We accept success in any field as a combination of human effort (prayatna) and divine grace (anugraha). The reason why we bring in divine grace is because success requires many things to "fall in place". These factors are many and sometimes outside our limited purview- what we call "hidden variables". We can plan and carefully prepare for known variables- may be....with a "plan B" if "plan A" goes awry. But hidden variables being hidden in their very nature are unknown and we cannot prepare for them. In our tradition, we invoke the divine grace with a prayer to take care of these hidden variables.
Prayer is an action (karma) and for any action, there is a definite result (phala). Hence, through prayer (in any format to any God), we use our effort (prayatna) to tap His grace (anugraha) so that the hidden variables are accounted for and success will be ours.
I am here on work. It has many variables and I have tried to plan for them as well as I can! I thought it would be fitting to review a kriti of Tyagaraja on Lord Ganesha who is popularly worshipped as "vighnaraja"- the one who takes care of hidden variables (vighna) and thereby bestows success.
Pallavi:
giri raaja sutaa tanaya sadaya
Giri raaja sutaa- Giri is a mountain. Raaja- king. Taken together, it refers to Himavaan.
sutaa- daughter. Put together, giri raaja sutaa refers to Parvati, who was born as the daughter of Himavaan.
Devi was born as the daughter of Himavaan as Parvati. She was also born at a different time as the daughter of King Malayadhwaja Pandya as Meenakshi and at yet another time as the daughter of Rishi Katyayana as Kaatyaayani. These are three famous incarnations of Devi.
tanaya- son. All of them put together- giri raaja sutaa tanaya refers to Ganesha, who is the son of Parvati.
This complicated epithet for Ganesha is not new. Tyagaraja appears to have recalled the following verse on Lord Ganesha which is similar.
"agajaanana padmaarkam gajaananam aharnisham
anekadan tam bhaktanaam ekadantam upaasmahe"
Here, we see the same construction. "ga" is that which moves as in "gacchati"-to move in Sanskrit. "aga" implies that which does not move. A mountain does not move. Hence, "aga" refers to a mountain. "ja" is that which is born. Taken together "agaja" is "born off the mountain"- i.e. Goddess Parvati. We need not analyse the rest of this shloka since it is outside the context. The running meaning can be said as follows: We meditate (upaasmahe) aharnisham (day and night) on Ganesha (gajaananam), the one with the elephant face who bestows all (anekada) that the devotee (bhaktaanaam) asks for. Ganesha is further described as ekadantam (with one tusk) and whose presence makes Parvati's face glow (agajaanana padmaarkam) just like the sun (arka) makes the lotus (padma) bloom.
A question may be asked as to why the maternal lineage giri raaja sutaa tanayaa is alone mentioned by Tyagaraja... why not the paternal lineage? The reason is that there is no paternal lineage beyond a point as shown in the following verse on Lord Ganesha:
maataamahaa mahaashailam mahastat apitaamaham
kaaranam jagataam vande kanthaad uparivaaranam
maataamahaa is grandfather on the maternal side. Who is that? For Ganesha, it is "mahaashailam" which refers to Himavan, giriraaja. How about his paternal grandfather? There is none- apitaamaham. Shiva, being the Supreme Lord has no father. Hence, Ganesha has no paternal grandfather. Therefore, apitaamaham. We need not analyse the rest of this shoka since it is outside our context. It simply says - I bow down (vande) to Ganesha who is the Cause of the Universe (kaaranam jagataam), who has an elephant head (vaaranam) above the neck (kanthaad upari).
sadaya- Compassionate one.
Anupallavi:
sura naatha mukhaarchita paada yuga:
Sura naatha- King of Suraas (Devas). It refers to Indra. Archita- worshipped. Paada yuga- Ganesha's feet. It refers to Indra, the Lord of the Devas who worshipped Ganesha. There is a popular shloka for this too which is typically chanted at the beginning of the new year.
vaageeshaadyaah sumanasas sarvathaanaam upakramey
yam natva kritakrityaasyuh tam namaami gajaananam
Sumanasa refers to the Devas since they have a pure mind (sumanasah). Vaageesha refers to Lord Brahma. It says that the Devas and Lord Brahma worshipped Ganesha at the beginning of any work (upakramey). I bow down (namaami) to gajaananam (Ganesha) who was worshipped thus by the Devas and Lord Brahma.
