~ 7 ~ bhaktuDu – muktuDu Prabhakar Chitrapu Krishna
Sastry garu was an aging music teacher. His students dwindled to a handful in numbers during recent years, as his energy and voice decayed, though not his enthusiasm. Sansaya was one his former students, who now has a comfortable IT job, but visited his former teacher on occasion. An occasion indeed it was that Saturday, as the famous MS Venkateswarlu garu, fondly referred to as MSV, was giving a Carnatic vocal concert at the vara vINa - gAna mandiram in the western part of the town. It was the home town of MSV garu and his performing there was special to all music lovers in town as well as to MSV garu himself. Sansaya picked up his guruvu garu in his new Hyundai car and drove carefully to the concert hall, dodging the people, vehicles and occasional animals on the road. MSV garu was of a huge build. Seated on the stage in simple cotton garments, he seemed like a small mountain. As he began to sing, with his eyes closed most of the time, music flew like a river – his AlApana gently like the river in the plains and his kalpana swaras rushing like impatient waters on rocks and in steep falls.
As his audience listened with rapt attention, the meaning and the feeling of the song ebbed and fell in their hearts like youthful passion.
Transliteration–Telugu (Transliteration as per Modified Harvard-Kyoto (HK) Convention) (including Telugu letters – Short e, Short o) - a A (aa) i I(ii) u U (uu) R RR lR lRR e E ai o O au M (H or :) (e – short | E – Long | o – short | O – Long ~ 8 ~
That day, MSV sang Thyagaraja's kriti bhaktuni caritramu in Raga bEgaDa with great elaboration and feeling. Sastry garu and Sansaya were discussing it as they drove back in the dark night, with stars distantly twinkling and the moon playing hide and seek with the clouds. ―You know, Sansaya, they say ―bEgaDa is like mIgaDa‖, Sastry garu started. ―mIgaDa is the cream of boiled milk, right, mAshTAru? Why do they make that comparison?‖, enquired the student – and went on reflectively without waiting for an answer. ―…I do know that bEgaDa is not a sampUrNa Raga. It has only 6 notes in the ArOhaNa, and all the 7 in the avarOhaNa. I also know that the ascension is not straight, so it is called a vakra Raga. Let me think: yes, it is ―sa ga ri ga ma pa da pa sa‖ in the ArOhaNa, with ni missing. And ‗sa ni da pa ma ga ri sa' in the avarOhaNa….‖ Sastry garu continued, ―Actually, the Raga is supposed to be a janya of dhIra SankarAbharaNam. However, some think that it should be thought of as a janya of harikaambhOji, since there is much more predominant usage of the lower nishaadam in many of its characteristic phrases. The madhyamam in bEgDa is special, because it is a little higher in swara-sthaana than the regular Suddha ma. In fact, it is sometimes called ‗bEgaDa madhyamam'. You know, some of the characteristic phrases in bEgaDa are pa-da-nida-pa, pa-ni-da-ni-pa-sa…. – they sound so pleading and give the raga so much of its color….as also the unique prayOgam pa-ga-pa-ma-paga…‖ The flow was interrupted as they reached Krishna Sastry garu's home. ―nAyanA, Sansaya, come in, sit for some time and have some saltedbuttermilk before leaving‖, affection seeped from every word. ―mAshTAru, could we talk a little about the kriti and its meaning? I understood some, but it seemed like there was more to it‖, asked Sansaya, with reverence in his eyes, as he respected the vast knowledge and wisdom of his guruvu garu. After a prolonged pause, half-closing his eyes, Sastry garu began – ―You know, I find this song really interesting because, when I first ~ 9 ~ heard it and understood its meaning, it dispelled my then-notion of a bhakta. I used to think of a bhakta as a blindly believing, un-inquiring individual. This song, however, paints a bhakta as an intellectual - almost a philosopher. See, this is how the pallavi goes: ―bhaktuni cAritramu vinavE, manasA sItA rAma (bhaktuni)‖ As is typical of Thyagaraja's kritis, the pallavi is very simple and almost just the title of the song that is to sprout and evolve – literally. Here he is reflecting in himself (manasA) – listen to the account of a bhakta, a bhakta of Sita and Rama. The anupallavi sketches his premise and the essence of the intended purport of the song. This part of the kriti also tends to be brief, so that the composer has to work within a tight constraint of the two lines and has to be parsimonious in the choice and use of words.
