MYSORE VASUDEVACHARI

Mysore Vasudevachar (Kannada: ) (May 28, 1865 - May 17,

1961) was a renowned musician and composer of Carnatic music compositions who
belonged to the direct line of Thyagaraja's disciples.
Tyagaraja --> Manambuchavadi Venkatasubba Iyer --> Patnam Subramania Iyer -->
Mysore Vasudevacharya

Contents

1 Life & Career

2 Compositions
3 Notes
4 References

5 See also

Life & Career

Vasudevachar was born in an orthodox Madhva Brahmin family in Mysore and started
learning music from Veena Padmanabhiah, the chief musician of the Mysore court. He
also mastered Sanskrit and allied fields such as Kavya, Vyakarana, Nataka, Alankaram,
Tarka, Itihasa, Purana having studied at the Maharaja Sanskrit college in Mysore while
learning music privately. He then went on to learn from the famous composer-musician
Patnam Subramania Iyer supported by the Maharaja's generous stipend and imbibed the
music of not only his Guru but also other great maestros of the Thanjavur-Cauvery delta.
Vasudevachar eventually became the chief court musician(Asthana Vidwan) at the
Mysore court. He was known for his madhyama-kala tanam singing which he learnt from
his Guru. Patnam Subramania Iyer often requested his sishya "Vasu" to help him with the
sahitya(lyric) aspects of his compositions. This aspect of his training undoubtedly helped
Vasudevachar as a composer.
Vasudevachar's compositions (numbering over 200) were mostly in Telugu and Sanskrit.
Some of his most popular kritis include Brochevarevarura in Khamas raga, Devadideva
in Sunadavinodini, Mamavatu Sri Saraswati in Hindolam, Bhajare Re Manasa in Abheri
and Ra Ra Rajeevalochana Rama in Mohanam. He published a large number of his
compositions in the book Vasudeva Kirtana Manjari. His compositions in Telugu have
such sweetness and lilt, and beautifully blend with the tune of the raga as do the Sanskrit
compositions, which are mellifluous. His songs reflect his mastery of Sanskrit and show
his erudition and scholarship in Sanskrit literature. He considered his insight into Telugu
as a gift from Thyagaraja (Thyagaraja's bhiksha). Unlike the Dasa kuta songs, his
compositions don't have any Dvaita undertones but many have the words
"Paramapurusha Vasudeva" or "Vasudeva" which means the supreme Vasudeva/Lord

Vishnu which incidentally is also his mudra or signature. True to his Vaishnava heritage
and the Thyagaraja shishya parampara to which he belonged, most of his compositions
are in praise of Lord Rama. In addition to Kritis and Keertanas, he also composed
Varnams, Thillanas, Javalis and slokas. His admiration for the trinity of Carnatic music
specially Thyagaraja resulted in Srimadadi Thyagaraja Guruvaram in Kalyani, Shri
Ramachandra (a ragamalika) and two other ragamalikas in praise of Muthuswami
Dikshitar and Shyama Sastri. Vasudevachar's compositions are thus like sugar candy
which gives one instant pleasure and yet lingers on in the mind and heart long after.
He is also credited with two writings in Kannada, one of them an autobiography called
Nenapugalu (memories) and Na Kanda Kalavidaru (the musicians I have met) in which
he wrote the biographies of many well known musicians.
Mysore Vasudevachar also taught in Rukmini Devi's Kalakshetra, (founded in 1936). He
was already quite old by then, but thanks to Rukmini Devi he agreed to shift to
Kalakshetra. He became the chief musician in Kalakshetra and helped in setting the
Ramayana to music. He died in 1961 at the ripe old age of 96. He lived a simple and
austere life devoted to the study of Sanskrit and music.
S. Rajaram, his grandson worked at Kalakshetra eventually taking charge of the
institution at Rukmini Devi's request. Vasudevachar had composed the music for only the
first four kandas and it was left to Rajaram to finish the work. An accomplished musician
and Sanskrit scholar, he was amongst the few musicians, the sole repository of
Vasudevachar's compositions. He died on June 2, 2009.
S. Krishnamoorthy, his other grandson worked at All India Radio(A.I.R) and has
translated his grandfather's memoirs into English. He's also published a memoir of his
own.