We can see a similar pattern in Dikshitar's "nottu sahitya- shakti sahita ganapatim" sung by Carnatic music newbies. We have the following line:
"virakta sakala muni jana sura raaja vinuta guruguham"- Ganesha, worshipped by sura raaja- same as sura naatha here. However, it appears as if Dikshitar has taken guruguha (Skanda) as sura raaja here. After all, Skanda is the commander-in-chief of the army of the devas (senaaninaam aham skandah- Geeta)
paripaalaya maam ibha raaja mukha
paripaalaya- Protect maam - me. ibha raaja - King of elephants mukha- face. The one with an elephant face. This is well known.
Charanam:
ganaa naatha paraatpara shankaraagama
vaari nidhi rajani-kara
phani raaja kankana vighna
nivaarana shaambhava shri tyaagaraaja nuta (giri)
gananaatha- King of Ganas. This is again well known- same as ganapati. We also have kritis on Ganesha like "gananaathaney gunabodhaney" (in Saaranga raaga).
paraatpara- This is a vedantic term. It refers to Brahman who is superior to Maya. Here, the first "paraa" refers to Maya. The one who is superior (second para) to even Maya is "paraatpara". Maya is prakriti or matter. As per Vedanta, basic matter (maya) depends on Brahman (spirit) for "sattaa" (existence). Hence, matter cannot exist without spirit. Hence, paraatpara. Where do we find this in the Upanishad? In Mundaka,we have the expression- "paratah parah"- Same meaning as here.
We can also recall Adi Shankara's "Ganesha Pancharatnam"- set of 5 verses on Lord Ganesha. He says "paraatparam nirantaram" describing Lord Ganesha...at the end of the second verse.
Shankara- Most people have taken this as shankara in the etymological sense. "sham"- mangalam, auspiciousness; kara- the one who causes. Hence, Ganesha is referred to as Shankara because he is mangalakaari- the one who bestows auspiciousness.
Interestingly, Adi Shankara says "samasta loka shankaram.... nirasta daitya kunjaram" as the first line of the third verse in the Ganesha Pancharatnam. Lord Ganesha destroyed the asura Gajamukhaasura (nirasta daitya kunjaram) and saved the world (samasta loka shankaram). Tyagaraja has surprisingly used the two epithets- paraatpara and shankara in exactly the same sequence as Adi Shankara.
Aagama vaarinidhi rajanikara:
Aagama refers to the vedas. Vaarinidhi means ocean. Here, the vedas which are vast are compared to an ocean. Rajanikara. Rajani is night. kara is maker. Hence, night-maker... which refers to the moon. The sun is dinakara (day-maker). The moon is rajani-kara (night-maker).
Ganesha is the moon for the ocean comprising the vedas. What does this mean? As per mythology, the moon arose when the ocean was churned. It is a product... the essence... as it were of the ocean. If the vedas are churned, its essence- its wisdom is in the form of Ganesha.
We see this description in several places in scripture. Brahmaaji churned the vedas and got its essence as the Gayatri mantra (tat savitur varenyam...). He churned some more and out of that arose the vyaahriti mantra (Bhur bhuva suvah). He churned still more and got the essence still further as the monosyllabic "om" or "pranava" as "om" is also referred to. Thus, the wisdom of the vedas is condenced in the monosyllabic "om". Lord Ganesha is synonymous with "om". Ganesha is referred to as "pranava swarupam" in many songs including the celebrated kriti by Dikshitar, Vatapi Ganapatim.
Visually too, Ganesha's face looks like the symbol "om" in Sanskrit as well as in Tamil. In fact, we can easily extrapolate Ganesha's face from the Tamil symbol for "om" by just drawing 2 ears!!
phani-raaja kankana: Who has phani-raaja (Aadi Shesha) as kankana (bracelet).
Adi Shesha seems to be associated with all Gods. There is shloka on him...
