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I have been trying my best to squeeze in time and post something for the last 3 weeks or so, but things have been a little busy. I am writing an exam for the ISRO scientist position next week and I have been preparing a bit hard for it. I had a lot of old B.Tech stuff that I had to refresh and catch up with. Further, I didnt want to take a half-hearted effort at writing about this masterpiece. I have been a little mentally disturbed too in the past few weeks. Anyway..here I am back to blogging :), taking my best shot at doing justice to these gems composed by a phenomenon :).
The krithi akSayalinga vibhO was composed at this beautiful temple town on a hillock called kIvalUr located between tiruvArUr and nAgapattinam. Since one of the readers here, Padma says that this is her hometown, I am very sure that she knows much much more about this town and the temple. One of the specialities of this temple is the straight line in which the navagrahams are situated(instead of the circular version). I remember that this is how the navagrahas are situated in the tiruvArUr temple too. The locals call akSayalingEswarar as kediliyappar and SundarakuchAmbika thAyAr as Vanamullai amman. The sthala vriksha is ilandha maram (badari tree), which is captured in the first line of the caraNam in this krithi. There are quite a few stories based on this temple too. Lord SubrahmaNya Himself is believed to have constructed this temple with the help of Indra.
One need not elaborate on the grandeur of the raga ShankarAbharaNam. It has been handled with utmost care by the trinity and pretty much all composers after the trinity. dIkshithar, especially seems to have had a great liking for this raga and he has proved his might in handling the 29th melakartha by composing big masterpieces such as the navAvarNam, akSayalinga vibhO, dakSinAmurthE and innumerably many more brilliant krithis in addition to the nottuswara sAhitya.
Coming to the krithi itself, right from the beginning, dIkshithar seems to have composed this song with a mindset of trying to make it something special and make it stand out amidst his other magnum opuses in this rAga. Ofcourse, a pretty famous story attached with this krithi is that when dIkshitar visited kIvalUr to sing this composition in front of the Lord, the day's worship was over and the archakar had closed the sannidhi. Even after dIkshitar requested him to keep the sannidhi for a few more minutes so that he can present this krithi in front of the Lord, the archakar refused to cede to his requests and is known to have mentioned sarcastically to dIkshitar to "come back the next day" and that "the Lord will not run away anywhere". Undaunted by this insult, dIkshitar is said to have started singing the krithi and a huge crowd gathered there. As he finished the krithi, the doors of the sannidhi are said to have burst open and the archakar fell on dIkshitar's feet, pleading mercy. He begins the krithi as:
Pallavi:
akSayaliHNga vibhO svayambhO
akhilANDa kOTi prabhO pAhi SambhO
Meaning:
dIkshitar sings " Lord Akshayalinga, the undiminishing, resplendent one ("vibhO"), please protect me ("pAhi")". dIkshitar describes the Lord as "The self-manifested one ("svayambhO") and Lord ("prabhO") of the innumerable universes ("akhilANDa kOTi")".
As the name of the Lord suggests, He is indeed undiminishing in His form, His compassion and His consciousness, and so is this krithi, replete in details and complete in every aspect. dIkshitar begins with a bang as always, employing a defining phrase like "pmgmp" at "akSayalin" followed by "mpdns" at "gavibhO" (sorry for the bad split of words). IMHO, SankarabharaNam is completely captured in just one word by him in the opening line of this krithi. That oscillation in the madhyamam at akSa"ya" is pure bliss. The killer blow perhaps comes in the form of the "d p" phrase he employs at "svayambhO". And rhythmically, miSra cApu (SSP quotes the tALa as miSra Eka) gets a royal treatment and after listening to this pallavi, one tends to believe that the tALa perhaps gets its salvation because of how it is treated in masterpieces such as this..the gallop and the gait is unbelievable and its best left to the listener's experience. And ofcourse, I need not talk about the antyAkshara prAsam dIkshitar uses in the pallavi; that pretty much summarizes the completeness with which he has composed (this krithi, in particular and most of his krithis in general). Moving on to the anupallavi,
Anupallavi:
akSara svarUpa amita pratApa
AruDhA vrSa vAha jaganmOha
daksha SikshaNa daksha-tara sura lakshaNa
vidhi vilakshaNa lakshya lakshaNa
bahuvicakshaNa sudhAbhakshaNa
gurukaTAkshavIkshaNa
Meaning:
dIkshitar describes the Lord in the anupallavi as "The one who is the embodiment of words ("akSara svarUpa"), the one who is filled with unlimited ("amita") splendour and glory ("pratApa"). The one who mounts ("AruDhA") the bull as His vehicle ("vrSa vAha") and the one who captivates the universe ("jaganmOha"). The one who punished daksha ("daksha SikshaNa") and the one who very adeptly ("daksha-tara") defines and protects ("lakshaNa") the dEvas ("sura"). The one who defied ("vilakshaNa") definition ("vidhi") and the one who is extremely well-versed ("bahuvicakshaNa") in grammar and literature ("lakshya lakshaNa"). The one who consumed ("bhakshaNa") nectar ("sudhA") and the one who bestows ("vIkshaNa") the grace of a guru ("gurukaTAksha")".
As the krithi takes shape in the anupallavi, it is very clear that dIkshitar is establishing the identity of the Lord by describing Him in His physical resplendence. This is a trend which dIkshitar continues to employ throughout the krithi. Since everything is believed to have originated from the omkAra, the vibrations of words are believed to be responsible for the creation and sustenance of the universe and dIkshitar pays tribute to the Lord by describing Him as akSara svarUpa. He continues to say that the Lord defies even vidhi itself. Finally, dIkshitar finishes the anupallavi by describing the Lord's erudition by referring to His lakshya and lakshaNa skills and as the one who takes form as guru and guides His children through to the origin, the Self manifested as the Supreme Consciousness, hence highlighting the importance of a guru in every soul's journey.
