Lec Dem The Beauty of Sangeetham & Sahityam in

Muthuswami Dikshitars Compositions

19nov08
Vid R.K. Shriramkumar presented a lec dem on The Beauty of Sangeetham and Sahityam in Muthuswami
Dikshitars Compositions on 9th Nov 2008. He was accompanied on the violin by Vid Amritha Murali and on the
mrudangam by Vid Manoj Siva. The lec dem was organized by IIT Madras Music Club. Here is a summary based
on the notes taken. I have taken the liberty to organize this under my own set of headings. Corrections, if any, are
most welcome.
INTRODUCTION
The contribution of the Trinity to Carnatic Music viz. Shri Thyagaraja, Shri Muthuswami Dikshitar and Shri
Shyama Shastri stands unparalleled. Of them, Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar composed profusely in Sanskrit.
The hallmark of all great composers is that the sangItam and sAhityam gel so well.vAgarthA vivasampriktau
vAgartha pratipatayE jagatah pitarau vandE pArvati paramEshvarau says Kalidasa. The way word and meaning
are inseparable, the same way the sAhityam and sangItam in the compositions of the great composers are
inseparable.
Ex 1: In vandanamu raghunandana (sahAnA) of Shri Thyagaraja, the bhAva of vandanam is there right at the
beginning of the song and the plaintiveness of sahAnAis used to convey it effectively.
Ex 2: In sthiramani nammiti of mAyammA, the steadfastness (sthiram) is conveyed well using Ahiri
In the case of Trinity and related great composers, it is not separate people writing the lyric and composing the tune.
These composers did not compose for the sake of composing or to show their prowess of music or of language. Song
to them was an outpouring of svAnubhUti.
Muthuswami Dikshitar is probably the most intellectual composer ever. His intellect was combined with bhakti,
gnAna and vidwat.
DIKSHITAR THE ADVAITIN
Dikshitar followed Adi Shankara in almost all aspects. He was a staunch follower of Advaita philosophy. His
Sanskit, like Adi Shankaras is so simple, yet so lofty. Adi Sankara brought a great vEdAntic truth in bhaja
gOvindam in four simple lines by saying punarapi jananam punarapi maraNam, punarapi jananI jathare
shayanam, iha samsaare bahudustAre, kripayA apAre pAhi murArE in such simple Sanskrit. Dikshitar also
displays similar flair for language in many of his songs.
SRIVIDYA UPASANA AND THE GURUGUHA MUDRA
Dikshitar used the mudhra guruguha (Anugraha of Guhan as a Guru in Tiruttani)
Dikshitar was adept in Sri Vidya Upasana in which the mother Goddess is regarded as the Brahman and is the prime
deity of worship. The Sri Vidya mantra is embedded in the vEdAs:

kAmO yOniH kamalA vajrapANir guhA hasA mAtarishvAbhram indraH |

punar guhA sakalA mAyA ca purucyEsha vishvamAtA adi vidyA ||
The word guhA also means the shAkhta praNava hrIm (?). The guru has the most exalted position na gurOr
adhikam tattvam. These two great words guru and guhA when combined give us the mudhra.

THE FIRST COMPOSITION

The story of his first song is that an old man came and put a sugar candy in his mouth in Tiruttani and he burst into
song.
In his very first kriti shrInAthAdi guruguhO jayati jayati, he explains the lakSaNAs of an ideal Sri Vidya guru
how a guru is described in the vEdAs/upanishads, what the guru does to the disciples, how a guru bestows gnAna
etc
There are multiple names of the guru in Sanskrit. But the word shrInAtha is very significant and is derived from:
shrI bestower of auspiciousness
nA dwells in the nAdhA, he does upAsanA of nAdabrahma
tha he blocks ignorance agyAnatha sthagitham panravar
Dikshitars first kriti itself begins with this important word.
The first line of this kriti is a quintessence of the very first shlOkA of the Sri Vidya paddhathi:
shrInAthAdi gurutrayam gaNapatim piThatrayam bhairavam
siddhaugam baTukatrayam padayugam dutikramam mandalam
vIrAn dvyAsta catushka shashTi navakam virAvaLi pancakam
srIman-mAlini-mantra-rAjasahitam vandE gurOr manDalam
Dikshitar pays obeisance to all the constituents of the Sri Vidya guru manDaLam by this one line shrInAthAdi
guruguhO jayati
The shrIvidyA mantra has 15 syllables. This kriti is in the 15 th mELa mAyAmALavagauLa. This is the mELA
(along with its janya rAgams) in which Dikshitar has composed the most.
In the opening line of the kriti itself, Dikshitar gives the scale of rAgam (ArOhaNam and avarOhaNam) in three
speeds
The prathamAkSara prAsam in the caraNam is very interesting (please note every line in the caraNam below starts
with ma/mA):
mAyAmaya vishvAdhishThAnO