"haritalpa haraanghri noopura" - Shesha is Lord Vishnu's bed (hari talpa). He is also Lord Shiva's foot ornament... (hara anghri noopura). Here, we find that he is a bracelet for Ganesha.
A snake refers to "shakti"- energy. The snake has no legs but can move rapidly using pure energy as in a spring. Hence, Gods are often portrayed with snakes to show that "shakti" (power) is inseparable from them.
vighna nivaarana: Ganesha is specifically invoked to remove obstacles. This is also well known- "nirvighnam kurumey deva sarva kaaryeshu sarvadaa" etc. We can also recall the shloka which mentions the 16 names of Lord Ganesha beginning with "Sumukha" and the promise that whoever chants these 16 names will be free from all vighnas at all times in life.
Shaambhava: Son of Shambu, Shiva. The kriti begins with Parvati and ends with Shiva.
Shri Tyagaraaja nuta: The one praised by Tyagaraja. Tyagaraja can refer to the saint or it can even refer to Lord Shiva. When did Lord Shiva praise/worship Lord Ganesha?
During Tripura samhaara- when the demon Tripura was destroyed by Lord Shiva. Shiva mounted a chariot and went after Tripura. However, Shiva forgot to take his son, Ganesha's blessings. Hence, the axle of his chariot broke. Even Shiva had to bow down to Ganesha to ensure that further impediments are kept at bay. Paramacharya observes in his discourses that the place "accharupaakkam" in Kanchipuram district is the place where the axle broke. Hence, the name of the place (acchu-iru-baagam) where the axle (acchu) broke into two!
We can again go to the Dikshitar's "shakti sahita ganapatim" (referenced earlier) and see a connection.
"shakti sahita ganapatim... shankaraadi sevitam"- Ganesha, who was worshipped even by Lord Shiva.
This kriti has several "raajas": some explicit and others implicit. It is on Vighnaraaja- Ganesha. It is sung by Tyaagaraaja. It brings in Himavaan who is giriraaja. It refers to sura raaja who is Indra and to Aadi Shesha who is phani raaja! It calls ganesha as "ibha raaja" and as gana raaja (same as naatha). It brings in the moon who is the king of the night- yaamini naatha or yaamini raaja!
U Srinivas, Shankar Mahadevan, Mclaughlin and Zakir performing Giri raaja Sutaa...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31yc8PELL3E
Prayer is an action (karma) and for any action, there is a definite result (phala). Hence, through prayer (in any format to any God), we use our effort (prayatna) to tap His grace (anugraha) so that the hidden variables are accounted for and success will be ours.
I am here on work. It has many variables and I have tried to plan for them as well as I can! I thought it would be fitting to review a kriti of Tyagaraja on Lord Ganesha who is popularly worshipped as "vighnaraja"- the one who takes care of hidden variables (vighna) and thereby bestows success.
Pallavi:
giri raaja sutaa tanaya sadaya
Giri raaja sutaa- Giri is a mountain. Raaja- king. Taken together, it refers to Himavaan.
sutaa- daughter. Put together, giri raaja sutaa refers to Parvati, who was born as the daughter of Himavaan.
Devi was born as the daughter of Himavaan as Parvati. She was also born at a different time as the daughter of King Malayadhwaja Pandya as Meenakshi and at yet another time as the daughter of Rishi Katyayana as Kaatyaayani. These are three famous incarnations of Devi.
tanaya- son. All of them put together- giri raaja sutaa tanaya refers to Ganesha, who is the son of Parvati.
This complicated epithet for Ganesha is not new. Tyagaraja appears to have recalled the following verse on Lord Ganesha which is similar.
"agajaanana padmaarkam gajaananam aharnisham
anekadan tam bhaktanaam ekadantam upaasmahe"
Here, we see the same construction. "ga" is that which moves as in "gacchati"-to move in Sanskrit. "aga" implies that which does not move. A mountain does not move. Hence, "aga" refers to a mountain. "ja" is that which is born. Taken together "agaja" is "born off the mountain"- i.e. Goddess Parvati. We need not analyse the rest of this shloka since it is outside the context. The running meaning can be said as follows: We meditate (upaasmahe) aharnisham (day and night) on Ganesha (gajaananam), the one with the elephant face who bestows all (anekada) that the devotee (bhaktaanaam) asks for. Ganesha is further described as ekadantam (with one tusk) and whose presence makes Parvati's face glow (agajaanana padmaarkam) just like the sun (arka) makes the lotus (padma) bloom.
