Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar- a life sketch
There is
hardly a composer comparable to Dikshitar, in versatility, in enriching
his work with such poetic imagery, technical sophistication; and above
all in permeating his compositions with soulful repose.
Ramaswami Dikshitar (1735 – 1812) was a well known scholar musician of his time. He had to his credita large number of tana varnas, pada varnas, darus, ragamalikas and kirtanas. His ragamalika in 108 ragas and taalas (Ashtottara Shatha Raga Taala Malika)
was an outstanding composition not merely for its sheer size but also
for its melodic charm and rhythmic patterns; and for use of some
uncommon ragas and taalas. Ramaswami Dikshitar also gained fame through
his improvisations of the popular melody, the Raga Hamsadwani.
He had, at
the instruction of his guru Yogi Chidambaranatha, shifted his family
from Govindapuram (near Kanchipuram) to Thiruvavur in the Tanjavur
district. It was at Thiruvavur that Ramaswami Dikshitar, just past forty
years of age; was blessed with a son in the manmatha year, palguna month and Krithika star (March 25th, 1775), just as the annual Vasantotsava
was being celebrated in the temple of Sri Tyagaraja Swamy and Sri
Nilothpalambika. He named the baby boy as Muthuswami after his
protecting deity Karthikeya.After Muthuswamy, two sons - Chinnaswamy
(1778‑1823), and Baluswamy (1786‑1858) - and a daughter - Balambika -
were born to Ramaswamy Dikshitar and Subbammal.
Apart from the traditional education the boy Muthuswami received training in the lakshya and lakshana aspects of Carnatic music. The lakshana geethas and prabandhas of Venkatamakhi formed an important input of his training. He gained proficiency in veena and in vocal music as well.
Muthuswami was
a studious lad rather absorbed in himself .Concerned with his detached
attitude; his parents got him married at an early age. That didn’t seem
to change the boy’s attitude; and therefore he was married the second
time.
When
Muthuswami was about 25 years of age, he accompanied his family guru
Yogi Chidambaranatha to Varanasi in obedience to the guru’s
wish. Muthuswami’s wives too followed their husband. Muthuswami spent
seven fruitful years in Kashi. Those were his most wonderful and
educative years and left a lasting influence on his life and works. A
whole new world opened to Muthuswami at Kashi. During this period,
Dikshitar acquired a wealth of knowledge under yogi’s tutelage. The yogi
taught him Advaita siddhantha, Tantra and initiated him into Sri Vidya
upasana. During these years, Dikshitar visited several holy places in
the Himalayan region such as Badrinath, Kedarnath and Pashupathinath;
and worshipped the deities in those shrines.
During his
stay at Varanasi, Muthuswamy Dikshitar had splendid opportunities to
listen to Hindustani music in its pristine forms. He seemed to be
impressed greatly by the ancient Drupad form of singing and of playing the string instruments; particularly by its elaboration of raga (alap),
the tempo and the structure of the lyrics. This had a profound
influence on his creative genius; and apparently on his portrayal of
ragas in general and in transforming the Hindustani ragas into their
Carnatic form, in particular.
At the end of
the seven years, Yogi Chidambaranatha advised Muthuswami to return to
South and to commence his music and spiritual career with the worship of
Karthikeya on the hills of Tiruthani. Soon after that, the Yogi
attained his Samadhi. Dikshitar performed the final rites of his
departed guru and left Varanasi. It is said, Yogi Chidambaranatha’s
Samadhi is located near Hanuman Ghat on the banks of the Ganga.
It is said, immediately after being blessed by the Lord there
Dikshitar started composing kritis. The first kriti he composed was Srinathadi Guruguho jayathi in raga Mayamalava gaula. His first group of kritis called guruguha vibhakti krithis were also composed in Tiruthani. It was here that Dikshitar became a proper Vak-geya Kara,
the composer who sets his lyrics tomusic. The mudra, his signature to
his creations was Guruguha, which approximates to” the Guru dwelling in
the cave of my heart”. Dikshitar was then around 33 years of age.
