zri mAtrbhUtam : kannada rAgam

रत्नैः कल्पितमासनं हिमजलैः -स्नानं च दिव्याम्बरं

नानारत्नविभूषितम् म्रृगमदा -मोदाङ्कितम् च्न्दनम् /

जातीचम्पकबिल्वपत्ररचितं पुष्पं च धूपं तथा

दीपं देव दयानिधे पशुपते ह्र्त्कल्पितं गृह्यताम् //

( Oh Lord (dEva), the one who is the ocean (nidhi) of mercy (dayA) , oh pazupati! kindly accept (grhyatAm) these offerings of mine imagined (kalpita) in my mind (hRt) : an imaginary (kalpita) throne (Asana) bedecked with jewels (ratnai:) , a bath (snAnam) in the waters of the Himalayas (himajalai:) and a divine (divya) robe (ambara) adorned (vibhUSita) with different (nAnA) gems (ratna) , sandalwood (candanam) that is marked (aGkita) by the fragrance (mOda) of musk (mRgamada) , jAti and campaka flowers laced with (racita) bilva leaves (bilva patra), incense (dhUpa) and lamp (dIpa).

(Adi zankara: ziva - mAnasa- pUjA)

I will now be writing about a grand composition by a grand composer zri Muthuswami Dikshitar. The lyrics are as below:

pallavi:

zrI mAtRbhUtam triziragiri-nAtham
hRdi cintayE sugandhi kuntalAmbA samEtam

anupallavi:

sOmasakham nata- zuka-sanakam naLa-
kAmAdi - vijaya - kamanIyAGgam
sOmam zirOdhRta - sUryagaGgam
kOmaLakaradhRta kuraGgam gurugAntaraGgaliGgam

caraNam:

vAsavAdi - dEva - vandita - caraNam
vaizya- jAti - strI- vESa- dharaNam
vAsudEva - mahitam - bhavataraNam
vAsanAdi- rahitAnta: karaNam darahAsa- tripurAdi-haraNam
vAsukI-pramukhAbharaNam
bhAsamAna- na- vAvaraNam dAsajanasantOSa:karaNam su-
vAsita - navajavanti - puSpa - vikAsapriya - hRdayayam -sadayam
mAsavarSha- pakSOtsava- vibhavam sadAzivam paramazivam

This rAga is one of my favourites. Its S M G M D N S ArohaNam makes it really special. Things can go really out of hand if one cannot give the proper gamakams at the right places. The best rendition that I have heard is that of Brindamma and then Ramnad Krishnan(who I believe has learnt it from Brindamma). Their pAthAntara differs a lot from the version given in the sangIta sampradAya pradarzini and the version popularised by Semmangudi Mama. The pallavi is entirely different. However their soft, gamaka laden rendition fills with the heart with a serenity that one can associate much with the rAgabhAva that dikSitar might have intended to bring out of this mammoth composition.

This kriti is on zrI mAtRbhUtEzvara, the pesiding deity of the Rock Fort Temple at Trichy. It is best that we know the legends associated with this deity as they are really interesting and throw light on most part of the sAhitya of this kriti. The Rock Fort temple complex houses three deities:

1. two pillaiyArs ( manikka vinAyakar at the foot of the hill and Ucci pillaiyAr at the top i.e ucci of the hill),
   
2. zri mAtRbhUtEzvara
3. sugandhi kuntalAmba
   

Hence this hill is called "tri- shikhiram" or "triziragiri" and that is how perhaps tirucchirApaLLi got its name too. The Rock Fort hill is considered as a piece of the Meru mountain itself. Legend has it that AdishEsha and vAyu were indulged in a spat when the former challenged the wind God to dislodge him, as He coiled around the Mount Meru. The dispute continued for days vAyu couldn't budge the giant, divine snake and conceded defeat. During this process, a small tip of the mountain broke and fell off at Trichy. This small piece is what is the famous Rock Fort Hill.

The Lord mAtRbhUtEzvarar , who is popularly called as tAyumAnavar ( தாயுமானவர் ) is called so because the Lord descended to the world of mortals to help his staunch devotee during her times of pain and misery, in the disguise of a mother (mAtR, தாய்) . It is said that Ratnavati, a pious woman belonging to the vaizya caste ( the merchant caste) was an unswerving devotee of the Lord of the triziragiri. Despite the fact that she lived on the other side of the river kAvEri, she would visit her Lord even during her days of pregnancy. On the day of her delivery, she was unable to visit the temple and hoped fervently for her mother to be present. However, due to heavy floods that day, her mother who lived on the other side of the river, could not visit her. So Ratnavati prayed to Lord Shiva and got prepared to go through the ordeal all by herself. Her labour pains began to intensify when miraculously her mother came and served as her midwife and disappeared. It was then that she realised that her Lord had deigned to come to His ardent devotee and help her during her time of distress. So the Lord of the trziragiri is called "tAyumAnavar" or " mAtRbhUtEzvarar".

