Thyagaraja and the Bhakti Movement

The lives and utterances of great men are always studied and restudied with much interest, attention and profit, because, every time one takes up the subject, it opens up new phases not hitherto felt or understood. The average man, swayed by common urges, passions and weaknesses, is incapable of seeing and appreciating in full the many-sided characteristics of highly disciplined minds and the lofty attitude of selfless detachment from which they look at the numerous human problems, and is therefore unable to understand and much less to apply their solutions to life’s constant puzzles. That is why the life stories and the sayings of saints and seers would bear any amount of repetition and study from as many different points of view as possible; and there is no doubt that we stand very much to gain by a more intensive study of the invaluable teachings of Sri Thyagaraja, the 90th anniversary of whose Mahasamadhi is now being celebrated throughout the length and breadth of this country. Hence no apology is needed for this article, although the saint-singer of South India has already formed the subject of numerous pamphlets, biographies and other publications, particularly in view of the fact that most of the authors of the South labour under the handicap of insufficient knowledge of Telugu, the language of his songs.

RISE AND FALL OF RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS

The eternal quest for the unknown and the key to the mystery of life have absorbed the best intellects of India throughout the ages and the result of their intensive meditations, embodied in religious lore like the Upanishads, forms the precious heritage of Bharatavarsha and the unique contribution of this ancient country to the sum-total of the world’s thought and civilisation. The social and individual life of the Hindus at the present day represents a stage in their historical evolution after it has undergone a series of changes in manner and outlook summed up by the phrase ‘standard of values.’ These changes, which are now complicated by the impact of Western civilisation, were in the past the result of the powerful influence exercised from time to time on the popular mind by a succession of sages, saints, puritans and reformers who have directed the course of the people’s life and thought along channels not known or conceived previously. Even a superficial glance at our past history would reveal an ever-changing picture of the birth, growth, and decay of great religious movements and social upheavals, no single idea, code of conduct or philosophy of life holding the field for all time. Human society is a constantly moving organisation, a perpetual experiment depicting the rise and fall of different ferments and forces set in motion by master-thinkers for the uplift of humanity, advancing and subsiding like never-ending waves on the broad ocean of Time. All religions throughout the world start with the object of elevating man to a higher plane of life and emancipating him from the thraldom of the animal in him with a view to enable him ultimately to realise the one God or Brahman of which he is a part. And for that purpose the Acharyas or original teachers lay down certain rules, dogmas and codes which are acted up to with evangelical fervour for a number of decades but which, with the drift of time, lose their original spirit, vitality and practical significance and become soulless conventions, with the result that the followers after some more generation stick to the form without understanding the substance, and the selfish brute in man reasserts itself in all its primitive barbarism although he outwardly dons the trappings of religion. Again, some customs which come to be adopted by society to protect itself from a temporary danger threatening its existence or integrity, continue to survive long after they have served their purpose and develop into a menace to the healthy progress of the organisation; and, by the law of inertia, the people still cling to such outworn forms with stupid tenacity, little realising that they have become a canker eating into their very vitals. Thus it comes about that ‘one good custom corrupts the world’ and God will work his Divine purposes in other ways. It is at such periods of religious or social decay and disintegration that outstanding personalities make their appearance to purify, reform or reconstruct the crumbling edifice and to restate and emphasise fundamental truths, removing the weeds and cobwebs of misunderstanding and prejudice that have always the knack of growing in unexpected places obstructing the reality from public view. The religion of the Buddha, based on the bedrock of renunciation and Ahimsa, was as much a protest against the slaughter of animals perpetrated in the name of religion about the end of the Vedic period as a message of hope and deliverance from the miseries of the world. The monism of Sankara representing the acme of intellectual analysis and cogent reasoning, whose unfathomable depths are still being explored, is the reaction of perhaps the greatest Acharya and the most gigantic genius of the post-Buddhistic period, against the unabashed godlessness which decadent Buddhism brought in its train, and also probably a torch of enlightenment as against the animism and multi-theism of the primitive tribes and lower classes.

