sangeethavaibhavam_apr13

AUM NAMAH SHIVAYA SANGEETHA VAIBHAVAM 25 Apr 13

http://vedantatattva.org/vedantagroup/SangeethaVaibhavam of 22

Sangeetha Vaibhavam

Salutations to all.

AMMA or Sadguru Mata Amritananamayi Devi says that music is the very essence of life –

we find that music can be found in our breath itself. Everything in the world has a particular

musical aspect to it though only true musicians will be able to understand and appreciate

the same. Unless we are able to understand the various rhythms in the world, we will not be

able to live in harmony with nature. When nature is in disharmony we will find lot of natural

calamities like hurricane, flood etc. happening. Though man has progressed quite a lot with

respect to technology as well as making living as pleasant as possible there is absolutely no

answer to natural calamities.

Only recently we found that the great nation of Japan didn’t stand a chance for the big

earthquake as well as the tsunami that wreaked havoc. Though there are means to figure

out if natural calamities are about to happen, such means aren’t foolproof and majority of

time such means fail miserably. Therefore rather than trying to find out ways to live

pleasantly in the world we should try to find a way to live harmoniously with nature. Many

initiatives like planting trees, recycling etc. are required in order to bring harmony into

nature. Unless nature’s harmony or calmness is maintained, there will be more and more

natural calamities which have absolutely no answer from us.

The easiest way to bring harmony to nature is through music. As mentioned, everything has

a tune and rhythm to it. If and when we are able to find Ishwara as pervading the entire

world, then we will be able to appreciate the harmony in everything. In order to perceive

Ishwara as pervading the entire world, we have to get rid of duality. Duality cannot easily

be got rid of in our mind and the easiest way to get rid of duality is to merge the mind unto

Ishwara. The way one achieves this is through singing the divine names of the Lord.

The purpose of this magazine is to instigate the mind to start focusing on the Lord through

the nuances of music. The more and more a person dwells into music, he will find that he

cannot stay away from music. Music overpowers such a person and thereby he will be able

to ever rejoice in bliss singing the names of the Lord. The love towards Lord through vision

of oneness will flow to the entire world thereby bringing harmony to the world. Wherever

such a person lives, there will be harmony and balance of nature.



May we all strive to develop passion and love towards Ishwara through music so that not

only will we bring balance in nature, we will also be able to achieve the ultimate goal of life

as moksha and will be able to ever rejoice in bliss here and now itself.

AUM NAMAH SHIVAYA

Apr 22nd



Anukramaanika

Sangeetha Vaibhavam .................................................................................................................................. 1

Sangeetha Prakaashanam ............................................................................................................................. 4

Hindustani Vivaranam ................................................................................................................................... 7

Raaga Vivaranam ........................................................................................................................................ 10

Kriti Deepam ............................................................................................................................................... 11

Acharya Arpanam ........................................................................................................................................ 15

Ishwara Smaranam ..................................................................................................................................... 18

Anukramaanika Nirdesham ........................................................................................................................ 22



Sangeetha Prakaashanam

In the previous months, we saw about Ragaand various aspects of Raga. In this article, we

will see about Talam. Talam is the rhythm aspect of the song, which adds the value as to

how the song has to be sung. Whether the song is slow paced song or fast paced or how

long each notes have to be sung.

Though there will be side percussion instrument that would accompany a vocalist while

singing, the singer would normally would indicate the talam in their gesture of either

clapping or tapping on the thigh. There are 3 basic hand movements used in talam–

downward beating with palm facing down is called Thattu, beating with palm facing up is

called veechu and then counts using the fingers starting from little finger. Based on these

types of talam gestures, there are 3 important terms.

1. Laghu: Laghu is one thattu followed by specified number of counts. It is normally

represented by ‘|’. Laghu of 4 is represented as |4 is represented by 1 thattu and 3

counts starting from the little finger.

