Composer of Maitrim Bhajata

Rajani · Post by **Rajani** » 08 Sep 2010, 17:57

One of the recent issues of Sruti carried a 2-part article on Dr V Raghavan, the great intellectual and scholar. Sangita Kalanidhi Smt Vedavalli has written a column on her association with the great man and in this, she has mentioned that Dr V Raghavan was deeply hurt that he was not given recognition for being the composer of the famous "Maitrim Bhajata " sung by Smt MS in the United Nations concert.

Since we have always heard that this verse was composed by the Mahaswami of Kanchi Math, is she referring to the music of the verse alone?

I hope someone will clarify. My intention is only to get the facts straight, no disrespect to anyone.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 08 Sep 2010, 19:44

The music, if I remember correctly, was by Kadanallur Sri Venkataraman. Dr. Raghavan, a sanskrit scholar of renown and repute (and, I think, the father of dancer Smt. Nandini Ramani) has composed some suprabhAtams, with the mudra 'kavi kOkila rAghava'; I am not aware of his setting anything to music. I was certainly not aware of his involvement with maitrIm bhajata.

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 09 Sep 2010, 10:14

rshankar wrote:The music, if I remember correctly, was by Kadanallur Sri Venkataraman.

Maithreem Bhajatha was set to tune by Vasant Desai, a great Music Director of yester years. He had composed music for V.Shantaram's Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1953), Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (1955), Vijay Bhatt's Goonj Uthi Shehnai (1959) and Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Guddi (1971). The super hit song Bole re papihara in Guddi (sung by Vani Jairam) was also his creation.

A few more tid-bits about this song - Maithreem Bhajatha.

This song was set to music in the house of Kalki Kannan in Sion, Bombay in 1965. The UN concert was to be held in 1965 but due to Indo-Pak war, Sri Sadasivam cancelled the program. It was then held in 1966 - October 23rd on United Nations Day.

Sri Sadasivam gave Sri Desai a cheque for Rs 501/- (signed by MS as she was the account holder.). Vasant Desai apparently never banked the cheque, but kept it framed in his drawing room as a memento.

Sri Desai passed away in a tragic lift accident in 1975.

Please find below a picture of Vasant Desai (extreme right) in the process of setting Maithreem Bhajatha to tune as MS and Radha sing. (unable to identify the other person playing the harmonium in plain white shirt)

mankuthimma · Post by **mankuthimma** » 09 Sep 2010, 10:33

Amazing piece of history.

smala · Post by **smala** » 09 Sep 2010, 10:41

B&W pic is poignant, as is the story of the uncashed cheque framed on the wall.

Cienu, the question remains - who wrote the lyrics of the song ? Was it Dr. V. Raghavan ?

hariniraghavan · Post by **hariniraghavan** » 09 Sep 2010, 12:35

As Cienu has said It is Vasanth Desai who set the music for it, and he framed and preserved the cheque as memento. This controversy as to whether Kanchi Periwal or Sri Raghavan composed it has been published in Sruthi much earlier. The final verdict was that it was com[posed by Sri Kanchi Periwal. However the matter I think, remains unsetteled.
Harini.

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 09 Sep 2010, 20:29

It was ANNOUNCED that Kanchi Periyaval had composed it in the U.N. Concert which I attended & at other N.A.Locations also in 1966. So I am of the opinion he was the composer. Sri.T.Sadasivam was very meticulous in giving PROPER CREDIT.....VKV

smala · Post by **smala** » 09 Sep 2010, 22:18

cacm wrote:It was ANNOUNCED that Kanchi Periyaval had composed it in the U.N. Concert which I attended & at other N.A.Locations also in 1966. So I am of the opinion he was the composer. Sri.T.Sadasivam was very meticulous in giving PROPER CREDIT.....VKV

Then why should this be ...."Dr V Raghavan was deeply hurt that he was not given recognition for being the composer of the famous "Maitrim Bhajata " sung by Smt MS in the United Nations concert."...as given by Rajani from Sruti.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 09 Sep 2010, 23:44

Cienu - thank you for that piece of history (and correction) and the beautiful picture - your mother and grandmother light up the picture, and the shot captures the concentration with which they are paying attention to Sri Desai - I think it is one of the best pictures I have seen! Do you know who took this picture?

cacm · Post by **cacm** » 10 Sep 2010, 04:26

[quote

cacm wrote:It was ANNOUNCED that Kanchi Periyaval had composed it in the U.N. Concert which I attended & at other N.A.Locations also in 1966. So I am of the opinion he was the composer. Sri.T.Sadasivam was very meticulous in giving PROPER CREDIT.....VKV

Then why should this be ...."Dr V Raghavan was deeply hurt that he was not given recognition for being the composer of the famous "Maitrim Bhajata " sung by Smt MS in the United Nations concert."...as given by Rajani from Sruti.

