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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00008 Jun 2006

 
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Dear SrivaishNava perunthagaiyeer,

Many a times in hours of crisis like plane hijack, riots, violence, 
etc, we hear from the news sources that the `special commandos' 
trained in tackling such situations were deployed, and, they were 
able to quell the impending disaster. Is it modern news or somebody's 
modern idea of creating such a `commando force?' Perhaps experts in 
the subjects of `political administration' and `sociology' fields can 
comment on that. But I feel, it is as old as `raamaayaNam'. Evidence 
of such a `force' existence is available in sreemadh raamaayaNam. 
Perhaps the name of that commando force may differ. 

After the famous and many an army groups led by indhrajith 
[raavaNan's son], kumbakarNan, virupaakshan, et al along with their 
leaders have been killed or destroyed completely in war with sri 
raama, raavaNan commands his `special commandos army' ? or his `core 
inner commandos'. This, in raamaayaNam, is called raavaNan's `moola 
balam'. In the yudhDha kaaNdam of sreemadh vaalmeeki raamaayaNam the 
sargam 94 ? 94th chapter ? is on `moola bala yudhDham' ? a war 
between the core inner army of raavaNa and sri raama and his monkey 
army. 

In this `moola bala yudhdham' saint thyaagaraaja describes 
raama's `bowing' power. This krithi is in the raagam saavEri. That 
krithi is presented below.

Krithi: `raama baaNa'           raagam: saavEri
thaaLam: aadhi  Composer: thyaagaraaja  Language: Telugu 
15 maayamaaLava gowLa janya raagam

Aa: S R1 M1 P D1 S
Av: S N3 D1 P M1 G3 R1 S 

pallavi:- 
raama baaNa thraaNa souryam 
Emani pogaDudhuraa O manasaa ? raama baaNa

Meaning: hey mind ? what can I say about the valour [sooraththanam] 
of sree raamaa's bow in protecting its [His?] subjects (thraaNam - 
protecting).

anupallavi:- 
bhaamaku aasaabaDu raavaNa moola 
balamula nEla goola jEyu nija  - raama baaNa

meaning: the inner circle army of that raavaNaa, who desired seethaa, 
was completely thrashed and destroyed of their strength ? oh, that 
true raamaa's bow  [hey mind - ? what can] 

charaNam:- 
thammuDu baDalina vELa suraripu 
themmani chakkera pancheeyaga gani 
lemmanuchunu indhira ari balka 
samayammani lEvagaa 

sammathithO nilabaDi kOdhaNDa 
poojya ghOshamula aasanula jEsi thaa 
nemmadi gala thODunu joochEnuraa 
nijamaina thyaagaraaja nuthudaku sree  - raama baaNa 

charaNam first part: when the younger brother lakshmaNa fell 
unconscious, that enemy of dhEvaas [viz. indhrajith] enjoyed by 
distributing sweets. [Later] The enemy of Indhira [raavaNan] was 
challenging to get up, raama thought it was time to respond and stood 
up. 

charaNam second part: raama stood up with complete determination, 
with His bow twanging like a thunder, He looked at His younger 
brother [anuja] who follows Him subserviently, to such a Lord, truly 
praised by thyaagaraaja - Hey mind, what can....]

Points or comments: 
1.      This krithi is rarely sung in the kutchEry mEdais ? music 
concerts. This is not such a popular krithi.
2.      The raagam selection by thyaagaraajaa is something very 
special. The raagam name SaavEri, is probably derived from the 
word 'Saavari'. This is a rakthi raga, apt for singing at the time 
of `Soorya udhayam' - sunrise and Soorya asthamanam - sunset. Saaveri 
is also one of the ragas confined to the realms of Carnaatic music.