Musically, I dont even know where to start describing the grandeur of the anupallavi. I love the "P Ddpm" start at "akSara" and the "Pdns Nsdnsns" phrase at "pratApa". The "Prs" with the slight gAndAra touch at jagan"mOha" is a killer and it builds up very nicely for the madhyama kAla sAhitya. dIkshitar gets stuck into the "ksha-kshaNa" prAsa scheme in the madhyamakAlam and it is pure bliss from there on to the pallavi. ShankarAbharaNam being a very graceful and phrase-oriented rAga, I guess I am not achieving anything by just mentioning the swarams here. I think it would make more sense for the ears of a rasika to interpret these brilliant passages and for the heart to feel, experience and enjoy :). Hence, I move on to the CaraNam,
CaraNam:
badarIvana mUlanAyikA sahita
bhadrakALISa bhaktavihita
madanajanakAdi dEva mahita
mAyA kArya kalanA rahita
sadaya guruguhatAta guNAtIta
sAdhu janOpEta Sankara navanIta-
hRdayavibhAta tumburusangIta
hRImkArasambUta hEmagirinAta
sadASrita kalpaka mahI ruha
padAmbuja bhava rathagajaturaga-
padAti samyuta caitrOtsava
sAdASiva saccidAnandamaya
Meaning:
dIkshitar continues to describe the Lord as "The one who accompanies ("sahita") the main Goddess ("mUla nAyikA") of Badari vana and is the Lord of Bhadrakali ("BhadrakALISa"). The one who is devoted to devotees ("bhaktavihita"). The one respected and worshipped ("mahita") by the father of manmatha, Lord Vishnu ("madanajanaka") and other devas. The one on who is devoid of and beyond ("rahita") the effects ("kalanA") of activities of delusion ("mAyA kArya"). The one who is the father ("tAta") of the benevolent ("sadaya") guruguha. The one who is beyond good qualities ("guNAtIta") and the one who is approached by ("upEta") by ascetics ("sadhujana"). The one who is an embodiment of good deeds ("Sankara") and the one whose heart ("hRdaya") is like fresh butter ("navanIta"). The one whose praise shines forth ("vibhAta") in tumburu's music ("sangItha"), Lord hEmagirinAtha, the one born out of ("sambhUta") hRImkAra. The one who is always ("sadASrita") like the divine wish-yielding tree ("kalpaka mahI ruha") to His devotees. The one with lotus feet ("padAmbuja") and the one who is also known as Bhava, the one who aids in crossing the delusionary ocean of samsara. The one who has the chariot ("ratha"), the elephant ("gaja"), the cavalry ("turaga") and the infantry/foot-soldiers ("padAti") all combined ("samyuta") under his command. The one whose temple festival ("utsava") is in the month of chitra and the one who is always ("sadA") in unison with the divine consciousness ("Siva"). The one who is an embodiment of truth,consciousness and bliss ("saccidAnanda-maya")."
dIkshitar starts the Caranam with a sedate and stable "gmPMPMDPM" phrase. There is a famous BhadrakAli sannidhi in this temple and folklore says that the Goddess protected Her son Lord SubrahmaNya when he was doing His penance. dIkshitar captures this temple in its entirety in the caraNam. Starting with the description of the sthala vriksha, Badari tree and the BhadrakAli sannidhi, dIkshitar finishes the krithi with reference to the famous temple festival in the month of chitra. dIkshitar employs a -ihita rhyme scheme in the first two lines of the CaraNam and comfortably shifts to Ata (guruguhatAta), Ita(guNAtIta), Eta(janOpEta) and Uta(sambUta) schemes as the Caranam progresses and culminates in the madhyamakAla sAhityam. He employs quite a few "S D" swarAksharams in the CaraNam at places like "sada"ya and "sadA"shrita. dIkshitar brilliantly rounds off the krithi with a galloping madhyamakAlam, the highlight being the usage of the complete avarOhaNam "sndpmgrs" at "sadASivasa"ccidAnandamaya. The "smgm" ending of the CaraNam beautifully fuses in to the panchamam take-off for the pallavi thus making this perhaps one of the best ShankarAbharaNams known to mankind. Its because of krithis such as this that I firmly believe that dIkshitar's name will resonate as long as this universe exists.
I still have not decided what krithi to take up in my next post. It will most probably be a samaSTi caraNam or I might jump into one of the vibhakti series of krithis (thyAgarAja or nIlOtpalAmba). Till then, keep the music flowing. Shri gurubhyO namah:
On this extremely hot and sultry sunday evening here at Round Rock, Texas, I am chilling out with a nice mug of hot apple cider and some bajjis I made in the evening :). As we all know, coffee or tea would have been more blissful but somehow I wanted to try out this combination. It actually does taste real good but stands nowhere in comparison to the bajji+coffee combo. :). I am mixing up my decent culinary skills nicely over the past few days. It has ranged from authentic south indian to mexican :). Anyway..coming to music, we have been having some fun-filled music sessions as usual and yesterday night, K L Kaushik once again graced our gumbal with some divine music. As SK rightly said, carnatic music is safe in the hands of such brilliant people :).
As some of you would be knowing, Shri Sanjay Subrahmanyan sir has started a new blog where he talks about carnatic music. He has started a podcast series in which he speaks about specific musicians and some fine aspects of music for about 30 minutes. The first episode was on thanjavur S Kalyanaraman sir and two of the pieces that Sanjay sir plays in the podcast (tODi and yAgapriyA) are mind-blowing to say the least. I humbly suggest all carnatic music rasikas to benefit from this series.
