Mutthuswamy Dikshithar (Krithis)

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 03 May 2007, 21:26

kiransurya wrote:Sri Abhayambha in Sri raaga (mangalam) , Mana Saveri tarula-Raagamalika are also manipravala krithis.

If you go through sangIta sAmpradAya pradarSiNi, this song has been attributed to muttusvAmi dikSitar. But subburAma dikSitar has also listed this kriti under rAmasvAmi dikSitar also. So, as DRS points out it is not a kriti of muttusvAmi dikSitar and it is a kriti of his father. But still a side not on that beautiful kriti. It is a 48 rAga-rAgamAlika on tirumalayyappan. He also composed a 44 rAgamAlika on madurapurISvari and a 108 rAga rAgamalika-tALamAlika besides others. I guess rAmasvAmi dikSitar must be the pioneer is this form of songs (as in rAgamAlika/tALamAlika).

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 25 May 2007, 00:17

In the kRti 'Sri pArvati paramEsvarau' - rAga bhauli, MD calles the couple (Siva and Parvati) as 'sOpAna mArga mukhyAdhArau'. In the website -
http://www.medieval.org/music/world/car ... varau.html - this (sOpAna mArga) is stated to be 'advaitic notion' without any elaboration.

This word 'sOpana' appears in the kRti of Sri tyAgaraja 'venkaTeSa ninnu'.

There is verse by Swami Desikan on 'parama pada sOpAnaM' giving out 9 steps - http://www.srivaishnavam.com/desikaprab ... sopana.htm

Adi Sankara has also written 'sOpAna pancakaM'. http://www.geocities.com/profvk/VK2/Adv ... hanaa.html

Playing the game of 'snakes and ladder' was considered auspicious during the vaikuNTha EkAdaSi - this is called 'parama pada sOpAnaM'.

But what is the 'sOpAna mArga' referred to in the MD kRti?

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 25 May 2007, 00:49

vgv Sir,

You may be very well knowing what I'm going to state here. Please forgive if that is the case.

paramapadasOpAnam is a rasya granta composed by svAmi dESikan. It has 21 verses.

The original script is availabe at http://www.prapatti.com/slokas/tamil/de ... paanam.pdf

You can read the meanings at http://www.sundarasimham.org/ebooks/58PPS.pdf

svAmi dESikan has also done bhagavad dhyAna sOpAnam.
You can read that at http://www.prapatti.com/slokas/sanskrit ... paanam.pdf

and the meanings can be found at http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/acharyas/des ... am-nk.html and
http://www.sundarasimham.org/ebooks/bha ... opanam.pdf

As you have stated it means steps, paDikaTTu. In viSiSTadvaita, it definitely means a step by step way to attain the feet of the parampOruL, SrImannArAyaNan.

http://www.tirumala.org/sapthagiri/122002/epic.htm
sOpAna mArga in tirumalA = Flight of Steps.

tyagarAjasvAmi states that "What vratam/penance did I undergo that I have been able to taste Your nectar thus attaining the flight of steps?" (Correct??)

Even the jinA sAmpradAya mentions the sOpAna mArga with 11 steps.
http://www.jainworld.com/jainbooks/jain ... apter8.htm

Shouldn't the sOpAna mArga go in accordance with Adi Sankara bhagavadpAda's sOpana pancakam (upadESa pancakam)?

http://www.advaita.org.uk/discourses/do ... adhana.pdf
SrI candraSEkarEndra sarasvati svAmi, in his discourse states,

â€˜SopAnaMâ€™ means staircase. In this work he gives a step-by-step procedure for us ordinary people to start from the rock bottom starting point and go all the way to that peak stage of Brahman-illumination.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 25 May 2007, 01:34

And I am sure you all know (isn't that why we are all here?):
'advaita siddhiki amaratva labdhiki gAnamE sOpAnamU'

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 25 May 2007, 09:01

rs,
I heard this verse in the film 'Sankarabharanam'. Whose words are these?

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 29 May 2007, 17:28

To-day I happened to come across the MD kRti 'tyAgarAjE kRtyAkRtya' rAga - sAranga, wherein the following statement is found

tyAgarAjE kRtyAkRtyam-arpayAmi vidEha kaivalyam yAmi -

"I surrender to Lord Tyagaraja all the actions I have done, and those I have not performed, and I reach bodyless emancipation."

For complete kRti, please visit - http://www.medieval.org/music/world/car ... ritya.html

Just before that, I had finished translating the tyAgarAja kRti 'paritApamu' - rAga manOhari - http://www.rasikas.org/wiki/paritapamu-koniyadina

This kRti is stated to the last one sung by the bard after which he shed the mortal coil.

What a 'vAggEyakkaras'!

Priya · Post by **Priya** » 17 Jun 2007, 12:40

okay...could someone explain what a "raga-mudra" is ??? i know what dikshithar's mudra refers to...but 'raga-mudra" as in the raga's characteristic swaras in a certain phrase that acts like a distinctive stamp of a particular ragam ??

bhaktha · Post by **bhaktha** » 17 Jun 2007, 13:15

The raga mudra you are talking about probably refrs to the name of the ragam appearing in the kriti.
Eg: "mahA kAya nAtakAdI priyam" in the caranam of mAhAganapatIm where the raga name is beautifully inserted. Dikshitar in many of his kritis introduced the raga name in the kriti very cleverly.
-bhaktha

Priya · Post by **Priya** » 18 Jun 2007, 08:03

aah..so that is called a raga mudra...thanks : )

sankirnam · Post by **sankirnam** » 21 Jun 2007, 17:54

AFAIK, Maha Ganapathim (nattai) is not an authentic composition of Muthuswami Dikshitar.

mohan · Post by **mohan** » 21 Jun 2007, 18:57

sankirnam wrote:AFAIK, Maha Ganapathim (nattai) is not an authentic composition of Muthuswami Dikshitar.

Never heard that before.

chinthpeter · Post by **chinthpeter** » 13 Jul 2007, 18:53

Thyagaraja's Mangalam is extremely popular!

Does anyone know if Muthuswamy Dikshithar composed a Mangalam???

If so pls let me know, if there are audio clips available for download of the Mangalam !!!

drshrikaanth · Post by **drshrikaanth** » 13 Jul 2007, 19:26

SrI kamalAmbikE in SrIrAga, khaNDa Eka is sung as the mangaLa in MD school

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 14 Jul 2007, 00:38

chinthpeter wrote:Does anyone know if Muthuswamy Dikshithar composed a Mangalam???

simhAsanastitE, a rAgamAlika, and SrI rAjarAjESvarIm in madhyamAvathy are also the mangaLa kritis of muttusvAmi dIkSitar.

chinthpeter · Post by **chinthpeter** » 14 Jul 2007, 12:23

thank u very much for the info !

What about Varnams has dikshithar composed any???

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 15 Jul 2007, 03:35

chinthpeter wrote:What about Varnams has dikshithar composed any???

None

s_hari · Post by **s_hari** » 15 Jul 2007, 07:00

I have heared MSS singing Sriranjani Varnam - Nee Saati Deivamu of MD

This is part of Guruguha vani release of SaReGaMa.. Check in musicindiaonline

=hari

kmrasika · Post by **kmrasika** » 15 Jul 2007, 07:34

ksrimech wrote:chinthpeter wrote:
What about Varnams has dikshithar composed any???

None

This is correct. The cauka varNam, "rUpamu jUci" in tODi, attributed to muttusvAmi dIkshitar, is a composition of his father, rAmasvAmi dIkshitar.

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 15 Jul 2007, 10:34

s_hari wrote:I have heared MSS singing Sriranjani Varnam - Nee Saati Deivamu of MD

IMHO, this is still a mis-attribution. MD couldn't have composed in telugu or tamizh. Of course, there are these few spurious kritis going around in his name. Still experts can comment.

bhaktha · Post by **bhaktha** » 15 Jul 2007, 12:58

I am told that there's kriti of Shri Dikshitar's in which there is a mention about a tsunami that affected a particular town....which kriti is it?
-bhaktha

chinthpeter · Post by **chinthpeter** » 15 Jul 2007, 13:30

checked out in musicindiaonline

they dont have that varnam

does anyone ve that audio ???

if so can u pls upload the same???

s_hari · Post by **s_hari** » 15 Jul 2007, 13:48

Guruguha vaani is commercial release, hence can't upload!

kmrasika · Post by **kmrasika** » 16 Jul 2007, 19:46

Did a Google search for you and you can hear DKJ render nI sATi @:http://www.raaga.com/channels/carnatic/ ... 00334.html

baboosh · Post by **baboosh** » 17 Jul 2007, 20:30

ksrimech wrote:
s_hari wrote:I have heared MSS singing Sriranjani Varnam - Nee Saati Deivamu of MD
IMHO, this is still a mis-attribution. MD couldn't have composed in telugu or tamizh. Of course, there are these few spurious kritis going around in his name. Still experts can comment.

