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Sri
Thyagaraja Swamy (A.D 1767-1847)
The
life and work of Tyagaraja, the bard of Tiruvayyaru, is a miracle
of miracles. For no musician, with exception of Purandaradasa, revolutionized
and gave direction to Indian music as he did. So creative a musician
and saint was he that he has come to be known as Sri Tyaga Brahmam,
which is a reference not only to his creativity but carries with
it a part of his father's name, Ramabrahmam.
The bulwark of a great culture, the Vijayanagara Empire, with all
its glory, fell at the end of the 16th century. The invasion from
the North brought in its wake new, though not always commendable,
trends in living. Quite a few Hindu families had to flee to Southern
areas which were still peaceful. Many found shelter under the benign
rule of the Nayakas and the Maratha kings of Tamilnadu. Particularly,
a number of Telugu families went South and formed nuclei of art
and culture and Tyagaraja's ancestors belonged to one such stock,
as he describes himself as descending from the Kakarla family (Kakarla
is a village in the Kurnool District of Andhra).
Tiruvarur in the Tanjavur district of South India is a small hamlet;
it is small in size, but has great sanctity hallowed by the memory
of the three composers, the Trimoorty, of Karnatak music. In this
village lived one Girija Kavi, a poet-composer attached to the Court
of Tanjavur. His daughter and wife of Kakarla Ramabrahmam, Seetamma
(Santamma?), gave birth to a son on Sarvajit, Chaitra, 27th Soma,
Sukla saptami, Pushya (4th May, 1767). According to another tradition
the year of his birth was 1759. The boy was named Tyagaraja, after
Lord Tyagaraja, the presiding deity of Tiruvarur. In one of his
songs, Tyagaraja sings, "Seetamma mayamma, Sri Ramudu ma tandri"
- Seeta is my mother and Sri Rama my father - perhaps with a double
meaning.
Ramabrahmam shifted to Tiruvayyaru, leaving Tiruvarur. The king
of Tanjavur had gifted a house to him in this village and here Tyagaraja
not only spent the major part of his life but also attained samadhi.
Tiruvayyaru, on the bank of the Kaveri and known as Panchanada kshetra,
was the abode of saints, poets and musicians; and of this place
Tyagayya sings, "...the Panchanada kshetra in the beautiful Chola
country, nestling on the banks of the Kaveri over which blows the
gentle zephyr where holy brahmins chant the vedas...a town to be
coveted even by Lord Siva".
Tyagabrahmam married, at the age of eighteen, a girl called Parvati
who died without leaving any children. He then married her sister,
Kanakamba. A daughter, Seetalakshmi, was born to them and she was
given in marriage to Kuppuswami. They begot a boy who was named
Tyagaraja (Panchapakesa?) who died issueless; thus came to an end
the direct lineage of the composer.
Born and bred in a highly cultured family, Tyagaraja was a profound
scholar and poet. He studied Sanskrit, astrology and was, of course,
well versed in his mother tongue, Telugu. Besides, he was a highly
trained musician, having been the disciple of Sonthi Venkataramanayya,
one of the foremost singers of the day. His genius is evident in
every song of his; but his immortal Pancha ratna kritis (the five
gems) reveal the mastery he had over musical technique. Apart from
thousands of songs of kriti type, he composed utsava sampradaya
keertanas and divya nama sankeertanas which are sung in devotional
congregations He has also created two operas: Prahlada Bhakti Vijayam
and Nauka charitram. While there are a number of songs in Sanskrit,
the majority of them, including the operas, are in Telugu.
One can speak of Tyagabrahmam's music only in superlatives and even
these adjectives are pitifully inadequate to convey the exquisite
beauty of his art. There is no hitch, there is no unwanted phrase,
there is no laboured juxtaposition of word, music and feeling. To
him music was so creative that he could not be bound in mere traditional
grammar. He saw the potentiality in new melodies and from them gave
forms to ragas like Kharaharapriya, Harikambhoji and Deyagandhari;
at least he must have breathed life into such simple tunes to make
them into ragas, if not produced them de novo. The rhythms used
by him are also simple and are generally confined to talas such
as Adi, Triputa, and Roopaka. Complex temporal and melodic patterns
would not have expressed the lyricism of his mystic adoration. A
beautiful elaboration introduced by him was the sangati as a built-in
part of his kriti. These melodic variations convey so many shades
of the main mood that all the finer nuances of text and music find
expanded expression. It need not be offered as an excuse, but it
is a fact that he was also as much capable of technical musicality
as any learned grammarian. Tyagaraja's "five gems" in ragas Nata,
Gaula, Arabhi, Varali and Sri, his songs in slower tempos and his
famous kriti, Mariyada kadayya in Bhairavam wherein he, effortlessly,
brings in a shade of Yaman Kalyan - all these and many more show
a mastery of design and structure very much beyond the ordinary.
Tyagaraja's literary genius was as great as his musical genius.
His command over Telugu and Sanskrit lent not only an erudite dignity
to his songs but gave a rare felicity and homeliness to his diction.
He drives home great truths with unerring aim but with extreme simplicity
of simile. "What does it matter whether the fool, who does not,
gain punya (religious merit) when opportunity presents itself, lives
or is dead?...Of what avail is it whether blind eyes, however large,
are open or closed?". Again, "The fault or goodness is not yours,
Lord! It is mine. (Why blame Thee?). If one's daughter is unable
to bear the labour-pains, why blame the son-in-law?".
Spiritually he was one of the rare souls who gave up everything
except bhakti and cared for nothing else beyond the Grace of God.
The early influences on his life make this trend more pronounced.
