Thyagaraja Kriti - Sangita Sastra - Raga Mukhari

Transliteration–Telugu _______________________________________________________
Transliteration as per Modified Harvard-Kyoto (HK) Convention
(including Telugu letters – Short e, Short o) -

a A i I u U
R RR lR lRR
e E ai o O au M (H or :)

(e – short E – Long o – short O – Long)

k kh g gh n/G
c ch j jh n/J (jn – as in jnAna)
T Th D Dh N
t th d dh n
p ph b bh m
y r l L v
S sh s h

sangIta SAstra-mukhAri

In the kRti ‘sangIta SAstra jnAnamu’– rAga mukhAri SrI tyAgarAja describes the transcendental nature of knowledge of sangIta.

P sangIta SAstra jnAnamu
¹sArUpya saukhyadamE manasA

A ²SRngAra ras(A)d(y)akhila sAra
pUrita rAma kath(A)nand(A)bdhi yuta (sangIta)

C ³prEma bhakti su-jana vAtsalyamu
SrImad ramA vara kaTAkshamu
⁴nEma nishTha ⁵yaSO dhanam(o)sangunE
⁶nErpu kalgu tyAgarAju nErcina (sangIta)

Gist
O My Mind!
The knowledge of the subject of sangIta, as learnt by this tyAgarAja - together with ocean called 'the bliss of the story of rAma', brimming with the entire essence of (nine) rasas, beginning with SRngAra - bestows the comfort of attaining the same form as that of the Lord.

Such a knowledge indeed confers the highest form of loving devotion, affection of virtuous people, the grace of vishNu, the wealth of self control, firmness and renown; one will also attains skills.

Word-by-word Meaning

P O My Mind (manasA)! The knowledge (jnAnamu) of the subject (SAstra) of sangIta bestows the comfort (saukhyada) (saukhyadamE) of attaining the same form as that of the Lord (sArUpya).

A O My Mind! The knowledge of subject of sangIta,
together with (yuta) ocean (abdhi) called 'the bliss (Ananda) of the story (kathA) (kathAnandAbdhi) of rAma',
brimming with (pUrita) the entire (akhila) essence (sAra) of (nine) rasas - beginning with (Adi) (rasAdyakhila) SRngAra (love) -
bestows the comfort of attaining the same form as that of the Lord.

C It (knowledge of subject of sangIta) indeed confers (osangunE) –
the highest form of loving (prEma) devotion (bhakti), affection (vAtsalyamu) (literally paternal love) of virtuous people (su-jana),
the grace (kaTAkshamu) of vishNu - the spouse (vara) of lakshmI (Srimad ramA),
the wealth (dhanamu) (dhanamosangunE) of self control (niyama), firmness (nishTha) and renown (yaSO);
one will also attain (kalgu) skills (nErpu);
O My Mind! The knowledge of the subject of sangIta as learnt (nErcina) by this tyAgarAja (tyAgarAju) bestows the comfort of attaining same form as that of the Lord.

Notes –
Variations –

References –
¹ – sArUpya - The four stages of mukti are – sAlOkya – being co-located with Lord, sAmIpya – being in the neighbourhood of Lord , sArUpya – being of likeness of Lord, sAyujya – union with Lord. The following verse from Sivananda Lahari (verse 28) is relevant –

sArUpyaM tava pUjanE Siva mahAdEvEti saMkIrtanE
sAmIpyaM Sivabhakti-dhurya-janatA-sAMgatya-saMbhAshaNE
sAlOkyaM ca carAcarAtmaka-tanu-dhyAnE bhavanIpatE
sAyujyaM mama siddha-matra bhavati svAmin kRtArtOsmyahaM

“O Lord of bhavAnI! I attain -
to similarity of form with Thee by performing Thy ritualistic worship;
to closeness with Thee by singing Thy priase;
to residence in Thy heavenly plane by associating and conversing with Thy noble devotees; and
to oneness with Thee by contemplating on Thy form constituted of the whole of this living and non-living world.
Thus in this very embodiment I shall attain life’s fulfilment.” (Translation by Swami Tapasyananda)

What is sArUpya? - “Because Gajendra, King of the elephants, had been touched directly by the hands of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he was immediately freed of all material ignorance and bondage. Thus he received the salvation of sārūpya-mukti, in which he achieved the same bodily features as the Lord, being dressed in yellow garments and possessing four hands.” (SB.VIII.4.6). http://vedabase.net/sb/8/4/en

vaishNavas do not seem to desire beyond sArUpya stage; sAyujya is not a preferred goal for them because the devotee always wants to be an adorer of the Lord. Please refer to explanation by Swami Krishnananda -
sAyujya and vaishNavism

² - SRngAra rasAdi - The nava rasa are - SRngAra - love, vIra - valour, bIbhatsa - disgust, raudra - anger, hAsya - mirth, bhayAnaka - terror, karuNa - pity, adbhuta - wonder, SAnta – tranquility. Almost all the definitions of 'nava rasa', begin with 'SRngAra'. Therefore, the word 'Adi' (SRngAra Adi) has been translated as 'beginning with' rather than 'etc'.

