Thai Month , Second Day KrishNa paksham , Thrutheeyai Thithi Aayiyam/Maham Nakshthtram January 13 , 1998 Dear Raama BhakthAs : After saluting Sri Ramachandran with a splendid array of divya nAmAs in the sixth charaNam , Saint ThyagarAjA celebrates here the Aasritha Rakshakathva guNam of the Lord. This charaNam is a testament to Lord Raamachandra as the SaraNAgatha Rakshakan , who declared : " mithra bhAvEna samprAptham na tyajEyam kathanchana" and , " Abayam Sarva bhUthEbhyO dadhAmyEtadh VRATHAM mama " He declared that Even if one ( even an enemy ) seeks my protection under the pretense (guise ) of a friend , I will ignore his erstwhile enimity and will come to his rescue and ward off any dangers that might come his way . Once again , he declared in Yuddha KhAndam , " My vow ( deekshA/Vratham ) is to banish all the fears from the one , who has performed SaraNAgathi to me and sought my succour and protection . Even if he says once that he has performed SaraNAgathi to me , I will come to his rescue without fail . This is my dharmam . Bhaktha rakshaNam is my vratham . Saint ThyagarAjA remembered these comforting words of the Lord and said to us that Sri AnjanEya Swami , SitA Piratti , Lord SivA , His consort Paarvathi , Sages NaaradA , ParasaraA , Sukha Brahmam , Sounakar , GoudhamA and PurandarA stand by to offer their own testimonies to Lord RaamachandrA "s Bhaktha RakshaNa Vratham . Saint ThyagarAjA confesses that his mind is brimming with AanandhAnubhavam over the darsana soubhAgyam of this Asritha Rakshakan ( prapanna PaarijAtham , SaraNAgatha RakshaNa vrathee ) . Saint ThyagarAjA had great joy in reminding himself about the unfailing protection of the BhakthAs by Lord RamachandrA . He was never tired of singing about this kalyANa guNam of the Lord. In one of his SourAshtra Raaga Krithis , He celebrated the Bhaktha- RakshaNa LakshaNam of his Lord this way : " Raama Raama Govindha , Rakshinju Mukhundha , kalee yuga manujulu neeku mahAthmyamu galathu LEdanE kaalamAyagA " ( Meaning ) My dear One , RaamA ! In this Kali Yugam , the people have descended down to the level of questioning and debating whether You have the power to come to their rescue . I do not belong to this group of doubters. I will perform pradhakshiNams to You , do kaimkaryam , meditate on You and take comfort from the testimony of MahAthmAs like Lord SivA ( Raama Naama Rasikudu ) about your Bhaktha RakshaNa vratham and stay with MahA VisvAsam that You will come to my rescue . I spend my days this way without fear or doubt . Raama Kothada Raama ! Raama KalyANa Raama ! Raama Pattabhi Raama ! In this lowly age of Kali , people celebrate the lives of rich adhamAs as exalted lives ! Please listen to my eulogies on the meaning of the sacredness of Your Lotus feet ( PoRRAmarRai adiyE poRRum poruL kELAi ) . I stay at Your lotus feet in full awareness of their Bhaktha RakshaNa parAkramam as testified by AnjanEyA , ParamasivA and a host of other devotees of Yours ! SitA Naayaka sritha Jana pOshaka Sri Raghu kula Tilaka RaamA ! Baala sasAnka kalAlankrutha nutha RaamA ! ( One worshipped by the Kailaasa Nathan adorning the cresent moon on His Jatai ) , Saaregu Sangeetha yOga naigama parAnguthudaina Parama pAvana Naarada Vandhitha RaamA ! ( One who is worshipped by the great and pious NaaradA , who has mastered the Gaandharva vEdam thru Sangeetha ( Naadha ) yOgam ) , Pavanaja Sthuthi paathra Paavana charithra Pattabhi RaamA ! ( One who is the object of AnjanEyA's eulogy of Your sacred charithram ) , " yOgijana hrudhayAbhja mithra Mythilee RaamA " , ( One who is the Sun to the heart lotuses of