ILaiyaraaja – The Mindful Musician

 

The propensity in human nature to either blindly believe things real or to refuse to believe anything is well known. Most of us see either black or white. The fact that there is something called grey eludes the human mind. This is less surprising given the fact that after all, human beings are designed that way. At the same time, we are also endowed with the ability to break this and the intelligence to see reality which leads to ultimate realisation.

I am not talking about theism or atheism which is one’s personal choice and which is beyond the scope of this post. What I am trying to bring out is the fact that blind faith on anything will do no good and is as good as not believing. This, in fact, is subjectivity at its best.

Now, look at this verse:

நட்ட கல்லை தெய்வம் என்று நாலு புட்பம் சாத்தியே

சுற்றி வந்து மொண மொண என்று சொல்லும் மந்திரம் ஏதடா

நட்ட கல்லும் பேசுமோ நாதன் உள்ளிருக்கையில்

சுட்ட சட்டி சட்டுவம் கறிச்சுவை அறியுமோ?

You worship a stone by decorating it with flowers and go around it chanting mantras. Can that stone ever talk? This is akin to saying that the vessel used to cook vegetables, knows the taste of the vegetables.

Well, if you assume that this was said by an atheist, you are thoroughly mistaken. This verse was written by Sivavaakkiyar, one of the 18 siddhars of the Tamizh land. A rebel who opposed the caste system, Sivavaakkiyar composed many verses with deep inner meanings. To go back to that verse, he says, ‘Can the stone ever talk when the Divine is inside?’

In fact, what is inside is outside and what is outside is inside. My idea is not to leave you confounded nor is it to sound cryptic. The relationship between the cosmos and the living beings is in fact a proven fact. On the face of it, can we live without the five elements- Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and the Space? Now, take the letters Na Ma Shi Va Ya. On the face of it, it just seems and sounds like a mantra on a God pertaining to a particular religion. However, each syllable pertains to one element- Na to the Earth, Ma to Water, Shi to Fire, Va to Wind and Ya to Space. NAMASHIVAYA also means ‘I bow to the inner consciousness’.

What is inside is outside and what is outside is inside. Within and Without.

This applies to Music as well. It is both inside and outside. When we listen to Music, it seems to be external. However, there is that Music which is always running inside us. When there is a match between these two, it strikes a chord. This is not dissimilar to the frequency match when we tune in to a radio station. Now, when there is a match between the external and the internal, we experience pure bliss. This is what happens when we listen to great musicians and composers. Needless to say, this happens frequently in ILaiyaraaja’s music.

On this special day, let us look at a song which is special as well because of many reasons.

The speciality of Koluvai Unnaade from the Telugu film Swarnakamalam (1988) is not just the fact that it is a ragamaalika. As I keep saying repeatedly in my posts, a raga is not as important as the way it is used. Secondly, this song was written by the Maratha king Shaaji sometime during the 17^th Century and this was part of an Opera which was even staged in the temple. ILaiyaraaja modified it to suit the situation in the movie. He also added Kuchipudi jatis.

The story of the movie revolves around a reluctant dancer who aspires for a glamorous life, the kind of life not possible if she became a classical dancer. That glamour and real art cannot thrive together is known to her, but the fact that an art form is much qualitatively superior to any glamorous form, eludes her. The song itself is composed as if to show her what real art form is and how it would look and sound.

Music, Expressions and Laya form the core of any dance form. And this is what the sloka from Abhinaya DarpaNa, a treatise on Indian Classical Dances, say.

The composition starts with the sloka from this text and as if to show how important these facts are, this is set in PantuvaraLi.

It is spiritual radiance all around with the drone of the tanpura permeating the atmosphere. The jatis are rendered with aplomb by SPB, just before the sloka. Kuchipudi is a dance form known for its fast jatis and the first two aavartanaas are full of fast jatis with no repetition whatsoever. The 3^rd and the 4^th aavartanaas show the grace of the dance form by slowing down the pace while the 6^th aavartanaa, which is also the last, has that teermanam. Is Mathematics not an art too?

The Pallavi and anupallavi in the mellifluous voice of SPB and Suseela give the ornate and the indescribable images of the Divine. Set in a raga called Latangi, which literally means the creeper, it says, ‘ The God of Gods is in a great assembly. Shining like a million suns, He is the enemy of the cupid and women get mesmerised by his form’.

The contrast cannot be missed here. He is the enemy of the God of Love and yet others fall in love with him!

The flute continues with melodic charm in Latangi in the first interlude. The mrudangam sounds with pulsating vibrancy. The finely etched melody of the flute traverses with an air of softness while the mrudangam sounds a fusillade of jatis.

Beauty of contrasts yet again!

There is a sudden twist in the first CharaNam as the raga seamlessly changes to Hamsanaadam. Hamsanaadam is a pentatonic raga and like all pentatonic ragas, it has a beauty of its own.

The CharaNam goes on to describe Shiva and says, ‘He is adorned by the bracelet of snakes on the wrist, the crescent moon on the head and the deer on the hand’. Contrasts yet again to the fore. Snake and the Moon are contrasts as well because it is eclipse when the snake consumes the moon.

Natana Laya Raga Raaja too shows the contrasts with Suseela rendering the lines and SPB rendering the lines parallely. The akaaram in Hamsanaadam is steeped in tranquility and is simple as well as intricate.

Hamsanaadam continues its journey in flute which wafts in and soaks the atmosphere with luminosity. Not to be left behind, the mrudangam sounds with panache, playing some powerful syllables with heightened resonance. It is indeed the monsoon showers from the heavens. Probably, manna from heaven.

O’Henry Raaja continues to enthrall in the second ChraNam by changing the raga to Dharmavati. ‘The gems sparkle and shimmer on the One who wears the tiger skin and who drives away the enemies with His Trident’, says the second CharaNam. Gems, tiger skin and the Trident/ Akaaram, Jatis and Sangatis – Contrasting words, Contrasting meanings, Contrasting sounds.

Contrastingly similar. Similarly contrasting.

And that is what Life is all about. Look for contrasts in similarities and similarities in contrasts.

You will realise the Ultimate Truth!

PS: This post and the previous post in Tamizh were written exclusively for the Raaja Deepam session on Zoom held on the 2nd of June 2021 to celebrate ILaiyaraaja's birthday. It may be noted that though both the posts are about the same song, I have taken two different perspectives.