Nadopasana of thANumAlayan

Classical Carnatic music is totally dominated by compositions on Gods. Since the Trimurti– Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are an integral part of a Hindu life, it is no wonder that they are very much woven into the fabric of classical music, which is the most ancient of all arts. Every treatise on music discusses how music emanated from the Trimurti.  In hismagnum opus Sangita Ratnakara, Sarangadeva mentions that

Nadopasanayadeva

            Brahma Vishnu Maheswara

Bavanthyupasita nunam

          Yasmad yethe tadatmakaha

(If we invoke sound, we also invoke without doubt Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva because they are nothing other than sound)

Saint Tyagaraja who has composed a series of songs on the theme of nadopasana, avers more than once that the Trimurti “shined” because of worship through nada.“nadopasanache shankara narayana vidhulu velasiriyo manasa”. Then, in another kriti (ananda sagara….), Tyagaraja says that those who do not ‘swim’ in the ocean of joy brought about by the knowledge of music are a burden to the universe. In the same kriti, while pleading with Rama, he queries “sri viswanatha srikantha vidhulu bavana murthulu pasincha ledha?” (Didn’t the three murti–Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma do (nada) upasana?) He emphasizes that bhakti is the only route to salvation. In “sangeeta gnanamu bhaktivina sanmargamu galate manasa”, he proclaims that only music (gnanam) that is infused with devotion (bhakti) will lead to sanmarga.

Venkata Kavi echoes Tyagaraja’s sentiments.  He says “bhakti* yoga* sangeeta* mArgamE*, paravapavanamagume*” and goes on to link the two (bhakti and sangeetam) as sakti and shivam (rakthi*rAgamaya*isai* ….bhakti*illAvidil* palan*viLaiyAdhu*………sakthi* illAvidil* sivam* uLathEthu*) and concludes that rAma*nAma*rAsa* nAmam*rAgamOdu*iNaiyum* pOthellAm*anurAgam*”.

Beautiful sentiments expressed unequivocally.

Famous composers have referred to the Trimurti collectively and have also named them individually in their songs. In addition, they have composed severalsongs exclusively on Shiva and Vishnu (and his avatars). But only Muthuswamy Dikshitar has composed a lone song on Brahma. (bhooshapathim manjubashapathim bajeham in raga bhushavathi)Curiously Brahma is not very popular in the temples department either. The temple at Pushkar is very famous but there are not many others. In Uthamar Koil on the out-skirts of Trichy, all the three, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva appear with their consorts in kalyana kolam (in wedding dress). This lack of “worship” could be something to do with the two curses Brahma had incurred.@@

Venkata Kavi too has referred to Brahma in several songs but has not composed a song exclusively on the God of Creation. It is no secret that Venkata Kavi’s favourite God is Krishna but he has composed several songs on Shiva, Vishnu and his avatars Narasimha and Rama. The songs on Krishna take all kinds of hues – satire, criticism, fond love, adoration and at times even erotic but the songs on Shiva and Vishnu almost always portray total surrender. Here he is considering Vishnu as an all-encompassing “gurunathar” and  is showering praises for delivering him from all kinds of evil.

pallavi

ellAm* gurunAthan*karuNai* -thavam

eNNiya*eNNamum* paNNiya* puNNiyam* – kaNNan*

vaNNamalar* pAdham* naNNiya* thiNNam*

anupallavi

allAtha*uRavidam* nEsam*- thavam*

AgAthu* maRaiththidum* pAsam*- nAmam*

sollA* dhurguNaththin* AvEsam*- aththanaiyum*

madhyamakalam

thuraththi* enai* aRam* uNarththi* hari* padham* niRuththi*

manaththil* niRuththi* vaiththavan*

charanam

anthamigu* harigunam* pAduvathum* antha*

Ananthaththil* adiyArgaL* kooruvathum* antha*

Sinthanaiyil* enai* maRanthAduvathum* udan*

dEvaki* bAlanudan* rAsam* Oduvathum*

thiRamighu* maRaimaNantha* sollAnathu*

nilaiyodu*poruLAga*ninRathum*

theeyavinai*maRaviguththavinai*janmavinai*seyal*

maRanthavinai*Anavai*senRathum*

amudham*kasandha*aththanai*iniththavARAi*

ArAvamudhan*harinAmam*uNarnthathum*

aruLodu*kalandhu*thAnAgi*ninRathum*ANavamalam*

aganRathum*gnAnam*uNarnthathum* ….(ellAm*gurunAthan*karuNai*)

