||Sri:||
Sri rAghavEndra tIRtha (a.k.a rAyaru, GurusArvabhoumaru), a revered saint belonging to the vEdAntic tradition of Sri MadhvAchArya is much sought after by both by the learned and the layman alike, irrespective of caste and creed. The Saint is well-known for his erudite philosophical contributions; more so for the succour he has been able to provide to anyone that has approached him with their problems. There are several compositions in Sanskrit and Kannada (as well as other local languages) in the form of hymns (stOtra) and songs (dEvaranAmA) that are prayers extolling his qualities seeking his blessings. An index compiling all these works is available in the following link: http://chromepetsrsmutt.com/madhwa/stotra-literature-on-sri-raghavendra-swamiji/
Guru JagannAtha dAsa, an exalted soul that appeared in the haridAsa tradition in the 19th century was an ardent devotee of the Saint. He has composed a few metrical works in Sanskrit (besides the kannada dEvaranAmAs) that reveal unknown facets of the Saint’s divine personality and his infinite compassion. At the request of Haridasa Chandrika Foundation (https://hdcusa.org/), VidwAn Sri Dr. VidyAbhUshana who has been doing yeoman service for the propagation of dAsA sAhitya, tuned and rendered Sri Prahladaraja Charite (one of the dAsA’s compositions) in the musical form that was released for public consumption during the ArAdhana mahOtsava of the Saint in 2019.
In line with the Foundation’s objectives of preserving and propagating rare compositions of the haridAsAs, the VidwAn was approached to render two more compositions of the dAsA namely Sri rAghavEndra prArthana and Sri rAghavEndra mahAtmya. While the former is an ashtaka (eight verses) followed by phalashruthi (one verse), the latter spans five chapters and is spread over 116 shlOkas.
The Vidwan has rendered both in the musical form: Sri rAghavEndra prArthana in rendered in the Shudda dhanyAsi rAga, while he has chosen five of the commonly employed ragas (TilAng, mOhana, bEhAg, Durga, and ChakravAka) for the five chapters of Sri rAghavEndra mahAtmya. The whole content is rendered over a total period of 55 minutes to rhythm. Sri PrAdEshAchArya has orchestrated the music excellently and in an extremely captivating manner.
The first chapter is the largest of the five and comprises 33 shlOkAs. The VidvAn has chosen to render it in rAga tilAng, a raga common to both schools of music. Recall the famous songs of the past ‘Satyavantara sangaviralu’ and ‘thappu nOdaDe bandhIya ennaya thande’ by the VidvAn.
The second chapter is the shortest and comprises 16 ShlOkAs. The VidvAn has employed the evergreen mOhana rAga to render this chapter. Recall the VidvAn’s vintage ‘inthAprabhuva kAnEnO’ and masterpiece ‘PillangOviya cheluva krishnana elli noDidiri’ to associate with this rendering.
The third chapters comprise 19 ShlOkAs. The VidvAn has rendered this in behAg rAga; some of the previous compositions of the Vidvan tuned to this rAga are ‘dayAnidhE srIrAghavEndra guruve’ and ‘Sharanara surabUja gururAja’.
The fourth chapter comprises 25 shlOkAs. The VidvAn has employed rAga Durga (Shudda sAvEri) for rendering this part. Recall the VidvAn’s rendering of the past ‘Narasimha mantravu ondiralu sAku’ and the recent ‘kAye durgAmbruniye’ for a similarity.
The fifth and final chapter comprises 23 ShlOkAs and has been rendered in chakravAkam. Some of the previous renderings of the vidvAn are “nArAyaNa nArAyaNa nArAyaNA’ and ‘chintayAke mAduthiddi chinmayaniddAne’.
The vidvAn has chosen the ever-captivating Shudda dhanyAsi rAga to render the rAghavEndra prArthana shloka. There are so many compositions that the VidvAn has rendered on this rAga: nArAyaNa ninna nAmada smaranEya, Ishtu dina EE vaikunta, to name a few. The ShlOka starts with a description of the swarUpa of GururAjaru and goes on collating other related facts in the form of a summary. In the phalashruti (last verse), dAsaru is submitting his prayers to gururAjaru soliciting blessings for the good of the world and requesting to grant wishes of devotees. A special feature is the vidvAn’s repeated rendering of the last line of each shlOka that goes to greatly enhance the depth (bhAva).
