Swara Devatas

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 23 Oct 2006, 18:27

I was all along not aware that there are devatas for the saptaswaras. So when I found an interesting link with pictures, I thought I'll share this, assuming there are some others for whom this might be new too.

http://www.saigan.com/heritage/music/mus2.htm

Please write about this if you know more. Thanks

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 23 Oct 2006, 18:47

That is neat, Ramakrishnan...
Thanks.

arasi · Post by **arasi** » 24 Oct 2006, 06:14

Very interesting to know that swarAs are masculine, and Sri. S. Rajam's paintings are pleasing as ever, and the colors are simply beautiful.

ramakriya · Post by **ramakriya** » 24 Oct 2006, 10:11

Sri Rajam's style brings back memories of Ajanta!

-Ramakriya

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 24 Oct 2006, 13:37

how these were visualised? is there any treatise?

srkris · Post by **srkris** » 24 Oct 2006, 14:13

Some history here (sorry for the digression): Even though dEvatA need not necessarily mean either masculine or feminine in particular, by around 500BC (as I have noted from Buddhist works like Dharmapada etc) dEvatA was used usually for female and dEvA for male deities/spirits. Buddha himself is called 'Bhagavat' by his disciples, but the composition of the Bhagavata Purana seems to have wrested that title from him.

kalgada78 · Post by **kalgada78** » 24 Oct 2006, 18:30

Sobhillu "Sapta swara Sundarula" Bhajimpave

vgvindan · Post by **vgvindan** » 24 Oct 2006, 20:34

Karnataka Sangeetha Sastra by AS Panchapakesa Iyer
Chapter 4 - Sapta Swara Devathas

The late eminent vidwan Sangita Kalanidhi Dr. Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhaghavathar in his book 'Sangita Kalpadrumam' gives a gist of the slokas contained in 'Sangita Ratnakaram', 'Sangita Makarandam', Sangita Damodam', 'Sangita Samaya Saram' and other works. There he points out that Siva had given the following accounts of the Saptha Swara Devathas to Parvathi.

Shadja Swara Devatha : Body Plump, complexion red like the lotus, four faces, eight hands, two legs. Attire white. In the forehead there is kumkum. Instrument sword. Vehicle swan. Wife belonging to Gandharva race. Lived in Sambu island. The first person who saw this devatha was Agni.

Rishaba Swara Devatha : Slim body. Green colour, three faces, six hands, two legs. Dress pitambaram. Wearing necklace in blue stone. In the forehead Akaru. Instrument Kundam. Vehicle lion. Wife belonging to Kinnara race. Lived in Saha island. The first person who saw the devatha was Brahma.

Gandhara Swara Devatha : Fat body, Golden complexion, two faces, four hands, two legs. Attire red. Diamond necklace. In the forehead kasturi. Instrument dandum. Vehicle bird kande perundam. Wife belonging to Yaksha race. Lived in Kusa island. The first person who saw this devatha was Moon.

Madhyama Swara Devatha : Tall, four faces, eight hands, two legs. Attire blue. Necklace vydooryam. In the forehead padaras. Instrument chakra. Vehicle deer. Wife belonging to Kimburu race. Lived in Krouncha island. The first person who saw this devatha was Vishnu.

Panchama Swara Devatha : Well proportioned body. Black complexion. Four faces, eight hands, two legs. Attire red. Necklace in Maragatha stone. In the forehead gorojanam. Instrument Pindi.Vehicle white frog. Wife belonging to Naga race. Lived in Salmali island. The person who saw this devatha was Narada.

Daivatha Swara Devatha : Tall, blue complexion, threee faces, six hands, two legs. Attired in pictures. Necklace gomethakam. In the forehead sandal paste. Instrument parasam. Vehicle parrot. Wife belonging to Deva race. Lived in Sweta island. The first person who saw this devatha was Tumburu.

Nishada Swara Devatha : Very fat. Five coloured complexion, two faces, four hands, two legs. Attire blue. Necklace pushparaga. In the forehead kadamba powder. Instrument Angusam. Vehicle Mynakam. Wife belonging to the Rakshasa race. Lived in Pushkara island. The first person who saw this devatha was Tumburu.

When these seven devathas were born, the voice of each is said to have resembled respectively that of peacock, bull, goat, krowncha bird, cuckoo, horse and elephant. These details are matters for research.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the kRti svara rAga sudhA rAga SankarAbharaNam, Sri tyAgarAja states - kOlAhala sapta svara gRhamula gurutE mOkSamurA - Recognising the locations (in the body) of primal sounds of the seven svaras is indeed emancipation.

sapta svara gRhamulu - (Locations of primal sounds) It is not known whether the seven chakras are meant to represent the sapta svaras; if that be so the correspondence would be - mUlAdhAra - sa; svAdhiSThAna - ri; maNipUra - ga; anAhata - ma;vizuddhi - pa; AjnA - da; sahasrAra - ni.

There is an interesting article on Sapta Svara in the following website -
http://www.newtalavana.org/ebooks/sapta ... saptasvara

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 24 Oct 2006, 20:53

thanks govindji. these are the visions seen by the spiritual yogis who incidentally had the music instincts in addition to so many in other fields. thanks again for the pains taken to explain.

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 24 Oct 2006, 22:02

vgvindan wrote:Karnataka Sangeetha Sastra by AS Panchapakesa Iyer
Chapter 4 - Sapta Swara Devathas

The descriptions of the swara dEvatAs from this book resemble the descriptions of the navasandhi dEvatAs - the latter are described with their spouses, vAhanams they mount, the weapons they wield, and the specific paNN, tALa, and dance used to invoke them...

Ravi

chalanata · Post by **chalanata** » 25 Oct 2006, 09:55

shankarji
thanks to you too!

jayaram · Post by **jayaram** » 13 Mar 2007, 23:09

<deleted my posting which is a repeat of earlier ones>

Oops, didn't realize this topic has already been discussed before!

Would be interested in knowing more about this. Govindan's comment about the link between the 7 swaras and the chakras in the body is intriguing. Any references on this?

Also, is there a chronological sequence in which the saptaswaras were 'discovered'?