Ssp Vaggeya

8/20/2019 Ssp Vaggeya

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Sa ̇ng ̄ıta Sa ṁpradāya Pradarśini

Brahma ́srı̄

SUBBAR¯ AMA DĪKS. ITA

(1905)

VOLUME V

V ̄ AGGĒYAK ̄ ARA CARITRAM

ENGLISH EDITION

J ANUARY 2008


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SA ˙ NG¯ ITA SA ˙ MPRAD ¯ AYAPRADAR ´ SINI

SUBBARĀMA D ĪKS. ITA

ENGLISH (WEB) VERSION

Volume V: V ¯ AGG ¯ EYAK ¯ ARA CARITRAM

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c January 2008

The magnum opus , Saṅg¯ ıta Sa ṁprad¯ aya Pradar´ sini of Subbar¯ ama D¯ ıks. ita has celebrated 100 years of itspublication. To commemorate the event, this is our humble attempt to provide an English (electronic)

web-version of the work, for the benefit of students and Rasikas of music.

(Typeset using LAT E X 2 ε , A MS LAT E X, pdfLAT E X, and hyperref)


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´ s r ¯ ı

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¯ a y

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Subbar¯ ama D¯ ıks . ita (1839 A.D — 1906 A.D)


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A. M. Cinnasv¯ ami Mudaliy¯ ar


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CONTENTS

Vāggēyakāra Caritram 3

1 Śr̄ı Śārṅgadēva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Ahōbala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Rāmāmātya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Kallinātha — the author of the commentary on Sa ˙ ngı̄taratn ̄akara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Gōvinda Dı̄ks.ita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Vēṅkat.amakhin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Gōvindāmātya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Purandaravit.haladāsa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Rāmadāsa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 810 Tal.apāka Cinnayya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811 Ks

.ētra jña . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

912 Śr̄ınivāsa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 913 Jayadēva . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1014 Ghanam Śı̄nayya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1015 M¯ argadarśi Śēs.ayyaṅgār . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1116 Girirāja Kavi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1117 Sāhāji Mahāraja . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1118 Laks.m̄ıkānta Mahārāja . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1119 Vı̄rabhadrayya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1220 Kavi Mātṙbhūtayya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1221 Ādippaiyya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1222 Vēṅkat.arāmayya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1323 Sont.i Vēṅkat.asubbayya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

24 Rāmasvāmi Dı̄ks.ita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1325 Śyāmā Śāstri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1426 Gurumūrti Śāstri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1527 V̄ın. a Perumal.ayya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1528 Tyāgarājayya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1629 Ty¯ agar¯ aja ’s Disciples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1830 Gōvindasāmayya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1831 Kūvanasāmayya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1932 Vaikun. t.ha

Śāstri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1933 Vijayagōpāla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

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34 Kuppusvāmi Ayya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1935 Pallavi Gōpālayya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1936 Muddusvāmi Dı̄ks.ita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1937 Muddusvāmi Dı̄ks.ita’s disciples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2138 Cinnasvāmi Dı̄ks.ita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2139 Bālasvāmi Dı̄ks.ita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

40 Caukam Sı̄nuvayya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2241 Dorasāmayya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2242 Madhyārujanam Pratāpasimha Mahārājā . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2243 Kulaśēkhara Perumāl. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2244 Veṅgu Bhāgavata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2345 Śēs.ācala Bhāgavata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2346 Rāmānanda yat̄ındra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2347 Nārāyan. at̄ırtha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2348 Sadāśiva Brahmam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2349 Akkil. Svāmi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2350 Svaya ̇mprakā́sa Yat̄ındra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2451 Śivarāmā́srama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2452 Yuvaraṅga’s padas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

53 Parimal.araṅga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2454 Sāraṅgapān. i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2455 Merat.t.ūru Vēṅkat.arāma

Śāstri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2456 Poetic composers of telugu padams based on ś˙ r ˙ ng¯ ara rasam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2557 T¯ od . i S̄ıtārāmayya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2558 Taccūr Śiṅgarācārya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2559 Arun. ācala Kavirāya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2560 Muttuttān. d. avar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2661 Pāpavināśa Mudaliyār . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2662 Ghanam Kṙs.n. ayya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2663 Śa ˙ nkar¯ abharan. am Narasayya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2664 Ānatānd. avapuram Bālakṙs.n. a Bhārati . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2665 Vaid̄ıśvarankoil Subbarāmayya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

66 Vēṅkat.ḗsvara Et.t.appa Mahārājā . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2667 Jagadv̄ıra Rāmakumāra Et.t.appa Mahārājā . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2768 Jagadv̄ıra Rāma Vēṅkat.ḗsvara Et.t.appa Mahārājā . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2869 Muddusvāmi Et.t.appa Mahārājā . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2870 Rājā Jagadvı̄ra Rāma Kumāra Et.t.appa Mahārājā . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2871 Rājā Jagadvı̄ra Rāma Vēṅkat.ḗsvara Et.t.appa Mahārājā . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2972 Subbarāma Dı̄ks.ita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3073 Sadāśiva Rao . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3174 Pat.t.an. am Subrahman. ya Ayya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3175 Vēṅkat.ēśvara

Śāstri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3176 Garbhapurivāru, Dharmapurivāru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3177 Rao Bahudūr C. Nāgōji Rao, B.A., F.M.U. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31


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VĀGGĒYAKĀRA CARITAM — BIOGRAPHY OF COMPOSERS

1 Śrı̄ Śārṅgadēva

´ S¯ ar ˙ ngad¯ eva was from the country of K¯ a´ smir , and was the grandson of Bh¯ askara, born in the vars. a gan. a ˙ rs. i g ¯ otra. He was the son of Sod . d . alad¯ eva. He belonged to the clan of y ¯ adavas. He lived during the period of Simhan. ar¯ aju who reigned D ¯ evagirinagaram, also known as Daulatābād, from the saka year of 1132 (1210

A.D.) to saka year of 1169 (1247A.D.). With his great scholarship in music and Sanskrit, ´ S¯ ar ˙ ngad¯ eva hadauthored a v ¯ ed¯ anta treatise titled Ady¯ atma viv¯ eka. In the text, Sa ˙ ngı̄ta Ratn ¯ akara authored by him, hementioned that he was addressed by the title of ‘ni´ s´ sa ˙ nka’∗, and that he proved the theories of Bharata,Mata˙ nga, Kı̄rtidhara, K ¯ ohala, Kambal .a, A´ svatara, ¯ A ˜ njan¯ eya, Abhinavagupta, and S ¯ om¯ e´ svara.

The Sa ˙ ng ̄ ıta Ratn¯ akara has seven chapters:– (1) Svaragat ̄ adhy ̄ aya, (2) R ̄ agaviv ̄ ek ̄ adhy ̄ aya, (3) Prak ̄ ırn. ak ̄ adhy ̄ aya,(4) Prabandh¯ adhy ̄ aya, (5) T ̄ al . ¯ adhy ̄ aya, (6) V ̄ ady ̄ adhy ̄ aya, (7) Nr . ty ̄ adhy ̄ aya.

The Sa ˙ ngı̄ta Ratn ¯ akara has seven commentaries, four in Sanskrit – written by Simhal .a, ´ S¯ ar ˙ ngad¯ eva,

Kumbhakarn. anar ̄ endra, Kallin¯ atha, one in Hindustani by Ga ˙ ng ̄ ar ̄ ama, and two in Telugu, one of whichseems to be authored by Hamsabh ¯ up ̄ ala. Out of these, the commentary written by Kallin¯ atha is well-known in many countries.

It was stated by R ̄ am¯ am¯ atya and V ̄ e ̇ nkat .amakhin that some parts of Sa ˙ ng ̄ ıta Ratn¯ akara were not inaccordance to the laks. ya and laks. an. a of their times. The traditionalists too agreed that this was the case inpractice.

2 Ahōbala

Ah¯ obala, a v ¯ edic brahmin scholar was the author of Sa ˙ ngı̄ta P ̄arij¯ ata which was written along the lines of the theory of Sa ˙ ngı̄ta Ratn ¯ akara and the theory of ¯ A ˜ njan¯ eya. Some of the laks. ya and laks. an. a in this bookare in line with current practice. It was believed that this br ¯ ahmin scholar from Ah¯ obalam lived in theAh¯ obalam region, approximately four hundred years before†.

3 Rāmāmātya

R¯ am¯ am¯ atya, the son of Timm¯ am¯ atya, was a niy¯ ogi br¯ ahmin born in the t ¯ od . aramalla clan. K˙ rs. n. ad¯ eva- r¯ aya, who was known by the epithet ‘ ¯ Andhra Bh¯ oja’, conquered many kings and ruled the country of

∗ED :— doubt-free†ED:— before Sa ˙ ng ̄ ıta Sa ˙ mprad ̄ aya Pradar ́ sini (telugu)

3


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V¯ agg¯ eyak¯ ara Caritram 4

Vidy ̄ anagara, also known as Vijayanagara. R ̄ amad ̄ evar ̄ aya married K ̇ rs. n. ad ̄ evar ̄ aya’s daughter, and ruledthe country of Vijayanagara, as successor to K ̇ rs. n. ad ̄ evar ̄ aya after his time. He, along with his brotherV¯ e ˙ nkat . ¯ adrir¯ aju, listened to the sonorous renditions of the compositions written by R¯ am¯ am¯ atya, such as¯ Ela, R ̄ agakadamba, Gadyaprabandha, Pa ˜ ncat ̄ al . ¯ esvara, Svar ̄ a ˙ nka, ´ Sr ̄ ıra ˙ ngavil ̄ asa, in his court. During thattime, inspired by R ̄ am¯ am¯ atya who bore the title of ‘Abhinava Bharat ̄ ac ̄ arya’, V ̄ e ̇ nkat . ¯ adrir ̄ aya recited thefollowing ´ sl ¯ oka:

sa ˙ ngı̄ta ́s¯ astr¯ e bahud¯ a vir¯ odh¯ a samty¯ eva laks. y¯ es. u ca laks. an. ¯ es. u |sarva ˙ m samı̄k ̇rtya sar¯ ama mantrı̄ tan ¯ otu ´ s¯ astra ˙ m vacap¯ at .av¯ eti

। ॥

Since there were many discrepancies in laks. ya and laks. an. a, he requested R ¯ am¯ am¯ atya to resolve thoseand write a book on the science of music. As this was being said, R ̄ amad ̄ evar ̄ aya seconded the proposal andhonored R ̄ am¯ am¯ atya with many gifts including the karp ̄ ura t ̄ amb ̄ ula. Subsequently, R ̄ am¯ am¯ atya wrote theSvaram¯ el .akal¯ anidhi in seven chapters, dedicated it to R¯ amad¯ evar¯ aya and recited it to him.