I have been totally swooning over suruTTi for the past 2 or 3 days after listening to SRJ maama's lecdem on gamakAs. The suruTTi that he sings for a brief 7 minutes in that recording is sheer bliss. Please check out the lecdem page on sangeethapriya and look out for the gamakAs lecdem. The sedate chouka kAla varNam of subbarAma dIkshithar provided with notation in SSP is intoxicating to say the least..azhagu_max. I have also been listening to thalaivar's masterpiece "shrI vAnchanAtham bhajEham" and have been completely engulfed by the beauty of this rAgam. So it is only appropriate that I blog about this beautiful krithi on the cute, kutti Lord bAlasubrahmaNya in this post :).
This krithi is sung as a dhyAna krithi before the kamalAmbA navAvarNams. It has a meditative aspect associated with it. The krithi has some divine power associated with it and is known to grant the wishes of the devotees who sing it with their soul, a facet captured by dIkshithar in the pallavi of this krithi. It is said that dIkshithar even instructed his disciples to meditate on the lyrics of this krithi and they obtained all that they wished for. Shri A. Sundaram iyer in his dIkshithar kIrtana mAla says " Those bereft of the bliss of having a child will do well to recite the appropriate mAla or mantra with this song". These are some of the specialities of this beautiful composition. Moving on to the krithi itself,
Pallavi:
bAlasubrahmaNyam bhajEham bhaktakalpabhUruham shrI
Meaning:
dIkshithar sings "I ("aham") chant ("bhajE") the name of the auspicious ("shrI") bAlasubrahmaNya, the divine wish yielding tree ("kalpa bhUruham") for all the devotees ("bhakta")".
Lord bAlasubrahmaNya's name itself has a deep meaning. bAla means young, su is a prefix for indicating something is good/pure and brahmaNya is something that is associated with brahmaN, the undivided supreme self. So the name itself represents something pure and filled with consciousness and auspiciousness. As I mentioned, in these few lines in the pallavi, dIkshithar clearly captures the fact that by singing this krithi and meditating on the Lord, a devotee can obtain all that he wishes for. From the musical standpoint, I love the "S ndp" and the "S nsRsndp" sangathis sung at "bAlasu" and the "npmrr" at "bhajEham". Moving on to the anupallavi,
Anupallavi:
nIlakaNTa hr.dAnandakaram nitya-shuddha-buddha-muktAmbaram
Meaning:
dIkshithar describes the Lord as "the one who brings happiness ("Anandakaram") to the heart ("hr.d") of blue-black necked ("nIlakaNTa") Lord Shiva and the one who has permanance ("nitya"), purity ("shuddha"), knowledge ("buddha") and liberation/freedom ("mukta:") as his clothes ("ambaram")".
Look at how beautifully dIkshithar captures Lord bAlasubrahmaNya's essence in the word "nitya shuddha buddha muktAmbaram". As I mentioned earlier, Subrahmanya is associated with brahman, the infinite self. Thus, He is the origin of everything and is hence permanent, pure ("su+brahmanya"), a repository of knowledge and is the liberated one. Now the word ambara has two meanings. Depending on the context it could be interpreted as "clothes" or "sky". We all know that the Lord wears no physical dress as kutti bAlasubrahmaNya. And hence, these 4 things become the Lord's ambara. Actually, in this sense, the Lord actually wears ambara (the sky) as his ambara (clothes). Brilliance from dIkshithar as always. The "nS; nd; pn; mrmpn" phrase at "nitya; shudha; buddha; muktAmbaram" flows melliflously and brings in that beautiful invisible thread to tie in the 4 qualities as explained above. :)
CharaNam:
vElAyudadaram sundaram vEdAntArta bOdachaturam
phAlAksha guruguhAvatAram parAshakti sukumAram dIram
pAlita gIrvANAdi samUham panCabhUtamaya mAyAmOham
nIlakaNTavAham sudEham niratishayAnanda pravAham
Meaning:
dIkshithar describes the Lord as "the one who carries ("daram") the spear weapon ("vElAyuda"). The one who has a beautiful form ("sundaram") and the one who is intelligent and skillful ("chaturam") in explaining ("bOda") the inner meaning ("arta") of vedAnta. The one who incarnated ("avatAram") as the teacher ("guruguha") to Lord Shiva, the one with an eye ("aksha") on his forehead ("phAla"). The one who is the valiant ("dIram") noble son ("sukumAram") of the supreme ("parA") Goddess Shakti. The one who protects ("pAlita") the community ("samUham") of Gods led by Brahma ("gIrvANa"). The one who created this illusory world ("mAyAmOham") pervaded by ("maya") the five elements ("panCabhUta"). The one who has the blue-necked peacock ("nIlakaNTa") as his vehicle ("vAham") and the one who has a beautiful body ("sudEham"). The one who is a never-ending ("niratishaya") stream ("pravAham") of bliss ("Ananda")."
What a beautiful charaNam :). Very easy to understand. One might wonder why Lord SubrahmaNya, even as a kid carries a spear. The story goes that when He went to fight tArakAsura, Goddess Shakti (His Mother and ours too :)) made a weapon out of her amsha and this is the divine vElAyudam that the Lord carries. We know how Mothers carry their sons/daughters and Lord Subrahmanya has divine honour of carrying his Mother :).
dIkshithar describes the Lord as "vEdAntArta bOdachaturam", the one who is adept in explaining the vEdAntAs. Here is where dIkshithar the yOgi surfaces. To those ardent devotees who are on the path of self-realization, He becomes guruguha and explains the purpose and the inner meanings of the scriptures. The term "pancabhUtamaya mAyAmOham" has an interesting philosophical interpretation. mAyA is the counterpart of brahman who creates the physical universe composed of the five elements (panCabhUta); traditionally conceived as a female. She is also the mother of shUrapadma the asura. Lord SubrahmaNya was unable to defeat him in battle since mAyA was helping her son by recreating him everytime he was destroyed. Finally He uses his spear (vEl) and aims it at mAyA who swoons (mOham) and shUrapadma gains the ultimate knowledge to be relieved of the mortal coils. Hence it is traditionally claimed that Lord SubramaNya is the ultimate to be prayed to get over the illusions of prapancha.
As I mentioned before, this beautiful krithi richly deserves its prime position as one of the dhyAna krithis sung before the grand kamalAmbA navAvaranams. In my next post, I will follow up with one more krithi on Lord SubrahmaNya, the melodious "swAminAtha paripAlayAsumAm" in calanATTai (sung popularly in nATTai). I will try to post it in the next few days. See you all in the next post. shrI gurubhyO nama:
I am finally finding time to blog a little frequently. If I am able to do this for the next few months, I will be really happy :). First of all, I hereby want to wish my wonderful friend, Ramaa Ramesh, a very happy and successful student life at XLRI, Jamshedpur :)..all the very best to one of the best ever :) !! Coming to music, I am really happy with the way the new thyAgarAja website has come out. It looks really professional and we have come a decently long way in designing websites now :). With the help of Bala sir, we should be able to upload 300 more krithis of Saint thyAgarAja even as a proposed Shyama Shastri website is waiting in the wings. I feel truly blessed to be in the good company of such great friends with whom, I am slowly realizing the purpose of this life.
Looking back on the past 1.5 years, ever since I started blogging, I am wondering how come I never blogged about one of my most favourite rAgams, suruTTi (affectionately called as "folder" by our session gumbal due to obvious reasons). A few weeks back, Hari, SK and I chanced to listen to this beautiful chouka kAla suruTTi varNam from SSP sung by Prof. SRJ maama. As usual I was in tears and Hari started calling me an azhu moonji :). Irrespective of the size of the gumbal, the members present or the number of krithis/ragams discussed about, no session closes without atleast a brief suruTTi :). An amazingly beautiful rAgam which soothes one's mind. "shrI vEnkaTa girISam AlokayE" is perhaps the first dIkshithar krithi I learnt to sing (thanks to hari). This krithi is on the fav list of many of my fav people (Hari, Aishu etc) and hence is very close to my heart :).
Regarding the kSEtram at which this krithi was composed, there are a few controversies because both the tirupathi temple and the pulivalam/gOkarNa temple get mentioned. Many people believe that this krithi was composed at the tirupathi temple praising Lord vEnkatAchalapati. There is another group of people who believe that this krithi was composed in pulivanam/ gOkarNa temple. In the maNipravALa krithi, vEnkatAchalapatE in karnATaka kApi, dIkshithar seems to be alluding to the legend linking Lord vEnkatAchalapati to the deity at pulivalam in the last lines of the anupallavi reading "mangaLam porundiya pulivalathil viLaNgum" in sundara tamil :). Since dIkshithar seems to have visited both temples and has composed on both deities, we can only guess where this was composed. Moving on to the krithi now,
Pallavi:
shrI vEnkaTa girISam AlOkayE vinAyaka turagArUdam
Meaning:
dIkshithar demands the attention of the Lord in the pallavi- "Behold ("AlOkayE"), auspicious ("shrI") Lord of the vEnkaTa hills!! The one seated on the powerful Garuda ("turagArUdam"), the king ("nAyaka") of all birds ("vi")."
These first lines of the krithi always strike me as a beautiful display of the divine romance between the bhakta and the Lord. Look at how dIkshithar, the bhakta, is demanding the attention of Lord vEnkaTeshwara, the protector of all the worlds. Musically, the "rmgr" prayOgam at "shrI" to open the krithi bowls the rasikA over straight away. dIkshithar employs the beautiful "psndp" phrase at "girISam" followed by the "ndpmgm;mgpmr" phrase at "A;lOkayE". dIkshithar caps off the pallavi with "rmpndp; pmgm;rmgs" at "turagArUdam" thereby bringing out the entire beauty of this rAgam in just one line. The beauty of the pallavi is its simplicity. Notice that, dIkshithar does not even use the mandira or the tAra sthAyis in these opening lines. The entire pallavi is structured simply in the madhya sthAyi extracting the rAgA's essence to the fullest. Moving on to the anupallavi,
Anupallavi:
dEvESa pUjita bhagavantam dinakara kOTi prakASavantaM
gOvindam natabhUsura brindam guruguhAnandam mukundam
Meaning:
dIkshithar describes the Lord with devotion as "the one who is worshipped ("pUjita") by Lord Indra ("dEvESa"-Lord of the dEvAs) and the one who is as resplendent ("prakASavantam") as crores ("kOTi") of suns ("dinakara"). He is gOvinda, the one who is saluted ("nata") by groups ("brindam") of virtuous people ("bhUsura"). He is Mukunda, the one who delights ("Anandam") Lord guruguha."
dIkshithar uses hyperboles inorder to give an idea of the magnitude of greatness he is talking about while describing the Lord. The last line of "guruguhAnandam mukundam" can be literally translated as explained above. If we dive a little deeper, we will find dIkshithar, the yOgi coming out. Mukunda, the name of the Lord means "the one who releases". As I have explained before, guruguha could be a yogic reference to a teacher ("guru") residing in the heart caves ("guha") of the disciple. So, this line can also be translated as " He is mukunda (the one who releases(the soul from this world)), the one who brings bliss ("Anandam) to the disciple's heart by being the divine teacher".
Musically, the anupallavi is rich in phrases that define suruTTi. I love the "SnSR" phrase at "dinakara" and the "pRSnn" phrase "prakASa". The "mpnsr; grsnrsndp" at "gOvindam; natabhUsura brindam" gives the madhyamakAla sAhityam its beauty and grandeur :). The charaNam has perhaps the most beautiful starts ever, one for which, I might give up my life :).
Charanam:
alamElumangA samEtam ananta padmanAbham atItam
kaliyuga pratyakSa vibhAtam kanjajAdi dEvOpEtam
jaladhara sannibha sundara gAtram jalaruha-mitrAbja-Satru nEtram
kaluSApaha gOkarNakSEtram karunArasapAtram chinmAtram
Meaning:
dIkshithar continues to describe the Lord as "the one who is in the company ("samEtam") of Goddess alamElumangA and the one who is the supreme ("atItam") ananta padmanAbha swAmi, the lotus naveled. The one who shines forth ("vibhAtam") as the omniscient one ("pratyakSa") in this yuga of kali and the one who is surrounded by ("upEtam") by Lord Brahma ("kanjaja") and other dEvAs. The one whose body ("gAtram") is beautiful ("sundara") like the black rain-bearing ("jaladhara") clouds ("sannibha") and the one whose eyes ("netram") are the sun ("jalaruha-mitra"-friend of the lotus) and the moon ("abja-Satru"). He is the one who removes ("apaha") all the sins ("kalusha") and resides in the kshetram of gOkarNa. He is the one who is the repository ("pAtram") of mercy and compassion ("karunArasa") and the embodiment of pure consciousness ("chinmAtram")."
There is nothing much to explain in the charaNam. dIkshithar keeps the sAhityams simple. But the beauty of the charanam is something that is to be experienced. Also, look at how he brings in the sun and the moon. He refers to the sun and the moon with reference to the lotus and uses mitra and shatru in the same word :). One must listen to Balaji Shankar's or SSI's rendition to get a good feel of this beautiful krithi :). The reference to alamelumanga thAyAr makes one's heart melt with devotion and is heavily inundated with bhakti rasA. Musically, the "rmpp" start for the charaNam followed by "M N" swarAksharam at "man"gA are truly mind-blowing. And finally to add spice, dIkshithar uses explicitly flat notes in the madhyamakAlam to expose the fast, racy aspects of the rAgam. The madhyamakAlam starts as "rpmpmpnd; Pmg pmR" and ends up with the "pmgrmgs" phrase at "chinmAtram" setting it up smoothly for the pallavi to take off :).
As I end this post, I am listening to an amazingly well rendered osOsi padam by Aishwarya Vidya Raghunath who seems to be a name to look out for in the future. In my next post, I will take up the krithi "bAlasubrahmaNyam bhajEham" once again in suruTTi making it a double punch :). Hopefully I can squeeze in time in the next two days or so and post the next krithi :). I hope you guys enjoyed reading this :). Catch you all in the next post..shrI gurubhyO namah:
Ages..Its been Ages since I wrote anything here :(. This has by far been the longest hiatus ever :(. There were primarily 3 reasons for me not posting anything for the past 1 month. First, my computer crashed thanks to that "wonderful" operating system called "Vista". I had some major issues removing vista and "downgrading" to XP. Second, work has got so hectic that I no longer even remember the projects I am working on..there are atleast 20 projects running at the same time and I am rarely able to find time for even listening to music ;(. And finally, because of the above two reasons, I have not been able to mentally connect with music for the past 1 month :(. I have not been able to enjoy music sessions and all these issues kind of added up and reduced my interest and inclination towards carnatic music ;(. But this also made me realize how meaningless life becomes without music and now I am back with a refreshingly new passion :). And this month, I am going to make up for the month of may and post as many krithis as I can.
The last week has been awesome..thanks to some wonderful music sessions with Hari, SK and Lavanya. Our session gumbal has exploded in numbers and we have around 50 members I suppose. The weekend sessions are buzzing with amazingly talented musicians from all over the world and it has been an absolute pleasure to listen to all these wonderful people. Thanks a lot makkaLE. For the last two days, the tanukIrti bug has bitten me. I have been totally captivated by the rAgA's beauty and thalaivar's "cidambara naTarAjamUrtim". Moving on to the krithi, khamAs was actually one of those earliest rAgams I could recognize as a kid :). And this krithi was definitely one of the very first I heard. I tend to always associate this rAgam with my dear friend Ramaa Ramesh. Her numerous renditions of mAthE malayadhvaja in this rAgam have enriched my understanding of it :).
From what I have noticed, when dIkshithar really falls in love with a kshEtram, he composes two krithis at the same temple in the same rAga. That seems to be the case here..dIkshithar has composed both sArasa daLa nayanA and santAna gOpalakrishNam upAsmahE in khamAs at the same mannArguDi kshEtram. This rAjagOpAlaswAmi temple seems to have been showered with some amazing dIkshithar krithis with shrI rAjagOpAla in sAvEri capping it all off as the numero uno. Now, starting with the pallavi,
Pallavi:
sArasa daLa nayanA sankaTa haraNa harE gOvinda mAm pAhi
Meaning:
dIkshithar seeks the refuge of the Lord in the opening lines of this krithi and starts off by addressing the Lord as "Oh gOvinda!! The one with eyes ("nAyana") like lotus petals ("sArasa daLa") and the remover ("haraNa") of all obstacles ("sankaTa"). Please protect me ("mAm pAhi")."
dIkshithar starts the krithi off with a swarAksharam. The opening phrase of "S; dndsdP; P nd M Gm; dnp DNS" at "sArasa daLa nayanA" followed by the MGM phrase at "sankaTa" completely captures the beauty of khamAs and pretty much sums up the entire scale of the rAga. This krithi is more of a nAmasmaraNam according to me. He brings in all those beautiful names of God like hari, gOvinda, mukunda, mAdhava etc. The pallavi is extremely simple and easy to understand. Moving on to the anupallavi,
Anupallavi:
nIrajAsanAdi pUjitAnga shrI ramAntaranga shubAnga
murahara abhayaprada mukunda yAdavakulabhUshaNa mAdhava
Meaning:
dIkshithar describes rAjagOpAlaswAmi as "the one worshipped ("pUjitAnga") by Lord Brahma ("nirajAsana"-seated on the lotus) and others. The one who resides in the heart ("antaranga") of Goddess Lakshmi ("ramA") and the one whose form is auspicious ("shubAnga"). The one who vanquished ("hara") the demon named mura and the one who provides ("prada") protection and refuge ("abhaya"). The one who liberates ("mukunda"), the pride jewel ("bhUshaNa") of the yAdhava clan and he is mAdhava, the Lord of knowledge."
The anupallavi is where the rAgam blossoms completely. The beauty of tripuTa tALam comes to the forefront. dIkshithar shows his brilliance once again with swarAksharams at nIrajA"sanAdi" employing the "SND" phrase. Look at the antyAkshara prAsam in the first line of the anupallavi. I love the "DPmp Dnd; PNDP" phrase at "pUjitAnga". To finish the anupallavi on a high note, dIkshithar uses some kutti yet amazing prayOgams like "SSGR" at "murahara" and "DNSR-N" at "prada mukunda". Grammatically and spiritually speaking, as you can clearly see, this krithi is pretty simple. dIkshithar is not trying to play with words or show his yogic brilliance here. Moving on to the charaNam,
CharaNam:
mAghamAsotsava prabhAva mAnita guruguha vandita bhava
gOkula janapAla gOpikAmanOhara gOvardanadhara
Meaning:
dIkshithar sings "The one who is honoured ("prabhAva") during the festivities ("utsava") held in the month ("mAsa") of mAgha (March-April). The one who is worshipped ("vandita") by the esteemed and respected ("maanita") Lord guruguha. The one who protects ("pAla") the cowherd clan ("gOkula jana"). The beloved ("manOhara") of the gOpika damsels and the one who held ("dhara") the gOvardhana mountains in His hand."
What an amazing charaNam. dIkshithar kills 3 birds with one stone in the first word of the charaNam. First, he incorporates one of the most beautiful rAga mudrAs ever at mA"ghamAs"otsava. Second, he brings in one of the most beautiful swarAksharams ever at "maghamA"sotsava. And finally by talking about the utsavam held during the magha mAsa, dIkshithar has pretty much given a good identity of the kSEtram. The tiruvizha held at the rAjagOpalaswAmi temple is a grand event for which huge number of people gather from all the villages around mannArguDi. Symbolizing Lord krishna's liking for the butter, the "vennai-thAzhi" and the "thiruthEr" festivals are extremely famous. What a genius..look at that rAgamudra..cha ;(.
dIkshithar continues with his swarAkshara arAjagams in the charaNam by using the "MND" phrase at "mAnita". If the anupallavi was filled with antyAkshara prAsam, in the charaNam, dIkshithar shows that he is equally adept with adyAkshara prAsam with all the words of the first line of charaNam starting with "mA" and all the words in the second line starting with "ga". The madhyama kAla sAhityam gives the krithi its completeness and brings to end, one of the most soothing khamAs's ever.
In my next post, I will take up the beautiful sAma masterpiece, annapUrnE. As I end this post, I am listening to a majestic lathAngi sung by Sanjay sir. Check out these two videos on youtube- lathAngis sung by Sanjay sir and SRJ maama. Absolute treats :). I will surely post the next krithi tomorrow itself in my attempt to make up for this 1 month gap :(. Till then, signing off..shrI guruguhasya dAsOham.
On this beautiful Sunday, I would like to wish everyone a merry Christmas :). I went to yet another blissful sunday morning meditation session at the Self-Realization Fellowship and we all payed our respects to the great guru, Jesus Christ. I spent most of last week looking forward to this weekend. But I must say it was a kind of weird situation because, I wanted a break but had nothing to do during the break anyway. Even though I have no one to talk to or have fun with here at Round Rock, a nice long weekend such as this one always opens up avenues for listening to and playing/singing more music :). Ofcourse, there are some wonderful friends with whom I have had the pleasure to catch up over the last 2 days :).
I started off on Saturday morning with a very peaceful skype session with my good friend(more like a kutti sister), Shambhavi in Chennai. The afternoon and the evening were well-utilized in practicing and learning stuff from Hari, to whom, I am grateful for life. He is a wonderful friend and a great guru :). But by far, the best thing that happened in the last 2 days is that my close friend, Shreekrishna a.k.a. SK is coming here and is going to stay with me in what promises to be a magical 3 days of pure, unadulterated carnatic music with 2 dIkshithar maniacs entertaining each other with discussions on music, life and everything else :).
Coming back to jujAvanti and dIkshithar's treatment of this rAga, cEtah shrI bAlakRSNam is perhaps the best ever krithi composed in this rAga. The way dIkshithar employs the scale of the rAga and fuses it with the sAhityams is so unbelievably carnatic that a rasika would not even know it is an hindusthAni rAga. The slow, chouka kAla composition just exudes with soukhya rasam and the bhakthi and beauty are indescribable. Lord Krishna, the shyAma sundaran he already is, his beauty is further embellished by this wonderful krithi. I dont know at which kshEtra dIkshithar composed this krithi. If anyone who reads this does, please share the information with me. I personally recommend the extremely slow and sweet version of the krithi sung by TMK to feel the beauty of the krithi. Also, simply because of the amazing swarams, I recommend rasikas to listen to the version by SSI. Both these krithis are available at our dIkshithar website. The pallavi goes like:
Pallavi:
cEtah shrI-bAlakRSNam bhaja rE rE
cintitArttha-prada-caraNAravindam mukundamMeaning:
dIkshithar instructs every human soul- "Oh mind("cEtah"), worship and sing the praises("bhaja") of Lord bAlakRSNa. He is Mukunda("the bestower of freedom") and by worshipping his lotus-like("aravindam") feet("caraNa"), his bhaktAs will be bestowed with("prada") all the boons they can think of("cintita-arttha")."
The "R, R ,R" start for the krithi in itself tells you what a masterpiece you are looking at. The "m p d S" prayOgam at "prada-cara" exposes the beautiful link existing between jujAvanti and yadhukulakAmbOji. Look at the words dIkshithar uses to command..the sAhityams obviously demand an esoteric interpretation. Here, he is addressing Lord Krishna as Mukunda, the one who gives his devotees freedom from this cycle of birth and re-birth. The slEsham here is that mukunda is the name of a precious gem. The third eye located between the eyebrows is sometimes referred to as Mukunda maNi, the blue bindu encompassing the penta-pointed star which the yOgi sees when he meditates. This is why dIkshithar addresses the citta(consciousness) and the cEtah(mind) here and in these few lines of the pallavi, stresses the importance of bhakthi and yOga and how discipline and devotion are keys to the path of kaivalyam. The pallavi sets it up nicely for the vocalist/instrumentalist to buckle up and be ready for the amazing rides in the form of the anupallavi and the charaNam.
Anupallavi:
nUtana-nIrada-sadRsha-sharIram nanda-kishOram
pIta-vasana-dharam kambu-kandharam giri-dharam
pUtanAdi-samhAram puruSOttamAvatAram
shItaLa-hRdaya-vihAram shrI-rukmiNI-dAram
Meaning:
dIkshithar describes the physical beauty of the Lord by using metaphors. He says that the Lord's body("sharIram") is as dark("sadRsha") as a new("nUtana"), rain-bearing cloud("nIrada"). He sings "The young boy("kishOra") of the nanda clan is adorned("dharam") with yellow("pIta") silk robe("vasana"). He has a conch-shaped("kambu") neck("kandharam") and He lifted the govardhana mountains("giri")". Time and time again, I have always wondered what kind of a pure soul dIkshithar must have been to be able to visualize the Gods and Goddesses and describe them with such pristine depictions and to do that in their own language("dEvanAgari-Language of the Gods"). He definitely was a puNya Atma. The smooth transition from keezh Shadjamam to mEl shadjamam at nUtana nIrada is pure bliss to sing/play and the slow " n s d" at sharI"ram" is amazingly beautiful.
In the madhyamakAla sAhityam, dIkshithar sings "He destroyed("samhAram") the demon pUthana and others. He is an incarnation("avatAram") of the supreme soul, the most supreme among men("purushOttama"). He resides("vihAram") in the tender and soothing("shItaLa") hearts("hRdaya") of his devotees and He is the spouse("dAram") of the auspicious Goddess Rukmini".
Even in the madhyamakAla sAhityam, dIkshithar beautifully preserves the traditional gait he introdoced at the starting of the krithi. The similarity in structure between "nUtana" and "pUtana" with respect to prAsam as well as the swarasthAnas is a classic example of dIkshithar's mastery. He once again brings in the yadhukulakAmbOji effect by using the "p d s" phrase at "shrI" rukmini and perfectly blends the end of the anupallavi "r m g s" at "dAram" and the rUpaka tALam thattu to take-off at Rishabham for the pallavi. Just amazing. The Rishabham at "cEtah" is as if dIkshithar is cajoling the soul. These effects must be heard, felt and experienced and cannot be described in limited language. The "am" prAsam continues to flow through the charaNam and it acts like a beautiful thread embroidering the already well-printed silk cloth.
CharaNam:
navanIta-gandha-vAha-vadanam mRdu-gadanam
naLina-patra-nayanam vaTa-patra-shayanam
nava-campaka-nAsikam atasI-sumabhAsakam
natEndrAdi-lOka-pAlakam mRga-mada-tilakam
navatulasI-vana-mAlam nAradAdi-muni-jAlam
kuvalayAdi-paripAlam guru-guha-nuta-gOpAlam
Meaning:
Actually, whenever you think of Lord Krishna as a kutti kid, what instantly comes to your mind is a physical form which is young, beautiful, energetic, mischievous and all that sorts. Hence, very appropriately, dIkshithar continues to talk about the physical beauty of the Lord and describes Him as "the one whose face("vadanam") smells("gandha") like("vAha") fresh butter("navanIta") and one whose speech("gadanam") is soft and tender("mRdu")". The physical descriptions becoming extremely descriptive as dIkshithar sings "His eyes("nayanam") are like petals("patra") of the graceful lotus("naLina") and he rests("shayanam") on a banyan("vaTa") leaf("patra"). His nose("nAsikam") is like a fresh champaka flower("nava-champaka") and a wonderful fragrance("suma bhAsakam") of tuLasi("athasI") emanates from his body. He is worshipped("nata") by Indra and other lOkapAlakAs. He wears the kastUri("mRgamada") tilakam."
