poet himself, but am not sure. In the west, many art songs and Leider of the 18th and 19th centuries are known, such as the Erlking, based on a Goethe poem, and famous for Franz Schubert's musical setting. These art songs were part of the large currents of change that flowed from one musical era to the next.

About the verses: Speech personified, Sarasvati, or Vakdevi, is the goddess of all the arts, including music, speech and rhetoric. The arts, in Hindu culture, are considered to be sixty four in number and include some trades and crafts as well, including, most strangely, thievery. Sarasvati, the consort of Brahma, who resides on a white lotus, as opposed to his red lotus, is the only Muse available in the Hindu pantheon; but she is a full goddess and also has some of the functions of Apollo. There are also certain classes of supernatural beings like the kinnaras, a horse-headed but otherwise anthropomorphic group, who form the hordes of Kubera, the celestial treasurer and live high in the Himalayas. They are proficient in music and with their animal like parts are reminiscent of figures from the west like Pan. The Greek centaurs were reversed in form from the Kinnaras, having a human head and equine body, but were also sometimes associated with learning. In this site of course, the main Muse that would watch over us, is Erato, the Muse of lyric poetry, who holds a lyre, as opposed to Sarasvati, who holds a Veena or the Indian lute.

Please note that we have followed the usual scheme of reckoning of gods by the personification of their domain of control. It may interest the inquiring reader to note that I adopted this convention not just for the ease of readers from different cultures and heritages. This convention actually has a firm basis. It is used even in the the Upanishads and the Vedas, in the Sanskrit. Cf. Kaatopanishad and how it refers to the god of death and righteousness, for one example.

Tamil Transliteration details: As we have seen earlier, in the romanization, note the hard "ṟ" sound as in "atrium", the unique ḻ sound as in Tamiḻ , the hard "ḷ" sound as in Glamorgan, the "ṅ" as in "bang", the "ñ" as in "banjo" and the soft ṉ sound as in "Great Dane", apart from the short and long u and o sounds, all not present in Sanskrit. The romanization is according to the National Library of Calcutta standard, as ISO 15919 doesn't cover these cases.

Krishna's advent in song: Incidentally, there are vast numbers of songs in Carnatic and related music about Krishna's exploits, but not many describing just the event of His birth. Here is the actual event as in the Bhagavatam (also called the Srimad Bhagavatam and Bhagavata Purana) 9:24:55-57. Krishna was born to Devaki and Vasudeva in prison (hence his patronymic Vaasudeva). Shuka narrates the Bhagavatam to King Pareekshith, the grandson of the Pandavas.

aṣṭamastu tayorasīt svayameva hariḥ kila|
subhadrā ca mahābhāgā tava rājan pitamahī||

yadayada hi dharmasya kśayo vruddhiśca pāpamanaḥ|
tada tu bhagavanīśa ātmānaṁ srujate hariḥ||

na hyasya janmano hetuḥ karmaṇo vā mahīpate|
ātmamāyāṁ vineśasya parasya druṣṭurātmanaḥ||

"To them, as the eight son, Vishnu(Hari) Himself was born. Subhadra, the fortunate, your grandmother, O King, (was also born).

Whenever goodness wanes and evil waxes, Vishnu personally comes down to this world.

Neither does He have a birth, nor an advent (cause). Nor is He bound to the fruits of His actions, O king! The omniscient, all pervading and omnipotent transcendent One, acts (came to earth), by His own grace." (cf. with the concept of "svatantra" in the song Nadopasance)

The Bhagavatam is the basis of many of the schools of modern Hinduism dedicated to Vishnu, irrespective of their underlying philosophies, such as the Gaudiya tradition in the east of India, and is a corner stone of all the others, such as the Sri Vaishnava tradition of the southern states. In the latter, the 4000 hymns of the Alwar saints are held as equal to the Vedas, and so, can be said to figure higher in precedence. The Bhagavatam is universally exalted, even among the non-Vishnu schools of worship. This book is where the incarnations of Vishnu and other exploits are described elaborately.

