2017 March 18 Lec Dem by Vid R K Shriramkumar on Vibhakti kritis

[sowmyamohan2005]

2017 March 18 Lec Dem by Vid R K Shriramkumar on Vibhakti kritis
Violin: Vid Vittal Rangan
Mridangam: Vid Arun Prakash

The lec dem was organised by Sri Rama Lalitha kala mandira as part of a two-day programme. This is the first time I attended a lec dem and every moment was precious. Many thanks to the organisers for an exquisite evening. I shall present a few aspects of the lec dem. Please correct any flaws/errors that might have creeped in due to my very limited knowledge.
Some notes/excerpts:
Importance of Guru
Dikshitar was a staunch advaitin, a great Srividya upasaka, follower of Adi Sankara and an erudite scholar. Born in Tiruvarur, he went to Manali, Kasi and came down to Tiruttani. Dikshitar’s compositions describe the ideal lakshnana of a guru, as mentioned in the upanishads, Srividya cult. He says that as per the Srividya cult the Guru is equal to the Goddess.
Dikshitar composed eight compositions on the Guru.

Sri Nathadi Guru guho: Ragam: Mayamalavagowla

The mudra ‘guruguha’ is derived from the Srividya mantra. The word ‘guru’ is regarded as the pranava mantra and is denoted as the sivasakti ikya beejam.
Dikshitar addresses his guru Chidambaranatha as Sri/Natha. Shri Shriramkuamr also adds that the Lord in Swamimalai is also mentioned as Guru in terms of ‘Swaminatha’ in the song Swaminatha paripalaya.
He says that the term Sri natha means ‘sri moksha gnana dhatrivaat’
The guru is in a state of Naada or sound. Tha stands for sthagitha gnana chinhadvaat
Musical Structure
Choice of Raga: 15th melakarta
The Srividya mantra has 15 syllables, there are 51 letters in the varnamala from ‘a’ to ‘ksha’
The first line of the song is based on the arohana and avarohana of the raga: SRGMPDNS/NDPMGRS
The pallavi contains 3 kalams: SRGM in the first kalam, PDNS in the second and NDPMGRS in the third kalam, all denoting the Sarali varisai, essentially.
The Janta varisai too is used in the song but quite hidden like the Srividya mantra, he says. It is used in the line: Chidananda….
The pallavi ends in mantra stayi, thus hinting the listener that one must practise in all the three speeds.
In the anupallavi, the guru is described as an ideal Srividya guru.
No iconographical details of the Lord Subrahmanya are mentioned in the song. All compositions of Dikshitar are Vedantic and tantric in nature.
The guru is regarded as the one who created the panchabhutas.
Dikshitar gives a glimpse of Alankaram in the anupalllavi:
SRGMP SNDPM
RGMPD NDPMG
GMPDN DPMGR
MPDNS PMGRS
The pattern forms a palindrome with five swaras. Five is chosen as it is synonymous with Siva, the supreme lord/guru. The anupallavi lines depict a sense of belonging to the guru.
Shri Shriramkuamr then mentions the chaturdasa raga malika and says the reason for choice of Mohanam in the song as Guruguha sammOhana kara Lingam. As Siva is denoted by the number five and Mohanam is also having five swaras, so the raga was chosen.
In the charanam, he begins with the word MAYA and explains three variations of the Srividya mantra: kadi, hadi, sadi. And that kadi is the superior form practised by Dikshitar. (He also mentions the Lalita Trishati that is a form of kadi vidya and how Hayagriva says Sage Agastya that of all the 1000 names of any God, this one is very special)
The kadi tradition is also followed in the Navavarana kritis. He says that Kamalamba samrakshatumam begins with the letter Ka, denoting kadi traition and the Ahiri kriti is begins with Sri kamalamba, as Sri is denoted to signify the end or the mangalam.
The charanam, he says, is a set of palindrome phrases, sung in praise of the Guru. It forms a pyramid or a gopura structure. The word Maya occurs four times in the charanam. He moves on to the Ahiri kriti of kamalamba and says that the words sundarIM rAjarAjEshvarIM shrIkara sarvAnandamaya cakravAsinIM suvAsinIM and this signifies a fact that any mantra that has four ‘im’s in it is very special as per the Rig veda.
Shri Shriramkumar said that he had to limit his explanations as there would not be time for other ktitis if he explains more about the first kriti.

