17
LIFE AND CONTRIBUTION OF
MUTHUSWAMI DIKSHITAR
" A profound scholar , a poet and composer of the highest order, a master singer , a natural mystic - one cannot easily comprehend how these various rare elements came to be combined in one individual in one life".*^
The above words signify none other than the most complete classical composer and one of the most versatile men world has ever
seen, Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar.
The eighteenth century was blessed by
the birth of the three immortals of camatic music world, celebrated as the
'MUSICAL TRINITY', Tyagaraja, SyamaSastri and Muthuswami Dikshitar, in Tiruvarur.
Among them Muthuswami Dikshitar was the
youngest and the one with the shortest term of life.
BIRTH AND TUTELAGE
Muthuswami Dikshitar was bom in the year 1775 in answer to the prayers offered by his parents , Ramaswami Dikshitar and Subbalakshmi,to the Lord Muthukumara Swami and Goddess Balambika of
Vaitheeswarankoil. He was born to the star 'Krithika'. Ramaswami Dikshitar was himself a musician and composer and is credited with the invention of the raga 'Hamsadhwani' and the 'Ashtotharasata Ragamalika' for which he received 'Kanakabhishekam at Manali.
Ramaswami was later blessed with two more sons, Balaswami and Chinnaswami and a daughter, Balambal.
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Muthuswami Dikshitar had his initial lessons from his father.
Before he was sixteen, he became proficient in Vedanta, MTmamsa, Jyotisha , Tantra , Mantra , Kavya, Alankara and in different languages like Sanskrit, Telugu etc. He was also an adept in playing the Vina.
Highly impressed by the musical calibre of Ramaswami Dikshitar, Muddukrishna Mudaliar , the Zamindar of Manali, appointed the former as the court musician. So the family had to shift to Manali. During the
stay at Manali, Chidambaranatha Yogi from Varanasi, who initiated Ramaswami into Srividya cult, happened to hear Muthuswami Dikshitar sing and play the Vina.
The Yogi requested Ramaswami to send the
precious boy with him. With much hesitation, Ramaswami finally sent Muthuswami with the Yogi. Muthuswami Dikshitar stayed at Varanasi for about five years, practiced Srividya and obtained the 'AshtasiddhTs'.
The Srividya name of the Yogi was' Srinatha' and that of Muthuswami Dikshitar was 'Chidanandanatha'. Both these names are mentioned in his first kriti, 'Srmathadi Guruguho'.
At the end of the stay at Varanasi the Guru told him that it was time for their separation. The Yogi asked him to have a dip in the Ganges and see what he received. Dikshitar obeyed him and he was surprised to find a
Vina with the YalTmukha turned upwards and the word Srirama inscribed
on it in Sanskrit.
This special Vina was taken care by the grandson of Subbarama Dikshitar, Baluswami Dikshitar. The Guru then shook of his
mortal coil in the Ganga and attained sayujya. The mortal remains of the saint were then interred at Hanuman Ghat. Muthuswami Dikshitar then left for the South with a broken heart.
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19
THE FIRST COMPOSITION
From Varanasi, Muthuswami Dikshitar came to Tiruttani temple,
the holy shrine attributed to Lord Subrahmanya. There, once when he was
reciting the 'Subrahmanya Panchadasaka Mantram', Chengalvaraya came
there as a great soul and put a piece of sugar candy into his mouth. The sugar candy was the representation of knowledge. When he opened his eyes, it is said that, he was alarmed to see Lord Subrahmanya moving
away with His consorts Valli and Devasena.
All of a sudden Muthuswamifelt a new force swelling up from the innermost depths of his Being and all unconsciously, even as the sage Valmiki of yore, burst forth into a
hymn of praise in the raga Mayamalavagaula, opening as 'SrlnathadiGuruguha'.
From then Muthuswami hailed Lord Subrahmanya as his Guru and adopted 'Guruguha' as his mudra in the compositions.
"A composer who has freely handled even all the vivadi ragas, has chosen Mayamalavagaula, which is the first scale taught to beginners for various scientific reasons. Through his first kriti, Dikshitar has given the music students the clarity of stepping into graded speeds in quantum steps in the very first avarta of his composition.Then he has proceded to
- - —
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Many incidents in tlie life of Muthuswami Dikshitar, resemble those in the great Epic, 'Ramayana'. Srirama was bom to King Dasaratha as a precious boy in answer to the prayers to Lord Vishnu.
Muthuswami was also a precious boy gifted by Lord Muthukumaraswami.
Chidambaranatha Yogi takes the place of Sage Viswamitra who requested Dasaratha to send Srirama with him to perform certain duties.
The first outpour of music at Tiruttani also resembles that of Valmiki, the
author of the Epic. Lord Subrahmanya had been the gliding force through
out the life of Muthuswami Dikshitar. He was bom in the star of 'Karthika'. His name, first composition and his mudra in compositions
are related to Karthikeya.
CONTRIBUTION TO CARNATIC MUSIC
The contributions of Muthuswami Dikshitar to the carnatic music world, is noted for its quality, quantity and variety. His compositions count to more than 500 and they include Varnams, Kritls, Ragamalikas
and Groupkritls.