´ Sl ̄ oka:

´ s¯ ak¯ e n¯ etra dhar¯ adhar¯ abdi dharan. ı̄ gan. yetha s ¯ adh¯ aran. ¯ e vars. ¯ e ´ sr¯ avan. am¯ asi nirmalatar¯ e paks. ¯ e da´ samy¯ a ˙ m tithau |‡R ̄ am¯ am¯ atya vinirmitassvaratat ̄ ernirmadhyaratn¯ akara ˙ ms ¯ o’yam m¯ el .akal ̄ anidhirmatimat ̄ am¯ akalpam¯ akalpat ̄ am

।

॥

From the above ´ sl ¯ oka, it is evident that the Svaram¯ el .akal¯ anidhi was written in the saka year 1472 (1550

A.D.). None of his works mentioned above are to be found now.

4 Kallinātha — the author of the commentary on Sa ˙ ng¯ ıtaratn¯ akara

Kallin¯ atha was the son of Laks. man. ¯ ac¯ arya, who was born in the tod . aramalla clan. He was catura kallin¯ atha,who earned the title of abhinava bharat¯ ac¯ arya. He was the court laureate of Emmad . id¯ evar¯ aya, who ruledVidy¯ anagaram. In the ´ s¯ aliv¯ ahana year of 1475 (1553 A.D.), he wrote a commentary on Sa ˙ ngı̄ta Ratn ¯ akara,named Kal ̄ anidhi . This commentary is popular in all regions.

5 Gōvinda Dı̄ks.ita

The kings of the N ̄ ayaka clan obtained their kingdom with the help of the R ̄ aya clan — who ruled Vi- jayanagara also known as Vidy ̄ anagara, and ruled Ta ˜ nj ̄ av ̄ ur Samsth¯ ana (land of Tañjāvūr) with distinctionfrom ´ saka year of 1452 (1530 A.D.) to ´ saka year of 1592 (1670 A.D.). Cevappa N¯ ayaka, the first emperor of the N ̄ ayaka clan, ruled the C ̄ ol .aman. d . ala region within the tenets of law, from ´ saka year 1452 (1530 A.D.)to ´ saka year 1494 (1572 A.D.). This information is inscribed on a stone pillar installed in the Sampappiru

‡ED:— The following is the version found in [Rāmāmātya, (1910)]:—

R¯ am¯ am¯ atya vinirmit¯ e svaratat¯ e sa˙ ngı̄taratn ¯ akar¯ at s¯ oyam m¯ el .akal¯ anidhirmatimat¯ am¯ akalpam¯ akalpat¯ am


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Mosque, in close proximity to the Ta˜ nj ̄ av ̄ ur railway station. The inscription is part of a donation noticeinscription, which states that a land of seven acres was donated to the mosque.

Cevappa N¯ ayaka’s son emperor Acyutappa N¯ ayaka ruled the C¯ olaman. d . alam from ´ saka year 1499(1577 A.D.) to ´ saka year 1536, (1614 A.D.) with Govinda D ̄ ıks. ita as his minister. G ̄ ovinda D ̄ ıks. ita was agreat personality who belonged to a karn. ¯ at .aka sm¯ arta br ̄ ahmin caste, ¯ asval ̄ ayana s ¯ utra, and v ̄ asis. t .a g ¯ otra,and obtained the grace of S¯ avitri D¯ evi by dedicated chanting of the g¯ ayatri mantra. As was indicated in the

scriptures, G ¯ ovinda Dı̄ks. ita advised emperor Acyuta N¯ ayaka to donate many v¯ el̄ ıs of lands that lay on thetwo banks of K ¯ av¯ eri to pious br ¯ ahmins who observed the rituals, to help the br ¯ ahmin educational insti-tutions with cash and donations in kind and to build steps on the banks of K ¯ averi from Pa ˜ ncanada Ks. ¯ etrato M ¯ ayavaram with sandhy¯ a man. t .apas.With his wise counsel, he helped the king rule the land betweenV ̇ rdd ̄ acalam and R ̄ amas¯ etu (R ̄ am¯ e ́ svaram). The fact that, with the consent of Acyuta N ̄ ayaka, G ̄ ovindaD ̄ ıks. ita translated into the dravidian language (Tamil), the sthala pur ̄ an. a, “Pa ˜ ncanadaks. ¯ etra M ̄ ah¯ atmyam”in ´ saka year of 1527, (1605 A.D.) is known from the work of a poet in “ Tiruvayyeti Dr¯ avid . a Pur¯ an. am”

§

A c ̄ at .us´ sl ̄ oka, written at the time when Acyuta N ̄ ayaka and G ̄ ovinda D ̄ ıks. ita were the king and minister,is seen here.

´ Sl¯ oka:

trin¯ am¯ adyantan¯ am¯ anau mah¯ ıks. idhiks. it ̄ avubhau |´ sastre ´ s¯ astr¯ e ca ku´ sal¯ a v ¯ ahaves. u haves. u ca

। ॥

The meaning of the ´ sl ̄ oka is: Out of the three names (of N ̄ ar ̄ ayan. a), Acyuta — Ananta — G ̄ ovinda, thetwo people who bore the first and last names, namely, Acyuta N¯ ayaka and G ¯ ovinda Dı̄ks. ita, the king andthe minister, were very able in sastra (weaponry), ´ s¯ astras (scriptures), war and in performing the yaj˜ nasrespectively.

It is understood through the biography of Appayya Dı̄ks. ita that G ¯ ovinda Dı̄ks. ita and the great person-ality Appayya Dı̄ks. ita were contemporaries. It appears that Appayya Dı̄ks. ita lived between ´ saka year 1476(1554 A.D.) to ´ saka year 1548 (1626 A.D.)

N ̄ agam¯ amba was G ̄ ovinda D ̄ ıks. ita’s wife. The oldest of his sons was Yaj ̃ na N ̄ ar ̄ ayan. a D ̄ ıks. ita and theyoungest was V¯ e ˙ nkat .amakhin.

The third king in the clan of N ̄ ayakas was Raghun ¯ atha N ̄ ayaka. He achieved great fame. He was a greatscholar and as was the custom of the times, he was coronated in a traditional manner in the ´ saka year 1536,(1614 A.D.) and with the help of G ¯ ovinda Dı̄ks. ita ruled the kingdom. From the following ´ sl ¯ oka

¶:

tallaks. an. antu sa ˙ ng ̄ ıtasudh¯ anidhiprad ̇ r ́ syat ̄ e |cevvay ̄ accyuta bh ¯ up ̄ ala raghun¯ atha n˙ rp ̄ a ˙ nkit ̄ e |

asmatt¯ atak˙ rt¯ e granth¯ e pr¯ okt¯ an ´ sl ¯ ok¯ an likh¯ ami t¯ an

॥ 153 ॥

§

malipunal c ¯ uzh c¯ on. ¯ at .u ta˜ ncayiR k ¯ attit .u maracar matiyamaiccanolimaRait ̄ er g ̄ ovi ́ nta t ̄ ik ̇ sita r ̄ ayan Riruv ̄ akkut .aimaiy ̄ al ̄ e

kaliyukattuc cakan¯ an.

t .u m ¯ uvaijnj˜ n ¯ uRRirupatinm¯ eR k¯ an

.um¯ ezh¯ ayip

polivarut .attai y¯ aRRuppur¯ an. a vat .amozhi tamizh¯ aR pukala luRR¯ en

¶ED: — The Music Academy Publication, “The Caturdan. d . ı̄ prak ¯ a´ sik¯ a” [V¯ e ˙ nkat .amakhin (1934, 1986)] has a slightly altered text, asgiven below:

tallaks. an. a ˙ m tu sa ˙ mg ̄ ıtasudh¯ anidhiriti ´ srut ̄ e 153cevvay¯ acyutabh¯ up¯ alaraghun¯ athan˙ rp¯ a ˙ nkit¯ e |

asmatt¯ atak˙ rt¯ e granth¯ e p ¯ okta˜ n ´ sl¯ ok¯ a ˜ n likh¯ ami t¯ a ˜ n 154

॥ 153 ॥ ।

a a ॥ 154 ॥


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। a ॥ 154 ॥

which was from the chapter on ‘v ̄ ın. a’ in the Caturdan. d . ¯ ı prak ̄ a´ sik ̄ a , written by V ̄ e ̇ nkat .amakhin. Itis evident that G ̄ ovinda D ̄ ıks. ita, who was an expert in music, wrote a book on music grammar Sa ˙ ng ̄ ıta

Sudh¯ anidhi and dedicated it to the king, Raghun¯ atha Bh¯ up¯ ala. This book is not to be found anywhere

now.King Raghun¯ atha N ̄ ayaka patronized many celebrated scholars such as:

• Appayya Dı̄ks. ita

• R¯ ajac¯ ud . ¯ aman. i Dı̄ks. ita, the son of Ratnak¯ eta Dı̄ks. ita

• Yaj˜ nan¯ ar¯ ayan. a Dı̄ks. ita, who was the son of G¯ ovinda Dı̄ks. ita, and was the author of (i) S¯ ahitya Ratn¯ akara,(ii) Raghun¯ atha Bh ¯ upa Vijaya (campu k ¯ avya) (iii) the drama Raghun¯ atha Vil¯ asa N¯ at .aka

• Kum¯ ara T¯ at¯ ac¯ arya, the author of P¯ arijat¯ apaharana N¯ at .aka

• Bh¯ askara Dı̄ks. ita, the author of Atmaparı̄ks. a, Tapta Mudr¯ a Vidr¯ avan. a

• Cemak ̄ ura Laks. man. ¯ am¯ atya, who authored S ̄ ara ˙ ngadhara Caritramu and Vijayavil ̄ asam in telugu,and dedicated them to the king.

