Bhakthipravaha- harikatha by TNS in Villivakkam

[sarojram18]

Bakthipravaha-Harikatha on 4-3-2007

by MaduraiTNSeshagopalan

at Ksheerasagara hall VillivAakkam


From the beginning till the end it was bhakthipravaha in the ksheerasagara hall, the aptness of the topic in accordance with the name of the hall was remarked by TNS himself later during the harikatha . Devotion coursed through the discourse and music flowed as a pravaha, making the place a veritable ksheerasagara, in which the rasikas took a holy dip on the day of Lunar eclipse.
TNS was assisted by Varadan on the Mridangam and Ananthakrishnan on the violin.The former is a seasoned accompanist to TNS in his Harikathas and did a good job of it keenly observant and followed him closely which is not an easy task since TNS would suddenly lapse into viruttham style while singing a song and come back to the song again, all of which needed alertness on the part of the mridangist.Anantha Krishnan also interposed with suitable interludes according to the mood of the music, enhancing the bhava.

'Kalou nAmasankirthanam.' The easiest way to attain salvation in the kaliyuga has been laid out in Srimadbhagavatham and it is namasankirthanam, singing the glory of the Lord. The more strenous modes of performing yajna, doing penance etc. are out of questiioon in this age of kali, chitthasuddhi.TNS sang few lines from the Purandaradasa krthi 'harinarayana' where he says that the nama alone protected Prahlada, Gajendra, Ajamila and the rest and there is no need for homa,japa or thapa. Not only the Lord hastens for protection when his name is uttered in anguish but also presents Himself wherever His devotees are singing. TNS said that the Lord comes and stands in front leaving vaikunta or the hearts of the yogis where He normally resides, quoting the sloka 'nAham vasAmi vaikuntE a yOgihrdhayE ravou, madbhakthA yathra gAyanthi thathr thishTAmi nAradha.'.The rasikas could immediately feel the presence of the Lord there,as if to prove these words.

TNS further extolled the efficacy of Ramanama which was narrated by Lord Siva himself to Parvathi who asked him 'kEnopAyEna laghuna,' by what means the thousand names of Hari can be chanted and he answered that the Ramanama is equivalent to the thousand names of Hari.It is easy to pronounce, no knowledge of sanskrit is even necessary in order not to mispronounce the letters. The letter 'rA' when uttered the mouth opens and all the sins go out and saying 'ma ' the mouth closes not allowing new ones to come in. Not that one should worry about correct pronounciation because the lord cares only for bhakthia and not knowledge as the story that even the one who said 'maraprabhu' instead of 'amaraprbhu' was bkessed as the Lord appeared in a tree for him.

TNS sang the verse from Kamban 'Nanmaiyum selvamum nAlum nalgumE-----immaiyE irAma enru irandezutthinAl.' and cited the verse 'nAdiya poruL kaikoodum jnAnamum----rAman thoLvali kooruvOrkkE,' and said one will get wealth as well as wisdom by chanting ramanama and eulogising his valour, meaning that the two are not mutually exclusive. He also sang few lines from Thyagarajakrthi 'dhyAnamE varamaina gangAsnAnamE,' in Dhanyasi, and jocularly remarked that Thyagaraja has shown in this krthi that Ramanama can be chanted any time by demonstrating by a long sangathi in the word sriraaaaa madhyAname, which looks as 'madhyaname varamaina' , that is, for Ramadhyana , madhyana, noon is the best! TNS explained the 'nanmaiyum selvamum ' as not only wealth but also mukthi is given by Ramanama 'Janmamum maraNamum inri theerumE.' Wealth is needed in this world' poruLilArkku ivulagam illai ,' and the divine grace in the next 'arulilArkku avvulagam illai' and saying thus TNS quipped that it is the general impression in these days that poruL ilArkku evvulagamum illai. The words 'nAdia poruL kaikoodum ' has been proven to be true in the case of Vibheeshana and Sugreeva, said TNS, the former wanted only the aruL and the latter wished for the poruL and they had both. Jatayu who did not wish for anything had the great boon of getting the last rites performed by Rama and attained salvation unasked.

Kamban refers to Rama as irukai vEzam, an elephant with two arms (usually the trunk of the elephant is called as its kara and hence it has only one arm) and TNS aid that after pondering on the expression he came to the plausible reason of Kamban for doing so. The elephant is strong enough to uproot a tree by its trunk but with the same trunk it can lift even a child gently and put him on its back. Similarly Rama has the valour to vanquish the whole army with his arms but to those who surrender to him the same arms provide protection. If one touches the feet of this elephant, said TNS< it will lift him and place him in its head.TNS also gave a beautiful explanation as to why the elephant puts mud on its head after bath. The earth is sanctified by the Lord by walking on it in all His avatharas and the elephant wants to sprinkle the dust of His feet on its head.