THE BHAKTI MOVEMENT

It was during the period, roughly corresponding to the 15th and 16th centuries that the aggressive sectarianism and intense bigotry developed by the followers of various religions,–which seem to show the revenge of Time on the presumption of man, and the inevitable conflicts between warring creeds provoking passion rather than promoting piety,–gave rise to the Bhakti movement and similar forms of religious revival through this vast continent, with special emphasis on purity, faith and devotion. These widespread movements would seem to represent the popular revolt against the mysticism, barren intellect, and dry reason which characterised the ruling philosophies of the time, generally the property of the upper classes, which did not percolate to, and could not be grasped by, the ignorant masses hungering for a message of hope and solace which they could easily understand and appreciate. It was at this time of confusion and conflict when the common people, mystified rather than enlightened by the intellectual disquisitions of religious Pundits, realised that this subtle language of the head was no good for them either here or hereafter, that India witnessed the appearance on its cheerless religious firmament of a number of self-less saints who broadcast the much needed gospel of love and Bhakti through the attractive medium of music among the people long suffering from spiritual dyspepsia or starvation. The potentialities of music as an effective vehicle of divine communion and human communication were realised and exploited to the full, and the appeal of the mere spoken word was reinforced by the arresting charm of the celestial art in which it was couched. This kind of harnessing of the unseen powers of the melodic Muse for purposes of dissemination of new gospels was not peculiar to the Bhakti cult alone, but was a well-known feature of other reformist movements. For instance, Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, relied upon the musical powers of his faithful Mardana for the propagation of his new faith; more recently Keshav Chandra Sen, the zealous Brahmo missionary and the apostle of the New Dispensation, adopted the Sankirtan as a form of religious worship and propaganda. While the pre-historic religious music appears to have been limited mostly to Vedic recital including the Saman chant, the Bhakti revival opened up a fresh field of melodic expression, and the Bhajana with its chief item, Sankirtan, came to be universally recognised as a popular method of invocation and prayer. This pleasant form of approach to our Maker seems to have been initiated by Sri Chaitanya, the saint-reformer of Bengal, and Jayadeva, the devotee of Krishna and composer of the Ashtavadi. After them the message of faith, devotion and surrender to the will of the Omnipotent was taken up in the immortal songs of Mahatma Kabir, the weaver-sage of Benares, revered by Hindu and Muslim alike, and in the glamorous music of Mira Bai the Princess-Sadhu of Udaipur–the only daughter of blue blooded Rajasthan that preferred the humble life of the devotee to the enervating glory of the royal palace–both of which still continue to exercise a powerful influence on prince and kisan alike throughout India; in the soul-stirring Abhangas which flowed in thousands from the inspired lips of Bhakta Tukaram, the originator of the Harikatha, known in Western India as Kirtan (musical discourse on religion), and the musical utterances of the revered saints of Pandharpur whose strong hold on the popular mind of Maharashtra is so well known; the pathetic kirtanas of Bhadrachala Ramadas who broadcast the seeds of Bhakti over the Andhra country through his homely music with its simple charm and direct appeal; and the popular padas of Purandara Dasa, the father of South Indian Music, who has awakened the dormant soul of Karnataka with a melodic beauty and vitality, as arresting and attractive today as it was four centuries ago.

THYAGARAJA–THE LAST OF THE SAINTLY BARDS

The last known messenger to carry on the illuminating gospel preached by all these saintly bards of India was Thyagaraja who shines through myriad melodies in every South Indian home. One common characteristic of the numerous songs composed by the inspired Bhaktas mentioned above is their Divine ring, melodic freshness, inspired spontaneity and direct appeal which transcend the bounds of race, language and country and can easily be spotted, among a multitude of mixed melodies, as the original musical outpourings of a disciplined mind and a high-souled genius with a definite mission in life. If you are attracted by the charm of any song in a vernacular unknown to you, you may be quite sure that, ten to one, it is the tuneful expression of the pure soul of a worshipped popular saint of India. Apart from the musical framework, which is in every case characterised by smooth flow and individuality, you feel the distant but unmistakable call of the Divine as the core of the melody, striking a tender and responsive chord in the depths of your heart. We read in books that music is the universal language of the world, but can only realise the truth of this statement by listening to the immortal songs of our teacher-saints who have from time to time so successfully influenced the popular mind in the various Provinces of this multi-lingual country. This music is not a mere permutation of ordered sounds arranged according to a pre- conceived scientific plan, but is the inspired and spontaneous language of the heart communicating the emotional experience of an emancipated soul for the edification of struggling humanity; sometimes teaching the highest truths in simple words, at other times exposing mercilessly the human frailties and falsities hidden under the cloak of religion, or emphasising the eternal verities and the basic foundations of our religion shorn of the excrescences of hoary superstition and conventional ritualism, but always preaching the hopeful message of love and Bhakti or complete surrender to the will of God described by a modern Maharshi as the corner-stone of all religions.