Compositions
Composition
bhajana
sEyarAda SrI
rAmuni

Raga

Tala

dharmavati rUpaka

brOcE vArevaru
kamAs
rA

Adi

Type Language

Telugu

Telugu

Audio Links
Vairamangalam Lakshminarayanan (Part 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5WNYzUXbe4
Vairamangalam Lakshminarayanan (Part 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcS0nExnwHk
MS Subbulakshmi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqd9Pmksx8s
Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2QkYh9Eesc
Bombay Sisters - http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=eHwqrpXxHms

girijA ramaNA
natajana
sharaNA

gambhIra
nATa

Adi

Sanskrit

Vani Sateesh - http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=4TpEJtzi-aw

gOkula nilaya
abhEri
kRpAlaya pAlaya

Adi

Sanskrit

TM Krishna - http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=3fHEVqhre7o

mAmavatu SrI
saraswatI

Adi

Sanskrit

mari mari
vaccunA mAnava
janma
nIkEla daya rAdu
rAmacandrA
nimishamainA
shrI rAmaA yana
rAdA
Ra Ra Rajeeva
Lochana
vara lakshmI
namOstu tE
Sri
Chamundeshwari

Hindola

kAmbhOji Adi

Telugu

kadana
Adi
kutUhalam

Telugu

sAma

Adi

Telugu

Mohanam Adi

Telugu

gourI
rUpaka
manOhari

Sanskrit

bilahari

Sanskrit

Adi

Priya Sisters - http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=bnvGV7GtKlM
Sudha Raghunathan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_-UV1mLZug

Musical Background: He learnt music from Patnam Subramanya Iyer in Tiruvayyar and from
Vina Padmanabhayya.
Region: He was born in Mysore, Karnataka and lived in Tiruvayyar and Chennai, Tamilnadu.
Contribution: He has composed about 200 songs. He was adept in all the creative aspects of
Carnatic music, namely, raga alapana, neraval, kalpanaswara, tanam and Pallavi. He was also
proficient in handling Hindustani ragas, besides being a great teacher. His compositions have
been published in two books entitled 'Vasudeva Keertana Manjari' and 'Navaratna Ragamalika'.
He has composed swarajatis, tillanas, varnams and a tala-ragamalika, covering the 35 talas. He
is also known for the group of 24 songs with different names of Lord Vishnu, ragamalikas on the
Trinity and the music he set for the Ramayana ballet, choreographed at Kalakshetra.
Theme: Devotional
Languages used: Sanskrit, Kannada and Telugu.
Signature: His mudra was Vasudeva.
Popular Compositions: Brochevarevarura (Khamas), Devadideva (Sunadavinodini), Bhajare re
manasa (Bhimplas) etc.

Mysore Vasudevacharya
(1865-1961)
Mysore Vasudevacharya was a towering musical personality encompassing a part of the
last century and major part of this century-having lived for 96 years. He is a composer of
great merit, tracing his musical lineage to Saint Tyagaraja through Manambuchavadi
Venkatasubbayyar and Patnam Subramania Iyer.
Young Vasudeva learnt music initially from Veena Padmanabhayya of Mysore. Having
come to know of his precocious talents in music, the Maharaja of Mysore arranged for
the teenager, Vasudeva be sent to Tiruvaiyaru to learn music under Patnam Subramania
Iyer. There Vasudeva started his gurukulavasam at his mentor's. After he finished this
stint in Tiruvaiyaru, Vasudeva came back to Mysore and he was appointed as an Asthana
vidwan of the Royal court in Mysore palace. Much later in his life, he came to Madras on
the invitation of Rukmini Arundale to join the faculty at the famed Kalakshetra school of
music and fine arts. He became the principal of the school eventually. His contemporaries
at the Kalakshetra were stalwarts like Tiger Varadachariar, Veena Krishnamachariar and
Mazhavaraya-nendal Subbarama Bhagavatar.
He was a prolific composer -with more than 200 compositions which include pada
varnas, thana varnas, kritis, javalis, tillanas and ragamalikas. He has used Telugu and
Sanskrit as the media for his kritis. Vasudevacharya's lyrical Telugu used in his kritis is
more chaste than that of composers of his time. For his compositions, he has used many
common ragas plus several unusual ragas like Megharanjani, Sunadavinodini,
Pushpalatika, Shudda salavi etc. He has also employed several types of talas such as
chaturasra rupaka, tishra rupaka, adi, ata, tishra triputa, khanda triputa, mishra triputa,
mishra jampa , etc. in his compositions.
Vasudevacharya has composed captivating chittaswaras for some of his kritis. Two
examples will suffice here- 'Ra-ra-rajeeva lochana' in raga Mohana and 'Sri
Chamundeshwari' in raga Bilahari. It is noteworthy that Vasudevacharya has elevated the
stature of minor ragas like Abheri (Bhajare re manasa), Behag (Bhavayeham
Raghuveeram) and Khamas (Brochevarevarura) by composing major kritis in them. Note
that these kritis were composed at the turn of 20th century even before these ragas were
popularly rendered. He introduced kakali nishada for his Khamas instead of the
conventional kaishiki nishada as in Saint Tyagaraja's Khamas. Vasudevacharya's Khamas
is eqaully appealing raga also. Around 1930's, Maharajapuram Vishwanatha Iyer rendered
Vasudevacharya's kriti- 'Brochevarevarura' in Khamas with much polish in his concert.
Vasudevacharya, who happened to be at the concert remarked to Vishwanatha Iyer "My
composition like a simple girl was metamorphosed into a beautiful damsel. That is how
well you beautified the composition with your embellishments".
Vasudevacharya had a number of disciples trained while he was in Mysore and later in
Madras. He published 150 of his compositions himself. Recently, a set of 21 cassettes
containing more than 140 compositions of Vasudevacharya has been commercially made
available. The kritis of Vasudevacharya are appealing and I wish more vidwans present
these kritis in their concerts.