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Alaipaayuthe Kanna

Raga Kanada , 22 Kharaharapriya janya
Aa: S R2 G2 M1 D N2 S Av: S N2 P M1 G2 M1 R2 S
Taalam: Adi

Lyrics: Pallavi: alaipāyudē kaṇṇā! eṉ maṉammiga alaipāyudē! uṉ āṉanda mōhaṉa vēṇugāṉamadil (alai pāyudē) Anupallavi: nilai peyarādu en uḷḷam silai polavē niṉru nēramāvadaṟiyāmalē miga viṉōdamāṉa muraḷīdharā! Eṉ maṉam (alai pāyudē) Charanam: theḷinda nilavu paṭṭappagal pōl eriyudē - uṉ dikkai nōkki eṉṉiru puruvam neriyudē kaṉinda uṉ veṇugāṉam kāṟṟil varugudē kaṇgaḻ sorugi oru vidamāi marugudē kaḍitta maṉattil urutti padattai eṉakku aḷittu magiḻtta vā! oru taṉitta vaṉattil aṇaittu eṉakku uṇarcci koḍuttu mugiḻtta vā ! kaṇaikaḍal alaiyiṉil kadiravaṉ oḻiyeṉa iṇaiyaṟu kaḻal eṉakku aḷittavā! kadaṟi maṉamuruga nāṉ azhaikkavō ! idara mādarudaṉ nī kaḷikkavo! idu thagumō? idu muṟaiyō? idu dharmam dāṉō? kuḷalūdiḍum poḷudu āḍiḍum kuḷaigaḻ pōlavē maṉadu vēdaṉai migavodu (alai pāyudē)

English verse: Aflutter, O Lord! My mind is all aflutter! As your joyous flute strains come hither! Rooted like a statue stood I, spellbound, Knowing not the sun was homeward bound, For, the piper of intrigue hath me in thrall! Now, even cool moonbeams singe my all, As the sun at high noon; my 'brows are knit searching, As your mellow strains, in the breeze come wafting. My eyes droop; into an unknown trance I step. To an elfin grot, embrace and take me in step. And there, my heart, now fallow, Fill with feelings of love's halo. Heal and gladden my rent heart! Grant, so we may never part! As sunlight on the wind tossed waves of the sea, Are the peerless twin jewels you gave to me! Must I weep, and heartbroken, call out to you? Cavorting with other maidens, are you? Is this form? Is this upright, your caper? Leaving me wan, is this proper? To your flute when I dance, as much my tresses thresh, So much my mind flutters, as pangs of love enmesh.

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Comments:
For a change of pace, let's sample a very popular song on Krishna, by Oothukkadu Venkata kavi. This kriti describes a woman, perhaps a gopika, or a cowherdess, pining for her beloved, Krishna. Venkata kavi composed in Tamil and Sanskrit. One detail is that he predated Tyagaraja, though it is uncertain by how much and led a life of obscurity by choice. He composed mainly on Krishna. This particular kriti is very reminiscent of the Gita Govinda of Jayadeva, popularly called Ashtapadi or 'Eight footed' or 'Eight stepped'. Separation from and entrancement by Krishna's music is a frequent theme in compositions dedicated to Krishna, particularly in the bhajans of the north of India.

A comparative study: I chose to evoke the famous literary ballad, "La Belle Dame sans Merci" by Keats here, because its underlying theme is mortal love, experienced once, that is now unattainable. Allegorically, the artist too, once he has seen art, can no longer make do with the mundane, nor can he relapse into the reverie of his first experiences with art. Similarly, in this song, we encounter a more chaste and subliminal divine love, experienced once, that now seems far away. Like an English ballad, this song too ends abruptly. There is no signing off, or 'resolution' for the thematic tension (parallel to musical tension and resolution), like you see in a Tyagaraja kriti, where he usually signs off with his stamp or mudra.

I considered rewriting my poem with the structure of a ballad, but eventually decided to leave it as its, as it fits the lyrical narrative better. You may find several references to Keats' poem here, such as "hath me in thrall", "elfin grot", unknown trance and being left wan. Since Krishna is considered a great deceiver in his play with the gopis, I have paralleled Keats' fairy's mystique in calling him a 'piper of intrigue' ('vinodamana muralidhara') who entranced the gopi. While Keats' knight was taken to an enchanted place, here, the gopi would like to be taken to a grove where she can be alone with Krishna. Of course, Keats' fairy seems to have been a negative character; whereas Krishna, was God the Perfect and such enchantment, abandonment and an eventual union, were all considered part of his Leela or Divine pastime. So, I retain all elements of the original and dally no further with the more mundane and baser pathos of Keats' theme. It is however an interesting study to compare the two ballads. They were composed not more than fifty to seventy years apart. Keats wrote his in 1821. Venkata Kavi is thought to have been most active in the first half of the 18th century.