³ – prEma bhakti - The definition, aids, effects of prEma bhakti are found in nArada bhakti sutrAs. One of the aids (sAdhanAni) for prEma bhakti is –

lOkEpi bhagavad guNa SravaNa kIrtanAt 37

“By hearing and singing the glory of the Lord even while engaged in the ordinary activities of life.” (Translation by Swami Tyagisananda)

In another kRti, Sri tyAgarAja sings ‘rAma kathA sudhA rasa pAnamu oka rAjyamu cEsune’ - Drinking the nectar of the story of SrI rAma is equivalent to the rule of a kingdom.

⁴ – nEma nishTha – the Eight-Fold (ashTAnga) yOga – yama, niyama, Asana, prANAyAma, pratyAhAra, dhAraNa, dhyAna, samAdhi – please refer to 'patanjali yOga sUtra'.

Comments -
⁵ – yaSO dhanamu - ‘dhanamu’ here refers the wealth of ‘nEma’, ‘nishTha’ and ‘yaSO’; ‘wealth’ as such is not meant here. This will be clear when read in conjunction with the word ‘sArupya’; wealth as such becomes totally irrelevant and, in fact, a hindrance to spiritual progress. This is more so because SrI tyAgarAja criticises those who ‘sell’ music in the kRti ‘durmArga cara’.

⁶ – nErpu kalgu – In one of the books, this seems to have been translated as 'discriminating (tyAgarAja)'. However, in view of the ensuring word 'nErcina' (tyAgarAja nErcina) (learnt by tyAgarAja), 'nErpu kalgu' and 'nErcina' might become mutually contradictory. Therefore, this has been taken as one of the results of knowledge of sangIta and translated as 'one will attain skills'. Though, 'skills' does not seem to refer to any specific skill.

General – the statements in pallavi - 'sArUpa saukhyada' (bestows the comfort of sArUpya) and in caraNa – 'nEma nishTha yaSO dhanamosangunE' (bestows the wealth of self control, firmness and glory) and also 'tyAgarAju nErcina' (learnt by tyAgarAja) do not refer to mere knowledge (and practice) of the subject of sangIta (sangIta SAstra jnAnamu), but includes inescapably the statement in anupallavi about 'rAma kathA Ananda abdhi' (the ocean of bliss of the story of rAma); in essence, only such jnAna of sangIta SAstra combined with bhakti can bestow the said comforts etc. Please refer to tyAgarAja's kRti 'sangIta jnAnamu bhakti vinA sanmArgamu kaladE' (mere knowledge of sangIta without bhakti will not lead one in the right path.)


Devanagari

ऎ,कॆ,चॆ.. - e,ke,ce..(short);
ए,के,चे.. - E,kE,cE..(long);
ऐ,कै,चै.. - ai,kai,cai..;
ऒ,कॊ,चॊ.. - o,ko,co..(short);
ओ,को,चो.. - O,kO,cO..(long);
औ,कौ,चौ.. -au,kau,cau..;

प. संगीत शास्त्र ज्ञानमु
सारूप्य सौख्यदमे मनसा

अ. शृंगार र(सा)(द्य)खिल सार
पूरित राम क(था)न(न्दा)ब्धि युत (स)

च. प्रेम भक्ति सु-जन वात्सल्यमु
श्रीम(द्र)मा वर कटाक्षमु
नेम निष्ठ यशो धन(मॊ)संगुने
नेर्पु कल्गु त्यागराजु नेर्चिन (स)

Tamil

க,ச,ட,த,ப - 2-ख छ ठ थ फ; 3-ग ड द ब; 4-घ झ ढ ध भ
(ச3 - ஜ)
ஸ1 श - शिव - சிவன்
ரு2 ऋ - कृप - கிருபை

