DAKSHINA BHAJANA SAMPRADAAYAM
(By Achala Bhakthan)
GEETHA GOVINDAM (POORNA ASHTAPADI)
Gist of Raadha Maadhava Sallapam:
Ashtapadi is the divya Kaavyam: "GEETHA GOVINDAM", which describes the Raadha
Maadhava Sallapam with Sringaara Rasam. I use the word Ashtapadi everywhere
since this has come to stay among the Bhagavathaas and is understood in that
term easily. The Bhagawatham in 10th skandam describes Raasa Kreeda,where at
one palce, it only states that Sri Krishna enjoys with one particular Gopi in
seclusion to all other Gopis and this Gopi becomes too Egoistic and to bring
her ego down Sri Krishna goes away from her and mingles with all other Gopis.
Then this Gopi gets angry and blames Krishna for such acts.Her sakkhi acifies
her and unites them through her advice to both. The Bhaagavatham never states
about Raadhika. No other puranam explains about Raadhika, except the Brahma
Vaivartha Puraanam. In the 10th Skandam, there is a description about Golokam
where the Lord in the form of Maadhava ever exists with Raadhika Devi as his
consort.Due to a curse from Sudhaama, one of the body guards of Sri Maadhava
(Sri Krishna), Sri Raadhika Devi had to take birth in the Bhoolokam as a
girl. Sri Krishna assures Raadhika that He would take birth as Krishna in
Bhoolokam, where she would take birth as the girl child of Vrushabhanu
Maharaaja and then both can enjoy the life in Bhoolokam. This is the basic
story of Raadha Krishna Jananam.
The poorva slokaas of Ashtapadi paddhathi starting with
"Meghair Medhuram Ambaram"is nothing but the Kalyaana
Choornikai in a summary form. This describes the scenerey where Nanda Gopa,
carrying the child Krishna to the carttle's gracing field, finds the sky
becoming dark with clouds and the arrival of thunder storm and rain. He feels
that the child may get afraid and searches for someone to fetch him home.
There comes Sri Raadhika Devi, who is handed over with the child when Nanda
Gopa asks her to take Krishna Home. She fondly hugs the child and goes. Sri
Krishna Bhagawan thought it the right time to remind Radhika Devi about her
status and wishes to show her their earlier abode, i.e. Golokam. He brings
before her the scenery of Golokam which reminds her of her original nature
and all of a sudden in ectasy she tries to hug the Lord (seen in Golakam)
with both her hands open wide and she rushes towards Madhava (Krishna in
Bhoolakam).At that time, the child disappears and Krishna thought that before
accepting Radhika, the usual Vivaaha Karma should be performed and as the
eagerness of Raadhika cannot be controlled he orders Sri Brahma Deva to
perform the marriage, which he does with Pravaram, Lagnashtakam, Kanyaka
Daanam, Panigrahanam, Laja Homam etc. Raadha Kalyaanam is said to have taken
place in Brahma Muhurtham, that around 3.30 a.m. or so. This is the meaning
of this slokam which is elaborately stated in Raadha Kalyaanam as Choornikai.
This shows that performing Poorna Ashtapadi is equal to performing Raadha
Kalyaanam.
The theme in Ashtapadi and the Author:
The Ashtapadi songs are called "GEETHA GOVINDA MAHAA
KAAVYAM", which is said to be the ancient form of Sringaara
Kaavyams. These are full of Sringaara Rasapravaaham. In short, These songs
describe the celestial love between Raadhika Devi and Krishna, The Egoistic
nature of Raadhika, Her Anger towards Krishna, Her viraha thaapam (sorrow in
separation), reunion and their Sallapam. This Kaavyam is composed by Sri
Jayadeva Swamigal, from self experience of the Godly principle within. Sri
Jayadeva was said to be living in the 12th century in the village "Kindu
Bilwam" near Puri Jagannath in the present Orissa State, born to the saahtwic
brahmin couple known as Sri Narayana Sashtri (also called Bhojadevan) and
Smt.Kamala Devi (also called Radha Devi). In his early age Sri Jayadeva lost
his parents and was staying in a Kutir in the forest, composing songs and
singing them with music in praise of Sri Krishna. Sri Jayadeva is said to be
the avathar of Sri Puri Jagannath.
Padmaavathi was born to a devoute Brahmin Deva Sarma, who,during his prayers
longed for a child and promised to present the child after growth to the Lord
Jagannath Himself. When she became of marriageable age, Sri Deva Sarma, in
fulfilment of his promise, offered her to Lord Jagannath, who ordered the
chief priest in his dreams to take the child to Sri Jayadeva and get her
married to him. Lord Jagannath informed the priest that Jayadeva is none
other than Himself. Thus, the girl was left at the Kutir of Sri Jayadeva,
against his wish, who refused to enter into Gruhasthaasrama. Due to the
stead fastness of Padmaavathi & her Bhakthi and service to him, he considered
it as God's will and ultimately married her in the normal way. Sri Jayadeva
enacted the scenes of this Kaavyam while composing it along with Padmavathi
dancing to the tunes. Thus, this Kaavyam is a living monument of Srigaara
Rasa Bhaava.
