SRUTI LAYA

Celebrating Smt.Mangalam Muthuswamy

2010-06-08T10:26:00.000-07:00

The Guru's grace lives on, long after the expiration of her physical tenure on Earth......

Celebrating our beloved Veena Teacher, Veena Vidushi Smt.Mangalam Muthuswamy, on her third anniversary.

"Death Be Not Proud" – Celebrating Smt. Mangalam Muthuswamy, Yet Again

2009-07-05T19:31:00.000-07:00

It is now a little over two years after my wonderful Veena teacher, Smt. Mangalam Muthuswamy, left for her journey to the Other World. She had left her earthly abode on June 9, 2007. While all of us students deeply mourned her loss, I was in for a complete surprise, just a few months after her passing.

It is two years now and there has not been even a moment I do not think of her – about how loving she was, what kind of dedication she had and so on and so forth. What stuns me is that the same love, energy and dedication remain unaffected by her passing.

Many of you reading this article may this quite strange, but this is a true account of what I have experienced after (in fact, in spite of) her so-called death. These experiences, while bringing me closer to my beloved Guru than I ever was, have also changed my whole perception of life and death.

My first brush with the arcane came when I was asked to perform on the Veena during Ganesh Chaturthi that very year. Since it was my first time without Mami (as we all students addressed her), I was a little apprehensive of how I was going to handle the show. I had chosen to play one completely new and unfamiliar composition, “Ganesha Kumara Pahimam” in the Raga Jhinjoti. Though quite simple on the face of it, there were a few lighter gamakas I found it difficult to handle. Just as I was wondering how to deal with it, I clearly heard Mami talking to me!

Mami told me exactly how to play the gamaka, so that it could be rendered to perfection. I must admit I got really scared and nearly jumped out of my skin! But after I had calmed down a little, I tried the gamaka the way Mami mentioned, and lo! It came out with precision, and with the least bit of effort on my part.

Now, two years down the line, it has become commonplace for me to hear Mami’s voice each time I pray to her. Mami manifests like a voice ringing in my head. This voice is very clear and leaves me with no doubt that it was she who tried to “get in touch”. She often talks to me and guides me on how to reproduce certain nuances on the Veena, how to better my teaching technique and so on. Not only that, she even “visits” to warn me of impending dangers, much ahead of time, so that I am able to steer clear of them.

I wonder at the sheer ardour of such Mahatmas to fulfil their mission, even if it meant literally coming back from death. Many people have indeed reported of similar experiences, but this time, I have had the ahobhagya to actually experience my Guru’s grace on a day-to-day basis.

The above experiences bring to my mind, John Donne’s poem, “Death Be Not Proud”.

Donne says,

“DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so”

The poem concludes with the lines,

“One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.”

How true it is that death is not the end of anything – it is merely the beginning of a new phase of life....

Sangeeta Jnanamu Bhakti Vina.... is the Bhakti aspect of Carnatic music dwindling today?

2009-07-05T04:48:00.000-07:00

Saint Thyagaraja, one among the “Mummoorthigal” or the Music Trinity of Carnatic Music, is universally loved by Carnatic musicians and students alike. Not for nothing is he celebrated as a Saint and a Parama Bhakta of Lord Shri Rama. While his compositions touch the heart, owing to their utter simplicity of language and bhakti rasa flowing throughout each kriti, what makes this saint composer so special is that he actually aimed to educate students and musicians on the higher values of life, through his compositions.

“Sangeeta Jnanamu” in Raga Dhanyasi is one such composition. Herein, Thyagaraja makes a clear statement in the very first line itself, “Sangeeta Jnanamu Bhakti Vina Sanmargamu Galadey”, which means, “the mere practice of music without the aspect of bhakti or devotion entering the craft, will not serve as a means to true mukti or liberation”. Indeed, music is the finest among fine arts and practising it with sincerity and total devotion bestows a high state of spirituality on the seeker, letting him get a glimpse of true “Sangeetananda”, enabling him to rise above the mundane, giving him true and lasting happiness.

The problem that plagues this field, though, is that students today, merely seem to be learning and reproducing these compositions, without trying to delve into the deep inner meaning and understand that compositions such as the above were meant to be learning experiences in life itself. Competition is on the rise everywhere and with it comes bickering and other related problems. The result? No artist is finally able to find that true peace and joy with the practice of this great art.

Some genuinely talented upcoming artists are pulled down mercilessly and have to struggle merely to keep their chin above the water. There are yet other instances where students are subjected to the same treatment in spite of having no particular ambitions of “becoming popular” or “famous” in the field; who practise music only to discover that true peace and joy.

Why is there so much insecurity, so much sadness in this Carnatic field? After all, this is a divine art and needs to be nurtured to flourish in all its glory. This priceless gift from our Purvajas (forefathers) desperately needs to be preserved. Students of music need to be made aware of the unique aspect of bhakti in Indian music, especially, Carnatic music. They have to be trained not merely to shine as brilliant performing artists in future, but also to behave in a manner that would elevate them to higher spiritual planes of existence.

Sangeeta can only be experienced and enjoyed when it comes along with true bhakti. No matter how much a student or musician excels in Carnatic music, they would never be able to lay their hands on the actual treasure, which, indeed, lies within them. Consciously letting go of negatives within the mind and approaching the subject of music with a pure, untainted heart, is the only way to discover the amazing, unending, wealth that music really is.

So let us get back again to that wonderful kriti, ‘Sangeeta jnanamu’, contemplate on it and commence our new journey towards bhakti-oriented music.

The Fight For Freedom

2008-08-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

Not for the first time did my eyes fill with tears and chest expand with pride and joy at the sight of our beautiful tricolour flag unfurling on India’s 61st Independence Day. I always have been and always will be proud of being an Indian. I have great respect for our Motherland’s rich and varied cultural heritage and have often delighted in traveling across many states of India, taking in the different sights, tastes and smells of each one of Her wonderful provinces.

On this Independence Day, hearing the song, “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisaan”, my eyes filled yet again with tears. Only this time, it was for a very different reason. I thought of the dismal, in fact, abysmal condition of our beloved nation today. I reminisced about all those valiant freedom fighters who unflinchingly accepted the handman’s noose and wore it around their necks like a ‘Jayamala’, a garland signifying victory. I reflected on Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, who verily breathed for the cause of the nation’s Independence.

We have been an independent nation for the last six decades. Granted that India has achieved and accomplished much during these years. But can we really take pride on our independence? Are we really, truly, Independent in every sense of the term?

“Jai Jawan, Jai Kisaan”? Do we even think of the enormous difficulties our jawans face at the border? They lay down their lives protecting the country against invaders – yet their families can never be assured of security and protection! And how about the ‘kisaan’ who commits suicide as he cannot even afford to provide his families a single square meal a day? Does our democracy even consider their sad plight?

The Mahatma had once remarked that India would become truly independent in every sense only when a woman could walk the streets alone at any time of the night, without as much as a speck of fear in her mind. This is a country that, today, sadly abounds with gory tales of female infanticide, dowry deaths and gang rapes of little children. Is this a sign of a truly Independent nation?

We oft times hero worship goondas, who support and abet terrorist activists; who consequently cause the cold-blooded murder of countless blameless souls. Are these offenders any better than the perpetrators of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre?

Some common criminals who have been responsible for slaying numerous innocents rule us. Their fault? They cast their vote for a different party! Yet we have only ourselves to blame – after all, this is a democracy and we brought them to power, right? Is this what we call true Independence?

These and other thoughts kept playing in my head as the song played on. Of course, there is hope yet - India is at last, definitely waking from its long slumber. Today, there are many who adopt girl children, many who dare to put their foot down against avaricious dowry-seekers, many who raise their voice against corruption. We are definitely making long strides in science and technology, sports and so on. The Wheel of Fortune finally seems to be slowly, yet steadily, turning in India’s favour.

We are the younger generation - the wealth of this vast nation. The onus of bestowing India Her real Independence lies entirely on us. Is it not our solemn duty to forge ahead and Fight for Freedom – for our own freedom as well as for the freedom of our revered Bharat Mata? Jai Hind!

Nartana Ganapathy

2008-08-19T09:20:00.000-07:00

The last video - that of Kalaa Kaumudi's senior-most student performing 'Nartana Ganapathy', a Padam in praise of the dancing Lord Ganesha. It is in the Ragam Hamsaanandi, set to Aadi Talam.

Jatiswaram

2008-08-19T09:17:00.000-07:00

Yet another video of Kalaa Kaumudi's students performing the Jatiswaram in Ragam Hamsanaadam set to Rupaka Talam.