On his way back home to Thiruvarur, Dikshitar stayed for
sometime with a Yogi , Ramachandra Saraswathi, popularly known as
Upanishad Brahmendra who lived and taught in Kancipuram. [Incidentally,
he was also the guru of Tyagaraja the great composer musician.]During
his stay in Kanchipuram Dikshitar set to music “Rama Ashtapadhi” a collection of stanzas composed by Upanishad Brahmendra. Dikshitar returned to Thiruvarur in the year 1809.
The years at Thiruvarur were very productive.Here Dikshitar
composed sixteen kritis on the various attributes of Ganesha, eleven
kritis of Navavarana group on Kamalamba and a set of kritis on Thygaraja
and Nilothpalambika the presiding deities of the town. The
Nilothpalambika set of krithis enlivened ragas like Narayanagowla that
were fading away.
Three years after Muthuswami returned to Thiruvarur (1812), his
father Ramaswami Dikshitar passed away on a Shivarathri day. Further, it
was becoming increasingly difficult to carry on life at Thiruvarur. The
Dikshitar brothers therefore decided to move to Tanjavur in search of a
living. Tanjavur, in those days, was relatively peaceful, secure and a
center for culture and learning; while most of the Southern regions was
under the threat of the Sultan.
At Tanjavur the Dikshitar brothers gained a number of disciples
who learnt and propagated the compositions of Muthuswami Dikshitar.
Among them Ponnaiah, Chinnaiah, Vadivelu and Shivanandam were prominent.
They came to be known as the Tanjavur Quartette. Of these Chinnaiah and
Shivanandam were Bharatha_natyam masters and composers of some popular
Tana Varnams, Pada Varnams, and Thillanas etc. Ponnaiah was a composer
of great merit. Several of his kritis including 'Ambaneelambari' (Neelambari), 'Satileni'
(Poorvikalyani) and Tillanas are popular among musicians even to this
day. Vadivelu was a virtual genius. He popularized violin among the
Carnatic musicians. He was a favorite of Swathi Thirunal Maharaja who
appointed him his Court Musician. The great Tyagaraja too admired
Vadivelu’s musical skills.
It is said that Dikshitar brothers met Shyama Sastry, another
of the trinity, and the four together composed a varnam (I am not clear
which one it was.)Dikshitar during this period composed a number of Samasti Charana Kirtanas.
[A kriti generally follows a certain structure: Pallavi the opening
passage of two lines is followed by Anupallavi. Raga is introduced with
the cyclical rendition and improvisation of Pallavi and Anupallavi. The
body of the kriti is its Charanas. Each Charana usually has four lines.
The final Charana contains the Mudra or the signature of the composer.
However, certain kritis of Dikshitar have only two segments Pallavi and
Anupallavi where the latter acts as the Charana. Such kritis are called Samasti Charana Kritis. They perhaps represent a stage in the evolution of the kriti format. E.g.Anandamritakarshini (Amritavarshini); Hari Yuavatheem Haimavathim(Hemavathi) etc.]
Dikshitar brothers stayed in Tanjavur for about three years
(about 1817 -1820).Thereafter, the brothers Chinnaswami and Baluswami
joined the court of Venkateshwara Eddappa I [1761 - 1839] the Rajah of
Ettayapuram (Tirunelveli district) , at the request of the king.
Soon after that, Muthuswami Dikshitar too left Tanjavur; and he
went on a virtual pilgrimage visiting a number of temples and composing
kritis in honor of the deities he visited. In a way of speaking, his
life was a long pilgrimage.
Years later, Muthuswami Dikshitar also settled down in
Ettayapuram at the request of the king. A few years later Dikshitar’s
both wives passed away. Some sources mention that Dikshitar had a
daughter and she lived in Tiruchirapalli; but not much is known about
her.
Dikshitar comes through as a very astute scholar devotee, a sadhaka. He was a viraktha,
unattached to possessions, to places or to emotions. He was voluntarily
poor and accepted his poverty with equanimity. He did not seek favor or
patronage from anyone. He was an intense devotee but undemonstrative;
you never find despondency, helplessness or begging for divine grace or
intervention. There is certain composure, measured grace, dignity and a
mellow joy in his works as in his life. He was solely devoted to Sri
Vidya Upasana and to his music which was his medium of self-expression.