Mysore Vasudevacharya (1865-1961)

Mysore Vasudevacharya was a great disciple of Patnam Subrahmanya Iyer. He was
Asthana Vidwan in the court of Mysore Maharaja. In the later years of his life, he was
invited by the famous Rukminidevi Arundale to head Kalakshetra in Madras.
He has about 200 compositions to his credit, which include pada varnams, tana varnams,
krutis, javalis, etc. in Telugu and Sanskrit. His famous compositions like Brochevarevaru
ra, Devadi deva are very popular.

Mysore Vasudevacharya Krutis

bhajana sEya rAda
nee daya eTula
dEvAdi dEva
brOchE vArevaru ra
rA rA rAjeeva lOchana
praNamAmyaham Sri
saraswati
praNamAmyaham Sri gouri
ninnE nammiti
paluka vadEmi ra
vara lakshmi
janaki manOharam
mAmavatu
praNamAmyaham
mari vachchunA
kani karamutO
ninnu nammiti
varalakshmi
dEvi ramE
ninnE nammitinayya
bhaja mAnasa
girijA ramaNa
mama hrudayE
rAmAbhi rAma

bhajana sEya rAda - dharmavati - chatusra roopaka

In this kruti of Mysore Vasudevacharya, appeals to himself to worship Sri Rama the
protector of devotees, with devotional songs.
P

bhajana sEya rAda O manasa Sree

rAmuni ||

Oh my mind, why don't you sing the

praise of Sri Rama.

AP

C1

C2

Brahma, Siva, Indra and other devatas

adore him. He is endeared by pious
people.
para nAri sahOdaruni pari poorNa
He is the brother of the supreme goddess
kAmuni
Parvati. He is free from all desires. He
dharaNijA manOharuni para vAsu
stole the heart of Sita and he is Supreme
dEvuni ||
Vasudeva.
SaraNa janA dhAruni saraseeruha
He is the prop for devotees. His eyes are
nEtruni
beautiful like lotus. He is bestower of
nira vadhi Suka dAyakuni paramAtmuni perpetual happiness and is the Supreme
bhakta pAluni ||
Soul. He is the protector of his devotees.
aja bhavEndrAdi nutuni sujanAvana
lOluni ||

nee daya eTula - SankarAbharaNam - chatusra tripuTa

Vasudevacharya seeks the grace of Rama praising his great qualities. He exemplifies this
by Mandaradhara, Govardhana, and Gajendra stories.

nee daya eTula galgunO rAma

neeraja lOchana nirupama suguNa ||

AP

Adaramuga nee pAdamu nammina

sAdhula vale bhava bAdha lEka
yunDuTaku ||

C1

mandara Dhara gOvinda neevEgati

mundu venaka tOchaka ninu nammiti
kunda radana Sara dindu nibhAnana
sindhu Sayana sura brunda vandita nA
pai ||

C2

sAmaja varada ninnEmani pogaDudu

kAma janaka nee kenduku nirdaya
Sree manOhara kankAmbara giridhara
SyAma sundara suguNa kara nA meeda
||

C3

dAsa janula paritApamu lellanu

vEsaraka teerchEvAdu neevE kada
vAsu dEva jaga deeSa janArdana
bhAsura maNi maya bhoosha manjuLa
bhAshA ||

