shrI guruguhamUrtE - udayaravicandrikA

I still don't know how an entire month has passed so quickly. And, as always, I have not been able to blog for quite a few reasons, some good and some bad. The good incidents give you a great feeling of high while the bad ones leave you with a taste of vitriolic bitterness and the oscillation between the two seem to make up what we call as life. Over the last month, these vicissitudes and vagaries of life have made me contemplate quite a lot about the startling difference between karma and free-will. Being an extremely open-minded person and an eternal optimist that I am, I still find it quite difficult to digest some of the events that happen in our lives quite frankly beyond our control and perhaps due to no mistake of ours. However much I isolate myself from this world, incidents like a dear one meeting with an accident rendering him paralyzed for a few months, a close friend getting hurt (physically/mentally) etc seem to have a great impact on me forcing me to go further into this cocoon that I create for myself quite often. I guess it is events like this that clearly show the evanescence of human life, shakes up one's life and makes him go in search of answers which this plane of existence can probably never offer. Anyway, I don't know how much of this makes sense or how much of this sounds like plain cribbing, but this is the contemplative state of mind I am in right now and where else can I vent such thoughts other than my personal blogspace :). May the supreme force help me overcome all these delusions and find the answers that I need.

I have been planning on yet another trip to tiruvArur and some temples in the vicinity (kIvalUr, nAgapattinam, kuzhikkarai etc) followed by a trip to ettayapuram (dIkshitar's final resting place) but certain incidents (the bad ones as I have ambiguously referred to in the above paragraph) in the last few weeks have thrown things completely out of gear, creating turbulence at home and hence preventing me from going on this pilgrimage. I guess its God's own way of telling me that it is not yet time to come and see Him. Well, I shall hope that the time comes soon and that I will be able to go on this journey that I so dearly want to. Anyway..I shall stop blabbering here and continue with the krithi that I will be taking up in this post. "shrI guruguhamurtE" in udayaravicandrika is dIkshitar's eighth and final krithi of the guruguha vibhakti series composed exclusively in the vocative case and set to rUpaka tALa. Before I get into the masterpiece, I would like to clarify a few confusions regarding the raga udayaravicandrika itself, the chief one being the claim that Suddha dhanyAsi and udayaravicandrika are one and the same.

Udayaravicandrika (referred to as URC henceforth) is cleverly classified as an upAnga janya of the 9th mELakartha dhunibhinnasadjam (dhEnuka as per the other school) with the scale: sgmpns;snpmgs. Hence, URC employs a kAkali niSAda. Suddha dhanyAsi (referred to as SD henceforth) on the other hand is classified as an upAnga janya of the 22nd mELa, shri rAga and hence makes use of the kaiSiki niSAda. This is the only significant difference between the 2 rAgas and SubbarAma dIkshitar highlights this clearly while explaining the rAga lakSaNa of SD in the SSP. URC is also known as Srothaswini. However, the fact that the tyAgarAja school also used the name URC while referring to SD complicated the matters and somehow this seems to have stuck with the people after the trinity's times and this niSAda disctinction between the 2 rAgas seems to have completely disappeared with people saying that URC and SD are one and the same. And with this beautiful composition of dIkshitar being neglected in the concert arena (except for a few artists like Vedavalli maami), the original URC as per the dIkshitar school has successfully been buried in its grave.

Anyway, I will now start with the krithi,

Pallavi:

shrI guruguhamUrtE ciccaktti sphUrtE
sishya janAvana kIrtE sumuhUrtE jaya

Meaning:

dIkshitar addresses the Lord guruguha as "the one throbbing ("sphUrtE") with the power ("shakti") of consciousness ("cit"). The one who is renowned ("kIrtE") for protecting His disciples ("Sishya jana"). The one who is an embodiment of auspiciousness ("sumuhUrtE"). Victory ("jaya") to you."

The first thing that struck me when I listened to this krithi a few years back was the tone that dIkshitar uses throughout this composition. It sounds as if he has achieved or won something that he has been longing for. And he dedicates this victory to Lord Guruguha and hence he ends the pallavi, anupallavi as well as the caraNam hailing the Lord for his victory. It is said that dIkshitar performed austerities and deep meditation for forty days at tiruttani before the Lord appeared in front of him as an old man and put sugar crystals in his mouth after which dIkshitar straight away burst into music with the guruguha vibhakti series. Hence, one can assume that on a physical plane, dIkshitar was probably ecstatic on completing his first set of compositions. Of course, on having been able to visualize and interact with the Lord at higher spiritual realms, it is only appropriate that dIkshitar pays his respects and thanks to his guru and the Lord in this concluding piece of this set of compositions.

Another interesting point to note in the pallavi is the way dIkshitar describes guruguha as one vibrating with cit shakti, the power of consciousness. Shakti is believed to be the manifestation of the kinetic component of Brahman. Hence, it is Shiva (consciousness) who manifests as Shiva Shakti. Therefore Shakti is consciousness by itself. Once we understand this, we can attach two aspects to this Shakti, namely, cit shakti or vidyA shakti (the illuminating consciousness) and mAya shakti or avidyA shakti (the deluding/veiling consciousness). The two shaktis are conscious by themselves and are independent energy forces. But this mAya shakti itself is composed of the three gunas, rajas, tamas and sattva and by using these gunas it not only makes itself appear unconscious but also shrouds the vidyA shakti from the human mind. One has to hence first overcome this mAya shakti and then tap the cit shakti to attune to divine vibrations. dIkshitar here visualizes the Lord as the one who throbs with this cit shakti and by tapping into His divine consciousness for probably even just a second, one can get enlightened and free themselves from bondage. And imagining the dIkshitar's state of mind to even realize the Lord as this throbbing energy is scintillating :).

Coming to the musical aspects, dIkshitar clearly highlights the janTa prayOgams which gives jivAdAra to URC right at the beginning with the "sggmmpp" phrase at "shrI guruguhamUrtE". He also highlights the gAndAra with the "pmmG" prayogam at "sphUrtE". It is only in the second line that he brings in the niSAda and paints a complete picture of URC. It was only a couple of months ago that I completely realized the beauty of some phrases like "PmGmgs" at "kIrtE" when I heard my dear friend Lavanya Kothandaraman sing. Thanks for that laavi :). Moving on to the anupallavi,

Anupallavi:

yOginI hRdaya prakASa citta vRttE
yugapad-bhOga-yOga pradAna nipuNa SaktE
Agama rahasya tattvAnusandhAna yuktE
AnandAnuraktE ativiraktE jaya jaya

Meaning:

Here, dIkshitar describes the Lord as "the one who rejoices and delights ("hRdaya prakASa") the minds ("citta") of the yOginIs. The one with the power ("SaktE") that is an expert ("nipuNa") in giving ("pradAna") time-bound ("yugapad") material pleasures ("bhOga") as well as ageless spiritual bliss ("yOga"). The one who can be realized by following the truths ("tattvAnusandhAna") and expounding the secrets ("rahasya") of the Agamas. The one who is an embodiment of supreme bliss ("AnandAnuraktE") and (at the same time) completely detached and free of bondage ("ativiraktE"). Victory unto you ("jaya jaya")."

Now apart from the direct interpretation of yOginI hRdaya as given above, I must also mention the fact that yOginIhRdaya is one of the 64 tantras of the vAmAchara and the kauLAchAra paths of shrI vidyA sAdhana. Hence, the first line of the pallavi could also be interpreted as a description of Lord guruguha as "the one who enlightens the mind and shines forth through the yOginI hRdaya concept". dIkshitar also clearly displays his scholarly handling of Sanskrit grammar once again. While the antyAkshara prAsam utilizing the sambOdhana pratama vibhakti runs throughout the krithi beautifully, the yati and mOnai aspects of the grammar (yOginI-yugapad and Agama-Ananda pairs) are also showcased quite brilliantly. It all seamlessly blends in and only when we take out word by word can we even realize that it is like separate pearls making up a nice garland with a common thread running through :). dIkshitar finally describes the Lord as one who is full of bliss and at the same time devoid of any attachments. This concept (which could also be used to describe the ideal guru that a disciple wants to find in this world) strikes a remarkable similarity to the supreme lotus (quite aptly, the national flower of india) whose petals and leaves are never sullied even if it grows in a dirty pond.

Musically, the anupallavi is my favourite part of this krithi. He begins the anupallavi itself with unusual phrases like "PSn" and "pnPsGg" at "yOginI" and "hRdaya prakASa" respectively. He continues to milk the beauty of URC by employing zigzag vakra-ish phrases like "sgSmPpnS" at "yugapad bhOga yOga" and "nmpmnpp" at "nipuNa SaktE". I dont know if dIkshitar would have realized at the time of composing this krithi that URC would fade away into oblivion, but, it definitely does seem like this krithi is one hallmark composition in this rAga and it will hopefully withstand the onslaught of those repetitive kAmbhOjis and bhairavIs. Going to the caraNam,

caraNam:

Atma-ISvara jIva bhEdAvaraNa nivRttE
ASrita SishyAnugraha kAraNa pravRttE
AtmatattvAdi Sodhana sAdhana sampattE
Arakta-SvEta miSra caraNa pravRttE
Atma kOti bhaktE anAdi mAyOtpattE
AtmAnubhava sArasantRptE nirmuktE
AtmOdaya ravicandrikA sandIptE
paramAtma shrI cidAnandanAtha namastE jaya jaya


Meaning:

In the caraNa, dIkshitar continues to describes the Lord in his typical advaitin mode as "The one who removes ("nivRttE") the ignorant veil ("AvaraNa") of distinction ("bhEda") between the individual soul ("Atma jIva") and the supreme soul ("ISvara jIva"). The one whose divine nature is to bestow His grace and blessings ("ASrita anugraha") on His disciples ("SishyA"). The one who shows the path of noble tools and techniques ("sAdhana sampattE") and the means for testing ("Sodhana") and realizing the knowledge of one's own self ("Atmatattva"). The one whose feet ("caraNa") are a mixture ("miSra") of red ("Arakta") and white ("SvEta"). The one with crores of devotees ("kOti bhaktE") and the one who created ("utpattE") the delusion ("mAya") which has no origin ("anAdi"). The one who is completely satisfied ("santRptE") with the essence ("sAra") of experience of the self ("AtmAnubhava") and devoid of all attachments ("nirmuktE"). The one who lights the lamp ("sandIptE") of the soul ("Atma") in the rising sun ("udaya ravi") and the moon ("candrikA"). Oh supreme soul!! ("paramAtma"), the auspicious ("shrI") ruler of bliss of consciousness ("cidAnandanAtha"), prostrations ("namastE") and victory to thee ("jaya jaya")."