mAtmaka kAdi matAnushThAnO

mAlinI maNDalAnta vidhAnO
mantrAdyajapA hamsa dhyAnO
mAyAkArya kalanA hInO
mAmaka sahasra kamalAsInO
mAdhurya gAnAmRita pAnO
mAdhavAdyabhayavarapradAnO
mAyAshabaLita brahma rUpO
mArakOTi sundara svarUpO
matimatAm hRidayagOpuradIpO
mattashUrAdi jayapratApO
mAyAmALavagauLAdidEsha
mahIpati pUjita pada pradEsha
mAdhavAdyamara bRinda prakAsha
mahEshasya mahArthOpadEsha
There are three main traditions of Sri Vidya:
kAdi-vidyA
hAdi-vidyA
sAdi-vidyA
kAdividya has a superiority over the other two. Dikshitar says his guru belongs to the kAdividyA tradition (kAdi
matAnushThAnO)
He gives details from Adi Shankaras Advaita vEdAnta:
brahma satyam jagan mithyA jIvO brahmaiva na aparaH
brahma satyam Brahman is the only truth
jagan mithyA This world is an illusion
jIvO brahmaiva na aparaH The individual soul is no different from the Brahman
Dikshitar believed in this siddhAntA very strongly

We have 6 centers of energy in our body beginning from the bottom of the spine to the top of the head. The shakti
called kunDalini is supposed to reside at the mUlAdhArA the bottom of the spine and is aroused by japa, mantra
and yoga sAdhanAs to meet the Shiva svarUpam the 1000 petal lotus that is supposed to exist at the top of the
head
Shri Sureshwaracharya says in mAnasOllAsam:
IshwarO gururAtmEti
mUrti bhEda vibhAginE
vyomAvad vyApta dEhAya
dakSinAmurtayE namaH
One should not see difference between guru and ambAL (IshwarO gururAtmEti)
devyA deho yathA prOktO gurudeha tathaiva ca
The gurus place is always at the position of the 1000 petal lotus at the top. Dhyanam of the guru must be made at
this place. The reference to this is made in the verses
mAyAkArya kalanA hInO
mAmaka sahasra kamalAsInO

mAdhurya gAnAmRita pAnO The guru is an upasakA of the nAdhA (shrinAtha)

mahEshasya mahArthOpadEsha- He makes it a point to mention that Shri Subramanya took the role of a guru when
he gave upadEshA of the praNava to his father, Lord Shiva (Mahesha)
guru nAmam is always suffixed with the AnandanAtha shabDam. When Dikshitar mentions his or his gurus
dIkshA nAma, he always uses the word cidAnandanAtha. Interestingly, Shri Subramanya is given the name
svAminAtha only when he takes the role of a guru. The nAtha shabdam is not given to him at any other place.
Beginning with shrInAthAdi guruguhO jayati, the eight Guruguha Vibhakti kritis are a great tribute to the Guru.
Dikshitar explains the ideal lakshanas of the guru in these kritis.

