Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar is one of the luminaries belonging to the Musical Trinity, the others being Saint Thiagaraja and Syama Sastri. His compositions are predominantly in Sanskrit unlike those of others in Telugu. A few of his compositions are in manipravalam-a combination of Sanskrit and Tamil. Muthu means pearl in Tamil. In Sanskrit it is Muktha. It is derived from Selvamuthu kumaraswamy, the famous deity of Vaidiswaran Temple in Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu The word Muddayya is an epithet of Lord Kumaraswamy or Guha. In some of Dikshitar’s Telugu compositions his name appears as Muddaswamy. In his popular composition “ Bhajore Chitta” in raga Kalyani the ‘ mudra’ or signature of the composer appears as “ Guru Guha rupa Muddukumara jananeem”. Eldest son of Ramaswami Dikshitar, who taught Vedas, poetry, music, and astronomy, Muthuswamy was born on 24th March 1776 in Tiruvarur, Tamil Nadu. He had two brothers, Chinna Swami and Bala Swami. RamaSwami Dikshita, of Vadama family from Virinchipuram, near Vellore moved south due to political troubles around Kanchipuram and Virinchipuram. He trained in the veena under Venkata Vaidyanatha Dikshitar,who belonged to the lineage of Govinda Dikshitar. This trend is seen in Muthuswami Dikshitar’s work.
Muthuswami moved to Manali, near Madras at the behest of the local zamindar, Venkatakrishna Mudaliar, His brothers followed him to fort St.George where they were introduced to western orchestral music and the violin.Then came a turning point in the life of Muthuswami. An ascetic, Chidambaranatha Yogi took Muthuswami under his wing and away to the city of Banaras or Kashi.There he was taught in music, esoterics, Hindustani classical music particularly Dhrupad style. After the death of Chidambaranath Yogi, Muthuswami returned and moved to the town of Tiruttani, near Tirupati.
According to legend Lord Muruga of Tiruttani placed a piece of sugar candy in Dikshitar’s mouth and commanded him to sing. This marked the beginning of his career in music. He adopted his mudra “ Guruguha”,one of the names of Lord Muruga as his,from that time onwards. His first composition was “ Srinathadi guru guho jayati jayati” in raga Maya Malavagowla and Adi tala. The song in Sanskrit is in the first declension. Later he composed kritis in all eight declensions on the Lord. But all these songs glorified Lord Muruga in the ascetic or preceptor form.They were not specifically addressed to the Saguna form as at Tiruttani. Muthuswami went on a pilgrimage and visited temples at Kanchi, Tiruvannamalai, Chidambaram, Tirupathi, Kalahasti and Srirangam where he composed songs. He returned to Tiruvarur later.
Muthuswami mastered the veena and the influence of veena playing is clearly seen in his compositions particularly in gamakas, In his kriti ‘Balagopala’ he calls himself as a “ vainika gayaka” “ a player of the veena.” He also experimented with the violin. His brother Balaswami Dikshitar was a pioneer in the use of the violin in Carnatic music. Returning to Tiruvarur, he composed on every deity in the Tiruvarur temple complex including Tyagaraja, a form of Lord Shiva, the presiding deity, Nilotpamambal, his consort and the Goddess Kamalambal an independent deity of high tantric significance in the same temple complex. It is here that he composed the famous KAMALAMBA NAVAVARANA KRITIS replete with sahityas on the deities of the SRI CHAKRA. These became the showcase of his compositions. These Navavaranams
were in all eight declensions or vibhaktis of the Sanskrit language. Muthuswami Dikshitar exhibited his prowess by composing the Navagraha Kritis glorifying the nine planets. The content of the songs reveal a profound knowledge of the Mantra and Jyotisha sastras
His compositions, 500 in number are noted for “their elaborate and poetic descriptions of Hindu Gods and temples. They are significant in capturing the essence of raga forms through the vainika style that emphasizes gamakas. Every composition of Muthuswami Dikshitar is brilliant and unique in construction. All are noted for the ‘ soulfulness of the melody.’ His Sanskrit lyrics bring in the Advaita thought seamlessly into his songs ‘ resolving the inherent relationship between Advaita philosophy and polytheistic worship. His songs are highly informative about the history of the temple and its background and preserve many customs followed in these old shrines. Rhyming of lines in the lyrics is another noticeable feature in his compositions. Dikshitar was a master of tala and is the lone composer to have kritis in all the basic talas of the Carnatic scheme. The songs of Muthuswami Dikshitar are unparalleled and unsurpassed for their richness of RAGA BHAVA, SUBLIMITY OF PHILOSOPHICAL CONTENT, and the GRANDEUR OF THE SAHITYA!
