Raga Lakshana, Sampradaya & manodharma- Some Thoughts - Part

[arunk]

vainika,

> I suspect it is an intrinsic part of the rAga lakShaNa as embodied in kRtis

IMHO, this "raga lakshaNa as embodied in kRtis" - it is not like it is etched in stone and thus has near zero ambiguity. It is atleast not unambiguous to the level to prescibe "how strong or weak a swara should be in what context". Besides the word strong and weak etc. themselves are subjective words and thus open to interpretation (albeit within some gross limits). I think this is where one has to be very careful of travelling too long only the raga lakshana train and thus missing several other potentially exciting destinations

I would like to think raga lakshanas instead of drawing a precise path for every one follow, instead simply draws loose boundaries - within which lakshya allows many variations. This is what adds verve to cm (again IMHO)

Arun

[raviraj]

ArunK,

<< Raga Lakshana & the contour outlined in the krithi - Vs- Manodharma (or) oppurtunity lost if one travels too far on the raga lakshana train>> or the so called lakshya/lakshana/sampradaya debate

I agree with you. But , IMO there is a trade-off involved. Let me illustrate my understanding . In the legal world there is a concept , what jurists called "arm chair rule". It is used in interpreting the contents and language of a document when the person who executed the said document is no more, for example as in the case of a will. Now the Courts when they seek to settle disputes on these wills they do not merely rely on the grammatical words/expressions in the document but also try to divine the true intent with which the person could have created the will, by putting themselves in the shoes of the person who create that document . Drawing on this analogy, IMO, our interpretation of the creations of the great masters ( who themselves set / reset the lakshana itself) should be based on the oral and textual tradition keeping in mind the intent of the composer. For example, in his infinite wisdom, Dikshitar has thought it fit to invest PRS with Vamsavati - an improvisation without doubt and by that very act itself he himself has got off the raga lakshana train. A perusal of the notation in the SSP of Dikshitar's intrepretation of different ragas - Purnachandrika, Kalavati, Yamunakalayani etc ,would show that Dikshitar himself did not consider raga lakshanas of Purvacharyas/venkatamakhi etched in stone. Our music has been extremely dynamic and changes have been the order. That said I sincerely believe Dikshitar drew a line and the corner stone of his interpretation was "aesthetics". What applies to Dikshitar applies ipso facto to the other greats in the pantheon of vaggeyakaras.

In respect of manodharmam, I find that the HM model of concerts and raga exposition gives ample flexibility for manodharmam. Every gharana has a different interpretation of a raga etc. The RTP is probably the place in our concert item list. Maha Vaidyanatha Iyer's concert template is a good one:

First part of the concert consisted of 4 or 5 kritis ( probably lasting for an hour outermost). The a major raga was taken up for alapana. The alapana would last for about one & a half hours. It was followed by a pallavi in anagata graha. The concert then concluded with one or two compositions in rare ragas. The concert was usually of about 4 hours duration.

( I quote this from the first hand account of Sulamangalam Vaidyanatha Bagavathar (1866-1943) from his memoirs published as "Cameos" by Sunadham Chennai).

My take is , confine the manodharmam to the pallavis. In so far as the rendition of the ragas, neraval, svara kalpana etc for a kriti, stick to the conception as outlined by the composer. That is why I added that section in my original blog post. Well that could be a thread for seperate discussion

And , the Late Justice P V Rajamannar ( who played no small a role in bringing the SSP in Tamil & Telugu print/reprint) while writing his erudite Preface to the Tamil edition of the SSP wrote and I quote him verbatim, which says it all:

".........It is a futile to embark on the determination of the inconsistency between lakshana and sampradaya. The crystallized Sampradaya of one age becomes the Lakshana of the succeeding age...."

I rest my case

<<Subjectivity of the words- "weak", "strong" etc>>

I agree and again which is why I said that it is a matter or interpretation or controversy. In the spirit of plurality of opinion, I refrained from posting "my" opinion in the original blog post of Vamsavati. The examples I have quoted in response to Vainika's post should probably answer your questions. And I can quote additional examples.

Again let me put my disclaimer- my opinion as expressed by the examples I have given, is purely restricted to that particular interpretation/ versions of ragas/krithis & in no way constitute an overall opinion of the concerned performers. And I have quoted these examples just to take our under-standing to the next level. And again if I had erred in my understanding I seek to correct myself. Please do provide your feedback.

Raj

( Moderator Note: The topic is continued here: http://rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic.php? ... rt-ii.html )