The steadfast advaitin that dIkshitar is comes to the forefront in the caraNa. He begins by describing the Lord as the one who removes the sheath that creates a sense of individuality and that ego called "I". I personally think that this where the distinction between the guru and the Lord completely vanishes. Since dIkshitar accepts Lord guruguha Himself as his guru, he attributes quite a lot of the characteristics that one would normally associate with a guru to describe the Lord Himself. You can actually see this in the first 3 lines of the caraNam where he describes the Lord as one who protects and guides His disciples and the one who is the means as well as the path of self-realization. These 3 lines, in my opinion perhaps are the climax of this series of krithis. It is quite clearly visible here that dIkshitar has attained great heights of spiritual maturity by the virtue of which He is not only able to see the Lord as His own guru but also is able to use the Lord Himself as his vehicle to reach self-realization. Now, that perhaps happens to only one in probably a million (even among the greatest of yogis). That's why I say that these 3 lines does it for me as far as the krithi goes. Ofcourse, dIkshitar continues to show his other faces in the following lines of the caraNam.

dIkshitar describes the Lord as one whose feet is a mixture of white and red. This is perhaps best understood as a reference to the union of Shiva and Shakti who are usually symbolized by white and red respectively. This is the reason why Vibhoothi (sacred ashes) which is white in color is splashed across the forehead and kumkum which is red in color is placed as a dot (a bindu) at the spot between the eyebrows (the location of the third eye and the Agnya cakra). Finally, dIkshitar seems to have merged with the Lord (his guru) when he sings "AtmAnubhava sAra santRptE". Here, he describes himself (his soul) as the one who has experienced this divine joy of realizing him"self" and hence becoming complete and achieving divine communion. He describes the essence of this divine journey as the Lord Himself. aahaa..what brilliance!! Brings tears to my eyes accompanied by instantaneous goosebumps.

Finally, dIkshitar the composer comes out in the madhyamakAla sAhityam where he slips the rAga mudra in without disturbing the serenity or the them of the krithi, rather, enhancing the effect further. He describes the Lord as the one who stimulates the divine urge in His disciples with the brightness of the sun and the moon and in the process incorporating the rAga mudra. What an audacious display of ingenuity. He ends the krithi by once again offering his salutations to the Lord. He probably couldn't have ended the krithi on a more appropriate note ("jaya jaya"). Composing such a magnum opus for his first ever set of compositions is not only a victory to dIkshitar but also to the divine Lord guruguha Himself and with this victorious beginning, dIkshitar never looked back, composing one masterpiece after another for the next 35 years of his life.

To describe the musical aspects of this caraNam (and that too only partially), I would need probably yet another blogpost. Hence, I feel it would be better to just leave it to the rasika to listen to this krithi and soak in the genius called dIkshitar. With this, I will close this vibhakti series. I know I have taken quite a long time to finish this series but I hope I have done justice to this wonderful set of compositions. In my next few posts, I will take up some long pending personal requests from people who follow this blog. Quite surprisingly some of these requests fit very nicely into the Guruguha theme that I have been writing about in the last set. Hence, I will first take up "SaravaNabhava guruguham" in the rAga rEvagupti, set to rUpaka tALa composed at tiruvAvinankudi. Till then, listen to URC and have fun!!

guruguha svAmini - bhAnumati

I believe it has been quite a long time since I blogged back to back. Well, as long as it is for the good, I am not going to complain. On a side note, it definitely seems like my friends are on a marriage mania rampage or something of that sorts. Between January 17th and February 25th, around 11 of my friends and 2 of my cousins have got/are getting married. It is quite funny to open your e-mail inbox and find an invitation every day :-). Anyway, I wish them all wonderful years of togetherness and joy. With nothing much to write about, I guess I will move on directly to the krithi that I will be taking up today.

"guruguha svAmini bhaktim karOmi" is the seventh krithi in the guru theme composed exclusively in the seventh/locative case in the rAga bhAnumati and set to khaNDa jAti tripuTa tALam. bhAnumati is the 4th rAga in the asampUrNa mELa scheme and is pretty much similar to its counterpart vanaspati (the rAga in which thyAgarAja composed the beautiful masterpiece "pariyAcakamA") in all aspects except for the fact that bhAnumati is gAndAra varjya in the ArOhaNam. dIkshitar clearly sticks to this idea and the way he handles the rishaba and especially the madhyama in both of his compositions (brhadambA madambA being the other composition), one actually never feels that the gAndAra is missing. It is phrases like "ndns, pmgrs and rmpnd" that give that extra beauty to this rAga. And unlike the other krithis in this theme we have seen so far where dIkshitar pays rich tributes to both his physical guru as well as Lord SubrahmaNya, dIkshitar seems to pretty much have gone into an even higher plane of existence and concentrate only on the Lord's attributes in this krithi. I will explain this as we go along in this post. I have to thank dear SK (co-author in this blogspace) for introducing me to this krithi back in december 2007 when he spent a magical, musical fortnight with me back in Austin, Texas. Good times..great times rather ;(. Anyway..the pallavi goes like,

Pallavi:

guruguha svAmini bhaktim karOmi
nirupama svEmahimni paramdhAmni

Meaning:

dIkshitar sings "I am devoted ("bhaktim") to Lord guruguha, the one who possesses unsurpassed ("nirupama") glory by the virtue of His own self ("svEmahimni") and the one who resides in the eternal supreme state ("paramdhAmni")."

At the very beginning of this krithi itself, dIkshitar addresses his devotion towards the Lord Himself whom dIkshitar has accepted as his guru as well as the final destination that his soul wants to attain. He also describes the Lord as one who is in a supreme plane of consciousness and the one who he visualizes to be of infinite glory. This glory that dIkshitar is describing here is a direct result of the Lord's pure consciousness which has ascended to the highest plane and hence the Lord (SubrahmaNya in this case) is an embodiment of that paramAtma (supreme consciousness) that a yOgi (dIkshitar in this case) wishes to attain.

The musical aspect of the pallavi is something to be just experienced. dIkshitar starts the krithi off with the avarOhaNa and captures bhAnumati right there with defining phrases like "pmgrs" at "bhaktim karOmi" and "ndns" at "nirupama". And he uses the gAndAra varjya ArOhaNa prayOgam of "rmmp" at "svEmahimni". More than just the usage of notes, it is the way he employs the gamakas that is just brilliant. For example, in the "ndns" phrase at "nirupama", the first nishAda is flat whereas the second nishAda is a beautiful kampitam oscillating and entering into a wedlock with the Sadja. He caps off the pallavi with a "pSndn" at "paramdhAmni" to loop back to the pallavi beginning. Moving on to the anupallavi,

Anupallavi:

karuNAkara cidAnanda nAthAtmani
karacaraNAdyavayava pariNAmAtmani
taruNOllAsAdi pUjita svAtmani
dharaNyAdyakhila tatvAtItAtmani

Meaning:

dIkshitar describes the Lord as "the compassionate one ("karuNAkara") and the embodiment of eternal bliss ("cidAnanda"). The one who is responsible for the acquisition and transformation ("pariNAmAtmani") of the limbs ("avayava") such as hands, legs etc ("kara caraNAdi"). The one whose form ("svAtmani") is worshipped ("pUjita") to obtain happiness through various stages of sAdhana such as taruNa etc ("taruNOllAsAdi"). The one who transcends all 'realities' ("tatvAtItAtmani") associated with the world ("akhila") such as the earth, etc("dharaNyAdi")."

In the anupallavi, dIkshitar predominantly mentions the tatvAs ("truths") and the type of sAdhana that is characteristic of the kauLava mArga/school of thought. There are many schools and systems that have been in practice for spiritual awareness and progress. It is common practice in most of these schools to believe in the concept of tatvAs or realities. These realities are associated with the physical body of the yOgi and all the other material/gross objects of this world. One of the chief goals of any yOgi is to use certain techniques (this varies depending on the school one is associated with) to transcend all these 'realities' and move beyond this world into a higher plane of existence, a different world altogether. The "dharaNya" tatva that dIkshitar mentions here is classified under the pancabhUta category of realities which are to be overcome.

There are seven stages of knowledge known as gnAna bhUmikas through which a yOgi passes. These are subEccha ("the desire for enlightenment"), vicAraNa ("enquiry"), tanumAnasa ("tenuous mind"), satvapatti ("self-realization"), asamsakti ("non-attachment"), padArtabhAvana ("non-perception of objects") and turyaga ("transcendence"). Corresponding to these stages of knowledge, there are different stages in the practice ("sAdhana"). It is the first 5 stages of sAdhana that are very critical as it is in these 5 stages the mind has a tendency to wander and only under the strict guidance of a guru can it obtain the discipline that is needed to proceed further. dIkshitar mentions the second stage, taruNa or the youthfulness stage of this sAdhana. Only after completing the fifth stage called as praudhAnta ("end of maturity") is the disciple considered mature and the guru lets go of the disciple a bit as he enters the sixth stage of unmani ("mind-devoidness").