2. Dhrutam: Dhrutam is one thattu and one veechu. This is represented by ‘0’.

3. Anudhrutam: Anudhrutam is one thattu. This is represented by ‘U’

Based on these types of beats following are 7 types of Talam and their representation

1. DhruvaTalam - |0||

2. MattyaTalam - |0|

3. RoopakaTalam – 0|

4. TriputaTalam - |00

5. JhampaTalam - |U0

6. Ata Talam – ||00

7. EkaTalam - |

The Laghu in each of the talam above could be any of the following counts

1. Tisram–count of 3

2. Chatusram – count of 4

3. Khandam – count of 5

4. Misram – count of 7

5. Sankeernam – count of 9



When we include these 5 counts to each of the 7 talam, we get total of 35 talams. Each of

the Laghu count type is called Jati. For example, if we consider laghu of 4 in Dhruvatalam

we say it ChatusraJatiDhruvatalam. If we consider laghu of 3 in TriputaTalam, we say it as

TisraJatiTriputaTalam.

Each beat is termed as an Aksharam and the gap between two aksharams is called Nadai.

The number of swaras that can come between two aksharas form the Nadai. The nadai also

could be one of Tisram, Chatusram, Khandam, Misram and Sankeernam. So for example, if

we have nadai of Tisram in TriputaTalam with ChatusraJati, we say it as

TisranadaiChatusraJatiTriputaTalam. This means that between each akshara of

ChatusraJatiTriputaTalam, there could be 3 swaras in it. Thus, including 5 nadai for each jati

of each talam we may end up getting 175 patterns of talam. Sometimes, talam names are

used without indicating the Laghu and they are to be interpreted as: Eka (ChatusraEka),

Roopaka (ChatusraRoopaka), Triputa (TisraTriputa), Jhampa (MisraJhampa), Ata (Khanda

Ata). ChatusraRoopakatalam is represented by 2 thattu and 1 veechu.

There are also some of the most famous named talams such as AdiTalam, KhandaChapu

and MisraChapu. When we see AdiTalam, it has a laghu of 4, Dhrutam and Dhrutam and

thus this belongs to ChatusraJatiTriputaTalam. KhandaChapuis normally represented by one

thattu of 2 aksharam, 1 veechu of 1 aksharam and 1 veechu of 2 aksharams. It can be

considered as MisraJatiJampaTala or Khandaekatalam. MisraChapu is normally represented

by two veechu, one representing 1 aksharam and another representing 2 aksharams and

then two thattu, each thattu representing 2 aksharams. MisraChaputalam is considered as

ThisraJatiTriputaTalam.

Kaalam or the time period of the talam is one of the aspect of the rhythm. A song could

have one tempo or multiple tempos in the same song. The middle tempo is called

MadhyamaKalam. The most popular way of saying about different kalams are first kalam

(which corresponds to the MadhyamaKalam), second kalam and Third Kalam. In first kalam,

each swaram is sung for each aksharam. In second kalam, two swaras are sung between

two beats and in third kalam four swaras are sung between each beat. When we double the

tempo from MadhyamaKalam it is DhurithaKalam and when we halve it is chowkakalam.

There is one more aspect of Talam, the starting point of the song and this is denoted by the

term Eduppu. Most of the songs would start at the first beat and they are termed as



SamaEduppu. Some songs would start after the first beat and it is indicated by

anaagathaedupu and some start before the first beat and it is indicated by atheethaeduppu.

There are two major type of talam called Deshadi and Madhyadi. These are represented by

AdiTalam only by the song start after samam. In Madhyaditalam, the song start after ½

aksharam and in Deshaditalam, the song start after 1 and ½ aksharas. The famous song

Bantu reethikolo in the Raga Hamsanandi is in DeshadiTalam.



Hindustani Vivaranam

Talas

In the previous magazine we learnt about the various thaats in Hindustani Music. We also

saw as to how intonation of svaras makes a big difference in ragas that have the svaras, yet

are so vastly different from one another.

The three aspects of music that one needs to emphasize on are raga, tala and bhava. The

third of bhava is either in-born in certain people or is developed as a result of devotion unto

Ishwara (there is no other short-cut towards developing bhava or the right emotion for any

song). Some people think that few singers are suited for sad songs whereas others are

suited for happy songs. This is wrong – no emotion can be properly conveyed unless

devotion towards Ishwara is there. Worldly love might also evoke great songs with

emotions, as we find in the case of musicians like A R Rahman. But these stalwarts

definitely fall short of the true devotion unto Ishwara which alone can take us beyond the

world unto the blissful state of moksha through music. Tyagaraja thus says that what is the

use of gaining knowledge of music without devotion unto Ishwara? Such music will only

provide us with worldly pleasures, that are seeds of sorrow alone. For eternal bliss, music

should be associated with devotion unto Ishwara. Thus the great legend of M D Ramanathan

would fill his music with total bhava, effortlessly, as his mind was filled with devotion unto

Ishwara.