Video of the Alarippu

2008-08-17T09:58:00.000-07:00

Hi guys,

Am back after a very looooooooooong time with something very interesting - a video clipping of my students' dance performance at the Bal Vikas Sangh High School, Chembur, on the occasion of Guru Purnima, 2008. Take a look and give me feedback! :)

Excerpts of my Veena Concert

2007-10-19T00:54:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Am back yet again, this time, with a short audio clip of my Veena Recital on 21st Sep, 2007. Check it out and do give me your valuable feedback! :)

Click here to play Streaming Audio

A HUMBLE, HEARTFELT HOMAGE TO SMT. MANGALAM MUTHUSWAMY

2007-08-18T02:25:00.000-07:00

It came as a shock to the music world when Veena Vidushi, Smt.Mangalam Muthuswamy, left for her heavenly abode on Saturday, the 9th of June, 2007.

Smt. Mangalam Muthuswamy needs no introduction in the field of Carnatic Music. A performer and teacher par excellence, Smt. Mangalam Muthuswamy was known for her passionate involvement with the Carnatic Veena, her strict adherence to the pure Tanjore style of playing the instrument and the sheer dexterity and depth displayed by her in the typical ‘gayaki’ style of Veena playing, involving the use of complicated gamakas, virtually making her Veena sing during her concerts! Her faithful observance to this tradition has won her acclaim from even great stalwarts of Carnatic music, such as Shri T.L.Venkatrama Iyer (ex-chairman of the Sangeeta Natak Academy), Smt. D.K.Pattammal, Shri Maharajapuram Santhanam, Shri Emani Shankar Shastry, Shri S.Balachander and Dr. V.V.Srivatsa. Smt. Muthuswamy was also well-versed on the Sitar and tutored under Pandit Shri Kartik Kumar for the same.

Trained in the Veena under the Gurukula system prevalent then, Smt. Mangalam Muthuswamy started her initial lessons from her own mother and famous artiste of her time, Smt. Lakshmibai Ammal. She then proceeded to continue her tutelage under Tanam expert, Smt. ‘Veena’ Visalakshi, a direct disciple of Shatkala Chakravarthi Veena Venkatramana Das of Vijayanagaram and the world-renowned Smt. Dhanammal.

Smt. Muthuswamy had been merely 11 years old when she gave her first performance in the All India Radio. She is one of the few Vainikas who have had the distinction of being an ‘A High’ grade artiste at the AIR and the Doordarshan as well.

Smt.Muthuswamy has had many performances, awards and titles to her credit. Most important performances included the Radio Sangeet Sammelan in 1994; a performance in the august presence of Shri R.V.Venkataraman, the then President of India; the NCPA, Mumbai; Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai and the Maharajapuram Viswanatha Iyer’s Trust at Chennai. A recipient of the ‘Sur Mani’ award, she also conducted lecture-demonstrations on music, wrote articles for the Times of India and Shanmukha, the quarterly music magazine of Shanmukhananda.

Smt. Mangalam Muthuswamy was a fine performer, whose deft fingering and ease while playing on her Veena could transport her audience to a totally different, higher level of being. Her mellifluous Veena could induce tears even in laymen who could not understand the finer nuances of classical music. Such was the sheer magic she held in her fingertips!

Smt. Mangalam Muthuswamy’s biggest asset, though, was her ability to impart training in Veena to her many students. She had been a Veena teacher in the Bharatiya Music and Fine Arts Society for 10 years, after which she also served as a teacher in the Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Vidyalaya since 1986. She devised her own unique system of teaching and also successfully produced disciples who won awards in competitions and even gave stage concerts.

I have had the great good fortune of being her disciple since the past one and half decades or so. It has indeed been a pleasure to learn the great art from such a great Guru and a wonderful human being.

Very humble by nature and extremely affectionate towards each of us, ‘Mami’, as we fondly addressed her, was no different to us from our own family. In spite of her huge standing and amazing persona in the music field, Mami would come down to our level, talk and laugh with us, console us in times of trouble and even offer us a shoulder to cry on! Never harsh with her words, Mami would gently chide us for the little (and not-so-little) errors we made while playing, make us realize the true value of music and the true attitude we had to develop in order to delve deeper into the ocean of music.

I recall the many times when she would have me at home for hours at a stretch, grooming me for a stage concert. I would practically live there with other students while preparing for a group programme. Mami never let us realize the strain it would cause her while she selflessly laboured away with us. We practically learnt Veena the play-way – class was always fun, even if it meant getting a good tongue-lashing from Mami once in a way!

Today, our beloved and most respected Mami is no more. We now yearn for her presence and wish we could get just one more moment with her, to thank her for the immense kindness and magnanimity she showed towards us. Words cannot express what she meant to us - the void left by her passing can indeed never be filled.

Of course, we students truly believe that Mami will be with us in spirit, to guide us through our onward musical journey and steady us whenever we falter. But it will never be the same again. We will sorely miss having all those conversations, laughter sessions, grooming sessions and what have you.

We will forever long for the touch of those loving hands on our fingers, guiding them along the frets, that mischievous smile playing on her lips when we struggled in vain with a difficult pidi, the tinkling laughter that broke out each time one of us won some acclaim ………….the memories are never-ending and shall live on forever within us.

It is never going to be possible for us to repay Mami for all that she had done for us. We can only pray that her soul rests in peace and that we are able to, in our own small, humble way, carry forward her luminous tradition of Veena playing.

Evvaribodhana - A Magnificient Gem Among TAna Varnams

2006-09-10T03:02:00.000-07:00

Hi, folks,

It’s been a very long time since I’ve put my thoughts on this blog. Of course, I can always give excuses, but I suppose it was mainly just sheer indolence! J Anyway, I’ve finally gotten down to the task once more, this time, to share with you an experience fabulous and so humbling, something that touched my very soul.

I’ve been a student of Carnatic music for a lot more than 2 decades. Also been teaching since the past 6 years or so. Our Indian music is so vast and so complex, it’s taken so many years of hard work just to start to appreciate the Art.

The other day, I had been teaching one of my students the Adi Tala Varnam, Evaribodhana (Abhogi Raga) and was explaining the nuances, when the true beauty of the varnam enfolded right in front of my eyes. It is such a master-piece, so perfect and so pure – no wonder this and the other older varnams have stood the test of time and established themselves as some of the greatest of all time.

The TAna Varnam (as these are referred to), follow the TAna format, much as their name suggests. A TAna is embellished by rendition in various jAthis (or counts) – tishra (3), chaturshra (4), khanda (5) and so on and so forth. Rendering the TAna, making patterns of these jAthis is what makes the tAna worth listening to.

Now, coming back to Evaribodhana, if one studies the varnam in depth, one realizes that this tAna format has been strictly adhered to, throughout this piece. The splitting of both the swara and the sAhitya is such, that if learnt properly and practiced in the tOm-tat-Anamta- anamta format, the basics of the tAnam would automatically be taken care of!

Each and every one of the varnams in our regular varnam book has a function to perform – a purpose for its presence in the book. While SankarAbharanam teaches gamakas and finer nuances of the rAga, mOhanam trains the voice to try and produce melodious notes. KAmbhOji too stresses on the beauty and gamaka aspects, along with its melody, and so forth. Evidently, the Great Masters had had a good reason for compiling a book with those very varnams and putting them in that order!

Having realized this truth has made all the difference in my approach to music. It’s an unending world out there and the quest for knowledge continues as always…………..

EndarO mahAnubhAvulu andariki vandanamu…………

More On Sri Subrahmanya!

2006-03-30T07:19:00.000-08:00

The idea about this post had been playing on my mind ever since my previous post about Paramacharya's commentary on Muthuswamy Dikshitar.

I had been playing the Raga Shanmukhapriya on the Veena the other day, when this thought suddenly struck me. There are a whole lot of kritis in Shanmukhapriya, dedicated to many deities. There's the famous 'Siddhi Vinayakam' and many, many others. But there are also many kritis in praise of the Lord Kartikeya or Lord Subrahmanya. As I kept playing the alapana, I got involved in the various prayogas (usages) of the Raga, which is full of many shades and dimensions. This Raga has the unique ability of sounding different when handled in different ways and each of these prayogas sound equally beautiful. A single swara (note) can be used in more than one way, to produce various effects - now happy, now filled with pathos, now angry, now entreating etc.

As I continued my wonderful journey into the world of raga vistara, I thought that if the Raga itself was so beautiful, how beautiful the six-faced deity Himself must be! 'Shanmukhapriya' literally means 'that which is the beloved of Shanmukha'. Lord Muruga, according to mythology, is one of the most beautiful deities, far more beautiful than even Manmatha, or the God of Love. In any sculpture or portrait, His sparkling Lotus Eyes, the wonderful smile, the arched eye-brows, all go to form a perfect picture of His flawless features.