Coming to the musical aspects of the anupallavi, dIkshitar employs the mandira sthAyi quite beautifully with "sndnp ndns" at "karacaraNAdyavayava" and he uses the exquisite "rgrs" at "pariNAma" and "pUjita". He also gives a lot of importance to the "rmp" phrases right from the beginning of the anupallavi at "karuNA" to the end of the anupallavi at tatvA"tItAtmani". Moving on to the caraNam,

caraNam:

nijarUpa jita pAvakEndu bhAnumati
niratishayAnandE hamsO viramati
ajashikSaNa rakSaNa vicakSaNa sumati
harihayAdi dEvatA gaNa praNamati
yajanAdi karma nirata bhUsurahitE
yamaniyamAdyaSTAHNga yOga vihitE
vijayavallI dEvasEnA sahitE
vIrAdi sannutE vikalpa rahitE

Meaning:

dIkshitar continues to describe the Lord as "the one whose radiant form ("nijarUpa") outshines ("jita") the sun ("bhAnu"), the moon ("indu") and fire ("pAvaka"). The one who resides ("viramati") in the hearts of the supreme swan-like yOgis ("hamsO") who are immersed in eternal bliss ("niratishayAnanda"). The intelligent one ("vicakSaNa sumati") who punished ("shikSaNa") and also protected ("rakSaNa") Lord Brahma ("aja"). The one worshipped ("praNamati") by Lord Indra ("harihaya") and other dEvAs and celestial beings ("gaNa"). The one who is dear ("hitE") to the brAhmans ("bhUsura") who perform ("karma") sacrifices and other rituals ("yajanAdi"). The one perceived by practicing ("vihitE") the 8-fold path ("aSTAHNga") of yOga which is made up of components such as yama and niyama. The victorious one ("vijaya") accompanied ("sahitE") by Valli and dEvasEna. The one worshipped ("sannutE") by men of valour ("vIrAdi") and the one who is formless and hence beyond imagination ("vikalpa rahitE")."

He straightaway incorporates the rAga mudra by comparing the Lord's effulgence to that of a sun at the beginning of the caraNam. He continues to emphasize the significant role that Lord guruguha plays in the spiritual progress of a yogi (could be referring to himself here) and describes how the Lord resides in the hearts of those paramahansas, those supreme yOgis thereby making their heart caves as His shrine. dIkshitar then makes a reference to the incident in which Lord SubrahmaNya punishes Lord Brahma, the creator, for not being able to explain the meaning of the praNava mantra Om. He imprisons Lord Brahma for his ignorance and hence the whole process of creation comes to a full stop. After repeated appeals by the other celestial beings, Lord Siva approaches Lord SubrahmaNya and requests Him to release Brahma and forgive Him. Lord Siva also questions guruguha Himself if he knows the meaning of the praNava mantra to which Lord guruguha answers that He will explain the entire meaning to Lord Siva in His ears, climbs on his lap and speaks into His ear. Since Lord SubrahmaNya teaches His own father, He is known as swAminAtha and that's how the puNya kSEtra swAmimalai near kumbakonam gets it name. Finally, He also explains the meaning to Lord Brahma, forgives Him and releases Him.

In the madhyamakAla sAhityam, dIkshitar refers to the Lord as one who is formless and beyond imagination. He also states that the way to perceive the Lord is through Patanjali's 8-fold yogic path. This eight limbs of this path are restraint and social discipline ("yama"), observance and individual discipline ("niyama"), posture ("Asana"), breath control ("prANAyAma"), sense withdrawal ("pratyahara"), concentration ("dhArana"), meditative absorption ("dhyAna") and blissful super-consciousness ("samAdi"). The first two limbs yama and niyama are once again extremely critical in the sAdhana of a yOgi. As the name suggests, yama refers to codes of conducts and it consists of 5 parts: ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truthfulness), AstEya (non-stealing), brahmacarya (the way of living in brahmA's perception) and aparigraha (non-covetousness). Niyama on the other hand refers to religious observances and self-discipline and consists of 5 parts, namely, Shaucha ("purity"), santOsha ("contentment"), tapas ("austerity"), svAdhyAya ("repitition of mantras and reading of scriptures") and IshvarapraNidhAna ("self-surrender to the Lord"). dIkshitar talks about the techniques in rAja yOga quite often in many of his compositions.

There are so many beautiful phrases that I could go on and on about but just to highlight a few, the special prayOgam that dIkshitar repeatedly uses in the caraNam is "spmp". He starts off the caraNam with this phrase at "nijarUpa", uses it again at "viramati" and once again as "sspmp" at "ajashikSaNa" although the three usages that I have cited have a completely different shade each time. Another prayOgam that I would like to mention is the "grgs" phrase at "harihayAdi". In addition to the already brilliant sound that this phrase has, if you replace the shabda 'ha' with 'ga', this becomes a beautiful svarAksharam too :). The madhyamakAlam is also full of some really shtud prayOgams from which one can learn a lot. Since it would anyway be futile on my part to try and explain these phrases, I request you to go to our website and listen to the krithi and just enjoy the experience :).

I guess that is pretty much it from me on this post. I can't think of anything else that I need to highlight. In my next post, I will take up the final krithi of this series, shrI guruguha mUrtE in the rAga udayaravicandrika. I will try my best to post it within a week. Till then, ciao!! :)

shrI guruguhasya dAsOham-pUrvi

Looks like it is me who is playing the visiting faculty now. Only after a friend of mine mentioned it yesterday that I actually realize it has been nearly 3 months since I posted anything here. And I guess there is no point in apologizing for this long break, for it has become something that I keep doing pretty often. And since the main reason for not posting anything has been Laziness with a capital L, I can't ensure that this won't repeat :-). Sad but true. However, the break has not been that uneventful either. I spent more than a week attending concerts during the December music season in chennai and had a ball of a time sabha-hopping and gorging on good grub :-). Thanks to jayaganesan (my friend from college days), the stay at triplicane was wonderful and I even got to play cricket at 6 am in royapettah ground with the fresh morning mArgazhi winds on my face..aah, pure bliss.

Perhaps the most spectacular part of me attending this year's music season was that I got to listen to some of the veterans live for the first time in my life :); grand artists from quite a few generations before like nEdanUri mAma, Vedavalli mAmi, rAma ravi mAmi and kalpakam swAminAthan mAmi. I have also been planning on my next pilgrimage tour (yet to decide on the destination(s)) though I have been a bit cash-strapped. The other notable event of the last 2 months is that I have been blessed enough to acquire around 70 new dIkshitar compositions :-). kOti namaskArams to shri bAla shrInivAsan sir for passing on these gems. We are just 9 short of completing the collection and I am absolutely ecstatic about it. I am still in the process of getting approval from the concerned sources for uploading this set of krithis on the sangeethapriya tribute website.

Moving on to the krithi of the day, shrI guruguhasya dAsOham in rAga pUrvi set to miSra cApu is the sixth krithi of the guruguha vibhakti series composed exclusively in the sixth declension (genitive case/SashTi vibhakti). The highlight of this krithi is perhaps the clear demarcation that dIkshitar draws between the disciple and the guru. The other fascinating aspect is the way dIkshitar describes the guru as an embodiment of the shrIcakram itself. The rAga pUrvi itself is a very special bhAshAnga janyam of mAyAmALavagOwLa and the fact that dIkshitar has handled this scale in just his 6th ever composition speaks volumes about his genius. Though the rAga scale is given as the sampUrNa MMG scale, the lakshaNam details shine through in prayOgams like nsggm, sgmg and pNDp and the life of pUrvi clearly revolves around the gandAram and the niSAdam. dIkshitar, in addition to employing all these prayOgams also makes sure that he sparingly uses straight-line ascending/descending prayOgams. For eg, there is not a single srgm prayOgam in this entire krithi. Anyway, I shall move on to the pallavi with this small introduction about the rAga, which in any case can only be understood by listening to the krithi and experiencing these prayOgams.

Pallavi:

shrI guruguhasya dAsOham nOcEt cidguruguha EvAham

Meaning:

dIkshitar sings "I am the humble servant ("dAsOham") of guruguha, else ("nOcEt") I am the form ("EvAham") of guruguha himself".

In shrI vidyA, the guru is not just a concept but has well-defined role as an individual. The guru is considered the most exalted individual and he is believed to be the supreme guide to a disciple- "na gurOr adhikam tattvam". The school considers Lord Shiva as the AdinAtha, the progenitor. The three pillars of this school are mantra which represents the mind ("manas"), dEvata, the idol which represents prAna, the vital force and finally the guru who represents the disciple's one self. The guru always sits on top of the sahasrAra cakra, the thousand petaled lotus and devotion to the guru strengthens the mind and purifies it. This idea is well-established by dIkshitar in the first krithi of this series itself, shrI nAthadi guruguhO in which he sings "mAya kAryA kalanA hInO; mAmaka sahasra kamalAsInO".

However, dIkshitar clearly states on many occasions that there is advaita bhAvam with the guru and that the disciple and the guru are never the same. The disciple shares advaita bhAvam only with the supreme consciousness and not with the guru. The guru is hence that enlightened soul which initiates the disciple into contacting the supreme consciousness and helps the disciple realize his/her own essential reality (svArtha-parArtha-prakaTana parO guruH). dIkshitar once agains brings out this idea clearly in the beautiful Anandabhairavi krithi "AnandEshvarENa samrakSitOham" where he refers to his guru initiating him into realizing the guruguha rUpam within himself- "jnAna pradAna guruguha rUpa". Hence just to emphasize this, dIkshitar sings in the pallavi that he is either a servant of his guru or else he is the form of the supreme soul, guruguha himself. dIkshitar identifies himself with the supreme soul in many krithis like "cidAnanda rUpOsmi brahmAnanda rUpOsmi" once again in "AnandEshvarENa" and "saccidAnanda paripUrNabrahmAsmi" in the shankarAbharaNam kamalAmba navAvaraNam.

Also, in my post on the krithi "guruguhAya bhaktAnugrahAya" in sAma belonging to this same set of krithis, I had mentioned that it is the only krithi as far as I know that has two guruguha mudras. Well, I have to take that statement back because even this krithi has two guruguha mudras right in the pallavi itself :). Musically, dIkshitar straight away gets into business, chiselling pUrvi with prayOgams like "nnnsggm" at "guruguhasya" and "gmpsnpm" at "cidguruguha". Overall, even though the pallavi looks small, dIkshitar has packed quite a punch in it. Moving on to the anupallavi,

Anupallavi:
bhOga mOkSAtmaka caraNasya bhUpurAdi navAvaraNasya
yOgibRndAntahkaraNasya yOga pIthAdi kAranasya

Meaning:

dIkshitar describes the Lord/guru as "the one whose feet ("caraNasya") bestows enjoyment ("bhOga") and salvation ("mOkSa"). The one who is the embodiment of the 9 sheaths ("navAvaraNasya") starting with the bhUpura. The one who resides in the hearts ("antahkaraNasya") of the groups of yOgis ("yOgibRnda") and the one who is the substratum of yOga pIthAs".