Since we already saw previously thaats that are the basis of ragas, we will see tala briefly in

this magazine.

Even as thaats in Hindustani music aren’t well defined like the melakartha ragas in carnatic

music, similarly talas are also not that well defined or set like in carnatic music.

Talas consist of beats that are often split into different parts or sections. Some beat require

sound to be made using the hand, some require a number to be counted and others are in

the form of a silence or little sound.

Since Hindustani music is practiced in gharanas or specific styles (which are different from

other styles), therefore talas as well are used specifically in various gharanas. Few gharanas



use few talas more whereas few other gharanas use few other talas more. Also certain talas

apply well to certain form of music like khayal, drupad, ghazal, bhajans etc.

The important or main talas are as below (in the order of ascending total number of beats in

them):

Dadra – 6 beats split as 3 + 3.

Rupak – 7 beats split as 3 + 2 + 2.

Keherawa – 8 beats split as 4 + 4.

Bhajani – 8 beats split as 4 + 4.

Jhaptal – 10 beats split as 2 + 3 + 2 + 3.

Ektaal - 12 beats split as 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2.

Deepchandi – 14 beats split as 3 + 4 + 3 + 4.

Jhoomra – 14 beats split as 3 + 4 + 3 + 4.

Teentaal – 16 beats split as 4 + 4 + 4 + 4.

We find that there are many talas that have same number of beats and in some cases same

division as well but the bhools that are played in table differ as well as the emphasis too.

Thus though Keherawa and Bhajani both have 8 beats in total, the former is suited for light

music as well as ghazal whereas the latter is suited for bhajans.

Pakawaj talas

Pakawaj is a percussion instrument which is played similar to Tabla and for Hindustani

music but looks similar to mridangam of carnatic music. Many of the talas that are used for

pakawaj are also used for table and instead of the normal table bhols (words we can say)

used for them, pakawaj bhols are used (thus the style of playing the talas or bhols in these

are different).

The common pakawaj talas are:

Jhampa – 10 beats split as 2 + 3 + 2 + 3.

Chautal – 12 beats split as 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2.

Dhamar – 14 beats split as 5 + 2 + 3 + 4.

Tilwada – 16 beats split as 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 + 4.



Laya

Laya is defined as the tempo in which a particular tala is used. Some talas are suited to

slower tempo whereas others are suited to fast tempos. Though we can categorize tempo

into many parts, the three main categories are vilambit (slow), Madhya (medium) and drut

(fast). The other categories are ativilambit (very slow) and ati drut (very fast). Different

types of music are suited to different laya – thus khayal is generally sung in very slow

tempo initially and later increasing the tempo whereas ghazals are sung in medium laya

alone. It is important to musicians to understand as to what laya what type of music is

suited and what talas also are suited for what laya – such a complete understanding alone

will lead to perfection in music leading oneself to enjoy the music and others as well to

benefit from the music.



Raaga Vivaranam

AnandaBhairavi

AnandaBhairavi is the janyam of 20thMelakartha Raga NataBhairavi

Arohanam: Sa Ga2Ri2Ga2Ma1 Pa Dha2PaNi2 Sa

Avarohanam: Sa Ni2Dha2Pa Ma1 Ga2 Ri2 Sa

As the name indicates, this raga gives pleasantness when we listen to a song in this raga.

The pleasantness in its fullest can be obtained when this raga it is sung in slow pace. This

raga could be one of the apt raga to be played on veena with all the gamakas giving the full

raga lakshana.

If we look at the arohanam and avarohanam we see the usage of ChatusrutiDhaivatam

(Dha3) though being the janyam of NataBhairavi. The shuddhaDhaivatam is sometimes used

as an anyasvaram adding beauty to the raga. Likewise AntharaGandharam (Ga3) and

kakiliNishadam (Ni3) are also used as the anyasvara. The gamakam in Rishabham is one of

the characteristic of AnandaBhairavi.