Indian classical music, both Carnatic and Hindustani, is essentially bhakti or devotion based. Each raga is given a swaroopa and is assigned a particular Raga Devata, which has to be rendered, imagining the form of that Devata.

I'm not heavily into musicology and I don't know what the Raga Devata of Shanmukhapriya looks like. But personally, I feel it doesn't take much trouble to liken the beauteous Vadivel to the vibrant raga. Keeping Him in mind seems to make it that much simpler to work my way round the charming, though highly complicated raga.

The ebb and flow of the raga could be compared to the various emotions crossing the Lord's face. Glowing with divinity and grace while being seated on the peacock with Valli and Devasena; the eyes reflecting the fire of valour while facing Soorapadma and the like; the triumph after having destroyed the evil forces; the aspect of the Guru, while giving Lord Pasupati upadesam on the Pranava Mantra, Om, and so on.

It's amazing how these little threads of imagination help in raga prasthaara. My teacher always keeps relating how beneficial it would be to proceed treating a raga, keeping in mind the general sketch of a figure associated with it. I now think this is exactly what she meant - maybe it's that very imagination that helps create the spontaneous waves of music and melody while she plays on her Veena. Maybe working along these lines will go a long way in helping me too, with my own quest for music..........

Commentary on Muthuswami Dikshitar Kriti - A Must Read

2006-03-26T08:52:00.000-08:00

This is an article a good friend of mine, Padma, also a Vainika, mailed me recently. It's too beautiful and something you just can't miss reading. Do go through the entire post.

Translated from an article in Kalki Deepavali Malar of 1990:

A memorable incident when Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswati, Paramacharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt, gave a wonderful commentary on Muthuswami Dikshitar's kriti on
Subrahmanya to Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar.
The article appeared in Ariyakkudi's centenary year, when Paramacharya was in his 97th year.
In June 1961, Paramacharya was camping at Devakottai (in Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu). He was in deep penance for several weeks, not talking or even communicating by gesture. One could not know if he even heard the devotees' words. One morning, some people from nearby Ariyakkudi (`Nagarathar') had their darshan of Him, and in the course of their talks, it came out that Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar, the famous carnatic musician, and known simply as `Ariyakkudi', was currently in Karaikkudi.
To the surprise of every one, Paramacharya signaled to them, asking if they can bring Ariyakkudi over to meet Him. They agreed and left.
That afternoon by three o'clock, Ariyakkudi was at the camp. He was so excited and tense, as Paramacharya had asked to meet him in the midst of his 'kAshta mounam' (vow of rigorous silence) Is not Paramacharya known for His simplicity? So His accommodation at the camp was very simple. His room was on the garden side of a small house. Devotees had to have His darshan through a small window, after passing through dirt and bushes. May be that was His way of admonishing those of us who have grown used to the luxuries of life.
On being informed that Ariyakkudi had arrived, Paramacharya signaled to bring him to the rear window. He came, and paid obeisance by falling full stretch at His feet.
That was it. To every one's joy, Paramacharya opened His mouth and started talking in a torrent.
"Heard of your receiving the Rashtrapathi award. You would have walked on a red carpet, and been honored in a gathering of eminent persons. But me, I have made you walk on stones and bush and made you sit in a dinghy room.
"Why I called you is, I long have had a desire to listen to 'ShrI SubrahmanyAya namasthE' rendered perfectly. On hearing you are around, the desire has re-surfaced. Perfect rendition means both the music and the lyrics (sangItham and sAhityam). Many people disfigure the words of Sanskrit and Telugu kirtanas to the extent that we wish they never sang.
"The music part (swarAs), the rhythm part and the 'sAhitya chandas' - what is called 'chandam' in Tamil - would be given for most songs.
The proper way to split and combine words would also be given. The musician has to take care to synchronize the music, rhythm and chandas and split and combine the words correctly so as not to spoil the meaning. The compositions of good composers definitely allow this (padham pirichu pAdaradhu) but many musicians simply concentrate on the music and rhythm, and ignore the meaning, sometimes leading to ridiculous meanings! "Even in this song 'ShrI SubrahmanyAya namasthE', we have a line 'guruguhAyAgnAna dwAnta savithrE'. This must be split as 'guruguhAya agnAna dwAnta savithrE' i.e. 'the one who is the sun for the darkness of ignorance'. Some sing it as 'guruguhAyA.......
gnana dwAnta savitrE', ' one who is the sun for the darkness of knowledge'! "I do not know if you sing the kriti 'SankarAchAryam' (Sri Subbarama Sastri's Sankarabharanam kriti), but Veena Dhanamma's family, Semmangudi Seenu, MS sing this. There is a line 'paramAdvaita sthApana leelam' - means 'one who so easily, like a game, founded the great Advaita philosophy' - it is to be sung with stress on the 'A' of 'Advaita' (Paramacharya sings this line) to give the intended meaning. If we really cared, we can, even without proper training, sing with proper meaning.
Those I mentioned above also sing properly.
But those who do not care, stretch the 'paramAAAA' and then sing 'dwaita sthApana leelam', converting the Advaita Acharya to Dwaita Acharya! (laughs heartily for a long time) "No doubt, in music, there is no Dvaita - Advaita difference. Only music is important. And music makes the mind of the singer into unison with the song - the protagonist of the song. That is why, 'ShrI SubrahmanyAya namasthE' is attached to you - a Vaishnavite - or you are attached to it! I have heard you sing that song. I do not have to say anything about your musical ability; and the sahitya part too you do correctly. Which is why I have called you here.
"In my dharbar there is only stones and bushes. There is no accompaniment, not even sruti. But please do sing that kriti for me, in spite of all these." When Paramacharya stopped his torrent, Ariyakkudi was in tears. He prostrated once again, and said "there is no other prestige for me than to be asked by 'periyavA' to sing, and singing for periyavA. I have no words to express the magnanimity of PeriyavA, considering me as somebody and giving me this chance. PeriyavA's grace has to fill in for the sruti and accompaniment and enable me to sing to the level I am expected to", and readied himself to begin the song.
Paramacharya asked "the raga of this kriti is said to be Kambodhi, but the name given in books is Kambhoji, right?" When Ariyakkudi said yes, Paramacharya continued, "Many of us know Kambhojam is Cambodia (in S E Asia), and that Bharat culture had taken deep roots there. If we inferred that Kambhoji is a raga 'imported' from that place, researchers like Sambamurthy (the late Proof P Sambamurthy) disagree. Cambodians might have imported many things from us, but not we, far advanced in civilization, from them; definitely not in music, where we were much advanced whereas they had mostly folk music. Then why the name 'Kambhoji'? "I have a thought here - there is another place called 'Kambhojam along India's northern border. Kalidasa, no ordinary poet and quite knowledgeable too, tells Yasha to go this way and that in his 'mEgha SandEsam' - good enough to plot a map! In his Raghuvamsam, describing Raghu's invasions and victories, he has mentioned one 'Kambhojam', beyond the Indus and along the Himalayas. From this, we deduce that, within the extended India (akand Bharat), there was one Kambhojam near the Hindukush mountains. May be our Kambodhi raga was from this place? "Many ragas are named after places, right? Sourashtram, Navarasa kannada, even Kannada, Sindhu Bhairavi, Yamuna Kalyani, like this Kambodhi might have come from Kambhojam region.
"Researchers say ragas like Mohanam and Kambhji have been around in most civilizations from time immemorial. Later, may be the raga was given the name of the place that 'polished' it well.
"Kedaram is a place in the Himalayas - you know Kedarnath. Gowla - Gowda region - Bengal. We have ragas in both names, and even Kedaragowla. But all three ragas have been in South Indian music - how? May be the names came from musicans who 'specialized' in these ragas and came from those regions? People in general, musicians in particular, are referred to with their native places. For instance Ariyakkudi means you! From this, can we say that some these rags - Kedaram, Gowla, Kannada, Kambhoji etc. - were popularized by musicians from these regions? "Are you interested in research into ancient music?" Ariyakkudi replied "Not much".
"But you have set Tiruppavai to tune! But unlike for Devaram songs, tunes have not been specified for Tiruppavai songs, and those whose who recited, did not use a tune. Since only Brahmins have been reciting Divyaprabhandham songs, they have recited only with a kind of up-down delivery (Ethal-Irakkal prAsam). You set the tune for Tiruppavai according to your manodharma (imagination)?" "To the best of my little ability" "But it has become the standard and accepted and sung by other vidwans as well! It seems our ancient ragas have been preserved in their original form (roopam) only in the Devaram songs. Just as the Vedas have been preserved to a note by the Vaidikas through generations, the Odhuvamurthis have preserved Devaram songs - not just the lyrics, but the tunes too. What was a service to devotion, has also been a service to music! The ragas Sankarabharanam, Neelambari, Bhairavi etc. have all been identified as different 'pann's. This list includes Sowrashtra, Kedaragowla, Kambodhi also. Kambodhi used to be called 'ThakkEsi' or something like that. Kambodhi is not a mela raga?" "No. Harikambhoji is the mela raga; Kambhoji is its janya raga" "But Kambodhi is more famous! Just like the son being more famous than the father. Some other janya ragas too are like this?" "Yes, Bhairavi is a janya raga, derived from Natabhairavi" "OK, you sing. I have been wasting time in useless chat preventing you from doing what you came for!" Ariyakkudi rendered the song "ShrI subrahmanyAya namasthE" - a rare musical feast. Even without sruti or accompaniments, it still was wholesome. Paramacharya listened to the song with full concentration, eyes closed. Then, "Only because you sang alone (no sruti/accompanists) the song came out with all its beauty. And the words were crystal clear. I say 'thrupthOsmi' (Totally satisfied). Please sing once more - you know why? I will give you the meaning line by line, you stop after every line. Not that you do not know; but let me have the pleasure of dissolving my mind in Sri Dikshitar's lyrical beauty for some more time! More over, others here can also learn the meaning and beauty behind the creations of geniuses." Ariyakkudi sang one more, this time line-by-line. Presented below is Paramacharya 's commentary, plus appropriate pieces from some of his other lectures.
'shrI subrahmaNyAya namastE namastE' Obeisance to Lord Subrahmanya - every one knows. Starts auspiciously with ShrI and has a double namasthE. If you say something more than once, you have said it infinite number of times (not just 100, as Rajnikant thinks! - ananth). We have seen 'pOttri pOttri' and 'Jaya Jaya Sankara', and BrahmasUtram's every phrase ends with twice- repeated words.
'namasthE namasthE'. 'thE' - to you; 'nama:' - obeisance. 'nama:thE' becomes 'namasthE'. The whole kriti goes in the fourth person(?) (nAlam vEtrumai). Obeisances to you, SubrahmanyA, infinite number of obeisances.
Who is Subrahmanya? True, learned Brahmanya. We generally take 'brahmA' to mean the true, absolute form of the Lord (paramAtma svarUpam), but there is another meaning - Vedas. That is why, Upanayanam, the ceremony to begin Veda lessons to a child, is called 'BrahmOpadEsam'; by learning Vedas, the child becomes 'BrahmachAri'. Likewise 'Brahmayagnam'. Brahmins are a set that recite the Vedas. Subrahmanya is the symbol of the Divine, the end point, the God of Vedas, and the special God of the Brahmins.
What is the special feature of Veda recitals? Worship of agni, fire.
And Subrahmanya is the God who is in 'agni swarUp'. He was created by the six sparks of fire (nEtragni) from the (third) eye of Shiva.
Hence He is the Deva of Vedas, and the God of Brahmins, whose sole duty is to recite and teach Vedas.
Adisankara in his 'Subrahmanya Bhujangam' says 'mahIdEva dEvam, mahAvEda bhAvam, mahAdEvabAlam'. 'mahIdEva' are Brahmins; 'mahIdEva dEvam' is God of Brahmins.
In Thirumurugattruppadai, one of the oldest Tamil scriptures, this point is underlined. Nakkeerar, the author, stating that each of the six faces of Shanmukha grants devotees' wishes in one different way, says 'oru mugam manthra vidhiyin marapuli vazhA anthanar vELviyOrkkummE' And when describing Thiruveragam (Swamimalai), he says learned and pious Brahmins perform rituals with fire towards Subrahmanya.
Brahmins who participate in 'yagna karmA' are called 'rithvik'. Of the sixteen types of rithviks, one is named 'Subrahmanya'.
From all these, it is evident that Subrahmanya is the God of Vedas.
Muthuswami Dikshitar has much connection with Subrahmanya. He has been to, and sung in praise of, many kshetras and Gods, just as Adisankara has. But in his devotion (upAsanA), he has been known to be a 'dEvi upAsakA' - he even breathed his last singing 'mIna lOchani pAsha mOchani....' on Meenakshi. But his birth, beginning of his composing career, were are all associated with Subrahmanya.