His works exude serene contemplation and soulful joy.
It was on Naraka Chaturdasi
the fourteenth day of the lunar calendar in the month of Ashwija, the
day preceding Deepavali (October 18th, 1835), Muthuswami Dikshitar
performed Parva Mandala puja to Devi and sang Ehi Annapurne (punnagavarali).Thereafter he asked his disciples to sing Meenakshi mey mudam dehi (purvi Kalyani) .When they sang the Anupallavi he asked them to repeat the phrases Meena lochani pasha mochini. As they were singing, Muthuswami Dikshitar uttered “Shive pahi, Shive pahi Shive pahi” and breathed his last , like a true yogi.
Muthuswami Dikshitar had been yearning for Videha Mukthi. He beseeches the Divine Mother repeatedly and addresses her as one who grants Videha mukthi (Mamaka videha mukthi sadanam- Ranganayakam-Nayaki); the bestower of videha mukthi (vikalebara kaivalya danaya-Guruguhaya-Sama); and at times he feels he is nearing videha mukthi (Videha kaivalyam yami-Tyagaraje-Saranga).Videha mukthi is a concept of the later Advaita schools. It believes, one can attain liberation (moksha) from attachments while still encased in a body. Such an attained one is Jivan Muktha. The body continues to function till its Prarabdha Karma is exhausted; thereafter the mortal coils fall away. Videha mukthi is shedding off the body by a Jivan muktha, the one who has already attained liberation.
In the Sri Vidya tradition, a jivan muktha is a devotee, a bhaktha as well as a jnani the wise one. Here, the wisdom consists in realizing his identity (sva svarupa prapti) with the Mother goddess. It is this wisdom that liberates him (jivan Mukthi). This liberating wisdom is granted to him by the Mother out of pure love, when he completely surrenders to her in full faith and devotion.
Jivanmukthi, emancipation while yet alive, is also
a concept of the Tantra Sisddantha which believes that it is possible
for a person to transact with the world without getting involved in it.
In other words, one lives on actively and cheerfully, amidst
distractions and confusions of the world without letting his self
reflect them. His moorings in the phenomenal world have withered away,
his instinct of self-preservation and insecurity has been minimized. He
is alive only to essential thing in life that is the source of life. The
real world continues to exist for him. But he does not rest in the
world but rests in himself (Svarupa pratishta). Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar, either way, was a jivan Muktha.
The king and Baluswami
Dikshitar performed the last rites of the departed genius. The Samadhi
of Muthuswami Dikshitar is at Ettayapuram but appears to be in rather
poor condition. In a petition submitted to Shri. Abdul Kalam then president of India,
the petitioners submitted “It is the fervent desire of all music lovers
as well as all lovers of Indian culture across the world that this
Samadhi be declared as a heritage site and treated as a National
Monument, ideally with a beautiful museum. We are extremely concerned
that there has been a move made to demolish this important cultural and
artistic memorial.”
Muthuswami Dikshitar was a
many splendored genius. He redefined the paradigm of Carnatic music.
Each of his compositions exemplifies the essence of raga bhava
and captures the depth and soulfulness of the melody. His vision of some
of the ragas and their structure is sublime. He achieved what the
revered Venkatamakhi, at onetime, thought was not possible; he gave form
and substance to all the 72 Melakartha ragas. Besides, he
breathed life into several ancient ragas that were fading away from
memory. His compositions are crisp and well chiseled. His Sanskrit is
delightfully captivating. His synthesis of Carnatic and Hindustani Music
systems is creative and original. His kritis replete with soothing,
graceful Sanskrit lyrics, many with winsome Samashti Charanams,
comparable to the Dhrupad stanzas occupy an exclusive niche in the
world of Indian Music. The technical sophistication, intellectual
brilliance and the majesty of his music is unsurpassed. Sri Muthuswami
Dikshitar is a crest jewel of Indian music and spirituality.
P.S. Padithadhil pidithadhu
courtesy: http://creative.sulekha.com/sri-muthuswami-dikshitar-and-sri-vidya-1-of-7_332989_blog
courtesy: http://creative.sulekha.com/sri-muthuswami-dikshitar-and-sri-vidya-1-of-7_332989_blog
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