A question may be asked as to why the maternal lineage giri raaja sutaa tanayaa is alone mentioned by Tyagaraja... why not the paternal lineage? The reason is that there is no paternal lineage beyond a point as shown in the following verse on Lord Ganesha:
maataamahaa mahaashailam mahastat apitaamaham
kaaranam jagataam vande kanthaad uparivaaranam
maataamahaa is grandfather on the maternal side. Who is that? For Ganesha, it is "mahaashailam" which refers to Himavan, giriraaja. How about his paternal grandfather? There is none- apitaamaham. Shiva, being the Supreme Lord has no father. Hence, Ganesha has no paternal grandfather. Therefore, apitaamaham. We need not analyse the rest of this shoka since it is outside our context. It simply says - I bow down (vande) to Ganesha who is the Cause of the Universe (kaaranam jagataam), who has an elephant head (vaaranam) above the neck (kanthaad upari).
sadaya- Compassionate one.
Anupallavi:
sura naatha mukhaarchita paada yuga:
Sura naatha- King of Suraas (Devas). It refers to Indra. Archita- worshipped. Paada yuga- Ganesha's feet. It refers to Indra, the Lord of the Devas who worshipped Ganesha. There is a popular shloka for this too which is typically chanted at the beginning of the new year.
vaageeshaadyaah sumanasas sarvathaanaam upakramey
yam natva kritakrityaasyuh tam namaami gajaananam
Sumanasa refers to the Devas since they have a pure mind (sumanasah). Vaageesha refers to Lord Brahma. It says that the Devas and Lord Brahma worshipped Ganesha at the beginning of any work (upakramey). I bow down (namaami) to gajaananam (Ganesha) who was worshipped thus by the Devas and Lord Brahma.
We can see a similar pattern in Dikshitar's "nottu sahitya- shakti sahita ganapatim" sung by Carnatic music newbies. We have the following line:
"virakta sakala muni jana sura raaja vinuta guruguham"- Ganesha, worshipped by sura raaja- same as sura naatha here. However, it appears as if Dikshitar has taken guruguha (Skanda) as sura raaja here. After all, Skanda is the commander-in-chief of the army of the devas (senaaninaam aham skandah- Geeta)
paripaalaya maam ibha raaja mukha
paripaalaya- Protect maam - me. ibha raaja - King of elephants mukha- face. The one with an elephant face. This is well known.
Charanam:
ganaa naatha paraatpara shankaraagama
vaari nidhi rajani-kara
phani raaja kankana vighna
nivaarana shaambhava shri tyaagaraaja nuta (giri)
gananaatha- King of Ganas. This is again well known- same as ganapati. We also have kritis on Ganesha like "gananaathaney gunabodhaney" (in Saaranga raaga).
paraatpara- This is a vedantic term. It refers to Brahman who is superior to Maya. Here, the first "paraa" refers to Maya. The one who is superior (second para) to even Maya is "paraatpara". Maya is prakriti or matter. As per Vedanta, basic matter (maya) depends on Brahman (spirit) for "sattaa" (existence). Hence, matter cannot exist without spirit. Hence, paraatpara. Where do we find this in the Upanishad? In Mundaka,we have the expression- "paratah parah"- Same meaning as here.
We can also recall Adi Shankara's "Ganesha Pancharatnam"- set of 5 verses on Lord Ganesha. He says "paraatparam nirantaram" describing Lord Ganesha...at the end of the second verse.
Shankara- Most people have taken this as shankara in the etymological sense. "sham"- mangalam, auspiciousness; kara- the one who causes. Hence, Ganesha is referred to as Shankara because he is mangalakaari- the one who bestows auspiciousness.
