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ThiruadhyayanOthsavam : Part III

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • December 1, 1999 


Dear Sri Ranganaatha BhakthAs :
In this posting , adiyEn will conclude the description
of the rest of the audio casette paying tribute to 
ArchAvathArams in general and Sri RanganAthA in particular
prepared especially  for the 1999 Thiru AdhyayanOthsavam .

** The fifteenth paasuram is a salutation to " Godhai
PiRanthavUr , Govindhan VaazhumUr ", SrivilliputthUr .
Azhagiya MaNavALa Daasar ( PiLLai PerumAl Iyengar)points out 
that Godhai's glories are sought after for celebration 
( kuRitthu oruvar koNDAdum--Godhai). This paasuram is
set in Raagam YamunA KalyANi to celebrate the KalyANOthsavam
between Godhai and RangamannAr as visualized 
in the VaaraNam Aayiram paasurams of Godhai .

** The sixteenth paasuram of Iyengar is about the northern 
dhivya dEsam of ThirukkaNDamkudi or Deva PrayAg on the banks 
of Gangai . The Lord here is PurushOtthaman saluted by
PeriyAzhwAr (nalam thihazh-- and Moonrezhutthu athanai
Paasurams) . The Goddess is PuNdarikavalli and the vimaanam
is Mangala VimAnam . This paasuram is set in the most enchanting
Raagam of Revathi and starts with the words : MatthAl Kadal
Kadainthu VaanOrkku amuthu aLittha AtthA --".We must 
remember that the PurushOtthaman at Srirangam
has Revathi a sHis janma Nakshathram .

** In the seventeenth paasuram of Ashta Prabhandham ,
Azhagiya MaNavALa Daasar salutes the 4000 dhivya 
prabhandhams and his own AchAryan  , ParAsara Bhattar. 
This paasuram is set in BrindhAvana SaarangA .The salute
is also to Rangapura VihAran .

** The next four compositions selected by the artist 
are from Swami Desikan's SthOthra granthams :Sri Sthuthi
(16th slOkam ), GodhA sthuthi ( fourth slOkam ),
passages from Sri Raghuveera Gadhyam in majestic Aarabhi and
the fourth slOkam of Sri Goplaa Vimsathi describing the Lord's
NavanItha Naatyam at Nandha Bhavanam in raagam NaadhanAmakriyA.

** The remaining selections are from Desika Prabhandham
dealing with Koil (Srirangam ), PerumAL ( VaradarAjan )
and VeRpu ( Thirumalai ). This section starts with a spirited 
prayer to Lord HayagrIvA ( Visuddha Vij~na Ghana svarUpam )
in Raagam Naattai before the salutations to Sri RanganAtha,
Sri VaradarAjA and Sri VenkatEsan . Next comes the last song of 
AdhikAra sangraham ( VeLLai Parimukar DesikarAi--) in Raagam 
Naattai .AdhikAra sangraham deals with the 32 chapters of
Sri Rahasya thraya Saaram .The other raagams chosen for 
the paasurams of AdhikAra Sangraham are in the remaining
Ghana Raagams :GowLai, Aaarabhi , VarALi and Sri.
The paasurams chosen for these Ghana Raagams are :

VeLlai Parimukar --Salutation to his AarAdhana Moorthy ,HayagrIvan 
KaaLam Valampuri-- priase of Sri (RanganAtha) Naatha Muni
Yennyuir tanthu--Acharya Paramparai anusanthAnam from 
Sri RaamAnujar up to Sriman NaarAyaNA

** Next , the scene shifts to the brilliant paasuram
of Swami Desikan in AdhikAra sangraham offering 
tribute to the wonderful feet of Periya PerumAL ,which 
performed so many miracles during KrishNAvathAram.
The sixteen individual lines of this Paasuram are
split into four Quarters and are sung in four raagAs:
Kaapi, BehAg , Sindhu Bhairavi and HamsAnandhi .The ThALam
is kaNDa chApu and the genius of Swami Desikan in handling
Chantha Nadai is demonstrated brilliantly .AdiyEn will 
write more about this Paasuram on a future occasion , as
needed .

** The next Desika Prabhandha Paasuram chosen is from 
Amrutha SvAdhini ,which is a summary of 11 Rahasyams 
from Saara Saaram to Madhura Kavi Hrudhayam in 37 verses. 
The chosen Paasuram is the famous one , where Swami Desikan 
performs SaraNAgathi at the lotus feet of Lord RanganAthA with 
all the five angAs ( KaarpaNyam/first line, PrAthikUlya Varjanam/
second line, AanUkoolya Sankalpam/3rd line , Mahaa VisvAsam/
4th line , and Gopthruva VaraNam/ fifth and the sixth lines 
of the Paasuram). Aathma samarpaNam follows in the 7th and 
the 8th lines of this 8-lined paasuram . The Raagam chosen is 
the tranquil KaanadA to reflect the relief of a Prapannan 
after Prapatthi.The mood of Bhara saamarpaNam and Aathma
NivEdhanam is beautifully brought out by the artist and team.

** The very last Paasuram from Desika Prabhandham is
another YeNN SeerAsiriya Viruttham ( 8-lined verse)
from AdhikAra sangraham dealing with the SthAna 
VisEshAdhikAram (the 19th Chapter of Srimath Rahasya
Thraya Saaram ) : AarAtha AruL amudham Pothintha Koil..
This beautiful paasuram eulogizing the glories of 
Sriranga KshEthram is sung in heroic SimmEndhramadhyamam.
This Paasuram is a tribute to the Uthsavar , KasthUri Rangan ,
who is recognized as Sri Raamachandran at Srirangam . 

With this Paasuram , the tape comes to the conclusion .
The taping was done by the group itself on the Academy dais 
without professional help . The choice of Paasurams and 
the tuning in appropriate RaagAs and ThALams to echo
the mood of the paasurams and slOkams of Swami Desikan
are simply brilliant . 

The very last sound that one hears in this tape is
the joyous peelings of the GhantA of Thirumalai to
symbolize the GhaNtAvataaran, Sri VedAntha Desikan .

SrimathE RanganAyaki SamEtha Sri RangarAjAya NamO nama:
Daasan, Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SadagOpan