The madhyamakAla sAhityam goes like "He is adorned with garlands("vana-mAlam") of fresh("nava") tuLasi leaves and he is served("jAlam") by nArada and other sages("muni"). He is the protector("paripAlam") of all the worlds("kuvalayAdi") and He is worshipped("nuta") by guruguha and He is gOpala."
The charaNam is, for the lack of better words, beautiful and very soothing. If you observe, he describes the tender features of the Lord so beautifully with all the tender and soft phrases of jujAvanti. The " s n d p" at "mRdu" is in itself so mRdu and touching. The "r g m p" phrase at "naLina" is just too much to take and your heart melts there and the dIrga "g r s" complementary phrase at "vaTa" shows how smooth the rAga flows while going up as well as going down the scale, just like how soft and smooth the Lord's body is. The "p p G R" take off at "nava-champaka" is perhaps the best transition to the tAra sthAyi ever..aahaa..what beauty. And ofcourse, the "nd,dp,pm,gmr" at "mR-ga-ma-da" is the epitome of beauty. The madhyamakAla sAhityam begins with the incorrigibly goosebumping "r g m p d" phrase and ends with yet another beautiful pattern of " rs, nd, dp" at "guru-guha-nuta".
On the whole, it is a krithi to be submerged in and the exquisite beauty is beyond description. The krithi leaves you haunted and wanting for more. As a rasika, I am just spellbound each time I listen to this krithi. I am not able to comprehend how it is humanly possible to compose such masterpieces and as ever, I console my mind with the "dIkshithar is God" funda. I am going to end this post abruptly because I find myself at an absolute paucity of words. If you have not heard this krithi, you are missing something wonderful in life and hence I request you to please listen to it at the earliest. I will now peacefully take up the abhayAmbA vibhakti krithis and over the next month, I will try and complete the entire set. Happy Holidays to everyone..stay warm and have fun.
vAzhga dIkshitharin pugazh, vaLarga karnAtaka sangIthathin mahatthuvam!!
I,being an avid carnatic music lover and a Muthuswamy Dikshithar fanatic, thought it would be most appropriate to start my first blog with my salutations to the great musical genius(if not the greatest ever)..Nadhajyothi Shri Muthuswamy Dikshithar. So here i begin with a small introduction about the man behind the music.
On 25th March,1775 on a beautiful day in Panguni maasam, krithikka Nakshathram, God of music descended on earth in the form of dikshithar, the youngest of the trinity, to etch his name forever in the history of music and give us the pleasure of listening to all of his wonderful compositions. He came from a family of distinguished musicians. His father, Ramaswamy dikshithar was a great scholar and he is believed to have created the raga Hamsadhwani. His brother, Baluswami Dikshithar is believed to have been the first to adapt the violin to carnatic music.
Coming from a family with such rich heritage, Muthuswamy learnt music and different languages from his father. He was spiritually inspired by Chidambara yogi who took him to Varanasi, where he learnt Tantric Yoga, Sastras and the Dhrupad style of singing. Muthuswamy Dikshithar composed his first krithi after having a vision of Lord Subramanya and henceforth adopted the mudra of guruguha. He composed the Vara krithis, which are seven in number, one for each day of the week. These are set to the Sooladi Sapta talas. Drawing inspiration from Oothukadu Venkata Kavi, he also composed the Navavarana krithis in praise of Devi (Kamalamba), one for each of the nine days of the Navarathri festival. These Navavarna krithis, written in all the eight declensions show his prowess in sanskrit. His songs are normally slow in tempo and bring out the depth and beauty of the raga using ornamentation (gamakas). He also used what is known as Madhyamakala(medium tempo) Sahithya very effectively in his compositions.
He mostly composed in Sanskrit and a few krithis in telugu. He has also composed Manipravala krithis which are a mixture of the four primary languages, namely, Sanskrit, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada. He set out on a mission to revive dying ragas like Narayanagowla, samantha, andhali, salaganaata etc. From the middle of the 18th century to the beginning of the 20th century, the members of the Dikshitar descent, known as the 'Dikshithar Pentad' made rich and varied contributions to what may be called the Periclean age of Carnatic Music. These comprise of hundreds of compositions, 14 Ragamalikas including 2 of the longest, in South Indian music, Pada varnams suited to dance, darus and nottuswara sahityas, based on captivating English band tunes. All the 72 Raganga ragas introduced by Venkatamakhin have been covered by this illustrious family.
Finally, quoting Smt.Sulochana Pattabhiraman "Dikshithar's greatest service to Carnatic Music was that that he gave body and shape to nearly 200 ragas of Venkatamakhin. He has employed 191 ragas for 460 compositions, out of which 219 have been printed with notation by Subbarama Dikshithar in his monumental "Sangita Sampradaya Pradarshini". The raga and thala mudras woven skilfully into the krithi fabric are exclusive to the songs of Dikshithar. No other composer has written so many group kritis in such a planned, orderly, meticulous fashion. He was a cosmopolitan, so far as deities were concerned and he fully deserved to be called the "Shanmata Sthapanacharya", after Adi Shankara. There is such an incredible wealth of astrological details, mantra sastra data, Puranic lore, Sri Vidya philosophy and temple rituals in his songs, that it is an education by itself to study them. "
Every year, around Deepavali, coincidinq with the mukthi thithi of Dikshithar, an annual series called guruguhanjali is conducted in an effort to thank and honour the invaluable contributions of the great composer. Sri Gurubyo Namaha. Henceforth, I will share my thoughts and whatever little bit of knowledge I have about carnatic music and in my upcoming blogs, I will try to shed some light on some of those wonderful compositions in carnatic music with a "Dikshithar"(I fondly refer to him as "thalaivar" meaning "captain/king") bias ofcourse.
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