3.      In the comment on this raagam, the famous musicologist 
Dr.V.V.Srivathsa says: Saaveri is an ancient raagam with many textual 
references. This raagam is classified as a Bhaashaanga raagam in 
Sangeeta Ratnaakaram, albeit with the name Saavari. This raagam has a 
place of pride in Carnaatic music, as can be also seen in the 
proverb, "KaavEri snaanam, SaavEri Gaanam", which is duly reflected 
in a composition by Dikshithar. Each swaram has a significant role. 
Gandharam and Nishadam, at Trisruti levels, render this raagam as 
Bhaashaanga. Rishabham, Madhyamam and Nishadam are raaga-chhayya 
swarams, which bring out the nuances of this raagam. Madhyamam is 
unique, often called SaavEri Madhyamam. It is one of the select ragas 
with compositions by all members of the Carnaatic Trinity. There is a 
marked conceptual similarity between Dikshitar and Syaamaa Saastri. 
Some rare sanchaarams can be found in "KarmamE Balavanta", a 
Thyaagaraaja krithi. There is considerable esoteric significance in 
some passages of the kriti "Sri Raajagopaala" by Dikshithar. Syaama 
Saastri's first composition was in this raagam. Many post-Trinity 
composers have used this raagam, unto recent times. A great legacy".

4.      In the comment on this raagam, another musicologist Dr 
Pramila Gurumurthy says: The earliest reference is by Parshwadeva 
(11th Century). Naarada's classification under the time theory 
details SaavEri as a derivative of Gauda, apt for rendition between 
noon and 3 pm. Sarangadeva refers to raagam Sauviri only. The 
Brihaddharma Purana mentions SaavEri as a janya raagam of Gowda mela. 
Annamacharya and Purandaradasa have composed in this raga. Ramamatya 
refers to SaavEri as a janya raagam of Saalanganaata mElam. The 
references by Somanatha to a raga Saaveri as a derivative of the 
Mallaari scale perhaps is in respect of Suddha saavEri. Venkatamakhin 
opines that Saaveri is a derivative of Gowla mela. The melodic 
identity of this raga is established in works like Raaga Lakshanamu, 
Sangeeta Saaraamrita and Sangeeta Sampradaaya Pradarsini. The 
Sangeeta Saaraamrita deems SaavEri to be a morning raagam. Shadjam is 
used as Graha, Nyasa and Amsa swarams. Many compositions are 
available with notation in the Sangeeta Sampradaya Pradarsini. 

5.      This raagam expresses `karuNaa rasam'. 

6.      Now let us see sreemadh raamaayaNam slokams on the moola bala 
yudhdham ? and see whether thyaagaraaja's krithi goes in similar 
lines or picturises a different version.  The `raama baaNa thraaNa 
souryam' ? the raama baaNam protecting its subjects? Why and how? 

Raama is not the king at that stage of fighting the `moola bala 
yudhdham'. In fact raama was fighting raavaNa, the enemy, based on 
the help of sugreeva and his army of monkeys. Then how can 
he `protect' his subjects?' Yes. The vaalmeeki slokam reads 

raakshasair yudhdhya maanaanaam vaanaraaNaam mahaa chamoo: |
SaraNyam saraNam yaathaa raamam dhasaratha aathmajam || 6-94-17

Meaning: The big army of vaanaraas being fought by the raakshasa army 
surrendered to the son of dhasaratha viz. raama. 

Chinnam bhinnam sarair dhagDham prabhagnam sasthra peeditham |
balam raamENa dhadhrusur na raamam seegra kaariNam || 6-94-22

meaning: they saw [onlookers of war or the army on both sides 
themselves?] the raakshasa army as burnt by the arrows of sri raama, 
cut by the raama sasthrams, and broken with raamaa's weapons. But 
they could not see raama [from where he is showering the arrows so as 
to effectively destroy the enemy army]

So, when his own army surrendered to raama, expressing their 
incapacity or at a weak moment of being attacked seriously by the 
raakshasaas, naturally he has to protect them. That is what is 
described by the krithi ? `thraaNa' souryam. The souryam is being 
described or available in above slokam. 

7.       When this moola bala yudhdham started? That question is 
answered in slokam 

sa sangraamO mahaan bheema: sooryOdhayanam prathi |
rakshasaam vaanaraaNaam cha thumula: samapadhyatha || 6-94-9

meaning: this war between the raakshasaas army and monkey army 
started from the sunrise and was terrible and confusing.

Point: Now, dear readers, you understand why thyaagaraaja selected 
saavEri raagam for this krithi ? this raagam is a morning raagam. So 
a krithi in the morning raagam describing an act happening in the 
morning - to glorify that `raama baaNa souryam in moola bala 
yudhdham'.

More points in the next part since the length of the post puts a 
brake on me.

Dhasan
Vasudevan m.g.









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