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25. Tyāgarāja

1767–1847

Born in 1767 in TiruvārŪr in the Kāveri Delta, in the Tamil heartland, to Rāmabrahmamu and Sītamma, this poet and devotee of Rāma is among the most outstanding names in the history of Carnatic music. (He was an older contemporary of the great composer Muttusvāmi Dīksitar [1776–1835], who also lived in this small Tamil town.) His great-grandfather emigrated to TiruvārŪr from the Kurnool area in the early seventeenth century; Tyāgarāja's grandfather, Girirājakavi, was patronized by King śāhāji of TañjāvŪr. Sītamma, the poet's mother, is said to have taught her son to sing the padams of Jayadeva, Purandaradāsa, and Annamâcārya. The boy wrote his first compositions, in padam form, on the walls of his house; his father copied them down and showed them to scholars, who advised that they be saved. He then studied with a great musician, śonthi Venkataramanayya, with connections to the court of Tulajāji.

In the eyes of the tradition, Tyāgarāja fits the pattern of the temple poet—poor, surviving by begging, and completely oriented toward his chosen deity, Rāma. He is said to have rejected invitations and gifts from King Serfoji II as well as from the king of Travancore, Svāti Tirunāl. Like other itinerant singers, Tyāgarāja traveled to other temples and composed music for their gods. Tradition ascribes to him some 14,000 kīrtanas, of which about six hundred survive. He was inventive in expressive forms; among his surviving works are sustained "operatic" compositions (sangīta-nātakas), the Nauka-caritramu,

[1] Recently translated by Y. Bhagavathi, Tyāgarāja's Nauka caritramu (Madras: Sarvani Sageetha Sabha Trust, 1995).

Sītā-rāma-vijayamu, and Prahlāda-bhakta-vijayamu. This was also a period in which musical composition was being fixed in written form. Despite the trend in modern performance to give primacy to the

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purely musical side of Tyāgarāja, revealing his elaborate workmanship, his verbal and poetic achievement is no less striking: each song is also capable of standing as a poem, with its own compositional integrity and linguistic expressivity.

According to the tradition, Tyāgarāja was informed by the god, in a dream, of the date of his death in 1847. He died fully aware and still composing poetry, surrounded by disciples singing his songs; he is buried (as a renouncer) on the banks of the Kāveri at Tiruvaiyāru.

I CAN'T SEE YOUR SMILE

[2] Tyāgarāja śrī tyāgarājasvāmi kīrtanalu (Madras: Ummadi Srirangamma, 1982), 3 [nagu momu ganaleni nā jāli tělisi], 304, 294, 314, 27, 50.

	I can't see your smile,
	and I'm sad. You know it, too.
	Can't you help me?

	You are surrounded by courtiers.
	Don't they give you good advice?
	I can't see your smile.

	And there's that bird you ride. Can't he bring you here now,
	if you tell him to? Or did he say it's too far
	from heaven to earth? You rule the world.
	Who else could hear my complaint?
	Don't play games with me.
	I can't bear it. Take me.
	Tyāgarāja sings to you.
	I can't see your smile.

TAKE ME FOR YOUR GUARD

[3] Banturīti kôluviyyavayya rāma.

Take me for your guard.

	I'll do the job. I'll kill Desire
	and other raging foes, if you
	take me for your guard.

	Bristling hair for armor,
	"Servant of Rāma" on my nameplate,
― 299 ―
	and your name for my weapon.
	That's all Tyāgarāja wants—
	to be your guard.

WHAT DID YOU GIVE THEM?

[4] Adigi sukhamul' ěvvar' anubhaviñciri rā

	What did you give them?
	The happiness they asked for?

	When Sīta asked for a boon,
	she had to go to the forest.
	When the demoness [5] śŪrpanakha, who fell in love with Rāma and tried to seduce him in the forest. desired you,
	she ended up losing her nose.
	What did you give them?

	Nārada sought understanding,
	and he was turned into a woman.
	Durvāsas wanted food,
	and lost his appetite. [6] Mandam' ayě.
	What did you give them?

	Devaki asked for a son,
	and Yaśoda got one.
	The cowgirls begged for love,
	and they had to leave their husbands.
	What did you give them?

	Who knows if you'll give or not?
	The secret's out. Why play games?
	Tyāgarāja sings for you.
	What did you give them?

REACH HIM THROUGH MUSIC

[7] Sangīta-jñānamu bhakti vinā sanmārgamu galade manasā.

	Reach him through music,
	reach him through love.
	There is no other path.
― 300 ―
	Bhrngin, [8] The three-legged dancemaster of śiva's heaven. Nateśa, [9] śiva as Lord of the Dance (at Cidambaram). Hanuman, Agastya,
	Mātanga, and Nārada
	all knew how
	to reach him through music,
	reach him through love.

	The world is a game.
	Some things are fair, some unfair.
	There are enemies in the body,
	six violent passions, [10] Lust, anger, greed, confusion, arrogance, and envy.
	but there is a way to defeat them.
	Tyāgarāja knows.

	Reach him through music,
	reach him through love.

WON'T YOU REMOVE THE SCREEN?

[11] Těra tiyyaga rādā.

	Won't you remove the screen?
	The one that hangs inside me.
	The one called greed.

	It's keeping out good sense and freedom.
	Won't you remove the screen
	inside me?

	The hungry fish swallowed the hook.
	The lamp is masked by a shade.
	The dinner was perfect, until the fly fell in.
	The mind in contemplation shifted to the slums.
	Deer run straight into the trap.
	Tyāgarāja remembers you.
	Won't you remove the screen?