\
SURPRISINGLY there were SEVRAL INCORRECT THINGS said about MSS'S UN CONCERT which were duly repeated by T.J.S George's book on M.SS. Actually I addressed these at Rasikas meeting at S.Nageswaran's house in SPECIFICS. THE REASON WHY I DO NOT KNOW. To me SRUTI has been a mixture of truth+ INCORRECT stories to sell copies (?) through out its history.
Dr.Raghavan's anger was NOT substantiated by him or persons close to him but just thrown out just like that. His repuatation& closeness to every one involved as a story line makes me believe it was another story intended(?) to create another controversy?....JUST BECAUSE something is in PRINT DOES NOT MAKE IT TRUE.....VKV

Rajani · Post by **Rajani** » 10 Sep 2010, 05:23

Thank you, Cienu sir and VKV sir for the lovely photo and claifications. It now seems clear that the verse was written by the Mahaswami and set to music by Sri Vasant Desai. But the fact that Sruti has published such a clear statement to the contrary, voiced by someone of the stature of Smt Vedavalli, as recent as 2-3 months ago, seems strange.

behag · Post by **behag** » 11 Sep 2010, 07:09

It is striking that EMI India which has brought out the CDs from the Carnagie Hall event credits the composer as V Raghavan.

http://www.medieval.org/music/world/cds/rpg47808.html

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 11 Sep 2010, 07:30

The same Carnegie Hall concert as brought out in CDs was earlier published in the cassette form, which I have in my possession. In that sleeve it is mentioned that the Benediction's composer is "His Holiness the Sage of Kanchi". The cassette was also produced by EMI . Since the cassette came first and the CDs are later versions, was there a dispute and did EMI change the composer's name?

behag · Post by **behag** » 11 Sep 2010, 11:41

no idea! very mysterious..

sivapriya · Post by **sivapriya** » 12 Sep 2010, 12:42

Nothing mysterious about this. As a friend of the family, I can undoubtedly say that the composer is Dr.Raghavan.

Dr.Raghavan was a scholar par excellence and an ardent devotee of the Paramacharya of Kanchi. The Sage blessed his compositions and was very fond of HIS Devotee too. Somewhere alongside in the music world the composers' name got altered and got frozen.

Smt.RV's article in Sruti , as some rasika has already mentioned , categorically mentions this fact. RV amma has been personally associated with Dr.Raghavan's works and their association dates back to several years of friendship with the scholar himself and their family.

mahakavi · Post by **mahakavi** » 12 Sep 2010, 19:47

It does not matter now who composed it. Let us say Dr. Raghavan wrote the lyrics which were blessed by the sage. It was set to music by a third party and sung beautifully by the inimitable MS. That should suffice.

saigeetha karthik · Post by **saigeetha karthik** » 21 Sep 2010, 09:13

hi, can anybody clarify what is the raga of maithreem bhajatha? is it yamuna kalyani of carnatic music or yaman kalyani of hindustani? since from the discussion i understand it is composed by a hindustani composer, is it in hindustani? i want to know whether the full song is sung in same raga or different ragas? somewhere in a lyrics page found in net, it is written yamunakalyani and kapi. confused, can anybody help?

annamalai · Post by **annamalai** » 21 Sep 2010, 10:43

sivapriya wrote:Nothing mysterious about this. As a friend of the family, I can undoubtedly say that the composer is Dr.Raghavan.

Dr.Raghavan was a scholar par excellence and an ardent devotee of the Paramacharya of Kanchi. The Sage blessed his compositions and was very fond of HIS Devotee too. Somewhere alongside in the music world the composers' name got altered and got frozen.

Smt.RV's article in Sruti , as some rasika has already mentioned , categorically mentions this fact. RV amma has been personally associated with Dr.Raghavan's works and their association dates back to several years of friendship with the scholar himself and their family.

I do not understand why Raghavan's family is raking up this issue now.

