vINApustaka dhAriNImAshrayE - vEgavAhini

My original intent was to publish this post before the end of Dusshera. However, this got delayed due to multiple cascading events related to work, home and travel. The past few weeks have indeed been a bit too packed with a lot of action for me and the upcoming weeks also look a bit challenging, particularly from a work and work-related travel perspective. Given that today's composition is a magnum opus with very many things to cover, I am going to keep the intro short and just jump straight into the composition and the various nuances that possibly make this composition a Top 10 candidate of all of dIkshitar's compositions.

I realised a couple of months ago that I have not written much about the compositions of dIkshitar on Goddess Sarasvati. Out of the ten known compositions (plus one nottu swara) of dIkshitar, I have so far only written about one (Sri sarasvati namOstutE in Arabhi). And as if the universe conspired to make me write about Her, one of my very good friends reached out to me and requested me to publish a post on this beautiful composition "vINApustaka dhAriNImAshrayE". I heard this composition for the first time in 2006 when my good friend Shreekrishna sang this during one of our marathon Skype sessions. And as they say, it was definitely Love at first sight for me. I got quite a few goosebumps while he was singing and then I couldn't stop listening to this kriti for two or three days straight, completely engrossed and consumed by dIkshitar's beautiful creation and handling of this rAga. 

As most of us know, Goddess Sarasvati is worshipped as the divine Mother of speech, fine arts, creativity, knowledge and wisdom, thereby earning Her many epithets such as "vAgdEvi, Sarada, vINApANi" etc. She is depicted with thick locks of hair, a crescent and with 4 arms holding the vINA, manuscripts (pustaka), akshamAla and the chinmudra. The color white is attributed to Her, showcasing the purity of the things she symbolizes such as knowledge, wisdom and arts. She is seated on a white lotus, wears white clothes and is decorated with golden ornaments that go along with her white, resplendent lustre.

The other significance of Sarasvati in Hindu mythology is the river Sarasvati which is thought to be a divine, white river that is visible only to the eyes of the souls that have attained the highest levels of wisdom. And as if to reflect this, the Goddess Sarasvati is also synonymous with river or a moving force of water. dIkshitar shows his brilliance by aptly choosing the rAga vEgavAhini (which literally translates to fast-flowing river) to create this magnificent composition on the Goddess. Interestingly enough, for all of his 10 compositions on Goddess Sarasvati, he has chosen rAgAs that are either synonymous with:

1. A river - vEgavAhini, sharAvati (sharAvati thatavAsini)

2. Color white - chAyAgauLa (Reflection of white light, sarasvatya bhagavatya), chAyatarangiNi (waves of light, sarasvati chAyAtarangini)

3. Her form - Arabhi (from Arabhati meaning arts and music), gIrvANi (voice of the vedas, namo namastE gIrvaNi), kalAvathi (one who is adept in art forms, kalAvathi kamalAsanayuvati), mAnji (from mAnjIra or anklets, Sri sarasvati hitE) and finally devamanOhari (the one who is dear to all the Gods, bhArati maDIshAna jADyApahE)

I would like to make a special reference to the beautiful lecture demonstration given by R.K. Shriramkumar anna here where he explains in detail all of these 10 compositions on Sarasvati while highlighting many of the nuances that I try to capture here. He so aptly gives this lecture demonstration at Vani Mahal in Chennai and I would highly recommend you all to watch it on youtube, available here. All of these compositions also have the rAga mudra and because of this brilliant choice of rAgAs for these compositions, they all also directly refer to Goddess Sarasvati, thereby making the incorporation of the rAga mudra, a simple yet beautiful construct. This careful and delicate handling of compositions on this particular Goddess perhaps goes to show how important Goddess Saravati is, especially to dIkshitar who was a Shakti upAsaka, a man who had attained the heights of knowledge and wisdom and grammatic perfection and a composer who played the vINA and had imbibed all the scriptures. 

This majestic composition in the rAga vEgavAhini also delineates some of the key phrases of this rAgAnga rAga and pretty much serves as the best pointer for learning and contemplating on this rAga. dIkshitar also very carefully cherry picks the words that he uses in this composition, describing some of the unique physical, representational as well as esoteric attributions of Goddess Saravati. He starts the Pallavi as

Pallavi:

vINApustaka dhAriNImAshrayE

vEgavAhinIm vANImAshrayE

Meaning:

dIkshitar sings "I seek the blessings ("AshrayE") of Sarasvati, the goddess of speech ("vANIm"). The one who holds ("dhAriNIm") the vINA and the sacred scriptures ("pustaka") and the one who symbolises a swift-flowing river ("vEgavAhinIm")."

In the very first line of the pallavi itself, dIkshitar very clearly establishes which deity he is singing about. In fact, the entire pallavi consists only of the various names of Goddess Sarasvati such as vINApustaka dhAriNI, vANi and vEgavAhini and the fact that he is seeking refuge in Her. It is also a known phenomenon that when dIkshitar repeats the same word at least twice in the pallavi ("AshrayE" in this case), it is a composition that is of utmost significance and one in which dIkshitar just surrenders to the God/Goddess that he is singing about. One can observe the same in compositions such as the Ahiri navAvaraNam (where he repeatedly says Goddess kamalAmba wins), tyAgarAjAya namastE namastE (bEgaDa), shrI sUbrahmanyAya namastE namastE (kAmbhoji) and so on.

Perhaps what really contributes to the goosebumps in the pallavi itself is the way dIkshitar scripts this musically, exploiting the beauty of the rAga to its fullest and showcasing some of the flat notes and prayOgams that really establish vEgavAhini, differentiating it clearly from chakravAkham. He starts the composition with the beautiful "SnS mgm" at "vI NA") which in itself is a pradhAna prayOgam of this rAga and on top very beautifully sounds just like the majestic gait of how one would move between these svarasthAnas when it is played on a vINa. He then continues up the ArOhaNam with "PpmgMP" at "pustakA" bridging beautifully to the svarAksharam and phrase "D psndp" at "dhA rinIm". He rounds off the first line of the song by bringing in the rishabam finally at "AshrayE". 

You would observe the very sparing use of rishabam throughout the composition, showcasing clearly vEgavAhini in all its beauty and you would also observe that dIkshitar consistently uses the rishabam only to close out the structure of the song across pallavi, anupallavi and caraNam, kind of using it as a crescendo in these places. The highlight of the pallavi perhaps is in "vEgavAhiniM" where he not only employs the rAga mudra to directly address the Goddess by Her name, but also brings the goosebumping phrase of "S Nn D dsndpdM" which flows down fast just like vEgavAhini itself, representing the avarOhaNam as well as the depths of the rAga.

Moving on to the anupallavi, 

Anupallavi:

ENAHNkayuta jaTAjUTa makuTAntAm

EkAgracitta nidhyAtAm vidhikAntAm

Meaning:

dIkshitar continues to describe the Goddess as "the one whose crest ("makuTA") consists of thick locks of hair ("jaTAjUTa"), adorned by ("yuta") the deer-marked moon ("ENAHNka"), the one who is meditated upon ("nidhyAtAm") by yOgis with full-focus and undivided attention in the mind ("EkAgra-citta"), the one who is the consort ("kAntAm") of Lord Brahma ("vidhi")".

The anupallavi also kind of shows how Goddess Saravati rules from the grossest physical forms (first 3 words of the anupallavi is only about Her divine form) to the esoteric and various, unattainable levels of knowledge (signified by the second set of 3 words)

The seemingly simple yet beautiful anupallavi perhaps is the most beautiful six-worded anupallavi ever composed. dIkshitar brings together the beauty of vEgavahini with the rhythmic flow of the mishra jhampa/khanda Eka tALam structures in these six words. Musically, he starts with the mellifluous phrase "P S nd P PndpmM" at "E NA HNka yuta jaTA" which then flows beautifully into "dppMg MP" at "jU Ta" and "nD pS pdNd" at "maku Ta AntAm". To close out the anupallavi, dIkshitar again employs the rishabam sparingly with very characteristic phrases such as "drSR rsrg" at "E kAgra" and "dppmG r mmgr" at "vidhikAntAm". 

With this beautiful and succinct anupallavi, dIkshitar pretty much sets the stage for a magnum opus of a caraNam, a magnificent concluding act.

caraNam:

parAdyakhila shabda svarUpAvakAshAm

paurNamI candrikAdhavaLasaHNkAshAm

karAravindAm kalyANadAm bhASAm

kanakacampaka dAmabhUSA vishEshAm

nirantaram bhaktajihvAgravAsAm

nikhilaprapaHnca saHNkOca vikAsAm

narAdhamAnana vilOka shOkApahAm

narahariharaguruguhapUjita vigrahAm

Meaning:

dIkshitar uses multiple references in the caraNam, again alternating between the gross physical to the subtle esoteric planes that the Goddess spans. He starts the caraNam by visualising the Goddess as "the one who personifies ("svarUpAvakAshAm") all ("akhila") the different forms of speech/sound ("shabda") such as parA". Here, he refers to the four different forms of speech ranging from the subtlest to the grossest - parA (the highest and primordial form of sound), paSyanti (state of word that has color and form, seen by the yogis in meditation), madhyama (the intermediate unexpressed sound heard in the heart) and vaikhari (the spoken word).

