Superb by Santhanam Mama Durmarga chara Raga Ranjani, 59 Dharmavati janya Thyagaraja Krithi Rupaka Tala Ragam Ranjani :- Aro srgmds AV s n d m g s (s n d m g s r g s) Belongs to 59th melakartha Dharmavathi. Svaras used are Shadja, Chatusruti rishabha, Sadharana gandhara, Prati madhyama, Chatusruti dhaivata and Kakali nishada. It is an upanga audava audava raga. The notes panchama and nishada are omitted in the arohana and notes panchama and rishabha are omitted in the avarohana. It is a very pleasing raga, and preferred in the ragamalika compositions, ragamalika svara segment of a pallavi exercise or as a light popular song. Among the Musical Trinity only Tyagaraja has composed in Ranjani. The kriti is „Durmarga‟ set to Rupaka tala. Sancharas :- r,gsnd, - srg, - srgmgssrgsnd, - mds,nd,srg, - srgm ,m - gmdmgsrgs - s,rg snd, - srgmd, - md, - gmd, - r gmd, - snd, md, - md,s, - s,,srgsnd, - srgmgsrgsnd , - dsrg, - srgm,gsnd, - mds, ,,,ndmg srgsnd, - md Analysis :- In the kriti „Durmarga chara‟ - raga Ranjani, Tyagaraja criticizes those who sing praises of humans for the sake of wealth. Ranjani has to be handled with some care, with full understanding of pratimadhyama and chathusruti dhaivatha. Many prayogas are centered around madhyama, like„s r g s‟, „s r g m g s‟ , „s r g m d m g s‟. The vakra prayoga the jump from gandhara to madhyama and the absence of the panchama makes it a difficult raga to handle. The omission of the panchama can make for some difficulty in singing but it does add to the raga‟s appeal. Kriti begins and ends with madhyasthayi shadja.Madhyama is an important note. Dhaivata is a resting note. Madurai Mani Iyer was responsible for the popularity that this raga enjoys in concert platforms. He was capable of fully bringing out the beauties of this raga. However Ranjani lives up to its name and is very beautiful raga. Ragam Ranjani :- Aro srgmds AV s n d m g s (s n d m g s r g s) Belongs to 59th melakartha Dharmavathi. Svaras used are Shadja, Chatusruti rishabha, Sadharana gandhara, Prati madhyama, Chatusruti dhaivata and Kakali nishada. It is an upanga audava audava raga. The notes panchama and nishada are omitted in the arohana and notes panchama and rishabha are omitted in the avarohana. It is a very pleasing raga, and preferred in the ragamalika compositions, ragamalika svara segment of a pallavi exercise or as a light popular song. Among the Musical Trinity only Tyagaraja has composed in Ranjani. The kriti is „Durmarga‟ set to Rupaka tala. Tyagaraja expresses his inability to serve the ignoble and evil men for his needs, when a benefactor like Rama the emodiment of dharma is there for him.He criticises those who sing praises of humans for the sake of wealth. O Embodiment of Virtue! O Lord who causes of prosperity! O Lord well-praised by this tyAgarAja!\ You are the dispenser of wealth and food. Therefore, I can’t call those ignoble persons treading the path of vice as my Master (for the sake of reward). Neither I, anywhere, extol such vile wretches who barter sarasvati to the morally degraded persons in an assembly (for the sake of reward) ! P durmArga charAdhamulanu dora neevana jAlarA || I will not praise the ignoble and mean men to win their favour. AP dharamAtmaka dhana dhAnyamu daivamu neevai yunDa || I have a righteous and benevolent God to bestow wealth and happiness. C paluku bOTini sabha lOna patita mAnavula kosagE khalula nechchaTa pogaDa Sree kara tyAgarAja vinuta || I will not use my talent to sing the praise of degraded sinners, Oh Lord of Tyagaraja. Gist :- Not for me to call him master, Not the villain of evil ways! Wealth and grain come after, A touch of Your upright grace. Speech, ne'er shall I barter, Where fiends hold court. Nor nod to another's sale, O Lord of wealth and vale! This is not a commonly heard song; nor is it involved in musical or lyrical detail. But, the thoughts Tyagaraja expresses in it, tell us a lot about his path in life and why he composed such music and such poetry. Cf. with the famous "Nidhi Chala sukhama" song we saw earlier, where he denounces wealth. Here, he is critical of serving the base for pecuniary benefit and considers this a taint upon the learning of men. Speech personified as here, refers to Sarasvati and to learning. Such revulsion for wealth was common among men of learning of his time. Learning was considered an aid to illumination and the Highest and not as a path to wealth. While Tyagaraja was perhaps the most austere of the Trinity, none of them served the great kings of the time as court musicians nor sought extensive royal patronage. Such renunciation among the pious and scholarly is peculiar to his culture. In the west, we find a starkly different case. Many of the great masters of the classical music there, did not fight shy of wealth and some did acquire it. Mozart, a figure comparable to Tyagaraja in the West, predated him by only a few decades. Much is known about his various patrons and his considerable fees for composition. It has been of some interest whether he died a pauper or not. The Pythagorean notion of finding the sublime in music had long been dead in his time. Unlike in the west, learning itself was and is considered sacred in his culture and profiting from learning is considered sinful. Tyagaraja's brother who too lived in their ancestral house was said to be highly covetous and eventually, fell out with him. Tyagaraja's devotion to Rama was his sole avocation in life. To his brother's chagrin, Tyagaraja considered wealth as precluding his quest for Rama. So, we hear of the episode alluded to in the earlier song, in which his idol of Rama was lost and found. Such abhorrence of wealth and comforts as pollutants is an ancient and consistent teaching in Hinduism. It is held that they cannot be sought and attained without the debasement of the individual self. Comments :- daivamu - The word ‘daiva’ means ‘belonging to or coming from the Gods’, ‘divine power’, ‘destiny’. The wealth and other possessions procured by us are indeed those bestowed on us. Therefore, any intermediaries - like Kings etc - are not the real bestowers, but only a channel. There is a story of Akbar - the Emperor. One of the Emperor's ministers eulogised Akbar that he (Akbar) is God indeed because Muslims pray 'allAhu akbar' - meaning 'God is Great'. Akbar thought it preposterous to call him God. Once a mendicant came to the Court of Akbar to beg for alms. He was told that the Emperor was praying to the God (allAh). The mendicant returned without waiting for the Emperor. When Akbar enquired as to why the mendicant did not wait for him, his courtiers said that the mendicant said 'Hearing that Akbar is God, I came to the Emperor to beg for alms; but found the Emperor himself begging from the God; therefore, I would as well beg directly from Him”. Then Akbar realised that his minister was only flattering him. paluku bOTi - SrI tyAgarAja states that indulging in praise of any human by panegyrical songs, amounts to bartering sarasvati - the Goddess of Speech - for the sake of reward. tyAgarAja refers to two sets of people - (1) kings (or the rich) treading the path of vice and (2) those who display their literary talents to such kings (or the rich) for the sake of reward. ‘Ignoble persons treading the path of vice’ (durmArga cara adhamulu) (mentioned in pallavi) and ‘morally degraded persons’ (patita mAnavulu) (mentioned in caraNam) seem to refer to the kings or the rich. Please also refer to kRti ‘kAsiccEdE’ rAga gauLipantu.

mani iyer and mahrajapuram theyvare masters ofvsinging,maniiyer for karpna swara.and maharajharapuram.forvseperate alabana.

Divine and Melodius

Fantastic rendering. Really miss him

Nice

Lejend we Missed him

in 5544