The joy of Bala Gopala

Arguably one of the most famous of Dikshitar's compositions the kriti presents the ultmate joy to the singer & the listener both. Bhairavi as a raga in itself expresses joy in the form of exuberance as a child. It touches the heart as any child's antics would do. Needlessly Dikshitar has chosen the exuberance to create a kriti on Krishna the most revered and loved deity in the Hindu pantheon. The kriti encompasses the entire life of Krishna and as is his wont Dikshitar climaxes the kriti in its Madhyamakala. The rare prayogas of da & ni in the phrase Neela Nirada sharira are the best examples of Dikshitar's mastery over the raaga.
Coming back to the joy, the kriti expects a high degree of learnedness both in the singer as well as the audience. The slow tempo creates the mood and as the kriti progresses it takes the listener along with it to unknown spiritual enjoyment. The ultimate experience that's the least one can say when one hears a rendition of this kriti.

A great savant

The title of the post and the blog might lead one to think that I am talking of Dikshitar himself. At the outset I mention that this post is dedicated to my, our (students of Guruguha Gana Vidyalaya) to everybody's Teacher.She was is and will always be known in the annals of history as Teacher. A guiding light for thousands of students for more than 50 years now, a definite Guinnes book candidate maybe. A musician par excellence and by far one of the best teachers. A perfectionist and advocate of hardwork and sincerity and keeping things simple. Her sincerity towards writing the notations, towards spreading Dikshitar's kritis to known and unknown people is something one would know only when one interacts with her. A reticent person and the last person to come in public view, only the students know that she was the bulwark of the institution which has been the benchmark for Dikshitar kritis. And why not, after all we belong to the direct sishya lineage of Dikshitar. An advantage one may say a bigger responsibility another might. The responsibility part was what teacher fulfilled to the utmost. Even a month ago she was instrumental in bringing many new Saraswati kritis that people never knew existed. Why there was a dispute that a Dikshitar kriti in Charukesi has been lost or never existed and lo! Teacher brings up a Saraswati kriti in Charukesi. Her forte were without doubt rare kritis of Dikshitar but virtually she was always working to bring out unknown kritis of each and every composer. Why many never knew that a Tyagaraja kriti existed in Rishabhapriya.
The post will go on eulogizing her but she alas isnt physically present in the bhuloka anymore. The great savant that Dikshitar was needed a great servant in the form Teacher to bring his kritis to the mainstream. This is no way intended to equate them both as there is no room for comparision itself. However as nature demands a great composer is many a time brought to light aeons later by dedicated servants and Dikshitar's kritis and Teacher are an example of the same. One should only listen to the Aradhana utsavam recordings of the past several years to listen to atleast 10/20 rare kritis of Dikshitar being sung every year....
Teacher isnt physically anymore with us. But for students like me who have been with her for more than a decade and a half her values virtues and hardwork are the most common source of inspiration. If Dikshitar's kritis enlighten me today it is because of Sir and Teacher. As a true Guru, they have shown us the path of salvation and quietly moved away to annals of history. I truly realize from the core of my heart today the sayings of poet Kabir:

Guru Govind dou khade,kaake lagoo paaye|
balihari guru aapno, govind diyo bataaye||
( Kabir says "I am in a dilemma, both my Guru and the Lord himself are in front of me to whom should I prostrate first?" He realizes then and says that "it should be the Guru because had the Guru not been there he wouldnt have recognized the Lord himself")...It is rightly said that after your parents the most important person in your life is your Guru and even the Lord comes after that. I therefore prostrate through this post to Sir and Teacher and its my greatest misfortune that I am not physically with Teacher as I was with Sir...but as they say its all in the mind...Its the mind which wants to rededicate itself to the values the principles and the morals that the Vidyalaya has ingrained in the form of two of the greatest servants of Carnatic music especially Dikshitar, Sir and Teacher. Salutations to both of them.