G¯ ovinda Dı̄ks. ita with the help of this emperor, renovated the Kumbak¯ on. am mah¯ amakha ˙ m templewater tank with 64 li ˙ ngas, renovated many other temples, and advised him to help the br ¯ ahmin pan. d . it s

by donating the lands entirely free of rent.

6 Vēṅkat.amakhin

He was the second son of G ¯ ovinda Dı̄ks. ita, and was named V¯ e ˙ nkat . ¯ e´ svara Dı̄ks. ita. He was also known asV¯ e ˙ nkat .amakhin. He was the disciple of his older brother Yaj˜ nan¯ ar¯ ayan. a Dı̄ks. ita. He wrote Vartik¯ abharan. am,a narration of tuppika (This is known as Mı̄m ̄a ˙ msa S¯ astra). With his father’s permission he acquired

proficiency in laks. ya and laks. an. a under the able guidance of ´ Srı̄ T ̄anapp¯ ac¯ arya, who was the greatestamong all v ¯ agg¯ eyak¯ aras who came from the northern part of the country.He wrote a gı̄ta on his teacherT¯ anapp¯ ac¯ arya∗∗, gandharva janat¯ akarva durv¯ ara garvabha˜ njanur¯ e , in three sections for the first time, inthe r ¯ aga ¯ arabhi and sang it in the presence of his father, brother and guru. Today this ḡıta is being sungpopularly.

N ̄ ılakan. t .ha D ̄ ıks. ita, the grandson of Acch¯ a D ̄ ıks. ita who was the brother of Appayya D ̄ ıks. ita, mentionedin his book of poetry Gang ̄ avataran. a that he was the disciple of V ̄ e ̇ nkat . ¯ e ́ svara D ̄ ıks. ita (V ̄ e ̇ nkat .amakhin).

´ Sl¯ oka:

´ srı̄kan. t .hacaran. ¯ asakta ´ srı̄m ̄anappayya dı̄ks. ita ˙ h |vidhitrayı̄ yad¯ aks. ipt¯ a n ¯ anyatra labhat¯ e gatim |

tatsam¯ ana prabh¯ avasya tadanantara janmana ˙ h |¯ asid¯ acch¯ a dı̄ks. itasya putr¯ o n ¯ arayan. ¯ adhvarı̄ |

jayanti tanay ̄ astasya pa˜ nca saubr ̄ atra ´ s¯ alina ˙ h

t¯ es. ¯ amaha ˙ m dvitı̄y ¯ osmi bh¯ umid¯ evitan¯ ubhuv¯ a ˙ m |nı̄lakan. t .ha iti khy¯ ati ˙ m nı̄t ̄a´ s´ sa ˙ mbh¯ o ˙ h pras¯ adata ˙ h |v¯ artik¯ abharan. agrantha nirm¯ an. avyakta naipun. a ˙ h |

´ srı̄ v ̄e ˙ nkt . ¯ e´ svaramakhı̄ ´ sis. y¯ e mayyanu kampat¯ e |kurvatı̄ ́sravan. ¯ e v ¯ an. ı̄ k ̄omal . ¯ a ˙ m yasya s¯ ahit̄ı ̇m |

[V¯ e ˙ nkat .amakhin (1934)]∗∗This Tanapp ̄ ac ̄ arya was Honnayya’s son. In the third section of this g ̄ ıta, it is mentioned that he was also known by the name

V¯ e ˙ nkat .amantri .


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karn. ap ̄ ura ´ sir ̄ ıs. ¯ epi k ̄ at .hinyamiva pa´ syati |bh¯ anti ´ sis. y ̄ a

˙ h pur ̄ o yasya p ̄ an. ivinyastapustak ̄ a ˙ h |tats¯ ukti j¯ ahnavı̄p ¯ ura tr¯ as¯ en¯ eva dhrutaplava ˙ h

। ।

। a । ।

। i ।

। ।

। ।

।

॥

The period during which N ̄ ılakan. t .ha D ̄ ıks. ita wrote the N ̄ ılakan. t .ha vijayam was ´ saka year 1560 (1638A.D).

King Raghun¯ atha was succeeded by his son King Vijayar¯ aghava, an eminent scholar. With the en-couragement of King Vijayar¯ aghava, V¯ e ˙ nkat .amakhin wrote a treatise on laks. ya and laks. an. a , Caturdan. d . ı̄

prak¯ a´ sik¯ a, with ten chapters — v̄ ın. a, ´ sruti, svara, m ¯ el .a, r¯ aga, ¯ al¯ apana, t .h¯ aya, gı̄ta, prabandha, and t ¯ al .a. Itwas V¯ e ˙ nkat .amakhin who expounded the laks. an. as of r ¯ ag¯ a ˙ nga, up¯ a ˙ nga, bh ¯ as. ¯ a ˙ nga r¯ agas in form of ´ sl ¯ okasand laks. ya in the form of g ̄ ıtas.

By carefully observing the notations of the r ̄ ag ̄ a ˙ nga, up ̄ a ˙ nga – bh¯ as. ¯ a ˙ nga r ̄ aga g ̄ ıtas in this book one canget to know the skillfulness of the notation, signs that indicate the ´ suddha and vik˙ rta svaras, the signs thatindicate the cakra and m¯ el

.as and also the intricacies embedded in the s ¯ ahitya of the g ̄ ıtas composed in the

r ̄ ag ̄ a ˙ nga, up ̄ a ˙ nga and bh¯ as. ¯ a ˙ nga r ̄ agas.From the records/inscriptions, it is evident that N¯ agapat .t .an. am was handed over to Dutch by King

Vijayar¯ aghava in 1660 A.D. King Vijayar¯ aghava and V ¯ e ˙ nkat .amakhin were contemporaries. He too hadcomposed ḡıtas and prabandhas.

It is understood that this V¯ e ˙ nkat .amakhin also wrote twenty four as. t .apadi s on ´ Srı̄ Ty ̄agar¯ aja, similar to

the G ̄ ıtag ̄ ovindam of ´ Sr ̄ ı Jayad ̄ eva. When V ̄ e ̇ nkat .amakhin undertook a pilgrimage to R ̄ am¯ e ́ svaram (s¯ etu y ̄ atra) and was attacked by thieves, it is believed that he sang the g ̄ ıta, ‘are nibid . akan. t .aka dus. prad ̄ e ́ sa’ in the r ¯ aga lalita and at once R ¯ ama and Laks. man. a appeared with their bows and arrows and protectedhim. This ḡıta is found in the m¯ ay¯ am¯ al .avagaul .a up¯ a ˙ nga r¯ aga section. At one time Vijayar¯ aghava Mah¯ ar¯ aj¯ aordered that all the people in his kingdom sport the ´ sa ˙ nkha – cakra mudra. Then, V¯ e ˙ nkat .amakhin prayedto Mah¯ ali˙ ngam¯ urti in Madhy¯ arjuna ks. ¯ etra, by singing the gı̄ta, ‘ ́sa ˙ nkha cakr¯ a ˙ nkana ty¯ aca r¯ er¯ e’ in the r ¯ agarı̄tigaul .a. Immediately the king suffered from stomach pain. When he prayed to V¯ e ˙ nkat .amakhin and also

ordered that his country people could continue to pray according to their religion, he was relieved fromthe pain and recovered. Thus, there were many miracles in the life of V ̄ e ̇ nkat .amakhin that proclaimed hisgreatness.

In some g ̄ ıtas one could find mudras such as Muddu V ̄ e ̇ nkat .amakhin and V ̄ e ̇ nkat .a Vaidyan¯ ath¯ a. Itappears that they also hailed from the immediate family of V ̄ e ̇ nkat .amakhin.

The information regarding the time periods of Ta˜ nj¯ av ¯ ur, ¯ Andhra, and Mah¯ ar¯ as. t .ra Mah¯ ar¯ aj¯ as were ob-

tained from Ta ˜ nj ̄ av ̄ ur government normal school tamil pan. d . it Brahma´ sr ̄ ı Kuppusv ̄ ami ´ S ̄ astri .


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7 Gōvindāmātya

He was an ¯ aruv ̄ ela niy ̄ ogi br ̄ ahmin belonging to the ¯ apasta ˙ mbha s ¯ utra, and kaun. d . inya g ̄ otra. He was

the son of Obay¯ am¯ atya. He wrote a padya k¯ avya on the Sa ˙ ngı̄ta ´ S¯ astra in telugu and dedicated it to ´ Sr̄ ıR ̄ amacandra by using the Lord’s name as mudra. Some sections of this book were written in accordancewith Sa ˙ ng ̄ ıta Ratn¯ akara and the sections on m¯ el .a and r ̄ aga were written in accordance with R ̄ am¯ am¯ atya’s

Svaram¯ el .akal¯ anidhi . It appears that he belonged to the period after the time of R¯ am¯ am¯ atya, but before thetime of V¯ e ˙ nkat .amakhin.

8 Purandaravit.haladāsa

He was a madhva br¯ ahmin hailing from Karn. ¯ at .aka. He was an expert in karn. ¯ at .aka bh¯ as. a (Kannad . a)and was the foremost among bhaktas. He, at first, was a very wealthy merchant in Poona and then, by theintensity of his devotion to Lord P¯ an. d . ura˙ ngavit .hala, renounced the worldly possessions and became a greatdevotee. With expert knowledge in the fields of music and literature, he composed songs on many occasionsand thus obtained the grace of P ̄ an. d . ura ˙ ngavit .hala. It is impossible for anyone to recount all his miraculousstories. The sarali varu´ sas, ala ˙ nk ̄ aras and pill ̄ ari g ̄ ıtas, which are in practice until today, were said to becomposed by him. It could be seen even today that, as vais. n. ava br¯ ahmins sing the divya prabandhas

such as tiruv ̄ aymozhi , composed by the ¯ Alv ̄ ar s the pontiffs of m¯ adhva mat .has made arrangements to singthe songs of Purandarad ̄ asa in their respective sanctums. There are a number of ´ s ¯ ul . ¯ adi s composed byhim. His songs dwell in philosophical ideas. It is impossible to put a number on the count of his songs.Purandaravit .halad¯ asa may have belonged to the time before Ahōbala. His musical, literary and epical stylewould be clear from the ´ s ¯ ul . ¯ adi s given in this book.