Muthuswami Dikshitar's life was a long pilgrimage. At every shrine he made his offerings of songs describing local customs and traditions focusing attention on the special attribute of the Lord that
finds expression in the local deity.
He was impartial to Vaisnavaite and
Saivaite temples.
Muthuswami Dikshitar is credited with the maximum number of group kritTs which comes to about 15. Even though these compositions are considered as a group, each kriti has its own individuality and charm.
They can be presented as individual kritTs. When the number of kritTs in
21
a group exceed eight, he has used the Vibhakti style. The most common
of his Group kritTs are
1. Tiruttani kritTs or Guruguha KritTs
2. Navavarana kritTs
3. Panchalingasthala kritTs
4. Tiruvarur Panchalinga kritTs
5. Navagraha kritTs
6. Shodasa Ganapati kritTs
7. Tyagaraja Vibhakti kritTs
Tiruttani KritTs or Gurugulia KritTs
Muthuswami Dikshitar composed his first kriti at Tiruttani.
The kriti was in the first vibhakti and he composed seven more kritTs in the
next seven vibhaktis.
Since all the kritTs started with 'Guruguha', this set is also called 'Guruguha KritTs'. The high flown vedantic thoughts are
brought about in these kritTs. The kritTs are
1. SrTnathadi Guruguha
Mayamalavagaula
2. Manasaguruguha
Anandabhairavi
3. SrTguruna
Padi
4. Guruguhaya
Sama
5. Guruguhadanyam
Balahamsa
6. SrTguruguhasya
Purvi
7. Guruguhaswamini
Bhanumati
8. SrTguruguhamiJrte
Udayaravichandrika
-----
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22
In the kriti 'Srlguruguhasya' in Purvi raga he has sung 'Guruguhasya
dasoham nochet Chidguruguhevaham'. It means that 'I am the dasa of
Guruguha or I am Guruguha himself.
In the words 'Guruguhasya
dasoham' he tries to bring out the sevya-sevaka bhava between the
devotee and the Lord and the philosophy of 'Aham Brahmasmi' is
brought out in the words 'Nochet Chidguruguha evaham'.
No other composer of his time has been found using this kind of vibhakti style in
composing.
-----
Navavarana Kritls
'Avarana' literally means that which is concealed. The nine avaranas in one's body conceal the Brahma Jivan.
Tantra Sastra describes elaborate rituals for Devi worship. Inorder to reach Her, one must pass through nine avaranas and perform certain rituals at each stage which
have different names and powers.
These nine stages are called the
'Navavaranas'.
The Srlchakra is a yantra that has supernatural powers.
The spiritual ascent of the yogi is from the outer cover inwards, the highest state being at the centre. The centre or the bindu represents the point of concentration of all creative forces. 'Avarana Devatas' represent
the different states of our mind while practising SrTvidya.
The nine avaranas, the devatas represented and the different stages of mind are
shown in the next page.
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23
Kamalamba Navavaranam
Muthuswami Dikshitar was a Devi upasaka and was an expert in
Tantra Sastra, Mantra Sastra and Yantra Sastra. He has composed a
number of Navavarana Kritls among which the most popular is the
Kamalamba Navavarana kritls, which is a set of 11 kritls. Nine kritls on
the different avaranas are preceded by a dhyana kriti and ended with a
24
mangalam. The eleven kritls included in the Kamalamba Navavaranam
are,
1. Kamalambike....
.Todi
2. KamalambaSamrakshatu
Anandabhairavi
3. Kamalambam Bhajare - Kalyani
4. Srlkamalambikaya-Sanakarabaranam
5. Kamalambikayai-Kamboji
6. Srlkamalambayah-Bairavi
7. Kamalambikayastava -Punnagavarali
8. Srikamalambikayam-Sahana
9. Srikamalambike/vava --Ghanta
lO.Srikamalamba Jayati -Ahiri
11 .Srikamalambike-Sri
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Abhayamba Navavaranam
During his pilgrimage, Muthuswami Dikshitar came to Mayavaram.
There was an ancient temple there, where Lord Siva was known as Mayuranatha Swami and the Goddess as Devi Abhayamba.
In praise of the Goddess he composed a set of nine kritls in eight vibhaktis
which came to be known as 'Abhayamba Navavarana kritls'. In the
Kedara raga kriti, Dikshitar has described the steps to charge the Kundalini Sakti. The kritls that come in this group are,
1)Abhayamba Jagadamba
2)Aaryam Abhayambam
3)Girijaya Ajaya
4)Abhayambikayai
5) Abhayambikayah
- Kalyani
- Bhairavi
- Sankarabharanam
- Yadukulakamboji
- Kedaragaula
Adi
Triputa
Adi
Rupakam
Jhampa
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25
6. Ambikaya: Abhayambikaya: - Kedaram - Adi
7. Abhayambayam - Sahana - Triputa
8. Dakshayani - Todi - Rupakam
9. SrT Abhayamba - Sri - Adi
====================================
Nilotpalamba Vibhakti kritis
<
Nilotpalamba is the consort of Lord Tyagaraja of Tiruvarur. She is the bhogini while Kamalamba is the yogini. Muthuswami Dikshitar has composed a set of eight kritTs on Nilotpalamba in the eight vibhaktTs. In
the Ritigaula raga kriti, Dikshitar has mentioned Devi as the one who
resides in the heart of Tyagaraja as, 'Tyagaraja Antarangam'.