This Daru was composed by Dishitar for his disciple Dasi Kamalambal of Tiruvarur.This is what I have heard of this song.MSS sang it on a couple of occasions.

baboosh · Post by **baboosh** » 17 Jul 2007, 20:33

ksrimech wrote:
chinthpeter wrote:Does anyone know if Muthuswamy Dikshithar composed a Mangalam???
simhAsanastitE, a rAgamAlika, and SrI rAjarAjESvarIm in madhyamAvathy are also the mangaLa kritis of muttusvAmi dIkSitar.

Sri Rajarajeshvari is a Srividhya mantra krithi which as a tradiution is not sung on commercial concerts but during Navavarna puja.

s_hari · Post by **s_hari** » 17 Jul 2007, 22:42

baboosh wrote:Sri Rajarajeshvari is a Srividhya mantra krithi which as a tradiution is not sung on commercial concerts but during Navavarna puja.

Yes - i have heared this song, a very nice one!!! This is in a commercial cassette release, containing lalitha sahasranama parayanam!!

-hari

kmrasika · Post by **kmrasika** » 18 Jul 2007, 10:01

s_hari wrote:Yes - i have heared this song, a very nice one!!! This is in a commercial cassette release, containing lalitha sahasranama parayanam!!

Do you remember the title and production company of the album?

s_hari · Post by **s_hari** » 18 Jul 2007, 19:34

Here it is

Album - Sri Lalitha Sahasranama Parayana Krama
Rendered by - Diciples of H.h. Sri Vimarshanandendra Saraswathi swamigal
Produced by Sri Vimarsa Prakasa Trust, Bhaskara Prakasha ashram, R.A.Puram, Chennai
Phone 91-44-24936571

In Side B, there is a Lalithamba Bhajan & Sri vidya mantra kirthanam.

baboosh · Post by **baboosh** » 18 Jul 2007, 21:30

s_hari wrote:Here it is

Album - Sri Lalitha Sahasranama Parayana Krama
Rendered by - Diciples of H.h. Sri Vimarshanandendra Saraswathi swamigal
Produced by Sri Vimarsa Prakasa Trust, Bhaskara Prakasha ashram, R.A.Puram, Chennai
Phone 91-44-24936571

In Side B, there is a Lalithamba Bhajan & Sri vidya mantra kirthanam.

Thhe swamigal referred to was our SriVidhya guru who was a famous upasaka having built a temple for SriLalithhambika in the address referred above.The temple was reinstalled over Swamijis' samadhi after he attained siddhi.

veenajj · Post by **veenajj** » 19 Jul 2007, 07:25

chinthpeter wrote:What about Varnams has dikshithar composed any???

Gajananaaya Namaste - Shankarabharanam - Rupakam

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 19 Jul 2007, 08:24

veenajj,

I think u looked at this webpage http://www.carnatica.net/kriti/othertalas.htm

But I doubt it is some other dIkSitar's work.

veenajj · Post by **veenajj** » 19 Jul 2007, 09:31

Dear ksrimech,

We had not really looked up the webpage that you have mentioned, but are very glad to note that there is mention of this rare varnam.

Gajananaaya Namaste (varnam) is listed as a Muthuswamy Dikshitar composition in Vainika Vidwan Ananthakrishna Iyer's book published from Kolkata in the mid 1950s.

Regards,

Jeyaraaj & Jaysri

srinidhi · Post by **srinidhi** » 19 Jul 2007, 10:01

Most of Ambi Sir's students (if not all) would have begun their varnam lessons with Gajananaaya Namaste rather than the more familiar "Sami Ninne".

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 19 Jul 2007, 10:31

Does anyone have a non-commercial recording of the madhyamAvati krithi they can share. It's a very intriguing one and TKG's book does not attempt a translation of this krithi.

veenajj · Post by **veenajj** » 19 Jul 2007, 15:53

srinidhi wrote:Most of Ambi Sir's students (if not all) would have begun their varnam lessons with Gajananaaya Namaste

Couldn't agree more!

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 20 Jul 2007, 01:16

veenajj, thanks for the clarification. DKP was ambi dIkSitar's student and interesting to note she never sing it.

Can you post the lyrics here? Thank you.

Prasant, only if you are a SrIvidyA upAsaka, you will get the meanings of that song.

srinidhi · Post by **srinidhi** » 20 Jul 2007, 11:54

GajAnanAya namastE- ShankarAbharaNam- RUpaka tAla

Pallavi- GajAnanAya namastE gourI kumAraya namastE

Anupallavi- ajEndrAdyamarAdi nutAya Agama sannuta pratipatita varAya

Charanam- guruguha pUjita sumukhAya

These are the lyrics to the best of my knowledge. Corrections welcome.