THE IMPORTANCE OF A GURU

In the kriti shrI guruguhasya dAsOham (pUrvi), Dikshitar writes thus:
shrI guruguhasya dAsOham nOcEt cidguruguha EvAham

Dikshitar says that he is the dAsA of his guru who taught him Atma vidyA, else he is the form of the guruguhA
himself.
The significance of this is that there is no advaita bhAvam with the guru guru and shishyA are not the same. We
should always have a dAsa bhAvam with the guru. Advaita bhAvam is only with the Atma svarUpam. Dikshitar
makes this distinction very well by always saying the guru shabdam with shrI or AnandanAtha nAmam.
bhOga mOkSAtmaka caraNasya bhUpurAdi navAvaraNasya yOgibRndAntahkaraNasya yOgapIThAdi kAraNasya
ambAL is the only one who gives bhOgam and mOkSam prosperity and salvation. Since there is no difference
between the guru and the ambAL, the guru also bestows the same.
bhUpurAdi navAvaraNasya: bhUpura is the first cakram. This phrase refers to the 9 cakrAs of the shrIcakram
beginning with the bhUpura and says that this is the form of the guru.
bhAvanOpanishad says:
shrI guru sarvakAraNa bhUtA shaktiH tEna navarandha rUpO dEhaH navacakra rUpam shrIcakram
The gurus body (dEha) itself is described as the shrIcakrA and all the deities of the shrIcakrA are identified.

KAMALAMBA NAVAVARANAMS
* The kamalAmbA navAvaraNam is the most esoteric set of compositions one can ever see in Carnatic music.
Every word and syllable in these compositions has some significance
* Dikshitar belonged to the kAdi vidyA tradition of Sri Vidya. Sri Vidya mantra begins with the letter ka.
Dikshitar has started the kamalAmba navAvaraNams with ka. The Sri Vidya mantra has an extension
called shODashi which ends with shrI. Similarly the 9th kriti of the navAvaraNams and the mangaLa kriti begin
with shrI
* The deity of the shrIcakram is mahA tripura sundari. Her iconography is that she has four hands and a pAsha,
ankushA, ikSu cApa (sugarcane bow), pushpa bANa (arrows of flowers).
* Dikshitar could have chosen to compose these kritis on Maha Tripura Sundari. Why did he chose kamalAmbA? It
is not just because she is the deity in yOgA in the kSEtrA Tiruvarur, his birthplace.
The beeja/bindu the ultimate cakrA where ambAL is united with Shiva and shines as the omnipotent partner is
denoted by the word kamalA.
As per katapayAdi sankhyA, kA = 1, ma = 5, la = 3 and it adds up to 9. Any number multiplied by 9 gives 9 when
its digits are added up. 9 always stays like brahma svarUpam.
ambAL is the mAhAtripurasundarI as the Brahman/Atman. So Dikshitar has rightfully chosen kamalAmbA for the
set of navAvarNa kritis.

* There is a verse in Rig Veda: catvAra Im bibhrati kSEmayantaH That mantra which has 4 Ims bestows
mOkSa. Great people have identified Sri Vidya mantra as that mantra. Interestingly, the last AvarNa kriti is of the
bindu where ambAL shines as the Brahman and Dikshitar uses the two words rAja rAjEshwari and
mahAtripurasundari. Nowhere else are these words used as all the other cakrAs lead to this bindu and ambAL is
in her own forms in these other cakrAs. There are only four Ims in the kriti, reiterating the vEdic statement.
* All 8 vibhaktis are employed in this kriti. The pallavi employs the first vibhakti (has all akArAnta shabdAs):
shrI kamalAmbA jayati ambA
shrI kamalAmbA jayati jagadAmbA
shrI kamalAmbA jayati
shRingAra rasa kadambA madambA
shrI kamalAmbA jayati
cidbhimbA pratibhimbhEndu bhimbhA
shrI kamalAmbA jayati
shrIpura bindu madhyastha
cintAmaNi mandirastha
shivAkAra mancasthita shivakAmEshAnkasthA

* Dikshitar uses an IkArAnta shabda in the anupallavi that becomes Im in the second vibhakti
sUkarAnanAdyarccita mahAtripura
sundarIM rAjarAjEshvarIM
shrIkara sarvAnandamaya cakravAsinIM
suvAsinIM cintayEham

* Dikshitar begins the caraNam with the first nAma of the sahasranAma arcanA shrImAtA:
shrImAtrE namastE cinmAtrE sEvita
ramA harIsha vidhAtrE

* He ends the kriti with the 999th nAma (shivashaktyaikya rUpiNi as sAmarasya nidarshini):

brahmamaya prakAshinI nAmarUpa vimarshinI

kAmakalA pradarshinI sAmarasya nidarshinI

* He starts the mangaLa kriti shrI kamalAmbikE with the 1000 th nAma lalitA
shrI kamalAmbikE shivE pAhimAM lalitE