Different Contexts of the usage of the raga mudra by Dikshitar

Raga by definition is a melody constructed with swara-s within the framework of swara-sthana-s and the gamaka-s that are interwoven into it. How the names of different ragas have originated is still a mystery that befuddles the most learned scholars. There are ragas which have changed themselves adapting to the time whereas there are ragas which have retained their identity for more than 1000 years since the time when Thevarams were being composed and sung. Shankaracharya (which ?) once said that ragas have come into the Carnatic fold from the villages or folk music (Ragas are called pann in Tamil) and that is why some of the raga-s actually represent the name of a region, namely Saurashtram, Gaulai, Kamboji etc.

Dikshitar was a master in weaving the name of the raga into the body of his compositions. Dikshitar signed his compositions with the aid of

‘ Raga Mudra’. In fact many rare raga-s like Gauri, Chaya Gaulai, Narayana Desakshi etc are recognized ragas because they have a Dikshitar kriti and he has explicitly mentioned the raga name in them. A very interesting trivia however is Dikshitar has incorporated in the ‘sahitya’ the name of almost all the raga-s that he used for his compositions but no kriti is available with the Thodi raga mudra. Perhaps the word itself was unsuitable to be used.

We can categorize the usage of his raga mudra mainly in the following contexts:

• As a Raga itself: In many kriti-s he has used the name of the raga in the kriti as its name and has not used the meaning of word. For example in the Saveri kriti Karikalabhamukham, he uses the phrase “Kaveri tatastitham, Saveri raga nutam”. Similarly in the kriti Ardhanarishwaram he uses the phrase “Sri guruguha poojitam, Kumudakriya raga nutam”. Many other examples can be cited in this context.
• Adjective for a deity: Several ragas in Carnatic music are adjectives and have been very aptly used by Dikshitar in the same manner. For example, the Devi Bhawani in Sattur has been praised as the goddess who provides rain and very aptly Dikshitar chose the raga Amritavarshini and describes the goddess as “Anandamritakarshini Amritavarshini”. Another example can be cited in the Rasamanjari (modern Rasikapriya) kriti where he describes the devi Kamakshi in Kanchi as Sringara Rasamanjari.

The following kritis highlight similar usage:

Raga Name Kriti

Chaturangini (Chitrambari) Guruguha bhava taranginim chaturanginim

Gauri Velavali (Gauri manohari) Kumari Gauri Velavali

Kanakambari (Kanakangi) Kanakambari Karunyamritalahari

Kalavati Kalavati Kamalasana Yuvati

· In a couched/hidden manner: In several of his kritis the raga name remains hidden within the sahitya and is not as explicitly mentioned as above. The most oft-cited example is that of Arabhi which Dikshitar brings to fore as Samsara bhityapahe (Sri Saraswati). Another common example is Ananda Bhairavi which he brings forth as Ramananda Bhairavam (Manasa guruguha roopam bhajare).

Kriti Sahityam Raga

Avyaja Karunatakasi Rasalanga nataka kriye Salanga Nattai.

Parimala Ranganatham Parimala Ranganatham Bhajeham Hamviru

Viranutam (Hamir Kalyani)

Sarasadalanayana Maagha Masotsava Kamas

Chintaya mahalingamurtim Ati samipa rju marga darshitam Paraju

Kamakshi Kamakoti Kaumari Kusumadhyuti Sumadhyuti

(Simhendra Madhyamam)

· Used as the actual meaning of the Raga name: Logically this is the best possible way of using the Raga mudra and needlessly Dikshitar has also used the actual meaning of the Raga in most cases. In his very first kriti Sri Nathadi he introduces the Raga mudra as “Maya Malava Gowladi Desha”. In ancient times Tamil Nadu used to be divided into several provinces and they were named as above. Similarly for Saurashtram in Varalakshmi Bhajare where he describes Lakshmi as “Saurashtra deshapatinuta dhaninim”. Other examples that can be cited are as below:

Kriti Sahitya Raga

Subramanyena Rakshitoham Krittikasuta Suddha Dhanyena Suddha Dhanyasi

Sri Kamalambike Avava Santatam mukti ghantamani Ghanta

Nishadadi Deshadipati Nishadadi Deshadipati Nishadam

Nilotpalambam Guruguha marga Reeti kaulinim Reetigowlai.

