It is without a form; and yet many forms are part of it.
It does not move; and yet a lot of movements happen on it. There is nothing in
it; and yet everything is on it.
What is that?
Well, before we find an answer, let us look at this
Tamizh verse:
தாளின் மிசை நாளும் மகிழ்வர்
ஆளுமவர் வேள் அநகர் போள் அயில
கோள களிறாளி வர வில்
தோளமரர் தாள மதர் கூளி எழ
மீளி மிளிர்தூளி வளர்பொன்
காளமுகில் மூளுமிருள் கீள விரி
தாள
கயிலாய மலையே.
How does this
poem sound to you? What are the things that strike you the most?
Rhythm?
Metre? Sweetness? Tamizh? Beauty?
Beyond all
these, there is something else also. But let us first see the meaning of this
verse:
‘The one who wears the skin of the tiger
which has bright lines; The one who is always blissful; The one who blesses
people; The one who is blemish less; The one who killed the elephant which had
huge tusks; The one who carries a powerful bow on his shoulders; The one who
dances to the rhythm of the Bhootas; the one who smears His body with the
shining white ash; the one who resides on the Mountain whose white golden rays
dispel the darkness caused by the clouds.’
Sounding
rather simple now. Or does it?
Look at the
contrasts. ‘Tiger’ and ‘Elephant’; ‘One who blesses’ and ‘One
who killed’; ‘Darkness and ‘Shining light’(note that the words
indicating ‘shining’ appear thrice in the poem).
Apart from
these contrasts, what should not be and cannot be missed is the fact that the Dance of Shiva is mentioned in the middle
part-that is the 4th line-
of the poem.
This verse
was written by one of the greatest Tamizh
poets Thirugnansambandhar.
Now, let us
go back to the riddle asked in the beginning. The answer is ‘the cosmos’. The verse also indicates
the same.
How?
It is a
well-known fact that the cosmos
comprises of atoms. Electrons, Neutrons and Protons
revolve around the nucleus which is
at the centre of an atom. The Dance of Shiva indicates this only. I
must mention a couple of things here. Shiva
and the concept of Nataraja go
beyond any religion. These are
symbols and my effort here is to try and explain the symbolism and place the scientific
facts. There is absolutely no
religion involved here. Atheists, agnostics and people practising different
faiths can look at this from the science
angle.
So what does
the Nataraja symbol tell us?
The circular flame surrounding the icon represents
the Universe, the consciousness and the cycle of birth and death. The four arms
represent the 4 directions. The ‘damaru’ on the upper right hand symbolises the sound from Creation and also Time.
The agni on the upper left hand is
symbolic of Destruction. The lower right hand showing the ‘abhaya mudra’ indicates blessing. The lower left hand is held across the
chest like a trunk of an elephant
and this symbolises liberation from
ignorance. Snakes that uncoil from
his head, arms and legs are
symbolic of the Ego while the snake
which is tied to his waist indicates
the KuNdalini Shakti. The dwarf under his right
foot represents the confusion, forgetfulness and the ignorance. Note that
it is bound to the Earth. While the right foot represents the victory over ignorance, the raised left leg represents the grace
and the upliftment of the soul. The icon rests on a lotus pedestal which is the symbol of the creative forces of the Universe. Inner peace-that is the lotus- countered by aggression-which is the Vigorous dance.
This is what
this dance-which is also called as the cosmic
dance- signifies.
Now read the
verse, think of the atoms, the Universe and then look at the Nataraja icon. You can correlate the
three.
Each and
every particle in the cosmos is interconnected
as they are made of atoms. This is
the reason for something called Telepathy.
This happens when two souls are in the same frequency.
Music is also a group of atoms. In some
of my previous special posts, I had
mentioned that it is music which
makes even agnostics and atheists realise the divine. Music is omnipresent in the Universe. However, only some humans are able to get and give the
right combination of atoms. When
this happens, melody multiplies.
Others tuned to this frequency get attracted to it; make them forget
themselves. One such human who does this spontaneously is ILaiyaraaja. That is why, his music makes many happy. We laugh,
cry, dance and sing.
The special song of the day too is one such
composition.
‘Nataraazu nayanaala jeevinsaga’ from
the film Aalapana (1986) is yet
another special composition which unravels the mystique of raga and taaLa. The Maestro has brilliantly tuned it in Dharmavati, a raga known for its
spiritual powers.
Let us now try and look at the hidden beauties of the composition.