Manasa Guruguha: Raga Anandabhairvai

In this song, Dikshitar recommends what one should do in one’s life. Shri Shriramkumar explains the following lines of the charanam extensively:
natvaa shree gurucaraNam |
hritvaa naama smaraNam |
jitvaa mOhaa varaNam |
matvaa tvadEka charanam
He says that the word natvaa are sung in a bhava that denote reverence to the guru. He illustrates the same with Thyagaraja’s Vandanamu and sings three ways in which vandanamu can be sung but the saint chose the said way because it denotes reverence. He sings three ways of the vandanamu in sahana and says that even though these are all perfect sahanas, the way it is sung is the apt sahana.
In the phrase, hritva naama smaranam, he says that Dikshitar sings the word hritva loud and clear and not meek as it is of relevance to do so, especially in the kali yuga.

Sri guruguna: Raga Padi

Shri Shriramkumar says that only because of Dikshitar we know of the ragam Padi. In this song, he describes the guru as a form of Lord Siva. He describes Dikshitar’s pet obsession of incorporating Raaga names in the kritis. After citing a few well-known examples, he says that the Padi raga is incorporated differently. The syllable ‘la’ can be interchanged with ra and da with la. Sri guruna palitosmi, the word pali denotes padi as per the rule mentioned.
Also, the raga name kannada is incorporated in sri mathrubootham as kannala in the lines somasakham nata shuka sanakam nala. (kam nala)

Sri Guruhuhaya bhaktanugrahaya : Raga Sama

Here, Dikshitar describes the guru as the embodiment of Hari, Guru and Brahma.
Guru is the one who knows multiple good sampradayas. Sampradaya is a rule book that takes us beyond samsara, bestows fame, makes one realise the truth.
Raga name is hidden in the lines: Samarasya sapradayakaya

Guruguha danyam najaneham: Raga Balahamsa

The kriti is set to Misra jampa tala, and describes the guru as 36 stages of evolution from Siva to prithvi.
The word hamsa as used in the composition is denoted to mean multiple things such as swan, sun, atman, sanyasi, mountain etc.
There are several ways of interpreting a sentence in Sanskrit as illustrated in the kriti, he says. This is because there is a strong semblance to the Tantric texts which keep practices secretive.

Sri guruguhasya dasoham: Raga purvi

A haunting raga, the kriti begins with the words Sri guruguha. Shri Shriramkumar says that one can never assume advaitic status with the guru, one can be equal with the god head but not with the guru. It is always a daasa status with the guru.
In the phrase chitguruguha in the saong, the atman is referred and the raga name is interspersed in sanakadi poorvikamunigane.

SrI guruhuha swAmini bhaktim karOmi: Raga Bhanumati

The raga is not to be confused with Vanaspati, he says. Set to khanda triputa tala, it is the fourth raganga raga in the Dikshitar school.
There is a different treatment of the swaras in the Dikshitar school. G is sung with an elongated expression in MGRS.
A brief explanation of the charanam and how the mridangam and violin must aptly accompany to split the tala as per the four and half kanakku was demonstrated.

Sri Guruguha murthe: Raga udayaravichandrika

In this kriti, he says the Guru’s feet is a mixture of two hues-white and crimson. (Rakta Shukla prabha misram).
White denotes Siva or prakasa tatva and red as Sakti tatva. Raga name is apt as it means udaya or rising sun in crimson and Chandrika or the moon in white.