As is always the case, the VidvAn has rendered the content in such an extremely pleasant manner. Further, his special effort to emphasize the content is always a boon as it helps the beginner to grasp the words clearly. A key feature that has been employed by the VidvAn on the rendering of the rAghavEndra mahAtmyam that a careful listener can discern is his intermittent shifting of the rendering mode from ‘nibadda’ (accompanied by music) to ‘anibadda’ (prose spelt out in the form of the mantra). He has employed this to suit the style change in the original composition (observable in chapters two through five): wherever there is a change from one chandas (metre) to another. This greatly enhances the listening pleasure. A close attention to the content in the different chapters would reveal that dAsaru has greatly amplified the general theme of the message available in Sri AppannAchAryA’s compositions on rAyaru: rAghavEndra ShlOka, mangalAshtaka, kavacha and danDaka.
To summarize, this work is another rare gem of highest quality by the VidvAn to support the cause of HaridAsa Chandrika’s objectives. A casual listening to the content is extremely soothing even to the unschooled. For those that can understand the content and have a formal training in Carnatic classical music, it is indeed a great boon that transports them to a different level of ecstasy. In all, it is an eternal treasure to savour!
Transcription of Sri Dr. Vidyabhushana’s Speech:
Today is the 351st ArAdhana mahOtsava of Sri rAghavEndra SwAmy. People around the world celebrate this event with love and affection in a grand scale and with a lot of fervour to obtain the blessings of Sri Hari and Gurugalu. In this occasion, I deem it fit that we should know about the greatness of Sri rAghavEndra swAmy. In the Bhagawad gIta, the Lord has uttered ‘prahlAdaschAsmi daityAnAm’[1] which roughly translates as ‘Among the demons, PrahlAda is endowed with my special presence’. It is the belief of the devout that the same PrahlAda was reborn as Sri rAghavEndra swAmy; they submit their life and prayers.
What does the word ‘Vaishnavatva’ mean? It means ‘compassion to fellow beings’ which was demonstrated by PrahlAda and can also be seen in Sri rAghavEndra SwAmy. We understand from scriptures that the Lord says to PrahlAda ‘You have pleased me and for your sake, I’ve chosen to come in this completely new form. My coming shouldn’t go waste; please seek anything you want’ for which PrahlAda replied ‘I don’t want this business. The relationship between me and you should not be of commercial nature. I should be devoted, and you should be blessing me. This should not be for the sake of obtaining a power or position; neither should you be offering me this proposition because it would become a trade.’ The Lord dialogs with PrahlAda to quit this world that’s full of sorrow and offers his own abode, which, we understand, was refused by PrahlAda with a demand that while so many here are suffering, it is inappropriate for him to leave them. Such was the compassion of PrahlAda that he was not ready to forego his fellow-beings, even when the heaven was offered.
We saw the same features in Sri rAghavEndra Swamy during his sojourn on this holy land: discharging scriptural responsibilities, granting the wish of devotees, and blessing them with the triad of gnyAna, Bhakthi and VairAgya. Even after entering the vrudAvana, he continues to shower his grace on all those that seek refuge in him with compassion, which is seen to increase by the day. As is the Lord (Narasimha), so is the servant! What is that we should seek from him? It is the above triad, instead of worldly gains, as he is well-qualified to grant it. In rAghavEndra shloka, rAyaru is described as the one that has overcome worldly desires and obtained complete grace of the Lord. He is described as the sole refuge to grant the desires of devotees; one that can be confided in faithfully[2].
Why and how? It is because of two reasons: The first is that he has complete knowledge and awareness of his sermon’s effectiveness. The second is that he has overcome six-fold enemies (ari-shad varga) that arise out of selfish motives. Add to this his selflessness and willingness to share all his good with everyone. The Lord came in an unseen form for the sake of him: such was his devotion and commitment. What else can we say then of his qualifications to be a preceptor? That’s why we are seeing that he’s the most sought-after Guru; people around the world flock to him with faith and devotion. His ArAdhana celebrations are conducted everywhere; he’s dispensing rewards wished by one and all from the corpus that he has inherited as blessings from his prayers to the Almighty. I submit my prayers to him and his antaryAmi madhvAntargata Sri Lakshmi Narasimha and seek their blessings to one and all here.