Here he says ―Asakti lEka tA kOrucu jIvanmuktuDai Anandamu nondu (bhaktuni)‖ ―Asakti lEka‖ is being dispassionate! ―tA kOrucu‖ is seeking one's own self – ―jIvan muktuDai‖ is being liberated-in-life and ―Anandamu nondu‖ is acquiring bliss. So, Thyagaraja is saying in the anupallavi ―(Listen to the account of) the bhakta, who is dispassionate, who seeks self-knowledge, who leads his/her daily life liberated and one who is naturally in a state of bliss‖. These are ideas almost directly referenceable to the Bhagavad Gita and purely philosophical! There is nothing here about belief and the common notion of devotion! Would you call such a person a bhakta or a jnAni, really?‖ paused Krishna Sastry. Suddenly curious, Sansaya returned a question ―Do you think bhakti and jnAna are orthogonal and incompatible with each other, guruvu garu?‖ ―Don't know for sure – somehow one seems to be a complete surrender and the other choice-less inquiry. How can they be the same? Yet, several great people have claimed their synonymity – including Thyagaraja here, it seems! This bothers me and I just don't know for sure‖. ~ 10 ~ He got up, walked over to the bedroom and returned with a blanket as the night began to nip. Pregnant silence ruled for a while. The only thing one heard was one's own breathing and ringing in one's ears. It seemed rude to speak and break that pristine state of stillness. ―OK. Let me finish the rest of the kriti. Thyagaraja composed 3 beautiful charanams for this song. They are lovely ideas of how a true bhatka is supposed to be or naturally is – according to Thyagaraja. ―japa tapamula tA jEsitinana rAdu: He should not say that I did all these japas and tapas adigAka mari: And still kapaTAtmuDu manamai palka rAdu: He should not speak with a heart of deceipt upama tanaku lEka yuNDavalenani, Ura Ura tirugaga rAdu: He should not go place to place, desiring that no one equal him, capala cittuDai, Alu sutulapai sAreku bhrama kArAdanE: He should not be fickle minded and deveop false beliefs in familial bonds, hari bhaktuni‖ See how Thyagaraja uses the phrase ―adigAka mari‖ – such a mundane phrase that no one could imagine using it in musical setting – into a magnificent musical structure! The next charanam is: bhava vibhavamu nijamani yencaga rAdu: He should not treat worldly grandiose as being real, adigAka mari: And still, Siva mAdhava bhEdamu jEyaga rAdu: He should not develop distinctions between Siva and Vishnu, bhuvanamandu tAnE yOgyuDanani bonki poTTa sAkaga rAdu: He should not achieve a livelihood by deceiving others by saying that he is deserving, pavanAtmaja dhRtamau sItA pati pAdamulanu yEmara rAdanu: He should not let go of the feet of Sri Rama, steadfastly held by AnjanEya, hari (bhaktuni)‖. ~ 11 ~ Finally, Thyagaraja concludes like this in the third and last charanam: rajasa tAmasa guNamulu kArAdu: He should not develop rAjasa and tAmasa qualities, adigAkanu: further still avyAjamunanu rA lEdanakArAdu: He should not worry that luck did not favor him, rAja yOga mArgamu nI cittamu rA jUcuTa viDavaga rAdu: He should not stop trying to get his mind on rajayOga path, rAja SikhA maNi aina tyAgarAja sakhuni marava rAdanE: He should not forget the jewel among kings, Thyagaraja's friend, Sri Rama, hari bhaktuni‖ See how
Thyagaraja views a true bhakta to be! Although there are a couple of references to traditional devotion to God, most of the qualities Thyagaraja describes are those of an even-minded, impartial, dispassionate, tranquil, spiritual person, seeking to find truth of oneself and who is trying hard to not get caught in the dualities. In fact, it reminds me of the Gita sloka, in which Arjuna asks Krishna ―sthita-prajnasya kaa bhaashaa, samaadhi-sthasya kESava; sthitadhiih kim prabhaashEta, kim asiita vrajEta kim?‖ - ―How is the language of one whose intelligence is firmly fixed and one who is in the state of Transcendence? How does one whose wisdom is firmly fixed speak, sit and walk?‖. If I recollect correctly, it is the 54th sloka in the second chapter. Krishna replies in the next sloka, ―prajahAti yadA kAmAn, sarvAn pArtha manO gatAn; AtmanyEvAtmanA tushta: sthita-prajnas tadOcyatE‖ (meaning ―O pArthA, when a man gives up all varieties of sense desire which arise from mental processes, and when his mind finds satisfaction in the self alone, then he is said to be of unwavering wisdom‖), where Krishna extols the qualities of one of fixed mind or is unwavering mind.‖ Sansaya was fascinated. ―You know, guruvu garu? From the way you explained it, Thyagaraja should probably have composed the pallavi as ―prajnuni cAritramu vinavE, manasA, sthitha (prajnuni)‖! Or even better, ―muktuni cAritramu vinavE, manasA, jIvan (muktuni)‖ – it even keeps the original rhythm -J.
What do you think, mAshTAru?‖ Sansaya seemed cheekily pleased with himself. ~ 12 ~ Restraining a smile, Sastry garu chided his student mildly: ―nAyanA, Sansaya, great people have said that human hands cannot improve the works of the Saint. Do not touch them.‖ A while later, Sansaya took leave of his teacher and the car raucously drove away into the night. A lone dog's cat-nap was disturbed and it let out a long wail, as if annoyed or angry. The author would like to acknowledge the help of Vasant Nagulaapalli and Mani Subramaniam in reviewing and editing the article. Prabhakar Chitrapu is a long time supporter of Sruti and is interested in music, language and philosophy. He maintains a website devoted to Saint Thyagaraja
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