* Dikshitar mentions so many esoteric values and infuses so many concepts subtly into his kritis

PANCALINGA KSHETRA KRITIS

* These kritis are:
cintaya mA kanda mUlakandam bhairavi rUpakam Earth kAncIpuram
jambUpatE mAm pAhi Water tiruvAnaikkA
aruNacala nAtham smarAmi Fire tiruvaNNAmalai
shrI kALahastIsha Air kAlahasti
AnandanaTanaprakAsham Sky cidambaram

* He refers to wife of the Lord in the following 4 kritis:

jambUpatE mAm pAhi akhilAnDEshwari ramaNa
aruNacala nAtham smarAmi apItakucAmbA samEtam
shrI kALahastIsha gnAnaprasUnAmbikA patE
AnandanaTanaprakAsham shivakAmavallIsham
But he doesnt mention kamAkSi in cintaya mA kanda mUlakandam. This is because manmathA, who is one of
the foremost upAsakAs of dEvi, was burnt by Shiva and ambAL, being very upset, withdrew into her bila AkAsha
from all Shiva kSEtrAs. She came back to all the Shiva kSEtrAs later after Brahma and all did tapas but not to
Kanchipuram, which is hence called Shivajit kSEtra. She is not in the precincts of the EkAmrEsanAtha temple. This
is why she is not present in this Dikshitar kriti too.

RIGHT CHOICE OF WORDS

The choice of right words for his kritis is so admirable. Some examples are:
* Thinking about Arunachala can itself give salvation, so aruNAcala nAthamsmarAmi

* Lord Surya is namaskAra priyan, so suryamUrtE namOstute

* Chandran is always associated with the mind, so chandram bhaja mAnasa
* Most words in jambUpatE are fluid oriented as the kSEtra represents water.
ambujAsanAdi sakala dEva namana tumburunuta hiRdaya tApOpashamana ambudhi gangA kAvErI yamunA kambu
kaNDyakhilANDEshvarI ramaNa
ambuja comes from water.
ambudhi is the sea.
gangA, kAvEri, yamunA are rivers
kambhu kaNDyakhilANDEshvarI Akhilandeshwari has a conch like neck. Conch comes from water.
* Tiruvannamalai kSEtram represents fire. ra represents agni (fire). The whole kriti aruNAcala nAtham smarAmi
is full of use of ra:
pallavi
aruNAcala nAtham smarAmi anIsham apItakucAmbA samEtam
anupallavi
smaraNAt kaivalyaprada caraNAravindam
taruNAditya kOTi shaHNkAshacidAnandam
karuNArasAdi kandam sharaNAgata sura brindam
caraNam
aprAkRita tEjOmaya lingam
atyadbhuta kara dhrita sAraHNgam
apramEyamaparNAbja bhrungam
ArUThOttunga vrishaturangam
viprOttama vishEshAntarangam
vIra guruguha tAra prasangam
svapradIpa mauLividhrutagangam
svaprakAsha jita sOmAgni patangam

* In Sanskrit, usage of La in place or la, ra, Ta etc is common. He has employed this in his kritis as well. For
example:
gaurIpAntrarangAdi - gaurI for gauLI in kRishNAnanda mukunda murArE
pAlitOsmi pAli for pADi in shrI guruNA pAlitOsmi

USAGE OF COMPOUND WORDS

Examples:
In the maNirangu kriti mAmava paTTAbhirAma, he says pankajamitra vamshasudhAmbudhicandra mEdinIpAla
rAmacandra. pankajamitra vamsha refers to sUryavamsha, ambudhi refers to the ocean/sea and candra refers to
the Moon. Dikshitar says that Rama is like the Moon to the ocean that sUryavamsha is.
In the mangaLakaishiki kriti shrI bhArgavi bhadram, he says padanayanAnanakaranaLinI parama purusha hari
praNayinI vadana kamala guruguha dharaNIvaranuta ranganAtharamaNI. vadana kamala guruguha
dharaNIvaranuta ranganAtharamaNI refers to dEvi (mahAlAkSmi) as the wife of the Lord Ranganatha who is
worshipped by the husband of the lady who gave birth to Guruguha, who has a lotus like face.
NICE USAGES OF WORDS
* In the kannaDa kriti shrI mAtrubhUtam, the anupallavi has sOmam shirOdhrita sUrya gaNgam.
sOmam = sa umam = with Uma.
shirOdhrita gangam = gangA on his head.
But where did sUrya come? Lord Shiva does not have the Sun on his head. sUrya here refers to arka (erukkam)
plant. Lord Shiva bears this plant on his head.
* In the rAgamAlikA shrI vishvanAtham bhajeham, he uses vanaja candra sannibha vadanam. This does not
mean that the face is like lotus and like the moon. Here vanaja candra refers to moon as being born from the
samudra manthanam. vanaja has a different meaning here.

