R K Shriram Kumar - Amritha Murali - Manoj Siva
The Beauty of the Sangeetham and Sahitya in the compositions of Muthuswami Dikshitar
Music Club IIT Madras, BT Auditorium
9th November 2008. 10 am
The programme started with 'srI guruNA pAlitOsmi' in pADi
It all begin with a statement that The Trinity have made the most unparallelled contribution to music. And amongst them, Muthuswami Dikshitar was probably the most intellectual composer. He only composed in sanskrit (except a very few). The hallmark of the compositions of great composers is that the music and lyrics are made for each other. The bhava and the words are very aptly chosen. 'vandanamu raghunandanA' in sahAna and 'sthiramani nammiti' from the Ahiri kriti, mAyammA were sung to show this. MD compositions are a good blend of knowledge, intellect, vidwat and nyAnam.
Like Adi Shankarar conveying the complete 'Advaita' in the lines 'punarapi jananam punarapi maraNam' of 'bhaja gOvindam', MD has conveyed all his philosophical thoughts in simple and short and codified form.
His mudra is guruguha. It is said to be derived from shAkta praNavam and it also salutes the guru. It also refers to Lord Muruga.
The first set taken up was the 'guruguha vibakti kritis'. They are a great tribute to the guru. It is a totally abstract set, without naming the guru. It gives lots of lakshnams and traits of guru, describes ideal guru and relationship with guru and other important aspects. It describes on how a guru would behave and how to respect him and how he bestows knowledge and all other essentialities.
The first kriti 'sri nathAdi guruguho' starts with the mUrchanai of mALavagauLa in 3 speeds. The significane of the words 'srI nAtA' used to refer the guru and references to srividhya were all mentioned in detail. The usage of 'ma' in each line of the caraNam to maintain the pratamAkshara prAsam was also highlighted. Also explained was the explanation of the guru svarUpam in the pUrvi rAga kriti, srI guruguhasya dAsOham. The clear delineation between the relation with guru (which should be dvaita bhAVa) and that with the Atma svarUpam (which should be advaita bhAva) was also highlighted.
The kshEtra kritis of MD are a comprehensive guide to the Place. They are a complete guide to the place and gives full details of the place.
The kamalAmba navAvarNam is the most esoteric set of kritis to have ever been composed. Each kriti talks of a certain AvarNam in the srI cakram. The Ahiri kriti is a complete piece in itself. The usage of all the vibaktis in this kriti. The special usage of the second vibakti in the anupallavi along with reference to some vEdic slOkams and also the usage of lalitA sahasranAma names in the caraNam were all explained. Also mentioned were the reasons on why Goddess Kamalamba was chosen to compose the navAvarNa kritis. Usage of the names 'mahA tripurasundari', 'rAjarAjEsvari', 'lalitA' only in the 9th and mangaLa kritis was highlighted.
The pancha bhUta kshEtra kritis were the next to be taken up. The appropriate choice of words for each of the kritis were highlighted. 'aruNAcala nAtam smarAmi' and not 'bhajAmi' as It is the deity about whom if u think, you will attain mukti. In 'aruNAcala nAtam' the rather excessive use of the 'ra' which happens to be in reference to the agnI bhIja mantram 'ram'. Lots of 'fluid' and 'liquid' related words in 'jambUpatE' were all told. In 'cintayamAkanda' alone, the name of the consort of the God is not mentioned while it is mentioned in all the others. This is because, Goddess Kamakshi withdrew herself from EkAmbaranAta after he burnt manmada to ashes, as manmada was the foremost srIvidyA upAsakA.
The dvitiyAkshara prAsam in his kritis and the antima prAsam was also highlighted. 'rAma ninnE' in husEni of tyAgarAja was sung. akshaya linga vibhO, dakshiNAmurtE, daNDAyutapANim were taken as examples for the MD compositions. The tough samyuktAksharams that are maintained along the full compositions for the prAsam, that too quite naturally was demonstarted. The prAsam being maintained during the madhyama kAla parts, which exactly splits at the middle of the Avartanam was also explained.
The various bEdams in sanskrit like ra-La, Da-la etc were all mentioned. 'vEdanuta gaurIpAntaranga' in 'krushNAnanda mukunda' and, the pallavi of 'srI guruNA pAlitOsmi' were taken up as examples from MD kritis.
Usage of the same word/syllable in different contexts/meanings in the first and second parts of the same line and maintaining that thro' the kriti was next taken up. 'vadAnyEsvaram' in dEvagAndhAri was the example taken up for this. 'pasupatim gnAnAmbikA patim' being the beginning of the madhyama kAla. This pattern is found all over the kriti.
Usage of compound words to convey a meaning was explained. Usages like 'pankaja mitra vamsasudAmbudhi chandra' in mAmava paTTAbhirAma, 'vadana kamala guruguha dharaNIvaranuta ranganAta ramaNI' in srI bhArgavi badram were cited as the classical examples for this.
Dikshitar gives details of iconography and other details about each deity and the kshEtram. In 'srI mAtrubUtam' the deity is described as 'sOmam shirOdhrita sUrya gangam'. sUrya here refers to arka (erukkam) plant. Lord Shiva bears this plant on his head.
