Tyagaraja .......contd..

Tyagaraja Sings To Mother Kamakshi in Kancheepuram

Tyagaraja then went to Kancheepuram to meet Upanishad Brahmam, and sang songs on Lord Vishnu who appears as Varadaraja. He also composed some songs on Devi Kamakshi, which is the name by which Parvathi the Universal Mother is known there. The late Paramacharya of Kanchi once gave a graphic description of this song. He said that on the way to the place where the idol of Kamakshi is installed in the temple,Tyagaraja had to pass by many idols of Vinayaka the first son of Parvathi. He then sang a song asking Mother Kamakshi to protect him also the way She protected Her son Vinayaka.

We see from this and many other such songs that though Tyagaraja was a devotee of Lord Rama, he saw Rama as the Supreme Lord who took many forms; thus he saw no contradiction in his worship of many forms for in his mind they all belonged to only ONE GOD who, for him, was Rama.

Tyagaraja....contd...

Lord Rama To The Rescue of Tyagaraja

Sundaresa’s consort in Kovur is Tripurasundari [a name of Parvathi], and Tyagaraja also sang many songs in praise of the Goddess. When finally Tyagaraja took leave of Kovur Sundaresa Mudaliar, the host gave a palanquin for the Saint to travel in. While the party was proceeding south, a gang of robbers attacked them. Tyagaraaj was surprised; why was a robber gang attacking them? They had no money or valuables; why then? When he posed this question to one of his disciples, he was told that unknown to him, Sundaresa Mudaliar had given the disciples a lot of money, saying it was all for Rama’s work.

Hearing this, Tyagaraja is reported to have said, “In that case, it is Rama’s problem. He has to protect what belongs to Him,” and sang a song invoking the protection of the Lord. At that time, there appeared, seemingly from nowhere, some hunters who attacked the brigands and drove them away. And after vanquishing the robbers, the hunters vanished but not before giving Darshan to them as Rama and Lakshmana.

All this was reported to the Saint in great detail, whereupon he saw how lucky were the robbers to get the Darshan of the Lord whereas he, a life-long devotee was aching for the same all the time. That is how the Lord plays sometimes with his devotees; for Tyagaraja, it was one more occasion for a memorable song.

Tyagaraja.....(contd..)

“Praise God, Not Man”

Tyagaraja in Chennai From Tirupathi, Tyagaraja turned back and on his way stopped in Madras (now Chennai). We are here talking of a period around the year 1800 when Madras was far from the huge metropolis it now is. There was of course the main town, scattered around which were many villages, all of which have now been swallowed by the megapolis the city has since become. Though Madras had not yet become a big city then, there were in the vicinity of the city many patrons of Carnatic Music. One of them was Kovur Sundaresa Mudaliar, who warmly extended his hospitality to the Saint. Patrons in those days, wanted poets and musicians to sing their praise in return for the patronage conferred. It is said that Sundaresa Mudaliar dropped hints that he would like Tyagaraja to sing a few songs in his praise. Obviously Tyagaraja could not and would not do that. So how did he handle this delicate situation? Literally by following Swami’s dictum: “If you cannot oblige, speak obligingly!” What Tyagaraja did was to go to the local temple where the deity was Sundaresa [this is one of the names by which Siva is known]. And there before Lord Sundaresa, Tyagaraja sang five glorious songs in praise of Sundaresa [the Lord and not the host!]. This set of five songs are known as Kovur Pancharatnams [the five gems of Kovur].

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Tyagaraja.....contd..

Tyagaraja In Tirupathi

Devotees of the Lord often go on pilgrimages to various holy places, but Tyagaraja was not cast in that mold. There are, however, accounts of his visits to a few places, almost entirely in the South. The northernmost part he visited was Tirupathi, where Lord Venkateswara is the presiding deity. There is a story behind Tyagaraja’s visit to Tirupathi. Tyagaraja was actually invited to Chennai (formerly Madras) by a rich patron of music but he refused, naturally. This rich man then went to a noble sannyasi and a great devotee of Rama named Upanishad Brahmam, who lived in Kancheepuram near Madras.