* In the rAgamAlikA shrI vishvanAtham bhajeham, he also uses patita pAvana kaRaNam madharaNam. ma
here can either mean poison or the moon.

* In shrI vENugOpAla (kurinji), he uses prAkaTyaraNabhIma pAlitArjunabhIAma pAkaripunuta

rAmabhaktayOga kSEma. bhImA refers to having Bhima like valor in war. rAma refers to Lord Krishnas being
beautiful (ramyatE iti rAmaH)

* In shrI guruguha mUrtE (udayaravicandrikA), he uses AraktashvEtamishra caraNa pravruttE to describe the
feet of the guru which have red and white hues. The rAga is udayaravicandrikA and udaya ravi i.e., the rising sun
has a red/crimson color and candrikA is white in color

RAGA MUDRAS
The rAgA names blend into the sAhityam so well. They have not been used by Dikshitar just for the sake of using
rAga mudrAs. A few examples are:

shrI kuranjita kAma in shrI vENugOpAla in the rAgam kuranji (shrI

= Lakshmi, ku = Mother Earth)

tvAmAhurIshAdayas tatvamiti in mAmava raghuvIra in the

rAgam mAhuri

samAna varOjasE mahasE in hastivadanAya namOstubhyam in the

rAgamnavarOj

cintayAmi atanukIrtim in cidambara naTarAjamUrTim in the

rAgamtanukIrti (atanu = without body, Lord Shiva doesnt have a
form/dEham in the AkAsha kSEtra cidambaram)

dArukAvana tapOdhana taruNI

mOhAkArabhikshATanavEshadharashankara in mArakOTi kOTi
lAvaNya in the rAgam Arabhi

AtmOdaya ravicandrikA sandIptE in shrI guruguha mUrtE in the

rAgamudayaravicandrikA (The feet of the guru have red and white

hues. The rAga is udayaravicandrikA and udaya ravi i.e., the rising sun
has a red/crimson color and candrikA is white in color)

vINAbhEri in vINAbhEri in the rAgam AbhEri

sarasvatimanOhari in sarasvatimanOhari in the

rAgamsarasvatimanOhari

kamalAmanOhari in kanjadaLAyatAkSi kAmAkSi in the

rAgam manOhari

ramA harIsha vidhAtrE in shrI kamalAmbA jayati in the

rAgam Ahiri

SWARAKSHARAM
The whole family of Muthuswami Dikshitar seemed to have an obsession with svarAkSaram. But their
svarAkSarams were not done for the sake of doing it. Dikshitars svarAkSarams were not contrived but fit in so well
with the rAga bhAvam. They just fell in place and merged well with the sAhityA.
All ri syllables in the pallavi of sarasvatImanOharI kriti fall on the note ri. In the anupallavi of the same song,
the syllables ma, da and ri fall on the notes with the respective names. A few more examples are
the bhUpALam kriti sadAcalEshvaram bhAvayEham, the shankarAbharaNam kriti sadAshivamupAsmahE and
the mAhuri kriti mAmava raghuvIra

VIBHAKTI
Dikshitar has composed kritis employing all the vibhaktis. Examples are the guruguha vibhakti and abhayAmba
vibhakti kritis.

