What is Meditation?
Is it closing our eyes and
chanting something repeatedly?
Is it focussing on an object
with our eyes open?
Is it staring at the light?
Is it just focussing on our
breath?
Well, it is all these and
something much more. The fact of the matter is – Meditation or the state of
Meditation can only be experienced and can hardly be explained, however great
the person’s vocabulary is.
Suffice to say that people
experience inner calm and tranquility and at the same time feeling energetic.
Potential Energy and Kinetic Energy, in action at the same time.
There is something beyond
Meditation and this is called the Samadhi state. Not many can experience
this state and not many have experienced this state. Transcending the duality
of the matter and the mind, the body and the mind, the existence and
non-existence, it is an experience of oneness and the ultimate bliss. Some
rishis in the past and some saints in the present ( more recent, though this is
subjective!) have experienced this state. As far as I know, RamaNa Maharishi
experienced it, going by the writings about him and the kind of experience I
get when I visit his Ashram.
There was one more person, who
I feel must have definitely experienced this. And that is, AruNagirinathar.
How do I know?
Not an easy question to answer
and just like how one cannot define a Meditative state, this too cannot be
explained. But having read many of his verses under different works, it is just
my feeling and at times, I go by what I feel because of my percipience.
Let me quote just one of his
verses- though there are many- to tell you all why I feel what I feel:
ஆனா அமுதே! அயில் வேல் அரசே!
ஞானாகரனே! நவிலத் தகுமோ
யானாகிய என்னை விழுங்கி வெறும்
தானாய் நிலை நின்றது தற்பரமே?
In short, he says – Oh the
one who is holding the Vel! The one who is the nectar!! Explain that state
where I forget the ‘I’ and be one with You.
This is verse no.28 in
that work called ‘Kandar Anuboodhi’.
Does he stop with this?
See this now:
குறியைக் குறியாது குறித்து அறியும்
நெறியைத் தனி வேலை நிகழ்த்திடலும்
செறிவற்று உலகோடு உரை சிந்தையும் அற்று
அறிவற்று அறியாமையும் அற்றதுவே!
I forgot my
relations, my mind, my speech, my knowledge and my ignorance the moment He
taught me the right way to meditate and this is pure bliss.
This is verse no.42.
If you are insightful, you will
make the connection between the two. If I were to describe it, I would just
stop with saying ‘Esoteric’.
AruNagiri experienced that bliss, that eternal light.
We mortals too, can experience
something close to it, depending on how wise we are. Take the song ‘AruNa
KiraNa Deepam’ from ‘Guru’ (1997). Whenever I listen to it, I
experience something different; something unique; something divine; something
esoteric.
The composition based on KeeravaNi
(or Harmonic minor) and is set in Mishram. These details are
not as important as the way these are applied. For a change, let me take up
each aspect and then go on to the main subject.
Laya: I said it is set in Mishram
( 7 beat- cycle). But the prelude goes plainly in 4, with the brass
flute and the horns even playing 1 2 3 4 after a while. The percussion
which appear much later (0.58) play in 4. It is only when the
chorus starts (1.23) that it shifts to Mishram.
The percussion sounds 1,
4 and 6 (ta, ta, dhi) in the 7-beat cycle. After two
cycles, the strings join in and play 1 2 3 4 5 6/1 2 3 4/ 1 2 3 4(
ta ka dhi mi ta ka/ta ka dhi mi/ta ka dhi mi).
The Pallavi in the
voice of Yesudas too follows the same pattern – Aruna ( 1
2 3 ) KiraNa ( 1 2 3 ) Deepam ( 1 2 3
4) Paaba ( 1 2 3 4). Let it be understood that Mishram
in ‘mel kaalam’(faster mode) is 7x2.
The first interlude
follows the same pattern, though the percussion takes a break. The group
of violins that appears in between sounds ta ki ta/ta ki ta/ta ka dhi
mi/ta ka dhi mi, so obviously that one forgets if these are melodious
instruments or percussive instruments ( melodious percussive, probably). The
most beautiful part occurs towards the end of the interlude when an
instrument plays a sustained melody subtly for 2 cycles.
Meditative?
The percussion appears only
in the second part of the first interlude. It takes a break again for a
while when the chorus renders the wordings and appears again albeit
subtly and gradually after that.
It is the bells that sound the
taaLam in the first segment of the second interlude.
KeeravaNi/Harmonic
minor :
The western contours are felt
almost throughout with a host of instruments, but the Indian counterpart (though
this may not be an ideal term) is felt in the Pallavi, in the middle
part of the first interlude. The ‘akaaram’ of Yesudas in
the CharaNams, speaks for itself .
Orchestration:
There is a kind of an eerie
beginning with a single instrument sounding like a clock and a host of instruments
sounding suddenly with a bang. But it is that silence (0.29- 0.33) which
makes a difference. After all, isn’t silence musical and meditative?
The strings sound soft
and soothing while the brass flute moves with a flourish. The oboe
which takes over is bewitching and when juxtaposed with the flute, the
experience is exhilarating. The strings then move with a purpose after
the chorus and this could be because of the backing of the rhythm in Mishram.
The brass flute after
the first few phrases are rendered by Yesudas, is alluring and at the
same time graceful. When Chitra renders the lines, the subtle strings
and double bass, back her voice while the horns sound with assiduity
when the chorus sings ‘Brahmma Naadam..’, which itself is like a
crescendo.
The tantalising melody of the oboe
is complemented by the supple strings. The oboe and flute vivify
the atmosphere before the leitmotif appears.
The lines in the CharaNams
are backed by the very subtle strings, in line with the mood.
If the bells sound with
a sense of uncanniness, the flute moves with finesse sketching something
in the process. Like a karma yogi, the two sets of strings move in
a linear way with the oboe just nodding its head. It is that flute
which plays along with the chorus, bending, meandering, and straddling
the octaves, which leads us to something.
Is it a diffused glow?
Is it the eternal light?
Is it that state of Samadhi?
AruNagiri and AruNa Kirana Deepam will probably give an
answer.