You may also find that I have blended and used several meters here, including the iambic, as a trimeter, rather than the common 'iambic pentameter'. Note also that the penultimate verse closely follows the questioning last charanas, and can be read at the raised tempo of the song, as it moves towards the tension in the finale, that is characteristic of Venkata kavi. I have however, "resolved" the verses partially in the final foot.

Keats' ballad is too long to post here. So, here is a link to La Belle Dame sans Merci.

Word meanings: 'Kanna' is Krishna. 'Thanitta vanam' literally means a private grove. So, in the sense of an exotic or enchanted grove with the bewitching Krishna, I have given Keats' 'elfin grot'. 'Kanaikadal' loosely refers to "the febrile, fervid sea with lashing waves", or the "the darting, battering wave-filled sea". 'Kaḻal' in the next line means a toe-ring or anklet. However, this meaning is questionable. If it is taken as a toe-ring, that signifies the interlocutor's marriage with Krishna, and that she is now a forlorn wife, separated from Krishna. Yet, from the sentiments expressed in the Charanas, the interlocutor's being the wife of Krishna is very plausible. "Venu gaanam" or music from the flute- cf. "murali ravam" in the charanas from 'Manasa Sancharare'. That song however conveys a Bhakti bhava or devotion, and not a saki(companion) or gopika's viraha taapa bhava (emotion of separation and longing). I shall spare you any more details on bhava.

Tamil Transliteration details: In the romanization, note the hard "ṟ" sound as in "atrium", the unique ḻ sound as in Tamiḻ , the hard "ḷ" sound as in Glamorgan, the "ṅ" as in "bang", the "ñ" as in "banjo" and the soft ṉ sound as in "Great Dane", apart from the short and long u and o sounds, all not present in Sanskrit. The romanization is according to the National Library of Calcutta standard, as ISO 15919 doesn't cover these four cases. This standard will be reused for other Tamil kritis also.

I am not certain about the lyrics. I don't have a reliable print source for this song handy.

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Extra "Extra" Comments:
Oothukkaadu is not far from where your servant's forebears hail. Your servant shares Venkata kavi's gifts of solitude, anonymity, poverty, frugality and absence of an audience of any form; but in your servant's case, these gifts were certainly not sought! :)

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Sri Narada Muni

Raga Bhairavi, 20 Natabhairavi janya
Aa: S R2 G2 M1 P D2 N2 S Av: S N2 D1 P M1 G2 R2 S
Taalam: Adi

Lyrics: Pallavi: śrī nārada muni guru rāya! kaṇṭi- mē nāṭi tapamō, guru rāya ! Charanam: manasāra kōriti, guru rāya! nēḍu kanulāra kanukoṇṭimi, guru rāya! mī sēva dorikenu, guru rāya! bhava pāśamu dolagenu, guru rāya! nīvē sujnāna sukhi guru rāya! nīvēyajnāna śikhi, guru rāya! rājillu vīṇe gala guru rāya! tyāga- rājuni brōcina sadguru rāya!

English verse: Master of masters! Your boon to me O sage, Is perhaps by penance of an unknown age. Long, for you, was my heartfelt search, But this day, my eyes well up in joy. As you came down from your divine perch, I gained a door to your employ, And all my worldly coils lay ripped. The bliss of wisdom lights your face As nescience burns in the fire of your grace. Radiant's your veena twice-tipped, O great guru whom I've ever craved, By your hand, now, am I saved!

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On First Looking into Chapman's Homer:
Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne:
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez, when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific—and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise—
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

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Comments:
The Devarishi, or celestial sage Narada, is considered the father of classical music. Narada is a much beloved character in Hindu mythology. He is a frequent intercessor in both epics and several of the Puranas. He appears in various shades of character. He is a benevolent peacemaker, and a sprightly mischief maker whose tricks always end well and once, his arrogance over his supreme devotion to Vishnu was even put down. He is still considered a great bhakta. To Narada is also ascribed the Narada Bhakti Sutras, which laid out 84 tenets on the attainment and benefits of pure devotion and love for God. These sutras or rules are important to many schools of the Bhakti or Devotional movement. Narada is also said to have invented the Veena, which is the fundamental instrument of Carnatic music, to have laid the foundations of classical music by codifying its theoretical elements and to have constantly sung the praises of the gods.

Thus, to a Nadopasaka, who practised music as worship like Tyagraja, Narada is both the ideal or role model and the guru of gurus . There is even a legend about how Narada miraculously appeared before Tyagaraja, first as an old man and then as himself, and bequeathed to him, long lost treatises on music, including the 'Swararnava' and his own book, the 'Naradiya'. This served as a Rosetta stone for Tyagaraja to understand the higher intricacies of music; and so, Tyagaraja says, that his innermost wish was fulfilled in meeting Narada.