Lord coming to the rescue of Gajendra has been acclaimed by the devotee composers like the azvars, said TNS, quoting Periazvar thirumozi ' thuppudaiyArai adaivadhellAm sOrvidatthutthunai Avarenre oppilEnAgilum ninnai adaindhEn Anaikku nee aruL seidhamaiyAL,' meaning "I have taken refuge in you even though I don't deserve it because you have showered your grace even to an elephant." TNS also gave a plausible reason as to why the crocodile caught the leg of the elephant. Gajendra was chanting the name of Narayana all the time and the sweetness of the nama permeated through the whole body and the leg was as sweet as the rest of the body and also because the crocodile knew the secret that catching the feet of the bhAgavatha will ensure the arrival of the Bhagavan.He also said in a lighter vein that the elephant belonged to Taminadu (it was the king of Pandyanadu in its previous birth) and shouted 'mudhalE, mudhalE' in tamil and the Lord came proving that even unconsciously uttering His name will secure His protection!

That Rama was none other than the Lord Narayana who is the origin of everything,'Adhimoolam,' was known to Vasishta who named him thus, said TNS,quoting Kamban, 'karA malaiya thaLar kaikkari eiytthE, "arAvaNaiyil thuyilvOY ena," annAL virAvi, aLittharuL meipporuLukkE, "irAman enappeyar eendhanan anrE.' Vasishta gave the name Ram to the one who is the supreme reality who came and protected the elephant that called Him as the one who sleeps on the bed of Adhisesha.

TNS delighted the rasikas by singing the Purandhara dasa krthi 'rAmamanthrava japisO,' in Jonpuri and also sang few lines from the Thyagarajakrthi 'sangithasatrajnanamu' in mukhari where it ia said that the singing of Ramakatha will give rise to devotion, bring the benediction and affection of the good., the grace of the Lord, and also, fame and riches.' premabhakthi sujanavAthsalyamu sreemadramAvarakatAkshamu nEma nishta yaSodhanamosangunE.' The real wealth is not of money but the wealth of bhakthi as affirmed by Thyagaraja in his krthi 'nidhitsAla sukhamA,' who says 'dhAsarathi dhyAb nabajana sudhArasa mu sukhamA.' TNS sang the word 'dAsarathi' in different ways to show Rama in many forms, as a veera, as a king and as the beloved of Sita etc.

Thyagaraja has clearly said that the avathara of Rama was not for killing Ravana but only for the protection of the devotees in his krthi 'Sriraghukula" in Hamsadvani, said TNS by the words 'paramabhakthulanu pAlanamu seyu' and TNS sang the Bharathiar's composition 'bhakthiyinale,' in Bilahari to show that through bhakthi one can achieve mukthi and also sang the firstline of 'mokshamugaladha' of Thyagaraja which conveys the same meaning. Next he sang the pasuram of Peyazvar, 'paarkadalum veEnkatamum-----irum ndhAr amnamum idamAgakkondan,' in Ahiri.

Rama is common to both saiva and vaishnava tradition, said TNS, because it the name is the combination of the two manthras , the panchakshara and ashtakshara , as explained by Thyagaraja, in his krthi 'Evarani.' Thyagaraja says 'sivamanthramulanu ra jeevanu mAdhavamanthramulanu ma jeevanu' and the name Rama is got by combining the two and TNS sang the lines.

The idea that Siva and Vishnu are one is also found in the pasuram by Thirumangai azvar who says that the leg which kicked the god of death for the sake of Markandeya was that of Vishnu who forms the left part of Siva in his manifestation of sankaranarayanan. TNS said this is justified because Siva who has ordained that Markandeya will live for sixteen years cannot go back on hss words when Yama was only obeying his command and it was the leg of Vishnu, the protector, which saved Markandeya..

Vali knew before he died that Rama was Narayana Himself as soon as he saw the ramanama on the arrow.'mummai SAl ulagukkellAmmoolamandhiratthai------rAman ennum Semmai ser namamthannai kangalil theriyakkandAn.'

Anjaneya told Ravana who Rama was,said TNS and sang the verse from Kamban 'moolamum naduvum eerum illadhu-----kAranan kaivilEndhi soolamum thigiri sangum karakamum thurandhu----ayOddhi vandhAn.'

What followed next was a feast for the rasikas because TNS sang a number of songs , ofcourse some in full,some in parts, to extoll the namasankirthana and devotion The songs were, 'kElathi mama hrdhaye' and 'bajana seya rAdha ' in AtAna,'bajanaseyave' in kalyani, rambhakthi chesina in begada, from Thyagaraja ramasumara, in rakesri, chod dhiya, of kabeer, Purandaradasa krthis ramaramarama ,in vasantha,ramanamapAyasage in anandhabhairavi and dAsachee sampathi of Samartha Ramadas.