MSS should have categorically said, if she was aware of it, the composer is Dr. Raghavan when the LP was released and in so many radio programs, there was opportunity to correct. BTW, MSS used to sing the composition of Dr. Raghavan on Kanchi Paramacharya.

Tiruvarur Ramaswamy Pillai's family (related to M. Karunanidhi) is not making any claims now about the attribution of the krithi Sree Kamakshi (Vasantha) to Subbaraya Sastri.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 21 Sep 2010, 11:21

For raga and lyrics (?composer) see
http://old.musicindiaonline.com/lr/1/341/

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 21 Sep 2010, 16:19

cmlover wrote:For raga and lyrics (?composer) see
http://old.musicindiaonline.com/lr/1/341/

And here as well.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 21 Sep 2010, 19:32

Ravi,
And here at RasikAs as well--maitrim bhajata!

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 21 Sep 2010, 21:24

Arasi - Indeed!

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 21 Sep 2010, 23:19

Linguistically I can make the following comments.

The language is in impeccable sanskrit both grammatically and structurally.
This is not in any standard chandas (prosody) format. More prose in the imperative than a verse.
It is a stringing up of commands for the welfare of humanity.
Both Dr Raghavan and maha periyavaaL are capable of composing these statements.
However the quote from BrihadAraNya upanishad (5.2.1) 'da da da' bears clearly the signature of maha periyavaaL's upadesha.
It is probable he composed it in consultation with Dr Raghavan which is purely a supposition (I have no idea). It is possible he handed it to MS with his blesssings (and felt if at all he need not mention any collaborations (again I am guessing) since it is a benedictory verse of vedic commands as the acknowledgement ought to be for the vedic seers).
The credit goes to Vasant Desai for tuning and to MS/Radha for the magnificent delivery!

MaheshS · Post by **MaheshS** » 22 Sep 2010, 00:54

CML, there is only one small thing I'd personally change, because that's what I've heard [no proof, but from reputable people], Dr Raghavan composed it in consultation with Mahaperiyava, He blessed and passed it on to MS to sing in the UN.

Personally, because of the stature of the two persons who are considered the authors and it is contemporary, it's irrelevant who composed it. Your vedic reference is very interesting, can you please elaborate?

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 22 Sep 2010, 01:22

You can read the story aspect of the 'da da da' of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad in
http://bhaktibliss.com/2009/09/17/da-da ... -teaching/
The first da (dAmyata) addressed to the devas refers to 'self-control'
The second da (datta) addressed to humans refers to 'charity'
The third da (dayadhvam) addressed to asuras refers to 'compassion'.
All three are needed for the welfare of the society which is what paramaachaarya wanted emphasized through the vedic quotation.
Finally the concluding line
shrEyO bhUyAt sakala janAnAnAm ||
is a typical benedictory verse which only paramaachaarya has the right and authority as the jagatguru of uttering for the whole of humanity. In the typical vedic style he repeats it thrice.
Actually it is the important aashIrvaada message that he wanted to convey to the people of the world and MS was the dutiful musical messenger!

ragam-talam · Post by **ragam-talam** » 22 Sep 2010, 01:50

TS Eliot included the quote 'Datta, Dayadhvam, Damyata' in his magnum opus The Wasteland. He was much inspired by the upanishads.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 22 Sep 2010, 03:11

The picture cienu provided is absolutely amazing. The facial expressions of MSS and Radha Viswanathan tell a lot of stories. Wow, what an intensity.

All the tools of the trade are visible: A Handwritten note book and two harmoniums.
Great musical minds and talent filled up the rest. Very simple time it was indeed.

Let us focus on that and revel in it and not on any totally unnecessary controversy. All the three people involved have collaborated closely together on different projects. MSS and Raghavan had the utmost respect and reverence for Periyaval. The great mutual respect that MSS and Raghavan had for each other is well known. All these speculations fade into nothing in front of those known facts.

Now for the real mystery. We need Cienu and Uday to figure out what thala beat they were on when the picture was taken.. I think there are some clues ( the position of the palm, the key the harmonium person is on or about to press ). Are there enough clues?

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 22 Sep 2010, 05:29

I am more interested in reading those notes. I tried my photo magic but it is still a blur. I am curious to know whether it is written in Tamil or devanagari (or even grantha script)! Did they try other ragas and then settle on Yaman? Did mahaperiyavaaL himself suggest the raga? What is the tala pattern? Yea! a myriad interesting questions...
Perhaps Radha's memory can be jogged (?)...