It is a stately setting with the drone of the tanpoora surrounding us for 6 seconds. These 6 meditative seconds prepare us for the divine shower which follows.
The prelude
is interesting and is different too. It starts with a viruththam rendered by SPB
in a voice laden with devotion. It talks about the all pervasiveness of the divine force and finally about the Naatya.We see the contours of Dharmavati in the last phrase ‘Naatyaatma’. As if taking a cue from
that word, natya jatis start flowing
now.
These jatis
are not only classical but also symbolise something.
The first half of the first two aavartanaas is in ‘keezh
kaalam’, the next half and the third aavartanaa
are in the next kaalam and the last
one is in the third kaalam. Doesn’t
this signify the ‘Tri kaalam’ and
also the ‘Three eyes’?
Let us now see as to how the Laya Natana Raaja has divided the syllables.
In the first two aavartanaas,
16 is divided as 3, 3, 3,1, 2, 2, 2(the second half is
taken as keezh kaalam and therefore
the total maatras of that part is
divided by 2).
In the third one, it is divided as 4, 3, 5, 4 for one half (note that in literal terms it is in vilomam
and has one misram and one sankeerNam). The total count in this kaalam is 32.
The last one goes as 3, 3, 3, 4/ 3, 3, 3, 4 but as it goes in the highest speed, the total is 64.
The raga now
starts dancing with the repetitive jatis-
‘ta dhi ta ri ki ta thom ki ta nam ki ta’
as the jatis are superimposed on the akaaram. After a while, swaras ascend in groups of three and finally descend even as the jatis
continue .In fact it is an ascent to
heaven.
It ends with ‘taaam-‘
in the last half avartanaa and the Pallavi starts.
The short Pallavi
glimmers with beauty showing the graces of the raga. The sound of the bell
at the end of each line makes the
experience more divine.
The jatis
appear again with the violins
responding briefly to each group of syllables.
In the first avartanaa, the jatis appear for 8 micro- beats followed by the violins.
This happens twice. In the second avartanaa,
the jatis go as 6 micro-beats and the violin
is played for 2 micro-beats. This
happens thrice and then the last jati
has 8 micro-beats. The violins take over playing some melodic
phrases. A touch of poignancy is added with another group of violins joining and showing some very
different dimensions of the raga.
The
twin- veena joins to the backing of tabla tarang and shows illuminating
facets of Dharmavati.The violin group which appears very
briefly at the end of each avartanaa, plays ‘ta ri ki ta taam’ melodically at the end of the interlude and leads us to the first CharaNam.
The CharaNam
has sequentially interesting phrases. The first
part has depth and sensitivity while the second
part which starts with ‘gada seema’ picks up pace. The akaaram for half avartanaa is beauty personified. The last part moves with a sense
of purpose finally culminating in ‘tadheengiNathom’.
The first
half of the second interlude sees
the dialogue between the violins and
a host of percussion instruments. It
also shows the versatility of the composer.
The violins sound for 2 beats and the percussion group replies in the next 2 beats..This pattern repeats in the next half avartanaa. The violins
then sound for one beat, a group of percussion for two beats and yet another percussion
for one beat. After one avartanaa, the violins and the percussion
alternate for each beat. The two
finally merge.
It is the merger of creativity
and expertise.
The solo violin
then gives slices of silkneness with the flute
repeating the nuances caressingly. The two
join together giving classically
delicious music. It is then the turn of the tarangams with the jalatarangam
and tabla tarang glimmering with
beauty.
A unique pattern follows then. The jatis are rendered and each line is followed by description of Nataraja. Feelingly expressed by SPB , this entire segment resonates and takes us to spiritual heights. The composition takes a breezy complexion
with the violins and the percussion moving with ferocity. After 2 avartanaas,
the jatis take over again but this
time these are ‘magaNa jham’ ‘ragaNa
jham’, which are classical jatis
mentioned in the ancient texts. The patterns
ooze with passion, are stoic and sturdy and are regal.
At the end of the jatis,
the gait changes to khandam with the
higher octave violins and the
resonant percussion dancing with
intensity. SPB continues in khandam but this time the invocation is
on Durga as if to indicate ardhanareeswara. The violins then continue the dance with percussion underpinnings and
we reach empyrean heights.
Logical transcendence which defies logic..
Yes, that is what is cosmic dance all about!
PS: This post and the previous post in Tamizh were read out to an invited audience on the 9th of August 2015 as part of an Event dedicated to ILaiyaraaja. Incidentally, this post happens to be the 150th post in this blog!
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