Easily one of his masterpieces, Thodi, Adi( 2 kalai). Composed sometime in the last 15 years or so of his life.
We all know the relationship between Lord Subramanya and Dikshithar. It was Chidambaranatha Yogi who had early on told him that Subramanya was his natural guru. Leading to his early visit to Tiruttani, the composition of his very first krithi, Shri Nathaadi in Mayamalavagoula and his second Manasa Guruguha in Ananda Bhairavi and the full set of eight Guru Guha Vibhakthi krithis. The other six comprising this set are Shri Guruna (paadi), Guruguhaaya( Saama), Guruguhadanyam( Balahamsa), Guruguhasya( Purvi), Guruguha Swamini( Bhanumati) and Shri Guruguha( Udayaravichandrika). As also to his vaggeyakara mudra.
The shore temple of Tiruchendur is one of the biggest for Lord Subramanya and is one of the six main sthalas for this deity( Padai Veedu) and the second abode. The others being Thiruparikundram, Thiruttani, Palani, Swamimalai and Pazhamudircholai. It is believed that Adi Shankara composed his Subramanya Bhujangam here. This 2000 plus years old temple with a tower of over 140 feet is the only Murugan temple on a shore, the others all being in forests or mountainous areas. The anupallavi refers to patra vibhoothi which is a prasadam at Trichendur.
It also refers to the destroying of Taraka. That is another great story. Taraka was an asura and he wanted to fight the Gods. He did severe penance and Brahma appeared before him asking him what he wanted. He said make me immortal. Brahma said I cannot do that but you can set a very high bar for your demise. So he asked that he should only be killed by a child of Shivas who was seven years old. At that time after the demise of Shakthi, Shiva was in deep meditation in the Himalayas and Taraka was very confident that Shiva would not marry again or produce a child.
So he was granted that boon and started terrorising the Devas. But already Parvathy had been born and was doing deep tapas to marry Shiva. Now the Gods had to get Shiva to notice Parvathy. And in came Manmatha who was burnt by Shiva and it was these six sparks of fire( netragni) from Shiva's Third eye which were ultimately deposited in the Ganges because the earth, the mountains etc could not withstand that heat. And it was those vital elements from Shiva which went into the formation of Kartikeya who killed Taraka when he was seven years old.
In the charanam there is reference to Shankabhishekadyupachaarah.. Honoured with Shankabhisheka( ie abhisheka with the Shanka or conch). It also references the Shadakshara mantra, which is what Dikshithar was repeating at Tiruttani when he had the vision on the 40th day which offered him the sugarcandy. It also references the nava veera nanda ( nine heroes) surrounding him. This is also referenced in his Kasiramakriya krithi. The nava veeras are the nine sons of Navashakthis and brothers of Subramanya. They are Veera Bahu, Veera Kesari, Veera Soora, Veera Mahendra, Veera Maheshwara, Veera Purandhara, Veera Marthanda, Veeranthaka and Veera Dheera. They assist him in battle
Loking at the musicality and the sahithya, we will see that it is filled with swaraksharas and prasa. Offhand, the anupallavi Bha( p), sa ma( ma), na( n) springs to mind. Both the anupallavi and the charanam are full of antim akshara prasa. In the anupallavi we have devaseno, bodhano, subhacharano and nipuno. In the charanam we have bhaskara, sobhakarah, sivakarah, hata dhira, shadakshara, mandarah, upacharah, divyambarah, guruguhah..the list is endless
Going into individual words
Shri Subramanyo Maam Rakshathu is straight forward.. Shri Subramanya protect me.
Shanmukhavatara Shakthiroopa Shanmukha( Shad + mukha) the six faced who is a manifestation of power
Bhasamana ( Radiant) Valli Devasenao. One who is radiant with Valli and Devasena
Bharatishadi( Bharatisha + adi i.e Brahma and others) Tatva( self) bodhino. He who expounds about the Self to Brahma and others
Vasavadi ( Vasava is Indra, Vasavadi is Indra and others) Vandita ( adoring) Shubha( sacred) Charano( feet). Whose sacred feet are worshipped by Indra and others
Patra Vibhoothi pradana( gives) nipuno( famous for). Now this patra or leaf is that of the Paneer tree which is believed to have curative properties in Ayurveda, especially in curing diabetes. There are innumerable stories of the power of Trichendur's patra Vibhoothi and their curative properties, including Sage Vishwamitra and Adi Shankara himself.
Shata( Hundred) Kothi( Crores) Bhaskara( Sun) Shobhakarah. He who shines with the effulgence of a hundred crore suns.
Shishta(Good) Shiti(Peacock) Kantha( neck) atmaja( son, born of).. He who is born of the Blue necked one( or Shiva) Shivakarah( auspicious)
Pratapa( Courageous Brave etc) Tarakaadi( Taraka and others) Hata( killed) Dheera( Wise).. the wise , and hero who killed Taraka and others
Prabala( bala is strength , prabala extreme strength) Ganesh anuja( comes after or younger brother) i.e Ganesh's younger brother. Now Shadakshara is the six akshara mantra( Sa ra va na bha va).. know by this
Shata +ayush( 100 years of life) prada( can give) Bhaktha Mandara.. Gives long life to his devotees.
Shanka + abhisheka + upacharah worshipped with abhishekam through a conch.
Kshitish( Lords of the earth or Kings) poojitha( worshipped by) Divya + ambarah( sacred attire). Surrounded by the Nava veera Nanda and revered by Guruguha
Let us look at Dikshithar's krithis in Thodi. He has composed eight . Dakshayani Abhayambike, Kamalambike( Navavarna Dhyana krithi), Mahaganapathim Vande, Palayamam Brihadeeshwari, Ramachandraya Namasthe, Shri Krishnam Bhaja, Shri Subramanyo, and Vedaranyeshwara. I have intentionally left out the varnam Rupama Joochi because some accounts say it was composed by Dikshithar for Kamalam's( his disciple) arangetram and the Tanjore quartet became his disciples after attending this arangetram. Other accounts say that this was composed by the Tanjore quartet. Personally I find it a bit strange because there is absolutely no other varnam by Dikshithar. One will also immediately remember the other Thodi krithi on Subramanya, Kartikeya Gaangeya ( by Papanasam Sivan). Also in 2 kalai Adi. Also both start in similar ways at the Gandharam, move up to the Panchamam and come to a prolonged rest at the Shadjam at the arudi point.
Let us look at the krithis on Subramanya. These would be Balasubramanyam( Surutti ) which is sung before the Navavarnas, Dandayuthapaanim( Anandabhairavi), Kumaraswaminam( Asaveri), Shri Subramanyaya ( Khambhoji), Shri Swaminathaya( Kamas), Senapate Palayamam( Kasiramakriya), Shadanane( Kamas),Subramanyam( Shankarabharanam), Subramanyena( Sudha Dhanyasi), Swaminatha( nata), Swaminathena( Brindavani), Saravanabhava( revagupti), Shri Balasubramanya( Bilahari) in addition to this one. So a total of 14. In addition, we have the eight composed at Tirutani and comprise the Guru Vibhakthi Krithis giving rise to a grand total of 22 on this deity.
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