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 22 Sep 2010, 06:53

cienu, A great unforgettable photo..Look at the simplicity and the expression of a devoted sishya (for this particular song) on the face of the legend M S S . GOBILALITHA

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 22 Sep 2010, 07:05

Thank you CML for the explanation.

VK,
You said it so well! We are drawn into that moment in our musical/spiritual history.

Cienu,
Thanks for sharing that moment with us

My question is: was it in Chennai or Mumbai that they met? If by any chance it was in Mumbai, perhaps it was in Ramesh's house!

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 23 Sep 2010, 10:52

Arasi,
As mentioned in my earlier post, the song was composed at the residence of Kalki Kannan in Bombay.
With regard to post 28 of CML, Smt Radha has said that the script was in Devanagari. She also remembers that Sri Vasant Desai composed the music in around 3 hours time.
The idea of requesting Sri Desai to set the tune was entirely Sri TS's.

uday_shankar · Post by **uday_shankar** » 23 Sep 2010, 13:37

vasanthakokilam wrote:figure out what thala beat they were on when the picture was taken.. I think there are some clues ( the position of the palm, the key the harmonium person is on or about to press ). Are there enough clues?

I believe there are "enough" clues

.

I think they are just starting to singing the phrase "Atmavad Eva parAnn api pashyata". The reasons as follows:

1. Harmonium being depressed on D# which is the panchamam of G#, the shruti at which MS maami was singing in those days (later she reduced to G I think)
2. Atmavad starts as P M ... etc so the harmonium key matches
3. Mouths of both MS maami and Radha maami are open in a fashion indicating it can only be the long vowel "A" either standalone or in conjunction with a consonant. I would leave out the shorter 'a' because of camera timing issues, etc... So the following are possible:

maitrIm bhajata, akhila hrit jaitrIm |
Atmavad Eva parAnn api pashyata |
yudhham tyajata, spardhAm tyajata |
tyajata parEShu akrama-AkramaNam ||

jananI prithivI kAma-dukhArtE |
janako dEvah sakala dayALuh |
'dAmyata, datta, dayadhvam' janatA |
shrEyO bhUyAt sakala janAnAnAm ||

4. If we assume that harmonium was "following along", then it restricts those 'A' sounds with panchama swara hence only Atmavad fits (I think

).
5. Shri Desai appears to be showing a "veechu" beat, which is the "sam" (samam) in Hindustani. "Atmavad" starts just after "sam", so it fits.
QED

gobilalitha · Post by **gobilalitha** » 23 Sep 2010, 14:02

One of the best discussions on this forum .. gobilalitha

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 23 Sep 2010, 21:38

Thanks cienu!
and
Brilliant Uday!!

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 24 Sep 2010, 07:24

Uday: Brilliant!! Did you ever Mime before you did your experiments on veena/Gottuvadyam.

uday_shankar · Post by **uday_shankar** » 24 Sep 2010, 09:19

mkr and cml,
Thanks but it's all pure speculation unless vetted by my esteemed colleague at Carnatic Photo Forensics Inc, cienu

.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 24 Sep 2010, 11:59

Uday: Very good forensics work

As with any such work, in addition to the final conclusion, the methodology and the inferences are the interesting part. PFI Chennai !!

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 24 Sep 2010, 21:01

Brilliant Uday !

As one would expect. I too agree with you that both of them are starting to sing "Atmavadeva".

However according to me the Sruthi is G as the thumb of the harmonium artist is on D - the white key which is the Panchamam of G and the index finger of the artist is on the Prathimadyamam (the black key - a semitone difference) which matches ATHMAVA as below.

;ATHMAVA
;P M G

(presuming that the same thumb would have been used further to depress "ga" as the natural progression of fingers over the harmonium )

(The UN concert was also sung in G Sruthi)

One reason why we cannot see the artists displaying the thala is because in her left hand MS Amma is holding the book (possibly worried that the ceiling fan - not in picture - would disturb the page ! ) and in her right hand she uncomfortably holds a pen between her thumb and index finger to take notes. Inspite of this the little finger along with other fingers is conspicuously in the process of being closed indicating that they may just be starting "Athmavadeva" after samam.

Smt Radha's right hand is invisible , hidden behind MS

The clincher is therefore (as Uday has pointed) is Shri Desai showing a "veechu" beat.

cienu
Carnatic Photo Forensics Inc (ably assisted by my assistant Aishwarya) !

