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RRAARREE AANNDD NNEEWW RRAAGGAASS HHAANNDDLLEEDD BBYY TTYYAAGGAARRAAJJAA--AA CCRRIITTIICCAALL SSTTUUDDYY
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15
CHAPTER II
GENERAL SURVEY OF TYAGARAJA’S COMPOSITIONS
Tyagaraja has composed innumerable songs in one and the same raga.
But the musical setting of none resembles another. His kritis are veritable
crystals in the respective ragas. Some compositions may have an enlarged and
elaborate setting, while some may be medium sized and some with chosen
limits of exposition.
It was really a difficult task to find out that what motivated him to
compose songs, whether it was his love for music or his devotional inspiration.
On a close analysis of his kritis, we can find out that his devotion towards Lord
Rama was the most important inspiring factor. His kritis were full of devotional
fragrances. He never disclosed his disciples, the ragas of kritis which he taught
to them. “Subbarama Deekshitar claims that the names of the rare ragas of
Tyagaraja were given by Singaracharyalu brothers.”4
“Prior to Tyagaraja, the number of ragas used for songs was, very
limited. Jayadeva used in his „Geetha govindam’ (12th Century) only 11
ragas like,1) Malava, 2)Gurjari, 3)Vasantha, 4)Ramakari, 5) Mayamalavagoula,
6)Karnata, 7)Desakya, 8)Desivaradi, 9)Gawdakari, 10)Bhairavi, 11)Vibhasha.”5
“The ragas used in „Ramanatakam’ a work that just preceded Tyagaraja‟s kritis
4K.T.Raveendranath, Karnataka sangeethacharithram, Trivandrum, The State Institute of Languages Kerala, -695003,1995, p.223
5MS Ramaswami Iyyer , Tyagaraja – A great musician saint (1759-1847), New Delhi, J. Jetley. Asian
Educational services, p.130
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were Todi, Varadi, Bhairavi, Kalyani, Saveri, Asaveri, Madhyamavathi,
Sankarabharanam, Anandabhairavi, Neelambari, Surutti, Huseni, Kamboji and
others.”6
Different opinions are there regarding the total number of kritis and
ragas handled by Tyagaraja. “Sri K.T.Raveendranath says Tyagaraja has
handled more than 3600 compositions.”7
“According to tradition, Tyagaraja is said to have composed several
thousands of songs but this is, as usual an exaggeration. What we have
is less than a thousand; but actually about six hundred and seventy five
(675) are known with text and tune”8.
According to M.S. Ramaswami Iyyer in his book „Tyagaraja‟, Tyagaraja used
47 Melakartha ragas. Tyagaraja followed Venkitamaki‟s 72 mela system.
“He distributed his melas amongst his 505 kritis.
95 are in Harikamboji, 85 in Kharaharapriya, 80 in Sankarabharanam,
53 in Hanumathodi, 40 in Mayamalavagoula, 36 in Natabhairavi, 24 in
Mechakalyani, 9 in Subhapanthuvarali, 8 in Jhalavarali, 7 in
Chakravaka, 4 in Suryakantham, Kiravani and Sarasangi, 3 in
Gayakapriya, Jhankaradwani, Pavani, Gamanasrama, Vachaspathi, 2 in
each of Vanaspathi, Manavathi, Dhenuka, Kokilapriya,
Vakulabharanam, Gowrimanohari, Soolini, Vagadheeswari, Chalanatta,
Ramapriya, Neethimathi and Kanthamani and only one in each of
Ratnangi, Rupavathi, Varunapriya, Mararanjani, Charukesi,
Naganandini, Gangeyabhushani, Navanitham, Bhavapriya,
6 Ibid.,p.131
7 K.T.Raveendranath, Op.cit.,p.109
8 Dr. V. Raghavan, „Tyagaraja‟, Composers- cultural leaders of India, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broad casting, Government of India, p.36
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Shadvidhamargini, Divyamani, Namanarayani, Kamavardhini,
Viswambhari, Shanmukhapriya, Simhendramadhyamam and Rishabha
priya”9
Generally, Venkitamaki‟s 72 melas divided into group A of 32
ordinary ragas and group B of 40 special ragas. The ragas of Group A are
based on the well known 12 svarasthanas used in Indian Music. The ragas of
Group B are based on the use of the 4 another svaras of the Carnatic system,
like Sudha gandhara, Shadsruti rishabha, Sudha nishada, and Shadsruti
dhaivata. It is known as Vivadi melas.
