LifeHistory
Muttuswami Dikshitar
is the youngest of the trinity of carnatic music the other two being Tyagaraja and
Shyama Shastri.He was the eldest son of Ramaswami Dikshitar who was himself a composer and a
scholar. According to the account of Subbarama Dikshitar, Muttuswami Dikshitar was born in the manmatha year, in the month of Panguni under the asterism Krittikaa.
muddukumaara janani
Having been childless for a long time , Ramaswami Dikshithar went with his wife to
Vaidhyeshwaran Koil, worshipped
Vaidyanaatha and His consort Balambaal and performed austerities for a period of one
ma.ndala.(appr 45 days). The Goddess is said to have appeared in a dream and gifted a pearl necklace to the devoted couple, perhaps to signify the name to be given to the child later on.
Soon after their return to
Tiruvarur, a child was born in the month of Panguni in the asterism
Krittika.He was named Muttuswami after the Muttukkumara swami, an important deity at
Vaidhyeshvaran Koil. After him were born two brothers
Cinnaswami and Baluswami and a sister Balambal.The family soon moved to Ma.nali near Madras where they came under the patronage of Cinnayya
Mudaliyar who was a dubaash of the East India company.
gange mAm pAhi
During their soujourn there, they were visited by a yogi named
Cidambaranaatha Yogi. Not much is known about this Yogi but traditional accounts say that
Ramaswami Dikshitar was acquainted with the Yogi during a visit to Cidambaram and it was the Yogi who gave him
shriividyaa mantra diikshaa.
He requested Ramaswami Dikshitar to send Muttuswami
Dikshitar to accompany him to Kaashi. He trained Muttuswami Dikshitar in Shaakta
upaasana. After a few years, the Yogi indicated that it was time for
Muttuswami to go back. The Yogi asked him to stand on the banks of the river Ganges, close
his eyes and wish for whatever he wanted. And a vii.na appeared in his hands. The yogi also conveyed to his disciple that the time had come for him to reach heavenly abode.He attained
samaadi and Muttuswami Dikshitar returned home to his parents who had then moved back to
Tiruvarur. As per his guru's orders he then went to Tirutta.ni.
ShrI nAthAdi gurguho jayati
There while he was immersed deep in
meditation, an old man appeared and asked him
to open his mouth. He dropped sugar candy
into his mouth and disappeared. As he
opened his mouth, he had the darshana of the God
Muruga and the composer burst
forth into his first composition "Shrii
naathaadi" in the raga Maayaamaalavagaula.
This song addressed the Lord ( and /or the Guru) in the first declension in
sanskrit. He composed kritis in all the 8 declensions on the Lord. These kritis are mostly with epithets glorifying the guru and have very few references to Lord Muruga or specifically to the God in the
sagu.na form or to the form at Tirutta.ni.He then went on a pilgrimage visiting and composing on temples at
Kanchi, Aru.nacalam , Cidambaram,Tirupati and Kalahasti.He then returned back to Tiruvarur.
He composed on every deity in the
Tiruvarur temple complex including Tyagaraja the presiding deity at
Tiruvarur, Nilotpalambal, his consort and the Goddess Kamalambal
an independent deity of high tantric significance in the same temple complex.
There is a story that a temple artiste who played a special drum called
shuddha maddalam was sick. Dikshitar composed a set of songs called
navagraha kritis and taught him.Soon Thambiappan was cured of his illness.The
sahitya of the songs reflect a profound knowledge of the mantra and
jyotisha shaastras.
hIna mAnavAshrayaM tyajAmi
Dikshitar was averse to royal patronage and refused to compose on any one but God.
As a result he had to face
poverty. After the passing away of Ramaswami Dikshitar, there came a time when he could not procure provisions for the
nitya puuja of Devi.His disciple Kamalam offered her jewels which he promptly
refused. Soon there came a cartload of provisions to his house. It had been bought for a local official who had failed to turn up and it was decided to give them to a befitting person.
Aksaya linga vibho
Dikshitar in the footsteps of the
alwaars and the naayanmaars lived his life as a series of musical
pilgrimages. Among the numerous kshetras he visited were Nagapatti.nam and
Kivalur. At Kivalur or kilvelur, there is a temple dedicated to akshaya linga swami.
It was noon when Dikshitar reached Kivalur and the priest was closing the
doors. Inspite of Dikshitar's request he refused to open the doors. Dikshitar sang the
kriti "Akshayalinga vibho" in the raga shankaraabhara.nam and the door of the sanctum is said to have opened.
saTileni guruguha mUrti
Muttuswami Dikshitar was approached by four dance masters, Sivanandam, Ponnayya ,Chinnayya and
Vadivelu. They expressed their desire to learn music from him and entreated him to accompany them to
Tanjavur. There, Dikshitar imparted to them the the 72 mela tradition handed down by Venkata Vaidyanatha Dikshita.The students showed their gratitude by composing a set of nine songs called
navaratna maala glorifying their guru. Around the same time, Baluswami Dikshitar and Chinnaswami Dikshitar left for Madurai at the invitation of a few noble patrons.
varshaya varshaya
Soon the news of the untimely demise of Cinnaswami Dikshitar reached
him. He then left for Madurai and down South in search of his other brother.He visited Madurai and composing songs in praise of Meenakshi and
Sundareshvara. After visiting other pilgrimage centers at Rameshwaram and Tiruchendur
,providence brought him the news of his other brother Baluswami. It is said that he heard from some fellow travelers that there was to be a wedding of one Baluswami Dikshitar at Ettayapuram, conducted by the king of Ettayapuram, Venkateswara Eddappa
I. Dikshitar set forth in the direction of Ettayapuram. Enroute to Ettayapuram is a village Sattur. It is said that he was moved by accounts of drought and poverty there and sang the song "Anandhamritakarshini" in the raga Amrithavarshini and it poured.
mIna locani pAsha mocani
Dikshitar reached Ettayapuram and Venkateshwara Eddappa welcomed and revered
him. He requested Dikshitar to stay there and Dikshitar obliged him. It is said that the raja performed the
kanakaabhishekham for him and Dikshitar out of gratitude or out of the joy of reunion with his brother , composed the kriti
Venkateshwara Eddappa bhUpatim in the raga megharanji blessing the
king. It is not clear if Dikshitar returned to Tiruvarur or how long his stay at Ettayapuram lasted.
One day, the royal elephant ran to the crematorium and refused to stir. The alarmed,king rushed to Dikshitar who said that nothing would happen to his
kingdom. The next day was Deepavali, the day of narakachaturdashi. Dikshithar performed puja as usual and asked his students asked them to sing the song
"miinaakshi me mudam " in the raga gamakakriya.
As his students sang the lines
"Miina locani paa"sa mocani" he raised his hands and saying
""sive paahi" left his mortal coil.
