Carnatic Compositions – The Essence and Embodiment-29

Carnatic Compositions – The Essence and Embodiment

– Aparna Munukutla Gunupudi 

Our intent for this essay is to highlight the great features of the language, emotion and melody (rAgam) of a krithi (song/composition) and also to provide the song for your listening pleasure. Most of you may know these krithis, but when you discover the distinct features of a krithi, you may enjoy a new beauty or an attribute in the krithi.

Note: Krithi is defined as a song containing pallavi, anupallavi and charanam that have high musical value and can be sung elaborately with improvisations. Whereas, Keerthana also has a pallavi, anupallavi and charanam but is sung in a single form or simpler pattern.

srI kAntimathim
Raagam: hEmavati
TaaLam: Adi
Composer: Muttuswami Dikshitar
Language: Sanskrit

Pallavi

srI kAntimatIm sankara yuvatIm srI guruguha jananIm vandEham

caraNam

hRImkAra bIjAkAra vadanAm
hiraNya maNimaya sObhA sadanAm
pAkasAsnAdi dEva vinutam
parasurAma nata himasailasutAm

madhyama kAla sAhityam:
suka saunakAdi sadArAdhitAm suddha
tAmraparNI taTasthitAm sankhadyaSTOttara sahasra
kalasAbhishEkAmOdAm surahitAm

Meaning:

srI kAntimatIm – Sri KAnthimathim
sankara yuvatIm – The girl of lord Sankara
srI guruguha – Sri Guruguha/Subrahmanya
jananIm – mother
vandEham – respects to you

hRImkAra – the sound of Hreem
bIjAkAra – powerful form
vadanAm – of face
hiraNya – golden
maNimaya – plenty of jewels
sObhA – shining
sadanAm – housed
pAkasAsnAdi dEva– Indra and other celestial bodies
vinutam – praised by
parasurAma nata – praised by Parasurama
hima saila – snow clad mountain
sutAm – daughter
suka – sage Suka
saunakAdi – sage Saunaka and others
sadArAdhitAm – always praise you
suddha tAmraparNI – pure TamraparNi river
taTasthitAm – residing on the banks
sankhadyaSTOttara Sahasra – 1008 shells
kalasAbhishEkAm – showered with pots full of water
mOdAm – enjoying
surahitAm – friend of the celestial bodies

Summary:

Composer Deekshitar, in this krithi, bows to srI KAnthimathim who is the consort of Sankara and the mother of srI Subrahmanya. Her face shines with the effulgence from the powerful mantra “hreem”. She is housed in the golden temple decked with the many jewels. She is praised by Indra and other celestial bodies as well as ParasurAma. She is the daughter of the king of snow-clad mountains (hima saila). She is always worshiped by Suka & Sounaka and she is sternly residing by the river banks of TamraparNi. She is known to enjoy the showers poured from the one thousand and eight shells and pots and she is friendly with all the celestial bodies.

          KAnthimatim is the consort of lord Nellai appar, in the famous Nellai Appar temple in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, on the river banks of TamraparNi, which is known as an ever flowing river. The temple is very large and has a few special features such as tall and beautifully sculpted raja gopuram, sapta swara pillars and so forth. The temple was built by Pandya kings and further developed by Chera, Chola and Pallava kings. The composer carefully embedded the river tAmraparNi and the krithi is set in a rare rAgam HEmavati. HEmavati, literally means a woman with golden hue, which befits the golden hued goddess Parvati. Also, on special occasions like Parvati Kalyanam and Arudra festival, she is taken out on a procession in a golden chariot. Devotees consider an opportunity to pull the chariot as a privilege and a blessing.

Ranjani Gunupudi works as a senior statistician and is a disciple of Sri Arvind Lakshmikanthan.  She resides in the San Francisco bay area.

Anupama Gunupudi works as a program manager, and is a disciple of Sri Arvind Lakshmikanthan.  She resides in Los Angeles, CA.