SIMILARITY OF LIFE AND TEACHINGS

The austere life of stern discipline, scrupulous purity and selfless service led by these great minds gave them the authority to command reverent homage from king and peasant and invested their utterances with the weight and force of sacred teachings bearing a family resemblance to one another, which is patent to the plainest understanding. All of them delighted in leading a life of voluntary poverty, in fact, a hand-to-mouth existence, relying on the slender support of public charity; they defied the commands of potentates when they felt that obedience would mean spiritual suicide and spurned their proffers of wealth. It will be very interesting to compare at this distance of time the spirited replies of these illustrious sons of India whose godly lives were brilliant examples of plain living and high thinking. Kabir refused to salute the Emperor Sikander Khan Lodi, and when asked to explain his insolent conduct, replied that he had no business with the Emperor and that he reserved his salutes for the one God. The penalty inflicted on this devotee for his breach of royal etiquette may well be described in his own words:

‘They tied my arms and threw me like a ball,
They beat an infuriated elephant on the head that he might trample on me;
But he trumpeted and fled, saying
"I am a sacrifice to that Shape which appeared." ’

When Shivaji, who was noted for his religious bent of mind, sent a messenger with a cavalry escort to fetch Tukaram, the latter replied:

‘Torches, umbrellas and horses, these are not among the things that are good for me. Why, O Lord of Pandhari, dost Thou snare me with them? Honours, finery and aping others, I count as the filth of a pigstye. O God, says Tuka, run to set me free from these.

‘If I came to your place, O king, seeking honours, what happiness should I find there? In the house of a king the wealthy are respected; the common herd meet with neglect. If I saw there fine raiment and jewels, I should die of it. If you scorn me when you hear this, still God will not scorn me. Let me tell you this and it will surprise you. There is no happiness like a beggar’s. Austerity and renunciation are the greatest of things; wealthy men whose desires entangle them, are miserable. Tuka says that you are rich and honoured; but the followers of Hari are more fortunate.’

The reaction of Shivaji to this defiant and dignified but disappointing reply was even more extraordinary. Instead of fretting and fuming as a power-blind monarch is expected to do, Shivaji, we are told, left his camp and actually joined for a time as a devotee of Tukaram! What a refreshing contrast was the attitude of this great King towards a wandering minstrel who had defied his might, to the gnashing of teeth and flashing of swords and the insane cries of royal satellites urging death to the unfortunate victim, when such incidents happened before less discriminating monarchs?

Thyagaraja was asked by King Sarabhojee of Tanjore to attend on him, but the former, in defying the order and declining the King’s offer of immense riches, sang the following well-known kriti extempore on the spot:

‘O my mind (inner voice), tell me truly
Which is happier, possession of wealth or service at the feet of Rama?
Which is more pleasing in taste, curd, butter and milk,
or the nectar of contemplation and worship (with music) of Dasarathi?
Is it happier to flatter human beings bound by the shackles of selfishness
or to sing the praises of the Protector of Thyagaraja, the right minded?’

–(‘Nithichala’ in Kalyani)

Again, when he learnt that his refusal roused the King’s ire, he sang:

Monarchs in the Kali age think too much of their giving money (to people);
They have ceased to look with favour on servants of God (Haridasas)

and could not think of the hereafter.

Is it going to be of any use to them in their after-life to protect the four castes

for purposes of kingly paraphernalia?

Does it speak highly (of them) if they unrighteously disfavour (us) in their

intoxication of power?

All this is Your jugglery, O Lotus-eyed Lord, the idol of Thyagaraja and the

destroyer of the sins of the repentant.’