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 20 Jul 2007, 12:45

Thank you Srinidhi

veenajj · Post by **veenajj** » 20 Jul 2007, 14:39

Dear Srinidhi, most of the sAhithyam is okay, there are just one or two small corrections:

Pallavi- GajAnanAya namastE gourI kumAraya (GajAnanAya namastE)

Anupallavi- ajEndrAdyamarAdi nutAya Agama siddhAnta pratipAdita varAya

Jeyaraaj & Jaysri

ts · Post by ts » 20 Jul 2007, 16:22

ksrimech wrote:veenajj, thanks for the clarification. DKP was ambi dIkSitar's student and interesting to note she never sing it.

Can you post the lyrics here? Thank you.

Prasant, only if you are a SrIvidyA upAsaka, you will get the meanings of that song.

DKP was Ambi Dikshitar's student only for a very short time. It seems she learnt only two krithis from him, Kanchadalayadakshi and Balagopala.

She is the only one who sings Kanchadalaya in vilamba kalam and Balagopala without the spurious lines (vaijayanti...)

prashant · Post by **prashant** » 20 Jul 2007, 17:10

Thanks ksrimech for that clarification.

gsriram · Post by **gsriram** » 20 Jul 2007, 23:32

ksrimech wrote:... MD couldn't have composed in telugu or tamizh. ...

Hi ksrimech,

Sorry to be blunt, but what is your authority for stating this? Do you have any tangible evidence, or is that just your personal opinion?

Ganesh

gsriram · Post by **gsriram** » 20 Jul 2007, 23:39

ksrimech wrote:
chinthpeter wrote:What about Varnams has dikshithar composed any???
None

Ksrimech,

Again, what is your source? The SSP does list two Telugu varNams (rUpamu jUchi and nI sATi daivamu) as MD compositions (although it is inconsistent about rUpamu.) And Dikshitar experts have rendered nI sATi (DKJ) and rUpamu (SR Janakiraman) mentioning them to be MD compositions.

Ganesh

Ashwin · Post by **Ashwin** » 21 Jul 2007, 01:01

gsriram wrote:
ksrimech wrote:
chinthpeter wrote:What about Varnams has dikshithar composed any???
None
Ksrimech,

Again, what is your source? The SSP does list two Telugu varNams (rUpamu jUchi and nI sATi daivamu) as MD compositions (although it is inconsistent about rUpamu.) And Dikshitar experts have rendered nI sATi (DKJ) and rUpamu (SR Janakiraman) mentioning them to be MD compositions.

Ganesh

SRJ Mama believes that rUpamu jUci is a composition of rAmasvAmi dIkShitar and not MD. Im not sure about nI sATi...

Ashwin

ksrimech · Post by **ksrimech** » 21 Jul 2007, 02:01

gsriram,

It is my opinion. I think so because the telugu/tamizh/maNipravALa kritis/varNas do not have the same musical quality or beauty lyrical as the sanskrit kritis. The people have debated this a lot and will continue to beat the pulp with out any conclusions. I feel this because people are still divided in the opinions.

Ashwin,

Isn't there also a story about different people actually laying hands on that tODi varNam (muttusvAmi dIkSitar, bAlusvAmi dIkSitar, subburAya SAStri and SyAmA SAStri) after they found only chitta swaras were missing after rAmasvAmi dIkSitar's death? Also, if you get a chance, I request you to check with your guru about the authenticity of ni sATi deivamu.

ts- thanks for the clarification.

gsriram · Post by **gsriram** » 21 Jul 2007, 06:36

Ashwin wrote:SRJ Mama believes that rUpamu jUci is a composition of rAmasvAmi dIkShitar and not MD. Im not sure about nI sATi...
Ashwin

Hi Ashwin,

That is very interesting! There is a lecdem by SRJ Mama on Dikshitar compositions (from around 1993) where he mentions more than once that rUpamu jUci is a composition of muttusvAmi dIkshitar. Possibly, Mama formed the opinion that you mention at a later time? If at all possible, I am curious to know what motivated Mama to change his opinion.

The lecdem is available here: http://www.sangeethapriya.org/Downloads ... rt1of2.MP3 and here are the verbatim quotes from the lecdem where (I think) at Mama mentions this (implicitly or explicitly):

15:04 "rUpamu jUci, tOdi rAga, Adi tALa. In sangIta sampradAya pradarshini, it has been given as a composition of muddusvAmi dIkshitar. But, shall I say unfortunately, in later publications, it has been labeled as a composition of Subbarama Dikshitar."

15:58 "rUpamu jUci has been given as a composition of muddusvAmi dikShitar, a cauka varNa."

