guru guha vaibhavam - compositions

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Muthuswami Dikshitar was prolific; about 479 of his compositions have now been identified, spread over 193 ragas. These include four Ragamalikas and about forty Nottuswara sahithya verses.

 

The great Venkatamaki who formulated the 72 Mela_kartha ragas is reported to have wondered ”of the 72 Melas only a few are known and found in practice... and will the permutation be a waste.?‘(Dr.V Raghavan: paper presented at All India Oriental conference, at Hyderabad, 1941). It was the genius of Muthuswami Dikshitar that gave form and substance to all the 72 Mela_kartha ragas, fulfilling the dream of Venkatamakhi.He gave expression to nearly 200 ragas of that system.

Muthuswami Dikshitar was a pilgrim virtually all his life. He visited a large number of shrines and sang about them and the deities enshrined there. He was intensely devotional yet not overly affiliated to a particular deity. He composed soulful songs in praise of a number of gods and goddesses. About 74 of such temples are featured in his kritis; and there are references to about 150 gods and goddesses. The most number of his kritis (176) were in praise of Devi the mother principle, followed by (131) kritis on Shiva. Dikshitar was the only major composer who sang in praise of Chaturmukha Brahma.

 

Some scholars have said that Dikshitar's songs are summaries of Durga Suktam, Sri Suktam and Purusha Suktam.   He built in the mantras in a few krithis like Sri Raaja raajeshwari (madyamavathi), pavanatmaja aagaccha (naatta). For the benefit of those who couldn't practice rituals he composed vaara krithis on navagrahas .Similarly, he opened the doors to the secret world of Sri Vidya, for the benefit of all, through his Kamalamba navavarana kritis.

 

Dikshitar had a fascination for composing sets of kritis on a composite theme, perhaps in an attempt to explore the various dimensions of the subject. In some of these, he employed all the eight Vibhaktis, the various cases that delineate a noun.No other composer has attempted so many group kritis in such a planned, orderly, meticulous fashion. The following are some Important Krithi Groups

• Guruguha Vibhakti krithis
• Kamalamba Nava Varnams
• Navagraha Krithis
• Nilotpalamba vibhakti Krithis
• PanchalingaKshetra kritis
• Rama vibhakti Krithis
• Tiruvarur Pancalinga kritis
• Thyagaraja vibhakti Krithis
• Abhayamba vibhakti Krithis
• Madhuramba vibhakti Krithis

The selection of raga and tala; and the diction of these kritis demonstrate his musical skills and intellectual refinement.

 

 

It is rather difficult to arrange Dikshitar’s compositions in a chronological order. His Nottuswara Shitya verses were, of course, composed in his early years while his family lived at Manali a small town near Madras. His first composition as Vak_geya Kara was Srinathandi in Mayamalava gaula at the hill shrine of Tiruttani; and his last composition was Ehi Annapurne in Punnagavarali, while he was at Ettayapuram during his last years. It is believed that the set of Vibhakti kritis followed his first composition. Thereafter he travelled to Kanchipuram, Mayuram, Chidambaram, Vaidyanatha koil and Kumbhakonam. He often visited Tiruchirapalli (where it is said his daughter lived).He spent his productive years at Tiruvavur and his final years in Ettayapuram. In between, he is believed to have visited about 70 temples and sung the glory of those deities. It is however not possible to arrange those kritis in a sequence. 

P.S.Padithadhil pidithadhu

courtesy:http://creative.sulekha.com/sri-muthuswami-dikshitar-and-sri-vidya-4-of-7_333001_blog