Re: reference to caste in tyAgAraja kIrtanalu
Nasy Sankagiri (narayans@post.drexel.edu)
Tue, 14 Apr 1998 18:29:51 -0500
This was my response to Prasad's post on this topic which I wrote to RMIC.
Prasad, I remember Sitaramayya gaaru talking about this topic some time
ago, back in Phila, I guess. Sitaram, do you have anything to add?
BTW, was any one of you at the Cleveland Aradhana this past weekend? If you
were, please check out the 'Aradhana Top Ten list' I posted to RMIC.
Nasy
>
>In article <6gvq18$lk$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com>,
> chprasad@hotmail.com wrote:
>
>> also, are there any more kIrtanalu where tyAgayya refers to castes?
>>
>> regards
>> prasad
>>
>
>In the same song, penultimate caraNam reads..
>...modaTi kulajuDagucu bhuvini SUdrula panulu salpucunuNTini gAka..
>We may interpret such references as referring to the attributes of the said
>caste, than to the caste itself. However, the fact remains that tyAgarAja used
>such words and phrases essentially in a derogatory sense. On the one hand, it
>may be naive to apply the current day political correctness to writings of
>yesteryears. On the other, given the current social sensibilities and the
>supposed sainthood of tyAgarAja, can we continue to sing these songs as if
>they were gospel?
>An aside: as far as I know, there is no evidence in tyAgarAja's writings that
>he was a champion of the downtrodden - compared to, say annamayya's 'brahma
>mokkaTE'. He was a stern and outspoken critic of brahmin bigotry - condemning
>ostentatious religious practices in kRUtis like 'teliya lEru rAma'. However,
>he seemed to have practiced all the prescribed brahmin rituals daily. He even
>debates karma vs. bhakti philosophies (dwaitamu sukhamA)..all this still
>doesn't make him a champion of the downtrodden.
>
>I wonder how a singer belonging to the said caste feels about such songs!
>
>Regards,
>Nasy
>
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