His very name, Muthuswami, is that of Muthukumaraswami, the deity at Vaidheeswaran koil. His father, Ramaswami Dikshitar - scholar, musician and Srividya devotee - was without an issue till he was forty. He visited Vaidheeswaran koil with his wife and fasted for 45 days (one mandalam). His wife then had a dream as if someone was tying coconut, fruits and other 'mangalavastu' on her womb. And soon she became pregnant. The couple understood that Subrahmanya had granted their wish and that the dream meant this. And a boy was born on 'krithikai' day in the month of Phalguni or Panguni. That boy was Muthuswami.
He grew up, had his musical training, Srividya Abhyasam (training in the worship of Devi) and gurukula vAsam at Kashi (Benares). His guru at Kashi, before dying, told Muthuswami, "Go back to the south. First visit Tiruttani. Subrahmanya will show you the way to your life's purpose".
So Muthuswami went to Tiruttani. He had his bath in the temple tank and was climbing the hillock, when an elderly Brahmin gentleman called him by name, and told him to open his mouth. When Muthuswami did so, he dropped a piece of sugar candy (karkandu) in his mouth and disappeared. Muthuswami understood who it was that came, and his life's mission began that moment - his musical creativity had been woken up. On the spot, he sang eight kritis. (in eight different 'vEttrumai's) Also note that his 'mudra' is 'guruguhA', a name of Subrahmanya. Guha resides deep inside a cave - guhai; and guruguha resides in the deep cave of the human heart of Muthuswami Dikshitar.
Dikshitar's life on earth ended on a Deepavali day. The sixth day from Deepavali is 'skanda shashti'. Some people fast these six days, beginning on Deepavali day and ending it on the shashti day. So in his death too we see the Subrahmanya association.
Dikshitar went from place to place and sung in praise of the God there, be it Ganesha, Vishnu, Devi, Shiva. And in each kriti, there would be some internal evidence about the place where it was composed - the name of the God, some historical fact, or manthra rahasyam. Our 'ShrI SubrahmanyAya namasthE' has no such internal evidence - we do not know where it was composed. May be he unified the deities of all Subrahmanya temples in this one kriti, so sparkling is it.
So he has started with innumerable obeisances; then 'manasija kOTi kOTi lAvaNyAya' Like two 'namasthE's, two koti's. koti-koti is koti (one crore) multiplied by crore. manasija koti koti - crore*crore manmadhA's.
manasijan=manmadhan; he is born out of mind - manas. Love - kAmA - comes from the mind, right? There is a puranic story too - Manmadhan is the son of Mahavishnu. But very strangely, he was not born to Mahalakshmi out of Vishnu's love, but from Vishnu's mind directly - the moment Vishnu thought of him! And Vishnu's other son, Brahma, was born directly too, from Vishnu's navel (nAbhi). See, Vishnu has this funny habit of doing strange things always! Manmadhan is famous for his good looks. So 'manasija kOti kOti lAvanyAya' is some one who is crore*crore times as beautiful as Manmadha.
But is this not funny?! I mean, Subrahmanya being 'manasija kOti kOti lAvanyAya'. Who is Subrahmanya? He is the son of Shiva, who reduced Manmadha to ashes with a fire of fury from His eye. And from that same nEtragni, is born Subrahmanya! But He was born to gnAna (wisdom), not kAma.
'Kumar' is a special name for Him. Just as in the South 'pillai' (son) means pillaiyar (Ganesha), Kumar in the North refers to the younger son, Subrahmanya. In the South also, we say 'kumaran' or 'kumAraswAmy'. Nowadays, half of the boys are named 'Kumar'! The term 'Kumar' is particularly applied to Subrahmanya. In Valmiki Ramayana, Vishwamitra tells the story of Subrahmanya to Rama and Lakshmana and calls it 'KumAra Sambhavam'. And Kalidasa has named his own epic after this phrase used by the great sage Valmiki.
Another interpretation for the word 'Kumar'. Manmadhan is also called 'mAran'; and 'kumAran' some one who puts mAra to shame - is more beautiful than him. 'kutsitha-mara:' - 'kumAra:'. So 'kumAra' by itself means 'manasija kOti kOti lAvanyAya'! The Tamil people just love Him. They have given Him a beautiful name - 'Murugan' - Murugu=beauty.
After kAmA was burnt to ashes, Devi took over his role, donning his sugarcane bow and floral arrows - 'kamEshwari' - this led to the birth of Subrahmanya. And how else would be but 'lavaNyA'? - Devi Herself is called 'sundari - thripurasundari'.
'dhIna sharaNyAya' Is mere beauty enough? What we want is 'aruL' - grace. Subrahmanya is the refuge of we, the sufferers. 'dhIna' - those that are poor, humble, suffering, scared.
'dhIna sharaNyAya - lAvaNyAya - SubrahmaNyAya' - similar sounding - edhugai or mOnai or something in Tamil - it is edhugai only but edhugai on the ending of the words rather than on the beginning. 'yAya' - andhya prAsam - 'to Him' (fourth vEttrumai) It is usual to go back to the first line with a fast 'manasija kOti kOti', after beginning in slow tempo - chowkha kAlam or vilamba kAlam. Vilambham - a nice Sanskrit word. I prefer this word to 'chowkam'. Slow tempo, giving scope to the musician to explore the raga's various nuances, is a hallmark of Dikshitar's kritis. And the majestic Sanskrit language helps too, creating the impression of a grand elephant procession.
But aren't we all always in a hurry? By the mind and by the body? So we find such slow tempo boring after some time. And for this, Dikshitar provides relief with some fast movements at the end of most phrases. Madhyama kAlam comes as a relief to chowkha kAlam, as a piece of clove in a sweet-sweet laddu! In this kriti, both the pallavi and charanam have madhyama kAla endings. But in his most other kritis, we find madhya kAla phrases only at the end of anupallavi and charanam. Why? Subrahmanya is a vibrant young man (endrum iLaiyAi), so wants to go running right from the word 'go'! 'bhUSurAdhi samasthajana pUjithAbja sharaNAya' - one whose lotus feet are worshipped by Brahmins and other people (add namasthE of the pallavi to this) 'bhUsurAdhi' - Brahmins and ...others. 'bhUsurA' - Brahmins. 'bhU' is earth, surA are devAs. And Brahmins are the 'earthly DevAs' as they, by their chanting and rituals, bring the blessings of the Devas to earth.
We have already seen that Subrahmanya is the God of Brahmins (mahIdeEva is same as bhUsura). But is He the God of Brahmins only? Not so; He is the God of all people. Of his two wives, one is the daughter of Indra, the king of Devas, and the other, daughter of a tribal chieftain (suramagal and kuramagal). Some might say, He is a Tamil God (Dravidaswamy), and others that He is the God of Brahmins only - His name itself is testimony. But the truth is otherwise.
There is no doubt that He is the God of all people. And Dikshitar takes this line only. We should all unite in the name of God, not fight one another.
'pUjithAbja sharaNAya' - to the worshipped Lotus Feet. Abja is lotus; 'Ab' is water and that which grows in water is abjam. We also call it jalajam, ambujam, sarojam, neerajam (jala, ambu... are all other names for water). Also vanajam - vana is forest. But does lotus grow in forest? But vana has another meaning - water. 'Kam' is also water - kamjam is lotus (eg. kamjalOchanE, kamjadhalAya dAkshi).
vArijam, too, is lotus. OK, all I have tried to say is 'abjam' is lotus! 'vASuki thakShakAdhi sarpa swarUpa dharanAya' - one who takes the form of snakes like Vasuki and Thaksha.
Literally 'sarpa' means 'kundalini' - the Energy of Life. Snake has a wriggled, spiral-like form, so does our kundalini, in normal circumstances. But if we perform concentrated penance, it wakes up in full glory, and then merges with the Ultimate.
Subrahmanya's weapon is the spear - 'vEl', also known as Shakti Ayudham. No other deity's weapon is as much identified with that deity, as vEl is with Subrahmanya. And His connection with snakes is apparent in more instances - if we see a snake in our dreams, elders tell us to perform Subrahmanya pooja for preethi. And Shashti Pooja to Subrahmanya is also done some times as Nagarjuna Pooja, in particular for Puthrabhagyam. Subrahmanya was born at the request of Devas who wanted a powerful commander-in-chief; and we pray to Him for puthrabhagyam! In Andhra and Karnataka, they do not have Subrahmanya idols in temples; rather, He is worshipped in snake form. You know a place called Subrahmanya in Karnataka - there also it is this way. Telugus fondly say 'subbarAyudu' meaning Subrahmanya as well as snake.
Let us see if Adisankara has brought out this Subrahmanya-snake connection. (laughs) The title itself is 'Bhujangam'! Snake does not have legs, and uses its whole body as hands - bhujam, and moves about in a wavy rhythm. The 'chandas' similar to a snake's movement is called 'bhujanga prayAdham'. Acharya has sung bhujangams on many Gods, but when we simply think of bhujangam, what comes to our mind immediately is 'Subrahmanya Bhujangam'. On other Gods, He has also composed ashtakam, pancharatnam etc, but on Subrahmanya, only this Subrahmanya Bhujangam - may be to prove that Subrahmanya is Himself the bhujangam.
Dikshitar mentions the famous snakes Vasuki and Taksha. Shashti Pooja is performed by worshipping seven great snakes. Vasuki is the snake who adorns the role of Nagaraja in Nagalokam. And when the Sea of Milk (pArkadal) was churned with Mandaragiri, this Vasuki snake was used to tie that hillock. Funny, isn't it, a poisonous snake helping to extract nectar! Again, what is Subrahmanya's vehicle (vAhanA)? peacock, dire enemy of the snakes! Goes to show that, in His presence, all enmity vanishes. So too, elephants are mortally scared of lions - a 'simha swapna' terrorizes an elephant. But we have an elephant sitting on a lion! Heramba, one of the many forms of Ganesha, has a lion as His vAhanA. Or take Vishnu - His bed is a snake (Adishesha) and his vAhanA, Garuda, enemy of snakes! We are told the story that a snake eats the moon during lunar eclipse, but we have a snake and a moon adorning Shiva's head! Strange, again, are the Parvati-Shiva couple. Will a lion leave a bull go? But we have Shiva on the Rishaba (bull) and Devi on Simha (lion)! The philosophy behind all these is, all beings lose their tendency to hate (dwEsha bhAvam) at the Lord's sannidhi.
OK, let us continue our 'vAsuki takshakAdhi' - some say Vasuki is the same as Adishesha; some disagree. Anyhow, Adishesha and Subrahmanya are definitely connected. Venkataramanaswamy at Tirupati has much connection with Subrahmanya. The hillock Tirupati-Tirumala is also called Seshagiri, Seshachalam, Seshasailam. 'sarpa swarUpa dhara' Subrahmanya is Himself is the Tirupati hill. Or take Ardhanarishwara at Tiruchengode. Subrahmanya is also worshipped here, as He made the (united) couple into a trio - Somaskanda. This Tiruchengode is also called Nagachalam and Nagagiri, meaning the same as Seshachalam.
'vAsavAdhi sakala dEva vandhithAya' Now he talks about the real 'suras', not earthly suras. 'bhUsurAdhi' was in the lower octave and 'vAsavAdhi' in the upper octave. The meaning is 'One who is worshipped by Vasava and other Devas'. Vasava is Indra. Of the Devas, there is one class called Ashtavasus. They are Indra's followers (parivAram), so Vasava is Indra. When he himself worships, all other Devas have to follow suit (yathA rAjA thathA prajA); moreover, when Surapadma drove off the Devas and ascended Indra's throne, Subrahmanya was the one who saved them. So they have much reason to worship Subrahmanya. Not just worshipping - Indra gave off his daughter Devasena in marriage to Subrahmanya. So Deva-senapathi became Devasena-pathi! Dikshitar also points this out later in the kriti (dEvarAja jAmatrE) Reminds me - Devasena is said to be Indra's daughter, and Valli, the daughter of Nambirajan, tribal king (suramagal, kuramagal) but in fact, both of them are Vishnu's daughters but for some reasons grew up with Indra and Nambirajan.
Who is Vishnu? Devi's brother, Subrahmanya's uncle. So Subrahmanya has married his uncle's daughters perfectly in accordance with custom. Arunagirinathar says as many times 'marugOnE' (nephew/son-in- law) as he says 'murugOnE'. Even though Ganesha too is Vishnu's nephew, 'mAl marugOn' - Vishnu's nephew - denotes Subrahmanya only.
Another example of unity-in-diversity - Vishnu, whose son Manmadha died in the netragni, has given His daughters in marriage to Subrahmanya - born out of the same netragni.
