Navagraha Kritis
It can be readily seen that these navagraha kritis constitute a set not on the
mere basis that they pertain to the nine planets.It is well known that Dikshitar
has adopted the sulAdi sapta tAlas [ dhruva, maTya, rUpaka,jhampa, triputa ,Ata
and eka ].A noteworthy and interesting feature is that the sum total of
the aksharas used in these talas are 81 again a multiple of 9.The composition of
the kritis on the basis of tala is particularly appropriate because tala is a
time measure and in astrology periods of time have vital significance.
The ragas too are not without significance.He has employed
saurAshtra, asAveri, surati, natakuranji, aTANA , pharaz and yadukula
kamboji.These are all shuddhamadhyama ragas and sampurna ragas as per the
asampurna mela paddhati that Dikshitar followed.Furthermore they are all
bhashanga ragas .The free unfettered movement of the grahas is
musically mirrored by these bhashanga ragas which do not suffer from the
shackles of janaka ragas but freely imbibe anyaswaras.
Surya :
It is set in saurashtra raga and dhruva tala.Though saurashtra is currently
being sung as a janya of suryakantam Dikshitar conceived it only as a janya of
mayamalavagaula.The uttaranga denotes vira rasa and purvanga bhakti rasa.The
phrase namostute has been cast in descending order from madhyasthAyi to
mandarasthAyi reflecting the singer's obeisance to the sun.Not only as the first
among the sulAdi sapta talas but being the one with most aksharakals dhruvatala
suits the composition on the great sun.
Chandra :
asAveri is a soft rakti raga portraying karuna rasa and
is eminently suited for the hymn on the moon whom Dikshitar descibes as pleasant
and tranquil like a saint's heart.
Angaraka:
This is set to surati and rupaka tala.Despite the name mangala
tuesday is not considered auspicious.Again surati is the raga sung for
mangalam.Nobody teaches this raga to students and still it is considered
amangala.The selection of this raga which is at once mangala and amangala for a planet
which is also mangala and amangala is a masterstroke of Dikshitar's genius.Again
in contrast to other talas rupaka begins with dhrutam followed by Laghu.Again
the use of this time beat with inauspicious vilakshana for an amangala graha.
budha :
It is set to natakuranji raga and rupaka tala.It is replete
with numerous soft terms and the mood of the rakti raga natakuranji admirably
suits the diction.
brihaspati:
It is set to aTANA and triputa tala.Guru is considered a
benefic planet to get rid of all doshas.Atana itself means getting rid of the
fetters of sansara.This raga portrays adbutha and vira rasas.
shukra :
It is set to pharaz raga and aTa tala.Shukra is the rakshasa
guru accepted as one of the navagrahas and the use of pharaz a desiya
rakti raga has significance.In fact pharaz is a foreign raga adopted into the
carnatic music fold.
Shani:
It is set to yadukulakamboji and eka tala.yadukulakamboji is
common in folk music of most countries.Songs in this raga are invariably sung in
vilamba kala or slow tempo and its mood is well with the notoriously slow
movement of this graha
The last two kritis on rahu and ketu are in pratimadhyama
ragas.
Extracts from the article of
Dr.Gauri Kuppuswamy and Dr.M.Hariharan in the journal of guruguha gana vidyalaya,