The Lord (actually Goddess ambAL because it is shrI vidyA upAsana) as well as the guru are both capable of giving enjoyment and salvation. There are actually quite a few occasions where the guru has been known to show the disciple the supreme soul and give him enlightenment. If I may relate the famous incident where svAmi vivEkAnanda as a young spiritual seeker went in search of a guru, asking people around if they have seen God and if they can show him. Being unsatisfied with answers from hundreds of enlightened souls, he finally reached the noble soul rAmakrSNa paramahamsa who, upon being asked the same question touched young vivEkAnanda's third eye between the eyebrows with his finger and by passing on some of his cosmic energy immediately raised the young man's kundalini for a second and made him experience the state of samAdi. However, one should clearly understand that the guru can only show his disciple a preview of what it is to enjoy samAdi and in order to stay in nirvikalpa samAdi forever, it is ultimately the disciple who has to put in his own efforts, progress spiritually and find God for himself.

dIkshitar further pays rich tributes to the guru soul and sings in the anupallavi that beginning with the bhUpura (the outer square), the 9 layers of the shrI cakra are itself the form of the guru. This is in sync with bhAvanOpanishad which says "shrI guru sarvakAraNa bhUta shaktiHtEna navarandha rUpO dEhaH navacakra rUpam shrI cakram" which in essence says that the guru's body itself is the shrI cakram and all the yOginIs guarding each strata are identified in the guru himself.

Musically, dIkshitar begins the anupallavi with the graceful "PgMGrsnsGm" prayOgam at "bhOgamOkSAtmaka caraNasya". He further embellishes the krithi and brings out the rAga bhAva with phrases like "NsND" at "yOgibRnda" and "NrNSm" at "yOgapIthAdi". He handles the rAga so beautifully and if it was not for krithis such as this, the rAga would have been long extinct (not that it is being sung all that regularly, but still..). The caraNam goes like,
caraNam:

sanakAdi pUrvika munigaNA sannutAnanda vigrahasya
vanajabhavAdi sakalasumanO vAHncitArthAnugrahasya
jananalayAdi rUpa prapaHncAjHnAna kArya nigrahasya
manana dhyAna samAdhiniSTha mahAnubhAva hRdgRhasya
dinakarakOTi vibhAsvarasya tEjomaya jagadIshvarasya
janaraHnjanakarasya varasya sarvasmAt parasya harasya

Meaning:

dIkshitar continues to describe Him in the caraNam as " the blissful form ("Ananda vigrahasya") who was worshipped ("sannuta") by ancient ("pUrvika") sages ("munigaNa") such as sanaka etc. The one who bestows grace ("anugrahasya") and grants the desires ("vAHncitArtha") of Lord Brahma, the lotus born ("vanaja bhavAdi") and other celestials ("sakala sumanO"). The one who removes ("nigrahasya") the ignorance ("ajHnAna") associated with the universe ("prapaHnca") which has both creation and destruction ("jananalayAdi"). The one who dwells in the hearts ("hRdgRhasya") of the noble sages ("mahAnubhAva") who practice contemplation ("manana"), meditation ("dhyAna") harmony with the supreme consciousness ("samAdhi") and a consummate state ("niSTha")".

In the madhyamakAla sAhityam, dIkshitar continues to describe the Lord/guru as "the one whose brilliance shines ("vibhAsvarasya") like crores of suns ("dinakarakOTi") and the effulgent one ("tEjomaya") who is the lord of the universe ("jagadIshvarasya"). The revered one ("varasya") who delights all people ("janaraHnjanakarasya"). The one who is above everything ("sarvasmAt parasya") and the one who removes ("harasya") all sins".

The first thing that strikes the rasika about the caraNam is the adyAkshara prAsam employed while still sticking to the genetic case using words ending with "asya". When this combines with the beautiful miSra cApu, the experience is something indescribable and the caraNam is a must listen even from the musical point of view. The second thing to be noted is the pun which dIkshitar employs while incorporating the rAga mudra. Its not exactly a complete slEsha usage either..in my opinion its a semi-slEsha, if I may call it so to refer to the ancient sages as "pUrvika munigaNa" while bringing in the rAga mudra. dIkshitar once again brings in the significance of the guru in the line "jananalayAdi.." thereby highlighting a very important characteristic of the guru which is to help the disciple realize the evanescence of everything that makes up this world and hence seek something more eternal and transcendental.

Except for a brief reference to the samAdi niSTha, for a change, this is a not a typical dIkshitar type caraNam loaded with yOgic and tAntric references. It is quite simple in that aspect but he doesn't compromise on the usual grandeur that a dIkshitar krithi is filled with. Musically, the madhyamakAlam is perhaps the grandest of them all. dIkshitar has shown his complete understanding of the rAga by using swara triplets very effectively here. The way he uses the shadja, niSAda and the rishaba is marvellous. He uses the madhya and the mandira sthAyi triplet with "rrrsNs" at "dinakara kOTi" and the madhya and tAra sthAyis at "janaraHnjanakarasya" with the "ssNsrrSs" prayOgam. It gels in so beautifully that one wouldn't even realize that it is just 3 swarams being used. And the goosebumping, killer phrase is the scintillating "dpdpdm" used at "tEjomaya". The prayOgam itself is effulgent corresponding to the sAhityam :-). He rounds the krithi off with a nice, polished "ssGmGm rSn" phrase at "sarvasmAtparasya harasya" and hence re-linking smoothly with shadja take-off for the pallavi.

As I finish this post and the eve of mahAshivarAtri descends, one can only hope that the performing artistes of our times spend some time learning this masterpiece and singing it more often, if not as a main piece, at least as a decent sub-main. I sincerely pray that a rAga like pUrvi doesn't disappear into the oblivion merely due to artistes being obsessed with the same old kAmbhOjis and the bhairavis. Its not like we don't have capable artistes who can render such masterpieces. I guess many artistes don't want to come out of the old mold that has been established and of course the rasikAs are to be blamed too. Anyway that's not something to be discussed in this blog..I should probably take this to a forum like rasikas.org.

In my next post, I will take up the next krithi in this series, guruguha svAmini bhaktim karOmi in the 4th mElakarta bhAnumati. And I will promise that the next post will be published within a week's time :). Till then, happy shivarAtri..spend at least 10 mins meditating on the Lord. shrI gurubhyO namaH

shrI mAtR bhUtam-kannaDa

I have had a mixed last two weeks with some ups and downs. My dear friend Shreekrishna is in Bangalore and we met quite a few times in the last 3 weeks. A few days back, we had this great opportunity to meet, perhaps the greatest carnatic music rasika ever, Mr. B.V.S.Mani sir. He has been attending the december music season in chennai for the past 58 straight years and was given a "rAkshasa rasika" award. Though he has not learnt music formally, he has listened to so much music that he lives, breathes and sleeps music. He sings brilliantly (including a lot of 3rd speed GNB sangathis), plays veena with his mouth (phrases just like S.Balachandar) and even gets ghumkis and chApu's perfect when he plays mridangam with his mouth. An amazing man who will perhaps remain a role model for me till I die. He ofcourse has a huge collection of audio tapes and SK and I had the privelege of listening to such rich music that we will never forget those hours we spent with him. A big, big >--<-o @ mani mama.

I have not been sleeping well for 3 days now after listening to Shri Ramnad Krishnan's music. His bEgaDa, malayamArutham, mukhAri, sahAna etc have been ringing in my ears continuously and I have slept only 4 hours or so in the last 3 days. Tears run down my cheek when I realize how under-rated he has been. I know I am setting fire to a hornet's nest, but just like many other greats such as MDR and Tanjore S.Kalyanaraman sir, Ramnad was not even given a Sangeetha kalanidhi. How cruel..yet another victim of nasty politics :(. Anyway, his brilliance will shine forever. His music has completely captivated me and as many say, he is a true musician's musician.

Coming to the krithi I am taking up today, shrI mAtR bhUtam holds a special place in my heart, probably because I did my B.Tech at Trichy where this krithi was composed by dIkshitar at the famous rock fort temple. Trichy has some wonderful temples nearby like tiruvAnaikkAval, Srirangam etc. The rockfort is perhaps the flagbearer of this city. In the olden days, Trichy was called Trisirapuram because an asura by the name trisiran worshipped Lord Shiva here. Ofcourse, the other version is that there are 3 peaks on the rockfort hill occupied by Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvathi and the famous Uchchi pillayar. Because of this, rockfort is also called tri-shira-giri.dIkshitar beautifully incorporates many facts and stories about this temple. In the pallavi itself he brings out the location by addressing the Lord as tri-shira-giri-nAtha.

The Lord Himself gets His name as mAtR bhUtESwarar because he is known to have appeared as a mother. A devotee of Lord Shiva belonged to the Chettiar caste and she used to cross the Kaveri river everday and come to worship Lord Shiva at this temple. She continued to do so even when she became pregnant and on one such visit, the kaveri was flooded and she was not able to cross back over to her village after darshan. She suddenly developed labour pain and Lord Shiva Himself came in the disguise of that devotee's mother and helped her in delivery. Since Lord Shiva took this motherly form, He is known as mAtR bhUtESwarar here and in tamizh, He is referred to as thAyum-Anavar (translates as "One who is also a mother"). dIkshitar summarizes this whole episode in just one word in the caraNam when he describes the Lord as "vaiSya jAti strI vESa dharaNam" (the one who came in the disguise of a vaiSya woman). Anyway, moving on to the krithi now,

Pallavi:

SrI mAtR bhUtaM tri-Sira giri nAthaM hRdi cintayE
sugandhi kuntaLAmbA samEtam

Meaning:

dIkshitar straight away advices "to meditate in one's heart ("hRdi cintayE") on Lord mAtRbhUtESwara, the Lord of tri-Sira giri and the one who is in the company of ("samEtam") Goddess kuntaLAmbA, the one who has a naturally fragrant ("sugandhi") hair ("kuntaLa")."

