Arunachalanatham

Arunachala Natham

In this essay one will focus on the sthala which pertains to agni /tejas or fire.

This composition in Saranga is set to rupaka talam. Dikshithar has composed three other krithis in this raga, of which varadaraja upasmahe is also set in the same rupaka talam. It is interesting that of the five pancha buta krithis, only two are in prati madhyama ragas – but both of them are janyas of kalyani

While Saranga is a sampurna raga, it is a vakra bhashanga janya of the 65th melakartha, Mechakalyani. The phrase p m(2) r g m(1) r s showcases both the vakra nature and the sudha madhyamam , which is the anya swara.

Before we go to the krithi, let us go to this particular sthala .

Arunachala refers to the holy hill at Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu. This hill is also known by a couple of other names like Arunagiri( associated with the 15^th century Tamil poet Arunagirinathar who composed 16000 songs in praise of Lord Muruga collectively called the Thiruppugazh), Annamalai Hill, Arunachalam, Arunai, Sonagiri and Sonachalam. The 9^th century poet Manikkavasagar is supposed to have composed the Tiruvempaavai here.

It is also an important place for devotees of Sri Ramana Maharishi, since his ashram is in the foothills.

Legend has it that Parvati once playfully closed Shiva’s eyes . Even though it was just a moment for them, all light was taken from the universe for decades. Parvati, along with other devotees, performed a penance and Shiva appeared as a column of fire on the top of Annamali Hills, returning light to the world. He then merged with Parvati to form Ardanarishvara( also the subject of a Dikshithar composition in Kumudakriya) – the half male and half female form. The red Annamalai temple lies behind the Annamalaiyar temple. The hill itself is considered sacred and an iconic representation of the Shiva lingam.

In another legend, Vishnu and Brahma competed as to who was superior( yes, that is the interesting thing about Hindu mythology. Our Gods can be unabashedly pedestrian and even juvenile at times.) Shiva is supposed to have appeared as a flame and challenged them to find his source. Vishnu became a swan and flew to the top, while Brahma became a boar( varaha) and burrowed below the earth. This scene is called lingothbhava. Neither could find the source. However, Vishnu accepted defeat gracefully while Brahma lied about locating the source. Because of this as a punishment Shiva ordained that there would be no temples on earth ever to worship Brahma.

This is considered to be an aathara sthalam or a personification of one of the chakras in the human anatomy. Incidentally all pancha buta sthalas, except the prithvi sthala are considered aathara sthalas. The Annamalaiyar temple is supposed to represent the manipuraka sthalam. I will not go into the chakras themselves their location and what they represent etc. Suffice to mention that the other chakras/temple combines are ajna( Chidambaram), Visudhi( Kalahasti), Anahata( Kashi Vishwanatha), Swadhishtanam( Tiruvannaikaval) and Mooladharam( Thyagaraja swamy at Tiruvarur). The sahasra chakra seems to have no corresponding temple – maybe because it is not located in the actual body. Just one last thing about the pancha buta – chakra connection, if we were to look at the way the energies are believed to rise it would start from the swadhishtana to the ajna and eventually sahasra. While the ajna sthala is Chidambaram and corresponds to the most sublime of the elements, there seems to be a disconnect in the order of the visudhi and manipuraka sthalas

Shiva’s spouse here is referred to Unnamulai Amman or Apitakuchamba. While the consorts of Shiva in all the other pancha buta sthalas have compositions in their honour( Kamakshi, Akhilandeswari, Gnana Prasunambike and Sivakami), there seems to be no composition about Apitakuchamba.

The sthala vriksha is the magizha. It is considered sacred and medicinal and childless couples tie small cradles to the branches in worship.

We will talk about just two rituals connected with this shrine . The first is the Giri Valam or the 14 km circumambulation of the hill and the second is the Karthigai Deepam when devotees take the embers from the fire at the temple upto the top of Arunachala where a fire is lit which can be seen for miles around.

It is also interesting that this krithi abounds in the ra syllable , which is an agni beeja.

Pallavi

ArunAchala nAtham SmArami

Anisham apItakuchAmba samEtam

It is interesting that Dikshithar could have easily said Arunachala natham bhajami or even namami. But he chose to say smarami so as to allude to the fact that merely thinking( smaranath) about Arunachala could give one moksha. What can one say? The guy was real deep.

Smarami – think of/contemplate

Anisham – constantly/continually

Sameta – joined/united

 I  constantly think of Arunachalanatha, who is with Apitakuchamba

Anupallavi

SmaranAth kaivalyaprada CharanAravindam

TarunAditya kOti shankAshachidAnandam

karunArasAdi kandam

SharanAgatha sura brindam

Smarana – remembrance/to think of

Kaivalya – leading to eternal happiness or emancipation

Prada – effecting/causing/bestowing

Charanaravindam – charana(feet) + ravinda( lotus flower) – lotus feet

Tarunaditya – taruna( young/youthful) + aditya( sun) – newly risen sun

Koti – crores

Shankasha – look/appearance

Chidanandam – Chit(consciousness) + ananda( blissful)

His lotus feet bestow eternal happiness just by thinking of them. He is consciousness and bliss personified and his effulgence appears/looks like  crores of rising suns.

Charanam

AprAkritha tejOmaya lingam

aprAkritha – extraordinary

tejas – brightness/brilliance/light/fiery energy; tejomaya – filled with those properties

He is in the form of the extraordinary brilliant lingam

AtyAdbhuta karadhrta sarangam

Adhbhuta – wonderful/miraculous; atyAdbhutha – very wonderful

Karadhrta – kara( hands) + dhrta( supported) – supported by hands

Sarangam – deer ; also the raga mudra in this krithi

He holds a very marvelous deer in his hands

ApramEya aparnAbja bhrngam

Aprameya – unfathomable/immeasurable/unlimited/abundant

Aparna – leafless – but also another name for Parvati( please refer to the story when she tried to get Shiva’s attention by eating only leaves . Parvati’s got her name of Aparna from that incident)

Abja – lotus

Bhringa – large black bee

He is like the black bee hovering over the abundant lotus like Aparna or Parvathi

ArUdhOttunga vrshaturangam

 Arudho – mounted on / elevated on

Turanga – horse – but used to mean a deity’s vahana or vehicle in most krithis

Vrsha – bull

He is mounted on a bull , which is his vahana or vehicle( turanga here is used in the context of vehicle)

ViprOttama vishEshAntarangam

viparOttama – vipra( Brahmin/sage/seer) + uttama( highest/most elevated/uppermost) – or the most superior Brahmins

vishesha – special

antaranga – interior

He is especially in the hearts of the best sages

Veer guruguha tara prasangam

Veer – Brave/Courageous

Tara – good/excellent

Prasanga – attached to

He is very attached to the excellent and brave Guruguha

SvapradIpamouli vidhrta gangam

SvaprakAsha jita sOmAgnipatangam

Sva – self ; pradeep – light; mouli – head – his glorious head

Vidrta – borne

He wears /bears the Ganga on his glorious head

Svaprakasha – sva( self) + prakasha( brilliance) – his natural brilliance

Jita – won

Somagnipatangam –soma(moon) + agni(fire) + patanga(sun)

His natural brilliance wins over the sun, moon and fire

 It is prasa laden, like all his krithis and is filled with references to fire and light right through the krithi.

The raga mudra is in the beginning of the charanam and the vaggeyakara mudra( guruguha) towards the end of the charanam.