Sangita Jnanamu

Raga Dhanyasi , 8 Hanumatodi janya
Aa: S G2 M1 P N2 S Av: S N2 D1 P M1 G2 R1 S
Taalam: Adi

Lyrics: Pallavi: saṅgīta jñānamu bhakti vinā sanmārgamu galadē manasā Anupallavi: bhṛṅgi naṭēśa samīraja ghaṭaja mataṅga nāradādulupāsincē Charanam: nyāyānyāyamu telusunu jagamulu māyāmayamani telusunu durguṇa kāyajādi ṣaḍ-ripula jayiñcu kāryamu telusunu tyāgarājuniki

English verse: To know music without devotion, Is from the right, grave deviation. The son of Wind and the lord of dance, The bee and the dean of musical nuance, And he that emerged from a vessel,- From their worship, comes this counsel. In the world, I discern right from wrong, And see it's been an illusion all along. The six vices corporeal, have but one subjugation; This, I find, is the path of musical dedication.

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Comments:
This powerful and popular kriti is one of the greatest examples of Tyagaraja's Nadopasana or worship through music. The "right path", is of course, an allusion to the path to salvation. Thus, the message of this kriti is that music with devotion, is the path to salvation.

Natesha, literally, "the lord of dancers", is a reference to Siva. Hanuman is the son of the god of wind (or wind personified). The celestial sage Narada, a frequent intercessor in both epics and in several puranas, is also said to have invented the Vina and musical structure, and to have written the first work on the theory of music. Tyagaraja considered him the guru of gurus (hence the 'dean'), and composed a few kritis in his praise. The sage Bhringi, one of the chiefs of Siva's retinue, took the form of a 'bee' during his penances. Agastya, one of the Seven Sages, was said to have been miraculously born in a pitcher. He is mentioned by similar epithets in other kritis as well. Another great sage, Maatanga, whom I left out claiming poetic license, is also mentioned in this kriti. He too has appeared in several episodes in both the epics and in the puranas. Kama, krodha, lobha, moha, mada and matsarya are said to be the six great vices, or "six enemies" as in the kriti. They correspond in order to, lust, anger, greed, delusion, arrogance, and envy. In the pallavi, literally, he says if music is practiced without devotion, the right path shall remain elusive. So, to Tyagaraja, music is sublime.

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Extra Comments:
There is a vast difference between Nadopasana or worship through music, and 'sacred music' or music written for worship, such as chants and hymns. The latter is an aid to religion. But, to a Nadopasaka or votary of Nadopasana, music itself is the religion. The latter is intended to supplement select religious services, and general adoration. But, a Nadopasaka is totally immersed in the study of music and the musical exaltation of God. A Nadopasaka might still compose or perform 'sacred music'.

"Kayaja" is an unusual usage to signify "born of the body"; kaaya or a form of it like kaayam, refers to the body in several Indian languages. As Kama or lust is always mentioned first among the among the vices and as Tyagaraja frequently described persons and entities by specifying their origination, using the suffix "ja", and was fond of avoiding enumeration by using the et cetera or "aadi", this meaning is quite in line. He also mentions exactly six "enemies", which are unmistakable for anything other than the six great vices, given the context of this kriti, and the frequent mention they find in religious and philosophical literature.

As accents and pronunciations abound these days, note that I have required nuance and dance to be read as nuɑns/noo-ahns and dɑns/dahns respectively, to keep with the rhyme scheme in the Anupallavi verse.

Note that Tyagaraja's advaitin or monist heritage is apparent in his description of the world as a great illusion in the Charanas.


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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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Nada tanumanisham

Raga citta ranjani , 22 karaharapriya janya
Aa: S R2 G2 M1 P D2 N2 S Av: S N2 D2 P M1 G2 R2 S
Taalam: Adi

Lyrics: Pallavi: nāda tanumaniśaṃ śaṅkaram namāmi mē manasā śirasā Anupallavi: modakara nigamottama sāma- vēdasāraṃ vāraṃ vāram Charanam: sadyojātādi pañcavaktraja sarigamapadhanī vara saptaswara vidyālolaṃ vidalita kālam vimala hṛdaya tyāgarāja pālam

English verse: To Sankara, the embodiment of the musical art, I bow my head with all my heart. Of delightful Sama Veda, The acme of the Vedic domain, As He is the essence, I bow time and time again. From Sadyojata and the others of His five faces, The scale Sa-Ri-Ga-Ma-Pa-Dha-Ni, arises. Etudes of the fine seven notes, Death's bane, titillate, That guardian of Tyagaraja the immaculate.

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Comments:
As a Nadopaska, or one whose music was his worship, Tyagaraja frequently praised music itself, or its elements, and considered it the most exalted. This kriti is an example. Sama Veda is considered the origin of music, as singing its verses was the first sacred music. The other vedas are not sung. In his five headed form, Siva is considered the creator of music. Such themes appear in many places in Tyagaraja's kritis. Strangely, though Tyagaraja calls Siva the essence of Sama Veda, in his form as Rudra, or as one of the Rudras, Siva appears in the Sama Veda in only eight or nine verses of nearly two thousand. Sankara literally means "He who does good". Usually, the allusion to crushing Death, is taken as a specific reference to Siva saving the boy-sage Markandeya. But more generally, Siva as the destroyer of the Trinity, has overlordship over Kala, Yama, Dharma or Death, and is described as having saved several other devotees from death. That is why he is called Mrityunjaya, and when someone is at death's door, the Mrityunjaya Homa is performed to save them. Allusion to Mrityunjaya is more frequent. Vidalita Kaalam can in fact, be alternately given as Mrityunjaya literally, Victor over Death. Studies of the seven notes is a figurative reference to music, and literally can be taken as an etude.


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