After proclaiming in the pallavi that the compassion of the Lord has been the reason for the deliverance, in anupallavi, Venkata Kavi lists out the evils in life – inappropriate relationships (allAtha* uRavidam* nEsam*), affections which spoil penance (thavam*agaththu*maRaiththidum*pAsam*), bad character preventing utterance of God’s name(nAmam*solla*dhurguNaththin AvEsam*) and then credits the Lord with directing him to the path of righteousness. The alliteration and rhyme in the pallavi and anupallaviare noteworthy.

The lines of charanam reiterate the theme of the Lord’s sweet name driving away the evils (amudhum*kasandha*aththanai*iniththa*…..ArAvamudhan*harinAmam*). Again, the poet’s style should be analysed. He doesn’t say that the Lord’s name is sweeter than elixir(amudham) He says that the elixir was rendered bitter in comparison with the Lord’s name! Venkata Kavi emphasizes that revelation comes only if one loses ego; to be above oneself is a pre-requisite to be one with God.

Venkata Kavi continues in the same vein while praising Shiva too. Indicating total surrender, he says that Lord Shiva is everything to him.

pallavi

Unnilum*ennakoru*utRAr*yArumundO*oLimudhalE*sivamE*

uLLum*puRamu*niRaivAna*thunnaruLE*uththamamAna*maRaitharu*poruLE*

theLLaththeLinthidu* gnanamun*aruLE*senjadaimathi*thanakkAnathu*pugalE*

anupallavi

thennampuliyUr* thiruchitrambalam*mEvi*thEdivandhOrukkAi*Adiya*pAdhamE*

theethA* kitathaka*thimithath* thirithaka*thigurthamAna*nadamAdum*iRaiyE*

vEdhAgam*muRai*viLanga*varuthigazh*vigirththanE*nenja*thanniRaivE*

charanam

idamthEdi*unainAdi*EththalAmenRAlO*nee*irukkumidam*mudhukAdAchE*

yerikkuNavuthEdi*EththalAmenRAlO*yeriyunanju*uNavAchE*

vadamAna*ponnAram*vAngalAmenRAlO*vALaravum*elumbum*paNiyAchE*

varameeyum*thiRamenRu*vandhaNainthAlO*pichchai*vAnguvathum*neeyE*ennalAchE*

thidamum*nAdi*unai*uRavenRu*thEda*theLinthathoru*vishayam*idhu*kANum*

seyalum*maRithAna*mAmanum*thuNaithodar*maganum*midiyAnathu*kANum*

nadanamumAdi*sarAsaramengaNum*nallavaiyAnathum*karuNaiyAnathum*

nAdi*vanthathuvum*inRu*tharavEndum*thaNNiya*munathu*pAdham*puNNiyam*peRavENumE*

The common thread in the two songs is that the composer acknowledges and appreciates the compassion he has received from the Lord through delivering him from all evils. But in this song, Venkata Kavi launches into his characteristic sarcastic adoration. “I can’t come searching for you in your abode because you live in a cemetery (idamthEdi*unainAdi*EththalAmenRAlO* nee* irukkumidam* mudhukAdAchE*), I can’t bring anything for you to eat because you drink poison (yerikkuNavuthEdi*EththalAmenRAlO*yeriyunanju*uNavAchE*), I can’t bring you any ornaments to adorn you because you wear skull and bones (vadamAna*ponnAram*vAngalAmenRAlO*vALaravum* elumbum*paNiyAchE*), I can’t ask you for anything because you yourself are begging in the streets (varameeyum* thiRamenRu* vandhaNainthAlO*pichchai*vAnguvathum*neeyE*ennalAchE*)

Venkata Kavi concludes on the same lines of the previous song. Your compassion has instilled righteousness (nallavaiyAnathum*karuNaiyAnathum*) and begs for blessings from the Lord (*thaNNiya*munathu* pAdham*puNNiyam*peRavENumE*). Despite having a favourite God in Krishna, Venkata Kavi is not partial in surrendering - be it Vishnu or Shiva. That would be true of most composers. While they recognized thetrimurti and individual existence, they did not alienate one from the other and often spoke of brahman as one.