I have alluded to Narada's appearing before Tyagaraja as a boon; Tyagaraja considers his appearance the fruit of some "tapas" or penance he had unknowingly done. In Hindu mythology, one's intense penance to please the gods is eventually rewarded by their appearance and their granting of a boon.

This is not a kriti that is very frequently heard, and is sometimes heard as "Sri Narada mouni", but we learn a lot about Tyagaraja from it as below. Since Narada enables Tyagaraja's Nadopasana or music as worship, and Tyagaraja prays to him in this context, this song too can be considered an example of Nadopasana.

A comparative study: Let's consider another of Keats' poems, the sonnet "On first looking into Chapman's Homer". In the West, Homer had returned to wide reading among the educated, with the Renaissance. Education, then, mainly meant study of the classical Greek and Latin, philosophy, art appreciation and so on, unlike the more scientific education of modern days. So, most well educated people could read Homer in the Greek. Interestingly, Keats seems to have needed an interpreter for an intimate understanding of Homer. Scholarly translations of Homer by Pope and others existed long prior to Keats. But, the older Chapman's free translation of Homer, the first English translation, was innovative in making Homer's archaic turn of phrase, and circuitous descriptions, more accessible to lay readers, through simple paraphrase. Keats, as we may conclude from the poem, only "connected" with Homer's poetry and imagery, only when Chapman took him by the hand.

This is a well known sonnet, which, as could be tritely but truly said, is often quoted to describe the simple unadulterated pleasure a work of art can bring. Keats is said to have written this in spontaneous reaction to his delight at understanding Homer well. Quite parallel to Keats' joy at "meeting" Homer, Tyagaraja's too tells us of his spontaneous joy of "meeting" Narada and an innermost desire being fulfilled. In both works, we see the joy of a creative person, in being inspired by another light from an age past- Homer and Narada, that he is able to create many works of his own. Each now feels newly empowered to create many more works of art.

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Extra Comments:
Keats' poem is an Italian sonnet, a poem split into two parts, an 'octet' of eight lines and a 'sestet' of six lines. The octet introduces a main idea, and the sestet departs from it slightly, but resolves the theme of the poem. Interestingly, when made aware of the error that Balboa sighted the Pacific and not Cortez, Keats still left Cortez in, probably pleading license to keep his intended rhyme scheme and meter.

We could even reckon that, rather than in person, Tyagaraja "met" Narada in the words of the Naradiya, much like Keats found Homer, and so, is speaking figuratively.

Note on rhyme and structure: In some of the last few songs, I have strictly maintained a rhyming couplet scheme- "aabb" or "aa". This was more an artifact of the songs chosen, due to our intent to maintain line and word order as much as possible and to resemble the original and retain the flavor. After all, I am translating, and not writing my own. For instance, one of the first songs here, the Sanskrit "Manasa sancharare" itself was fully of rhyming couplets and I held that structure. Tyagaraja too, as here, seemingly rhymes often in couplets and this is apparent if he is read and not sung. We shall break the pattern here and in the next few kritis and also experiment when possible. We shall also look at more modern, free verse at some point, although that is a poor fit for something as structured as classical music. Here, I have used aa-bcbc-deed-ff.

Ancient veenas or more generally, lutes were often with two upturned ends, hence "twice tipped".

Why call Tyagaraja a "bard": Often, I render Tyagaraja's mudra ('stamp') of naming himself in his Kritis, as "bard". There is a hidden meaning in this. Historically, though a bard was a poet and singer, a bard was also someone who sang of kings, heroes and their exploits, just as Tyagaraja sang of Rama, a hero and a king, his virtues and his exploits, as well appealed to his divine mercy. Particularly, in the Utsava Sampradaya kritis, Tyagaraja speaks in the voice of a bard and Rama's court poet.

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"Extra" Extra Comments:
Friends, I am sorry for not posting over the last 4-5 days. I was down with a virus.

There is an indentation in the even numbered lines of the sonnet. But, even if I use the 'pre' tag, blogger seems to override it.