PRASAM
Maintaining a dwitiyAkSara prAsam has been employed by great composers the second syllable is to be
maintained between the pallavi and the anupallavi in the song. A different syllable can be employed in the caranam.
Dikshitar has done this using very difficult syllables. At no point of time is the dwitIyAkSara given up. Sometimes
even the last syllable is maintained in each line.
For example, in the kriti akSaya linga vibhO svayambhO in shankarAbharaNam, he uses the syllable kSa thus:
pallavi
akSaya liHNga vibhO svayambhO akhilANDa kOTi prabhO pAhi shambO
anupallavi
akSarasvarUpa amita pratApa ArUDha vRSa vAha jagan mOha
dakSa shikSaNa dakSatara sura
lakSaNa vidhi vilakSaNa lakSya
lakSaNa bahu vicakSaNa sudha
bhakSaNa gurukaTAkSa vikSaNa
Similarly, he uses kSa in dakSiNAmUrttE vidaLita dAsArttE in shankarAbharaNam thus:
pallavi
dakSiNAmUrttE vidaLita dAsArttE cidAnanda pUrttE sadA mauna kIrttE
anupallavi
akSayasuvarNa vaTavrukSa mUla sthitE
rakSa mAm sanakAdi rAja yOgi stutE
rakSita sadbhaktE
shikSitaduryuktE
akSarAnuraktE avidyA viraktE
The beauty is that even in the madhyamakAlam, he maintains this in each half avartanam of the tALam in the
verses:
rakSita sadbhaktE
shikSitaduryuktE

He has even used such difficult syllables like NDa in prAsam. For example, in the kriti daNDAyudhapANim in
Anandabhairavi:
pallavi
daNDAyudhapANim daNDita daitya shrENim dayAnidhim bhajarE hridaya satatam sura vinutam
anupallavi
caNDAmshu shatakOTi sankAsham jagadIsham
akhaNDarUpam aNDaja maNi maNDalamaya kuNDalAdi
maNDitAnga sukumAram
khaNDita tArakashUram
paNDitatara navavIram
caNDikEshAvatAram

There are kritis where the tail end of the word that appears last in one half of the Avartanam is used differently in the
second half of the Avartanam.
In the dEvagAndhAri kriti vadAnyEshvaram bhajEham sadA
pashupAsha mOcanam trilOcanam
paHncAnanam praNata gajAnanam
shishupAla gOpaviditam muditam
shivam bilva vaibhavam bhavam
vishuddhyAdi nilayam maNivalayam
vigata vikalpakam shritakalpakam
pashupatim gnAnAmbikApatim
parashu mriga dharam nIlakandharam
ashubhakSayakaram abhaya varadakaram
anAdyavidhyAharam shankaram

In the caraNam, he uses nda as follows:

mandasmita vadanAravindam
mAtula gOvindam
sharaNAgata sura brindam
bahumAnita munibrindam
paripAlita mucukundam
praNata virinci mukundam
adhara madhura makarandam
mrudutara vacana manandam
mAyAmUla kandam
skandam
shandam
pRthivyAtmakagandham
gaganAtmaka sumagandham
vAyumaya dhUpagandham
vahnimaya dIpabrindam
amRtAtmaka rasabrindam
shrI guruguhamAnandam
sundara kara caraNAravindam
ratha gaja turanga brindam
satyagnAnAnandam
ati svacchandam

KNOWLEDGE OF ASAMPURNA AND SAMPURNA MELA SYSTEMS

Though Dikshitar followed the asampUrNa mELa system, he knew about the other sampUrNa mELa system as
well. The following are some observations that prove this.
The asampUrNa mELa raga name for the kriti shrIshUlinIm shritapAlinIm isshailadEshAkSi while the name in the
other system is shUlini. The very first word of the song contains the name shUlini.

The song hariyuvatIm haimavatIm in dEshIsimhAravam has the sampUrNa mELa rAgA name
(hEmavati =~ haimavati) in the beginning itself
The kriti shrI nIlOtpala nAyikE in nArI rItigauLa contains the corresponding sampUrNa mELa rAgA
name naTabhairavi in the anupallavi

SPECIAL EDUPPUS/SANGATHIS
In mArakOTi kOTi lAvaNya (Arabhi), the song starts with madhyamam. The song shrI subrahmaNyO mAM
rakSatu has a different/special gAndhAram right at the beginning. There are many archaic sangatIs in his kritis.
Some are not heard in other compositions in the same rAgams these days (ex. in aruNacala
nAtham in sArangAand pAhimAm ratnAcalanAyaka in mukhAri).