The phrases P Ma GaRi – Ri Ma Pa, Pa Dha Pa Sa NI3Sa, Ri Ma Pa Dha1 Pa Ma GaRi – Sa and

many more phrases. The usage of the anyaswaras add so much beauty the raga. This raga

exhibit bhakti rasam, karunarasam and Sringararasam.

Some of the most popular compositions

ManasaGuruguha – MuthuswamyDikshitar

KamalambaSamrakshtu – MuthuswamyDikshitar

Thyagaraj Yoga Vaibhavam – MuthuswamiDikshitar

KsheeraSagaraVihara – Thyagaraja Swami

O Jagadamba – ShyamaShastri

Marivere – ShyamaShastri

Palukebhangaramayana – BadraacalaRaamadas



Kriti Deepam

O Jagadamba is one of the most popular Kriti in AnandaBhairavi of ShyamaSastri set in

AdiTalam. The song is written in Telugu.

Scriptures say that the whole universe came from that Lord and after creation, Lord is also

the controller of the world. Lord pervades in and out of everything and Lord knows

everything. If we are able to understand this truth of scriptures and abide in this truth, we

will not have any sorrow at all and rather we would always be rejoicing in the Anandam of

the Lord. But being involved in the world and forgetting the Truth of the scriptures that Lord

alone exist, we see many things and thus experience happiness and sorrow in this world.

Mahatmas are those who abide in the Truth of the scriptures that everything is pervaded by

the Lord, and they don’t just remain like that after knowing the Truth. They help everyone

in the world to realize that Truth so that everyone can enjoy the same Anandam Mahatmas

are enjoying.

Mahatmas will have their way of communicating about the Truth, some Mahatmas speak

through the scriptures, some Mahatmas would sing about the Lord or the Truth etc.

ShyamaSastri, one of the trinities of Carnatic Music, adopted music as the mean. The

important thing required is to gain the focus on the Lord who alone exists in this world and

but in order to gain that focus, we also need the grace of the Lord. In order to show people

how to even pray to the Lord, Mahatmas would perform it themselves, and people on seeing

the way Mahatmas do, they follow it as well. In this KritiShyamaShastri seeks the blessing

of the Devi and asks for protection.

O Jagadambananunivujavamunabrovuamba

O, Mother of the Universe! Protect me,now!

The entire world had come from that Devi and the world is currently under the protection

and care of the Devi. Since the entire world had come from Devi, Devi is the mother of the

whole universe. Everyone in this world is Devi’s Child. Devi, who is the creator and protector

of the entire world, alone can protect the entire world. No one else protect us at all points of

time than the Lord. When we understand the greatness of such a Devi, naturally we will be

able to surrender to such a Devi and thus we will be protected. A newly born baby shows

100% surrender to its mother, this makes it very easy for the mother to take care of the



child. Thus the child is protected by the mother. Likewise, when we have 100% surrender

unto the Lord, the protection will be natural and instantaneous. And when should Devi

protect us. Should Devi start protecting us from tomorrow or after a month or year or few

years? We don’t have to delay anything, it is already late and we need protection now.

Protection from what? Protection from anything that will take us away from the Lord. The

whole world has so many objects that would divert our vision and make us forget the

Ultimate Truth even more. But when we at least come to know about the scriptural truth,

we should not forget it and in order to remain focused and not forget it, we need protection

from bad.

I jagatigatiyujanulakumari

tejamuna raja vinutayau

rajamukhisarojanayanasugana

rajarajitakamakshi

Refuge of this world's people,

the One extolled by kings,

Moon faced, lotus eyed, virtuous,

with crescent moon on your head,

kannatallinaducintanintakannnadasalupagataguna

O Mother, why this indifference towards me?

We can take refuge only in the Lord and no one else. This is because Lord is the protector

and controller of the whole world, everyone else in this world are under the protection of the

Lord. Most people, though they may not remember the Ultimate Truth that everything is

Lord alone, would know that Lord is the most powerful and can protect. Kings rule some

area and take care of the people in those area. There are emperors who rule kings and take

care of the kings. Even if there is ruler who rules all great emperors and kings, that ruler

also needs the grace of the Lord. Thus, Lord is the ruler of all the rulers. Here,

ShyamaSastri mentions Devi as being extolled by the kings. Whenever we think about

kings, we can visualize the great majestic look with all ornaments, with the kind of

personality and behavior they would exhibit. Devi who is the ruler of the entire universe,

remain unmatched with the majestic looks and bright appearance.