Further, we will see that Saiva-Vaishnava difference also vanishes, and it would not be strange that this kriti is a Vaishnavite's masterpiece. Is it not quite expected, as Subrahmanya is the son-in- law of Vishnu? Would you not love and respect your son-in-law? One step further - Devi Herself is Vishnu's sister. Who gives off Meenakshi in marriage to Sundareshwara (thArai vArthu kodukkaradhu)? A world famous sculpture at Madurai tells us who...
First Dikshitar said samasthajana pUjithAya, then sakaladEva vandhithAya. Among Devas too, there are several sects - Vasus, Rudhras, Adithyas, Gandharvas, Kinnaras, etc.
And finally, 'varENyAya' - means THE BEST. This appears in Gayathri Mantra. To bring out the superlative nature, Dikshitar has used this word from Gayathri, which is but the essence of the Vedas. And 'varENyAya' continues the 'andhya prAsam' of SubrahmanyAya-lAvaNyAya-charaNyAya, and as it comes at the height of the anupallavi, he has used the word from the essence of the Vedas.
The beginnings of each line, too, have 'edhugai prAsam' - 'shrI Su', 'bhUsu', 'vAsa', 'dhAsa'. This is the speciality of great composers - their rachana visesham (not 'rasana' - appreciation).
rachanA means lyrical beauty - the unified effect of sound and meaning, each falling into its place at ease. 'Composed', 'composure' itself means peace, ease. (In Tamil, we say quite beautifully, 'sollamaidhi, porulamaidhi'). We can deduce a composer's rasanA from his rachanA.
'dAsajanAbhISta-prada-dakSatarAgra-gaNyAya' Having certified His stature with a superlative, Dikshitar mounts more superlatives one after the other to bring out His kindness to devotees. 'dhAsajana apIshta pradha' - one who fulfills his devotees' wishes. Dikshitar could have stopped here, but was not quite satisfied! After `pradha', we have `dhaksha', `thara', `agra' - a stream of superlatives.
'abhIshta pradha dhaksha' is one who is very good at fulfilling his devotees' wishes. Stop here? No. 'dhaksha thara' - the best among those who are good at fulfilling their devotees' wishes. 'thara' - better in comparison. (in Tamil we say 'tharamAnadhu'). Yes, there may be many such capable Gods (and their supporters may come fighting) so let us avoid controversy here. After all, God and music and kritis are but for unity and peace. So let Subrahmanya be the #1 among all such Gods, thought Dikshitar. So he says 'agragaNyAya' - another superlative! 'agra' - first place; 'gaNyAya' - held in or esteemed to be in.
'thAraka simhamukha sUrapadmAsura samharthrE' - one who vanquished Tharaka, Simhamukha and Soorapadma (add 'namasthE' here) Pallavi and anupallavi had all the words in the fourth person (nAlAm vEttrumai in Tamil). Now charanam has words ending in 'ru' - a weak, half 'u' (kutrialugaram in Tamil). 'Samharthru - upadEsakarthru - savithru' - in 4th person these do not become 'yAya' but take the 'E' sound - 'harthrE - karthrE'.
Tharaka, Simhamukha and Soorapadma are brothers. Tharaka is elephant- faced, Simhamukha obviously lion-faced, and Soorapadma has an ugly rAkshasa face. In the South, Soorapadma is the king of Asuras, and the chief villain. We even celebrate Soorasamharam. But in the north, Tharaka takes this place. Kalidasa in his 'Kumarasambhavam' says that Subrahmanya was born for the purpose of vanquishing Tharakasura. And in Subrahmanya Bhujangam, Adisankara mentions all three. Dikshitar follows the 'southern line'.
OK; Dikshitar has spoken of His beauty (kOti kOti manasija lAvaNyAya), kindness (dhInacharanyAya, abhIshtavarapradhAkshagrahaNyAya) and valour; what next? What signifies Dikshitar's kritis? What is his mudhra? 'Guruguha'.
This is Subrahmanya's greatest quality. He is the one who teaches us the path to the Ultimate. He even teaches His father, Shiva ('guruvAi ararkkum upadEsam vaiththa' - Arunagiri) - He is 'thagappan swAmi - swAminAthaswAmi - 'gnAnapandithaswAmi'.
'thApa-thrya harana nipuna thathvOpadEsa karthrE' Jeevatma - human soul - has three kinds of desires - thApathryam.
They are Aadhyatmikam, Aadhiboudhikam, Aaadhidhaivikam. And all three lead to suffering; the first to suffering within our soul. The second is brought about by other (human/animal) beings. The last, Aadhi dhaivikam, literally means God's work, but here stands to mean our fate - vidhi. Subrahmanya teaches us how to win over them - he is an expert - nipunA - at such teaching.
'vIranutha' Wisdom and valour - we ignorantly that they are different. But the truly wise man - gnAni - can take any form, but still be a gnAni inside. Krishna tells Arjuna to take his bow and shoot (gAntIpathai edudA ambai thodudA) in the midst of Gita which is essentially a Gnanopadesham. Subrahmanya is a 'gnAnavIra' - the wise warrior, c-in- c of the devasena and worshipped by all brave and wise men.
Hence 'vIranutha'. 'nutha' - one who is worshipped. One more interpretation - He has nine deputies whose names all start with 'vIra' - vIrabAhu, vIrakEsari, vIramahEndra etc. So also He is 'vIranutha'.
'guruguhAya' After valour, again gnAna! Subrahmanya's abodes are mostly hillocks or caves - guhai ('kurinjikkadavul' in Tamil). Philosophically, He is the Divine Truth residing deep in the cave that is the human heart.
And when He comes out and preaches, he is 'guruguhA'. This is also Dikshitar's mudhra, having flown spontaneously out of his heart into his words.
'agnAna dwAntha savithrE' 'dwAntham' - darkness; Savitha - Sun. Just as Sun drives out the darkness, He drives out the darkness of ignorance. The use of the word 'savithA' for Sun is significant here. Sun - Surya - has several other names - Aadithya, BhUsha, Bhaskara, Bhanu, Marthanda, Dinamani (more to be found in Aadhithya Hrdayam). Of these, the name savithA appears in Gayathri Manthra. Roughly translating, in Gayathri, we pray that the brilliant wisdom light of the Ultimate, likened to the glow of the Sun, should awaken our inner wisdom and make it glow, too. Speciality of the name is, Savitha does not talk of the destructive-of-darkness nature of the Sun, but of the creative nature. Savitha - literally one who creates. (prasavam - giving birth - same root here). Sun not only destroys darkness, dirt, insects etc, but also induces rain, growth of vegetation, our good health and even our mental growth. Similarly, Subrahmanya vanquishes darkness (of the mind), but also fills in this void space with wisdom. The use of the word Savitha has come out beautifully.
(ThirumurugAtruppadai starts with a similar simile of dawn) I think the whole point of this kriti is to show Subrahmanya to be the essence of Gayathri, which is itself the essence of Vedas. The kriti starts with Brahmanyaya; at the high point of the anupallavi we have 'varENyAya' and the high point of charanam has 'savithre'. The kriti touches its peak at this point.
And then, 'vijayavallI barthrE' This is fun! the real fun with real gnAni is he can be anything outside; brave, beautiful, kind, anything. He is SUrasamhAramUrthi, the valiant victor at Tiruchendur; a sanyAsi at Palani; a Brahmachari boy at Swamimalai; Devasena's and Valli's husband at Tirupparankundram and Tiruttani. Vijayavalli is none but Valli.
(Devasena is Jayanthi). So He has Jaya and Vijaya as His consorts! Valli Kalyanam is a jolly good anecdote. But the philosophy there? He frees the mind, caught between IndriyAs (the tribal folk in the story) and merges it with Himself. Goes also to show how much of a 'dhInasharanyA' He is - He, the Son of Universe's first couple, took on many different roles and what not, just to please the deep, innocent love of a tribal girl.
'sakthyAyudha dhartrE' - one who wears the powerful spear - ShaktivEl.
'dhIrAya' We generally take this to mean strength, fearlessness; of course that is correct. But another meaning is sharp intellect. And this 'dhI' sound is found in Gayathri too! Gayathri's use of 'dhI' refers to our intellect, which, pray, be induced by the Ultimate Light (paramAthma thEjas). The root meaning of the word 'gAyathri' is 'that which protects/elevates the one who sings it'. Sing? The recital of Vedas, in up-down fashion, is itself like a song. And Dikshitar probably made this kriti as a kind of musical Gayathri, and hence borrows many words and ideas from Gayathri Mantra.
Which is the first and basic swara of the saptaswara? Shadjam. The cooing of peacock is likened to Shadjam, and peacock reminds us of what? Him! (Arunagiri says 'maragadha mayUra perumAl kAN'). If He is the Lord of Shadjam, the base note, is He not the Lord of music too? And must He not have a Sangeetha Gayathri on him? Which is why, He created Dikshitar, started him off with a sugar candy and got him to sing this kriti! 'natha vidhAtrE' Vidhatha is Brahma. natha here is the same as nutha in vIranutha - means one who is worshipped. We all know the story. Subrahmanya asked Brahma for the meaning of Pranava Mantra; Brahma could not give a satisfactory answer. And our young boy imprisoned Brahma and took over his duty of Creation. In some temples, we can see Subrahmanya donning the japamAla and kamandalu of Brahma (eg. Kanchi Kumarakkottam). Shiva came to Brahma's rescue, "OK my son, Brahma does not know; you tell me the answer, if you know". Pat came the reply, "I can not be talked to like this; if you want the answer, ask like a student does, not like a teacher". Even great people take pleasure in losing to their offspring! Shiva went down to Subrahmanya and got 'PranavOpadEsha'. A lesson to all of us - in pursuit of knowledge, there is no shame. Having now realized Subrahmanya's greatness, Brahma worshipped Him and was released back to his job.
'dEvaraja jAmathrE' - son-in-law of Indra, we have already seen this.
'bhUrAdhi bhuvana bhOktrE' 'bhUrAdhi' - earth and other; bhuvana - worlds. It is customary to classify the infinite number of worlds into 14, of which seven are below, and further summarizing as 'bhUr-bhuva-suvar' ie lower, middle and upper worlds. Recognize these? Gayathri again! We add a 'Om' to it and recite as part of many our rituals. The idea is that the fruits of our rituals should reach all of the people in all of these worlds. 'bOkthA' means ruled by, enjoyed by. Are not the happenings- on in all these worlds at and for His pleasure? (leelAnubhavam) Finally, 'bhOga mOksha pradhAtrE' As seen, He is the one who rules over and enjoys all good things in this world, while giving us the illusion that we too enjoy various pleasures like wealth, position and fame. 'dhAthA' - one who gives. 'pradhAthA' - expert at giving. In the fourth person, it becomes 'pradhAtrE'. As long as this illusion - drama - is on, it is fine for us to enjoy, and for Him to give. But if we delude ourselves into thinking that this drama is the real thing, we are fools. Once the drama is over, should we not go back to our real selves? This is the state when the mind (manas), the drama stage, dies and the Atman alone exists. He gives us this state too - as 'agnAna dwAnta savithA', 'mOksha pradhAthA'.
If we seek moksha from Dhanalakshmi, or from Santhanalakshmi, we are not going to get it. And Dakshinamurthi would not give us wealth or offspring, either. Subrahmanya gives us both bhogam and moksham.
There is nothing more to say after this sentence, and the kriti ends.
Paramacharya further tells Ariyakkudi and the gathering at large, "I'm happy to see that you, coming from a good guru-sishya parampara, are preserving good music. You must also bring up good disciples and keep the tradition going. A Brahmin, having learnt Veda, has a compulsory duty to teach atleast one more person (adhyApanam). This can apply to other sastras and arts too.
"One more point about musicians. You should sing the Telugu and Sanskrit kirtanas fully aware of their meaning. It is not fair to say that Tamil songs alone are enough. Great composers in this country have created hundreds of Telugu and Sanskrit songs of much musical and lyrical beauty. If we ignore them, the loss is ours. Do not defend by saying, 'I do not understand them!' - if only we desire, do we not spend time and energy on all sorts of useless things? If musicians dedicate themselves to pure music and proper rendition of words without losing the 'osandha artha visEsham', language can not be a barrier. Now that you are #1 in the music world, do your best towards this. May Subrahmanya's Grace be with you in this endeavor." Ariyakkudi was totally moved. He took leave saying," This has been the best day in my life".
And Paramacharya went back to his penance the next moment.

