vidulaku mrokkeda

Sahityam

Pallavi

Anupallavi

Charanam

Commentary

• ¹ zaGkara kRta – In the Kriti ‘nAda tanumanizaM ’ – Sri Thyagaraja states that Lord Sankara is the embodiment of nAda . In the Kriti ‘rAga sudhA rasa ’, Sri Thyagaraja states ‘sadAziva mayamagu nAdOMkAra svara vidulu ’. Accordingly, Sankara mentioned in this Kriti is Sadasiva – the Paramatma and not Siva of Trinity; this is further substantiated by mention of ‘Siva’ in the Charanam also.
  • As far Vedas are concerned, the literary (Sahitya) aspect cannot be separated from the nAda aspect. The fact that Vedas are called zruti – one that is heard – implies that Vedas should be learnt under a preceptor and not simply by reading from the books. Therefore, as Sankara – the Paramatma who is the embodiment of nAda , is also the creator of all Vedas including Sama Veda.
  • Therefore, the reference in Anupallavi to ‘sAma nigama vidulu ’ (masters of Sama Veda) and ‘sapta-svara vidulu ’ (maestros of musical (seven) notes which are embodiment of nAda ) may mean that ‘masters of Sama Veda are also maestros of music’. Accordingly, Anupallavi can be rendered as –
  • “I salute with pleasure the maters of Sama Veda – created by Sankara – who are indeed the maestros of music – embodiment of nAda .”
  • A doubt, however, arises whether the reverse is also true – ‘Are the maestros of music, also masters of Sama Veda?’ May not be necessarily true.
• ² sAma nigama - According to ‘Karnataka Sangita Sastra’ by Sri AS Panchapakesa Iyer, while Rig and Yajur Vedas contain only three svara, Sama Veda contains all the sapta svara.
  • “Poetry is the essence of Speech; Music is the essence of Poetry; The Udgita of Sama Veda embodied by the Pranava is the essence of Music; Thus,this Omkaara (Pranava Nada) is the utmost, the most valuble , the final essence of all essences.” For more information on Sama Veda and its connection to music, please visit the site – [[http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/oct95/0085.html Sama Veda and Music]]
• ³ nAda – “lit. ‘sound; tone; vibration.’ Metaphysically, the mystic sounds of the Eternal, of which the highest is the transcendent or Soundless Sound, Paranada, the first vibration from which creation emanates. Nada also refers to other psychic sounds heard during deep meditation, including those resembling various musical instruments. Most commonly, nada refers to ordinary sound.” – [[http://www.eomega.org/omega/knowledge/yogaterms/ Nada1]]
  • In view of the above definition, the word ‘nAda ’ has been left untranslated. This word encompasses both primordial sound (anAhata ) and created sound (ahata ). kabIr sings ‘anahat ki zabd bhajE nirantar ’ (anAhata zabda is sounding ceaselessly). Details regarding ‘anAhata nAda ’ may be found in the e-book ‘Kundalini Yoga’ by Swami Sivananda which may be downloaded from [[http://www.dlshq.org/ Kundalini Yoga]]
  • For a series of articles on ‘nAda ’, please refer to – [[http://en.mimi.hu/yoga/nada.html Nada2]]
  • In the Kriti ‘vara rAga layajnulu ’, Sri Thyagaraja states ‘dEhOdbhavambagu nAdamul’ – ‘nAda emanating from the body’ - In Lalita Sahasranamam, Mother is called ‘parA’, ‘pazyanti’, ‘madhyamA’, ‘vaikhari rUpA ’.
  • “parA – The transcendent Word - above the other lower stages of speech known as pazyanti (speech in the inaudible stage), madhyamA (speech in the middle stage of its expression) and vaikharI (uttered audible speech)”. (Translation by Swami Tapasyananda). For a discourse of Kanchi Paramacharya Chandrasekharendra Saraswati on ‘parA’, ‘pazyanti’, ‘madhyamA’, ‘vaikhari – please visit website – [[http://www.geocities.com/profvk/gohitvip/DPDS26-30.html Para Pasyanti(Page 30)]]
• ⁴ bharata – it refers to sage Bharata – author of ‘nATya zAstra ’ – For more details about the origins of Bharata Natyam, please visit the site – [[http://in.geocities.com/medhahari/bharata_natyam/bharata_natyam.html Bharata Natyam]]
• ⁵ kAzyapa – the progenitor of both Sura and Asura; also one of Sapta Rishis and also the priest in the Court of King Dasaratha and Rama along with Vamadeva, Vasishtha, Jabali and Markandeya. It is not clear to whom Sri Thyagaraja refers.
• ⁶ caNDIza – One of the five forms of Lord Siva – To know full details, please visit the site - [[http://www.shaivam.org/nachande.html Chandisa]]
• ⁷ su-mRkuNDuja - mArkaNDEya – to know more about Markandeya, please visit site- [[http://www.srividya.org/Divine_Stories/MARKANDEYA.pdf Markandeya]]. To know more about Markandeya Purana – please visit site – [[http://www.urday.com/markandeya.htm Markandeya Purana]]
• ⁸ sOmEzvara – According to Monier’s Dictionary, it is one of the names of Krishna. The other Somesvara is the name of Lord Siva at the famous Somanatha temple at Gujarat. Since Krishna is very fond of music, this name, in my opinion, may refer to Krishna.
  • There is a mention of Somanatha (17th century) – author of ‘rAgavibodhA ’ - [[http://www.gswift.com/article.pdf Somanatha]] It is not clear whether Sri Thyagaraja means Krishna or Somanatha by ‘sOmEzvara ’.
• ⁹ zArGga dEva – The author of ‘saGgIta ratnAkara ’ – “One of the major treatises on Indian music, written around the thirteenth century, authored by Sarangadeva. It covers a wide area of scholarship and understanding and has influenced all subsequent writings on music.” – Source – [[http://carnatica.net/onlinedictionary/dics.htm Sarangadeva]]
• ¹⁰ nandI – Bull of Lord Siva. He is stated to have played Mridanga while Siva performed Thandava. However, according to the Tamizh work ‘Thirumandiram’ by Thirumoolar, Nandi is also the name of the Paramatma.

Renditions