Topic started by ravi_c on Mon Aug 9 02:49:40 .
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

what u think about this?

http://www.the-hindu.com/fline/fl1616/16160960.htm

Responses:

• From: Sree (@ 134.243.96.152) on: Mon Aug 9 13:19:24
  
  Whether Tyagaraja is a saint or not is a debatable issue. No matter whether he is a saint or not, considering his gazillion compositions, one ought to look up to that "mortal" with awe. A rose is a still rose no matter what you call it; and what a rose he was! ;-)
  
  My follow-up is a sort of an aside. There seem to be some seemingly factual errors in the article.
  
  The author writes - "Although it is remarkable that Tyagaraja and the other members of the Trinity never seem to have met in their
  lifetimes (both Syama Sastri and Muttuswami Dikshitar lived in Tiruvarur)"
  
  This is incorrect! I'm refuting this claim based on the information from the book Great Composers, Book 1, Fifth Edition by Padma Bhushan Prof. P. Sambamurthy, the eminent musicologist.
  
  1) Page 82: Tyagaraja and Syama Sastry were good friends and the latter occasionally used to go to Tyagaraja's house in Tiruvaiyaru. As soon as the latter's disciples saw Syama Sastri, the younger amongst them murmured "Oh! Today we will have our meal only at 2 p.m.; these two composers will go on talking talking talking...." At those occasional meetings, the two great personages used to compare their new pieces and profited by mutual appreciation and criticism. To the senior disciples, it was an intellectual and aesthetic treat to listen to their conversations.
  
  2) Page 81: Syama Sastri gave Srividhya upadesam i.e. initiation into the cult of Devi Bhakthi to his illustrious contemporary Muthuswamy Dikshitar...
  
  3) Also, in the same article the author talks about vararAgalaya in chechukAmbOdhi... According to P.Sambamurthy - "Once a few disciples of Syama Sastri, who had exaggerated notions of their own musical talents, went before Tyagaraja and sang some of their guru's krithis. They failed to render them correctly and in one or two places committed grievous blunders. Tyagaraja got so annoyed that he forthwith asked them to stop and remarked: "You have miserably failed to grasp the rhythimical construction of his pieces. You are actually murdering them and you are sinning against the great composer..." It was this incident that provoked the composition of the krithi vara rAga layajnulu in chenchukAmbOdhi....
  
  4) All the three were born in Tiruvarur but Tyagaraja lived in Thiruvaiyaru and Syama Sastry (born in 1762) lived in Tanjore after 1781. Muthuswamy Dikshitar went to North India, he spent some time in Etayapuram etc.,. So, it is incorrect to say that SS and MD "lived" in Thiruvarur, at least SS for sure is always associated with Tanjore's Bangaru Kamakshiamman temple.
  
  
• From: Narayanan (@ 194.193.249.33) on: Wed Sep 15 09:33:54
  
  There is another short story about MD and ST.
  Once MD was visiting Thiruvaiyaru when he met ST on his way. Immediately MD prostrated before ST (Being younger than ST). ST asked him to compose a krithi on Lord Rama in his temple. Immediately MD composed the Krithi "Mamava pattabhirama " in manirangu, which he composed in ST's style with lots of words and not so chowkam.
  ST then composed the krithi "Koluvai..." in bhairavi which is in very Slow Gathi as any MD krithi would be. This i heard form Sri Balakrishna Sastrigal in one of his discourses on St Thyagaraja.
  
  
• From: Vasu (@ 152.austin-06-07rs.tx.dial-access.att.net) on: Sun Sep 19 18:05:26
  
  I too read the article and agree with comments by Sree. I read somewhere on the net that Syama Shastri's son Subbaraya Shastri was a disciple of MD. And they used to meet each other frequently.
  
  
• From: Mahesh Charyulu (@ host-66-81-124-174.rev.o1.com) on: Sun Jun 22 00:31:22
  
  This Article is from Hindu...Which speaks volumes about the article itself...Hindu is one of the forerunners in demeaning anything Hindu or its saints....
  
  Thyagaraya Swami is a great saint...I regard any Article from the Hindu as Trash can Material...
  
  Om Tat Sat.
  
  

Want to post a response?