The summary of contents of Ashtapadi:
Like Bhagawatham describing Krishna Leela and Raasakreeda in 12 Skandams,
Ashtapadi also has 12 Sargams, containing 24 Ashtapadi songs. Each
song comprises mostly of Eight stanzaas with the exception ofone or two
Ashtapadis which are less or more than 8 stanzaas. (This kaavyam was placed
before the Raja Sadas and this has been named as Ashtap0adi by the Pandits
and Raja. The contents of Sargams, in short, are:
1. Picturisation of Dasaavathaarams of Krishna and the prabhaavams of the
Lord in various avathaars are described in priase of Lord in the first
two Ashtapadis. The third & fourth Ashtapadis are the description of
Vasantha Kaala Varnanai & Raasa Leela of Krishna with other Gopis in
Brindaavan described by the Sakkhi.(1 to 4 Ashtapadis- 1st Sargam called:
"Samoda Damodarah")
2. Raadhikaa's grief as Krishna is enjoying with other Gopis, ignoring her
totally and getting herself annoyed, being too possessive of Krishna and
staying alone in the kutir made of plants and requesting Sakkhi to go and
explain to Krishna Her plight and to fetch him to Her to accept Her.
(5th and 6th Ashtapadi - 2nd Sargam called: "Aklesa
Kesavah").
3. Krishna's realisation of his mistake of ignoring Raadhika & spending his
time with other Gopis.(7th Ashtapadi-3rd Sargam called:
"Mugddha Madhusudhanah").
4. Sakkhi explaining the Viraha Thaapam suffered by Raadhika and pleading to
God to please Raadhika by His presence before Her.(8th & 9th Ashtapadi -
4th Sargam called: "Snigddha Madhusudhanah").
5. Sri Krishna asking Sakkhi to pacify Raadhika & fetch Her to Him. (10th &
11th Ashtapadis - 5th Sargam called: "Abhisaarikaa Varnane Saakaamksha
Pundareekakshah").
6. Sakkhi explaining the aweful condition of Raadhika due to Viraha Thaapam
and Her inability to move & requesting Lord to go to Her.(12th Ashtapadi
- 6th Sargam called: "Sothkkhantta Vaikunttah").
7. Shri Raadhika's plight of suffering due to Viraha Thaapam and started
blabbering like a mad person in imagination of Krishna being in company
of other Gopis.(13th, 14th, 15th and 16th Ashtapadis - 7th Sargam
called: "Vipralabhdha Varnane Naagareeka Naaraayana").
8. In the dawn Sri Krishna arriving at Raadhika's Kutir and Raadhika, in
anger, drives away Krishna saying 'YAAHI MAADHAVA".(17th Ashtapadi - 8th
Sargam called:"Kkhanditha Varnane Vilaksha Lakshmipadi:").
9. Sakkhi, criticising about Raadhika's angry mood which mades Krishna
disappear. The Sakkhi advices Her to behave well when He comes next.
Raadhika realises Her faults and repents.(18th Ashtapadi - 9th Sargam
called:"Kalahaantharitha Varnane Mugddha Mukundah").
10. Sri Krishna reappearing before Raadhika and pacifying Her with His sweet
words like: you are my Jeeva, you are my ornament, you are my Pearl etc.
and pleads for Her forgiveness and goes away.(19th Ashtapadi - 10th
Sargam called : "Radha Varnane Mugddha Maadhavah").
11. Sakkhi, pointing out to Raadhika about the kindness of Krishna and His
behaviour and that She should now go to Krishna's place and unite with
Him & please Him. Raadhika visits Krishna Mandir(where Krishna was
waiting to receive Her) and gets thrilled in his darshan. (20th, 21st
and 22nd Ashtapadis - 11th Sargam called: "Saanada
Govindah").
12. Both enter the house & become united.Krishna does alankaaram to Raadhika,
whose dresses were crumbled and displaced during the Union.Thus ends the
Sringaara Rasa Kaavyam.(23rd and 24th Ashtapadis - 12th Sargam called:
"Swadheena Barthrukaa Varnane Supreetha Peethaambarah").
The sanctity of Ashtapadi:
It is said that the Ashtapadi Kaavyam of Sri Jayadeva has been blessed by
the Lord Himself, about which the 19th Ashtapadi vouchsafes. In this 19th
Ashtapadi, in the seventh stanza, he wrote as if Lord has suffered from
Kaamam (passion) & only Raadhikaa's feet kept on His head will bring down the
Thaapam and the Lord pleading to Raadhika to place Her feet onto His head.
