Tyagaraja
Tyagaraja
Tyagaraja
It is indeed fortunate that Tyagaraja has left to posterity, apart from his
legendary musical output, his intimate philosophical musings also. There
may be people who insist that musical compositions are mere musical
compositions, and not poetry. They are free to nurse their fancy notion
that music is to be evaluated exclusively on the basis of the dhatus, and
about the literary content, the less said, the better. This philosophy
unfortunately can do little justice to the beauty of the compositions of master
minds like Tyagaraja and Diksitar. In the case of Tyagaraja, who
documented his turbulent, lyrical and spiritual mindscape through his intense
musical outpourings, the lyrical outpourings are as intense as their musical
manifestations. Fortunately, thousands of connoisseurs of music having
some literary ingenuity continue to be sensitive to the message he sought to
convey through his compositions, though it will be unjust to separate the
dhatu from the matu from the organic whole which constitutes his musical
legacy. Both of them are complementary to each other.
1
itself. The realization of the principle of Nada, originating from the
Muladhara itself, according to him creates the supreme bliss. That is the
reason why he equates music combined with devotion with both svarga
(heaven) and apavarga(salvation). It may be recalled that in Indian tradition,
the ultimate salvation through philosophical knowledge is difficult to attain.
The Bhagavadgita says: bahunam janmanamante jnanavan mam
prapadyate: A person opting Jnanamarga has to wait for several births to
attain the God. On the other hand, through the path of devotion, a person can
attain salvation the very moment he realizes Ragas.
The same philosophy of music is time and again repeated in many other self-
reflexive krtis also. In the Kalyanavasanta piece nadaloludai, Tyagaraja
exhorts his mind to attain the highest spiritual bliss by losing itself in Nada,
which is associated with various Ragas, manifested by the seven notes. In
his Devagandhari piece, Sitavarasangita, he says that music is a gift of god
which qualifies a person to become a realized soul. In Moksamu galada, his
Saramati piece, Tyagaraja asks if it is possible to anybody, except the
Jivanmukta to attain salvation. It is indeed difficult to reach the higher
realms of divine consciousness without a proper knowledge of divine music
combined with true devotion, he asserts. The Andolika piece Ragasudharasa
contains the exhortation “O mind! Drink the nectar of the Ragas and attain
the fruits of Yaga, Yoga, Tyaga and Bhoga.” Here he asserts that a person
who comprehends the nature of Nada, Omkara and Svara as Sadasiva
himself is a realized soul (Jivanmukta).The Jaganmohini song, Sobhillu
saptasvara exhorts the mind to worship the “beautiful goddess presiding over
the seven svaras’. She is manifested through navel, heart, throat tongue and
nose. She is embodied in Rgveda and Samaveda and the heart of Gayatri
Mantra .She shines in the minds of gods, holy persons and Tyagaraja.
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astray.1 True spiritual music is a great art practiced by sages and saints like
Bhrngi, Natesa and Hanuman. The worth of music is known only by a
person who knows right and wrong, the worthlessness of worldly wealth,
and who has conquered his inner enemies like passion and anger. It may be
recalled that Indian philosophical systems like Yoga and Vedanta also
underline the importance of ethical purity for a person desirous of attaining
spiritual salvation.
It is not surprising that Tyagaraja has recorded his own perceptions of music
in many of his compositions. He defines Krti or Kirtana in his song
Sogasugamrdangatalamu. In the words of Dr.V.Raghavan, Kritis, as
conceived by Tyagaraja expound the true words of the exalted Upanisads,
and are marked by correct placements of Svaras, and rhythmic turns and
pauses, and reflect true devotion and detachment( vairagya) 4. Rich in nine
Rasas, they are like grapes rich in juice .
1
V.Raghavan, Saint Tyagaraja(Introductory thesis to The spiritual Heritage of Tyagaraja), p. 42
2
Ibid, p.40.
3
Ayodhyakanda, II 2.34.See Raghavan, op.cit, p. 40
4
Raghavan, op,. cit .p.36.
3
Raghavan also attempts a free paraphrase with an irresistible
contemporaneous touch of the interesting song of Tyagaraja
Kaddanuvariki, the Todi piece, which, to him, insists on a “well trained
voice, perfect Sruti, spotless personal character, and faithfulness to tradition”
Cast off your sleep, get up very early in the morning and
practice;culture your voice well in the still early hours of the
morning(we may add –do not sleep till 9.00A.M and allow your
voice to sink to half a kattai or quarter of a kattai and then
requisition the other limbs of your body to make sancharas
which your voice cannot execute).Take a beautiful Tambura for
your Sruti(we may add-cast off your Sruti box) Let your mind
be pure, intone the svaras correctly and well, and stick to the
sampradaya.5
To sum up Tyagaraja’s concept of music, we cannot miss the fact that it was
a way of life to him. He could not think about any compromises for it or for
the values he cherished. The story goes that he politely declined the
invitation of the King to sing in praise of him .He had a mystic’s mind and
explored the higher secrets of the universe through his devotional music.
True to his lofty concept, he never allowed his songs to degenerate into
verbal or acoustic acrobatics .They deserve a reverential handling from the
sensitive artist. Each Kriti of Tyagaraja has a soul, to realize which, we have
to go beyond mere technical mastery.
5
Ibid, p.38