9 Rāmadāsa

He was a niy¯ ogi br¯ ahmin hailing from ka ˙ mcarlla kula. He was the son of G ¯ opan¯ am¯ atya. He was an expertin sa ˙ ngı̄ta and s ¯ ahitya. He was the head of Bhadr¯ acalam municipality and, with the government’s moneyhe not only renovated the R¯ ama temple of Bhadr¯ acalam but also fed all the brahmins who praised the

Lord every day. He wrote a number of songs on Lord ´ Srı̄ R ̄ama and engrossed himself in the devotion of

the Lord. It was said that when the Nav¯ ab came to know of this, he imprisoned him for twelve years. Atthat time, he composed several songs on R ¯ ama and worshipped him by singing. The ever-compassionateR ̄ ama, along with Laks. man. a, appeared before the Nav ̄ ab at night while he was asleep, as a pair of servantsand paid the debts that were due and disappeared. There are a number of his songs in telugu.

10 Tal.apāka Cinnayya

He was a telugu br ̄ ahmin and a devotee of V ̄ e ̇ nkat . ¯ acalapati . He lived in Tirupati . His was the great soulthat composed many kı̄rtana s on Lord V¯ e ˙ nkat .araman. a and formalized the tradition of festivity. Thoseinclude t ¯ od . ayam (morning rituals), ma ˙ ngal .am (concluding rituals), ´ saran. u (surrender), heccarika (intima-tion), k ̄ ırtanamulu (praise), dh ¯ upad ̄ ıp ̄ ala ˙ nk ̄ aranaiv ̄ edyad ̄ up ̄ ac ̄ aramula k ̄ ırtanamulu (songs that describedserving the lord with incense, light, decoration, offerings and other rituals), pavval .i ˙ mpu (songs for lord’s

resting), divyan¯ ama kı̄rtanamulu (songs with synonyms of lord’s name), vasant¯ otsavamula kı̄rtanamulu(songs for the spring time celebrations), sv¯ amini m¯ elukoluputakai kı̄rtanamulu (song for waking up thelord) and others. Apart from these, there were other songs too. It was believed by the elders that, becauseof his extreme devotion, V¯ e ˙ nkat .araman. a frequently appeared in front of him and conversed with him. Hewas the initiator of the bhajana tradition. It is believed that he belonged to the time before R¯ am¯ am¯ atya.


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11 Ks.ētraj˜ na

He was a trili ˙ nga br¯ ahmin. He hailed from Muvvapuri . He had great scholarship in telugu. He was agreat scholar with knowledge in music and literature. In his childhood he was initiated with the g ¯ op¯ alam ¯ ula mantram by a great saint. While Ks. ¯ etraj˜ na lived in the g ¯ op¯ ala temple of Muvvapuri and spent a longtime reciting the mantra, G ̄ op ̄ ala, who was the lord of passion (s˙ r ̇ ng ̄ ara) and other rasas, blessed him by

appearing before him.At once he started praying the lord by singing the padam composed extempore

“´ sr ̄ ıpatisutu b ̄ ariki n¯ e n ¯ opal ̄ eka ninu v ̄ ed . iti k ̄ op ̄ al ̄ a, muvva g ̄ op ̄ al ̄ a”

(“As I am unable to escape the pangs of manmatha, I sought your protection muvva gōpāla”).It could be said with certainty that neither before him nor after him that one had composed padams

in the kai ́ siki form augmented with amorous colour, delicate wordings, by observing the hero – heroinecharacteristics, sensible meaning, r ̄ agas appropriate to the colour of the situation and (dh¯ atus). Only those

padams which are sung in vil .amba k¯ ala (slow tempo) by understanding the meaning of the words would be delectable. When dh ¯ atus are written down, they look as if they are repetitive. This is an essential traitof pada s¯ ahityam. Non-repetitive dh ¯ atu is the essential trait of k ̄ ırtanam. This Ks.ētrajña, in order to revealthat he presented many, many padams in the royal courts of Madhura, Ta˜ nj¯ av ¯ ur , and G¯ olkon. d . a, com-posed a padam in the r ¯ aga d¯ e´ sı̄ya d ̄evag¯ andh¯ ari , “v¯ ed . ukat¯ o nad . ucukonna vit .ar¯ ayad . ¯ e ”. Apart from this, at

the request of the Ta˜ nj¯ av ¯ ur King Vijayar¯ aghava N¯ ayaka, he composed five padams known as “ks. ¯ etrayya pa ˜ ncaratnamu” and dedicated them to him. Many of his padams would have the mudra of muvvag¯ op¯ ala.A few other padams, even though they have the mudra “ka ˜ nci varadud . u” or “c¯ evvandili˙ ngad . u”, wouldnot be without the mudra of “muvvag ̄ op ̄ ala” also.

Vijayar ̄ aghava bh ¯ up ̄ ala, a person with impeccable taste, waited upon him with valuable presents andother gifts. The other court laureates who were experts in writing the epics, with jealousy questioned theking by saying “id ̄ em¯ ı? ¯ er ̄ a, r ̄ ar ̄ a, p ̄ or ̄ a ani cepped . diks. ¯ etrayam¯ ıda intam ¯ oham¯ a? ¯ ıtaniki inta bahum¯ any ̄ adyupac ̄ aragauravam¯ a? ” (“what is this? For this Ks. ¯ etrayya, one who writes ’you, come, go’ you have this kind of at-traction? And for him you give this kind of your attentive respect with valuable presents and other gifts?”).After hearing these words those were communicated to Ks. ¯ etrayya, as soon as he arrived. Ks. ¯ etrayya agreedthat what they said was right. After that, he composed a song in the k ¯ ambh¯ oji r¯ aga, “vadaraka p¯ ov¯ e ” with

pallavi, anupallavi and two caran. ams. In the third caran. am, he just wrote “bh¯ amar¯ o, sakunamuladigiti muvvag¯ op¯ alud . u vaccunani, k ¯ ami˜ nci n¯ athulakalayu c¯ elulaj¯ uci karagi cintanonditi ” and told that king that

the last part of this caran. am should be completed by the court laureates and told the king that he wouldgo on pilgrimage to s¯ etu (R ̄ am¯ e ́ svaram) and come back, and left. As soon as the laureates came to thecourt, the king gave them the padam and told them to complete the last part of the third caran. am. In spiteof thinking about it until Ks. ¯ etrayya’s return, all those court laureates were worried as even together theycould not come up with appropriate wording/ meaning to the last part. As soon as Ks. ¯ etrayya arrived, itis said that all those laureates went to him and supplicated Ks. ¯ etrayya. After hearing Ks. ¯ etrayya finish thepart of the padam with “r¯ ama r¯ ama, ı̄m¯ enit¯ o v¯ anim¯ omu j ¯ ud . avalen¯ a, modatipondec¯ alu”, all those laureatespraised him as the manifestation of g ¯ op¯ ala and went to the king and praised him again and informed himof the event.

In the old book that we possess, there are 700 padams including the above “ pa ˜ ncaratnam”. In theprinted books of today, the lyrics are changed for many words. Apart from that, the new generation of singers, who do not know the meaning and the colour of the situation, are changing the r¯ agas. He belongedto the period of Vijayar¯ aghava bh¯ up¯ ala.

12 Śrı̄nivāsa

He was a dr ¯ avid . a br¯ ahmin. He was a scholar in Andhra (telugu), drāvid. a (tamil) languages and in music.He was a servant (priest) of Madhura M ̄ ın¯ aks. i temple. He was said to have performed rituals faultlesslyand with utmost devotion. At the time he was in that temple, at the M ̄ ın¯ aks. i dvaja man. t .apam a sage wasmeditating on r ¯ aja m¯ ata˙ ngi d¯ evi m ¯ ula mantra, for a long period of time. It is said that, one day, when theardhaj¯ ama p¯ uja were done, Mı̄n ̄aks. i d ¯ evi came to the sage as was decorated for the early morning prayersand with betel leaves in her mouth full, looking like a concubine and told him to open his mouth which he


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declined by calling her ‘bhras. t . ¯ e ’ (fallen from virtue). Then she went to ´ Sr ̄ ıniv ̄ asa, who was sleeping nearby

and said to him “Hē ´ Srı̄niv ̄asa, open your mouth” and he immediately opened his mouth and she spit the betel pulp into his mouth. Because of the divine mother’s blessings, it is said that he started composingk ̄ ırtanas and obtained scholarship in music and literature. There are a number of his k ̄ ırtanas. They wererich in meaning, diction and content and grammar. There are a variety of padams and k ̄ ırtanas composedin dr¯ avid . a language (tamil) with the signature vijayag ¯ op¯ ala. It is believed that he belonged to the period of

Cokkan¯ atha bh ¯ up ̄ ala, the king who reigned the Madhura and Tiruccin¯ apal .l .i .

13 Jayadēva

He was a br ¯ ahmin hailing from North India. He was the disciple of G ¯ ovardhan¯ ac¯ arya. He was an ardent

devotee with his heart and soul focused on the lotus feet of ´ Sr ̄ ı K ̇ rs. n. a. He was a poet who had inimitablescholarship in sanskrit with powerful diction. He is an eminent writer who wrote the drama “ prasannar¯ aghava” and many other classical works.