Next was the krthi 'seethamma mAyamma,' of Thyagaraja where he says that he has Sita as the mother and Rama as the father and Hanuman,Lakshmana , bharatha, Garuda and Jambavan are his briothers and the relatives are Prmesvara, vasishta ,Narada etc.Here TNS expounded the glory of the Divine mother,Sita. He said that Kakasura was saved because of the glance KatAksha, of Sitawhich made Rama merciful, even though he committed unpardonable sin against her..Marica got mukthi because of her glance , being killed by Rama,for which purpose only Sita adamently asked for the deer.The episode of Vibheeshana also proves only her mercy, TNS said, because she would have glanced when he flew through the sky and was pointed out by his daughter who was in the asokavana. Due to her kataksha only he got the lanka samrajya as a reward for his bhakthi and also been accepted as seventh brother of Rama 'ninnOdum ezuvar AnOm,' as mentioned by Kamban, though he wanted only the feet of Rama placed on his head to destroy the sin of being born as the briother of Ravana, 'kalviyal arakkan pinnE thonriya kadmai theers ilaiyavarkavittha moli ennaiyum kavitthi enrAn.'

TNS explained the action of Rama in accepting Vibheeshana saying 'ninnodum ezuvar Anom,' beautifully with referenc to The Thyagarajakrthi, 'nAdhasudhArasambilanu,' where Rama is desribed as the personification of nadhasudha, the nectar of music, being the source of veda, purana and agama sastra,. his bow is the raga, the saptha svaras are the bells on his bow etc.TNS gave the reason as to why Rama accepted seven brothers, saying that since he was the nadha itself the seven notes became the seven brothers.

Ramadasa when he was imprisoned secured the mercy of Rama only after entreating to Sita and TNS sang the composition of Ramadasa 'nannu brovu' in Kalyani. Ranadasa tells Sita "why don't you l plead my case when you are alone with him at the time of sleep?" When he is dozing off, TNS explained, he would not have remembered the wrong done by the devotees and may nod his head agreeing to what she says.

TNS then referred to the hall which is named as ksheerasagara hall and said he had to honour it and sang 'ksheerasagarasayana' of Thyagaraja in devagandhari. and then elucidated on the lakshana of Harikatha.He said a harikatha must have, according to kirthana sampradhayam,sanskrit, music,and songs in all languages, knowledge and eloquence, as found in the harikaha of Maha vidvans . Otherwise, he quipped , it will be a hurry-katha.

Then TNS extolled the thiruvadi of rama by singing the line 'SriramapAdhamA,' displaying the thiruvadi in different aspects, walking, lifting (as Thrivikrama) and enjoying the tender caress by Sita. TNS also sang the krthi 'pakkalanilapadi,' in which Thyagarja enumerates the different ways of worship, 'thanuvuche vandana, physically bowing down,,namakirthana, manasuna thalach mai marchi, meditating in the mind,,'etc.TNS sang the whole song as a viruttha thus bring out the beauty of the lyric.

He also sang the krthi 'enthanine varninchunu sabaribhagya,' in mukhari where Thyagaraja describes how Sabari served Rama, 'kanulara sevinchi, drinking him with her eyes,kammaniphalamula nosaki, giving him delicious fruits tanuvupulakarincha, experiencing the horipulation and padhayugamu mrokki, worshipping his feet,' as a result of whcih she attained punarAvrtthi rahitha padham, the state of non-return to this world again.

TNS outlined the Rama bhakthi samrajya, as described by Thyagaraja, and portrayed the romAmcha, horipulation through his singing the line 'rOmAnchamane ghanakanchukamu,' in a picturesque manner.He also sang 'Apparambhakthi,' in Panthuvarali, which shows the glory of devotion that enabled the monkeys to cross the ocean, gave power to Svayamprabha and made yasodha tie Krishna to the mortar. Finally, Ramakatha is able to do everything to the listener as well as to the narrator, and the state of bhakthi unlike that of mukthi which is desvribed as 'kandavar vindilar vindavar kandilar,' is expressible but has to be experienced to know the bliss, 'eelAgani vivvarimplenu tsAla svAnubhava vEdhyamE' as declared by Thyagaraja in his krthi "'ramabhakthi samrajya.' TNS concluded by saying that everyone should get the namarasAnubhava by singing the names of the Lord.

[vgvindan]

Sarojram,
Thanks for nice write up.

[apasruthi]

Sarojram:

Your post so painstakingly written, in itself is a Deluge of Devotion - (Bhaktipravaaha). I could see your involvement into the performance and your own Bhakti in this article, which I could also enjoy...specially the enunciation of the shloka - "naaham vasaami vaikunte, na yogi hrudaye ravau.."

May you continue to thrill readers like me with such "BhAvArdramaana" posts...

Apasruthi

[jayaram]

Dear Smt Sarojram,

As always, your review is poetry in itself! The way you use the English language to bring out your feelings provides us all with a vicarious experience of having been at the concert hall ourselves. Thank you so much.

Please allow me to make a small correction, in the interests of clarity. You wrote:
>>experiencing the horipulation
The correct word is horripilation, meaning goosebump or rOmAncham.

Look forward to many more of your lovely reviews.

[sarojram18]

Thank you Jayaram and others . It is horripilation which is what is meant and not horripulation,. Sorry for the error.