Table II.1
GROUP A - Ordinary 32 ragas
Sl. No.
Purva melas
No. in Venkitamaki‟s mela
system-
Sl. No.
Utharamelas
No in Venkitam
aki‟s mela
system
1 Thodi 8 17 Bhavapriya 44
2 Dhenuka 9 18 Subhapanthuvarali 45
3 Natakapriya 10 19 Shadvidhamargini 46
4 Kokilapriya 11 20 Suvarnangi 47
5 Vakulabharanam 14 20 Namanarayani 50
6 Mayamalavagoula 15 22 Kamavardhini 51
7 Chakravakam 16 23 Ramapriya 52
8 Suryakantham 17 24 Gamanasrama 53
9 Natabhairavi 20 25 Shanmukhapriya 56
10 Keeravani 21 26 Simhendramadhyamam 57
11 Kharaharapriya 22 27 Hemavathi 58
12 Gowrimanohari 23 28 Dharmavathi 59
13 Charukesi 26 29 Rishabhapriya 62
9 MS Ramaswami Iyyer ,Op.cit, p.132
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14 Sarasangi 27 30 Lathangi 63
15 Harikamboji 28 31 Vachaspathi 64
16 Sankarabharanam 29 32 Mechakalyani 65
Table II.2
GROUP B Vivadi ragas
Sl. No.
Purva melas
No. in Venkitamaki‟s mela
system-
Sl No Utharamelas
No in Venkitam
aki‟s mela
system
1 Kanakangi 1 21 Salagam 37
2 Rathnangi 2 22 Jalarnavam 38
3 Ganamurthi 3 23 Jhalavarali 39
4 Vanaspathi 4 24 Navanitam 40
5 Manavathi 5 25 Pavani 41
6 Tanarupi 6 26 Raghupriya 42
7 Senavathi 7 27 Gavambodhi 43
8 Rupavathi 12 28 Divyamani 48
9 Gayakapiya 13 29 Dhavalambari 49
10 Hatakambari 18 30 Viswambhari 54
11 Jhankaradwani 19 31 Syamalangi 55
12 Varunapriya 24 32 Nitimati 60
13 Mararanjani 25 33 Kanthamani 61
14 Naganandini 30 34 Chitrambari 66
15 Yagapriya 31 35 Sucharithra 67
16 Ragavardhani 32 36 Jyotiswaroopini 68
17 Gangeyabhooshani 33 37 Dhatuvardhani 69
18 Vagadheeswari 34 38 Nasikabhooshani 70
19 Soolini 35 39 Kosalam 71
20 Chalanatta 36 40 Rasikapriya 72
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“Out of 47 melas, Tyagaraja selected 31 melas from group A, while only
16 from group B. Out of his 505 songs, so many as 485 were placed in
group A; while only 20 were relegated Group B.”10
He had strong liking for Sudha madhyama ragas. He has composed 439
kritis in Sudha madhyama melas, while only 66 in Prati madhyama melas. On
the whole, Tyagaraja has handled in his kritis about 200 ragas.
In the book „Ragasudha’ of BRC Iyyengar, we can see that, the kritis of
Tyagaraja classified under the following manner.
Table II.3
Raga and kriti analysis11.
Group Total
Classification Mela Janya Ragas Total kritis
1 kritis in melakarthas
and janyas
26 + 137 163 588
2 kritis in melakarthas
only
13 + 0 13 16
3 kritis in janyas and
none in its melakarthas
(13) 33 33 83
Summary 39 170 209 687
10Ibid.,p.138
11BRC Iyyengar, Ragasudha - Understanding Carnatic music, Secenderabad, 54 Ishaq Colony, 56001, 2003, p.103 – 107
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He composed 687 kritis in 39 melakarthas and 170 janya ragas
of 52 melakarthas. This excludes churnika. The 20 melakarthas and its janya
ragas that are not used are, 6, 7, 10, 18, 31, 32, 37, 38, 42, 43, 47, 49, 50, 54,
55, 67, 68, 69, 71, 72.