In the pallavi itself, dIkshitar effectively brings the whole sannidhi and the temple in front of your eyes by describing Him as the Lord of Trisiragiri, the three peaked hill and bringing His consort, KuntaLAmba into the picture. The amsha of pArvati here is always described as one whose hair has a natural fragrance. The locals call Her as "maTTuvAr kuzhali" which compares Her locks of hair to the drops of honey which bring fragrance to flowers. Yet another interesting observation I have made is the similarity in structure between the pallavi of this krithi and the pallavi of the beautiful krithi in raga kuntaLam composed aptly on Goddess kuntaLAmba which starts as "shrI sugandhi kuntaLAmbikE" and proceeds along similar lines as "hRdi cintayE". But the similarity ends there :).

Musically, the serene gAndAram is once again used by dIkshitar to mark the beginning of the krithi. With phrases such as "GMDp" and "gmrs" at "shrI mAtRbhutam" and "dnsdsp" at "kuntaLAmba", he spreads the canvas for a beautiful picture to unfold upon, not to mention the thatu and take-off of miSra cApu which he has employed so well throughout the entire song. Moving on to the anupallavi,

anupallavi

sOma sakhaM nata Suka sanakaM
naLa kAmAdi vijaya kamanIyAngaM
sOmaM SirO-dhRta sUrya gangaM kOmaLa kara dhRta kurangaM
guru guhAntaranga lingam

Meaning:

dIkshitar describes the physical form of the Lord in the anupallavi as "The friend of ("sakham") the moon ("sOma") and the one worshipped by ("nata") sages Suka and sanaka. The one whose beautiful appearance ("kamanIyAngaM") conquers ("vijaya") Nala and Manmatha. The one who is with Goddess Parvathi ("sa+umam") and the one who wears on His head ("SirO-dhRta"), the calotropis flower ("sUryagangaM"-arka flower or erukkam poo as they call it in tamizh). The one who holds a deer ("kurangaM") in His tender hands ("kOmaLa kara"), the linga form that resides in the innermost caves ("guhAntaranga") of the meditative mind of a guru (the realized one)."

Wow..what a brilliant anupallavi. IMHO, this anupallavi takes the krithi to a whole new level and sets it up to be turned up yet another notch in the caraNam that ensues. dIkshitar captures the entire beauty of this raga by using the deivatham at the very beginning of the anupallavi. It is hard to believe that for the entire part of "sOmasa"kham, dIkshitar has just used the deivatham. As if to show the symmetry in the rAga, he uses symmetry in his words too..sOma sakham nata suka sanakam naLa and in the process incorporates the rAga mudra at sana"kam naLa"(La and Da can be used interchangeably). What a genius!!

Again at "sOmam" he uses his understanding of the raga to the fullest by employing the deivatham yet again. The ranchana that brings in is immeasurable. He then flaunts his grammatical repertoire by using something as contrary as "sOmam" and "sUrya" to describe the Lord and in the process he uses the two words to convey two entirely different meanings, i.e, sOmam here stands for "the one with Uma" instead of the typical meaning of the "moon" and sUrya as a part of sUrya gaNgam referring to the flower. What can one describe this act except as an audacious display of brilliance :). He finishes the anupallavi off with a word to the yOgis to meditate on Him, this form of the linga which is an embodiment of a guru who shines to drive away the ignorance. The "gmdp gmrs" end to the anupallavi facilitates an easy looping back to the gAndAram start for the pallavi. As I always say, I guess the beauty is a bit too much to explain by mere words :). Helplessly moving on to the caraNam,

caraNam:

vAsavAdi dEva vandita caraNaM
vaiSya jAti strI vEsha dharaNaM
vAsu dEva mahitaM bhava taraNaM
vAsanAdi rahitAntaHkaraNam
dara hAsa tri-purAdi haraNaM
vAsuki pramukhAbharaNaM
bhAsamAna navAvaraNaM
dAsa jana santOsha karaNam
suvAsita nava javanti pushpa -
vikAsa priya hRdayaM sadayaM
mAsa varsha pakshOtsava vibhavaM
sadASivaM parama Sivam

Meaning:

dIkshitar continues to describe the Lord as "The one whose feet ("caraNam") are worshipped by ("vandita") Lord Indra ("vAsava") and other dEvas. The one who took the form/disguise ("vEsha dharaNam") of a woman ("strI") belonging to the vaishya community. The one revered by ("mahitam") by Vasudeva and the one who assists in crossing ("taraNam") the ocean of life ("bhava"). The one (on whom by meditating) who puts an end ("anta karaNam") to all the karmic remnants ("vAsanAdi") (in the yOgi's mind). The one who has a smile ("hAsa") as bright as a white conch ("dara") and the one who destroyed ("haraNam") the three floating cities ("tripurAdi") of the asuras. The one who wears the snake ("vAsuki") as His primary ornament ("pramukhAbharaNam") and the one who is covered in new ("nava") robes ("AvaraNaM") that are as bright as the stars ("bhA-samAna"). The one who delights ("santOsha") his followers/devotees ("dAsajana")."

In the madhyamakAla sAhitya, dIkshitar continues to describe the Lord as "the one whose heart ("hRdayam") is fond of ("priya") the freshly ("nava") blossomed ("vikAsa") fragrant ("suvAsita") chrysanthemum flowers ("javanti pushpa"). The ever-compassionate one ("sadayam"). The omni-present one ("vibhavam") whose festivals ("utsava") are celebrated on a fortnightly ("pakSa"), monthly ("mAsa") and yearly ("varsha") basis. The one who is the ever-present and supreme consciousness ("sadASivam and paramaSivam")."

As I mentioned before, he pretty much sums up the story behind this sthalam in one word, "vaiSya jAti strI vEsha dharaNam". dIkshitar once again uses the gAndAra to establish a strong base in the first few lines of the caraNam and this enables him to bring in that killer deivatham once again on which he repeatedly stresses at "vAsu"dEva and "vAsu"ki to perhaps make this krithi a great dedication to this wonderful rAga. He employs similies at "dara hAsa" and "bhAsamAna" to highlight the Lord's beauty.

And as always, he never forgets to emphasize on the astral planes for the yOgi. dIkshitar describes the Lord as the one who destroys the vAsanAs. These vAsanAs are impressions which a soul accumulates over its countless cycles of rebirths as it gets entwined in the materialistic pleasures and pains that this world has to offer. For eg, when you lust for something/someone or when you judge a person, these form strong impressions or vAsanAs which get stored in the mUlAdhAra chakra as a signature. These vAsanAs accumulate in each of your births, thereby disabling the soul to progress. The only way to escape this cycle is by meditating and following specific techniques to help the soul regain its purity and destroy these impressions. Hence, for spiritual progress, dIkshitar yet again insists praying and meditating on Lord mAtRbhUtESwara.

And for all you wonderful devotees, the next time you pay a visit to this temple, buy some fresh sevanthi flowers and offer to the Lord as dIkshitar states that it pleases Him :). Finally, dIkshitar completes this masterpiece with reference to the festivals celebrating the Lord's greatness. The madhyamakala sAhityam is yet another treat with the words just dancing along with the tALa and thus ending the krithi on a happy, festive note :).

Please listen to MMI's and SSI's versions of the krithi to enjoy some prayOgams to the maximum. In my next post, I will take up one of the vibhakti series of krithis and hopefully will complete the entire series over a month or so. Salutations to the great gurus.

gIticakra ratha stithAyai - kannaDa

I apologize for the break in posting once again. I was a little busy working on the sahityam wikipedia project and trying to understand how to contribute to the dikshitar section after the enormously successful wiki available at http://guruguha.org/wiki. Hats off to all the contributors of the sahityam wiki project, which aims at creating a store house of carnatic music compositions with word by word meaning and explanations. If things go well, I am sure this will turn into a wonderful board in which some knowledgeable people can share their views and provide their own explanations and stories behind some of the compositions.

The game between Chennai Super kings and Bangalore Royal Challengers ended just now and Bangalore won the cliffhanger with 2 balls to spare. Though this year's IPL has been lacking that indian flavour and that excitement, I still find it to be decently interesting with some low totals and close fought games. Atleast, its giving me good company in the evenings :). The ISRO exam went ok. I did decently well but definitely not up to my satisfaction. As I was leaving the exam hall with a slightly heavy heart, I overheard a gang of students discussing the paper and everyone agreeing that the paper was tough. I hope that more candidates across the country found the paper tough too.

I find that the markets are recovering slowly and I have been seeing a lot more job openings over the last couple of weeks. So, hopefully something clicks soon. I am extremely excited that my dear friend Shreekrishna is coming to India this weekend and he will be here in Bangalore for a month. Its been a long time since we met and I am really looking forward to meeting him and spending some time with him.

Over the past few days, I have been smitten by kannaDa (note: not kAnaDA). I have been listening to SSI's shrI mAtrubhUtam over and over again and have been looping Sanjay's "gIticakra ratha" too. Hence, I thought I will take up these two krithis one after the other and try to do some justice. First, about the rAga itself, I have for a long time wondered why kannaDa is classified as a janyam of harikEdAragowLa (28th mELa) instead of shankarAbharaNam in the SSP. I still have not found the answer and I hope someone reading this blog will be able to help me out. Also, the SSP says that the "srg" prayogam is allowed, which baffles me once again.

Anyway, moving on to the krithi, I believe that dIkshitar composed this krithi at madurai, in praise of Goddess mInAkSi. As I mentioned in my post on the krithi "mInAkSi mE mudam", Goddess mInAkSi is referred to as shyAmala, the dark-hued one, rAja mAtangI etc. Goddess mAtangi is the yogic equivalent/tantric form of Goddess Saraswati and as I have once agained mentioned in the "mInAkSi mE mudam" blog, She is picturized as one holding a gem-studded vINa. Of the 10 mahAvidyAs, mAtangi occupies a very significant place and She is known to bless Her devotees with proficiency in music, poetry and other fine arts. Hence, dIkshitar straight away starts off by referring to Her as the one who resides in the chariot called gItichakra, the chakra of music/singing.

Goddess Shyamala is believed to have been created by Goddess Lalita and She is believed to have emerged from Goddess Lalita's sugarcane bow during Her battle with bandAsura. In Lalita Sahasranamam, there is a clear reference to Shyamala which reads "gEya cakra rathArUDha mantriNi pari-sEvitA" and since gEya and gIti have similar meanings ("song/the act of singing"), dIkshitar improvises straight away and replaces gEya with gIti to begin this krithi.

