Ela ni daya RAdu?paraku jEsedavela? samayamu gadu....... - IV

Charanam-1.

RA Ra Devadi Deva! RaRaMahAnubAva! RARA Rajiva nEthra! Raghuvaraputra!
sAratarasudhApurahrudayaparivAra! Jaladhi gambira! thanuja sam
hAra! madanasukumAra! budajanavihAra! sakalasruthisAra! nAdupai.............(Ela)

                                                                                                                                            

Lord of the Devas! 

Come dear lad come! 

Please come, come lad with great rich experiences!

Welcome,oh the prince of outstandingly broad eyes competing with broad lotus petals!

oh the son of the best of the Raghuvamsam! One ever surrounded by associates with hearts sweeter than nectar! 

One noble and majestic like the ocean! Slayer of the evil forces like demons!

One possessed of body soft like the cupid!

One who spends time with scholar-lore! 

The churned out essence of the Vedas! 

Why your grace does not descend towards me ?.......................(Ela)

CharaNam2-

RAjAdirAja! MunipUjitapAda! RavirAjalochana! sharNya! athilAvaNya!

RAjadharanutha! VirAjathuraga! SurarAjavandhithapada! Aja janaka! dina-

RAjakOtisamathEja! DanujagajarAjanichayamrugarAja! Jalajamuka!..................(Ela)

Emperor! (King of kings!)one whose feet are worshipped by the spiritually great sages!

Unfailing protector of the righteous people! Lord with lustrous divine glory of the body!

One with feet worshiped by the moon-crested glorious Shiva! one with unique carrier in the Garuda!
One with feet constantly worshiped and adored by the very Lord of the devas!

Oh! The creator of the four-faced Brahma! Lord possessing the effulgence of crore suns!

Oh! The fearful lion, the destroyer of the  group of elephant-kings in the form of group of terrific demons!

Oh! The royal prince with face like the full-bLown lotus! ................     .................(Ela)

YAga rakshaNa! Parama BAgavathArchitha! YOgindra suhrudbAvitha! Adyantharahitha!

NAgashayana! varanAgavarada! PunnAgasumadara! sadAgamOchana! sa-

DAgathijadruthapada! AgamAnthachara! RAgarahitha! ThyAgarAjanutha!.............(Ela)

Protector of ViswAmithra's sacrifice! one adored and worshiped by the loving servants of God!

Oh! The deity constantly meditated upon by the good ,devoted and righteous hearts of rank-sages!

One eternal eternal creator who has transcended begining as well the end! 

One taking your bed on the great snake Adisesha! 

One deity who answered the call for protection from the crocodile of the best king of elephants! 

The Deity wearing with pleasure the flower called punnai! 

Ever vigilant in nullifying the sins of sincere devotees! 

Your sacred feet ever carried with respect and love by the son of 'the constantly mobile wind god! 

In your aspect of Brahman, the mover through the vedAntha which ever tries to Identify your mighty stature to some extent! 

The eternal god principle ever free from grief and happiness! 

Oh! One adored by me, Sri Thyagaraja!                                                 

                 

The above cited elaborate beautiful welcome was given by Sri Swamigal, to his heart's Deity Sri Rama, who ever enjoyed his abode in in the heart of his unique Baktha. All krithis sung by our swamigal are all flowing from the bakthi-drenched soul of a sincere baktha. We can never say that Swamigal composed the krithis. Sri Rama's divine grace flowed out through the Baktha's Divinity-charged krithi's for the welfare of humanity at large.     

Ela ni daya RAdu?paraku jEsedavela? samayamu gadu...... - III

Soon Swamigal was his usual self and he was deeply moved by the heartfelt, unbounded grace of his beloved deity; that handsome prince of Ayodhya, standing before the entrance of his residence was in full divine glory; Lakshmana the very essence of service to his Lord and brother was there standing in all glory.

The unsurpassed beauty of the two princes had its own impact of a very high order. Swamigal's mind just melted for the award of divine grace by his beloved Rama.

"My dear Rama, all these days before this darsan i spent even a yugam (time) as a second. But, oh! now after having your darsan, I feel that each moment of separation from you has turned a yuga by time for me.How can I survive dear Rama, separation from you?" 

Divine discontent is a great indicator of a true devotee.

Then Swamigal paints the picture of the unequalled 'roopa lavanyam' of Sri Rama as well his lord's boundless and immeasurable 'guna mahathmyam', in the kruthi 'Ela ni daya radu?........samayamu gadu.....(Ela)   

     

Now swamigal describes the two princes, Sri Rama and Lakshmana  standing there in full divine glory. when they left for yaga rakshanam with Viswamithra they both were just 14 years by age. 

Now only we come to the meaning of the anupallavi.