Table II.4
GROUP 1
Break up of 163 ragas and 588 kritis No. of kritis
A 6 melakartha ragas exclusively account for 103
B 108 janya ragas of the above 6 melakarthas
contribute to
414
C 20 other melakarthas make up for 21
D 29 janya ragas of the above 20 melakarthas 50
163 ragas are used to compose kritis totaling 588
Table II.5
GROUP 1 A, 1B
Break up of 6 melakarthas and janyas
Melakartha raga
No. of kritis
in
melakartha
Janya No. of kritis in
janyas
1 Kharaharapriya (22) 11 35 114
2 Harikamboji (28) 10 33 109
3 Sankarabharanam (29) 30 15 92
4 Thodi (8) 29 8 45
5 Mayamalavagoula (15) 4 14 40
6 Kalyani (65) 19 3 14
Total 103 108 414
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Table II.6
GROUP 1C, 1D
Distribution of 20 melakarthas and its 29 janyas
Melakartha raga (N) No. of kritis Janyas No. of kritis
1 Chakravakam (16) 2 4 5
2 Suryakantham (17) 1 3 20
3 Sarasangi (27) 1 3 3
4 Keeravani (21) 1 2 4
5 Manavathi (5) 1 2 2
6 Vakulabharanam(14) 1 1 1
7 Dhenuka (9), 1
1
1
8 Divyamani (48) 1 1
1
9 Hemavathi (58), 1 1 1
10 Jhankaradwani (19) 1 1
1
13 Mararanjani (25) 1 1 1
14 Naganandini (30) 1 1 1
15 Ramapriya (52) 1 1 1
16 Ratnangi (2) 1 1 1
17 Sulini(35) 1 1 1
18 Vanaspathi (4) 1 1 1
19 Vagadheeswari (34) 1 1 1
20 Navaneetham(40) 1 1 1
Total 21 29 50
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Table II.7
GROUP 2
Distribution of 16 kritis only in melakartha and none its janya
Melakartha raga No. of kritis
1 Bhavapriya (44) 1
2 Charukesi (26) 1
3 Ganamurthi (3) 1
4 Gangeyabhushani (33) 1
5 Kanakangi (1) 1
6 Nasikabhushani (70) 1
7 Rishabhapriya (62) 1
8 Rupavathi (12) 1
9 Shanmukhapriya (56) 1
10 Subhapanthuvarali (45) 1
11 Gaurimanohari (23) 2
12 Lathangi (63) 2
13 Simhendramadhyamam (57) 2
Table II.8
GROUP 3
Distribution of kritis only in janya and none in its melakartha
Melakartha Janya Kriti in janyas
1 Chithrambari
4 (1 each)
4 (1 each) 2 Dharmavathi (59)
3 Shadvidha margini (45)
4 Varuna priya (24)
5 Chalanatta (36) 1 2
6 Gamanasrama (53) 1 3
7 Jhala varali (39) 1 14
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8 Neethimati (60), 4 (2 each)
2 (1 each) 9 Vachaspathi (64)
10 Pavani (41) 2 3
11 Gayaka priya (13) 3 3
12 Kamavardhini (51) 3 15
13 Natabhairavi (20) 14 35
Total 33 83
Table II.9 GROUP 3
Distribution of 15 kritis in 3 janyas of 12th raga Kamavardhini (51) of group 3
1 Panthuvarali (51) 13
2 Deepakam (51). 1
3 Mandari(51) 1
Table II.10
GROUP 3
Distribution of 35 kritis in 14 janyas of 13th raga Natabhairavi (20) of group 3
1. Bhairavi 18
2. Anandabhairavi 3
3. Hindolam
4 (2 each) 4 Sudhadesi
5 Hindolavasantha
10 ( 1 each)
6 Jayanthasri
7 Amruthavahini
8 Jingla
9 Kokilavarali
10 Margahindolam
11 Nagagandhari
12 Saramati
13 Udayaravichandrika
14 Vasanthavarali
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Table II.11
GROUP 3
All the 14 kritis are in raga Varali a janya of 7th raga Jhala varali of group 3
Table II.12 Classification of ragas and kritis in Sudha madhyama and
Pratimadhyama ragas.