Raga: kAmbhOji / Tala: tishra Ekam

Pallavi:
shrI subrahmaNyAya namastE namastE
manasija kOTi kOTi lAvaNyAya dIna sharaNyAya

Anupallavi:
bhUsurAdi samastajana pUjitAbja caraNAya
vAsuki takSakAdi sarpa svarUpa dharaNAya
vAsavAdi sakaladEva vanditAya varENyAya
dAsajanAbhIStapradadakSatarAgragaNyAya

Charnam:

tAraka simha mukha shUra padmAsura samhartrE
tApatraya haraNanipuNa tatvOpadEsha kartrE
vIranuta guruguhAyAjHnAna dhvAnta savitrE
vijayavallI bhartrE saktyAyudha dhartrE
dhIrAya natavidhAtrE dEvarAja jAmAtrE
bhUrAdibhuvanabhOktrE bhOgamOkSapradAtrE

A Tribute To My Teachers

2006-03-03T07:44:00.000-08:00

I just got back from my class this evening. I teach Bharata Natyam, vocal music and instrumental Veena. Today I had a particularly difficult session, wherein I was explaining the finer aspects of Abhinaya or expressions in dance to one of my young disciples. Though a bright student, the girl couldn't get a grasp on the subject. Can't blame her - I guess things will change for the better, with a little time and a lot of effort.

It's at times like these that I really understand just how much trouble my teachers must have taken to mould me and groom me as they have done. I've been in the field of dance for more than two and a half decades and have been playing the Veena since the past 13 years or so. It's only about 8 years since I started teaching, so there's a long, long way ahead and also much to learn. My teahcers, on the other hand, have all the experience of years and years of teaching behind them. To this day, they work tirelessly to ensure that they bring out the best in each of their pupils. They are forever looking at ways they can enhance their students' performance and minimise the minuses. To this day, my classes with my Veena teacher, Smt.Mangalam Muthuswamy, are always something to look forward to. There's always something new to learn every single class - even a piece that has been played a hundred times over, seems to assume a completely new dimension at her hands. It's really incredible how that happens! Not just that, the way she lets me play in regular class and the way she readies me for a performance are two very different things. It's sometimes difficult even to grasp, leave alone reproduce, what she plays with much ease and finesse. This clearly shows her versatility and proves beyond doubt her capabilities.

All these years, I've been very fortunate to have trained under some of the best teachers in the field, both in dance and music. Each one of the students have good and bad points, that are unique to them. To try and weed out the negative and to nurture the positive aspects, is no mean task. Now, as I teach, I understand the true value of the 'bhiksha' that they so graciously granted me. It's only now that I've even begun to realize why the adavus (steps)in dance or the swaras in music occur in the order that they do. Only now do I get insights on why a certain approach is to be taken as regards creativity, what is the right way to compose or choreograph, how far can creativity stretch, so on and so forth.

It's indeed sad that it's difficult to find such dedicated and devoted teachers today. No matter what the field, the teaching profession has not too many takers. A noble profession as this has unfortunately been neglected.

Getting involved in a subject and studying it in great detail is definitely very intellectually stimulating. But teaching, as I see now, has been very helfpul to me. I realise that it's been through these few years of teaching, that I've been able to gain many insights and improve my general attitude towards art. I also consider this an opportunity to try and repay my teachers for the consistent hard work they have put in for me. Of course, I really don't think I would be able to attain even a small fraction of their mastery over the art. All I can wish is to serve the Arts in my every own small, humble way.

SHRI GURUBHYO NAMAH !!!

The Thyagaraja Pancharatnas - Five Priceless Gems

2006-01-24T07:41:00.000-08:00

The Aradhana season is on and all Sabhas all over the world are organising festivals and erecting pandals for Pancharatna Kriti rendition. One feels that familiar thrill and joy participating in this once more. It's something that's so much looked forward to.

The Shanmukhananda Fine Arts and Sangeeta Sabha held a grand function on Sunday, the 22nd of Janurary, 2006, to mark the auspicious occasion. There was the usual excitement, flurry of activity and most of all, the attitude of bhakti or devotion among one and all present there. Noted artist, Shri.T.N.Seshagopalan, had conducted a seven day Harikatha session prior to the event and he too participated on the said occasion.

As one sang the Pancharatnas, one yet again realized the true significance and greatness of the event. Inspite of today's existing commercialism and very harried lifestyles of people, there's a definite camaraderie to be seen among everyone present there. It's the only occasion where the teacher and the taught sit together, as equals, and pay tribute to the great Saint. All artists, right from the novice to the expert, to the stalwart, assemble as one, to pray to the bhakta of Rama, who is regarded as an avatar of Narada himself. In an age where everyone is generally rushing around to get somewhere in life, it is truly astounding to see all coming together at one time, to celebrate one event such as this.