Interestingly, Adi Shankara says "samasta loka shankaram.... nirasta daitya kunjaram" as the first line of the third verse in the Ganesha Pancharatnam. Lord Ganesha destroyed the asura Gajamukhaasura (nirasta daitya kunjaram) and saved the world (samasta loka shankaram). Tyagaraja has surprisingly used the two epithets- paraatpara and shankara in exactly the same sequence as Adi Shankara.
Aagama vaarinidhi rajanikara:
Aagama refers to the vedas. Vaarinidhi means ocean. Here, the vedas which are vast are compared to an ocean. Rajanikara. Rajani is night. kara is maker. Hence, night-maker... which refers to the moon. The sun is dinakara (day-maker). The moon is rajani-kara (night-maker).
Ganesha is the moon for the ocean comprising the vedas. What does this mean? As per mythology, the moon arose when the ocean was churned. It is a product... the essence... as it were of the ocean. If the vedas are churned, its essence- its wisdom is in the form of Ganesha.
We see this description in several places in scripture. Brahmaaji churned the vedas and got its essence as the Gayatri mantra (tat savitur varenyam...). He churned some more and out of that arose the vyaahriti mantra (Bhur bhuva suvah). He churned still more and got the essence still further as the monosyllabic "om" or "pranava" as "om" is also referred to. Thus, the wisdom of the vedas is condenced in the monosyllabic "om". Lord Ganesha is synonymous with "om". Ganesha is referred to as "pranava swarupam" in many songs including the celebrated kriti by Dikshitar, Vatapi Ganapatim.
Visually too, Ganesha's face looks like the symbol "om" in Sanskrit as well as in Tamil. In fact, we can easily extrapolate Ganesha's face from the Tamil symbol for "om" by just drawing 2 ears!!
phani-raaja kankana: Who has phani-raaja (Aadi Shesha) as kankana (bracelet).
Adi Shesha seems to be associated with all Gods. There is shloka on him...
"haritalpa haraanghri noopura" - Shesha is Lord Vishnu's bed (hari talpa). He is also Lord Shiva's foot ornament... (hara anghri noopura). Here, we find that he is a bracelet for Ganesha.
A snake refers to "shakti"- energy. The snake has no legs but can move rapidly using pure energy as in a spring. Hence, Gods are often portrayed with snakes to show that "shakti" (power) is inseparable from them.
vighna nivaarana: Ganesha is specifically invoked to remove obstacles. This is also well known- "nirvighnam kurumey deva sarva kaaryeshu sarvadaa" etc. We can also recall the shloka which mentions the 16 names of Lord Ganesha beginning with "Sumukha" and the promise that whoever chants these 16 names will be free from all vighnas at all times in life.
Shaambhava: Son of Shambu, Shiva. The kriti begins with Parvati and ends with Shiva.
Shri Tyagaraaja nuta: The one praised by Tyagaraja. Tyagaraja can refer to the saint or it can even refer to Lord Shiva. When did Lord Shiva praise/worship Lord Ganesha?
During Tripura samhaara- when the demon Tripura was destroyed by Lord Shiva. Shiva mounted a chariot and went after Tripura. However, Shiva forgot to take his son, Ganesha's blessings. Hence, the axle of his chariot broke. Even Shiva had to bow down to Ganesha to ensure that further impediments are kept at bay. Paramacharya observes in his discourses that the place "accharupaakkam" in Kanchipuram district is the place where the axle broke. Hence, the name of the place (acchu-iru-baagam) where the axle (acchu) broke into two!
We can again go to the Dikshitar's "shakti sahita ganapatim" (referenced earlier) and see a connection.
"shakti sahita ganapatim... shankaraadi sevitam"- Ganesha, who was worshipped even by Lord Shiva.
This kriti has several "raajas": some explicit and others implicit. It is on Vighnaraaja- Ganesha. It is sung by Tyaagaraaja. It brings in Himavaan who is giriraaja. It refers to sura raaja who is Indra and to Aadi Shesha who is phani raaja! It calls ganesha as "ibha raaja" and as gana raaja (same as naatha). It brings in the moon who is the king of the night- yaamini naatha or yaamini raaja!
U Srinivas, Shankar Mahadevan, Mclaughlin and Zakir performing Giri raaja Sutaa...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31yc8PELL3E
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