Group Raga Sudha madhyama
Prati madhyama
Mela Janya Me Kri Jan Kri Me Kri Jan Kri
1 26 137 20 100 129 445 6 24 8 19
2 13 0 6 7 0 0 7 9 0 0
3 (13) 33 (4) 0 19 41 (9) 0 14 42
Total 209 ragas 593 kritis in 174 ragas 94 kritis in 35 ragas.
Table II.13
Classification of other group kritis
Divyanama keerthanas 84 Thiruvottriyoor 5
Prahlada bhakthi vijayam 44 Kovur 5
Utsavasampradaya keerthanas 26 Sreerangam 5
Nowka charithram 21 Kanchipuram 3
Thiruvaiyyar 12 Thirupati 2
Lalgudi, Tapastipuram 5 Nagapattanam 2
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Table II.14
Descending order of number of kritis in each raga and ragas used
Raga (Melakartha No. ) Kriti
1 Sankarabharanam (29) 30
2 Thodi (8) 29
3 Kalyani(65), Saveri (15) 19
4 Bhairavi (20), Sourashtra (17) 18
5 Madhyamavathi (22) 15
6 Arabhi (29), Atana (29), Varali (39) 14
7 Kapi (22), Kedaragoula (28), Panthuvarali (51) 13
8 Devagandhari (29) 12
9 Kharaharapriya (22), Mohana (28),Punnagavarali (8) 11
10 Begada (29), Bilahari (29), Darbar (22), Harikamboji (28),
Mukhari (22), Ritigoula (22), Sahana (28), Yadukula
Kamboji (28)
10
11 Asaveri (8), Surutti (28) 9
12 Balahamsa (28), Dhanyasi (8), Ghanta (8) 8
13 Huseni (22),Kamboji,(28), Saranga(65) 7
14 Neelambari(29) 6
15 Goulipanthu (15), Sriranjani (22), Sudhasaveri (29),
Yamunakalyani (65)
5
16 Ahiri (8), Kannada (29), Mayamalavagoula (15),
Narayanagoula (28)
4
17 Anandabhairavi (20), Bangala (29), Desya todi (8),
Devamanohari (22), Jayamanohari (29), Janaranjani
(29), Kedaram (29), Kunthalavarali (28), Nayaki (22),
Purvikalyani (53), Purnachandrika (29), Sudha bangala
(22), Sri (22)
3
18 There are 35 other ragas with 2 kritis in each of them 2 (70)
19 There are 119 other ragas with one kriti in each of them 1 (119)
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In major ragas like Todi and Sankarabharanam, Tyagaraja has
composed as many as 30 kritis depicting the different facets of the raga without
repeating the music. Even in ragas like Saveri, Sourashtram and Kalyani there
are more than 18 song, Bhairavi and Madhyamavathi up to 15. Around
hundred kritis are in uncommon and unfamiliar ragas. And there is only one
kriti each in 119 ragas.
Talas
In his kritis, Tyagaraja handled different tala varieties. Tyagaraja
is the first composer to compose kritis in Desadi and Madhyadi talas and show
its potentials. In Desadi talas, music commences after the lapse of ¾
aksharakalas, but in Madhyadi, music commences after the lapse of ½
aksharakala. „Sitapate‟ in Kamas, „Banturiti‟ in Hamsanadam are examples of
Deasdi tala. „Meru samana‟ in Mayamalavagoula is an example of Madhyadi
tala. All most half of his kritis are set to Adi tala only. There are nearly a
hundred each belonging to Rupaka and Chapu talas.
Tala analysis
Distribution of tala in his kritis in the following manner. With the
exception of few, all kritis fall in to 5 tala groups.