ப. ஸங்கீ3த ஸா1ஸ்த்ர ஞானமு
ஸாரூப்ய ஸௌக்2யத3மே மனஸா

அ. ஸ்1ரு2ங்கா3ர ர(ஸா)(த்3ய)கி2ல ஸார
பூரித ராம க(தா2)னந்(தா3)ப்3தி4 யுத (ஸ)

ச. ப்ரேம ப4க்தி ஸு-ஜன வாத்ஸல்யமு
ஸ்ரீமத்3-ரமா வர கடாக்ஷமு
நேம நிஷ்ட2 யஸோ1 த4ன(மொ)ஸங்கு3னே
நேர்பு கல்கு3 த்யாக3ராஜு நேர்சின (ஸ)

சங்கீத சாத்திரத்தின் அறிவு
சாரூப்பிய சௌக்கியத்தினை யருளுமே, மனமே!

சிங்கார ரசம் முதலான அனைத்து சாரங்களும்
நிறை இராமனின் கதையெனும் ஆனந்தக் கடலுடன் கூடிய
சங்கீத சாத்திரத்தின் அறிவு
சாரூப்பிய சௌக்கியத்தினை யருளுமே, மனமே!

காதலுடன் கூடிய (இறைப்) பற்று, நல்லோரின் பரிவு,
திருமகள் மணாளனின் கருணை,
நியமம், நிட்டை, புகழ் ஆகிய செல்வங்களை வழங்குமே;
திறமைகளுண்டாகும்; தியாகராசன் கற்றறிந்த
சங்கீத சாத்திரத்தின் அறிவு
சாரூப்பிய சௌக்கியத்தினை யருளுமே, மனமே!

சாரூப்பியம் - கடவுளதுருப் பெற்றிருத்தல் - திருமந்திரச் செய்யுள் காண்க -
சிங்கார ரசம் - நவரசங்களிலொன்று
நியமம், நிட்டை - அட்டயோகத்தின் அங்கங்கள்

தங்கிய சாரூபந் தானெட்டாம் யோகமாந்
தங்குஞ் சன்மார்க்கந் தனிலன்றிக் கைகூடா
அங்கத் துடல்சித்தி சாதன ராகுவர்
இங்கிவ ராக விழிவற்ற யோகமே (திருமந்திரம் - 1510)

Telugu

ప. సంగీత శాస్త్ర జ్ఞానము
సారూప్య సౌఖ్యదమే మనసా

అ. శృంగార రసాద్యఖిల సార
పూరిత రామ కథానందాబ్ధి యుత (స)

చ. ప్రేమ భక్తి సు-జన వాత్సల్యము
శ్రీమద్రమా వర కటాక్షము
నేమ నిష్ఠ యశో ధనమొసంగునే
నేర్పు కల్గు త్యాగరాజు నేర్చిన (స)

Kannada

ಪ. ಸಂಗೀತ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ ಜ್ಞಾನಮು
ಸಾರೂಪ್ಯ ಸೌಖ್ಯದಮೇ ಮನಸಾ

ಅ. ಶೃಂಗಾರ ರಸಾದ್ಯಖಿಲ ಸಾರ
ಪೂರಿತ ರಾಮ ಕಥಾನಂದಾಬ್ಧಿ ಯುತ (ಸ)

ಚ. ಪ್ರೇಮ ಭಕ್ತಿ ಸು-ಜನ ವಾತ್ಸಲ್ಯಮು
ಶ್ರೀಮದ್ರಮಾ ವರ ಕಟಾಕ್ಷಮು
ನೇಮ ನಿಷ್ಠ ಯಶೋ ಧನಮೊಸಂಗುನೇ
ನೇರ್ಪು ಕಲ್ಗು ತ್ಯಾಗರಾಜು ನೇರ್ಚಿನ (ಸ)

Malayalam

പ. സങ്ഗീത ശാസ്ത്ര ജ്ഞാനമു
സാരൂപ്യ സൌഖ്യദമേ മനസാ

അ. ശൃങ്ഗാര രസാദ്യഖില സാര
പൂരിത രാമ കഥാനന്ദാബ്ധി യുത (സ)

ച. പ്രേമ ഭക്തി സു-ജന വാത്സല്യമു
ശ്രീമദ്രമാ വര കടാക്ഷമു
നേമ നിഷ്ഠ യശോ ധനമൊസങ്ഗുനേ
നേര്പു കല്ഗു ത്യാഗരാജു നേര്ചിന (സ)

Updated on 05 Feb 2009