In 'srI visvanAtam', he is described as 'vanaja candra sannibha vadanam'. vanaja does not refer to the lotus, but vanaja candra refers to the moon born from the ocean. and again in 'patita pAvana kaRaNam madaraNam', 'ma' refers to poison and it means one who has poison in his body. and need not be confused as 'madaharaNam' etc.
In 'srI vENUgOpAla', the madhyamakAla, 'prAkaTyaraNabhIma pAlitArjunabhIAma pAkaripunuta rAma bhaktayOga kSEma' the first bhIma refers to valour in the war, the second refers to arjuNa and his brother bhIma, rAma refers to the beauty of Lord Krishna. (ramyatE iti rAmaha)
The incorporation of rAga mudras in compositions were explained. 'srI vENUgOpAla', 'mAmava raghuvIra', 'hastivadanaya', 'cidambara naTarAja mUrtim', 'mAra kOTi kOTi lAvaNyAya', 'srI guruguha mUrtE'(udaya ravicandrikA), 'vINAbhEri', 'sarasvati manOhari', 'kancadaLAyadAkshi', 'sankarambhirAmi manOharam', 'srI kamalAmbA jayati' were all the examples cited.
In the udaya ravicandrikA kriti, the guru's feet is described to have the red and white hues and rAgam chosen is aptly udaya ravicandrikA (udaya ravi - rising sun - crimson red, candrikA - moon - white)
Goddess kAmAkshi is named as she has sarasvati and lakshmi as her eyes. In the manOhari kriti 'kancadaLAyadAkshi', he refers to her as 'kamalA manOhari' while the kriti in sarasvati manOhari, starts with the rAgam name. Also, in 'nIrajAkshi kAmAkshi', she is refered to as 'sAradhAramA nayanE'.
svarAksharams seem to be his family trait. Lots of svarAkshara patterns are known in Ramaswami Dikshitar's compositions and he has also composed svarAkshara compositions. MD has also used a lot of svarAksharams. The rAga bhAvam is intact and is flowing though there are svarAksharams all over the kriti. 'sarasvati manOharI', 'sadAcalEsvaram', 'sadAsivam upAsmahE', 'mAmava raghuvIra' were taken as examples. The svarAksharams are present wherever it is possible.
Dikshitar seems to be aware of the 'Sampoorna Mela System' though he followed the 'Asampoorna system'. He mentions 'sUlini' in 'srI sUlinim' in sailEndra dEsAkshi. 'hariyuvatIm haimavatim' is how the kriti in dEshi simhAravam start. In 'srI nIlOtpala nAyikE' he refers to her as 'nata bhairavE'. Similarly in 'kancadaLAyadAkshi' he refers to her as 'kamalA manOhari' while the rAgam is called manOhari in his scheme.
Listening to MD kritis, it is apparent that he is a vainika. 'murAri prabruti' in sadAsivam upAsmahE has a jAru from madhyasthAyI shadjam to the tArasthAyI rishabam, which is tough to get on many vadhyams. A vainika can however get it easily. In the srI rAga kriti 'tyAgarAja mahadvajArOhaNa', the caraNam line 'srushTi svarUpa vasanta vaibhavam' the number of svarAksharams and the jArus are again examples of his mastery.
Also, in this srI rAga kriti, the complete details of the utsavam of Thyagaraja Swami at Thiruvarur is given. The details of the alankAram of each day, the mounts, the neivEdhyam, the nakshatram of the ratOtsvam, everything is mentioned in the kriti from the dvajArOhaNam to the canDikEsar utsavam.
Special 'eDuppu's that have been employed and some special, vintage, archaic phrases and sangatis were next explained. The off beat 'eDuppu' of 'mAra kOTi kOTi' in Arabhi from the madhyamam was highlighted. 'srI subramaNyO' in tODi for the gAndhAram, 'kamalAmbhIkE' starting on the nishAdam. In 'aruNAcala nAtam' the line 'kOTi sankAsa cidAnandam' has a phrase that is not usually sung in sAragA today. In 'pAhimAm ratnAcala nAyaka', 'vicitra navaratna' is a line which has a phrasing not found otherwise. There are many more of this kind.
Ragas employed for the kritis for sarasvati are rAgAs that are the names of rivers or rAgAs that denote some movement as the word sarasvati itself denotes movement, like vEgavAhini, chhAyAtarangiNi etc
Dikshitar has composed in a lot of tALams. The vAra kritis are composed in different tALams.
In the vAra kritis, 'sUrya mUrtE namOstutE', as sUryan is a namaskAra priyan. Also, he is a considered eternal, and hence dhruva tALam. 'chandram bhaja mAnasa', as he is always linked to the mind. Also, all the kritis start in the madhyasthAyI while the 'brUhaspatE' and 'srI sukra bhagavantam' start in the tArasthAyI rishabam and shadjam respectively as they are both the gurus of dEvAs and asurAs respectively.
The programme was concluded with the 'srI kamalAmbikE' mangaLam and the main artist mentioned that it is a bhAgyam to be able to listen and enjoy these kritis and seeked the blessings of God, MD, and guru for learning and understanding these kritis better.
Same lec-dem on Ram's blog:
click hereLabels: music club, R K Shriram Kumar