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Table II.15
Tala analysis
Tala groups Kritis Percentage
1 Adi (1 kala + 2 kala) 344 50.07
2 Rupaka 113 16.45
3 Misra Chapu 108 15.72
4 Desadi 90 13.10
5 Khanda Chapu 28 04.08
6 Eka, Misra, Jampa, Tisra, Triputa etc 4 00.58
Table II.16 Distribution of talas in ragas with 5 and more than 5 kritis
Raga Adi Desadi Chapu Rupaka Total
1 2 khanda Misra
Arabhi 6 0 0 0 5 3 14
Asaveri 4 2 0 0 1 2 9
Atana 8 2 0 1 1 2 14
Balahamsa 5 2 0 0 0 1 8
Begada # 3 1 1 0 2 2 10
Bhairavi 12 3 0 0 2 1 18
Bilahari * 1 2 1 1 3 1 10
Devagandhari 6 4 1 0 0 1 12
Dhanyasi 1 2 1 0 2 2 8
Darbar 3 2 0 1 4 0 10
Goulipanthu 4 0 0 0 1 0 5
Ghanta 2 0 0 2 3 1 8
Harikamboji 3 4 0 0 0 3 10
Huseni 3 0 0 0 0 4 7
Kalyani 5 4 0 1 4 5 19
Kamboji % 1 3 1 0 0 1 7
Kapi 4 1 0 1 5 2 13
Kedaragoula 7 1 0 2 1 2 13
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Kharaharapriya 4 4 0 0 2 1 11
Madhyamavathi 8 2 0 1 3 1 15
Mohana 3 2 0 2 4 0 11
Mukhari 2 4 2 0 1 1 10
Neelambari 1 1 0 2 1 1 6
Panthuvarali 3 1 0 0 4 5 13
Punnaga varali 4 0 0 0 6 1 11
Ritigoula 4 1 1 0 2 2 10
Sahana 4 1 1 0 2 2 10
Saranga 2 0 2 1 1 1 7
Saveri 6 2 1 2 6 2 19
Sankarabharanam 10 6 1 1 5 7 30
Sourashtram 5 1 1 1 7 3 18
Sriranjani 2 0 2 0 0 1 5
Sudha saveri 3 1 2 0 1 2 5
Surutti 3 1 2 0 1 2 9
Thodi 5 6 1 0 5 10 29
Varali 7 4 0 0 3 0 14
Yadukulakamboji 2 4 0 2 1 1 10
Yamunakalyani
3 0 0 0 0 2 5
Total 159 74 19 21 88 77
Note: 1 each of „*‟ „Eka, “%” Triputa and “ # ” Adi (Tisragati) “ ” 2 of Misra
Jampa.
VARIOUS INBORN ASPECTS IN TYAGARAJA KRITIS
The kritis of Tyagaraja depicted several aspects like devotion,
nadopasana, philosophy etc. The Saint Tyagaraja a spiritual teacher and also
a philosopher is a great bhaktha of Sri Rama.
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Devotional aspects
One of the most important factor of his kritis is that they are in praise of
Sri Rama or the devotion towards Rama. In the song „Rama kothanda rama’ in
Bhairavi, he says the song in praise of Rama are only the right path that leads
to Him. In the song in Kharaharapriya, „Rama ni Samanamevaru’, he says,
Rama, who is there equal to you. Some other examples are:-
Ramabhakthi samrajya - Sudha bangla - Adi
Rara maintidaka - Asaveri - Adi
Rama nivegani nannu - Narayani - Adi
Navavidha bhakthi
The 9 forms of conventional devotion is called Navavidha bhakthi.
Tyagaraja composed songs depicting all the nine types of bhakthi.
(1) Sravanam
The listening to the glory of the excellence of Lord. Ex:- ‘Rama
katha sudha’- Madhyamavathi - Adi
(2) Keerthanam
This refers to the praising of Lord. Ex :- ‘Intasoukhyamani - Kapi - Adi.
(3) Smaranam
It is the remembering of the name and glory of the Lord. Ex:- „Smarane
Sukhamu’- Janaranjani – Adi
(4) Padasevanam
It refers to the worship of the feets of the Lord in a devotional mode.
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Ex:- „Raghunayaka’- Hamsadwani - desadi tala
(5) Archanam
It refers to the puja performed with the puja dravyas like flowers, leaves,
water etc. Ex:- ‘Tulasi bilva’- Kedaragoula - Rupaka.
(6) Vandanam
It includes the respect shown towards the Lord. In other words it is a
Salutation or Namaskara. Ex:- „Vandanamu’- Sahana - Adi
(7) Dasyam
This kind of bhakthi implies “service to God”. Ex:-„Tava dasoham’-
Punnagavarali – Adi.