Kautsya’s hymn of praise in Maitriya Upanishad (200 BC) – “thou art brahma, thou art Vishnu, thou art rudra” is echoed often by other poets and composers. Sarangadeva’s  opening hymn “the consciousness of all living beings which has changed itself into the world the (nada-)brahman , the form that delights, that is One, without a Second, is what we bring to mind”. The thought is reflected by Kalidasa in his hymn to the trimurti:

“Praise to you O trinity, one before creation, afterwards divided, in your three qualities…..”

The great poet repeats this in more than place. In Kumarasambhava, (II.4), he says:

namastrimurtaye tubhyam praksrishteh kevalatmane

gunatraya-vibhagaya paschadbhedamupeyushe

(Bow to you who was only one before creation divided into three gunas (sattva, rajas and tamas) and obtained three forms)

And again in Raghuvamsa ( X, 16), 

namo visvarije purvam visvam tadanubibhrate

atha visvasya samhartre tubhyam tredhasthitatmane

(Bow to you who are in three different forms, you were Brahma while creating, then Vishnu while protecting and Mahesha while destroying this)

The rich baritone voice of M.D.Ramanathan singing his own composition reverberates for eternity “hariyum*haranum *onrE* enRu *ariyAthavarum *uLarO?”

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Legend has it that Brahma, after killing the demon Vajranabha, decided to do a yagna. But his wife Saraswati or Savitri was delayed coming to the venue because she was waiting for Lakshmi, Parvati and Indrani. Since the yagna could not be completed without a consort, Brahma took a Gurjari woman named Gayatri as his wife and performed the rituals. When Saraswati finally arrived at the scene, she became very angry and cursed Brahma that he will never be worshipped.

The other legend pertains to Vishnu and Brahma competing with each other to prove their superiority, set out to find the top and bottom of Shiva who appeared as a beam of light. Whoever reached their destination first would be deemed to be the winner. Vishnu assumed the form of a boar and started digging while Brahma, as a swan, started flying up.  Vishnu gave up because even after going very deep, he could not find the base of the column. However, Brahma, while flying up encountered a ketaki (thazhampoo) flower falling off the head of Shiva. He laid a claim that he had reached the top and the flower vouched for his lie. Infuriated, Shiva cursed that the flower will never again be used in a puja and cursed Brahma that he will never be worshipped on earth.

This article was published in the December 2014 issue of Nadhabrahmam.

Forgetting to Remember

Forgetting To Remember

The word “bhakti” is a very difficult word to translate into English. The closest is “religious devotion”. It is the adulation felt by the devotee towards his favourite God or ishta devata.But none of these actually convey the intensity the devotee feels towards his or her favourite God and the compulsive need to feel “belonged to” the God, which is what the original root word bhaj really meant.

The ultimate surrender to God at the end of the bhakti marg is the goal of a bhakta. The salvation can be achieved only by total surrender at the time of the culmination of the earthly life. Saints strove at length to retain the thought of the Lord when the end came and resorted to all sorts of tricks to ensure that. Though the story of Ajamilan in Bhagavatam speaks of a horrible sinner being taken to heaven just because he uttered the Lord’s name at the end even though he did so unintentionally, bhaktas were mortally scared of not being able to do so when the time came.

Composers have implored their hearts to never forget the Lord. Tyagaraja’s maravakara *nava manmatha* roopuni and Muthu Thandavar’s maravAthiru *nenjamE are typical examples. Muthu Thandavar says that it is the only way to avoid re-birth. Unakkidhu* piRavA* marundhAmE recognizes the need to continue one’s devotion even in the nextjanmam.  Papanasam Sivan goes one step further and pleads that he should not be re-born and in the event that it happens, should still remember the Lord’s name.  piRava* varam* thArum* pemmAnE*, piRanthAlum* thiruvadi* maRavA* varam* thArum….This is complete bhakti and comes very close to identifying oneself with God. This way there is no fear of forgetting to say the Lord’s name or remain devoted at the most appropriate time – be it while asking for a blessing or when the end is near.

