This is a total mis-conception about bhajana mArga - unca vRtti accompanied or not. If someone takes to bhajana mArga as a profession to fend for oneself, it is not wrong per se. He can progress step by step and engage in bhajana for one's own sake (not for one's welfare). But when that becomes the end, then the total picture gets distorted.shankarank wrote: But then I was told once by a traditionalist who took sanyAs later on that - Bhajana and unca vriddhi use to be prescribed as a route path for those who cannot cope up with vEdic learning ( ). Don't know if it is showing progress in remembering and reciting. In fact on a related matter there is something I remember from Muthiah Bhagavathar's biography that somebody in his family ( parent or uncle) was not so pleased with him taking to music.
Obnoxious and audacious! Only a person conceited about himself can make such a statement. May God Bless him with better sense.The bigger issue is musicians ( TMK in an interview to a Tamizh magazine) claiming in interviews that "tyAgarAja has anyway split the words arbitrarily in between and laid out his music and hence his intent was just music ( as in music as only art!) and not any religious intent" - bringing in the separation factor from modern discourse and divining an intent on a composer!.
Some times I keep wondering about those who say to their lady love "I love you". Shah Jahan who married eleven times and built Taj Mahal can boastfully say 'I love you' to Mumtaj. But then Sri Rama - Eka patni vrata in the midst of polygamy even by his own father - can also say 'I love you' to sItA. Which is real? You make your own assessment.
Tyagaraja comes in the latter category and the musicians who sing Tyagaraja kRtis for sangati sake come in the former category. Good Luck!
nA jIvAdhAra! nA nOmu phalamA!
rAjIva lOcana! rAja rAja SirO-maNi! (nA)
nA cUpu prakASamA! nA nAsikA parimaLamA!
nA japa varNa rUpamA! nAdu pUjA sumamA!
tyAgarAja nuta (nA)
PS : It is not fair to say that all the Tyagaraja Kritis are inspirational. There are many kRtis where one can find word-play. But surely the inspirational kRtis, like the one given above, are not sangati-centric.