Dikshitar And Kings

Carnatic composers (other than performing vidwans)
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jhankAradhwani
Posts: 4
Joined: 22 Feb 2011, 21:40

Dikshitar And Kings

Post by jhankAradhwani »

It is well-known that Muthuswami Dikshitar refused to praise men in his compositions, famously declaring "hina mAnava Ashrayam thyajAmi".

That said, many of his songs contain references to kings. To name a few:
* "paschima kAshmIra rAja vinutham" -- "praised by the King of Kashmir"
in the kriti "pashupatIshvaram praNaumi sathatham" in shubhapanthuvarALi
* "vaidhyalinga bhUpAla pAlanam" -- "protector of the King Vaidhyalinga"
in the Chaturdasha rAgamAlika

Of course, these don't qualify as narasthuthi. However, there is a peculiar composition which I have read about in Krithi Mani Malai (never heard):
"vEnkatEshwara ettappa bhUpathim Ashrayeham" (rAga mEgharanjani)
which is clearly in praise of a king (supposedly the ruler of Ettayapuram, where his brother Baluswami was the AsthAna vidwAn).

The composer leaves no doubt that he is singing about a man when he says "kArthikEya shiva guruguha karuNA katAksha pAthram": "deserving the grace of Lords Kartikeya and Shiva".

(BTW, if "guruguha" is Lord Muruga, why is He mentioned twice?)

The phrase "sachchidhAnandha mAthram" seems to go against the grain, adding a bit of ambiguity.

Do any of you find this composition more than a little curious? Are there any recordings of this song available?

vgovindan
Posts: 1865
Joined: 07 Nov 2010, 20:01

Re: Dikshitar And Kings

Post by vgovindan »

jd,
Please refer to - http://www.vgovindan.info/Nadopasaka/Di ... njani.html.

Regarding 'sAttUr' vEnkaTAcalapati temple - refer to http://www.sivakasionline.com/places_of_interest.php

jhankAradhwani
Posts: 4
Joined: 22 Feb 2011, 21:40

Re: Dikshitar And Kings

Post by jhankAradhwani »

Hi vgovindan,
Thanks for the pointer. Are you implying that the kriti is really about God and not about a king? Other MD krithis do not usually refer to the Lord as "bhUpathi". Further, we have the phrase "karuNA katAksha pAthram."

Anyways, your web site has an interesting statement: "'eTTappa' in place of 'yAdava' seems to be an interpolation." Can you let me know how you concluded that?

Thanks again.

vgovindan
Posts: 1865
Joined: 07 Nov 2010, 20:01

Re: Dikshitar And Kings

Post by vgovindan »

jd,
The version given in my website has been prepared after comparing the following sources -
(1) Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar Keertanaigal (Tamil) - by Sri A Sundaram Iyer et al.
(2) Dikshita Kriti Muktavali (Devanagari) - by Sri KN Srinivasan
(3) muttusvAmi dIkshitar kRti samAhAram - (Roman and Devanagari) by Sri PP Narayanaswami (pdf download)
(4) (Roman) http://www.medieval.org/music/world/car ... hvara.html

None of the above references contain 'eTTappa'. However in the book mentioned at (2), in the remarks 'eTTappa' is given as an alternative.

From the above and also from the wordings of the KRti 'saccidAnanda mAtraM' one cannot but conclude that 'eTTappa' is an interpolation. However, I have used the word 'interpolation' with caution - 'seems to be'.

venkatamakhi
Posts: 15
Joined: 17 Feb 2011, 19:19

Re: Dikshitar And Kings

Post by venkatamakhi »

Hello:
A short note on the megharanjani kriti.
Subbarama Dikshitar's documentation of this kriti in the Sangeeta Sampradaaya pradarsini (the earliest written version of this kriti) uses the phrase 'eTTappa'; he even gives a comment '.... Dikshitar who didnt normally sing in praise of human beings has composed this megharanjani kirtanam in praise of Venkatesvara ettappa maharaja regarding him as an amsam of Vishnu'..
நரர்களைப்பாடி சாஹித்யங்கள் செய்யாத தீட்சிதர் அவர்கள் வெங்கடேஸ்வர எட்டப்ப மகாராஜாவை
விஷ்ணுவின் அம்சமாக கொண்டாடி இந்த மேக ரஞ்சனி
கீர்த்தனத்தை எழுதி உள்ளார்.
Thanks and regards,
Kanniks Kannikeswaran

vgovindan
Posts: 1865
Joined: 07 Nov 2010, 20:01

Re: Dikshitar And Kings

Post by vgovindan »

venkatamakhi,
I have forwarded your comments to Ms Vidya from whom I received the pdf version compiled by Sri PP Narayanaswami. I have asked her to respond to your observation.

vidya
Posts: 234
Joined: 02 Feb 2010, 23:26

Re: Dikshitar And Kings

Post by vidya »

Govindan sir,
The PDF version was compiled by Dr.P.P.Narayanaswami. I am assuming he used the version as given in the publications of K.Sundaram Iyer. TLVenkatrama Iyer also seems to be of the opinion that it is 'yAdava'. However the line and note occur as ettappa in the SSP as Kanniks has already pointed out.

Perhaps some later day person decided to take a moral stance on what Dikshitar could and could
not write and made this modification, we do not know. Please see the #Notes here.
http://guruguha.org/wiki/venkateshvara.html

vgovindan
Posts: 1865
Joined: 07 Nov 2010, 20:01

Re: Dikshitar And Kings

Post by vgovindan »

vidya,
Thanks for the clarification.

vgovindan
Posts: 1865
Joined: 07 Nov 2010, 20:01

Re: Dikshitar And Kings

Post by vgovindan »

venkatamakhi,
Your 'hello' sounds like derision. It is better avoided.

savvysubu
Posts: 5
Joined: 05 Sep 2006, 22:46

Re: Dikshitar And Kings

Post by savvysubu »

I see a lot of sweating on the topic of Dikshitar's lyrics, and I see conclusions like the composition may not be authentic, blah blah. There are two questions that I am seeking answers for. (1) Who recorded the lyrics of these kritis into text that is getting circulated around widely? How confident are we that those were the lyrics that Dikshitar rendered or uttered? (2) How knowledgeable are the translators interpreting the sanskrit words/ terms/ phrases and writing English (why that - of all wonderful languages in the world?) translation? I would really like to see some meaningful articles that address these. Let's realize that whoever-the-biggest-deal writing commentaries, is still writing commentaries of someone's work, and is still limited by his/her knowledge of two different languages, neither of which is his/her native language, probably.

bhakthim dehi
Posts: 539
Joined: 24 Feb 2014, 21:28

Re: Dikshitar And Kings

Post by bhakthim dehi »

Regarding this krithi, there are two versions: Venkatesha yadava and Venkatesha ettapa bhupathim. While SSP records as ettappa bhupathim, certain books published before 1905 read as yadava bhupathim . A hand written manuscript by Sri. SA Ramaswamy Iyer also reads as yadava bhupathim. No text is more reliable than SSP with respect to Dikshitar krithis, but this variation must be seriously researched.

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