yOgis ) , When I have Your darsanam , my heart jumps with indescribable joy and I forget myself . RaamAbhi RaamA , RamaNeeya NaamA ! Srikara rUpa SudhAkara vadhana , sOkha nivAraNa Sundara rathana RaamA ! SanakAdhi sumuni geetha sajjana gaNa paarijAtha RaamA ! Ksheerbhdi nAthA ! Parama Soundharya MUrthE ! SvaralayAdhi mUrchanOllasitha Naarada Vinutha RaamA ! Sri Bhaaskara KulAdhri Dheepa! Pavanaja dhrutha paadha Kamala DasarathE ! Mukkanti nOda selakE nAma MahAthmya RaamA ! Kanakana ruchirA , Kanaka Vasana ninnu . Oh Lord ! my heart runs after your soundharyam just like the young calf runs after its mother and jumps with joy around her . The intenesity of my desire to enjoy Your beauty continually increases multifold . The Final CharaNam ( Eighth CharaNam ********************************************** After remembering the greatness of the glory of his Lord as attested by the great bhakthAs of His , Saint ThyagarAjA was unable to continue with his salutations . In other Pancha rathna krithis , he had sung the Lord's glories with ten charaNams. Overcome by the supreme aanandham of enjoying the Lord"s divya soundharyam , he could not go on . Hence , he stopped singing after the eighth charaNam and fell into a deep and joyous trance as a result of his unique anubhavam and soubhAgyam . This charaNam is therefore a short one : sathathamu prEma pUrithaDugu ThyagarAja nutha! mukha jitha Kumudha ! Hitha ( natha ) Varadha! ninnu ( Kana Kana ruchirA kanaka vasana ninnu ) KaruNA Rasa pUrNa nEthra RaamA ! Sri Kaantha RaamA ! nirvANa palatha RaamA ! You are the one , who watches over with Your daya-laden eyes , Your aasritha janams and grant generously all the boons that they seek and add a few more . You are the Varadha Raajan , whose beautiful face beats the beauty of the blue lotus flower easily . This charaNam has a variation in Paatam ( PaatAntharam ) . Mukha jitha Kumudha NATHA VARADHA and Mukha jitha KumudhA HITHA VARADHA are the two variations preserved by the sishya paramparais . This alternate usage reminds one of the SankharAbharaNa krithi of the Saint , where he used both Hitha and Natha next to each other to hint at their interdependence : Natha Maanasa Hitha kara , paalitha ThyagarAja Here , the saint salutes Sri Raaman, the ThyagarAja-- Rakshakan as the noble Varadhan conferring mangaLams to His natha Janams ( those prostrating before HIm in reverence ) . There is thus not much of a difference between the hitha kara Varadhan and Natha Jana pOshaka Varadhan . With great longing and prEmai , Saint ThyagarAjA addressed Sri RaamA as Varadha Raajan in this charaNam and confessed that the Lord's soundharyam is insatiable to experience and that his heart was jumping with uncontrollable aanandham over His divya darsanam . Thus concludes the VarALi Pancharathna Krithi . Some fourty years ago , Only sangeetha KalAnidhi MaharAjapuram VisvanAtha Iyer sang this krithi at the BaguLa Panchami AarAdhanam for the Sadhguru at ThiruvayyAu . Other vidhvAns did not have the command over this krithi . They used to fall silent and listen to the mellifluent voice of the MaharAjapuram VidvAn , who had learnt this krithi from Sri UmayAlpuram SwaminAtha Iyer , the fourth generation sishyA of Saint ThyagarAjA . Great VidvAns like Ariyakkudi RaamAnuja IyengAr , GNB , Madhurai MaNi , AlatthUr brothers used to wait unitl MaharAjapuram finished rendering VarALi and then joined with him to sing the Sri Raga Pancharathnam , YendharO MahAnubhAvulu " . Sri Raamachandra ParabrahmaNE Nama: Oppiliappan Koil VaradaAchAri SadagOpan
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