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Raga sudha rasa

Raga Andolika , 28 hairkhambhoji janya
Aa: S R2 M1 P N2 S Av: S N2 D2 M1 R2 S
Taalam: Deshadi

Lyrics: Pallavi: rāga sudhā rasa pānamu jēsi rañjillavē ō manasā Anupallavi: yāga yōga tyāga bhōga phalamosaṅgē (rāga) Charanam: sadāśiva mayamagu nādōṅkāra swara vidulu jīvanmuktulani tyāgarāju teliyu (rāga)

English verse: The nectar like juice of melody sip, O my mind, And joy therein, why don't you find? Rites, Meditations, austerity and pleasure, In such music, do their fruits come together. That in which Sadashiva pervades unbound- The notes from Om the primordial sound, They that are versed in them, the art profound, To the cycle of life and death are no longer bound. This is a verity, this bard has found.

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Comments:
There is a lot of subtlety to this kriti. This is again a Tyagaraja kriti focusing on Nadopasana or worship through music as the means to salvation, and is about the sublimity of music itself.

"Yaga, yoga, tyaga, bhoga" in the anupallavi, refers to the different paths of realizing God, namely, Ritualism, Meditations, Renunciation and pleasure. Music (Raga) is deemed to give all their fruits combined. See fuller description below. Om, the mystic syllable, generates the primordial sound. Shiva is described as permeating this primordial sound. From this sound, come the seven notes. Experts in the art of these seven notes, are said to be Jivanmukthas or those freed from the cycle of death and rebirth.

I have written 'manasa' literally. But, the literary device at play in "O Manasa" is soliloquy, though he also later says "Tyagaraja knows" in a more declarative form. It might be better to write addressing manas as addressing oneself is English.

Cf. the meter and structure I have written the anupallavi in, with the refrain in the English ballad "Scarborough fair", starting, "Parsley... love of mine" and the Charanas with portions of another famous ballad, 'The Solitary Reaper'.

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Extra Comments:
Due to the subtlety in the lyrics, I did a quick sweep of all my textbooks and some of the larger websites, and have this to say:

In the pallavi, the book by Prof. T.K. Govinda Rao, my main source for the lyrics (we write the translations from scratch), gives "rajillave" or shine. But, I have heard some of my favorite singers render it as "ranjillave" or rejoice. In Telugu, ranjillave is a better fit due to its meaning. To reason this more technically, I think "ranjillave" is a better fit, philologically. The original sanskrit expression comes from the association of "manas", mind, with the root "ranj". This root means gladden, redden, charm etc. and is often associated with manas, as in 'manoranjani'. These are loan words into Telugu and as the association of the two has also followed into Telugu, we can take the meaning directly from the original. In fact, Tyagaraja himself has used this expression in other places, such as the next kriti we post: Heccharikaga rara. It is most possible that this was just a typo in the said book, and not a variation in the lyrics needed such argumentation. But, isn't it nice that we can technically argue the point out too?

The reference to bhoga or pleasure in this kriti among well known religious paths like yagnya, yoga and tyaga might be counter-intuitive. But, this is so, if we think only about those common in Vedanta. If we include well known Tantric paths, even in some of the reputed schools, various pleasures, may be experienced- not base enjoyments- but those like the different levels of ecstasy arising out of various methods, like in Hatha or the rising Kundalini or certain other worships and propitiations. Alternatively, but less forcefully, we could tie 'bhoga' to 'phalam' as an adjective. But, as we know that statistically, Tyagaraja subordinated his lyrics to the underlying melody frequently, we could just innocuously take bhoga to be a filler and take it literally. It is always much more prudent with this composer, to take the more direct meaning as opposed to his junior contemporary in the music trinity. But we must always humbly remember that without a contemporaneous printing, we are only reasoning a posteriori.

Note that Meditations is in plural, to signify different contemplative and equivalent Yogic paths or the different Yogas, and is not in singular, to signify extended Meditation, ie Tapas or Penance.

Sadashiva means "Always pleasing", "Always auspicious or kind" and figuratively "Eternal Siva" or "The Eternal One in Whom all things abide". Sadashiva is certainly not the Siva of the Trinity. No, he is actually a Great God, one above the pantheon. But, though He is reckoned to be the Brahman in this distinct form by his adherents, He is not exactly synonymous with the concept of Brahman. This is similar to the notion of the all pervasive "Mahavishnu" among Vaishnava sects, as different from "Vishnu, the second of the Trinity" or the Vedic Vishnu. Cf. "Pratyaksham Brahman" or the "manifest/visible Supreme Self".

Jivanmukthas are noble souls freed from the cycle of rebirth and death. In some legends, they are said to inhabit one of the higher worlds above the earth and shine as stars. Souls that have attained salvation or mokhsa, are said to transit through their world before merging with the Paramatma. The order and depiction of these higher worlds and the positions of Jivanmukthas could vary.

