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Gowlai Pancha Rathnam --Part 5 ( Sixth charanam plus )

From the Bhakti List Archives

V. Sadagopan • November 15, 1997 


Dear Bhakthi Group members :

>From the  sixth to the ninth , the  charaNams are 
longer and reach a crescendo in terms of its 
poignancy and rich meanings .

Sixth CharaNam 
******************

teliyani naDa viDa kshthrulu vanithalu svavasa 
mowDakupadEsimchi , santhasilli svaralayampu 
lerumgakanu seelAthmudai subhakthulaku 
samaanamanu ( DuDuku gala nannE dora koDuku ) 

In this charaNam , Sadhguru swamigaL refers to three
items :

1. His hard , unfeeling heart 
2. His life as a pOli bhagavathar to impress others
with his bhakthi ti deceive them 
3. His existence without awareness of the sanctity 
of svaram , tALam and musical marmams  

First , he confesses to Sri RamA that he had led a
life devoid of compassion to others' sufferings . He begs
for forgivance for having been indifferent to the sufferings
of others . His nirvEdham over this deficiency reminds one
of the naicchAnusandhAnam of the great AchArya , 
Sri ALavandhAr , where he describes himself as :
" asuchim  , avineetham, nirdhayam , alajjam , 
maam digh " . He describes himself 
as impure ( in thoughts) , immodest , harsh , 
and shameless over his performance of acts that are
prohibited by sAsthrAs . He acknowledges that 
he deserves to be condemend by one and all . 

Our Sadhguru confesses that he is hard hearted and 
does not have the j~nAnam & good conduct that arises out of 
a true understanding of Svaram , Raagam and TaaLam . 
It is interestig to relate to this statement of our Sadhguru , 
who mastered the master treatise on music known 
as SvarArNavam presented to him by his guru , 
Sage NaaradA . He still felt that he had not reached 
a full understanding of the mysteries of NaadhOpaasanA 
that would ultimately lead to his siddhi . That is the type of modesty 
that one should cultivate regarding one's "scholarship "  .

We will digress now to focus on his celebration of the 
approach of the Lord through NaadhOpAsanA . 
He invited one and  all to come and acquire sarva 
sowbhAgyam by worshipping the Lord through 
NadhOpaasanA  with the utmost reverence for
Svaram and Layam in one of His Reethigowlai krithis
( Bhaaga sEvimchi sakala bhAgyamOndhudhAmu rArE ) .

He explained further the sanctity of NaadhOpAsanA 
in his Sri Raaga krithi this way :

naadhasvaramanu navarathnapu vEdhikapai
sakala leelA vinOdhuni paramAthmuni Sri Raamuni
paadhamulanu , ThyagarAja hrudh bhUshaNuni ,
naama kusumamulachE pUjimchE 
nara janmamE manasA 

Here he explains that the fruit of gaining birth as 
a human being is acheived  , when one seats 
Sri RaamA on a navarathna simhAsanam made up
of svarams originating from praNava nAdham and 
then  worshipping Him with the flowers
of His divya NaamAs .

In his SaaLaka Bhairavi krithi , " Sangeetha Saasthra
j~namu sArUpya soukhatamE " , he revealed 
that the precision of intellect developed from 
a correct undrstanding of Sangeetha sAsthra J~nanam 
will lead to one of the four types of  Moksham 
known as SaarUpyam . 

Finally, in his sankarAbharaNa krithi , " Svara rAga 
sudhArasayutha Bhakthi svargApavargamurA " ,
he declared that the Bhakthi mingled with 
svara and Raaga J~nanam is equivalent to 
Svargam and Moksham . 

Saint ThyagarAjA , who is the greatest connoseiur 
of Sangeetha Saashram had us in mind , when he 
chastised himself as the hard hearted and unfeeling one ,
deficient in the understanding of the fine points of 
raagam , svaram and thALam . Even a samsaari 
can attain mOksham according to our Saint , 
if he or she practised naama sankeerthanam 
with full control over raagam , svaram and layam 
( samsArulaithE nEmayaa --SavEri krithi ) .
He condemend himself to set an example for us .
This is the ancient tradition of AchAryAs to help
us cultivate humility and perseverance .