In the Kannadagaula kriti, Dikshitar says that he is protected by Nilotpalamba. She is capable of granting 'Nirvana' or 'moksha'.
'Nilotpalambikaya nirvanasukhapradaya rakshithoham'
A peculiar form of dance 'Hallishalasya' finds mention in this kriti.
Dikshitar has also given the raga name and sthala name through the phrase
'Kasi Kannadagauladi desa'.
The Chayagaula raga kriti has the avarana chakra name woven
into the sahitya as 'Trailokyachakravasini'. The Devi wears blue clothes,
'NTlambara' and she is adorned by blue flowers. 'Nllapushpa malavrita'
All the kritTs are composed in ragas which have names ending in
Gaula and thus these kritTs are often called 'Gaula kritTs'. The kritTs
included in this group are.
---------------------------------------------
26
1. NTlotpalambajayati
2. NTlotpalambambhajare
3. NTlotpalambikaya
4. NTlotpalambikayai
5. NTlotpalambikayah param
6. NTlotpalambikayah
7. NTl5tpalambikayam
8. NTlotpalambike
Narayanagaula
Nariritigaula
Kannadagaula
Kedaragaula
Gaula
Mayamalavagaula
Purvagaula
Chayagaula
Since all these kritis begin on the term 'Nllotpalamba' ,Dikshitar has cleverly commenced all these kritis in the swara 'Ni' which naturally gives a literary beauty.
Navagraha Kritis or Vara Kritis
Navagraha Kritis are a set of nine kritis in praise of the nine planets. It is said that Dikshitar has composed only the first seven kritis for each day of a week and the last two, for Rahu and Ketu, was composed by later composers.
The kriti 'Brihaspate' in Atana raga was composed first to cure the illness of one of his disciples, Suddhamaddalam Tambiyappa. Later he was inspired to compose on all
the other planets.
According to astrology, it is the position of the planets in one's horoscope that indicates the various incidents in his life. "If man is
conceived to be the Universe in miniature, the
Sun would represent theAtma
. the Moon -mind.
Mars - alankara.
Mercury - intelligence,
Jupiter27
- buddhi,
Venus - worldly pleasures
and
Saturn his viveka".
The position of these planets can be changed through sincere worship.
Each song of this group is composed in each of the Suladi sapta talas. All the ragas used are sampurna ragas of the Asampurna mela
paddhati followed by Dikshitar. The selection of ragas for each of these kritls remains as a noteworthy feature. Lyrical beauty and musical structure of these kritls are also note worthy. The kritls are
1. Sooryamurtte-Sourashtram
2. Chandram Bhaja-Asaveri
3. Angarakam-Surutti
4. Budham Asrayami-Nattakurinji
5. Brihaspate-Atana
6. SrlSukrabhagavantam-Paras
7. Divakaratanujam-Yadhukulakamboji
8. Smaramyaham-Ramapriya
9. Mahasuram Ketu-Chamaram
Dhruva Talam.Matya Talam,Riipakam
Jhampa Talam,Triputa Talam
Ata Talam Eka Talam Rupakam Rupakam
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Shodasa Ganapati KritTs
Muthuswami Dikshitar is credited with a maximum of 25 kritls on Lord Ganesa. Lord Ganesa is worshipped in different names and forms.
The 'Skanda Purana' mentions 56 forms while the Mantra Sastra mentions 16 forms or Shodasa Ganapatis.
Muthuswami Dikshitar has composed KritTs on these sixteen forms. Concerning these Kritls also there is controversy. Some references say that the kriti Rakta Ganapatim
in Mohana raga belongs to this group while some say it does not, because
28
it has reference to 'Parasurama' and 'Payasam' which are terms related to
Kerala.
Dikshitar has not included the name of the forms in the kritls.
Most of these kritls give iconographical details. Eight of these kritls take
terms related to Tiruvarur and these kritis may be regarded as those in
praise of the forms enshrined in Tiruvarur. The kritls related to Tiruvarur
are,
1. UchishtaGanapati - Kasiramakriya
( Sripura sadane)
2. Panchamatanga - Malahari (Kamalnpuraviharena)
3. Mahaganapate - Natanarayani
( Vallabha Ganapati)
4. Vallabhanayakasya - Begada
( Vallabha Ganapati)
6. Vatapi Ganapati - Hamsadhwani
( Muladharakshetrasthitam)
7. SrTmahaGanapati - Gaula (Kamalalayatatanivaso)
8. Srlmul.adhara - Sri (Muladharachakra)
9. Hastivadanaya - Navroj (Hatakamayamandape)
The other kritls which belong to this group are,
10. Mahaganapatim
11. Vinayakam
12. HeRamba
13. Siddhivinayakam
14. Gananayakam
Todi
Chakravakom
Atana
Chamaram
Rudrapriya
] 1-oth ^^„»,j ^^K, ;, "Among the above kritls, the 11 and 12 are found only in manuscripts
*4
of some disciples." In some kritis Ganesa is given the epithets used for His father. Lord Siva. He is referred to as 'Phalachandra' in the Gaula kriti 'SrTmahaGanapati'. 'Nikhilachandrakhanda' in the kriti 'Vatapi
29
Ganapatim' in Hamsadhwani and
'Ravi Sasi Vahni netram' in the
kriti'Vinayakam' in Chakravakom raga.
The Panchalingasthala kritTs , Tiruvarur Panchalinga kritls and Tyagaraja
vibhakti kritTs are deah with in the last chapter. All the kritls in these
three groups are in praise of Lord Siva.
Ragamalika KritTs
Among the Trinities, only Muthuswami Dikshitar has found to
have attempted Ragamalika kritTs.
He has composed four excellent
Ragamalikas. The pieces are made impressive by definite plans and
paternal variety. The selection of ragas for each part is note worthy.
The Ragamalika 'Simhasanasthite' is a garland of four mangala
ragas , Sourashtra, Vasanta, Suruti and Madhyamavati and is thus called
'Mangala Ragamalika'.
Each passage has a simple chittaswara in the raga concerned. The Ragamalika 'Piirnachandranibhavadane' is usually
known as the 'Shadragamalika' as it consists of six ragas and is in praise
of Goddess Lalita. The ragas included are Pumachandrika, Narayani,
Saraswatimanohari, Suddhavasanta, Hamsadhwani and Nagadhwani.
All these ragas are j any as of the 29* melakartharaga,
Dhirasankarabharanam.
As in the case of the Mangala Ragamalika, this Ragamalika also has no common makutam in the chittaswaram. "In the
notebook of one of the students of Vina Vidwan Ananta Krishna Iyer,
two more passages in ragas Kedara and Bilahari were placed as the 5
and 6 passageof this composition."
30
The Dasavathara Ragamalika
'Madhavo mam pahi' is also ascribed
to Muthuswami Dikshitar. The first six passages are composed in the
Ghana ragas, Nata, Gaula, Varali, Arabhi and Sri.
The last four are in
Vasanta, Saurshtra, Suruti and Madhyamavati. Each has mention of the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. There is no common makutam.'
---------------------------------------------
The Chaturdasa Ragamalika,
'Sri Viswanatham' is a string
of 14ragas. The composition is in praise of Lord Viswanatha.
The anecdote behind this kriti is mentioned in the coming chapter. The pallavi
comprises of, two ragas, Sri and Arabhi. The Anupallavi takes four ragas namely Gauri, Nata, Gaula and Mohana.
The charana is composed in
eight ragas, Sama, Lalita, Bhairavam, Saranga, Sankarabharanam,
Kamboji, Devakriya and Bhupala.
At the end of the composition there is
a combination of all the 14 ragas in the reverse order from Bhupala to Sri
raga. The way Muthuswami Dikshitar has incorporated the raga mudra
into the sahitya is simply amazing.
Muthuswami Dikshitar is also said to have composed Tana Varnams, Pada Varnams or Chauka Vamams and also a special kind of
*6
composition called 'svarasthana varnam'. Tanavamams are,
1. Gajananaya - Sankarabharanam - AtaTalam
2. Chaturdasa bhuvana - Ragamalika - Adi Talam
The Chouka Varnam 'Rupamu juchi' in Todi raga is a fine piece.
According to some, this is composed by his father, Ramaswami
Dikshitar. The absence of the mudra, 'Guruguha' is also a reason to
suspect the authorship. Many Varnams of Dikshitar are said to be
31
preserved by the members of the families of the Nagaswaram players
attached to Tiruvarur temple.
Muthuswami Dikshitar has also composed a Daru in Sriranjini raga which is also suspected by some as the composition of his father. The composition commences as 'NlSati' in Telugu. The swarasthana Vamam
composed by Dikshitar is in the raga, Todi. The charana of this composition has the term ' Manali Venkata Krishnendra' which may be
in praise of the Lord as worshipped by his family patron.
Deities Praised
Among the Musical Trinities, Muthuswami Dikshitar is the only composer to have composed one kriti each on Lord Ayyappa of
Sabarimala and Guruvayurappa.
He has composed about
170 kritis on Goddess Parvati,
125 on Lord Siva,
55 on Lord Krishna,
36 on Lord Subrahmanya,
26 on Lord Ganesa,
21 on Lord Rama,
12 on Goddess Saraswati,
9 each on Goddess Lakshmi and the Navagrahas and
5 on Lord Anjaneya.
He is also credited with the honour of being the only vaggeyakara of his time, who has composed vibhakti kritis.
Ragas used
It is a well known fact that it was Ramaswami Dikshitar who systematised the rituals of the Nagaswaram music in the Tyagarajaswami
Devasthanam.
Nagaswaram music is famous for its rich imagination and improvisation of raga and display of rhythm.
Muthuswami Dikshitar was
indeed fortunate to listen to the unique treatment of ragalapana in his
-
INDEX
I. DEVIKRinS
2, SIVAKRrnS
3. GURUOUHA KRmS
4. KRISHNAKHmS
5. GANESAKRITTS
6. RAMAKRms
7. ANJANXYAKRmS
8. BRA}IMAK]UnS
9. NAVAGRAHA KRmS
10, SASTllEKRinS
TOTAL
: * - t » B : : - ; :
• ^ : -
473 NOS
DEVI SIVE GURUGUHA KRISHNA GANESA RAMA ANIANEYA BRAHMA NAVAGRAHA SASTHA
DEITIS PRAISED
------------------------------------------
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childhood and it is reflected in his handling of the ragas in kritls. Each kriti in a raga is the cream and essence of the raga.
*****************************
There are two schools of melakartha systems, one propounded by Venkatamakhi and the other by Govindacharya. The nomenclature
adopted by the first is called the 'Kanakambari-Phenadyuti' nomenclature
and that by the second is called the 'Kanakangi- Ratnangi' nomenclature.
Muthuswami Dikshitar has followed the first system while Tyagaraja has followed the second.
Among the janya ragas also the names sometimes differ.
To mention a few, Dikshitar has used the names Kasiramakriya,Vegavahini and Sivapantuvarali for the ragas
Pantuvarali, Chakravakom
and Subhapantuvarali respectively.
He has used the name
Udayaravichandrika for the present Suddhadhanyasi.
Muthuswami Dikshitar was the first to compose a kriti in the raga
Mayamalavagaula raga which is the basic raga in camatic music.
He has handled a large number of ragas like Todi, Bhairavi, Kalyani,
Sankarabharanam, Kamboji and so on, bringing out their complete
essence and beauty.
Dikshitar Kritls in apurva ragas like Mangalakaisiki,Ghanta, Gopikavasantham, Narayanagaula and so on give a complete
picture of these ragas.
There are ragas in which only this great composer has composed.
Muthuswami Dikshitar has composed in 70 melakartha ragas .He has not composed in two mela ragas which are
Dhunibhinnashadjam and Gamanasrama.
The richness of ragabhava is the
most outstanding feature of Dikshitar kritls.
The Trinities are ascribed to
bhava (Tyagaraja),
raga (Muthuswami Dikshitar) and
tala (SyamaSastri).
"The raga Amritavarshini is believed to be an invention of Muthuswami
*7
Dikshitar."
33
Most of the kritls composed by Muthuswami Dikshitar at Tanjore in praise of different deities are in the vivadi ragas like
GanasamavaraH,
Nabhomani,
Nagabharanam,
Phenadyuti,
Bhogachayanata and
Bhanumati.
It is said that this was done mainly for the purpose ofacquainting his eminent disciples , the famous 'Tanjore Quartette', with
the scheme of the 72 melas of Venkitamakhi.
Talas used
The tala concept is a distinct feature of Indian music. Dikshitar was a master of talas. He is the only composer regarded to have composed in all the seven basic talas of camatic music. He has chosen the Vilambita
laya or slow tempo for most of his kritis. Thus he was successful in incorporating embroidery patterns in the musical texture.
The madhyamakala sahitya that comes at the end of the different angas prove
that he is comfortable in the speed tempo also.
Many of the songs in
Misra chapu tala and Khandachapu tala was early mentioned as Misra
ekam and Khanda ekam with the same aksharakalas of 7 and 5
respectively. He has to his credit some kritls in Ata tala . They are ,
1. Kasi Visweswaraya - Kamboji
2. Kamalambikayai - Kamboji
3. SrlSukrabhagavantam - Paras
4. SrT Valmlkalingam - Kamboji
Sangatis
Sangatls are improvisation in the dhatu of the same line of a kriti.
34
As far as Muthuswami Dikshitar was concerned, his knowledge in raga
and the vilambakala sahitya has helped him to introduce excellent
sangatTs in his kritls easily.
Some of his kritls like ' Vatapi Ganapatim' in
Hamsadhwani raga and 'Subramanyaya Namaste' in Kamboji raga have
sangatTs which count upto 10 for the pallavi.
These kritls stand as dictionaries of the particular ragas. He has also composed very simple kritls like 'Parvatlpatim' in Hamsadhwani raga.
Language selected
"It looks as though the Trinities have paid their tribute to the spirit of Sanskrit literature by way of their offering of the first composition in this commanding language".
The first composition of Tyagaraja is
'NamoNam5 Raghavaya' in Desya Todi set to Tisra Eka.
The first composition of Muthuswami Dikshitar was 'Srinathadi Guruguha' set to
Adi Tala and that of
SyamaSastri was 'Janani Natajanaparipalini' inSaveri raga set to Adi Tala.
Muthuswami Dikshitar has mainly used the Deva- Veda bhasha,Sanskrit, as the medium of his compositions.
There are very few in Telugu and Manipravala. The reasons for his choice according to leading
musicologists are,
1. "In his kritls it is not emotion but aesthetic excellence of the raga
sancharas that plays a dominant role. In his kritls, sahitya has a value not
so much for its sense as for its tonal quality. For richness of sound,
Sanskrit is unmatched and that is why Dikshitar has preferred it."
35
2. "His compositions are permeated with bhakti rasa alone, as the theme
of these compositions is only the praise of God. So as his compositions
are bhakti rasa pradhana prabandhas, this Devabhasha naturally suits more than any other language".
3."Dikshitar compositions reflect the sayings in Veda, Upanishad,Ramayana, Bhagavata, Lalitasahasranama, Mooka panchasati,
Soundaryalahari, Ambanavamimalai, Syamaladandakam,Vishnusahasranamam NamavalTs and stotras of Vinayaka, Subrahmanya,Nataraja, Tyagaraja and other deities and planets.
Thus his compositions are like 'Dhyana slokas' hence he must have resorted to Sanskrit".
Muthuswami Dikshitar has also composed in Telugu and Manipravalam. The composition in Sriranjini raga, 'NTsati' is in Telugu.
Some of his kritTs are a mix of Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu and such kritls are called 'Manipravala kritis'.
For example, the kriti
'Venkatachalapathe' in Kamataka Kapi, set to Adi tala.
The pallavi itself is a mixture of the three languages.
'Venkatachalapathe ninnu nammiti vegame
Nanu rakshiyumayya'
Venkatachalapathe - Sanskrit
Ninnu nammiti vegame nanu - Telugu
Rakshiyumayya - Tamil
The anupallavi and charanam are composed in the same manner.
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Structural Beauties
Dikshitar kritls have a style of their own.
Compositions of most of
the composers have pallavi, anupallavi and one or more charanams whose
latter part is sung to the same dhatu as that of the anupallavi. But majority
of Dikshitar kritls have charanam with an entirely different dhatu
showing his immense knowledge in different ragas
Muthuswami Dikshitar is said to be the first composer to have introduced the anga called 'Samashti charanam' which stands in the place of the anupallavi and charanam.
Some examples are,
1.'Sri SaraswatiNamostute' - Arabhi - RupakaTalam
2.'Sri Parthasarathina' - Udayaravichandrika - RupakaTalam
The use of a piece of sahityam in madhyamakala at the end of
angas is his master piece.
The madhyamakala may occur sometimes in
the pallavi (Sri Saraswat - Arabhi)
sometimes in the anupallavi
(SrT Varalakshmi - Sri ragam)
and mostly at the end of the charanam.
(Dharmasamvardhini - Madhyamavati).
Madhyamakala sahitya is
sometimes found in one or more angas ( Guruguhaya - Sama ).
Muthuswami Dikshitar has also included beautiful chittaswaras in his kritls. The kritls 'Sivakamipatim' in Natakurinji raga and
'Tyagarajaya namaste' in Begada are examples.
Some kritls like 'Sri
Mahaganapatim' in Gaula raga and'Ananda Natanaprakasam' in Kedara
raga comprise of beautiful rhythmic passages called 'solkattu swaras'
which employ tala mnemonics.
It takes partly swaras and partly tala
syllables like 'thaka', 'thakita', 'jhanakajham' and so on. This decorative
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anga is widely used in kritis composed in praise of dancing deities like
Ganesa and Nataraja.
Literary Excellence
Through his kritis Muthuswami Dikshitar has not only proved his knowledge in music, but also, in literature. The use of the Vibhakti style in his kriti itself, provide ample proof of his literary knowledge. His kritis
replete with 'Sabdalankaras' such as prasa and yati. Almost all his kritis
are examples showing prasa of different types. (Muhana , Dvitlyakshara,
Antya and Anuprasa).
The charanam of the Navavarana kriti,
'Kamalambikayaisthava' in Punnagavarali raga is an excellent example
of Muhana and Dvitlyakshara prasa.
'Dasakalatmaka
Dasarasarva
Dasadinuta
Dasasaktisameta
Dasavimsadvarna
Dasamudra
Dasarathadinuta
Dasakarana
The kriti 'Srikrishnam Bhajamanasam' is an ideal example of Antyaprasa. The kriti is in Todi raga. The ending words are,
Pallavi Satatam
balam
Anupallavi charanam
bhavataranam
Charanam vanamalam
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kripalavalam
kanakamayachelam
Madhyamakalam devamahitam
Ramasahitam
Vatasayanam
Lokesam
The Anupallavi of the kriti 'Akshayalingavibho' in Sankarabharanam raga can be taken as a good example of Anuprasa.
'Dakshasikshana Dakshatarasura
Lakshanavidhi Vilakshanalakshya
Lakshanabahu Vichakshanasudha
Bhakshanaguru Katakshaveekshana'
Muthuswami Dikshitar has composed kritls with excellent yati patterns of the gopuccha and srotovaha type. The kriti 'Tyagaraja yoga
vaibhavam 'in Anandabhairavi raga is the best example. The pallavi takes
the Gopuccha yati as
Tyagaraja yoga vaibhavam
Agaraja yoga vaibhavam
Raja yoga vaibhavam
Yoga vaibhavam
Vaibhavam
bhavam
vam
The charanam takes the srotovaha yati
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Sam
Prakasam
Svarupaprakasam
Tatvasvarupaprakasam
Sakalatatvasvarupaprakasam
Sivasaktyadi sakala tatvasvarupa prakasam
Gopuccha yati is also found in the Sri raga kriti 'Sri Varalakshmi' and the
Sudha Tarangini raga kriti 'Maye tvam'as
Sri sarasapate
Rasapate
Sapate
Pate
Sarasakaye
Rasakaye
Sakaye
Kaye
and respectively
Muthuswami Dikshitar has used the 'yamakam',i.e., the use of the
same word in different meanings and combinations.
In the Navavarana
Kriti,'Kamalambike' in Todi raga , he has used the word 'Kamala' in different meanings through different combinations like, Kamalasana
(Brahma), Kamalalayam (Tirtham), Kamalambika (Goddess) and so on .
The weaving of ragamudras into the sahitya without causing disturbance to the rest of the sahitya, shows his extra ordinary literary
brilliance. Some examples are.
40
' Soubhagyadavakambhoia' (Kamalambikayai)
'Samsarabhityapahe' ( SnSaraswati)
'Samarasya Sampradaya' (Guruguhaya)
In some kritls he has used the process called 'Antarukti'. For the purpose
of implementing prasa, certain sahitya portion will be split in such a
manner that a portion of the word will be passed on to the next avarta
without disturbance to the meaning. For example in the Punnagavarali
raga kriti,
Pallavi - Ehi Annapurne Sannidehi
Sadapurne Suvarne.
Some of the kritls of great vaggeyakaras are sung in different ragas by
later musicians. But Muthuswami Dikshitar kritls cannot be sung like that
because he has cleverly included the raga mudras in almost all his kritls.
Ragamudras are not seen in few kritls eg. Saranga raga kriti 'Tyagaraja
krtyakrtya'
Many of his kritls serve as dictionary of words. Eg, Nagaswaram,
raga names like Sama etc.
Some facts in music are also included
in his kritls.Eg. 'Dasagamaka kriye'( Meenakshi me mudam' in Purvikalyani raga)
Muthuswami Dikshitar and Western Music
The zamindar of Manali who invited the family of Muthuswami Dikshitar to his place, had close relationship with the East India Company
41
and used to take Muthuswami Dikshitar along with him to Fort St.George
and thus Dikshitar had the golden opportunity to listen to Western music
played by the British band. It was also at Manali that his brother,
Balaswami learnt the western violin.
A collector, one Mr. Brown, was so much impressed by the Sanskrit lyrics of the compositions of Dikshitar that he requested him to combine English songs and Western music with Sanskrit garb. Dikshitar
on the spot thought of the tunes played by the band in Fort St. George and
gave them the Sanskrit sahitya in praise of Hindu Gods. Thus the song
'God save the King' turned out as 'Santatam pahi mam Sanglta Syamale'.
He later composed more than 50 such songs called 'Nottuswara sahitya'
of which most of them are in the raga Sankarabharanam, the major scale
of Western music.
Influence of Hindusthani Music
Ramaswami Dikshatar's guru, Vina Venkata Vaidyanatha Dikshitar was a descendant of Govinda Dikshitar and Venkitamakhi.
Venkitamakhi was himself an adept in Hindusthani music and had a
number of disciples belonging to that school. This can be the reason why
Muthuswami Dikshitar had an affinity towards Hindusthani music.
Moreover his stay at Varanasi for a long period of five years enabled him
to listen to Hindusthani music from its foremost exponents.
His knowledge in Hindusthani music is reflected in many of his kritls.
Karnatic music has adopted many ragas from the North. Many compositions of Muthuswami Dikshitar remain as master piece in such ragas. Suitable examples are 'Jambupathe' in Yamunakalyani
'ParimalaRanganatham' in Hamirkalyani, 'Rangapuravihara' in Brindavana
Saranga and 'Akhilandeswari' in Dwijavanti raga.
The influence of Hindusthani music can be seen not only in the selection of ragas, but also in the use of gamakas. The gamaka 'jam', though common for the
systems, is more common in Hindusthani music and Dikshitar has made
good use of them.
Jam means a glide.
Etra jam is the phrase in ascend and Erakka
jam in the descent.
These gUdes may take place between two notes.
Where there are a number of intermediate, the gliding takes place without
the intermediate notes sounded. Let us take the Dwijavanti kriti
'Akhilandeswari' as example.
The pallavi itself starts in an etra jam as,
I
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The raga Yamunakalyani corresponds to the Emam or Sudhakalyan
of Hindusthani and Dikshitar has composed the kritls 'Nandagopala' and
'Jambupate' in this raga.
Hamirkalyani in which Dikshitar has composed the kriti 'Puraharanandana' corresponds to the raga Kedara of
Hindusthani.
Siva PantuvaraH which is the 45 mela of the Venkatamakhi scheme, now called Subha Pantuvarali has been used by Dikshitar to
compose the kritls 'Pasupatlswaram'on the deity of Kathmandu shrine
and 'Sri Satyanarayanam' on the Badarinath deity. This raga again
corresponds to the Miyanki Todi of Hindusthani, believed to be an
invention of Tansen.