In Thirumozhi, Periazhwar resorts to a novel method to ensure that he doesn’t miss out on remembering Lord Ranganatha’s name when the end was near. He sort of books “in advance” the name of the Lord lest he forgets or is rendered disabled by disease, when death comes knocking at the door. This from the man who had blessed the Lord himself with his pallAndu* pallAndu!

Eippu * ennai* vandhu* naliyum* pOthu* angu

Edhum *nAnunnai *ninaikka *mAttEn

Appothaikku* ippothE* solli* vaiththEn

Arangath *tharavaNai *paLLIyAnE

 An interesting concept no doubt, considering that the senior-most of the twelve alwarsliterally spends his entire life praising Narayana. To be able to remember at the appropriate time what to ask of the Lord or even merely utter his name at the end is a task indeed. How does a mortal not be over-awed by the presence of the Lord who appears before him all of a sudden? There are several other impediments which might lead one astray from remaining focused on the thought of just devoting oneself to God.

Mahakavi Bharati complains that he has forgotten the face of Krishna even though hisheart still fondly remembers the love. In Asai* mugam* maranthu* pOche, he laments thatkaNNan* mugam* maranthu* pOnAl* intha* kaNgaL* irunthu* payan* uNdO. Though this song was purportedly written when he had lost the only photograph he had of his mother, it was couched as a bitter memory loss addressed to Krishna.  “kaNgal*  purinthuvitta* pAvam*, kaNNan* uru* maRakkalAchu”. Dripping with irony, the fiery poet expresses his deep anguish also. He is puzzled by the loss of memory as it is totally unnatural – as the bee forgetting to gather honey or a standing crop not looking forward to rain. The stark juxtaposition between remembering the love a heart feels while forgetting the face is brilliant and thought-provoking philosophy. 

Oothukadu Venkata Kavi too forgets to ask what he wanted to, distracted by many things. He begins a song with a fervent plea for a boon or a blessing. In a composition on Muruga, fittingly tuned in Shanmugapriya, Venkata Kavi never really completes the request. More than once he ‘forgets’ what he came to ask, once distracted by the beauty of Muruga and the other time by dance of his vahana – the gorgeous peacock; finally he forgets himself as he utters the name of Muruga repeatedly.

pallavi

varamonRu* thantharuLvAi* – vEla

varamonRu* thantharuLvAi* vadivEla* - engaL

maragatha* mAmayilERum* ARumuga* vadivElA

anupallavi

param* enRa* sollukkoru* poruLE* – paraththil

param* enRa* sollkkoru* poruLE* – iLam

pachaikkum* ichaikkum* nadup* poruLE

palaporuL* kEttunai* adhu* idhu* enAdhu

pattenRu* oru* poruL* kEttiduvEn

charanam

ponnum* maNiyum* enthan* budhiyilE*  pattavai

puLithu* puLithu* pOchE* – EnenRAl* unthan

punnagai* mugam* kaNdathAl AchE

innum* ulagamuRum* inbam* enRavai

eppadiyO* maRanthu* pOche* – EnenRAl* un

ERu* mayil* nadam* kaNdathAchE

Munnum* manamuruga* murugA* murugA* enRu

mOgamIri* thalai* sutRalAchE* – solla* vandha

mozhikooda* maRanthuthAn* pOchE

ponnAr* mEniyan* kAdhil* sonnAyE* andharangam

pOdhumenRu* kEtkavum* AsaiyAchE

madhyama kAlam

punithamAna*  ARupadai* veIdudaiyAi* – pugu* madha* kaLiRu* nadaiyudaiyAi

initha naRu* vainkalavaiyathaninum* – initha* thinaiyinai*  suvaiudaiyAi

enakkum* oru* padham* thantharuLa* – maNa* maNakka* varu thamizh* aruLudaiyAi

annaiyinum* siRanthathAna* aruLodu* niRainthathAna* arumuga *vadivElA

The pallavi begins simply enough with a plea for a blessing as he begs for a boon from Lord Muruga who is also addressed using other names like vadivEl and Arumuga; the peacock acquires a grandiose title as “maragatha mAmayil”.