In their outlook on life, their views on wealth and woman as constituting the guiding motive of human action–the object of pursuit and the cause of conflict–their relentless war on selfishness, egotism and greed as the inner enemies of man, and in their advocacy of self-effacement and self-surrender as the only means of salvation and the one panacea for all evils, we see a peculiar similarity of thought and identity of aim; and this is so marked a feature of the teachings of these liberated souls that he who runs may read. It is also the common misfortune of such redeemed beings to violently differ from contemporary orthodoxy, always notorious for clinging to the outgrowths of usage and tradition, claiming divinity but lacking in humanity, and thinking it is God-ordained duty to- fight tooth and nail against every effort of the honest reformer to tear the veil of ignorance and prejudice from the basic truths of the very religion it seeks to defend. And consequently it is their inevitable lot to be ridiculed, abused, hated and even persecuted in life and deified after death. Thyagaraja seems to have realised this, for we learn that, when his disciples complained to him that he was being poohpoohed even by the common people, he replied that it would take a full cycle of sixty years to elapse before the public could digest, assimilate and appreciate the eternal truths embodied in his kritis. In regard to the singleness of purpose and the similarity of thought embodied in the verbal content of the various songs composed by these Haridasas, a few specimens from Purandaradasa and Thyagaraja are given hereunder to show the reader the unity of ideas underlying them. They are, of course, only illustrative but not exhaustive, and it must be borne in mind, that no translation, literal or liberal, can reproduce the full spirit and import of the original songs themselves but can only give a very rough and general idea thereof. Judging from both music and matter, it would appear that Thyagaraja is the modern incarnation of Purandaradasa, who has taken up and disseminated the Divine message preached by the revered saint-singer of Karnataka.

PURANDARADASA

This is saintliness for the sake of the stomach; there is no jot of devotion to God in it: To rise very early and tremble with the cold and pride oneself on bathing in the river, while all the time the inside is full of haughtiness, envy and anger; and thus to lead people who are looking on to admire; this is stomach-saintliness.

THYAGARAJA

(These people) do not know the (true) path of Bhakti; they simply wander about on the face of the earth and indulge in day dreaming. (They think that Bhakti means merely) to rise early, dip themselves in water, smear their body with ashes, count their fingers, to get appreciation from people for this outside show, all the while very much intent on earning money...–(‘Theliyaleru Rama’ in Thenuka)

Prayerful contemplation of Rama is the best of Ganges baths. Will repeated dips in water remove your internal black stain of mental impurity and deceitfulness?.. -(‘Dhyaname’ in Dhanyasi)

PURANDARADASA

Who says I am poor and who says I am friendless? Nay, I am neither while I have you, my God.

THYAGARAJA

I am not an uncared-for person, O Rama, as long as I hve You, Eternal One for my protection. Only these unsympathetic human wretches of the Kali age say that I have no protector–(‘Anadhudanu in Jingala)

PURANDARADASA

To call on Hari is the strength of the auspicious hour; to call on Hari is the strength of a good astericism and of the Moon….You are the strength of the planets, O Lotus-eyed One, You are the Saviour of all, pervading all.

THYAGARAJA

What, after all, is the strength of planets? The favour of Sri Rama is the only strength that counts. They need not care for planetary influence who, like Thyagaraja, worship the Luminous One, Hari, who controls not only the planets but the five sins and the internal enemies like lust etc.–(‘Grahabala’ in Revagupti.)

On the stern inhibitions, severe discipline and the high ideals thatshould inspire a true servant of God, you must listen to these two saints who have practically worked their way up to it:

PURANDARADASA

Not easy is being God’s servant; nor is it for men of the world. To give up the evil in oneself and live in thought of the Deliverer; this is not very easy. The dirt within must go; one should hear constantly of the works of God; one should be at peace. One should know the heart of the righteous and the meek and without intermission think of God’s feet; this is not easy. One should hold in control the bodily senses and the faculties of mind and gain knowledge; should endure prosperity and decline and bear oneself humbly; should consider as equal honour and disgrace and ponder on and sing the greatness ofGod, realising that God

pervades everything, that God is everything; that God is the heart of everything. To call on God continually, to think on that source of holiness continually and not feel self-complacent: that is not easy.