He was the great personality that had written a famous classic “g ̄ ıta g ̄ ovindam” (as. t .apadi ) on ´ Sr ̄ ı k ̇ rs. n. a,with ´ s ˙ r ˙ ng¯ ara rasam and containing twelve cantos. Just as in the case of r¯ agas mentioned in the r¯ ag¯ adhy¯ ayachapter of sa ˙ ngı̄taratn¯ akara, the r ¯ agas set by Jayad¯ eva for the as. t .apadi s somehow went out of usage. Ther ̄ agas, the t ̄ alas and the recommendation to observe for those r ̄ agas and t ̄ alas, which were set by the music

scholars for twenty four as. t .apadi s about three hundred years ago, are in usage now. Jayad¯ eva, while writing the nineteenth as. t .apadi , as soon as the thought occurred as

‘smaragaral .a khan. d . ana ˙ m mama ´ sirasi man. d . ana ˙ md¯ ehi pada pallava mud¯ aram’,

without writing it down immediately, he handed the t ¯ alapatra (palm leaf manuscript) to Padm¯ avati ,

oiled his head and went to the river to take his bath. Soon after, ´ Srı̄ K ̇rs. n. a came to Padm¯ avati , disguised as Jayad¯ eva with oiled head, got the manuscript and the pen and wrote the same lines as occurred to Jayad¯ evaand left. After sometime, Jayad¯ eva came and asked for the manuscript. When he was told that he just cameand took the manuscript and wrote, he pulled the manuscript out and saw what was written. He was not

only got immersed in the ocean of joy and told her “Oh! Padm¯ avati , the Lord has appeared before you; howcan I praise your good fortune?”; but also, in the eighth line of that as. t .apadi and also in the twenty-firstas. t .apadi , he mentioned her name before his own, by writing,

“jayatu padm¯ avatı̄ raman. a jayad¯ evakavibh¯ aratı̄ phan. itamitigı̄tam.”

This served as the evidence to the lords’ appearance before her. It appears that he belonged to ´ S¯ ar ˙ ngad¯ eva’stime.

14 Ghanam Śı̄nayya

He was a pure soul and a vais. n. avite who belonged to ¯ atr¯ eya g¯ otra and ¯ apasta ˙ mbha s¯ utra. He was born

in va ˙ ngala tradition. He was blessed by V ¯ adh¯ ula d¯ e´ sika. He was the son of ´ S¯ es. ayajva. He was an expertin music and Sanskrit and Andhra (Telugu) languages. He had the good fortune of being the favourite of

the king ´ Srı̄ vijayara ˙ nga chokkan¯ atha. He was the chief-minister. He attained fame through the prabandha´ sa´ s¯ a ˙ nka vijayam filled with ´ s ˙ r ˜ ng¯ ara rasa dedicated to him. The following poem from ´ sa´ s¯ a ˙ nka vijayamdescribes his musical scholarship..

´ Sl¯ oka:


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h¯ ah¯ a h ¯ uh ¯ ulu g ̄ ana garvamunah¯ a h ¯ ah ¯ uhu vanchun svar ̄ ar ̄ oha prakriyak ̄ a tura ˙ ngatanulai r ̄ upa ˙ mbu l ̄ ananv ̇ rdh¯ a |s¯ aha ˙ mk¯ arula martya g¯ ayakulu j ¯ od . ¯ a nı̄ku p¯ an. dy¯ e´ svarasn¯ eh¯ al ˙ mk ̇ rita vangal ̄ anvaya man. ¯ ı s¯ ın¯ a kavi gr ̄ aman. ¯ ı

The information that Sı̄nayya had composed many kı̄rtana sand padams with the signature of “mann¯ arura ˙ nga” could be derived from the following poem in ´ sa´ s¯ a ˙ nka vijayam

´ shr ̄ ı mannaru ra ˙ ng ̄ adhipa n¯ am¯ a ˙ mkita g ̄ eyakalpan¯ atatamatiki ̃ nr ̄ am¯ anuja vijaya ˙ mkaga v ̄ ımadhurasa m¯ odam¯ ana v ̄ e ̇ nkat .apatikin

It appears that ´ S ̄ ınayya was a contemporary of Ks. ¯ etrayya.

15 M¯ argadar´ si Śēs.ayyaṅgār

Hewasa vais. n. avabr¯ ahmin. He was an expert in Music and Sanskrit and was a devotee of Lord Ra ˙ ngan¯ atha.

He is said to have moved from Ay ̄ odhya to ´ Sr ̄ ıra ˙ ngam and lived there, worshipping Lord Ra ˙ ngan¯ atha andsinging Sanskrit poetic songs in praise of him. Since he came there after living in Ay¯ odhya, he used themudra of k ¯ osala in his songs. He compiled all the songs written by him into a book and gave it to thearcakas of the Ra ˙ ngan¯ atha temple to be offered to the feet of Raṅganātha during the ardhaj¯ ama prayers.

The next morning he went to the temple of Ra ˙ ngan¯ atha and opened the book and saw it. The book wassaid have contained only sixty songs. All the other songs lost their identity having been eaten by termites.The sixty songs which were accepted by the Lord became well-known. The learned of those times noticed

his musical creations in Sanskrit and extolled him as M ¯ argadar´ si (trend setter) ´ S¯ es. ayya˙ ng¯ ar . He is said to be the predecessor of (Ghanam) Sı̄nayya.

16 Girirāja Kavi

He was a trili ˙ nga br¯ ahmin. Tiruv¯ ar ¯ ur — the place that was praised by the people as “ janan¯ at kamal¯ alay¯ e ”was the residence of Girir¯ aja Kavi . He was an expert in Sanskrit and Telugu. He possessed the wealth of musical education. He composed many devotional and philosophical songs in Telugu and was famous.He received many gifts and laurels from Sāhāji mahārājā, who was the second mah¯ ar¯ as. t .ra king that ruled

Tañjāvūr. He was the grandfather of Tyāgarāja, who by the grace of Lord Rāma composed songs full of devotion in telugu and obtained unparallel fame. It appears that he lived approximately 170 years ago.

17 Sāhāji Mahāraja

He was the second king among the kings of Mah¯ ar¯ as. t .ra R¯ aj¯ a clan who ruled Ta˜ nj¯ av ¯ ur . He was the sonof Mah¯ ar¯ aja Ek¯ oji . He was of b ¯ osala caste. He was well-versed in Sanskrit, Mahārās.t.ra, Āndhra (telugu),hindustani and in music and literature. He was a just king. He ruled the c ¯ ola mand . alam from the ´ saka yearof 1605 (1684 A.D.) to ´ saka year of 1632 (1711 A.D.). S¯ ah¯ a Mah¯ ar¯ aja composed many songs on religiousthemes in the languages mentioned above. He also created a musical drama, pallaki s¯ ev¯ a prabandham on

the ruling deity of Tiruv¯ arur , ´ Srı̄ Vı̄thı̄ vit .a ˙ nka Ty¯ agar¯ aja Sv¯ ami . He made arrangements for this musicaldrama to be sung and enacted every Friday when the Lord was taken to the night resting place in a palan-

quin. This is being continued till this day. In order for this to be observed continuously, S¯ ah¯ a Mah¯ ar¯ aj¯ adonated ten thousand v ̄ elis of land.

18 Laks. mı̄kānta Mahārāja

He was a ks. atriya. He possessed extraordinary knowledge in sanskrit and music. His kı̄rtana s and varn. asare replete with musical, lyrical sanskrit and clever contents. There is no evidence that points to the placethis king ruled or the particular particular period he belonged to. It could be surmised that he belonged toeither telugu country or northern country and may have lived after Ah ¯ obala ’s time.


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19 Vı̄rabhadrayya

He was a trili˙ ngya br ¯ ahmin. He was talented in telugu and lived in the northern region. He was a greatmusical and lyrical composer. Mah¯ ar¯ aj¯ a Prat¯ apasimha ruled Ta˜ nj¯ av ¯ ur from ´ saka year 1662 (1741 A.D) to´ saka year 1686 (1765 A.D). Amongst the emperors of Mah¯ ar¯ as. t .ra, he was an intelligent king, a connoisseurof arts, a generous soul, and a ruler of c ̄ ola man. d . ala who followed the path of justice and was one who do-

nated numerous cash and kind without reservations to the temples of Br ¯ ahmins. During the early years of his reign, having heard about his generous character, a composer musician named Vı̄rabhadrayya travelledto Venneti gatta from the northern country and waited for a long time to get an interview with the king.Having heard about his deserving greatness from a number of people, it is said, that one day the king him-self came to Vı̄rabhadrayya’s room, listened to his music, gave him gifts and took him to Ta ˜ nj¯ av ¯ ur , and gavehim a place to live and felicitated him with generosity. From that time on, (Vı̄rabhadrayya) adopted the

prat¯ apar¯ ama mudra — the name of the presiding deity of Ta ˜ nj¯ av ¯ ur and the tutelary deity of kings of b ¯ osalaclan. He composed a number of songs in many rakti r¯ agas and poetry in d ¯ e´ sı̄ya r ̄agas that are worthy of

being cherished. He also composed darus, padams and till¯ an¯ as on emperor Prat¯ apasimha abounding inpoetry and was famous. It can be said that this great soul is the reason for the glory of the south Indianmusic tradition that continues today.

20 Kavi MātṙbhūtayyaHe was a trili ̇ nga brahmin and a scholar in music and telugu. He lived in Tri ́ siragiri (Tiruchin¯ apal .l .i ). Hewas a devotee of Sugandhi Kuntal¯ amba. With Her grace he composed many kı̄rtana s full of devotionand values. He not only composed a lot of padams with passion as the central theme but also wrote adrama p ̄ arij ̄ at ̄ apaharan. am in gandharva form. All his k ̄ ırtanas and padams have tri ́ siragiri as the stampsignature. His padams were highly meaningful. M ¯ at˙ rbh¯ utayya suffered from poverty and appealed with anumber of k˙ rti s to Sugandhi Kuntal¯ amba. When he sang the song k¯ a´ sikappan. amı̄valenamma, the goddessappeared in his dream and told him that he should seek her devotee Prat¯ apasimha in Ta ˜ nj¯ av ¯ ur and that theking would get rid of his poverty. On the same day, Sugandhi Kuntal¯ amba also appeared in the dream of Prat¯ apasimha and told him that she was sending her bhakta to him and that he should alleviate his poverty.The king woke up and waited for the arrival of M ̄ at ̇ rbh ¯ utayya. Having come to know about his arrival hefelicitated him and gave him ten thousand rupees and sent him to tri ́ siragiri . He lived there comfortably

praising Sugandhi Kuntal¯ amba with his k˙ rti s.

21 Ādippaiyya

He was a karn. ¯ at .aka br¯ ahmin and belonged to m ¯ adhva clan. He was a great scholar in telugu and music.¯ Adippaiyya belonged to the time of Prat ̄ apasimha Mah¯ ar ̄ aj ̄ a and Tul .aja Mah¯ ar ̄ aj ̄ a. Many k ̇ rti s which were

ornate with exquisite and various gamaka pray ̄ ogas, and with “´ sr ̄ ıv ̄ e ̇ nkat .araman. a” as the stamp signaturewere composed by him. He followed the path of Vı̄rabhadrayya. It has been said that the r¯ ag¯ al¯ apana,madhyama k¯ ala and pallavi singing were standardized by him. Even though there were many varn. as

before, it is extremely difficult to come across a varn. a that is as suitable to sing or to play on the v̄ ın. a as thet¯ ana varn. a virib¯ oni composed by him.