Sorry to continue with this big introduction for the krithi, but, I feel that once I create a good idea about the yogic import of the krithi and the Goddess Herself, no further detailed explanations would be needed. And, the krithi as such is short anyway. So, continuing with the tantric references in the krithi and talking about the gEya cakra in particular, please look at the image above that I have embedded in this post as I describe. There are quite a few versions(some of them,wrong) of this cakra, though the above one is perhaps the most pristine forms. The symmetries and geometric concepts are clearly visible. The gEya cakra, just like the shrI chakra employs the famous "golden ratio" quite extensively, beginning with the inner most triangle enclosed in a pentagon which is further circumscribed by the pentacle (more golden ratio). Finally the 8-petalled and the 16-petalled lotuses form the circumference around this figure and is enclosed within the square bhUpUra. The yantra of saNgIta yOgini is known to correspond with the gEya cakra which signifies Shyamala/mAtangi, further evidence connecting gEya cakra to saNgIta. With that introduction, I will now move on to the krithi itself.

Pallavi:

gIti cakra ratha sthitAyai guru guha nuta SyAmaLAyai
namastE namastE

Meaning:

dIkshitar sings "I prostrate before you again and again ("namastE namastE"), Oh Goddess SyAmaLA, the one who is present in ("sthitAyai") the chariot ("ratha") called gIti cakra and the one worshipped by ("nuta") Lord Guruguha".

As I have mentioned before, I love these double namastE, samASTi caraNam krithis. Just like the 20-20 cricket, these short krithis pack quite a punch :). dIkshitar seems to stress the importance of music as a marga to mOkSa in these lines. That's why, I presume that in addition to the straight-forward meaning of Goddess SyAmaLa riding the chariot corroborated by Lalita Sahasranamam, dIkshitar seems to refer to music, signified by the gIti cakra and devotion to Goddess mAtangi enables the bhakta to elevate himself to ride the chariot to salvation.

Musically, miSra cApu once again proves a perfect foible for the galloping that he seems to create in this composition. He starts off with a plain, divine gAndAra just like shrI mAtrubhUtam and straight away catches the ranjana that this rAga exudes. The "gmp gmr" at "ratha" followed by "ss mgm dd" at "guruguha nuta" pretty much seals the deal as he incorporates the rAga mudra with such elegance. Finally, the killer blow comes in the form of the double namastEs as "gmr(tAra sthAyi) rsnsdpm" and "gdp gmdpgmrs" to loop back to the gAndAra. Sanjay's version seems to capture some unique nuances very beautifully. Please do listen to it if you haven't already. Moving on to the caraNam,

samashTi caraNam:

gItAmRtAnanditAyai gIrvANa vanditAyai
hata vishanga samUhAyai kRta lOkOpakArAyai
nata bhairavAdi sEnAyai nava nava vidha bANa karAyai

Meaning:

dIkshitar continues to directly address the Goddess and describes Her as "Your heart rejoices ("AnanditAyai") in the blissful nectar of music ("gItAmRta").You are worshipped by ("vanditAyai") the best of Gods ("gIrvANa"). You killed ("hata") a community ("samUhAyai") of demons led by vishanga and hence did ("kRta") a great help ("upakArAyai") to the world ("lOka")". In the short madhyamakAla sAhityam, dIkshitar sings "Bhairava and other warriors ("sEnAyai") salute ("nata") you. You create ("karAyai") many new ("nava nava") arrows and weapons ("bANa")".

In the caraNam, dIkshitar once again refers to the Goddess being attached to music. He also portrays Her capabilities to destroy demons and pretty much creates an image of Her as suzerian-in-chief of the armed forces :). Also, he refers to vishanga. When manmatha was incinerated by Lord Shiva's third eye, two demons namely vishukra and vishanga were born out of the ashes. For a yOgi who is trying to achieve oneness, the two demons, vishanga in particular causes problems by disturbing the mind and thereby makes it not seek oneness. This demon was killed by SyAmaLa and dIkshitar brings in this yOgic aspect in this krithi, thereby indirectly advising bhaktas to worship Goddess SyAmaLa to overcome delusion and achieve that stillness.

Musically, dIkshitar stresses on the gAndAra once again to bring in that bhAva. Instead of phrasing out each sangati here, I think it would be best to leave it to the rasikas to enjoy themselves listening to it. The chitta swaram in the end begins with a peaceful "gmdp" which kind of gives it that ShankarAbharaNam/western classical tilt. If there were any doubts regarding allowed phrases in this rAga, the chitta swarams completely dispel them and serves as a nice appendix to the krithi itself. On the whole, it is yet another masterpiece composed by dIkshitar and serves as a wonderful starter for those who want to learn this rAga.

Continuing with my love for kannaDa, I will take up "shrI mAtrubhUtam" in my next post. Till then, ciao!!

LalitAmbikAyai- Bhairavi

After 2 months, I am finally getting an opportunity to blog :). I know its been extremely long since I last posted and I have even come to realize that I was posting more often while I was in the US. Time has indeed become a luxury after coming back to India. I cant believe that 4 months have flown by since I came back home. Over the last 2 months, I have been refreshing a lot of my Engineering basics and completed a course in Catia, a nice design tool with which I have completely fallen in love with. However, with the current economic scenario, I havent had much success obtaining interview calls. And even those few companies which called me for interviews, offered me extremely poor pay packages. I guess they are taking advantage of the situation and are trying to acquire qualified professionals at cheap rates.

With the situation being so, I guess the field of mechanical engineering is going to lose yet another decently skilled guy to either the software or the management stream :(. Though I hate to do it myself, I reckon I will be pushed to take this decision after putting up a fight for a few more months. Well, if thats what God and Guru have planned for me, destiny..here I come. Sorry if I have bored you guys with my rant but it always feels great to share things with my friends here :). Anyway, on the musical front, I have been attending quite a few concerts and have been enjoying myself :). And after some vain attempts at singing and playing guitar, I have come to the conclusion that I am much happier just being a nice rasika and an ardent devotee of this art in general and dIkshithar in particular :).

Offlate, I have been captivated by hindustani music thanks to my brother. I have become a huge fan of Rashid Khan sir. The impeccable shruti he maintains combined with his amazing voice, control and brilliance has continued to blow me away over the last 3 weeks or so. His pUriya kalyAn, bAgESri and gOrakh kalyAn pieces to name a few are mind-boggling. I have also taken a huge liking for the ali brothers from across the border, Ustad Nazakat Ali khan and Ustad Salamat Ali khan. Their open throated music, mind-boggling sangathis and crystal clear 4th speed brighAs are qualities have made me listen to their presentation of kAfi and Sindh Bhairavi over and over again. However, in my extremely humble opinion, the lack of laya aspect (no kanakkus, koraippus, thIrmAnams etc) leaves a gaping hole in the otherwise beautiful edifice of Hindustani music. Anyway..thats a topic to be discussed in another post.

Coming to today's krithi, since in my previous blog, I had mentioned of an intersting story about the LalitAmbika dEvi at tirumeichur, one of the temples I had visited in my december pilgrimage, I thought I will take up a dIkshithar krithi composed on this dEvi. From the story I am going to narrate and from the sAhityam in this krithi, it would make sense why I took up this relatively unknown krithi. Anyway, the story goes like this. After coming back from the US, I was invited for lunch by my dear friend Shreekrishna's mother and father. During a casual discussion after lunch, SK's mother told me the story of the people who were her sister's neighbour about 20 years ago. It seems the couple who lived beneath her sister's house were pious and were great devotees to Goddess Ambal. It seems that Goddess was appearing in the wife's dreams every night as a small girl child and was telling her to buy her a nice pair of anklets (kolusu). When the wife asked the child how she will know her ankle size and where to find Her, the child just replied saying that "buy what you think will look good on my legs and I will wear it".

The wife and husband bought a nice anklet and went in search of the ambal. But to whichever temple they went, the kolusu was either too small or too big for the dEvi. After going to hundreds of temples and trying in vain to fit the anklet, the couple came to thirumeichur. After convincing the pUjAri at the sannidhi, it seems the lady tried the anklet on the dEvi's leg and it just snapped into position. It was such a perfect fit that to date, not even the pUjAri has been able to remove it while doing abhishekhams. What an amazing story and what a blessed couple they were. When she told me this story, SK's mother could not recollect the name of the temple and told me that it is somewhere near tiruvArUr. Accidentally, during my kumbakonam trip, I was travelling from tirunAgESwaram to kUthanUr Saraswati temple, my cab driver Guru told me the exact same story ("kolusu pota swami"-as the locals call it there) as we were passing tirumeichur. With tears rolling down my cheek and hair standing on my back, I told him to drive me there. Inspite of a broken bridge (the temple is pretty much inside a forest), he took me there. I was thinking to myself "I am indeed blessed and probably the dEvi is drawing me to Her temple" because this was too much of a coincidence. More amazement awaited me as I reached the temple.

I felt a current race through my body as I entered the MeghanAtha swami- LalitAmbika temple at tirumeichur. I was pretty much the only person at the temple. After spending some time at the main meghanAtha sannidhi, I ran with great eagerness to see the Goddess. However, to my utter disappointment, the sannidhi was closed and I was crest fallen. As I was wondering what to do and cursing myself, out of nowhere, a pUjAri came and smiled at me. He told "romba dhooram lendhu varel polakke ambAl a darisanam panna..sannidhi a naan thirandhu vidaren" ("Looks like you have come a long way to have the darshan of the dEvi..I will open the sannidhi for you"). As he opened the door, I was visibly shivering and I was crying uncontrollably. He opened the door and there She was fully covered in white. I cried more as I saw the anklet and how it fitted Her. I felt as if I had satisfied the purpose of my birth. After spending sometime there, I thanked Her from the bottom of my heart for providing such a wonderful darshan, a sight this soul will not forget till his last breath ;(.

In this beautiful krithi "LalitAmbikAyai" composed appropriately in Bhairavi by the nAdhajyOti, in the samaSTi caraNam, dIkshithar describes the Goddess as "bAlikA nAma rUpAyai" (the one who has the form of a young girl) and as in the story, the Goddess appeared as a small girl child in the lady's dreams. I will move on to the krithi now..