The Charanas have always seemed to me like oddly befitting Sadashiva Brahmendra, a well known saint, music scholar and a reputed jivanmuktha who lived some time before Tyagaraja.

Actually, so much discussion comes up in this kriti because, many of the concepts mentioned in this kriti are very familiar in the prevalent sub-culture of Tyagaraja's region to this day, but are not known in other cultural contexts.

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Rama as the Ramayana describes Him- Alakallalalaadaga Part 2

Knowing the context of the Ramayana is essential to understanding Tyagaraja and thence, Indian culture and its place in world culture. In the Ramayana, Rama was described as the ideal man. The Ramayana begins with Valmiki, the poet, asking the celestial sage Narada who was the best of men. Narada replies that it was Rama and then details Rama's life to him. Rama was most just, virtuous, heroic, wise, strong and exceedingly handsome. Rama and his brothers were together, an incarnation of Vishnu, with Rama claiming half the divinity. 


Rama as depicted in the Ramayana: We concern ourselves with poetry a lot at this site. The Ramayana, called the "Adi Kavya" or the Original Poem, was the first work of poetry in Sanskrit and the oldest epic poetry extant today. The parallels with the first classical epic of the west, the Iliad, are obvious. The Ramayana which does seem to be the older, is much more complete as a work in plot and detail. It also contains far more science, history, ethics, philosophy and theology, as the poet does not merely chronicle, but also develops his subject. Such observations of course fall within such realm as we find when we torture comparison between the two works, as there are great differences too. In the Iliad, Helen eloped. Sita was abducted and remained the paragon of virtue as she spurned Ravana continuously. The Illiad chiefly celebrates valor. The Ramayana on the other hand is much more profound. It does not celebrate any one exploit or attributes. Instead, it celebrates the ideal of Man. In fact, it begins with the poet Valmiki musing about who was the ideal man, who was worthy of his poetic labors. And the omniscient sage Narada appears before him and describes Rama's many virtues. This was the ideal man.

Here are the verses from the Ramayana where Narada first introduces Rama to Valmiki. These verses describe Rama's attributes and virtues in full.

Valmiki asks:

ko nvasminsāmprataṁ loke guṇavānkaśca vīryavān |
dharmajñaśca kṛtajñaśca satyavākyo dṛḍhavrataḥ ||1.1.2||

cāritreṇa ca ko yuktaḥ sarvabhūteṣu ko hitaḥ |
vidvānkaḥ kaḥ samarthaśca kaścaikapriyadarśanaḥ ||1.1.3||

ātmavānko jitakrodho matimānko'nasūyakaḥ |
kasya bibhyati devāśca jātaroṣasya saṁyuge ||1.1.4||

"Who in this world now, is goodly, valorous, righteous, thankful and truthful and has fixity of purpose?
Who is of sound character and the benefactor of all beings? Who is wise and capable and whose kindness makes him a pleasant sight to all?
Who is assured, calm and radiant and has no envy? Whose wrath do even the gods fear in war?"

And Narada replies:

bahavo durlabhāścaiva ye tvayā kīrtitā guṇāḥ |
mune vakṣyāmyahaṁ buddhvā tairyuktaḥ śrūyatāṁ naraḥ ||1.1.7||
"Many are the virtues you speak of, O sage! Listen, as I describe to you a man of such qualities.
 
ikṣvākuvaṁśaprabhavo rāmo nāma janaiḥ śrutaḥ |
niyatātmā mahāvīryo dyutimāndhṛtimānvaśī ||1.1.8||
He arose in the line of Ikshvaaku and he is called Rama. He is disciplined and has great courage. He is radiant and resolute and also has temperance.
 
buddhimānnītimānvāṅgmī śrīmāñśatrunibarhaṇaḥ |
vipulāṁso mahābāhuḥ kambugrīvo mahāhanuḥ ||1.1.9|| 
Intelligent, just, articulate and auspicious, he is the queller of foes. He has broad shoulders, big arms, a conch like stout neck marked by three lines and high cheek bones.

mahorasko maheṣvāso gūḍhajatrurarindamaḥ |
ājānubāhuḥ suśirāḥ sulalāṭaḥ suvikramaḥ ||1.1.10||
Barrel-chested, a great archer and muscular, he destroys foes. He has long arms dipping to his knees, a well proportioned head and a  wide forehead and is quick of step.