THYAGARAJA

Listen, my inner voice, as to what constitutes the life and qualifications of a servant of Hari. He should desire (to do service) without attachment. And for securing emancipation and enjoyment of Divine bliss, he should not boast that he achieved Divine communion (Japam and Tapam);should not talk one way and do another; should not wander about from place to place to claim that he has no equal anywhere; should not be weak-minded and should not be distracted now and again by love of wife and child; should not think of worldly pleasure as permanent and true; should not be a religious bigot and differentiate between Siva and Madhava; should not, for the purpose of filing his stomach, boast that he is the only worthy person in the world; at no moment should he be remiss in the service at Rama’s feet held by the hands of Hanuman; should not be influenced by egotism or self-complacency; should not complain that he did not get anything without earning it; and should not leave off attempts at reaching You by Rajayoga and should not forget the King of Kings and friend of Thyagaraja. –(‘Bhaktunicharitramu’in Begada.)

PURANDARADASA

So without end are my faults, my Master. Pride of good feeding, pride of wealth, pride of much possession, youth, power, and land……Over-much love of wife and of children and over-much love of father and mother; over-much love of brother and friend and excessive devotion to king; love of cattle and calf and love of a host of relatives; in all this love, O Slayer of evil, I have forgotten to love you. When I got so much, I wanted so much more…..I have lived a life of struggle and have loved to own and to hold; and clung, O Purandara Vittala, to a life that is lost.

THYAGARAJA

Protect me, O Auspicious and Beautiful Rama. I am not learned nor intelligent. Without, having the sense to worship You, I have wandered foolishly till now. Day in and day out I have waited on the rich for food. I could not dedicate at your feet the love I felt for wife and children. Believing that family happiness is permanent I could not realise the essence of Your sacred name. I could not relinquish worldly pleasures and was stiff with pride. Though I have committed many sins, yet have I asked you ‘What is my fault?’ Those are blessed that have faith in You and look upon service at Your feet as be-all and end-all.–(‘Pahikalyanasundara’ in Punnagavarali.)

PURANDARADASA

If the children they have borne are silly, do parents give them up and not look after

them? If I, Your servant; am ignorant, may You, Lord, leave me without protection?

THYAGARAJA

I cannot bear this (blow) O Rama….Can a delicate parrot bear the tremendous strength of Brahma’s darts? It father and mother do not protect their son, where is he to go for protection, O Rama?–(‘Pahiramaramana’ in Varali.)

PURANDARADASA

I am like the insect that has fallen info the fire. O Immutable One, save me. O Etarnal One, take me out.

THYAGARAJA

O Venkataramana of Tirupati, remove the vei1 of ignorance, jealousy and envy from my eyes. It is obscuring my sense of duty and is driving away Moksha (salvation) from me, O Supreme One. I feel like the hungry fish running to its doom by swallowing the angler’s fatal hook; like the insect that burnt itself by flying into the fire of the open lamp, and like the animal caught up in the hunter’s net…..–(‘Therathiyyagarada’ in Goulipantu.)

PURANDARADASA

To become Your servant is the accumulated merit of how many lives? O Bright and Merciful God, Eternal Source of Good, grant me in full the service of your servants.

THYAGARAJA

Grant me the alms (boon) of Bhakti of the satvic (supreme) type, which is superior even to salvation, endless power, or the Trimurtis. Of what use is a lewd woman’s possessing the capacity to discuss Puranas, Agama Sastras and Vedas? It is like decorating a lifeless corpse with golden turban and jewels of diamonds and pearls. –(‘Bhakti Bichchamiyyave’ in Sankarabharana.)

The apostles of Bhakti are many and varied and they adorn all classes of society, Brahmin down to the Harijan; they preach their doctrine in song, verse, short metre, or pithy prose. The long and illustrious galaxy of Vaishnavite and Saivate saints that have left an indelible mark on the scroll of time have done as much service to the people as these saint-singers of India. But this article is confined to the latter class of Bhaktas only and refers to some typical personalities among them. In these hectic days when we hear so much of service and sacrifice but see so little of it in actual life, when the honest seeker of truth is bewildered by the overwhelming mass of conflicting literature and propaganda on every phase of religion and philosophy, and especially when the country seems likely to find its soul through art, the spotless life detached from self and the inspired utterances of Haridasas like Thyagaraja in all their simple grandeur and refreshing clearness, would be a hopeful beacon of light and love leading to the haven of peace which is sought by all but found by few.¹

1 The translations from Purandara-Dasa are taken from Mr. Masti Venkatesa Iyengar’s article in Triveni for July–Aug. 1935.