Pallavi:

lalitAmbikAyai lakSya kOTyANDa nAyikAyai
lalanAyai namastE namastE

Meaning:

dIkshithar sings "I prostrate again and again ("namastE namastE") before LalitAmbika, the queen/ruler ("nAyikAyai") of lakhs and crores of universes ("lakSya kOTyANDa"), the one who is embodiment of shakti (womanhood) ("lalanAyai")".

dIkshithar bursts into music straight away prostrating before the dEvi and describing Her as the ultimate ruler and protector of the different worlds. The "la" adyAkshara prAsam strikes the observer. As we have observed in so many of his krithis, the "double namastE krithis" (as we call it :) ) are something special. And this krithi is no different..he starts off with the niSadam and brilliantly employs the avarOhaNam as "nnrsndp" phrase at "lalitAmbi" followed by a plain mukhAri-ish "M GR S" at "kAyai" (the word split is just to explain the phrase-sorry about it). He brings in the bhairavi rAga chAya completely with the oscillating gAndAra at kOT"yAN"Da and completely embellishes it with "r G M P" at "lalanAyai". The two namastEs are interwoven with symmetric phrases to create a masterpiece of a pallavi and the typical "rgmpdnsr" at the end of the pallavi to loop back gives that extra punch. dIkshithar manages to capture the essence of such a majestic rAga in the 5 words of the pallavi itself :). A genius non-pareil as I always say :).

SamaSTi caraNam:

bAlikA nAma rUpAyai phAla candra dharAyai
jAlandara pIThAyai jvala-jvAlA mAlAyai
nIla lOhita pUjitAyai naTa bhairavI nartanAyai
kalAnidhi vadana SobhAyai kAnCana-maya guruguha nutAyai

Meaning:

dIkshithar describes the goddess as "The one who possesses the name and form ("nAma rUpAyai") of a young girl ("bAlikA"). The one who wears ("dhArAyai") the crescent moon ("candra") on Her forehead ("phAla"). The one who resides in jAlandara peetha and the one who wears a sparkling ("jvala-jvAlA") garland ("mAlAyai"). The one worshipped ("pUjitAyai") by the red-blue hued one, Lord Shiva ("nIla lOhita") and the one who danced ("nartanAyai") the cosmic dance as Bhairavi. The one who is a treasure-house of arts ("kalAnidhi") and the one whose face ("vadana") is beautiful ("SobhAyai"). The one who is covered in gold ("kAnCana-maya") and the one who is worshipped ("nutAyai") by Lord guruguha".

As I mentioned earlier, dIkshithar also sees the dEvi as a divine small girl. The reference to jAlandara peetha is something for which I request a more detailed explanation from the readers of this blog. I am not sure if dIkshithar is referring to the 64 Shakti Peethas in this physical world or if he is referring to one of the shakti centers in the astral body plane. If someone can throw more light on this, I would be really happy to learn. dIkshithar describes Lord Shiva as "nIla lOhita". The basic explanation for this reference is ofcourse Lord Shankara's blue neck and red colored body. The upanishads describe that the fire of His third eye and the cool bluish color of the crescent on his head combine for the nIla lOhita effect. In philosophy, we find yet another definition where ignorance is symbolized by blue color and knowledge by red color. Since Lord Shiva is the destroyer of ignorance, he is called nIla-lOhita.

Musically, there are some pretty phrases in the caraNam. dIkshithar begins the caraNam with the "pdndp" phrase at "bAlika" followed by a dIrga "D mp" at "nAma". dIkshithar completely murders the tAra sthAyi with phrase like "rG Mgr" at "jAlandara" and the ever pleasing "RSNDP" at "jvala-jvAlA". As always, the madhyama kAla sAhityam has that extra kick and gallop. dIkshithar embellishes nIla lOhita with a swarAksharam beginning "nd dp" and a brilliant "ss ndp" at "naTa bhairavi". And he shows his skill once again at incorporating the rAga mudhra. Considering some of his other extremely brilliant shows of rAga mudhra usages, this must have been a cake walk for the genius :).

On the whole, this is a wonderful composition from which there is much to learn and understand. I am sure that most of you wouldnt have even heard about this krithi and hence I urge you to listen to it when you find time. There is a really good rendition of this krithi by Vijay shiva sir on our dIkshithar website..please make use of it. On my next visit to tirumeichur, I will surely sing this krithi and seek the dEvi's blessings :). After what I would call a divine experience, I feel very attached to this temple and the Goddess and this krithi for sure has become very special to me :).

Now that I am jobless anyway, I guess I will make good use of this time and try to blog as much as I can till I find employment :). In that sense, the coming months will definitely be a pleasure :). I have not decided which krithi to take up next. I will think it over tonight and try to post it within the next few days :). Jumping into SSP right away :). shrI gurubhyO namah:

mAmava mInAkSi- varALi

It has been nearly a month since I posted anything here. I have been travelling a bit on the weekends and hence have not been able to blog :(. Further, I am winding up here in the US and going back to India for good on October 18th. For Labor day weekend, I had amazing fun with SK, hari and audi. We spent a few days together and had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Ajit Bhaskar and his wife Nandini and meeting Prasanna Venkatesh, a devout student of carnatic music :). On the following weekend, I travelled to Indianapolis and met my Ann arbor room mates, Bharath, Aditya and Sharanya :). We had perhaps the best fun ever in those 2 days. At times like these, I profusely thank God to have given me such wonderful friends, without whom life in the US would not have been possible in the first place, let alone boring and dull.

In the last 3 years and 2 months I have spent in the US, I have changed a lot- predominantly for the good and for betterment :). Apart from the maturing experience, it has been a few years in which I have gained so many new and wonderful friends which is ultimately what matters in life. The love my friends have showered on me (and will continue to shower on me for this lifetime) just makes my hair stand up and I immediately get goosebumps. Hence, I do a sAshTAnga namaskara at all these angels that God has sent to love me >--<-o @ All!!

Shri Sanjay Subrahmanyan is performing here at Austin, Texas on October 4th and I am really excited about the fact that I will get to listen to him live after a very, very long time. Hopefully he renders some thalaivar krithis for this guruguha dAsan :).

Today, I will take up the beautiful dIkshithar krithi, mAmava mInAkSi in varALi composed by the nAdajyOthi at Madurai. Before I dive into the krithi, I would like to give a brief introduction about this kSEtram and its folklore. According to mythology, Indra once killed an innocent demon by mistake and in order to escape the effects of this sin, Indra built a small lingam in the forest he was roaming and propitiated Lord Shiva. After severe penance, Lord Shiva forgave him and Indra built a small temple at that site. King Malayadhwaja Pandyan was ruling this part of the country called kadambavanam and he came to know of this small temple. He decided to expand this temple into a big complex and build the city of Madurai around it. The king was childless and did severe penance to please Lord Shiva and beget a child. Lord Shiva answered his prayers and gave the king a 3 year old ayonija (not born out of a womb) daughter. This child was a manifestation of Lord Shiva and Goddess Shakti. Due to her beautiful fish-like eyes, the king named her as mInAkSi. She grew up to be a great warrior and after the king's demise, ruled the kingdom ably.

I must mention the yogic interpretation of Goddess mInAkSi. Sage Mathanga was from the lower chandal caste but did not believe in the caste system and wanted to attain brahmin hood through penance. Through the kripa of Lord Indra and Goddess Saraswati, sage matanga was given a beautiful daughter, Matangi. In tantraic tradition, there are ten wisdom Goddesses, Mahavidyas and Matangi is one of them and is believed to be the yogic counterpart of Goddess Saraswathi. On another note, these ten Vidyas are believed to be the source of then ten avatars of Vishnu.

Goddess Matangi is believed to have a dark complexion and she resides in the vishuddhi chakra at the throat. Through upAsana, She can be invoked for command over speech and knowledge. Goddess mInAkSi at Madurai is believed to be this amsha of Goddess Shakti. dIkshithar very beautifully brings this aspect out in the very first lines of the pallavi by addressing the Goddess as "rAja mAtangi-princess mAtangi", thereby consolidating both the physical as well as the yogic beliefs as I have described above. Since mAtangi is the yogic counterpart of Goddess Saraswathi, she holds a veena studded with emeralds and this is once again brought out by dIkshithar in the pallavi itself. With this introduction, I will now delve into the krithi,

Pallavi:

mAmava mInAkSI rAjamAtaHNgi
mANikyavallakIpANi madhuravANi varALivENi

Meaning:

dIkshithar sings "Oh Goddess mInAkSI, the fish-eyed one, the princess mAtangi, please protect me ("mAmava")." He describes the Goddess as "The one possessing an emerald studded vINa ("mANikyavallakI") in Her hands. The one with a mellifluous voice ("madhuravANi") and the one with dark hued hair ("vENi") that resembles a swarm of bees ("varALi")."

dIkshithar directly addresses the Goddess and seeks refuge. Being a vainika himself, he promptly salutes Her and refers to Her vINa. Musically, the key "PMGRS" phrase occurs at "mInAkSI" followed by the defining "S n gr G M" phrase at "varALi vENi". dIkshithar once again shows his command over the language by brilliantly incorporating the rAga mudhra as a figure of speech describing the beauty of the Goddess' hair :). Other than that, it is a pretty simple and peaceful pallavi. Moving on to the samaSTi caraNam,

samASTi caraNam:

sOmasundarEshvara sukhasphUrti rUpiNi
shyAmE shaHNkari digvijaya praTApini
hEmaratnAbharaNabhUSaNi Isha guruguha hRdAgAriNi
kAmitArttha vitaraNadhOraNi kArunyAmRtaparipUraNi
kAmakrOdhadi nivAriNi kadambakAnanavihAriNi

Meaning:

dIkshithar describes the Goddess as "The embodiment ("rUpiNi") of the vibrating force ("sphUrti") that delights ("sukha") Lord SomasundarEshvara. The dark-hued ("shyAmE") one who does good deeds ("shaHNkari") and the one who has the glory of conquering all directions ("digvijaya") and is the ruler of the world ("pratApini"). The one adorned ("bhUSaNi") by gem studded ("ratna") golden ("hEma") ornaments ("AbharaNa") and the one who resides in the heart ("hRdAgAriNi") of Lord Guruguha, the preceptor of Lord Shiva ("Isha"). The one who bestows ("vitaraNadhOraNi") all the desired boons ("kAmitArttha") of devotees. The one filled with ("paripUraNi") the nectar of compassion ("kArunyAmRta"). The one who removes ("nivAriNi") lust ("kAma"), anger ("krOda") and all other vices. The one who resides ("vihAriNi") in the kadamba forests ("kAnana")."