Finally , he focuses on the pOli bhagavathars in this sixth
charaNam . He refers to himself as having lived as 
naDan , ViDan and Kshudhran . NaDan means 
a  dancer or an actor ; viDan means a buffon or a 
voluptiary sensualist . Kshudran means adhaman or 
a small , mean man , who overpowers women with
his clever talk and gets his way and thus is engaged in 
durAchArams. Sadhguru swami compares himself to 
these three characters and laments for the dorai mahan ,
who can rescue him from this pitiable state . He implies 
that  Sri Ramachandra , the son of the emperor DasarathA
alone is the only one with the power to pull him 
out of his misery .

Seventh CharaNam
**********************

dhrushtiki sArambhagu lalanA sadhanArbhaga 
sEnAmitha dhanAdhulanu dEva dEva ! nEra 
nammithini ghAkanu padhAbhja bhajnambhu
marachina ( DuDuku gala ) 

( Meaning ) ; dEvAthi dEva! RaamachandrA! I believed
that beautiful women , house , fields and other property
are lasting wealth and became deluded ; I strayed away from
worshipping Your sacred feet and have descended into
the depth of miseries . Who is going to come to the rescue
of myself , who is a treasure house of all durguNAs ? 
Which dorai mahan is going to rescue me? 

Sri Sadhguru SwamigaL's cry into the night reminds 
one of the bhyAg raaga krithi of Purandara Daasa :
" yAkE mUkanAthyO manuja , yAke mUrkanAth ".
Here , Daasar has upadEsam for those cruel men ,
who  mindlessly  chase perishable sukhams and 
skip the worship of the eternal Lord , who blesses 
one with lasting mOksha sukham . 

Saint ThyagarAjA equated his status to such a mUrkA 
and pleaded for rescue by Sri RaamA . He says that 
he forgot to heed the advise of Adhi SankarA's 
Bhaja Govindham slOkam , where the AchArya 
warns men not to be intoxicated by the 
female body's beauty and advises them to remember that
they are " mamsavasAthi vikAram " . Sadhguru says that 
he let his mind wander over the anga soundharyam 
of the  ladies and missed out on the incomparable and 
pristine beauty of the Lord known for His sarvAnga 
soundharyam that is insatiable to experience as 
AarAvamudhu ( AparyApthAmrutham ) . Sadhguru had 
again us in mind , when he chastises himself 
over his "  derelict conduct " .

Purandara Daasar is even more explicit in his 
panthuvarALi krithi " Nampa thiru ee dEha nithya valla " .
He says " ambhujAkshana bhajisi sukhiyAku manujA ,
yelu raktha maamsakaLamElE sarmatha hOthikE
voLaga malamUthrAdhi krimikaLiravu halavu 
vyAdhiyapeetu pancha bhUthanAdu
baluhu  dEhavanecchi ketapEtA manujA " .
Daasar mercilessly gives here an accurate description of 
our corporeal state seeking pleasures at the expense 
of seeking the grace of the Lord through His 
aarAdhanam and nAma sankeerthanam .

Saint ThyagarAjA points out that the chasing of 
the fast disappearing youth , physical beauty
and material wealth/selvam  ( selvOM , selvOm )
as lasting entities and abandoning the dhyanam
of the Lord's anga soundharyam ( a la ThiruppANa
nAthan-- Saalampana yOgam ) or anantha kalyANa
guNAs ( nirAlampana yOgam ) is a great durbhaagyam 
in the rarest of lives as a human being ( arithu arithu
maanida piRavi arithu ) . Saint ThyagarAjA counts 
himself as one of those unfortunate ones and begs
for the Dorai mahan to come to his rescue in a hurry .

AzhwAr AchAryAL ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam 
Sri SeethA LakshmaNa Hanumath samEtha 
Sri Raamachandra parabrahmaNE Nama:
Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan