The Poet
by Dr.
R. Krishnaswamy and P. Sreenivasan
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Thyagaraja Swami’s compositions are described as poetry
set to music. He was the only poet
among our composers. He has
considerably enriched Telugu literature of the 19th century. He has composed verses of every known kind
from simple kanda padyams to the more elaborate and complex varieties. Among the verses, both introductory and
invocatory, appearing in the two operas or song dramas are Seesa padyams,
Utpalamalas, dwipadis, sardhoola vikruditham and kandapadyam. There are over 160 padyams in all between
the two It is said that Swami composed a third natakam by name
Seetharama Vijayam. This claim is made
by Professor Sambamurthy and others based on a license granted to one
Wallajapet Loka Narayana Sastrulu for printing a poetry drama, Seetharama
Vijayam at Gnanabhanu Achukootam, Choolai, |
The greatness of Swami’s poetic skill is in that all his
verses and songs can be read as prose and do not need to be rendered
into prose form or anvaya. The
lakshanas (attributes) of pure poetry are all there and so they can
be read with meter and prosody with equal felicity.
Another noteworthy skill is his mastery over dwitiyakshara prasa
or prosody based on the second letter of the opening word in each line. Ha, Ksha, and similar dwitiyaksharas are handled
with amazing ease and fluency. “Kaddana
Variki” (Thodi), “Gruhabalamemi” (Revagupti) and the only Tisra Triputa
kriti, Lalgudi Sthala kriti, “Mahita pravruta Sreemathi” (Kamboji) are
good examples. His description of the Yamuna, with the gopis sporting;
of the Kaveri as it flows from the hills and dales; his description
of Thiruvayyaru” reflect his poetic skill and imagery, both in Telugu
and Tamil. His Satodalankara
too is marvelous; in creating an onomatopoeic effect.
This skill, one could say, he had acquired by his study of Pothana - “Kala kala mukha kala
sokkuche palukulolam
ruthamu lolikadu swamiki” in Gandhamu Poyyagara (Punnagavarali) and
the charana of the Saranga
kriti “Emi deva balkuma”
creating a battle scene effect. Swami has used parayayanams
or synonyms very skillfully in narrating the Ramayana. Basing the progress of the story on the
Lord’s feet, hands, weapons, eyes, etc., the story is told from Viswamitra yoga Samrakshanam to
Pattabishekam.
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To give an example, the parayayanams
“angrulu, kalyu
padamulu” and “charanmulu” are
used to say “when am I going to see the feet that walked beside Viswamitra; the feet which made Ahalya
come back to life; the feet which pressed and broke the Shiva dhanus and the feet which Janaka
washed with milk at the wedding. The
story then moves from yagasamrakshanam to
Sita Swayamvaram (Please also
refer to the kriti Vinayamunu in Sowrashtram). Swami has used words and combination of words of his own
creation. This needs some examination
to be fully understood. For example,
in the divyanama kirtana “Manasa Sancharare” (Punnagavarali), he
uses the word “bharye” to mean Chandra. This
is derived from |
“ba” Nakshartram and “arya” or leader or the great one;
meaning “sreshta” indicating here the moon.
Hence “mukhajita bharye” for mukhajita
soma or Chandra. In the adamantine
kriti “RamanSalaam Brova”, he uses the expressions, yantha, bantha,
nishantha – to mean Ramachandra. This
is arrived at by “yantha" or the letter after "ya" that
is "ra" in bhantha; the letter after "bha" is "na"
and "nisantha" meaning dispeller of darkness (the moon).
This explanation was provided by His Holiness the Paramacharya
of Kanchi Mutt when his clarification was
sought. He explained that Swami
was well versed in mantra sastra also where
such techniques are employed to guard the secret and sanctity of the
mantras. |