Dvaitamu sukhama - Tyagaraja Kritis (Eng)

Pallavi

dvaitamu sukhamā advaitamu sukhamā1 dvaitamu sukhamā advaitamu sukhamā1

Is Dvaita comforting or Advaita?

Anupallavi

caitanyamā2 vinu sarva sākṣi vistāramugānu telpumu nātō (dvaitamu) caitanyamā2 vinu sarva sākṣi vistāramugānu telpumu nātō (dvaitamu)

O Pure Consciousness! Listen, O Witness to everything! Please explain to me in detail: (Is Dvaita...)

Charanam

gagana pavana tapana bhuvanādyavanilō3 nagadharāja śivēndrādi surulalō bhagavad-bhakta varāgrēsarulalō bāga ramiñcē tyāgarājārcita4 (dvaitamu) gagana pavana tapana bhuvana3ādi avanilō nagadhara aja śiva indra ādi surulalō bhagavad-bhakta vara āgrēsarulalō bāga ramiñcē tyāgarāja-arcita4 (dvaitamu)

One happily present in the Five Elements! And in the Trinity, Indra and the devas, And in the most eminent of devotees! One worshipped by Tyagaraja: (Is Dvaita...)

Variations

• ⁴tyāgarājārcita – tyāgarāja nuta.

Commentary

• ¹dvaitamu – advaitamu – The following are the statements of Sri Tyagaraja –
  • In his prologue to dance-drama ‘Prahlada Bhakti Vijayam’:

    saguṇa nirguṇamula samamugāneñcu suguṇa rāma brahma sutuḍaina tyāgarāju...
    ....tyAgarAja - the son of virtuous rAma brahma - who considers the worship of Lord with Form and without Form on equal footing...

  • In the Kriti Paramatmudu rāga vāgadhīśwari –

    paramātmuḍu veligē muccaṭa bāga telusukōrē saguṇamulō viguṇamulō
    ....Know unerringly the grandeur with which the Supreme Lord is effulgent ... He is found with qualities – sattva, rajas and tamas, and bereft of qualities...

  • In the Kriti Anuragamu leni rāga saraswati –

    saguṇa dhyānamu paini saukhyamu
    ....comfort experienced in the meditation on Lord with form (qualities)

  • In the Kriti ‘nī bhajana gāna – rāga nāyaki –

    saguṇa nirguṇa nijamu dabbaralanu ...santasilla kaṇṭini
    ... truth and falsehood of worship of the Lord with attributes and without attributes ... I beheld exultingly...

  • In the Kriti – ‘sundaratara dēham’ – rāga pantuvarāḷi, He calls the Lord śrī rāma – ‘śivam-advaitam’ – the auspicious One and the One without dualitiy.
  • In the Kriti ‘rāma sītārāma rāma’ – rāga balahaṃsa, –

    advaita sāmrājyamul(a)bbin(a)ṭṭu rāma
    sad-vairāgyamu nidhiyu sāyujyamē rāma
    In the same manner as attainment of the empire of non-duality, the wealth of real indifference to Worldly pleasures too amounts to one-ness with You.

  • In the Kriti E dari sancharintura rāga śrutirañjani, He asks the Lord which path he should follow – dvaita or advaita:

    ē dāri sañcarinturā-yika balkarā
    anni tānanu mārgamunanu canaga
    nannu vīḍanu bhāramani-yāḍedavu
    tannu brōvu dāsa varadā-yaṇṭē
    dvaituḍ-anedavu tyāgarāja nuta
    Please tell me now as to which path should I adhere. If I go in the path of Advaita – all is Self only, You say that it is difficult to overcome ego; if I pray ‘please protect me, O bestower of boons to the devotees’, You say that I am a Dvaitin.

• ²caitanyamā – sarva sākṣi – O Pure Consciousness! O Witness of Everything (everybody)! These two epithets go to show the bent of mind of Sri Tyagaraja.
  • Sri Tyagaraja is not the first person to raise such a query. There has been no definitive and final answer for millenniums. The following quotation from aṣṭavakra gīta is relevant –

kva dharmaḥ kva ca vā kāmaḥ kva cārthaḥ kva vivēkatā |
kva dvaitaṃ kva ca vā(a)dvaitaṃ svamahimni sthitasya mē || 19-2 ||

For me, established in my own glory, there is no religion, sensuality, possessions, philosphy, duality or even non-duality. (Translation by John Richards). Source - [Ashtavakra Gita]

• ³bhuvana – this word generally means living creatures, mankind etc. But this word also means ‘water’. In the context of five elements – ‘water’ seems to be appropriate the meaning.