¯ Adippaiyya’s son was V̄ ın. a K˙ rs. n. ayya. He was a vı̄n. a expert. He composed three prabandhas of the

type saptat ̄ al . ¯ e ́ svaram (set only in the dhruva t ̄ al .a the famous one among the seven t ̄ al .as and yet conformingto the remaining six t ̄ al .as; and when the prabandha is sung and the commencing part is taken up again ,the first beat of all the the t ¯ al .as coincide) on the heads of the principalities of Mysore, Vijayanagaram, andKottak ̄ ot .t .a (Pudukkot.t.ai). In the m¯ atu (lyrical) part of the prabandhas he used each letter occurring in thenames of the kings as the commencing letter of each successive (tāl.a) cycle (¯ ava˙ rta) in a meaningful way If there are thirty ¯ ava˙ rtas of dhruva t¯ al .a, at the commencement of the prabandha all the remaining six t ¯ al .asalso commence on the first syllable.

Vı̄n. a K˙ rs. n. ayya’s son was V̄ ın. a Subbukut .t .i Ayya. It is impossible for anyone else to play r ¯ ag¯ al¯ apana,madhyama k¯ ala, pallavi and svara kalpana with gamakas adorned with atı̄ta and an ¯ agata grahas on the


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v ̄ ın. a like him. It is very difficult for players of v ̄ ın. a (vain. ikas) to have the t ̄ al .aj ̃ n¯ ana (laya). The t ̄ al .aj ̃ n¯ anathat he possessed cannot be achieved by any others. He lived for seventy years. It is approximately thirtyfour years since his demise.

22 Vēṅkat.arāmayya

He was a br ̄ ahmin and was well versed in telugu. He was knowledgeable in music too. Since it was verydifficult to sing V¯ e ˙ nkat .ar¯ amayya’s k˙ rtis with an understanding of its characteristics the great musicians of the time gave him the sobriquet of “inupasanigelu v ̄ e ̇ nkat .ar ̄ amayya ” (Iron chickpeas V ̄ e ̇ nkat .ar ̄ amayya). Hecomposed k ̇ rti s like satamani in the r ̄ aga t ̄ od . i on B ̄ odh¯ endra Sv ̄ ami , some k ̇ rti s on the first Madhur ̄ anall ̄ uri Sv¯ ami and compositions on deities with the stamp signature of “g¯ op¯ alak˙ rs. n. a”. It appears that he belongedto the last part of ¯ Adippaiyya ’s time.

23 Sont.i Vēṅkat.asubbayya

This trili ˙ nga br¯ ahmin was an expert in telugu and music. He had an in-depth knowledge of grammar of r¯ agas such as r ¯ ag¯ a ˙ ngas as defined by V ¯ e ˙ nkat .amakhin. Even though V ¯ e ˙ nkat .asubbayya and ¯ Adippaiyya

were contemporaries, V¯ e ˙ nkat .asubbayya was younger in age. He composed a varn. a on Tul¯ aja Mah¯ ar¯ aj¯ a inthe r ¯ aga bilahari rich in imagination. He was patronized in the courts of Man. ali Cinnaya Mudaliy¯ ar , whowas a famous connoisseur of arts and known for his generosity. There are many compositions which werewritten with amazing creativity. His son was V ̄ e ̇ nkat .araman. ayya. He was said to be a greater achiever thanhis father in the line of music, literature as well as in singing. He is said to have lived during Sarabh¯ oji Mah¯ ar ̄ aj ̄ a’s time. Son. ti was their family name.

24 Rāmasvāmi Dı̄ks. ita

He was a dr ̄ avid . a br ̄ ahmin who was born in the ´ saka year 1657 (1735 A.D.) belonged to auttara, k ̄ a´ syapag ̄ otra and ¯ apastambha s ¯ utra. His father was V ̄ e ̇ nkat . ¯ e ́ svara D ̄ ıks. ita, and mother was Bh¯ ag ̄ ırathiyamma.When he was seven years old, due to the political uncertainty caused by the horsemen clan, along with

his aged parents he moved from K ¯ a ˜ ncı̄puram to G ¯ ovindapuram which was close to Madhy¯ arjuna Ks. ¯ etra,and lived there performing rituals meticulously. After that, with six months difference in time, both hismother and father were deceased. He attained proficience in sanskrit and learnt telugu language too. Sincehe naturally possessed a good voice, he learnt to sing melodiously by just listening. Due to his attractionto music, he went to Ta ˜ nj ̄ av ̄ ur and stayed with V ̄ ırabhadrayya for two years and learnt the k ̇ rti s composed

by him in rakti r ̄ agas and d ̄ e ́ s¯ ıya r ̄ agas. He also learnt to sing with knowledge of svaras, ¯ al ̄ apana, pallavi and svarakalpana and went to M ¯ ay ¯ uram. At that time he was pre-occupied with the desire of learning thegrammar of music. One day, an elderly man came and blessed him saying “go to Madhy ̄ arjuna Ks. ¯ etra,all your worries will be resolved and you will become a learned grammarian”. He immediately went toMadhy¯ arjuna Ks. ¯ etra and there he met with V¯ e ˙ nkat .a Vaidyan¯ atha Dı̄ks. ita, who was a nity¯ agnih¯ otri and thematernal grandson of the minister V ¯ e ˙ nkat .amakhin. There, due to his blessings he learnt vı̄n. a within oneyear and later he thoroughly studied caturdan. d . ı̄ prak ̄a´ sika with its r ¯ aga, up¯ a ˙ nga, bh¯ as. ¯ a ˙ nga r¯ aga gı̄tas, allthe r¯ aga, t¯ al .a laks. an. as. Then, by the orders of his guru, he travelled to Ta ˜ nj¯ av ¯ ur and was praised, respected,

gifted and felicitated at the king’s court there. He then went back to M¯ ay ¯ uram and then to Tiruv¯ ar ¯ ur in con-nection with the celebration of ´ Srı̄ Ty ̄agar¯ aja’s festival, had the dar´ sanam of ´ Srı̄ Kamal ¯ amb¯ a and Ty¯ agar¯ ajaand stayed there worshipping them. Amarasi ˙ mha Mah¯ ar¯ aj¯ a who came there to visit the temple heard ther¯ agam¯ alika composed by R ¯ amasv¯ ami Dı̄ks. ita on him and honored him with gifts. Due to the devoted na-

ture of R ¯ amasv¯ ami Dı̄ks. ita, ´ Srı̄ vı̄thı̄ vit .a ˙ nka Ty¯ agar¯ ajasv¯ ami appeared in his dreams and instructed himregarding the sequence and order to be followed when the deity is taken through the streets, beginningwith the dvaja man. t .apa and returning back there, and on where, how and where the n ¯ agasvara vidv¯ ansshould play. The same instructions are being followed even today through the generations. Since he did

not have children till the age of forty, he, along with his wife , went to the temple of ´ Srı̄ Vaidyan ¯ atha and


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stayed praying in the sanctum of ´ Sr ̄ ı Muddukum¯ arasv ̄ ami . Within a few days, his wife Subbamma becamepregnant and they went back to Tiruv ̄ ar ̄ ur and in an auspicious time she delivered a boy. They named thatchild, Muddusv¯ ami . They named the second son, Cinnasv¯ ami Dı̄ks. ita who was born after a few years,

as V ̄ e ̇ nkat .avaidyan¯ atha ´ Sarma after his guru. The baby girl who was born along with this Cinnasv ̄ ami D ̄ ıks. ita was named B ̄ al ̄ amba, and the youngest son, B ̄ alasv ̄ ami . Among his sons, Muddusv ̄ ami D ̄ ıks. itaprogressively learnt music after learning works such as k ¯ avya (epics), n ¯ at .ak¯ ala˙ nk¯ ara (poetics, poesy), and

kaumudi , which dealt with grammar. His brothers were also educated appropriate to their age. At thattime, a wealthy man Man. ali Mudduk ̇ rs. n. ayya Mudaliy ̄ ar came to Tiruv ̄ ar ̄ ur to visit the temple and noticedthe scholarship of R¯ amasv¯ ami Dı̄ks. ita. He not only gave him gifts but also took him, along with his family,to Man. ali and kept them there, with all due respects and comforts, for a few years. After that, his sonCinnayya Mudaliy¯ ar , called V ¯ e ˙ nkat .ak˙ rs. n. a, who was well versed in the arts and a multi-faceted scholar,was a connoisseur and patron of arts and who was also kind hearted, listened to the hundred and eight‘ rāgatāl.amālika’, in 108 r¯ agas and 108 t ¯ al .as) composed by R ¯ amasv¯ ami Dı̄ks. ita, and felicitated him witha shower of gold. He also appreciated and took care of Cinnasv ̄ ami and B ̄ alusw ̄ ami D ̄ ıks. ita, who sangthat song for him, and bestowed them with many gifts. During that time, Mudaliy ̄ ar also appreciated andtook care of G ¯ ovinda Dı̄ks. ita, who came there saying that he was the great-grandson of V ¯ e ˙ nkat .amakhin,and expressed his desire to see Caturdan. d . ¯ ı prak ̄ a´ sik ̄ a , and other texts. G ̄ ovinda D ̄ ıks. ita answered thathe would give him the books only if he could figure-out the name of the r ̄ aga from the m ¯ urcchana thathe gives him. R¯ amasv¯ ami Dı̄ks. ita took the m ¯ urcchana given by him and composed a padam, “nannu