Somasundareshwaram Nitya suddha vasantotsava vibhavam Suddha Vasanta

· Other possible contexts: In a few kriti-s Dikshitar has referred to many hidden legends of ancient India by using the Raga mudra. For example, it is well known that in Chidambaram, Lord Siva defeated a very aggressive form of Parvati (Kali) and banished her outside the town and hence it is said that Devi Parvati after her pride being vanquished is the epitome of peace. This he has referred to in his kriti Sivakameshwarim Chintayeham as “Shanta Kalyana Gunashalinim” and through this he has introduced the Raga mudra Shanta Kalyani, which was the complete name of Kalyani now known as Mecha Kalyani. In another kriti Sri Venugopala, he has aptly chosen the raga Kurinji and referred to the story of a tussle between Rukmini and Satyabhama over the Kurinji flower. Krishna then decided to satisfy them both by having the tree in Satyabhama’s garden but the tree was such that the flowers fell in Rukmini’s garden. This legend is referred to by Dikshitar when he says “Sri Kuranjita kama, shrita satyabhama”.

In conclusion, one would have to mention that the scope of the subject is unlimited and scholars have been wonder-struck at his mastery in weaving the name of the raga into his kriti-s and on deeper analysis many further contexts might emerge. I would also mention here that I have deliberately chosen uncommon Dikshitar krit-is to show the very presence of such rare ragas and kritis which certainly do not deserve this rarity.

The SupremeBoss

Dikshitar an enigma, a saint, a composer, a philosopher, an astrologer an everything so to speak. Why Dikshitar or more specifically Muthuswamy Dikshitar? That is precisely what yours truly would like put forth in the future posts as well as in the lines below.

His music is beyond the realms of the ordinary. His music is secular, unbiased towards a particular deity (though he himself was a Devi and a Srividya upasaka) as well as a tradition. The music has a completely different brand so to speak and as the b-schools say in order to carve out a niche you need to carve out a brand an image for oneself. Madhyamakala, Samashti Charanam might have been in vogue prior to Dikshitar but he has made them his own. Similarly, Sanskrit considered as the toughest language comes as naturally in his compositions as our mother tongue comes to us in conversations.The rhythm, the meter chosen for each kriti seems the most appropriate. And there is no question on the lyrical beauty. The vast amount of esoteric knowledge, philosophy, shastras, zodiac, astrology, iconography of places and temples and the deities, details of each religious place, the time of festivals, even the prasadam in the temples havent gone abegging for mention because Dikshitar grants all of them their deserved place in his compositions. No deity in the vast Hindu pantheon has been left out including the planets and each of them has been given their importance in the compositions compose in their praise. A few are of the opinion that due to Sanskrit and complex intermingling sahitya, raaga and laya as well as Dikshitar himself being a votary of the knowledge form of the bhakti, the devotion element in his kritis with which a layman can connect directly is reduced. Personally, one only would ask them to listen to a perfect rendition of sri Rangapura Vihara or a Meenakshi Memudam Dehi or a Mamava Meenakshi or Ehi Annapoorne. In each of these and in most of the others one can simply enjoy the tune and the melody completely leaving aside the lyrics. That is Dikshitar. His greatness lies in the fact that, for the musically inclined they find bliss in the melody, for the spiritually inclined they find the bhakti in both the sahitya and the raaga and for the philosophically inclined there is a mountain of the same in the sahitya. He only asks us for a soulful and a devoted rendition of the kriti in return for all this. Are we ready to give him that? Because for that, it requires patience, dedication, sincere practise and total involvement.