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 24 Sep 2010, 21:27

"in her left hand MS Amma is holding the book (possibly worried that the ceiling fan - not in picture - would disturb the page ! )"

Nice!

All those MSS's G sruthi songs are a boon to me since my 'good' flute is also G. I occasionally "try" to follow her along in the kArvai portions of her alapana which is quite an enjoyable personal experience.

cmlover · Post by **cmlover** » 24 Sep 2010, 21:59

Nice supportive analysis cienu! Zooming on the harmonium artiste confirms all your inferences.
I missed the black ball pen in MS's clenched right hand. Desai with closed mouth is focusing expectantly on their music with hands gesturing the tala precisely!

kssr · Post by **kssr** » 25 Sep 2010, 22:00

Why dig and dig and bury yourself in this discussion? But for MSS, no one would even have taken note that such a composition exists. Time is better used if we can dig so deep in Dikshithar's compositions where there is deep content besides the outer form itself.

Ramasubramanian M.K · Post by **Ramasubramanian M.K** » 25 Sep 2010, 22:21

kssr: Please lighten up--let's have some fun!!

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 25 Sep 2010, 23:54

Yes.. Especially as we are heaving a collective sigh of relief that the Kanchi periyavar vs. Dr. Raghavan controversy has been put to bed...

Sivaramakrishnan · Post by **Sivaramakrishnan** » 26 Sep 2010, 05:22

Could anyone please tell whose is the (subdued) male voice in the MSS recording of Maitrim Bhajata?
His voice is particularly audible at Janani Prithivi that too in the second sangati of Prithivi

Maitrim Bhajata can well be chosen as the standard invocation for any event in these days of stifle and social unrest!

cienu · Post by **cienu** » 26 Sep 2010, 07:17

Sivaramakrishnan,

Please read the link below (post # 11)
http://www.rasikas.org/forums/viewtopic. ... 97&start=0

Sivaramakrishnan · Post by **Sivaramakrishnan** » 26 Sep 2010, 12:09

Thanks cienu.
If it's so, whose is the male voice in the Pallavi of the celebrated Bhaja Govindam?
I have been told by someone years ago that it was Shertallai Gopalan Nair, disciple of Semmangudi and a staff of AIR , Trivandrum. Is it correct?

harimau · Post by **harimau** » 28 Sep 2010, 08:34

[quote="sureshvv"

]Yes.. Especially as we are heaving a collective sigh of relief that the Kanchi periyavar vs. Dr. Raghavan controversy has been put to bed...

[/quote]

In what way has it been put to bed? Just that you all agree to ignore claims by the followers of two different dead persons who are no longer available to testify to the truth?

KSSR is correct. This verse is the worst piece of junk to adorn Carnatic music. Does it have any rhyme or meter or any poetic value? It should have been cremated along with "Kurai Ondrum Illai" after MSS passed away. If I were one of the two candidates who are now claimed to be the author, I would most definitely assign the blame/credit to the other person.

If you want good Sanskrit compositions, listen to or read Deekshithar's songs. Everything else is junk!

sureshvv · Post by **sureshvv** » 28 Sep 2010, 09:17

sureshvv wrote:
Yes.. Especially as we are heaving a collective sigh of relief that the Kanchi periyavar vs. Dr. Raghavan controversy has been put to bed...

harimau wrote:
In what way has it been put to bed? Just that you all agree to ignore claims by the followers of two different dead persons who are no longer available to testify to the truth?

KSSR is correct.

<Pointless vilification of the dead elided>

If you want good Sanskrit compositions, listen to or read Deekshithar's songs. Everything else is junk!

Dikshitar compositions are great. Poetry of Jayadeva, OVK, Narayana Theertha, Mysore Vasudevachar etc. are stellar. With proper "pakkuvam" one can appreciate all of them.

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 28 Sep 2010, 19:53

Harimau,

That was too harsh, and definitely not factual. It certainly may not be the best, but it is also not the worst. Of course Dikshitar is in a different league, and that did not need mention because it is obvious.

Kurai onrum illai and Maithreem Bhajata was sung by MSS as a tribute to their (attributed) composers, and sung by others as a tribute to MS. It does not have to pass the Harimau test and no one claimed it was more scholarly than Dikshitar's compositions.

Rajani · Post by **Rajani** » 28 Sep 2010, 21:26

Dear moderator(s) : Since the discussion around the main question of this thread seems to be over, may I request you to freeze this thread?