parı̄ks. i ˜ ncan¯ ela” (why do you have to test me?), as if written by Mudaliy¯ ar himself and in the end he in-cluded the m ¯ urcchana given by G ¯ ovinda Dı̄ks. ita and made both Cinnasv¯ ami and B ¯ alasv¯ ami Dı̄ks. ita singit. After hearing that song, G ¯ ovinda Dı̄ks. ita praised them saying that “this is the same m ¯ urcchana as I havegiven; he (Mudaliyār) too is our V ¯ e ˙ nkat .amakhin’s disciple”. Since his second son Cinnasv¯ amayya couldnot see (owing to blindness), he was worried and along with his family he travelled to Tirupati . There,he spent forty-five days in the prayer of V ̄ e ̇ nkat . ¯ acalapati by composing a r ̄ agam¯ alika in forty-eight r ̄ agas,“manas¯ a v¯ eritaruladalacaka” (Oh mind, do not think of any one else), and a kı̄rtana in the r ¯ aga v¯ egav¯ ahini “i ̇ nka dayar ̄ akunnanu” ( have not got your mercy yet). Cinnasv ̄ amayya got his sight and lived happily tillthe end of his time. R ̄ amasv ̄ ami D ̄ ıks. ita, on every ¯ ek ̄ ada´ si day would observe the day by reciting the twelvecantos of “g ̄ itag¯ ovinda ” (as. t .apadi ) with devotion and reverence. He composed a r ¯ agam¯ alika of forty-four

r ̄ agas on ´ Sr ̄ i M ̄ ın¯ aks. i , cauka varn. as in r ̄ agas r ̄ ıtigaul .a, hind ̄ ol .a, man¯ ohari , and p ¯ urn. acandrika, t ̄ ana varn. ain the r ̄ aga ´ sa ˙ nkar ̄ abharan. a, and many other k ̇ rti s with the stamp signature of “v ̄ e ̇ nkat .ak ̇ rs. n. a”. He coineda r¯ aga named “ha ˙ msadhvani ”, and authored a prabandha in that r ¯ aga and was famous. Realizing that histime on earth has come to an end, this R ¯ amasv¯ ami Dı̄ks. ita

††, along with his family travelled to Tiruv¯ ar ¯ ur and with fame as his body, in the ´ saka year 1739 (1817 A.D.), in the dh ¯ atu year, m ¯ agha m¯ asa during theauspicious time of ´ sivar¯ atri obtained the heavenly abode.

25 Śyāmā Śāstri

Due to the disturbances caused by some muslim invaders, the icon of ´ Srı̄ Ba ˙ ng¯ aruK¯ am¯ aks. ı̄ D¯ evi , the utsava

idol of ´ Srı̄ K ̄a ˜ nci K¯ am¯ aks. i D¯ evi , travelled along with native dr ¯ avid . a br¯ ahmins who hailed from Northern

regions, to the pious land of Tiruv¯ ar ¯ ur , also known as ´ Srı̄puram, and stayed there for approximately thirty

five years accepting the prayers and other rituals facilitated by the kings of Ta˜ nj ̄ av ̄ ur . ´ Sy ̄ am¯ a ´ S ̄ astri ’s par-

ents, worshipped ´ Sr ̄ ı K ̄ am¯ aks. i with utmost devotion, but since they did not have a son, they performed

the ritual of feeding the br ¯ ahmins, as a devotional offering to V¯ e ˙ nkat . ¯ acalapati , during the last Saturday of every month. In one of those br ̄ ahmin-feeding feasts, an aged br ̄ ahmin was possessed by V ̄ e ̇ nkat . ¯ acalapati and spoke through him, saying: “Oh couple, within one year you will get a son who would be famous.”.

As was predicted by the br ¯ ahmin, ´ Sy¯ am¯ a ´ S¯ astri ’s mother became pregnant, and after she completed tenmonths, in the ´ saka year 1685 (1763 A.D.) in the year citrabh¯ anu and in the asterism of k ̇ rttik ̄ a and on a

m¯ e´ sa ravi day ´ Sy¯ am¯ a ´ S¯ astri was born in Tiruv¯ ar ¯ ur , known as ´ Srı̄puram. Even at a tender age,he became anexpert in sanskrit and telugu. Soon, along with the icon.idol of Ba ˙ ng¯ aru K¯ am¯ aks. i , he travelled to Ta ˜ nj¯ av ¯ ur ,learnt music from a relative, starting from sarali svaras, and attained proficiency in svara j ̃ n¯ ana. At that

††Alas¯ uru K˙ rs. n. ayya, a great singer, was the disciple of R ¯ amasv¯ ami Dı̄ks. ita


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time, he obtained the divine blessing of being initiated into ´ sr ̄ ıvidya. It was his fortune that a saint, Sa ˙ ng ̄ ıtaSv ̄ ami , an expert in musical education, came from the northern region, took him as his disciple for three

years, and taught him all the intricacies of laks. ya and laks. an. a. Sa ˙ ngı̄ta Sv¯ ami , having realized ´ Sy¯ am¯ a´ S¯ astri ’s musical talents, blessed him, saying that he would become very famous. He further told him togo and listen to the music of ¯ Adippaiyya for sometime, and proceeded to K ¯ a´ si . After some years, by the

grace of ´ Srı̄ K ̄am¯ aks. i D ¯ evi , with “´ sy¯ amak˙ rs. n. a” as his stamp signature, he composed many k˙ rti s, svarajati s

and t ¯ ana varn. as, which were imbued with magical lyrical beauty, poetic felicity, and t ¯ al .a intricacies. Hepropagated them through many of his disciples. In the ´ saka year 1749 (1827 A.D.) in the year of vyaya,

on makararavi ´ sukla da´ sami day he reached ´ Srı̄puram (heavenly abode). I will write his amazing story indetail, when I get his more than one hundred k˙ rti s of his printed as a book.

Since his compositions are like “n¯ al .ik¯ erap¯ aka” (as tough as breaking a coconut) with rich poesy, con-taining atı̄ta, an¯ agata grahas, with beautiful words, some lazy musicians, who could neither comprehendnor had the mettle to sing them in the manner that pleased the audience, called them tough. This statementis proven by the meaning of the following poem contained in the first chapter of “´ s˙ r ˙ ng ̄ aranais. adha k ̄ avya”,

which was translated into telugu by the poet ´ Srı̄n ̄atha.´ Sl¯ oka:

panivad . i n ¯ ar ̄ ıik ̄ el .aphalap ̄ akamunum javiyaina bat .t .ah¯ ars. uni kavit¯ anugumbhamulu s¯ omarip¯ otulu kondarayyala¯ u |

nanikoni y¯ ad . an¯ era rajayat .t .ida l¯ ejavar¯ alu cekkugı̄t .ina sava nalpa b ¯ alakud . u d . endamunum galuganga n¯ ercun¯ e

´ Sy ̄ am¯ a ´ S ̄ astri had two sons. Of them, the second son Subbar ̄ aya ´ S ̄ astri was born in the ´ saka year 1725(1803 A.D.), in the year of dundubhi, si ˙ mharavi and in krittik¯ a asterism. He was an expert in sanskrit,telugu and in music. Many k ˙ rti s and svarajati s composed by him, which are characterized by the cleveruse of telugu and musical and poetic expressions, and are being sung very popularly. He attained ´ sr ̄ ıpuramin the ´ saka year 1784 (1862 A.D.) during the year of durmati, c¯ aparavi and on k˙ rs. n. a da´ sami day.

An. n. ¯ asv ̄ ami ´ S ̄ astri , the son of the brother of this Subbar ̄ aya ´ S ̄ astri , was a music composer and well-versedin the intricacies of k ̄ avyas, dramaturgy, grammar, music and telugu. He not only composed many k ̇ rti s,darus and t ¯ ana varn. as but also was an expert in playing the fiddle (violin). He was born in the ´ saka year

1749 (1827 A.D) in the year of vyaya, in the m¯ ına ravi in ¯ a´ sl ̄ es. a asterism and attained ´ Sr ̄ ıpuram at the age of seventy-three, in the ´ saka year 1822 (1900 A.D) in the year of vik ̄ ari in kumbharavi and on the k ̇ rs. n. a t ̇ rt ̄ ıya

day.

26 Gurumūrti Śāstri

He was a trili ̇ nga br ̄ ahmin of muriki n¯ ad . u sect. The village of Kayatt ̄ aru belonging to the county of Tirunalv¯ eli was his birth place. He was well-versed in the four ´ s ¯ astras. He was very proficient in mu-sic. Even at an early age, he attained fame by travelling to Cennapat .t .an. am and was grandly felicitated byMan. ali Cinnayy ̄ a Mudaliy ̄ ar . He was an exceptional writer of g ̄ itas, prabandhas and k ̄ ırtanas. He was anintelligent man with expertise in many r ¯ agas. He was a younger contemporary of R¯ amasv¯ ami Dı̄ks. ita.

27 V¯ ın. a Perumal.ayya

Perumal .ayya was a great soul who obtained unattainable expertise in v ̄ ın. a playing. He belonged to v ̄ ın. aK ̄ al .ahasti Ayya’s family. He was an ¯ andhra br ̄ ahmin. He was a v ̄ ın. a player, an inheritor of an art that waspassed on as family tradition. He was the court musician of Tañjāvūr. He received many land donationswith full powers. He was an expert in playing the ghanar ̄ aga t ̄ ana. He could play rakti r ̄ agas like bhairavi each night until the early hours, without repetition. It is said that he would play this for ten days andonly then finish. He played in the courts of northern region, and obtained many honors such as chatra(umbrella), c ¯ amara (hand held fan), pallakı̄ (palanquin) and ratnakhacita vı̄n. a (vı̄n. a decorated with gemstones). He then went to Kottak¯ ot .t .a to Raghun¯ atha (Ton. d . aman) Mah¯ ar¯ aj¯ a, played one r ¯ aga for twentydays continuously, and was felicitated with a purse of ten thousand rupees. Each day he would play the


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k ̇ rti s and other compositions of elders, in a chosen r ̄ aga and entertain people. He composed at .a t ̄ al .a t ̄ anavarn. as in saur ̄ as. t .ram and s ¯ av ̄ eri . Not many can aspire to obtain his composing abilities. He was an expertin playing the vı̄n. a without deviating from the (t¯ al .a). He lived until Muddusv¯ ami Dı̄ks. ita was thirty yearsold. His brother v ̄ ın. a N ̄ ar ̄ ayan. as¯ amayya was qualified just like him. His brother Kon. d . ayya composed asvarajati in s ¯ av ̄ eri .