But the anupallavi is so loaded with superb word-play, multiple meanings and deep philosophical insights that those five lines by themselves deserve a separate essay.  The word param has so many meanings- excellent, Vishnu, God, Heaven, completeness, front, mendicant etc. So the line “param* enRa* sollukkoru* poruLE can, at the face value, can mean that Muruga is the Supreme Being. The line can also mean that he is the only meaning for the word, as oru* poruLE can also intend that there can be no other meanings! It is interesting to note that param can also mean a mendicant or an andi as Muruga became when he renounced everything.

Venkata Kavi has not finished with his word-play. In the next line he hails Muruga as “parathil* param enRa* sollukkoru* poruLE” which means that even among the multiple meanings of param, you are the inner meaning. If one considers that param means heaven, the sentence can also mean that even among the many Gods in heaven, he is the supreme. Considering that the phrase “oru* poruLE” can either mean “one of the meanings” or “the only meaning” and the multiple meanings for the word param, the permutations and combinations become tremendous.

The next line “iLam *pachaikkum* ichaikkum* nadu* poruLE” again contains profound philosophical connotations as the composer places Muruga as the most neutral – between tender green wishes and deep desire. The neutrality of the Supreme Being is clearly emphasized, couched in a beautiful rhyme. And then he avers that he knows precisely what he wants and that he will ask for that. The word “poruL” has been used throughout the anupallvi very cleverly to mean both “meaning” in one place and a “material object” at the other.

In the charanam, Venkata Kavi goes on to ‘contradict’ himself, in his usual inimitable style. He had averred that he knows precisely what “poruL” he wants, but the moment he sees the beautiful smiling face of Muruga, he is disgusted with the thought of riches which were perhaps on his mind to ask for as a boon. The worldly pleasures too are forgotten when he witnesses the gorgeous dance of Muruga’s peacock.

As he chants the name Muruga, he goes into a trance, loses his head to the intoxication of the mere name and forgets to speak as words fail him. Mozhi* kooda* maRanthuthAn* pOchE. He forgets what he wanted to ask, forgets worldly pleasures and finally forgets himself. The smiling face of Muruga, the dance of the peacock he rides on and the mere mention of the name are enough to make him forget the very purpose of the prayer. At the end he manages to blurt out that he perhaps would like to hear the pranavopadesam, what Muruga whispers into the ears of Shiva.

Is it the least in value or the most valuable? After forgetting material wealth, worldly pleasures and even his tongue or ability to speak, the composer settles to ask for something which no one knows. ponnAr* mEniyan* kAdhil* sonnAyE* , andharangam* pOdhumenRu* kEtkavum* AsaiyachE. Irony indeed!

The fitting finale to the melody comes in the form of four lines sung in madhyamakalam, where Venkata Kavi extols the virtues of Muruga; he is after all “initha* thinaiyin* suvaiyudayai”. The composer packs so much into these four lines. He doesn’t “forget” to praise Muruga, doesn’t forget to praise “maNa* maNakka* varu” Tamil, doesn’t forget to thank Muruga for enabling him to write this verse and signs off with a grand reference to mother’s love. He places Muruga above even that which is considered the most supreme form of love.

Compare the three. Venkata Kavi places Muruga’s aruL  above a mother’s love. Periazhwar’s  Kannan Thiruavatara sirappu brims with maternal love. He often described a devotee’s love for God as comparable to Yasodha’s motherly love for Krishna.(Yasodha was after all the adopted mother of Krishna - just like how he was the adopted father of AndAl) Bharati’s profound angst after he loses his mother’s photograph makes him compose a song complaining that he has forgotten Krishna’s face!

Bhakti at its best.

(This article was published in the November 2014 issue of Nadabrahmam)