Can Devi show indifference to people in the world? It is definitely not possible. Whether we

seek the Lord or not, Lord protects everyone in the world without any partiality. The whole



world functions only by the grace of the Lord. But when we are experiencing sorrow and

when we greatly desire to get rid of the sorrow, the most natural refuge is the Lord. But

when we analyze the sorrow is not created by the Lord but us. Lord alone exist everywhere

in the world and this not having this vision is the cause of the sorrow for us and hence what

we need to have is the vision of the Lord. But until we get that vision of Lord we will

encounter happiness and sorrow. And when we show the emotion towards the Lord during

the time of sorrow to seek solace, we will begin to feel little closeness towards the Lord and

when we continue to seek the Lord our mind will be able to focus on the Lord naturally and

there by finally merge unto the Lord.

ninnunenammiunnavadugadanannukani

brocutakarudaannibhuvanambulugacevu

Have I not trusted you? You who sustain the world, is protecting me alone so

difficult?

prasannamurtiannapurnavaradavinnapambuvinnavincisannidivipannabhayavimoca

nadaureya

Pleasant faced Annapurna, who grants boons, dispeller of fear, hear me pleading

at your shrine, protect me now!

When we sing or listen to this song along with the meaning, we can always relate ourselves

to the song. It is not easy to trust someone without knowing much about the person. When

we know more about the person, we would then be able to trust the person. But in order to

ever rejoice in Anandam we can trust only the Lord and no one else. If we think we have

surrendered to the Lord and have 100% faith in the Lord and if we are still experiencing

sorrow, it means that our surrender is still not complete. But when really surrender unto

Lord and we get some testing time, we can demand protection from the Lord like how

ShyamaSastri is demanding the Lord for protection.

Mother is always very compassionate and caring for her children. She cannot bear the pain

of her children and always runs toward her children to take care of them. Likewise Devi who

is the mother of the universe would take care of all her children. Devi grants all the boons

to her devotes, removes all fears and sorrows, bestows joy and happiness. But the most

importantly, the devotee should have focus on the Devi and surrender and trust on to Devi.

When there is surrender and focus, we would be able to realize the grace of the Lord. We



have many examples in puranas where Lord take care of the devotees who surrender unto

them completely.

varasitagirinilayunipriyapranayini

parashaktimanavinivinuma

mariyadaleruganidusprabhula

korivinutimpagavarambosagi

Beloved consort of Siva dwelling in Himalaya

Parashakti! Please heed my plea!

Please grant me boons, so that i need not

Seek out and sing praises of pompous patrons

In these final lines, ShyamaSastri again pleads for protection so that he don’t have to praise

people of the world to get rid of his sorrow. There are people in the world who are powerful

enough to wipe out sorrows of others. A wealthy man could help poor by giving money or

food or something that is required. But the person may then expect to sing their praise for

being helped. ShyamaSastri says here that there is no one else worthy enough to be

praised and surrendered. If we surrender to someone in the world, it will lead to our own

downfall if the person falls down. But Lord who is always protecting the world, alone can be

taken as the refuge and Lord alone can protect us from every danger that might come to

us.



Acharya Arpanam

The ultimate goal of human life is to attain liberation from the cycle of birth and death, and

the most important sadhana a seeker of liberation should do is to remember, focus and see

the Lord in everything. There are different sadhanas prescribed by the scriptures to

remember the Lord like Japa, dhyana etc. Music is also one of the ways to remember the

Lord and also to gain focus on the Lord. If we have to know how to use Music to remember

the Lord, we have to know the life of Trinities of Carnatic music, who not just spent their life

singing songs, these Mahatmas spent their life remembering the Lord and sang. The songs

of the Trinities are filled with devotion and therefore the songs not only gives us joy when

we hear them, it also make us remember the Lord. We have seen the life of Thyagaraja

Swami and Muthuswami Dikshitar in the previous magazines. In this article we will see the

life of Shyama Shastri.