(8) Sakhyam
This bhakthi implies love of a friend with God. Ex:- „Venugana’-
Kedaragoula – Rupaka.
(9) Atmanivedanam
This form of bhakthi refers that the devotee surrenders all his
belongings to feet of Lord. Ex:- „Kalaharana’ – Sudhasaveri - Rupaka.
He has also composed some kritis in praise of Narasimha, Lakshmana,
Sita, Hanuman, Siva, Ganapathi and Subrahmanya. Some examples are :-
‘Sri Ganapathi’ -Sourashtram -Adi in praise of Lord Ganapathi.
‘Varasikhi vahana’ -Supradeepam -Adi in praise of Lord Subrahmanya.
‘Narasimha nannu’ -Bilahari -Misra Chapu in praise of Narasimha
‘Siva siva’ -Panthuvarali -Adi in praise of Lord Siva.
‘Sri janaka tanaye’ -Kalakanti -Adi in praise of Sita.
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Nadopasana
Tyagaraja is remarkable for a good number of songs in which he has
explained „Nadopasana’. He holds up the high spiritual ideas, through his
some compositions. In „Sangitajnanamu’- Dhanyasi - Adi, he says that music
with out devotion will not lead to salvation. In „Nada tanum anisam’-
Chitharanjani- Adi, he describes Siva as the embodiment of Nada. Few other
examples are „Gitarthamu’ – Surutti - Adi, „Nadopasanache’- Begada - Adi,
„Nadaloludai’- Kalyana Vasantham - Rupaka, „Mokshamugalada’- Saramati –
Adi, „Svara raga Sudha rasa’- Sankarabharanam - Adi.
Philosophy
In the song „Tatwameruga tarama’ in Garudadwani, Tyagaraja echoes the
content of the upanishad. Philosophic truth is not to be found elsewhere but in
the word „Rama‟ itself. Also in the song „Mokshamugalada‟-Saramati - Adi tala,
we can find the philosophical contents. In some of his kitis we have seen the
concept of mind. ex:- „Manasu swadheena‟-Sankarabharanam -Adi.
Sanskrit compositions.
Apart from his Telugu kritis, Tyagaraja has also composed some kritis in
Sanskrit.
eg:- „Nada tanum anisam’ - Chitharanjani - Adi
‘Samaja varagamana’ - Hindolam - Adi
‘Jagadananda karaka’ - Natta - Adi
‘ Niravadhi sukhada’ - Ravichandrika - Adi
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‘ Sambho mahadeva’ - Panthuvarali - Rupaka
ASPECTS OF MUSIC IN THE COMPOSITIONS OF TYAGARAJA
His compositions provide a good record for the vast
knowledge of music. His kritis also contain the description of the glory of
music and the principals of music. From the keerthanas of Tyagaraja, it is
possible to describe the different aspects of music. He called music as nada
vidya, sangitopasana vidya, gandharva vidya, saptha svara vidya etc. He
promised sangita to be a source for supreme bliss.
In some kritis the glory of raga is pictured in a slow and
descriptive manner as in „Evari mata‟ in Kamboji, „Kara baru seyu’ in Mukhari,
„Manasu swadheena‟ in Sankarabharanam and others. The tana like
progression of melody is to be found in his „Koluvaiyyunnade‟ in Bhairavi, the
gradual development of thought and melody as found in „Chakkani raja
margamu’ in Kharaharapriya , „Koluvamare‟ in Todi, and many others, reflect
the musical imagination of the saint. The charana in every composition of
Tyagaraja brings the essence of the raga in both the purvanga and utharanga
sections. There is a special design of his own in the structure of the charana in
every song. The joining of the sahithya in a kriti with the corresponding raga is
a unique skill of Tyagaraja.
The modern concert format consists of several compositional
varieties like varnams, kritis, pallavis, padams, javalis, tiruppugazhs and so on.
However, in addition to these largely preset parts of the concert, there are also
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creative and improvisational forms, namely raga alapana, neraval and
svarakalpana. Both of these components of modern Carnatic music owe much
to Tyagaraja, undoubtedly the most influential vaggeyakara or composer in the
annals of Carnatic music.