samaḥ samavibhaktāṅgaḥ snigdhavarṇaḥ pratāpavān |
pīnavakṣā viśālākṣo lakṣmīvāñśubhalakṣaṇaḥ ||1.1.11||
Of good proportions and similar limbs, lustrous and valorous, stout chested, wide eyed and handsome,- such are his auspicious features. 
 
dharmajñaḥ satyasandhaśca prajānāṁ ca hite rataḥ |
yaśasvī jñānasampannaḥ śucirvaśyaḥ samādhimān ||1.1.12||
Discerning of righteousness, truthful, seized of his subjects' welfare, famous and learned, he is immaculate and focused.

rakṣitā jīvalokasya dharmasya parirakṣitā |
vedavedāṅgatattvajño dhanurvede ca niṣṭhitaḥ || 1.1.13||
He protects all beings and the world and is the guardian of righteousness. He is versed in the principles of the Veda and the Vedic auxiliaries and in science of archery.

sarvaśāstrārthatattvajño smṛtimānpratibhānavān |
sarvalokapriyaḥ sādhuradīnātmā vicakṣaṇaḥ ||1.1.14||
He knows the purport and essence of all scriptures. He knows tradition and laws and acts in accordance with them. He is loved in all the worlds, gentle, high minded and discriminating.

sarvadābhigataḥ sadbhiḥ samudra iva sindhubhiḥ |
āryaḥ sarvasamaścaiva sadaikapriyadarśanaḥ ||1.1.15|| 
Ever approachable to the pious as the ocean is to rivers, the honorable one treats all equally and is ever a fond sight to all.

sa ca sarvaguṇopetaḥ kausalyānandavardhanaḥ |
samudra iva gāmbhīrye dhairyeṇa himavāniva ||1.1.16|| 
Kaushalya's joy is so endowed will all virtues. He is as deep as the ocean and as firm and steady as the Himalayas.

viṣṇunā sadṛśo vīrye somavatpriyadarśanaḥ |
kālāgnisadṛśaḥ krodhe kṣamayā pṛthivīsamaḥ ||1.1.17||
Like Vishnu in bravery, and charming like the moon, he is like the apocalyptic fire in anger and in patience, equal to the earth.
 
dhanadena samastyāge satye dharma ivāparaḥ |
tamevaṅguṇasampannaṁ rāmaṁ satyaparākramam ||1.1.18|| 
In giving, he is like Kubera, the lord of wealth and unsurpassed in being true like Dharma, the lord of righteousness and death. Such are the virtues of Rama, the truly valorous." 

Here is something in great contrast to other incarnations of Vishnu and other gods as described elsewhere. Narada describes a man of superlative qualities, but a man nonetheless. Nowhere does he say that Rama was a god and so wrought miracles or that Rama claimed any divinity for Himself. Rama is described as the ideal man throughout the book who wrought miracles by virtue and by perspiration. We are told elsewhere that Rama and His brothers were indeed incarnations and shared divinity among them. But, we are also clearly told that Rama even if divine, never exercised nor claimed any divine powers and lived and perspired as an ordinary mortal. That is, Rama was a model for men to aspire to, far more than being a deity to worship. Rama represents the ascent of ordinary man to divinity through virtue and merit. Such is what we gather from the Ramayana.

It is possible to view the attributes mentioned here, as being those of the Supreme Self. This is how several commentators view it, finding an inner meaning to these verses. However, I have, in conformity with the theme of the "ideal Man" in the original text, alluded to them as humanly virtues.
  
For an interesting comparison, here is R.T.H. Griffith's rendition of the same verses from the late 19th century, when the world was a very different place and western sensibilities to the east, were nascent and sometimes ill-founded. Much study of the east and of Hinduism, Buddhism and such subjects took place, though often, not with the noblest intent. Yet, even over a hundred years later, for better or worse, Griffith, Max Mueller and other translators of their times have stood on in the west. Griffith who also wrote the first Rg and Sama Veda translations for the West, chose to write a verse translation of the Ramayana. While this was an admirable objective and his scholarship in the classical languages of the West and the East, and English, was vast, personally, I find novelty but not the poet's mark in these verses. I find the job adequate but not very highly competent.