Shyama Shastri was born on April 26, 1762 to a very pious and scholarly Tamil Brahmin

family of Vishwanatha Iyer. He was named as Venkata Subramanyan but called by the

name ‘Shyama Krishna’. Shyama Shastri learned Telugu and Sanskrit at a very early age

from his father. He was exposed to Carnatic music by his uncle. No one in the family had a

liking towards the music, but Shyama Shastri had the liking, with sweet voice in the very

age itself. Even though his uncle had taught him the basics of music, he also told him that

he should not focus too much on music but should focus more on something productive.

One day, Shyama Shastri was doing pooja at the Kamakshi temple. While doing the pooja,

he chanted the mantras in different raga. People who came to the temple were attracted by

this beautiful voice of Shyama Shastri and were extremely pleased about this little boy

doing the pooja. One of the devotees presented him with a shawl which he took it to his

uncle and told him everything that happened. His uncle was very angry at this and told

Shyama Shastri that he would not teach music any more and he should focus more on

something that is practiced with the family which is Vedanta and scriptures. His uncle had

also torn all the music books he had at that time. But this did not reduce the interest in

music even little bit.

Shyama Shastri was a very good listener as well. He used to listen to the music of various

musicians, and practices when alone by himself. He used to sit in front of Kamakshi Devi

temple and would sing with 100% involvement and devotion. Once a musical saint, who was

also a great yogi, came to Vishwanath Iyer’s house. When he saw Shyama Shastri he told



his Vishwanath Iyer that “This child is a musical genius. You must arrange for a good

training”. Even though Shyama Shastri’s father did not agree initially, he then agreed to

provide formal training in music for Shyama Shastri. He sent Shyama Shastri along with the

saint to learn music. The saint was also a musical genius who was an expert at even the

subtle nuances of the music. The saint gave formal training to Shyama Shastri teaching him

all that know including the subtle nuances. Shyama Shastri being a quick grasper, was able

to learn them all very quickly and soon became every knowledgeable in music. The saint

was very happy and blessed Shyama Shastri that he would be one of the greatest

musicians. The saint also asked him to attend the concerts of one of the popular singer

Adiappayyar. He composed the famous Viriboni varnam which was one of the popular Ata

tala varnam in Bhairavi Raga. Adiappayyar was very pleased with the 12 year old Shyama

Shastri and was very much attracted by his knowledge on music. He used to have long

conversations with Shyama Shastri on music. He considered Shyama Shastri as the

incarnation of Kamakshi Devi and had very high respect for Shyama Shastri.

More about the life of Shyama Shastri are known more through his great grandson who was

alive till the age of 94 and passed away in 1950. The description was that Shyama Shastri

was about 6 feet tall, was very good looking and well built. Shyama Shastri was a Kamakshi

Upasaka following his father and was always immersed in the devotion of Devi. Being

immersed in remembrance and devotion to Devi, he composed and sang many songs.

Shyama Shastri had about 300 compositions in his entire life. These 300 compositions are

gems of not just from music perspective but the devotional aspect shown in every song. He

never tried to earn money by singing but had always tried to spend lot of time in the

remembrance of Devi. He never used to travel for making money, but he would travel to

Thiruvayaar in order to meet Thyagaraja Swami. He would also travel to various pilgrim

places and would sing in praise of Lord of the temple he used to visit.

Shyama Shastri had composed about 300 songs in his life times and most of them are in

common ragas. He has composed lot of songs in Ananda Bhairavi and Saveri, this might

give a clue that he likes these two ragas more. He composed songs in Tamil, Sanskrit and

Telugu and most of them on Devi. He has also composed varnams and swarajathis. Most of

his compositions will have the mudra of ‘shyama krishna’ in the song. Some people also say

that he discovered the swarajathi form of songs. His set of three famous swarajatis is

referred to as ratna trayam, and these are composed in Bhairavi, Yadukulakamodhi and

Thodi.



Shyama Shastri like his father was very knowledgeable in Astrology. Due to the intense

upasana on Devi, he had the power of words and thoughts that whatever he wishes or

whatever he says come true. He learned Astrology through his father and was very accurate

in his predictions. Once a friend came to Shyama Shastri and told him that some astrologer

told him that he would live only 10 more days. Shyama Shastri looked at his horoscope and

said he would live for another 10 years and so it happened.