Suddently, Jayadeva realises his mistake and feels how he could think of a
lady's feet being kept on the Lord. He repented and erased the stanza and
tried to re-write it. Having no ideas to pour he thought he could do later
and gave the Kaavyam to Padmavathi to keep it safe and that he would go for
oilbath. After some time, he came and called to Padmaavathi to bring the
Kaavyam as he had some good idea and wanted to fill up where he left the
song. With the oil soaked hand he wrote some lines and gave back the Kaavyam
to her and went for bath. After meals while taking rest, he opned the
Kaavyam and saw, to his surprise, the seventh stanza having got filled up
with what ever he originally wrote. He got wild and scolded Padvaavathy for
being negligent, for someone else has come and written what he did not want
to write. Padmaavathy in sheer surprise, narrated what happened when he went
for bath. Jayadeva realised that God has come in Jayadeva's form and filled
up the unfinished stanza with the same idea that occured to him originally.
This means that Lord himself has accepted the stanza, and finally the Kaavyam
itself.After this, the final Charanam of some Ashtapadis are all ending with
"Jayathu Padmaavathi Ramana Jayadeva Kavi" because Jayadeva considered her
as the blessed Bhaktha of the Lord & he wanted to be known through her, since
Padmaavathy got the Darshana of Lord and not Jayadeva. Thus, this Ashtapadi
has its acceptance by the Lord Himself. The 22nd Ashtapadi is said to be
the Kalyaana Ashtapadi, since it is here that Raadhika comes to Krishna and
Krishna accepts her and makes her happy. To indicate the reunion, this is
called Kalyaana Ashtapadi.
Philosophical Improt of Ashtrapadi:
Our scriptures declare that for every Manthra/Sloka/Song, there is an inner
import, which should be taken up as the guide by evey Jeeva. Our seers have
all given the Brahma Thathwaas in the form of prayer songs,slokaas,Puraanaas,
scriptures, Srutis, Smritis and various bashyams for them. Everything relates
to the behaviour of human beings, their relations with nature and God. They
prescribe various methods to regain our lost status, i.e. reunion with the
Ultimate Truth. For instance, take tha Puranam: Raamaayana. What is the moral
we have to learn from there?
PITHRU VAAKYA PARIPAALANAM, EKA PATHNI VRUTHAM, SAHODARA SNEHAM,
SADHU SAMRAKSHANAM, DHARMA STHAAPANAM, BHAKTHA PARIPAALANAM,
DUSHTA NIGRAHAM, PATHIVRUTHA DHARMAM, SARANAAGATHI THATWAM,
BHAKTHA LAKSHNAM etc. etc.
Let us consider Krishnavathaaram. What is conveyed through Bhaagawatham &
Bhaaratham?
DHARMA PARIPAALANAM, SHARING WITH OTHERS, SARANAAGATHI THATWAM,
AHANKAARA DAMANAM, KARMA YOGAM, BHAKTHI YOGAM, GNANA YOGAM,
HATA YOGAM, BHAKTHA LAKSHNAM, BHAGAVATH KRUPA, DUSHTA NIGRAHAM,
SISHTA PARIPAALANAM, JEEVAATHA PARAMAATHMA BANDHAM, MAAYA,
STUDY OF NATURE, UNITY IN DIVERSITY etc. etc.
We have learnt the principles one should adopt in leading a Dharmic life. We
are handed over with the practices one should adopt in leading a Saahtwic
life. We are also taught that we have the right to work and the result is
left to the Super Power, which is already fixed according to the equations
pre-determined depending on the quality and characteristics of each action.
We call this as VIDHI.
Similarly,through Ashtapadi songs and slokaas,we have been shown practically
( 1) the value of relationships,
( 2) the falsehood of Ahamkaar and Mamaakar,
( 3) the existence of Truth in all forms,
( 4) Jeevaathma Paramaathma relationship,
( 5) God's Krupa towards Bhakthaas,
( 6) Secrets and purpose of Avathaars,
( 7) Bhaktha Lakshnam,
( 8) one-ness of all,
( 9) Principles of Bhakthi Maarga for salvation,
(10) Guru Sishya Bhaavam,
(11) Paraa Bhakthi,
(12) community living principles,
(13) strength of Unity,
(14) value of collective prayer,
(15) limitations of wordly relationships,
(16) Godly principle etc. etc.