Just as Tyagaraja popularised Kharaharapriya,
Sivapantuvarali was popularised by Muthuswami Dikshitar.
Not only in the handling of ragas, but also in the talas, Dikshitar has shown the influence of Hindusthani music on his compositions. The vilambita laya he has used and the madhyamakala sahitya piece that he
has followed, is a general practice in the Hindusthani system.
Another interesting fact is that the first Arab scale corresponds to Mayamalavagaula raga of Camatic system. Arab music in turn exerted great influence on Hindusthani music. This can be the reason why
Dikshitar used Mayamalavagaula for his first composition.
"Through his kritls in diverse ragas of Hindusthani origin, some of
which are in praise of deities in the Temples of the North, Dikshitar has
endeavoured to combine, as it were the two systems of music, and spread
the divine message of the North in the South. He can therefore be considered to be the foremost musical integrator of India."
Philosophy in DHIKSHITHAR Kritis
Muthuswami Dikshitar was a Vedantin, in the tradition of Sri Sankara who believed in one Supreme power and considered the deities
worshipped as manifestations of that Supreme Power who transcended
name and form.
When Tyagaraja describes Nada as the body of Lord Siva (Nada tanum anisam-Chittaranjanani raga), Dikshitar describes Devi as the form of 22 srutis and the seven notes. He believed that the creator
the Parabrahma is one and omnipotent.
The object of their worship is to
enable us to withdraw our minds from attachment to worldly pleasures
and concentrate upon the form conceived as divine and the worship of
personal God (Sagunopasana) is
but a step in the realisation of the
Nirgunabrahma within us. Karma, bhakti, and jnana had an important
place in his daily life.
In the kriti 'Maye tvam' in Tarangini (Charukesi) raga, Dikshitar
addresses the Supreme Goddess as both 'Upaya' (way of attaining goal)
and 'Upeya' (goal).
The highest expression of Advaita is seen in his Purvi kriti 'Sriguruguhasya Dasoham' . In this kriti he declares that he is the servant of
Guruguha or he is Guruguha himself, the embodiment of knowledge
(Aham brahmasmi)
'SrT Guruguhasya dasoham
Nochet Chidguruguha evaham'
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The kriti 'Tyagarajadanyam' in Darbar raga is also a philosophical kriti.
Sishya Parampara of Dikshitar
Muthuswami Dikhitar was an ardent pilgrim and may be due to this reason , he did not have as many Sishyas as those Saint Tyagaraja had. At Tiruvarur where he spent most of his life term, he had a gurukula and
taught music to eminent musicians, including his brothers, Balaswami and Chinnaswami, who were not beginners. Some of his disciples whom the magnum opus 'Sanglta Sampradaya Pradarsini' of Subbarama
Dikshitar mentions are,
1. Tirukkadayur Bharati - An expert in Tamil and Music
2. Avudayarkovil Vina Venkataramayya
3. Tevur Subrahmanyayya
4. Koranad Ramaswami - expert in lakshana, lakshya and Bharatam
5. Tiruvalandur Bilva Vanam - expert in Nagaswaram
6. Tiruvarur Ayyaswami - Composer of many tana vamams
7. Pallathurugudi Ammini
8. Suddhamaddalam Tambiyappa
9. Tiruvarur Kamalam
10. Ponniah
1 l.Chinniah
12. Vadivelu
13. Sivanandam
The last four were brothers and were collectively known as 'Tanjore
Quartette'.
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The Navagraha kriti 'Brihaspate' in Atana was composed by Muthuswami Dikshitar to cure the stomach pain of Suddhamaddalam
Thambiyappa. Tiruvarur Kamalam was a famous dancer of Tiruvarur and
it was for her that Dikshitar composed two danceforms in Telugu which
was performed in the temple. The Tanjore Quartette happened to witness
the performance and they realised the versatility of Dikshitar and
requested him to stay at Tanjore to teach them music. Dikshitar agreed
and later dubbed his sishyas as 'Bharata Shreshtakal'. As a dakshina to
their master they composed a group of nine kritls collectively called as
'Navaratanamalika' and dedicated them to Dikshitar which include the
kritls 'Satileni Guruguha' in Purvikalyani and 'Mayatltasvariipini' in
Mayamalavagaula. Both the kritls have 'Guruguha' mudra which creates
confusion in the authorship of these kritls.
Last Days
Muthuswami Dikshitar, like the other two among the 'Musical Trinities', could foretell his last days. He passed away in the year
1834.
Once when he was in meditation, he had a vision of Goddess Annapurneswari of Kasi, who Chidambaranatha Yogi had told him would give him salvation. He performed pooja and asked his disciples to sing
the kriti 'Meenakshi me mudam" in Purvikalyani raga which he had
already composed. They were asked to repeat the line
'Meenalochanipasamochani' and Muthuswami Dikshitar shuffled of his mortal coil and reached Skandagiri. His Samadhi can be seen at Ettayapuram even today.