27:53 (after concluding a rendition of rUpamu jUci): "This is the typical dIkShitar style. dIkShitar, muttusvAmi dIkShitar, was predominantly a cauka kAla composer..."

31:48 (Still talking about rUpamu jUCi and briefly changing the subject to rAmasvAmi dIkStar's hindOLavasanta varNa): "Perhaps the son [muttusvAmi dIkshitar] followed the father [rAmasvAmi dIkshitar]."

32:00 "It's also handed down to us through the Tanjore Quartet descendants that muttusvAmi dIkshitar just confined himself only to this one cauka varNa [rUpamu] ..."

32:50 "That's why we are having only this one varNa, this rUpamu jUci, of muttusvAmi dIkshitar."

Also, I definitely remember a lecdem by DKJ where DKJ similarly mentions nI sATi as an MD composition.

Hi ksrimech,

ksrimech wrote:Isn't there also a story about different people actually laying hands on that tODi varNam (muttusvAmi dIkSitar, bAlusvAmi dIkSitar, subburAya SAStri and SyAmA SAStri) after they found only chitta swaras were missing after rAmasvAmi dIkSitar's death?

No, this is not a varNam in tOdi but in shrIranjanI (sAmi ninnE), AFAIK. The charaNa svara-s were composed respectively by shyAma shAstri, chinnasvAmi dIkshitar, and muttusvAmi dIkshitar. This is mentioned in the SSP as a footnote to this varNam's notation. Lalita Ramakrishna also mentions this in her book "The Varnam", and perhaps, this story is mentioned there.

ksrimech wrote:... the telugu/tamizh/maNipravALa kritis/varNas do not have the same musical quality or beauty lyrical as the sanskrit kritis.

About the musical quality, can you point out any objective differences, or is it just a subjective feeling? And how can you expect lyrical similarities between Telugu varNams and Sanskrit kritis? As a case in point, I don't see very many lyrical similarities between Poochi Iyengar's Telugu varNams and Sanskrit kriti "shrI venkaTEsham", or for that matter, between Lalgudi Jayaraman's Telugu varNams and Sanskrit kritis. I fail to see how the lyrical beauty argument can carry any weight.

Of course, if it is your personal, subjective opinion, you are definitely entitled to it.

Also, for the record, other people in the Dikshitar family have composed prolifically in Telugu (RD, SD, and also possibly chinnasvAmi).

Best wishes,
Ganesh

Ashwin · Post by **Ashwin** » 21 Jul 2007, 20:05

gsriram and ksrimech,

Thanks for the exhaustive referencing of the 1993 Seattle lec-dem - I have listened to it many times (in fact, I think I encoded it to mp3 from the tape

) and know that Mama has attributed it to MD there. My original post was based on what I interpreted from my own lesson while learning the varNam.

I was compelled to ask SRJ Mama this morning during our lesson whether rUpamu jUci is to be attributed to RD or MD. A summary of the response is that, since the styles of RD and MD are extremely similar, the varNam could be a composition of either, although there is a school of thought that it is RD's only. However, SRJ Mama said he has no problem attributing it to MD. He also added that the sAhitya for the muktAyisvara and caraNasvarA-s were composed by Tiger varadAcAryA. I must have misinterpreted this information when I was taught - my apologies if my original post caused any confusion!

Regarding nI sATi, SRJ Mama says it is possible it is RDs, citing the 'older' quality of the sahitya...

Ashwin

meena · Post by **meena** » 21 Jul 2007, 23:31

ashwin

i was informed that the sAhitya for the caraNa svara-sAhitya was composed by Sree MDR and the chittaswara's was composed by Sree Tiger - for Smt.Rukmini Devi Arundale. I have posted the complete txt on sree mdr thread.

klimkaaran · Post by **klimkaaran** » 22 Jul 2007, 16:45

Hello All Rasikas

As a small effort, I am writing the life history of Muthuswami Dikshithar at blogspot. Please read it and give me your valuable thoughts and suggestions. Since Tamil runs in my blood deep, I have decided to write the blog entirely in Tamil. So non-tamil readers please forgive me. Please do leave your comments. I have just written up till his birth. I shall continue on a daily basis. Since the blog is posted in Tamil, some might have problems accessing the page. Please leave a comment in such case. Here is the link.

http://klimkaaran.blogspot.com/

Thanking you for all your support.
Klimkaaran.

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 22 Jul 2007, 17:06

I am desirous of publishing the kRtis of MD in our wiki and also as blogs in the same manner as those of Sri tyAgarAja with Word-by-word meanings, notes and transliteration in all the languages.
If someone can undertake the task of Word-by-word translation, I shall be obliged.