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Ambuja vAsini
RAgamAlika
TaaLam: Adi
Lyrics: Aparna Munukutla Gunupudi
Music: Sreelakshmi Kolavennu
Language: Sanskrit

ambujavAsini amala vilOchani Ananda samavadanI
akhila sampath pradAyini Adi lakshmi namOstutE

sasyasyAmala kAriNi ayi kalikalmasha nAsini
kedArAnchala vAsini dhAnya lakshmi namOstutE

Bhava bhaya hArinI setru vinAsinI
dhIramanassanchAriNi dhairya lakshmi namOstutE

ksheera samudbhava rUpiNI kamalasambhava swarUpiNi
Sura gaNa parivruta sEvinI gaja lakshmi namOstutE

sakala lOka janani viswa parampara kAriNi
vara subhadAyini santAna lakshmi namOstutE

vijayOtsAha pAlini vIravinuta satkEliNi
sarva tApa semani vijaya lakshmi namOstutE

vividha vidyA swarUpinI vINA gAna vinOdinI
vEda samhitA kAriNi vidyA lakshmi namOstutE

maNimaya bhUshaNi mangaLakAriNi visva vibhava prakAsini
sumadhura manjula bhAshiNI dhana lakshmi namOstutE

Meaning:

ambujavAsini – residing in the lotus
amala vilOchani – pure visioned
Ananda samavadanI – happy and composed demeanor
Akhila – all
Sampath – wealth
pradAyini – provider
Adi lakshmi – the primary goddess of wealth
namOstutE – praising with hands bowed

sasyasyAmala kAriNi – the provider of the water via dark clouds
ayi kalikalmasha nAsini – remover of impurities
kedArAnchala vAsini – dwells upon the green fields
dhAnya lakshmi – provider of grains
namOstutE – praising with hands bowed

Bhava bhaya hArinI – remover of the fear and miseries
setru vinAsinI – destroyer of the enemies
dhIramanassanchAriNi – dwells in the hearts of courageous
dhairya lakshmi – provider of courage
namOstutE – praising with hands bowed

ksheera samudbhava rUpiNI – the one that emerged out of the milky ocean
kamalasambhava swarUpiNi – seated in the lotus
Sura gaNa – celestial bodies
parivruta sEvinI – surrounded & attended
gaja lakshmi – provider of strength equal to an elephant
namOstutE – praising with hands bowed

sakala lOka janani – a mother to the universe
viswa parampara kAriNi – causes the progeny & prosperity
vara subhadAyini – showers happiness
santAna lakshmi – provider of children
namOstutE – praising with hands bowed

vijayOtsAha pAlini – ruler of victory and enthusiasm
vIravinuta satkEliNi – enjoys when praised by the valorous
sarva tApa semani – soothes & heals the agitated/aggravated
vijaya lakshmi – provider of the victory
namOstutE – praising with hands bowed

vividha vidyA swarUpinI – embodiment of different faculties
vINA gAna vinOdinI – enjoys the music from veena and singing
vEda samhitA kAriNi – the one that is form of vedas
vidyA lakshmi – provider of the education
namOstutE – praising with hands bowed

maNimaya bhUshaNi – decked with many jewels
mangaLakAriNi – cause of the good events
visva vibhava prakAsini – one that makes the world shine
Sumadhura – sweet
Manjula – gentle
bhAshiNI – speaks
dhana lakshmi – provider of wealth
namOstutE – praising with hands bowed

Summary:

In this krithi, the author praises eight forms of goddess of wealth known as Ashta Lakshmi in eight verses. Adi Lakshmi, who resides in the lotus with a pure and unblemished vision and a composed face that provides all the wealth. Dhanya Lakshmi, the provider of grains, who causes rains for the crops, removes all the impurities in the atmosphere and dwells in the green fields. Dhairya Lakshmi, the provider of courage, who removes the fear and miseries and dwells in the hearts of the courageous. Gaja Lakshmi, the provider of strength, who emerged out of the milky ocean and is surrounded and praised by the celestial bodies. SantAna Lakshmi, the provider of children, is the mother to the entire universe who causes progeny and showers happiness to all. Vijaya Lakshmi, the provider of victory, dwells upon the energetic, enthusiastic minds and soothes the aggravated. VidyA Lakshmi, the provider of education, is an embodiment of vedas and different faculties such as education, art, music and so forth. Dhana Lakshmi, the provider of monetary wealth, is decked with many jewels, speaks sweetly and gently and causes good events and makes the universe shine with wealth.