In the last few compositions, I did not make detailed notes as I was soaking in the moment and though my hand was itching to note down most of the pearls of wisdom that came from Shri Shriramkumar, I could not. It was an evening that made one realise the greatness of the guru, Dikshitar and the multifaceted persona of Shri Shriramkumar. Salutations to his knowledge, purity and clarity of diction, patience, and modesty.
An evening that will be carried on for a life time, moments that brought goosebumps and tears, happiness that elated one’s soul and the effect was so that for the next two days, I could not see, think anything beyond Dikshitar.

[sureshvv]

Nice report. He did a similar (same?) memorable vibhakthi series morning season lec dem at Raga Sudha a few years back.

[CRama]

Excellent write up. Thanks a lot.

[Sachi_R]

Great effort, sowmyamohan2005!


This was a very well attended lecdem, with lots of musicians, students, knowledgeable rasikas, and laymen hanging on every word spoken by the great scholar and upasaka Sri RKSK. The actual musical singing moments were few and far between. It was basically a lecdem tribute to Dikshitar.

RKSK,


Mr. Krishna Prasad and Neela Maami,

[kvchellappa]

What a scholar and upasaka besides being a fine musician, and what a lovely report!

[thanjavooran]

Great report !
With wishes,
Thanjavooran
21 03 2017

[melam72]

Wonderful presentation by the one and only RK Shriramkumar!

Who were the other composers who were Srividya Upasakas? And, more importantly, who is a Srividya Upasaka?

[sureshvv]

http://bfy.tw/Al5B

[rshankar]

Beautiful report!!

[shankarank]

Great Lecture Demostration that is worthy of repetition every year and many other venues. To hear it from a source of direct lineage to many musical Guru paramparas is a wonderful opportunity!

On the first kriti : RRI in his book explains Sri nAthAdi as the Guruguha who embodies aspects of all dEvatas starting with the consort of Sri , Lord Narayana.

[Sachi_R]

Shankarank,
At the beginning itself, RKSK laid at the feet of his Sringeri gurus (no mention of musical gurus) his offering of all his knowledge and ability. He said whatever he had learnt and was able to do was by their grace.

RRI interprets the Sanskrit meaning: Sri =Lakshmi Natha=Narayana Adi =and other devatas. RKSK said that herein is meant:
own guru who should always be addressed commencing with Sri and ending with Natha (Sri Chidambara Natha). Also Sri Natha meant the combination of Shiva and Shakti that cpmbines in itself ALL CREATION. And so on....

All great ideas. Yes, worth many a listen and broadcast.

[rajeshnat]

sowmyamohan
DId RKSK also sing few phrases here and there? Thank you for your superb report. Enjoyed reading it twice- one to get it and the second to really get it

[sowmyamohan2005]

sowmyamohan
DId RKSK also sing few phrases here and there? Thank you for your superb report. Enjoyed reading it twice- one to get it and the second to really get it

He sang all the songs and interspersed them with the explanations, concluded with Sri kamalamba in sri ragam.

[mahavishnu]

Suresh: Great response. I wonder how many people clicked the link
Sowmyamohan: Was this recorded by any chance?

[sureshvv]

Suresh: Great response. I wonder how many people clicked the link

Thank you. Demonstrates the one and only path to true enlightenment

[sowmyamohan2005]

Not sure. Didn't see anyone recording it at the venue though.

[cienu]

Sowmyamohan: Was this recorded by any chance?

It has been recorded as far as I know.

[Jigyaasa]

Would someone be able to upload the recording? This would be a treasure!

[HarishankarK]

Sincere thanks for this report

[Swami]

Wowww.. thanks a lot for sharing ....

[HarishankarK]

Sri Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar Maharaja - Mysore was Srividya Upasakar and his mudra of krithis is Srividya as well. Sri Mahaganapatim bhajeham in Atana is his krithi.

[sowmyamohan2005]

This is a beautiful lec Dem by Shri Shriram Kumar on the same topic. Muthuswami Dikshitar and the vibhakti kritis such a treasure trove of information.

https ://youtu.be/KlI4uJuVL2c