Look at how beautifully dIkshithar depicts the entire shrine. He brings the sannidhi right in front of your eyes in all his descriptions in the caraNam. There is once again no yogic or puranic references here that need detail explanations. He employs a vicious "S r ss S n G" at "sukhasphUrti" and the word itself vibrates to bring joy to one's hearts just like the word suggests :). This is followed by a rich "n S G M; D D N" at "shyAmE shankari" that brings out the essence of the pUrvAngam clearly. I also love "S N G R" at "hRdAgArini" and the way the caraNam ends as "nDpmgr-rsGM" at "kadambakAnanavihAriNi" and beautifully merges into the pallavi :). I dont think there is much more to beat upon here and I will promptly wind up.

Since I have given a decent explanation about the kSEtra and since one of the readers had requested, I think I will take up "mInAkSi mE mudam dEhi" in my next post. Though I wanted to reserve this krithi as the very last krithi for this blog (for obvious reasons), I guess I will take it up at this juncture and will provide some insight. I will hopefully post a few more krithis before leaving the US. See you all very soon :). shrI gurubhyO namah:!!

paradEvatA bRhatkucAmbA-dhanyASi

August 22nd is an unforgettable date in my life for I lost my father on this fateful day, 23 years ago when I was not even 2 years old. Life would sure have been a lot different if he was here with me ;(. In some sorts, I paid homage to that noble soul by donating some money to the Asha Foundation and I feel extremely happy about it :). May God bless his soul, wherever he is ;(.

Tomorrow is GokulAshtami and I miss home very much ;(. All those memories of thattai, murukku, cheedai etc that amma prepares with all her love is making my eyes misty ;(. I hope atleast all of you who are reading this blog are at home and enjoying the delicacies prepared by your ammas and paatis :). Anyway..the best way to come out of this reticent mood would be to drown in the bliss of carnatic music.

Today, I will take up the majestic dhanyASi masterpiece, paradEvatA bRhatkucAmbA composed by the nAdajyOti in praise of Goddess bRhat sundara kucAmbikA, the consort of shrI mahAlingaswAmi at tiruvidaimarudur/madhyArjunam. This temple is believed to be around 1200 years old and is one of the famous pAdal petra sthalams because it is one of the 275 shrines of Lord Shiva mentioned in thEvAram hymns. MadhyArjunam literally translates to "middle maruda". There are 3 Shiva temples which have the maruda tree as the sthala vr.kshAs- shrIsailam in Andhra, tiruvidaimarudur and tiruppudaimarudur in tirunelveli. Geographically, since this temple is located in-between the other two, it is called madhyArjunam. The lingam here is a swayambu and because of its rich history, there are some amazing stories associated with this temple. I kindly request you to click here to learn everything there is to know about this temple.

In addition to this krithi, dIkshithar has composed a few other krithis at this magnificient temple, mahAlingESwarAya namastE in aTHAna, mahAlingESwaram in paraju and ofcourse the other paraju gem "cintayE mahAlingamUrthim" popularly sung by GNB. I will now move on to the krithi. In my humble opinion, the best thing about singing this krithi is that it provides you with a wonderful opportunity for dEvi nAmasmaraNam. The krithi is filled with different names of the Goddess, uttering which will purify your soul. The goddess in this kshEtra is dressed up in a dancer's attire (you can see the pleats near the legs if you observe in the picture above) and dIkshithar has composed this krithi similar to a dancer's main characteristics, a beautiful mixture of grace and gallop (madhyamakAla). Moving on to the krithi now,

Pallavi:

para dEvatA bRhatkucAmbA saMrakshatu mAM SrI jagadambA

Meaning:

dIkshithar directly seeks refuge in his divine mother's lap. He sings "May the supreme Goddess ("paradEvatA"), the auspicious mother of the universe ("jagadambA") bRhatkucAmbA protect me ("saMrakshatu mAM")."

What an amazing start to the krithi!! dIkshithar's brilliance once again just shines in the first words of the pallavi itself. He pretty much sums up the grandeur of dhanyASi with the "P G M P N S D P" phrase at "paradEvatA". How can one start a krithi with such a bold statement directly taking to the heart of the rAga in the opening phrase!! Simply amazing..it shows the authority and the command of this highly knowledgable being..I prostrate in front of him just for that one phrase >--<-o. And to cap off this beautiful pallavi, he ends with "SrnS; S G M; PdpMP" at "shrI; jagad;amba". I dont know if this is a valid observation but if one literally translates the word bRhatkucAmbA, bRhat means "big/massive", kuca means "breast" and "ambA" means "mother". Since She is universal mother, all of us, Her Children are fed by Her and hence the name. I am sure there is some folklore associated with the name of the Goddess here..If anyone knows anything about it, please shed some light. Moving on to the anupallavi,
Anupallavi:

SAradA ramA sannuta sakaLA SaraccAmpEya pushpa pada yugaLA
(madhyama kAla sAhityam)
vara guru guha jananI cinmAlinI sthira-tara sampatpradAna dhaninI

Meaning:

dIkshithar describes the Goddess as "The complete One ("sakaLa") served ("sannuta") by Goddess Saraswathi ("SAradA") and Goddess Lakshmi ("ramA")". He continues to describe Her physical beauty as "The one whose two feet ("pada yugaLa") are like the campA ("cAmpEya") flowers ("pushpa") that blossom in the autumn season ("Sara")".

In the madhyamakAla sAhityam, he describes Her as "The mother ("jananI") of the revered ("vara") Lord guruguha. The one who wears consciousness as a garland ("cinmAlinI") and the one who is capable of bestowing ("pradAna") the everlasting ("sthira-tara") wealth (of liberation)."

dIkshithar describes the Goddess in just one word- sakaLa meaning "the all encompassing/ complete One". What a wonderful way to encompass the all encompassing one in one word :). He further shows his grammatical prowess by employing a beautiful simile/metaphor comparing Her feet to the campA flowers. Look at the care he takes to describe these flowers..It is not any campA flower but those which are in full bloom during Autumn. The madhyamakAla sAhityam just flows, the syllables fusing with the tALa. Here, dIkshithar uses the word "cinmAlini", the one who wears consciousness ("cid") as a garland ("mAla"). Such precise usage of words and reference forms..what a genius ;(.

Musically, the "GMPNN" phrase at "sakaLa" is intoxicating. The whole of the madhyamakAla is pure bliss. Some of my favourites are the amazing drop from Sadja to gAndhAra at the transition from guruguha to jananI followed by "mgmgDPM;gmRS" at "cinmAlini". The cinmAlini prayOgam pretty much gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it. And the way dIkshithar beautifully ascends the dhanyASi scale as "MGPMDPN;" at "sthira-tara sampat" is a thing of beauty that is to be observed with the eyes of an artist working on a sculpture.. aahh..If you have not listened to this krithi yet, please do so immediately..what more can I say.

caraNam:

carAcarAtmaka prapanca jananI cAru candra hAsinI suvAsinI
cidAnanda mahAlinga mOhinI cidrUpiNI bhakta viSvAsinI
(madhyama kAla sAhityam)
karuNA rasa pravAhinI kauLinI kali kalmasha nASinI haMsinI
kalA mAlinI kAtyAyanI kanja lOcanI bhava pASa mOcanI

Meaning:

dIkshithar once again emphasizes the universal mother concept by describing Her as "The mother ("jananI") of the universe ("prapanca") and the embodiment ("Atmaka") of mobile ("cara") and immobile ("acara") objects". He continues to describe Her as "the one whose smiling face ("hAsinI") resembles the beautiful ("cAru") moon ("candra"). The one who is the dwelling place of consciousness ("suvAsini"). The one who captivates ("mOhinI") Lord mahAlinga, the embodiment of bliss of consciousness ("cidAnanda"). The one whose form is pure consciousness ("cidrUpiNI") and the one who has the faith ("viSwAsini") of her devotees ("bhakta")."

In the madhyamakAla sAhityam, dikshithar describes the dEvi as "the continuous stream ("pravAhiNi") of compassion ("karuNArasa"). The one who signifies the kauLa path of worship and the destroyer ("nASiNI") of the trials and tribulations ("kalmaSa") of the kali yuga. The one who is the divine swan ("hamsinI") and the one who wears the arts ("kala") as a garland ("mAlinI"). The one who is known as kAtyAyanI, the red-hued one. The one with eyes ("locanI") like lotus ("kanca") and the one who liberates us ("mOcanI") from the attachments ("pASa") of this samsAra ("bhava")."

What a caraNam. ;(. As I had mentioned in the beginning of this post, there are so many names of the Goddess that dIkshithar brings in. And look at the details once again..he compares Her face to not just a moon but a beautiful moon ("cAru candra"). In addition to the "cinmAlinI" in the anupallavi, dIkshithar further addresses Her as "cidrUpiNi" and "hamsinI" to stress on the yogic significance of the Goddess. For devotees who want to attain a higher level of consciousness, surrender to dEvi is all that is required.

From a musical standpoint, some prayOgams like "GNP" at "carAcara" and "SDSGMGRS" at "cidAnanda mAhA"linga are just mind-blowing and these are phrases that embellish the beauty of this rAga even more. The madhyamakAla is once again a pure gem. dIkshithar once again climbs the winding ArOhaNam with the "MGPMDPNRS; pGRS" at "kalikalmaSanASiNI;hamsinI". To cap the krithi off, he comes full circle and uses the same "PGMPNSDP" phrase at "kalamAlinI" similar to the opening pallavi line. That's how the krithi ends. MLV amma's rendition is one of my favourites and ofcourse TMK's 1 hour rendition of this krithi is soulful. Please listen to these if you have not.

Staying with the same dEvi theme, in my next post, I will attempt to explain "mAmava mInAkSi" in varALi. A very happy krishna jayanti to everyone :). Happy cheedai eating and as always-"cEtah shrI bAlakriSNam bhajarE"!!