          This keertana is in a stuthi (praise) format which simply praises different forms of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity who is portrayed as Ashta lakshmi, the provider of eight different forms of wealth. Typically, wealth is attributed to monetary (money) wealth, however, this concept of Ahta Lakshmi or eight forms of wealth gives an overall perspective of wealth as anything that causes happiness and well being of humanity. This also emphasizes that money alone can not solve the world’s problems and each and every element that causes happiness and soothes the hearts and minds of people, is the greatest wealth. Let us value every resource we have been blessed with on this earth as wealth and appreciate the efforts that are put in by countless people to make our lives happy and comfortable.

Sreelakshmi Kolavennu is an accomplished musician, composer and music director.  She has given a number of concerts in India as well as in the San Francisco bay area.  She has provided score and set many dance ballets to music.  She also set many AnnamAchArya compositions to music.  She lives in the San Francisco bay area.

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sangeetha sAmrAjya
Raagam: mOhana kalyANi
TaaLam: Adi
Composer: Bangalore Ramamurti
Language: Sanskrit

Pallavi:

sangIta sAmrAjya sancAriNi sringAra sringEripura vAsini

Anupallavi:

unnata pAnDya kEraLa vAsini sannuta srI chakra madhya nivAsini
kAlaDi sankara hrudaya nivAsini kAla dikpAlaka brahma visvAsini

caraNam:

gAndhAra panchama dhaivata rUpiNi niSAda madhyama sapta swara rUpiNi
mandAra kusum maNimaya tEjO mAdhurya mOhanakalyANi svarUpiNi

Meaning:

sangIta sAmrAjya – The kingdom of music
sancAriNi – wanders in
sringAra – beautiful
sringEri pura – town of Sringeri
vAsini – resides in

unnata – high
pAnDya – pandya land
kEraLa – the state of Kerala
vAsini – resident
sannuta – well praised
srI chakra Madhya – in the center of sri chakra
nivAsini – resides in
kAlaDi – the town of KAladi (birthplace of Adi SankarAcharya)
sankara hrudaya – in the heart of Sankara
nivAsini – lives in
kAla – the lord Sankara, the time keeper
dikpAlaka – the lords of the eight directions
brahma – the lord Brahma
visvAsini – trusts you

gAndhAra – musical note gandhara
panchama – musical note panchama
dhaivata – musical note dhaivata
rUpiNi – in the form
niSAda – Musical note nishada
Madhyama –musical note madhyama
sapta swara rUpiNi – took the form of the seven musical notes
mandAra kusuma – the flower hibiscus
maNimaya – jeweled in abundance
tEjO – shining
mAdhurya – melodeous
mOhanakalyANi – mohana Kalyani
svarUpiNi – dwells

Summary:

This is a krithi on goddess Saraswati of Sringeri.  She is said to wander in the kingdom of music and the beautiful town of Sringeri.  She is known to have lived in the lands of pandyas in Kerala and she is well praised as the one who resides in the center of sri chakra, a mystical geometric pattern of interlocking triangles where the center is known for creation and force.  She certainly is in the heart of Adi SankarAcharya of KAlaDi and she has the full trust of lord Siva, the lords of the eight directions and Brahma.  She is living in the form of all the musical notes, shines with beautiful hibiscus flowers and other jewels and dwells in the melodious tune of Mohanakalyani.

          Sringeri is known as the Sakthi peetham established by Adi Sankara, by the river banks of Tunga in the beautiful Chikmagaluru hills of Karnataka.  The primary deity in the temple is Saradamba/Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge and fine arts.  The location and the temple surroundings are very lush and green with new plants sprouting everywhere showing the sign of prosperity.  It presents a very peaceful and serene environment with very pleasant weather.  Many families visit the temple with their young children to launch their educational journey officially and ritually (akshara abhyAsam – practice of letters) and receive the blessings of goddess Saradamba!

The power of music is profound
The joy of music is sweet and sound
The awe of music is abound
Music makes the world go round

Sreelakshmi Kolavennu is an accomplished musician, composer and music director.  She has given a number of concerts in India as well as in the San Francisco bay area.  She has provided score and set many dance ballets to music.  She also set many AnnamAchArya compositions to music.  She lives in the San Francisco bay area.

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