The Pancharatnas, apart from being very beautiful pieces, are also technically very perfect in every sense of the word. They are a beacon of light to anyone who would be eager to delve deeper into the world of music and gain wisdom from it. These five priceless gems contain a hidden blueprint to manodharma sangita, which is a very important part of our music.

Firstly, the sangatis, which develop gradually in the Pallavi and Anupallavi, help one to get into the raga and get involved in the rendition as a whole. Further, the swaras in the Charana clearly show the path towards development of swara kalpana. It teaches the right method of approach to the subject and how it is to be handled. It also contains vadi-samvadi prayogas, janta and dhatu prayogas, ranjaka and apoorva prayogas, nyasa, amsa swaras, their treatment etc.

The style of development is like that of a taana exposition, constant practice of which enables the student of music to improve himself/herself in taana rendition in the future. Instrumentalists learn the fine art of playing the ghana-panchaka taana, or the taana in the five ghana ragas, namely, Naatai, Goulai, Arabhi, Varali and Shri. This is especially important for Vainikas, many of whom play the same during rendition of Ragam Taanam Pallavis too.

The sahitya contains all possible literary beauties and when learnt properly, teaches the student to carefully manipulate breath, so as not to commit Padachcheda,(splitting the sahitya inappropriately).

A detailed study of the life and works of Thyagaraja is a truly humbling experience. The Saint Composer's unfaltering devotion to Rama and his humility and total surrender at The Divine Lotus Feet, teach the student to be humble and surrender to the soothing waves of music engulfing his/her entire being.

Rendering the kritis keeping the spirit of Thyagaraja's devotion in mind, will help the student improve his/her performance and will also enable him/her to improve the general attitude towards music as a whole.

Naadopasana - An effective stress-buster

2005-06-09T00:50:00.000-07:00

This article is about the practice of NAADA YOGA, as a stress-buster among those extremely stressed out and highly placed people, such as executives. The busy Executive has to face tonnes of stress, and yet, has to tick on and on, like a contrivance.

A whole body of research indicates that the damage that stress inflicts on the body, is not merely restricted to ulcers, kidney and liver dysfunction, but atually extends to causing loss of immune function and loss of memory as well. It could turn frightfully damaging, creating anaemia, loss of cognitive ability, depression, increased levels of blood pressure and blood sugar. Stress also contributes in a big way to heart attack and stroke.

So how does a person combat such problems in today's world? One excellent solution is the Practice of Naada Yoga or Naadopasana.

What is Naada? Naada can be defined as music or a musical sound that has a pleasing quality to it. Naada also means resonance. Indian music completely relates to Naada. Hence the practice of music is termed as 'Naadopasana'.

The fabric of the Indian Cultural System is made of the lovely lace and silk of Dance and Music. The pure, pristine Classical Music as well as the lilting tunes of folk melodies, rely very heavily on one aspect : NAADA.

"Ananda lakshanam anAhatha nAmnee deshe

nAdAtmanA parinatam thoo aroopam eeshe

pracnan mukhena manasA paricheeya mAnam

samshanti netra salilaihi pulakaischa dhanyA:"

"The true nature of Naada is bliss. The source of this Divine Energy is the AnAhata Chakra, which is located at the chest level. This Chakra or spiritual centre is the seat of 'AUM' - the Primeval Sound, also the Creator of the Entire Universe. This divine energy is formless and can be perceived only through mystical experiences. So state our great seers, in an extremely ecstatic state, experiencing horripilation all over the body, and shedding ceaseless tears of joy."

Starting from the Naada of the majestic conch, also that of the clear-sounding bell, during pooja (worship); the Naada of the 'Damaru' in the hands of Lord Shiva; the Naada of the divine Veena held by Goddess Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning; that of the Flute in the hands of Murali; the Naada of the ghungrus (bells) on the feet of a dancer; Naada enjoys an exalted position in our cultural system. Also, the stone-pillars, reverberating with the sound of music, at temples such as Madurai and Humpi, further emphasize this aspect. In India, Naadopasana is considered as the direct pathway to the Supreme.

Naadopasana is known to heal conditions such as minor aches and pains. It even helps in relieving stress and lowers blood pressure in some patients. Carnatic ragas like Panthuvarali, Kalyani and Bilahari help relieve a person of depression, while Todi, Bhairavi and Athana endow mental strength.

Proper practice of music lifts the artist up from mundane levels of existence to a higher plane of life. It creates tremendous discipline and makes him/her stronger, more compassionate, creative and imaginative. It also grants him/her utmost satisfaction and a great level of joy and peace. An artist who goes with the flow of music, can actually transmit that he/she feels, to the general audience, thereby giving rise to a feeling of happiness within the listener himself.

Even listening to good, soothing music or watching a dance recital, can help release pent-up tension, ease frayed nerves and completely calm down the system.

In conclusion, Naadopasana is food for the body, mind, intellect and soul. It is one of the highest sadhanas, whereby man can effectively combat day-to-day problems and live life in a holistic manner.

The greatness of Indian Art

2005-05-18T22:43:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest gifts given by God to India, is our art and culture. The study and practice of Indian art, be it painting or poetry writing, architecture or sculpture, dance or music, has always tended to be a 'journey within', to find the existence of the 'Inner Spiritual Being'.

Indian dance and music, specially classical dance and music, is very highly spiritual in nature. Hence the famous adage, "Westen music moves the body, whereas Indian music moves the soul". It is said that when the sAdhak (seeker) becomes totally involved and engrossed in his sAdhana (practice), he loses himself and his identity and merges with the One Soul. He realizes the God within and, at that moment, becomes one with the Divine. This is the true meaning of Advaita - God and man becoming one. It is said that such a sAdhak, with the help of his sAdhana alone, can actually gain liberation or mukti. This is evident while studying the works of great composers like Saint ThyAgarAja, PurandaradAsa and so on. They had so immersed themselves in their mission - DivyanAmasmaranam (the chanting of the Divine Name) through music, that they had attained Godhood in their lifetimes. They were great missionaries and showed the way to spirituality for generations to come.

As far as dance is concerned, it too shows the path towards the Divine Being. The very first sloka (hymn) that one is taught in dance is :

"Angikam bhuvanam yasya vAchikam sarva vAngmayam
AhAryam chandra tArAdi tam namah sAtvikam sivam"

This talks of the four aspects of abhinaya (expression), namely Angika (gestures), vAchika (speech), AhArya (ornaments) and sAtvika (the inherent goodness or divinity) and relates it to the God of Dance, Nataraja. The dancer who surrenders to the Lord, actually experiences the Bliss of the Cosmic Dancer. She forgets herself and there, the dancer and the dance become one. This transcends space, time, physical and geographical borders and also translates into the audience acutally feeling the joy and the bliss the dancer feels and though they might not realize exactly what was different in that performance, they'll know they had been touched deep within.

Regarding abhinaya (purely expressive) items such as Padams, the accent is very heavily on the spiritual. No matter how mundane the theme might seem, the underlying effort is to portray the yearning of the JeevAtmA (the individual soul) for the ParamAtmA (the Universal Soul). Here, the love-lorn nAyikA is the jEvAtmA, while the hero (whether a lover or king or God), is the paramAtmA. All the shades of the nAyikA's emotions tend towards reaching that One God. Love expressed through any form of Bhakti (devotion), be it Madhura, Shringara, VAtsalya or any other, is eventually the artist's spiritual journey into the depths of her own heart and finding God
therein.

Great dancing legends such as Balasaraswati, had moved the audiences so deeply with her rendering of 'KrishnA nee begane bAro', that they had actually felt the baby Krishna's presence, the one that she had actually 'seen' with her on stage at that particular moment. It is said that in certain 'RAmanAtakams', the character enacting Devi Sita is never actually touched (not even by error) by the one enacting the role of the demon king, Ravana, for fear of being burnt by her. The artist so gets into the character, that the power purity of Sita comes into her and she becomes one with the deity Herself. It is said that Lord Shiva had been so moved by NandanAr's song, that He made the stone Nandi move aside, in order to grant darshan to the then untouchable saint composer.

Stories like these and many others bear testimony to the close link between art and spirituality in our land. Both these aspects have to go hand-in-hand in a person's quest to realize Godhood.

2005-05-04T01:11:00.000-07:00

A heroine adorning herself

2005-05-04T00:06:00.000-07:00

Me with the Veena