How can I be blessed with your

kindness, Oh Rama?
Oh lotus-eyed one, your virtues are
unparalleled.
I want to be like ascetics who keep faith
and respect for your feet to get rid of the
wordly problems.
You bore the Mandara mountain as
turtle. Oh Govinda, you are my refuge.
Unmindful of pros and cons, I have full
faith in you only. Your teeth are like
jasmine buds. You are bright like autumn
moon. You recline on the ocean and you
are adored by all the celestial beings.
You showered grace on Gajendra. How
can I describe your greatness? You are
the creator of Manmadha. Why dont
you be kind? You captivated the heart of
Lakshmi. Your attire is golden. You lifted
the Govardhana mountain. Oh Syama
Sundara, you are the ocean of virtues.
You only, untiringly comfort your
devoted servants who are in distress. Oh
Vasudeva, oh lord of the universe, oh
Janardana, you are decorated with gemstudded ornaments. Your speech is

delightful.

dEvAdi dEva - sunAda vinOdini - chaturasra tripuTa

In this song, Vasudevacharya expresses his gratitude to God Vasudeva for blessing him to
be his devotee dispelling the six evils.
P

dEvAdi dEva Sree vAsu dEva

kavumayya nannu karuNala vAla ||

AP

ee vELa nA yAru Satrulanu

neeve pAra drOli nija bhaktu jEsi ||

nE jEsina poojA phalamO

nA poorvajula puNya phalamO
Sree jAnakeeSa ee janmamichchi
nannu dhanyuniga bhuvi jEsitivi ||

Oh Lord of all Gods Sri Vasudeva,

protect me, You are embodiment of
mercy.
Today you dispel all my six enemies
namely lust, anger, delusion, greed,
arrogance and jealousy ( kama, krodha,
moha, lobha, mada, matsarya) and make
me your humble devotee.
It may be the result of my prayers. It
may be due to the piety (punyam) of my
forefathers. Oh Lord of Janaki, you
blessed me with this birth and made me
fortunate in this world.

brOchEvArevaru rA - khamAs - chaturasra tripuTa

In this popular song, Vasudevacharya entreats Rama not to be indifferent to protect him.
He expresses that Rama's virtues and merciful nature are beyond any description.

brOchE vArevarurA ninu vinA raghu

varA
nee charanAm bhuja munu nE viDajAla
karuNAla vAla ||

AP

O chaturAnanAdi vandita neeku

parAkEla nayya
nee charitamu pogaDa lEnu nA chinta
teerchi varamulichchi vEgame||

seetApatE nA pai nee kabhimAnamu

lEdA
vatAtmajA rchita pAda nA moralanu
vina rAdA ||

Oh most esteemed Rama, who else will

protect me, Oh the most esteemed one of
the Raghu dynasty? Oh embodiment of
mercy, I can never leave your lotus feet.
Oh lord that is bowed by Brahma and
other Gods, why is this indifference
towards me? Your life and nature are
beyond my description. You please
assuage my agony. Bestow me your
grace soon.
Oh lord of Sita, have you no interest in
me? Anjaneya, the son of the wind God,
worships your feet. Why don't you pay
heed to my lamentation?
Are you not the same Vasudeva who

Aturamuga kari rAjuni brOchina vAsu

rescued the king of elephants
dEvuDe neevu kadA
expeditiously? Kindly dispel all my sins
nA pAtaka mella pOgoTTI gaTTiga nA
and hold my hand firmly.
cheyi baTTi viDuvaka ||

rA rA rAjeeva lOchana - mOhana - Adi

In this kruti Vasudevacharya praises Rama as the supreme soul and as the Lord of Sita.
He declares that he always kept absolute faith in Rama only.

AP

rA rA rAjeeva lOchana rAmA nannu

Oh lotus eyed Rama, please come to
brOchuTaku
protect me. You are the sacred Mandaara
deenA Srita jana mandAra karuNA pAra flower for the distressed who seek your
vAra ||
protection. You are ocean of compassion.
Oh Rama, I don't know why you are not
compassionate to me. You are adored by
E rA nee karuNa kalgani kAraNa
Sri Krishna. You are bestower of
mEmO kAnarA
happiness and you are known for your
murAri vinuta subhada sucharita
excellent character. You are the supreme
parAtpara dharaNi jA manOhara ||
soul. You captivated the heart of Sita the
daughter of the earth.
I considered you as my sole lord and I
nee vE nA vibhuDani niratamu
always had absolute faith in your feet.
nee pAdamulanu nera nammiti
Pity me as your own and please don't
nee vADani nanu karuNinchi
leave my hand. Oh lord of the lords, Oh
ee vELa nA cheyi viDuvakurA
son of King Dasaratha, you defeated the
dEva dEva daSaratha nrupa nandana
ten headed Ravana and his clan. Please
dasa mukhAdi sakala ripu jana haraNa
don't neglect me. Oh Vasudeva, you are
neevanAdaraNa sEyakurA
very dear to Anjaneya, the son of Vayu
pavanajApta Sree vAsudEva ||
the wind- god.