Then Nárad, clear before whose eye The present, past, and future lie, Made ready answer: 'Hermit, where Are graces found so high and rare? Yet listen, and my tongue shall tell In whom alone these virtues dwell. From old Ikshváku's  line he came, Known to the world by Ráma's name: With soul subdued, a chief of might, In Scripture versed, in glory bright, His steps in virtue's paths are bent, Obedient, pure, and eloquent. In each emprise he wins success, And dying foes his power confess. Tall and broad-shouldered, strong of limb, Fortune has set her mark on him. Graced with a conch-shell's triple line, His threat displays the auspicious sign. High destiny is clear impressed On massive jaw and ample chest, His mighty shafts he truly aims, And foemen in the battle tames. Deep in the muscle, scarcely shown, Embedded lies his collar-bone. His lordly steps are firm and free, His strong arms reach below his knee; All fairest graces join to deck His head, his brow, his stately neck, And limbs in fair proportion set: The manliest form e'er fashioned yet. Graced with each high imperial mark, His skin is soft and lustrous dark.

Large are his eyes that sweetly shine With majesty almost divine. His plighted word he ne'er forgets; On erring sense a watch he sets. By nature wise, his teacher's skill Has trained him to subdue his will. Good, resolute and pure, and strong, He guards mankind from scathe and wrong, And lends his aid, and ne'er in vain, The cause of justice to maintain. Well has he studied o'er and o'er The Vedas and their kindred lore. Well skilled is he the bow to draw, Well trained in arts and versed in law; High-souled and meet for happy fate, Most tender and compassionate; The noblest of all lordly givers, Whom good men follow, as the rivers Follow the King of Floods, the sea: So liberal, so just is he. The joy of Queen Kaus'alyá's heart, In every virtue he has part: Firm as Himálaya's snowy steep, Unfathomed like the mighty deep: The peer of Vishnu's power and might, And lovely as the Lord of Night; Patient as Earth, but, roused to ire, Fierce as the world-destroying fire; In bounty like the Lord of Gold, And Justice self in a human mould.

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Extra Comments:  
I write all translations from the Sanskrit or Telugu originals afresh for this site. Neither R.T.H. Griffith, nor anyone else are sources for the translations presented anywhere in this site, unless explicitly mentioned as such. The Griffith translation here is a free translation and is not literal or word-for-word. Also, I favor a "from the source" approach in order to be close to the original. I seldom touch commentaries, even ancient ones, to present the subjects here, unless it is necessary. On occasion, the reader might find I deviate from common readings slightly. This will generally be because, I have, in my opinion, tried to remain as close to the original as possible.

In order to develop the themes and rationale of Tyagaraja further by touching upon the virtues of Rama, I have continued the commentary of the last song, than belabor a new one. This note on Rama pertains to all the songs on this site and helps to understand how Tyagaraja saw Rama in his mental image.

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Extra Extra Comments
Your servant's grandfather left behind in manuscript, his very fine translation of the Ramayana. This remains as yet unpublished, mainly because I haven't gotten around to redacting it. He was my first Sanskrit teacher and though I was only a few years old at his passing, he remains an inspiration to me. The least one can do, is befit one's legacy and not belie it. 

On anonymity: I had comment that I had not named my grandfather above and any wish to preserve my privacy may not be offset by including just his name in tribute. This is true to a degree. However, as some readers who have corresponded with me know, I have retained anonymity here only because I am not yet sure of the final form the matter here- as book, newsprint, audiovisual or new media or just this website. I am also not sure if and when I will complete this venture as it is planned to run to over 3000 pages and cover not just Tyagaraja but music, Indian culture and Comparative Literature to the extent possible and meaningful, as suited for the modern reader,- a key consideration being that much literature written on these topics including Tyagaraja is either antiquated by now, or presumes a well informed and invested reader of a certain background or both, whereas my approach here makes no such assumptions of the reader. It is accessible to the modern reader of both kinds- those new to these subjects and to those well versed in it. Our purpose here, is not to just provide a compendium of all Tyagaraja songs or a selection. As the final form and extent are still unknown, I am also not actively promoting this website at various print and online forums. However, it has little to do with privacy and more to do with completeness. I do identify myself as needed, in correspondence I receive on this site. When the final form and extent of the content here is known, I will of course publicize as necessary, this website and any accompanying books or the like and affix my name to the whole as being the party responsible for all its shortcomings. I will at such time, identify my ancestor as well as those readers and fellow scholars and students of these subjects, who provided suggestions and insightful comments and the one or two who provided reference or other resources to aid in this work. Until such a time comes to pass, I don't think it is necessary to "name names".

An aside: This now comes to mind. Nirad C. Chaudhri, in his Continent of Circe, made the unfounded and hilarious suggestion, albeit in all seriousness, that Rama was a Persian prince and the siege of Ramayana happened on an island in ancient Persia.

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