– By Semmangudi Srinivasayyar
From the Deepavali Malar (Special Deepavali edition) of Ananda Vikatan, 1938
Translated from the image in this blog by Pas Pasupathi. This essay caught my eye, primarily because it mentioned, in the very first paragraph, a place that my family originated from – you can read that origin story here. After I read it, I made an attempt to translate it, as an exercise – to see if I could capture the brilliantly simple style in which it was written in Tamil
“There are so many violin vidwans in Tamil Nadu, and all of them are great exponents of their art. What makes Varagoor Muthusamy Iyer so special in your eyes?”
“Because he is from Varagoor!”
“Why? What is so special about Varagoor?”
“As soon as I hear that holy town’s name, I bow my head with devotion, and I am reminded of the hallowed history of that place.”
* * *
“At the beginning of a play, have you heard the ‘entrance’ music, where they loudly play the song “Jaya Jaya Gopala”? Do you know who made that song?”
“I don’t know anything about that. Now, don’t keep asking me questions – just tell me the story!”
* * *
Three miles east of the village of Thirukkattuppalli, as you approach the banks of the Kudamurutti river, is the broad Aggraharam called Bhoopathirajapuram, the street where the priestly classes live and practice their profession. The name derives from one of the Telugu kings of Thanjavur, who bestowed this land to its inhabitants. From here, as you follow the meandering course of the Kudamurutti river, you will reach the picturesque town called Nadukkaveri.
One day in Nadukkaveri, a holy man lay writhing in pain, beset by a severe stomachache. Nobody in the village knew where this mendicant had come from. He tossed and turned in agony and then lapsed into a tired doze. But – this wasn’t a restful sleep, but one filled with fevered dreams.
In his dream, he heard a mysterious voice say, “When you wake up in the morning, follow the first animal that you see. That will take you to the place where you will be cured of your pain.”
When the sanyasi opened his eyes in the morning, he saw a wild boar standing there. He followed the boar, and followed the animal for three miles until they reached the temple of Sri Venkateshwara in Bhoopathirajapuram. There, the boar disappeared.
The saint was reminded of the ancient legend told in the story of the ten incarnations of the Lord Vishnu. In his third incarnation, the Lord had taken the form of a wild boar to rescue the earth from the clutches of the demon Hiranyakshan. “Just as he took the form of the boar to relieve the earth, He has appeared today to relieve my pain; This is the divine command to let the world know that whoever comes and prays at this temple will be cured of their diseases and afflictions”.
He prostrated himself in the holy sanctum of the Venkatesha temple in Bhoopathirajapuram, and saw his chronic stomach pain disappear immediately. He decided to stay there and make it his home. Over time, the legend of how a ‘Varaham’, a boar, brought the holy man there was told and retold, and Bhoopathirajapuram acquired the name ‘Varagoor’.
* * *
The holy man referred to above is known as Narayana Theerthar; some scholars also refer to him as Narayanaswamy Theerthar. We also see him referred to as Shivanarayana Theerthar in some publications of the time. His guru was known as Shivaramaananda Theerthar. The hamlet known as ‘Varagoor’ or ‘Varahapuram’ became very famous after the arrival of Narayana Theerthar. He decided to express his gratitude for his miraculous cure by offering up his music to the God enshrined there. He composed a dance drama entitled ‘Krishna Leela Tharangini’, based on the tenth canto of the classic called ‘Srimad Bhagavatham’, describing the incidents in the life of the Lord Krishna from his birth until his wedding to the divine Rukmini. He also wrote a long poem on the exploits of Shri Krishna called ‘Hari Bhakthinuthaarnavam’. This wonderful poem has not been printed yet, and still exists in manuscript form in a library in Chennai. We would all have heard the opening song in many ‘Harikathas’, where the singers sing ‘Himagiri Thanayapadhyam’ – that is, in fact, the first verse of this epic poem. Narayana Theerthar also wrote a scholarly commentary on the devotional scripture called ‘Bhakthi Mimamsa’, written by the ancient Sage Chandilya. This too, has not been published – it exists in manuscript form in the Saraswathi Mahal palace museum in Thanjavur. Apart from this, we also see a few treatises on subjects such as ‘Sankhyam’, ‘Tharkkam’ and ‘Yogam’; but we are not able to confirm that these are definitely the work of Narayana Theerthar.
Narayana Theerthar is buried in the small village of Thiruppundhuruthi, about a mile east of Varagoor. There, an annual festival is held in his memory.
Narayana Theerthar established a flourishing tradition of ‘Bhajan’ singing, and left behind a school that his students kept alive. Each year, on the occasion of Gokulashtami, a festival of bhajan singing is held. Earlier, there were full fledged recitals of the Krishna Leela Tharangini, with skilled performers dancing and singing and acting as each of its characters. The most famous among the practitioners of this art form included Varagoor Panju Bhagavathar and Varagoor Gopala Bhagavathar.
Gopala Bhagavathar was a very skilled exponent in the narration of the tales from the Bhagavatham. His magnificent portrait, holding a ‘tambura’ and singing is awe-inspiring. He went to Thanjavur, to obtain a portrait of his guru, Narayana Theerthar. At that time, the artists there drew a full-length portrait of Gopala Bhagavathar. These two paintings can still be seen, in the puja room at the Triplicane residence of the Ayurveda teacher, Bharatha Sastry, who is Gopala Bhagavathar’s grandson. Connoisseurs of the Thanjavur school of painting will be well pleased to study these portraits.
Narayana Theerthar’s songs are widely sung in ‘Bhajan’ concerts throughout South India. The ‘Krishna Leela Tharangini’ is written in Sanskrit, in the form of a play. The text includes specific notes on how characters enter the stage, their songs and dialog. “Jaya Jaya Gokula Bala”, a song set to the Ragam Kurinji and set to Adi Taalam, is the song sung when the character of Lord Brahma enters the stage. It is clear from the words that this is a work in the ‘Ashtapadhi’ style, meant to be performed using dance and drama. There are notes with specific instructions for the actors, and how they should enact specific sections in the text. In the third canto, when all the women worship Lord Krishna, there are eight verses, and notes for the musical arrangement at the end of each verse. Similarly, in the seventh canto, we can see the musical arrangement notes for the song set to the Ragam Nattai in Dhruva Taalam. Moreover, there are arrangements set out for songs in the Ragams Madhyamavathi, Mukaari, Varaali, Mohanam, Ananda Bhairavi and Kamboji. We can deduce that the first two plays composed by the great Saint Thyagaraja, the Nouka Charithram and Prahlada Charitram were very likely inspired by this work. The Tharangini contains many aspects that can be sung extensively in a regular music concert. Instead of dismissing them as mere ‘Bhajans’, they should be taken up and performed by our senior musicians.
Here is my idea – we should have a Five-Year Plan for the Musical world, just like we have for the economy. Instead of using the same compositions over and over, musicians should be encouraged to perform works by Kshetragnar, Purandharar, Narayana Theerthar, Jayadevar and others, so that these compositions will continue to live and thrive in our musical tradition.