Dikshitar compositions, music and wordplay
Lately I have been listening to the "Kamalamba Navavarna" Krithis (compositions) of Muthuswamy Dikshitar. If you have an interest in Carnatic (South Indian classical) music, then listening to the performance of these krithis by eminent vocalist D.K. Jayaraman is a must if you haven't done it already. There are free mp3's of these great compositions at http://www.ecse.rpi.edu/Homepages/shivkuma/personal/music/#k . Just scroll down to Kamalamba Navavarna Krithis and download the 'original mp3 (DKJ)' files. There are about 11 to download in various ragas.
I feel these compositions have so much depth that when it is performed, the focus of the listeners immediately shifts to the beauty of the composition rather than the talent of the person performing it. Each composition brings out the raga 'bhava' (essence) in a profound way. Every time I listen to the recording, my mood is suddenly transformed to something more positive...whether it is more contemplative, meditative or just happy. Also, the words are apparently infused with mantras which supposedly have a very strong positive effect. Maybe that explains this phenomenon.
As a saxophonist, I have been told that playing these compositions on an instrument would not do justice because the words would not be heard. I still feel that the strong effect of both the music and the words can be communicated if the performer is living and breathing it while performing it. I do plan on performing some of these compositions in public sometime. It may sound cliche, but music is supposed to be the universal language. Words can be converted to thought power, mixed with emotion and expressed musically.
Isn't the process the other way? Words are something we use to attempt to express that abstract idea we have in our minds. Sometimes there is just something you can't explain with words. The arts allow us to paint a picture, or an aural picture, of that something. This becomes a more immediate connection then. In some instances, we have a deep or powerful thought, a feeling -- an abstract idea. But by the time we figure out how to express it in words, it may lose some of its potency. When we play music, the feeling is expressed on the spot in its most powerful form. The great composers(Dikshitar, Thyagaraja, Shyama Shastri, etc etc) often composed complex songs on the spot. They too, were searching for a way to express. They were gifted in being able to articulate these high-level thoughts.
Of course, many of Dikshitars compositions were almost like diaries, describing in intricate detail, various temples and sites of interest he visited in his travels. In those cases, he was using the songs as a more concrete communication. The nine Kamalamba krithis are especially complex since Dikshitar composed them to describe the nine stages of a spiritual journey (very simply put) so that people could sing them with understanding, thus traversing the stages easier. What can we grasp from this?
The meanings of the songs must be studied in-depth and understood by the performer. Once a deep understanding is attained and the artist imbibes the meaning in the performance, the beauty and power of the composition's meaning will automatically be transferred to the listener-- whether or not it is an instrumental or vocal performance.
DKJ's recording has accomplished this, which is probably why it always has such a great effect. I have listened to a select few instrumentalists play some of the compositions and I feel it does carry a strong effect also. Dikshitar's Kamalamba Navavarna krithis are such strong compositions, that their message seems to shine through every time. Give them a good long listen, and you will know.
posted by Prasant @ 10:58 PM
5 Comments
5 Comments:
Nice blog---I attended the concert in SD you have a photo of on your blog header. I have always been looking for someone to post pointers on what they have been listening, it is good to have it from you too!
Maybe you should delete the spam messages in the comment by bernardo and travis---they are ads.
You say both instrumental and vocal renderings of Kamalamba Nava-aavarana kritis {nava = nine, aavarana, not aavarna = veils or screens or filters}share a mhystically similar impact on the listener given just a certain reverential interest on the part of the hm/he, however unexposed to Indian classical music s/he may be. This is indeed true of most musical compositions which poured out with music from the very depths of the hearts of people who composed them on the spot or at some leisure, as an offering to the Almighty visualized by the devotee-composers in the form of their favourite deities. The other point is while a majority of Dikshita Kritis is woven with simple Sanskrit words which are more popular oftentimes than even the corresponding non-Sanskrit words in the local languages of India. Hence their general popularity among all South Indian audiences wherever they are, who can follow in a vocal rendering both the words (sabda)( and the artha. The music, common to both vocal and instrumental presentations, transcends all linguistic and cultural barriers, and is of universal appeal. Another point is that there are Kritis are couched in terms describing Mantra and Tantra sastras which adumbrate the profoundest aspects of some of Indian religious mystical experiences, especially Hindu and Buddhist. The intrinsic significance (tattva-artha) of several terms contained in such Kritis, and most especially the Nava-aavarana kritis is very profound, and is accessile to any wellguided human being wanting to delve into and experience their mystical impact. The plain truth is that an overwhelming proportion of listeners is not adequately equipped with even an elementary knowledge of the mystical aspects and the mystical terms, but even ther little understanding of a term here and there, added to the heavy mystical power of the music which the composers have vested on the Kritis, makes for a supreme sense of mystical experience for the listener and the musician, alike, provided a modicum of reverence on listener's part, and of sense of involvement for the latter.
I regret that one sentence, towards the middle of my comments appearing just above, has inadvertently been let to go even (after a preview!) without making it complete the intended sense. Confuse the reader as this is likely to, I regret this, and make the correction. The sentence should read: "Another (NOT The other) point is while a majority of Dikshita Kritis is woven with simple Sanskrit words which are more popular oftentimes than even the corresponding non-Sanskrit words in the local languages of India, there are a relatively small number of them, contain rather lengthier compound terms (samaasa-pada-s)and for this reason are slightly less popular among common listeners".
Very thoughtfully written.We recently had the Navaavarana kruthis rendered at our home just to feel the effect it carries with itself.Each of the composition puts you in to the meditative mode.I agree with you that even an instrumentalist can bring the same effect as a vocalist, when words are transformed in to lively notes.Music can express anything that can not be expressed by words.Since these kruthis denote a spiritual journey it is both up to the performer to grasp the inner meaning and do justice to it as well as the listener who should be mature enough to imbibe it with the right perception.
This is a couple years late, but thanks for the wonderful comments.
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