The Bhagavata of Bammera Potana, the mystic poet of Andhra, was
for him a book of daily parayana (recitation). Indeed there is a
close parallel between the thoughts and lives of these two. The
devaranamas of Purandaradasa were fed to him as if they were his
mother's milk. Such early environments led to a positive direction
by initiation into yoga. It is supposed that he was given the Rama
Taraka Mantra by one sanyasi, Sri Ramakrishnananda. Tyagaraja's
father's fellow scholar and a yogi, Sri Upanishad Brahmendra of
Kanchipuram, also exerted a great influence on him. So also the
works and per- sonality of Narayana Teertha, the author of Krishnaleela
Tarangini, had considerable effect on the musician.
The only things that mattered to Tyagayya were music and bhakti
- they were synonymous. "Is there a sacred path than music and bhakti?".
"O Mind, salute the gods of the seven notes". "The knowledge of
music, O Mind, leads to bliss of Union with the Lord". Music was
to him the meditation on the Primordial Sound: "I bow to Sankara,
the embodiment of Nada, with my body and mind. To Him, the essence
of blissful Samaveda, the best of the vedas, I bow. To Him who delights
in the seven swaras born of His five faces I bow".
Tyagaraja was a great bhakta; the only meaningful act for him was
complete surrender to Him whom he called Rama. In the song Ika gavalasina,
he sings, "What more do you want, O Mind ! Why are you not happy?
When the Lord of the Universe has rested in your heart - what more
do you want, O Mind?"
There was not a moment of his life which was not filled with Rama.
His songs sing of Him who was a friend, a master, a father,- anything
he could conceive of. Hearing of Rama's name was to Tyagaraja like
"obtaining a large kingdom". And how could he desist from singing
His praises - "Is there any bliss greater than this: to dance, to
sing and to pray for His presence." "Did not the Lord incarnate
wish to wear the garland of ragas woven by Tyagaraja?"
The worship of His feet (padasevana) was a privilege; but to worship
his sandals, (padua) was indeed a fortune. "Rama, clear my doubt.
Are Your holy feet worshipped by Narada, great or Your sandals?
The sages who worshipped Your feet became equal to You; but Bharata
worshipped Your sandals and got Your very self". Day in and day
out His worship became a matter of daily living to Tyagaraja. He
sang songs to wake the Lord, to bathe Him, to feed Him, to please
Him and to put Him to bed - "You are tired after wandering in the
forest and conquering Ravana; rest in the lotus of Tyagaraja's heart".
Of course, being close to Rama he could chide Him. "If you present
Yourself before me, what wealth will You lose? Why this intractability?"
The word Rama (RA-MA) was to him a Numen that transcended all names.
It would be more than absurd to attribute any sectarian leanings
to Tyagaraja. He sings, "As what did they define You? How did they
worship You? - as Siva, as Madhava, as Brahma born of Lotus or as
Parabrahma, the Trans-Godhead? I prostrate myself before those who
know the secret of MA as the life of Siva-mantra and RA as the life
of Narayana-mantra".
This complete surrender naturally made him live a life of detachment,
though he was a house holder. The first and foremost result was
that he refused to earn a livelihood. He had a house to live in
and that was enough shelter. For food, every morning he would go
round the village asking for alms - unchavritti, as it is called;
and he would not gather even alms more than his daily need.
A life which steadfastly was uncompromising was not at all to the
liking of his elder brother, Japesa, to put it mildly. Japesa fondly
hoped that the great art and learning of his younger brother could
be put to pecuniary uses, which the saint would not agree to. In
desperation, the brother not only partitioned the ancestral house
but went to the extent of throwing the Rama idol which Tyagayya
worshipped into the river. The sorrow of the devotee cannot even
be imagined. Many a song he sang begging the Lord to come back to
him. In a dream he is told where to find the idol and his life becomes
full.
Honours and wealth could have been his, if only he had asked for
them; but he would not ask. He spurned an invitation of the King
and sang, "Is wealth (nidhi) the source of happiness or is the proximity
(sannidhi) of Rama?"
Tyagabrahma undertook an extensive pilgrimage of the sacred places
of South India. Wherever he went he sang of the deity of the place.
There is the famous incident of his visit to the Venkateswara temple
at Tirupati. He goes into the temple to have darsan (vision) of
the Lord; but the entrance of the sanctum sanctorum is covered with
a curtain which prevents him from seeing the idol. The priests refuse
to part the curtain. In great sorrow he sings, "Will you not remove
the curtain?" ...and characteristically adds, "the curtain of vanity
and jealousy in my mind". The curtain miraculously slides aside
by itself and he is face to face with Him.
So much sincerity and surrender drew the ire of people around him
and he could not stand their hypocrisy either. He speaks out bluntly
about their pretences. "One who does not think of devotion to God,
however learned, will be a slave of the senses and not be free from
coveting others' women and wealth". There is a vast difference between
seeing the Lord and going to the temple. "O Siva, is it possible
for me to have your darsan? I have seen the spires, the pillars,
the idols, the temple dancers, the rows of lights and made the due
circumambulations. My mind has turned towards things external. But
it is no child's play to instal Your glorious Form in the lotus
of my heart!" Again, "Of what use is the possession of scholarship,
in purana, agama, shastra, veda and the doing of japa to a deceitful
mind? It is like dressing a corpse with a lace turban and precious
jewels. Oh, give me the alms of highest (satvika) devotion".
Tyagabrahmam took sanyasa towards the end of his life and attained
samadhi on Pusya Bahula Panchami in Prabhava (6th January, 1847).
There is a poignancy about his absorption into the Godhead. He says
in one of the most moving songs, "Unerringly I saw Sri Rama installed
on the hill...Thrilled with ecstasy, with tears of joy, I tried
to speak. He promised to bless me in five days." And so it happened.
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