ambAL is called sugandhi kuntalAmba, which means: " the Mother who is fragrant (sugandhi) like an intoxicating perfume (kuntala) "

tAyumAnavar is supposed to like javanti flowers as mentioned in the caraNam. The legend is that "originally the entrance to the temple was facing east but the Lord in anger turned to the west. What made Him angry is another story. Saramamunivar was a great devotee who grew javanti flowers to worship the lord. One day he found a guard of King Parantaka Chola's palace taking away the flowers. The munivar complained to the king. The king, on enquiry, found that the flowers were being given to his queen. He took no action to stop the theft of the flowers. A distraught sage complained to the Lord. He turned away to the West in anger. At that precise moment a rain of sand started falling on Uraiyur where the king's palace was located. The people prayed to Vekkali Amman, who pacified the Lord and saved Uraiyur. "
(taken from here . )

I had the bhAgyam of visiting this temple last year and believe me, it is heaven!

Now to the kriti. The entire kriti is the accusative case. So the theme is like this : I think of (" cintaye") ..................."

In the pallavi dIkSitar prays to the Lord thus: " I think (cintayE) about zri mAtRbhUta, who is the Lord of triziragiri and who is united with (samEta) sugandhi kuntalAmbA. "

The pallavi rendition of Brindamma's school is really unique and exquisite. The gamaka at "tR" (of the word zri mAtRbhUtam) and the subtlety with which she slides to "bhU" always give me the goosebumps. The "samEtam" part is all the more divine

In the anupallavi , dIkSitar describes the Lord in the following manner:

(I think of (cintayE) :)
sOmasakham : One who is the friend (sakha) of the moon (sOma)

nata- zuka-sanakam: One who is praised (nata) by the sages zuka and sanaka

naLa-kAmAdi - vijaya - kamanIyAGgam : One who has a body (aGga) that surpasses (vijaya) that of naLa and cupid i.e manmata (kAma) in beauty ( kamanIya)

sOmam: One who is with Uma (sa+Uma)

zirOdhRta - sUryagaGgam: One who holds ( dhRta) the river Ganga and the arka flower (sUrya) on His head (zira) (zirOdhRta).

kOmaLakaradhRta kuraGgam: One who holds( dhRta) a deer (kuraGgam) in His soft (komala) hand (kara).

guruguhAntaraGgaliGgam : One who manisfests as a zivaliGga in the heart (antaraGga) of guruguha i.e. Lord Muruga.

Just pause for a minute and look at the beauty of every word! The lilting rhythm of the kriti, which I believe is an inherent characteristic of any composition in misra chApu tAla, and the beautifully rhyming sAhitya , along with the lofty shades of kannada that are revealed here, transport you a realm of immaculate classicism and Ananda. To top everything, the rAga mudra has been included so subtlely (sanakam-naLa) that makes one wonder if dikSitar was indeed a mortal!

The caraNam contains the legend mentioned before. I have arranged the lyrics of the caraNam a little wierdly to highlight the wonderful alliterations.

vAsavAdi - dEva - vandita - caraNam : One whose feet (caraNam) are worshipped (vandita) by Indra (vAsava) and other (Adi) Gods (dEva)

vaizya- jAti - strI- vESa- dharaNam : One who donned (dharaNa) the garb (vESa) of a woman (strI) of the vaizya caste (vaizya jAti)

vAsudEva - mahitam : One who is honoured (mahita) by vAsudeva

bhavataraNam : One who helps to cross over (taraNa) (the ocean) of worldly existence (bhava)

vAsanAdi- rahitAnta: karaNam: One whose heart (anta: karaNam) is devoid (rahita) of desires (vAsana), etc (Adi)

darahAsa- tripurAdi-haraNam : One who destroyed (haraNa), tripura (the three cities) with a smile on the face (dara hAsa) (for more details on this, please click here.)

vAsukI-pramukhAbharaNam : One who has vAsuki as the principle(pramukha) adornment (AbharaNam)

bhAsamAna- navAvaraNam: One who has nine (nava) garments (AvaraNam) (which are lustrous) like (samAna) the stars (bhA).

dAsajanasantOSa:karaNam : One who makes (karaNa) the devotees (dAsajana) happy (santOSa)

suvAsita - navajavanti - puSpa - vikAsapriya - hRdayayam : One who has a heart (hRdaya) which loves to (priya) expand (vikAsa) with fragrant (suvAsita) flowers (puSpa) like the new (nava) javanti. (i.e He becomes kinder when propitiated with javanti flowers)

sadayam : One who has mercy (daya)

mAsavarSa- pakSOtsava- vibhavam : One whose greatness (vibhava) is celebrated during monthly (mAsa), varSa ( yearly) and fortnightly (pakSa) festivals (utsava).

sadAzivam : One who is always (sadA) auspicious (ziva)

paramazivam : One who is the most (parama) auspicious (ziva).

Words cannot describe dikSitar's skills at composing. So I am not going to make any vain attempt! I guess that one must himself listen to this kriti and derive the happiness. Do listen to Brindamma's rendition of this kriti. This can be downloaded from here

May the Lord bestow peace and prosperity on us!

zri kriSNArpaNamastu!