Instead of the Sringaara Rasa in Ashtapadi, we must see Bhakthi Laya Bhava in
this Kaavyam. Raadhika representing all the Jeevaathmaas, Sri Krishna the
Paramaathma and Sakkhi the Guru. All of us (Jeevaas), having separated from
the Paramaathma, have come to this world of matter & got ourselves entangled
in Maaya (Ignorance) and forgot about our origin - the Permanant Bliss form
of ours, we must feel the pangs of separation as suffered by Raadhika,we must
follow the advice of our Gurus, we must curse our status, we must cast away
our Ego, we must crave for the presence of Lord and ultimately reunite with
the Paramaathma, we should realise the beauty and power of Nature, we must
enjoy the happiness within and not outside,we must enact the Leelaas of God
like Jayadeva and Padmaavathi did and follow the principles therein, we must
be aware of the Bhagawath Krupa when it flows and keep ourselves fit for
receiving it. All the Puraanaas and Kaavyaas are trying to project the way of
life one should lead in order to get re-united with the God.
The essence, thus, of this Amara Kaavyam is the sorry state of affairs of
Jeevathmaas and the way to re-unite with Paramaathma through Prema Bhakthi &
total surrender to Lord as adviced by Sakkhi (who has played the role of a
Guru). The best bhaava we should possess while doing Ashtapadi is "NAAYIKA
NAAYAKA BHAAVAM" or "GOPIKAA BHAAVAM",which depicts the Bhakthi Layam.We have
stated earlier that Raadhakalyaanam took place in Brahma Muhoortham. As per
the Vendanthic explanations, the best time for Dhyaanam is Brahma Muhoortham.
Thus, Raadhakalyaanam is the Union of Jeevaathma with Paramaathma & the best
time for it, is the Brahma Muhoortham.
The Paddhathi:
Before a Kalyaana Paddhathi, it is customary to sing all the Ashtapadis,which
itself form a special Paddhathi called "POORNA ASHTAPADI PADDHATHI".The
paddhathi starts with RaamaNaama, Hari Naaraayana Song,Thodaya Mangalam, Guru
Keerthanams and then the three Poorva Slokams of Ashtapadi:
               "Yadgopi Vadanendu Mandanam Aboodu ....."
               "Raadha Manorama Ramaavara Raasaleela ..."
               "Sree Gopaala Vilaasini
Valayasadrathnaadi..."
The third one is normally sung in Poorvi Kalyaani Raagam as it is followed by
a song "PADMAAVATHI RAMANAM - JAYA DEVA KAVI RAAJA" in the same raagam, giving
short history of Jayadeva and Padmavathi & about the origin of this Kaavyam.
Then the slokams:-
               "Meghair Medhuram Ambaram",
               "Vaakdevatha Charitha Chithritha Chittha Sadma",
               "Yathi Harismarane Sarasam
Mana:" etc.
are sung. Now starts first Ashtapadi with poorva sloka
               
"Vaacha:pallava Yathyumaapathidhara:"
. Both Poorva Slokaas and Uthara Slokaas of each Ashtapasi must be sung. Naamavali
may be taken up, time permitting, after each Ashtapasi (after Uthara sloka)
or atleast at the end of each Sargam.
After the 24th Ashtapadi, Paartha Saarathi Geetham "Bhajatha Prema Krupaanidhi
Maadhavam" in Thodi to be sung after the slokam:
"Nakkhaniyamida Khandoon". This is followed by:-
                 Kalyaana Tharangam:"Aaalokaye Rukmini Kalyaana Gopaalam"
                 Daasarvaal Kruthis
                 Pooja Paddhathi Kramam
                 Upachaara Keerthanam.
If Poorna Ashtapadi is done before Kalyaanam, then you can stop at any end of
Sargam, as per time permitting and continue the balance during Paddhathi
Bhajan, Dolothsavam and 22nd, 23rd and 24th on Kalyaanam day.In such case,
the Parthasaarathi Geetham and Kalyaana Tharangam should be sung after the
Maangalya Dhaaranam, but before Anjaneya. After Poorna Ashtapathi, it is
customary to recite the first starting sloka at the end, to indicate that
this is a continuous process and does not end with this programme.
There is a practice of offering different palahaarams (total 24) at the end
of each Ashtapadi. This is possible only for some people. However, two
Kela Fruits and Betal Leaves & nut Nivedhyam is a must after each Ashtapadi.
Conclusion:
As the entire Ashtapadi has to be sung without leaving any sloka or song, I
have not given the Attavanai for this as given for other paddhathis. However,
if anyone wants the Sankrit version of the Ashtapathi songs, slokaas etc.,
they may contact me with a request and I shall forward by email the same
along with the necessary fonts to read them.
                                   
SADSANGATHWE NISSANGATHWAM
                                   
NISSANGATHWE NIRMOHATHWAM
                                   
NIRMOHATHWE NISCHALA THATHWAM
                                   
NISCHALA THATHWE
JEEVANMUKHTHI:
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