' Bala! kanakamaya chela! sujana paripala! SriRamalola! vidrutasara-

                      jala! subada! karunalavala! gananila! navya vanamalikabarana! .....................(Ela)

All these are sambodanams, i.e.addressing Sri Rama thus:- 

                      

'Young boy! 

dressed in silk garment of gold weave! 

protector of the righteous people!

very well in unison with Srimahalakshmi devi! 

bearer of the the different arrow units!

awarder of auspiciousness!

carrier canal of the perennial river of the divine grace! 

one having his body in the deep blue like the rain-clouds! 

you who wear the fresh plucked Thulasi leaf garland as ornament!   

Ela ni daya RAdu?paraku jEsedavela? samayamu gadu.........- II

 Anu pallavi.;- BALA! Kanakamaya chEla! sujanapari-

                    pAla! SriramAlOla! vidhruthashara-

                    jAla!  shubada ! karuNAlavAla! Gana-

                    neela! navyavanamAlikAbaraNa!                            (E)

      Here SwAmigaL had Darshan of Sri Rama and the description is totally what SwamigaL  actually saw and experienced and lost himself in.IN THE 4 LINES OF ANUPALLAVI, EACH LINE CONTAINS 16 AKSHARAS. THE 16- FOR THE 4TH LINE includes 15 + (E) 

      Karnataka sangeetham means perfect mathematics, progrssions and perfect TALa control, as well laya beauty.

This way it was presented by a class musician a reasearch student of karnataka sangeethem, in her relevent lecture demonstration.This is only an example.

  

       We will try to understand the spirit of the kruthi, these 4 lines which form the anupallavi. Our SwAmigaL addresses Sri Rama, giving a beautiful word painting of the darshan he was bLessed with.

       

       Actually Swamigal heard a call from the from the front of his residence at ThiruvaiyARu. He reached the front door, opened the door of his residence for his visitor or visitors. Sri Rama with his very dear brother LakshmaNa was standing. Sri Rama chose the scene of ViswAmithra's yaga rakshaNa event,  Sri Rama presented himself and LakshmaNa in the same 'thirukkolam' holy forms, as they were when they left with ViswAmithrA for 'yAga rakshaNam'. Sri Rama chose to give His darshan to his great devotee Sri Thyagaraja swamigal that eterNal ever living event of the great grand epic Ramayana.  

       

     Sri Swamigal did 96 crores of Rama-nama japam and was about to offer the same to SriRama, his heart's deity, and right at that time Sri Rama came with Lakshmana to his residence and gave Darshan. SwamigaL was immersed in bliss and totally stupefied, could not think or act for some few minutes.The wave of bliss engulfed Swamigal; his mind and body and all of him stayed action less.What a great descent of Sri Rama's grace. Here we have to spend time to understand that Swamigal studied all scriptural lore of our sages, practiced strictly the sastaic injunctions with the full back up of pure unalloyed faith; fully qualified himself for the descent of divine grace (Sri Rama's) grace. Swamigal fixed his goal and did achieve it.

Ela ni daya radu? ParAkujEsedavEla? samayamu gAdu........ - I

Sri ThyAgarAja SwAmigaL in this Kruthi, in the RAga ATANA, asks Sri RAma thus,"Why do I not get your grace? why this indifference? This is not the time for such attitude. Come, oh Supreme Lord?" 

     SwamigaL asked his father, when the later was in death bed,"            "Father!, how can I get darshan of Lord Sri RAma? kindly bless me with your guidance." Sri Rama Brahman accordingly blessed his son with the guidance as follows, "my dear wonderful child, with determination offer 96 crores of Rama tharaka manthram at the feet of your beloved Lord. Sri Rama is sure to grace His darshan, in answer to your prayer". Then the father dropped his body. Our SwamigaL dedicatedly  followed his great father's guidance. Offered  RAma nama japam at the rate of 1,25,000 Rama japam per day for 20 years. Yes, for 20 years. Sri Rama readily responded the great bhakta's heartfelt desire,and did stand with his devotee-brother Lakshmana, at the door step of Sri Thyagaraja swAmigaL's residence. Sri Rama and Lakshmana  in the same form as Dasaratha handed over Sri Rama and Lakshmana to Viswamithra for his yAga samrakshaNam. Our swAmigaL lost himself in the boundless grace of his beloved Sri RAma,

What our Swamigal actually saw, flowed out in ataNa ragam as the kruthi "Ela ni daya Radu? ParAku jesedavela, samayamu gadu...              (Ela) 

     Our swAmigal, drew the very picture of what he himself was blessed with, in this kruthy;A wonderful painting or sculpture may not suffice, and swamigaLs word -picture-lyric has survived eternally for all the future generations, who are fortunate souls. 

      The entire krithi, falls under the structure, a welcome, bubbling with inner happiness and adoration of Sri RAma and LakshmaNa standing in their full glory.Like how we will express our heartfelt happiness when a dear relative / friend next to our heart pays a surprise visit. Our welcome will bubble like a fountain.