Shyama Shastri had two sons, Panju Shastri and Subburaya Shastri. Panju Shastri being the

eldest son, continued the tradition of Devi Upasana in the Kamakshi temple. He was also as

pious has his father was. Subburaya Shastri was one of the musical genius like his father,

who composed some of the famous kritis. Subburaya Shastri was so fortunate to learn

music from Carnatic Trinities of Thyagaraja Swami, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Shyama

Shastri.

Shyama Shastri’s wife was a very pious person and was also very devoted to Devi like her

husband. Being well versed in Astrology, Shyama Shastri knew exactly when he was going

to leave the mortal coil and when he mentioned that to his wife, she went and prayed to

Devi that she should leave the body before her husband. So it happened that on February

1st 1827, Shyama Shastri’s wife had passed away. During that time Shyama Shastri known

to have said “SAga anjinAl sethu ArinAl” and all people interpreted that as “She was afraid

of death and found solace after she died”. Just six days after Shyama Shastri’s wife had

passed away, on February 7th 1827, he meditated on Devi for one last time and left the

mortal coil. All the people then realized that what he said was “sAga anjunAl sethu ArunAl”

which means 5 days to go (to leave the mortal coil) and six days would have passed after

death (of his wife). It seems all musicians at the time came and paid their last respects to

one of the trinities of Carnatic music.



Ishwara Smaranam

Gopala Krishna Giridhari Krishna

Goloka nandana Krishna

Govinda Krishna Ghana shyama Krishna

Gopi janeshwara Krishna

O Krishna, cowherd boy, who uplifted the Govardhana mountain!

O Krishna, whose real abode is Goloka!

O Govinda, dark-blue colored!

O Krishna, the Lord of the Gopis!

This song speaks about Lord Krishna. The ultimate goal of life is to attain the goal of Moksha

and in order to move towards the goal of moksha, the most important thing required is to

have constant remembrance of Iswara. Kirtans or Bhajans are one of the ways of

remembering the Lord. This song speak about different aspect of Lord Krishna. The moment

we think or hear about Lord Krishna the first thing that will come to our mind is the smiling

face of the Lord. Whether it is the face of child Krishna or youth Krishna or Krishna in the

war or Krishna with Gopis, the constant thing we can see is the joyful face of the Lord.

When we see any of our friend being happy, we would get naturally attracted towards that

person. Likewise anyone or everyone will get attracted towards the joyful form of Lord

Krishna. Gopis of Vridavan always remembered Lord Krishna and would always connect

every normal activity with something about Lord Krishna. Thereby there would be nothing

that would make them forget the Lord. Here in this song, it speaks about various aspects of

the Lord.

Lord Krishna was called Gopal as he was the cowherd. He was the care taker of the cows,

let them gaze the grass and watch them. Cows or Pashus signify people of the world who

are ignorant of the real nature, who are grazing the world here and there without control

and he is the gopala who takes care of all the cows and makes sure they are returned

home. And how powerful he is? As a young boy, he lifted Govardhana mountain in his little

finger in order to protect the people of Gokula. This is no less than a miracle to lift an entire

mountain in little finger. But that is not what is to be focused. It signifies that Lord will do

even the impossible thing in order to protect the devotees. Govinda means one who controls

the animal nature of man and convert that into Divine nature . Govinda also means one who



master of sense organs. And he was the Lord of the Gopis. Gopi always remembered Lord

Krishna at all points in time. There was no time that they forgot Lord Krishna.

Sukumara Krishna surapooja Krishna

Sukhasaara vigraha Krishna

Kamaneeya Krishna karunaardra Krishna

KalidoshanaashanaKrishna

O Krishna! The perfectly beautiful,

Who is adored by all celestial beings,

And whose essence is happiness,

You are the one who, full of compassion,

Destroys all sins in the dark age of materialism.

Lord Krishna has a very attractive beautiful face. Any smiling face will appear to be a good

looking face. But Lord who is of the nature of Anandam, how can the form be not beautiful?