On this auspicious occasion, we are very glad to release a special composition on rAyaru. Sri Guru JagannAtha dAsa (that came later to Sri JagannAtha dAsaru that composed Sri HarikathAmrutha sAra) has to his credit several compositions and being an ardent devotee of rAyaru has especially composed many works in both Sanskrit and Kannada. Devotees in America have come together and founded an institution by name HaridAsa Chandrika that has taken the unique mission of popularizing special compositions of several HaridAsAs in the past. Under its auspices, ‘Sri rAghavEndra mahAtmyam’ that describes several glories of rAyaru and spread over five chapters along with ‘Sri rAghavEndra prArthana’, a small prayer spanning eight shlOkas (ashtaka) has been rendered by me. A copy of this rendering in the form of a CD is being submitted to Sri Hari Gurugalu seeking their blessings at this time and would be available for public consumption in an electronic format shortly.
It is my earnest request that the devout make full use of this by listening and rendering this composition at all available opportunities, immerse themselves in devotional fervour and obtain blessings of rAyaru and the Lord.
Transcription of Sri Appannachar’s Speech:
HarE SrinivAsa! GurO rAghavEndra! SAshtAnga pranAms to atmIya adhyAtma bandhUs!
The life and contributions of Sri GurujagannAtha dAsaru was one worthy of emulation. His efforts on social reformation are exemplary. In my thought, starting from Sri Purandara dAsaru till Sri Sundara dAsaru, there have been four hundred dAsAs. Each of these exalted souls such as Sri Purandara dAsaru, Sri VijayarAyaru, Sri gOpAla dAsaru were knowledge personified; however, they did not compose in Sanskrit. Sri GurujagannAtha dAsaru has the unique distinction of having contributed on three fronts: (i) composing expository texts (vyAkhyAnas) on AchArya MadhvA’s works, (ii) composing shlOkas in Sanskrit, and (iii) composing UgAbOgA, sulAdi and kIrtanAs in Kannada and enriching the literature of the HaridAsa tradition.
Sri vAdirAja tIrtha[3] seems to have been the motivator for Sri GurujagannAtha dAsaru. Being an intimate devotee of Guru rAghavEndra, dAsaru exactly follows the footsteps of his role model: while Sri vAdirAjaru composed on the Lord, dAsaru composed it on GururAjaru. While Sri vAdirAjaru sang “prOshtIsha vigraha sunIshtIva” and “pAlayAchyuta pAlayAjita”, dAsaru sang “tIrthikrutAtma sukhatIRthOru shAstramukah” and “pAhi guruvara pAhi yativara pAhi pApavinAshanAH”. In the lineage of AchArya Madhva, after Sri vAdirAjaru, it was Sri GurujagannAtha dAsaru who has extensively composed shlOkAs in Sanskrit. While there are quite a few that have composed in Sanskrit, within the references we have today, dAsaru has composed nearly forty shlokas in Sanskrit.
One of the special compositions of dAsaru is Sri rAghavEndra mahAtyam. The basis of this composition is “Sri vEnkatEsha mahAtmyam” in Aditya purAna composed by Lord vEdavyAsa. In this work, dEvasarma, an ardent devotee of Lord SrinivAsa, has extolled the infinite glories of Venkataramana spread over five chapters. DAsaru has chosen the same theme and extolled the glories and compassion of GururAjaru over five chapters. We see that dAsaru completely submits himself and exclaims “mAtA pItha mE gati AtmabhandhuH brAtah sakhAh mE paradEvatAh cha rAjA gUru sarvamapi tvamEvAm yan mEhitvam tadEva dEhi” that roughly means that GururAjaru is everything for dAsaru and he doesn’t see any other saviour. It is to be noted that dAsaru is echoing a similar prayer found in Sri rAghavEndra Vijaya that goes as follows: “mAta pitha suta brAtha bAndhava dUta sati guru nAtha gati mathi nItha sakham kOuvrAta santati enage nInayya.’ This soulful description coming right out of the heart of Sri GurujagannAtha dAsaru stands as an illustration of his staunch faith on GururAjaru.
Sri Madhu Rao and his friends that are residents of USA have founded an institution and chosen to bring this composition under its auspices to the consumption of the public. This is a highly commendable act, and we pray for Lord’s blessings to everyone involved.
HarE SrinivAsa ! GurOh rAghavEndra!
[1] प्रह्लादश्चास्मि दैत्यानां कालः कलयतामहम् । मृगाणां च मृगेन्द्रोऽहं वैनतेयश्च पक्षिणाम् ॥ Bhagavad gIta 10:30
[2] अपरोक्षीकृतश्रीशः समुपेक्षितभावजः ।अपेक्षितप्रदाताऽन्यो राघवेन्द्रान्नविद्यते || Sri rAghavEndra ShlOka
[3] https://sodematha.in/parampara-details/SriVadirajatirtharu/532713