28 Tyāgarājayya

Approximately 250 years ago, there was a great br ̄ ahmin Girir ̄ aja Kavi in Tiruv ̄ ar ̄ ur . He had five sons.The youngest son was named R ̄ amabrahmam. He was an expert in the science of v ̄ edas. He had threesons, Pa ˜ nc¯ apak¯ e´ sa, R¯ aman¯ atha, and Ty¯ agar¯ aja. R¯ amabrahmam was in poverty, and along with his wifeand children, he left Tiruv¯ ar ¯ ur and went to the Pa ˜ ncanada ks. ¯ etram (land of five rivers) or Tiruvaiy¯ aru. Hespent time there cashing in on his good nature and character. His two older sons took to material jobs. Thethird son followed the path of the father, and studied v¯ ed¯ adhyayana (studies of v¯ edas) and sanskrit. Whenhe was fourteen years old, his father passed away.Within a year, his mother too passed away. Meanwhile,he progressively learnt performing rituals, and the art of writing k ̄ avyas, and n ¯ at .ak ̄ ala ˙ mk ̄ aras. After that,desirous of learning music, he started learning music from Son. t . i V ̄ e ̇ nkat .araman. ayya, a musician of the city,who lived in the same street as himself. Being an “¯ eka sant¯ agr¯ ahi ” (one who could grasp by just listening

once), within one year, he learnt the grammar of music, the art of singing r ̄ aga elaborations, pallavi singing,and t ̄ al .as, and he obtained the fame and earned the name ,“no one else is equal to him in the field of music”. Atthat time, he was initiated into r ¯ aman¯ ama mantra by a br ¯ ahmin scholar who came to Pa ˜ ncanadam fromKāñcı̄puram. The br ¯ ahmin scholar told him that a person who chants ninety-six crores of (r¯ ama) n ¯ amamwould obtain eternal bliss while still alive, and said that if he did that, he too would attain bliss, and blessedhim. Accordingly, he (Ty¯ agar¯ aja) chanted 125,000 r ¯ ama n ¯ amam per day and completed 96,000,0000 by his

twenty-first year. After that, Lord ´ Srı̄ R ̄ama appeared before him thrice, and blessed him to write lyrics.

One day as he sat in front of Lord ´ Srı̄ R ̄ama and was chanting his name, he heard a noise at the front door.

When he looked with intensity, he had a vision of ´ Sr ̄ ı R ̄ aghava with Laks. man. a in the garb of protecting

the y ̄ aga accompanied by Sage Vi ́ sv ̄ amitra, Immediately, he started praising ´ Sr ̄ ı R ̄ ama composing the song,“b¯ ala kanakamaya c¯ ela sujana pariv¯ ara jaladhi gambhı̄ra ”, extempore. That was his first composition.After hearing this song in at .h¯ an. a, which was composed with intricate and exquisitely descriptive words,

the musical luminaries and the sanskrit scholars like R ̄ ama ´ S ̄ es.a ´ S ̄ astri and Bh ¯ as

.hyam K ̇ rs

.n.

a ´ S ̄ astri , whowere used to hearing composite words loaded with meaning, praised him wondering if he was indeed agandharva or N ̄ arada. He then composed “r ̄ am¯ a ninn¯ e nammin¯ anu” in the r ̄ aga hus¯ ani and many otherk ̇ rti s in telugu. One day, early in the morning, Sage N ̄ arada came to Ty ̄ agar ̄ aja’s house in the form of asage and said: “I believe there is a vidv¯ an named Ty¯ agar¯ aja, I have come with the desire of listening to hismusic”. Immediately, Ty¯ agar¯ aja, who had prepared himself to take an oil bath, prostrated before him, tookcare of his needs and told him that he was the same Ty¯ agar¯ aja. He then sang in front of the sage so wellthat for a second, one could believe that it was sung by a gandharva. The saint supreme was very pleased,and told him that there was no other person in this earth that could sing as delectably as him. He gavehim a book, and told him that he would complete his rituals and came back for alms, and disappeared. Hecould not find that saint anywhere after searching all over, he (Ty ̄ agar ̄ aja) was worried, and spent the daywithout food until sunset, performed the night worship, and went to bed. While in sleep, the great personwho appeared that morning before him as a saint, appeared in his dream, and said “Oh respected man, I

am N ̄ arada. I was very pleased with your musical expertise , your devotion and your ritualistic life, andhence I appeared before you this morning. The book that I gave you is a musical treatise , “svar¯ arn. ava”.Until now, no one on this earth knows about it. Other than you, no one else deserves to look at this book. Igave the“svar¯ arn. ava” to you so that music should attain prominence on this earth that through you. Nowall your worries should rest”. Saying thus, he disappeared. He (Ty¯ agar¯ aja) got up in the morning, and sawthe book to be the same as it appeared in his dream, he was extremely happy and composed the k ˙ rti s —“n¯ arada guru sv ̄ ami ” in the r ̄ aga darb ̄ ar , “´ sr ̄ ı n¯ arada n¯ ada saras¯ ıruha” in k ̄ anad . a, and “n¯ arada g ̄ ana l ̄ ola”in at .h¯ an. a. As he proceeded to read the “svar ̄ arn. avam” again and again, the exceptional secrets of the r ̄ agas

became evident. He thus could compose many thousands of k ˙ rti s in many ap ¯ urva and m ¯ el .akart¯ a r¯ agaswithout deviating from the grammar of music. This paved a path to bhakti , and he attained extraordinary


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happiness and bliss. These (writings) are unattainable to others.The following is the information about S . ad . k ̄ ala G ̄ ovindad ̄ asa. He belonged to golla clan. He belonged to

K¯ eral .a.He was an expert in music and was a great devotee. When he was living in K¯ eral .a, ´ Srı̄ R ̄aghava ap-peared in his dream and ordered him, saying:, “In the pious land of Pa ˜ ncanada, my greatest devotee calledTy ̄ agar ̄ aja is living, shining as a great musician. You should go to him and exhibit your musical expertise,and your true devotion”. As per the order, he (S . at .k¯ ala G ¯ ovindas¯ ami ) went in search of Ty¯ agar¯ aja

§. He

went to Tiruvaiy ̄ aru, listened to Ty ̄ agar ̄ aja’s singing and made him listen to his singing, and was extremelyhappy. With such joy, he declared that he (Ty ̄ agar ̄ aja) was nothing but ¯ ı´ svar ̄ a ˙ m´ sa m¯ urti (embodiment of ı̄´ svara), who took birth to propagate the knowledge of devotion, and the intricacies of the science of musicand to bless sincere devotees. Thus he praised him, and narrated him his dream, so that all the peoplewere aware of it, and he worshipped the feet of Ty¯ agar¯ aja, prostrated before him, took his blessings, andtravelled to Pandr¯ apuri (Pandarı̄puram).

Similarly, from the banks of river ga ˙ nga, a superior devotee had a dream, and also travelled to Tiru- vaiy ̄ aru, visited the respected soul (Ty ̄ agar ̄ aja) and sought his blessings. As he narrated his story to him,Ty ̄ agar ̄ aja was inspired to compose the t ̄ od . i k ̇ rti “d ̄ asarath¯ ı”. Thus, as the divine incidents due to whichTy¯ agar¯ aja’s fame spread to the whole land, the rulers of Mysōre and Ta˜ nj¯ av ¯ ur , with a desire to meet him,sent invitations. But he refused them saying that he did not desire shelter (protection) from anyone else

other than ´ Sr ̄ ı R ̄ aghava. Once when Sarabh ¯ oji Mah¯ ar ̄ aja came to Tiruvaiy ̄ aru, wanted to see Ty ̄ agar ̄ aja, andsent ambassadors to him, Ty¯ agar¯ aja did not accept it and, not only wrote the k ˙ rti “nidhi c ¯ ala sukham¯ a,

r ̄ amuni sannidhi c ̄ ala sukham¯ a”, but also wrote a k ̇ rti with the meaning: “R ̄ ama, could you not spare mefrom this sort of abuse from others?”, and completed it. In this manner, he composed many varieties of k˙ rti s, some suitable to the circumstances, and others with themes of his being blessed. To elaborate those

would make this (narrative) long. When he visited ´ Sr ̄ ıra ˙ ngam, he composed a k ̇ rti , “ ¯ o ra ˙ nga´ s¯ ay ̄ ı”, and alsoanother k ̇ rti , “r ̄ aju ved . ale j ̄ ut ̄ amu r ̄ ar ̄ e ”, and when he visited Tirupati , he composed the k ̇ rti , “terat ̄ ıyagar¯ ad¯ a”.

One day, his elder brothers were angry at him saying, “he (Ty¯ agar¯ aja) is refusing even the invita-tions from the kings, what is the use of having such scholarship? He is running around with the idolof pat .t . ¯ abhis. ¯ eka, without any interest in riches. All these are because of this idol”, and without his knowl-edge, they threw it into the well. Having come to know about it, he (Ty¯ agar¯ aja) composed a k˙ rti , “¯ e p¯ apamu

j ̄ esitin¯ o ” (What ghastly sins have I done?). He appealed (to Lord) saying that such brothers were born withhim, who harass him, by not letting him practice his devotion. In another k ̇ rti , “et .l ̄ a dorikitiv ̄ o ”, he won-

ders how he could get r ¯ ama (devotion to R ¯ ama) when all around him are people who do not understandthe path of devotion. He praised the Lord by singing in many different ways such as “enta r ̄ ani tana kentab ̄ oni, cinta viduva j ̄ ala, ´ sr ̄ ır ̄ ama”. Thus, he composed a k ̇ rti , “koluvamarega(da) ”. which depicts his dailyroutine of doing good deeds, performing rituals and devotional singing through all his lifetime. He com-

posed many k ̇ rti s in the mode of a friend, and with questions and answers, which reflect his feeling that ´ Sr ̄ ı

Raghun¯ atha was like a close friend to Ty ̄ agar ̄ aja. ´ Sr ̄ ı Raghun¯ atha appeared thrice before him. Ten months

before his demise, ´ Srı̄ R ̄ama is said to have appeared in his dream, and insisted that he should live onthis earth for ten more months. The next morning he composed a k ̇ rti “giripai nelakonna r ̄ amuni �

Ssp Vaggeya

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