This Upanishad Brahmam was a friend of Tyagaraja’s father and having heard of the talents of the son of his friend, wanted to see him. So he sent an invitation to Tyagaraja, inviting him to Kancheepuram. This formal invitation, known as srimukham, exists to this day along with some of Tyagaraja’s own writings on palm leaf of his compositions, in the Saurashtra Sabha in the temple city Madurai in Tamil Nadu. Tyagaraja then decided that he would go to Tirupathi and stop in Kancheepuram while returning, to see Upanishad Brahmam.
In Tirupathi, Tyagaraja entered the sanctum sanctorum of the temple where the idol is installed but it so happened that at that time the curtain was drawn, hiding the idol. It is a tradition in Hindu temples in South India that when the idol is being washed or decorated, the curtain is drawn. And when Tyagaraja saw the curtain, he sang memorable sang, asking: “When will this curtain come down? O Lord, I have come all the way to have Your Darshan and You are behind a curtain! Will You not please make the curtain fall so that I can see You?” It seems that the curtain immediately fell down, allowing Tyagaraja to have the Darshan of Lord Venkateswara.

This is the folk lore. However, scholars say that what Tyagaraja was really praying for was for the curtain of Maya or delusion to come down, so that he could have the vision of the Lord without any Mind-made distortions. Given Tyagaraja’s depth of devotion, this probably is the real significance of this wonderful song.

Tyagaraja .....contd...

The “Loss of Rama” The story does not end here.

Japesan became furious at what he regarded as Tyagaraja’s downright stupidity and, in a fit of anger, threw into the Kaveri river, the idols that Tyagaraja lovingly worshipped every day. This happened when Tyagaraja was not at home and unfortunately for Tyagaraja, there was also a flood in the river. Thus came a testing time for the devotee – a period of unbearable separation from the Lord. Swami says, “Do not make God into a picture but elevate the picture to God.” This certainly applied to Tyagaraja. For him the idols he worshipped were not merely idols but Rama, Lakshmana and Sita in person. The songs that Tyagaraja composed during this period of “separation” reflect, understandably, intense grief, sorry and agony. When the flood receded and the water level came down, Tyagaraja went into the river to look for His Lord, and by His Grace, found the lost idols. He burst into a song, this time full of joy and ecstasy, marking the end of the separation period. After that, Tyagaraja welcomed Rama back into the house with yet another memorable and sweet song

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Tyagaraja.....contd...

For Tyagaraja, Nobody was More Important than Lord Rama, Not Even The King

Whenever there is exceptional talent, there appear people who try to take charge of such people and “manage” them, a practice so very common these days. Interestingly, Tyagaraja’s elder brother Japesan decided that he should “manage and market” his foolish younger brother who did not how to make a fast buck. Since Tyagaraja was already well known despite his scrupulously avoiding public concerts, Japesan managed to convince the King of Tanjore that Tyagaraja must be invited to the court to sing in the royal presence. In keeping with the tradition of the times, the King sent a messenger with lots of gifts, and asked the messenger to invite Tyagaraja to sing for the King in the royal court.

Japesan thought that Tyagaraja would jump at the offer and that would be the beginning of great things to come. But that was not the way things worked out. Tyagaraja was pained and gave expression to his anguish by singing a wonderful song that begins with the words, “Tell me O Mind! Which is better? Money and fame or the chance to be in the presence of Lord Rama?”

It is interesting that there was actually a strong tradition amongst the highly evolved persons of those times to flatly reject the patronage offered by the rich and the wealthy, including Kings. There are any number of stories similar to the one just narrated. Rejection of worldly offers and dedicating oneself solely to the Lord was the hallmark of saints of those days.

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Tyagaraja ....contd..

Tyagaraja Stuns His Teacher!

Tyagaraja kept to himself and spent most of his time communicating with Lord Rama – he simply did not have time for promoting himself in the community through his musical talents. Nevertheless, he soon became known for his singing. One day, his Guru Sonti Venkataramaniah sent for Tyagaraja and asked him to sing some of his own compositions in the presence of leading court musicians of the day. Normally, Tyagaraja avoided singing before others, but this was different; his Guru was asking him to do so, and so he obeyed the command and sang. The teacher was so stunned by Tyagaraja’s remarkable talent that he openly praised his disciple as being far better than him, a praise few teachers would be prepared to give. Not only that; Sonti Venkataramaniah presented Tyagaraja with a gold medal that he had once received as an award at a royal court. Tyagaraja was averse to receiving such tokens but made a one-time exception for the sake of his Guru. Later, Tyagaraja presented the medal and the chain at the wedding of his teacher’s daughter; thus he managed to dispense with what was perhaps the only worldly reward he had ever received

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