Such a Lord who is of the nature of Anandam, who would not worship? People in higher

lokas are considered to be having more enjoyment and happiness than in the world. Even

they worship the Lord because the Anandam of the Lord is nowhere close to the happiness

that is experienced in the higher lokas. Lord stands for the Anandam. In case we wanted to

know how to live joyfully, all we have to do is to look at the Lord and see how blissfully he

lived. It doesn’t mean that we have to do what the Lord did. But it means that whatever the

Lord did, the Lord was never affected, the Lord was never moved from the blissful nature.

Lord is the abode of compassion. There is no match to the compassion of the Lord and there

can never be any match to the compassion of the Lord. Lord takes care of each and every

object in the world like mother takes care of the child. Lord wants everyone to enjoy the

Anandam that He enjoys, but people in the world have forgotten about the Truth that Lord

alone exists and are stuck in the duality of the world. But when there is thought of the Lord

in the mind, that will serve as the medium to cross over from this samsara and thereby

realizing the truth.

Navaneeta Krishna nataraja Krishna

Nalini dalekshana Krishna

Yadunaatha Krishna yatisevya Krishna

Yamuna thataasrita Krishna.

O Krishna, the butter theif,



The kind of dance,

O Lotus-eyed One,

The Lord of Yadava’s lineage

Who is served by all sages and saints.

Things that are attractive to our eyes always stay in our mind much longer. The more we

remember the form, the more it would stay in our mind. If it is for some object in the world,

what to talk the blissful form of the Lord. There will be no end to describe to beauty of the

Lord and not just that. When we remember along with the mischiefs the Lord had done, the

Lord would stay in our mind longer. Yatis are those who are realized masters and are always

abiding in the Truth. Such masters do not have any desires or duties in the world and are

ever blissful in the abidance of Brahman. Realizing the Truth of Brahman is the greatest

tribute that a person can do to the Lord because Lord wants everyone to experience that

Anandam which is everyone’s very nature and only way to attain that Anandam is by

realizing the Truth. Masters who are ever abiding in Brahman are taken care by the Lord

himself.

Vrajavasi Krishna vanamali Krishna

Vasudeva nandana Krishna

Jayadeva Krishna jagadeesha Krishna

Janamaanaseshvara Krishna

O Krishna who lives in Vraja, Adorned with a garland of wild flowers,

Son of vasudeva,

Jayadeva is a great devotee of yours,

O Krishna you are the Lord of the world and of all souls.

Lord Krishna being a cow-herd lived in a place where there were many cowherds and who

loves to have garlands. Lord Krishna likes alankara and is always well adorned with garland

and jewels and peacock feather on his head. Since we know that Lord is fond of decorations,

we can try to adorn the Lord with Jewels and garlands and chandan and whatever we want

mentally. This kind of mental offering will expand our mind and also make our mind more

blissful with the presence of the Lord in our mind. Puranas speak about various Bhaktas who

always had Lord in their mind. Different bhaktas showed different types of bhakti towards

the Lord. But all of them finally reached the abode of the Lord which is Anandam. The Truth

to be kept in mind is that everything is pervaded in and out by the Lord. Lord is the



protector and care taker of the entire world. Lord is the controller of the entire universe. He

is present in each every entity in this world, be it a living or a non-living thing. Such a Lord

is always to be kept in mind so that we realize the Lord and thereby ever rejoice in

Anandam.

This song of Amma is set in the Raga Ananda Bhairavi.



Anukramaanika Nirdesham

1. Editorial – a general message

2. Sangeetha Prakaashanam – music and concepts of music explained in simple terms.

3. Hindustani Vivaranam – concepts of Hindustani music explained in a comparative

study with carnatic music.

4. Raaga Vivaranam – analysis/explanation of a raaga.

5. Kriti Deepam – a kriti of music explained.

6. Acharya Arpanam – remembrance of an acharya of music.

7. Ishwara Smaranam – remembrance of Ishwara through a devotional song.

1. Comments

2. Suggestions

3. Corrections (word, sloka, content etc.)

4. Would like to see specific content

5. Would like to contribute (through research from websites, don’t need to write up the

content yourself)

Mail [email protected].

Feel free to forward this to anyone who might be interested.

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http://vedantatattva.org/vedantagroup/SangeethaVaibhavam/

Subscribing and unsubscribing can be done by mailing [email protected].

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