MISCELLANEOUS
* kAmAkSi kA refers to Saraswati, mA to Lakshmi and kAmAkSi refers to the one who has Saraswati and
Lakshmi as her eyes. Dikshitar has composed a lot of kritis on kAmAksi and has also brought this meaning out. For
example, he uses shAradA ramA nayanE in nIrajAkSi kAmAkSi (hindOLam)
* kAmAkSi is dear to Lakshmi and to Saraswati. To show that she is dear to Lakshmi, he has composed
kanjadaLAyatAkSi kAmAkSi where he uses the word kamalAmanOhari. To show that she is dear to Saraswati,
he has composed sarasvatimanOhari where the beginning word itself signifies this.
* Just by singing a Dikshitar kriti we can come to know that he was a vaiNikA. For example has employed wide
jArUs extensively (in the phrase murAri prabhruti in the shankarAbharaNam kriti sadAshivam upAsmahE,
there is a jAru from lower shaDjam to tAra sthAyi rishabham). Another example is the first line of the caraNam of
the kriti tyAgarAja mahadhvajArOha in the rAgam shrI srishTi svarUpa vasanta vaibhavam ashTadhvajEndra
vimAna bhUta samashti gaja vrishabha kailAsa vAham AshlEshamahAratha sthitam.
* Dikshitars compositions reflect his in-depth knowledge of the mantra shastrams.
* Dikshitars compositions serve as a comprehensive guide to temples what all to see in a kSEtram, what is the
significance of the kSEtram etc They also describe temple festivals in great detail. An example is the shrI rAga kriti
tyAgarAja mahadhvajArOha which describes in great detail, the vasantOtsavam.
* Ragas employed for the kritis for Saraswati are rAgAs that are the names of rivers or rAgAs that denote some
movement as the word sarasvati itself denotes movement. Ex: vEgavAhini, chhAyAtarangiNi etc
* Dikshitar composed in a variety of tALams
* Dikshitar starts his kritIs brihaspatE tArApatE (aTANA) and shrI shukra bhagavantam (paras) in tAra sthAyi
to signify that gurus are held in high esteem and their positions are very high. The former kriti starts at rishabham, a
step higher than the latter that starts at shaDjam, to signify that the dEva guru is a step higher.

The following songs were sung either partially or fully during the lec dem (I could have missed listing a few):

shrI guruNA pAlitOsmi pADi rUpakam

shrInAthAdi guruguhO jayati jayati mAyAmALavagauLa Adi

shrI guruguhasya dAsOham pUrvi misra cApu

shrI kamalAmbA jayati Ahiri rUpakam

jambUpatE mAm pAhi yamunAkalyANi tisra Ekam

akSaya linga vibhO svayambhO shankarAbharaNam misra cApu

dakSiNAmUrttE vidaLita dAsArttE shankarAbharaNam misra jampa

kRishNAnanda mukunda murArE gauLipantu misra cApu

vadAnyEshvaram bhajEham sadA- dEvagAndhAri Adi

mAmava paTTAbhirAmA maNirangu misra cApu

shrI bhArgavI bhadram mangaLakaishiki tisra tripuTa

daNDAyudhapANim Anandabhairavi rUpakam

shrI mAtRbhUtam kannaDa misra cApu

sarasvatImanOharI sarasvatImanOharI Adi

shrI vENugOpAla kuranji kanDa Ekam

hastivadanAya namOstubhyam navarOj misra cApu

cidambara naTarAjamUrTim tanukIrti misra cApu

mArakOTi kOTi lAvaNya Arabhi misra jampa

shrI guruguha mUrtE udayaravicandrikA rUpakam

vINAbhEri AbhEri Adi

sarasvatimanOhari sarasvatimanOhari Adi

kanjadaLAyatAkSi kAmAkSi manOhari Adi

shrI kamalAmbA jayati Ahiri rUpakam

mAmava raghuvIra mAhuri misra cApu

sadAshivam upAsmahE shankarAbharaNam Adi

sUryamUrte namOstu te saurAshTram catusra dhruva

brihaspatE tArApatE aTANA tisra tripuTa

shrI shukra bhagavantam paras kanDa aTa

shrI kamalAmbikE shivE pAhimAM lalitE- shrI kanDa Ekam