He then describes the Goddess's beauty as "the one whose appearance resembles ("saHNkAshAm") the brilliant white ("dhavaLa") of the full moon ("paurNamI candrikA"), the one whose hands ("kara") are like lotuses ("aravindAm"), the one who bestows fortune and auspiciousness ("kalyANadAm"), the one who signifies speech/language ("bhASAm")".

dIkshitar continues to describe the Goddess as "the one who is decorated ("bhUSA") specially ("vishEshAm") with the golden ("kanaka") campA garland/necklace ("dAma")" before moving on to the madhyamakAla sAhityam which goes like "the one who is eternal/absolute ("nirantaram") and resides ("vAsAm") on the tip of the tongues ("jihva-agra") of the learned and pious devouts ("bhakta"). The one who is the cause for the contraction ("saHNkOca") and expansion ("vikAsAm") of the entire universe ("nikhila prapaHnca"). The one who removes the ill-effects/distress ("shOka - apahAm") caused by the glance ("vilOka") of ill-minded individuals ("narAdhamAnana")." 

dIkshitar then beautifully concludes the composition by bringing in the composer mudra and describing the Goddess as "the one whose form ("vigrahAm") is worshipped by ("pUjita") by men ("nara") as well as Gods such as Vishnu ("hari"), Shiva ("hara") and Guruguha". 

Now where do I start to describe the beauty of this amazing caraNam. It is probably impossible to do justice whichever way one tries to go about it. What is probably most visible in the caraNam is how dIkshitar mixes a few lines describing the Goddess's physical form along with a few lines that make subtler references as to where She resides and how She protects the knowledgable and pious devouts. This "mix", I believe is dIkshitar's way of paying tribute to Goddess Sarasvati and the vINA which she holds and pretty much signifies Her to begin with. 

The vINA apart from being a physical, musical instrument also acts as an aid to spiritual progress. This is summarized in the YAjnavalkya smrti as "vINAvAdana tatvajnayah shrutijAtI vishAradaH. tAlajnashchAprayAsena mokshamArgam niyacchati" which translates to "One who is well versed in the secrets of the art of playing the vINA attains liberation without much effort". Now dIkshitar being a vainika himself is very much aware of this and portrays this aspect beautifully with interspersing the gross and subtle aspects in the caraNam. 

The other significant reference is that the spinal cord in the human body is also referred to as the vINA daNDa. Through intense yoga sAdhanas, the kundalini (coiled up snake which signifies the Goddess) rises from the bottom of the spine and ascends swiftly along the column sushumna (the raga again suggests swift movement) flanked by the channels iDa and pingaLa, flowing through the six energy centers and uniting with Shiva in the thousand petalled sahasrAra at the topmost part of the brain, thus enabling the sAdhaka to attain liberation. All the nerve endings in our body are connected to this vINA daNDa and hence as a result of that, whoever knows the secrets of how to play the vINa (not just the physical one but also the subtle sushumna), the Goddess bestows the power of discretion and cognition, and governs the intellect and guides them to achieve salvation easily.

Musically, the prayOgams are way too many for me to even highlight as pretty much every prayOgam in this special caraNam is really special :). I will still mention the start of the caraNam "Sd-dpsndP M Pdp" at "para-adhyakhila shabda" and the beautifully hanging deivatam used in avakA"ShAm". Continuing with the peace-instilling "M dpPmp gmP mnD" at "paurNamI candrikA dhavaLa" and the first rishabam usage in the caraNam at campaka"dAma". Finally the goosebumps in the madhyamakAla sAhityam ranging from the eternal (pun-intended) "sRsM" at "nirantaram" climbing through the full Arohanam with "GmPDnsnS" at "bhaktajiHvAgravAsAm" and then descending beautifully with "nsn dnD pdp mg MP" at "nikhilaprapaHnca saHNkOca vikAsAm". dIkshitar then majestically ends the composition with "sRsMgrs" at "narAdhAmAnana" combined with the full avarOhaNam descent of "s n d n   d p – d p m p  – M    m p – M   M  mg R" at "naraharihara  guruguha pujita vigrahAm" looping back seamlessly to the beginning of the pallavi.

As I mentioned, it is pretty much impossible to explain the beauty of this composition in words. I would highly recommend the readers to listen to some pure versions of the kriti rendered by vINa dhanammal's family and school and listen to some other beautiful renditions such as this one from the Parampara school of music.

With that, I will sign off for today on this post. I will probably go to bed now with this composition running on infinite loop in my head. I will hopefully soon come back with another post next week. If you have some specific requests or compositions that you would like me to write about, please do let me know below in your comments. Until next time, shrI gurubhyO namaH!!