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During
the last six navarAtri seasons, we featured the following thematic
topics in Carnatica’s “Special Features” segment:
In
addition, we also uploaded several stOtrams on dEvi (saundaryalaharI,
lalitA sahasranAmam, and so on), appropriate for chanting
on this festive occasion. They can be accessed from the “shlOka bank”
of Carnatica’s Composition Bank.
dEvi stOtrams:
ttp://carnatica.net/special/devistotras.htm
saundaryalaharI:
http://carnatica.net/lyrics/saundarya.pdf
lalitA sahasranAmam:
http://carnatica.net/lyrics/lalita1000.pdf
For this year 2006, we
shall take up the compositions of shyAmA shAstri in praise of Goddess
mInAkSi of Madhurai, popularly known as “navaratnamAlikA”
compositions.
Shyama Shastri’s Compositions
ShyAmA ShAstri (1762–1827) was the eldest among
the trinity. Unlike TyAgarAja and DIkSitar, he did not compose great many
songs and did not employ numerous rAgams. But what he composed was solid,
substantial and well-crafted. It is believed that he composed around 300
songs, but only 71 of his compositions are available in print. Shri T. K.
Govinda Rao’s book, (“Compositions of ShyAmA ShAstri”) gives all 71 songs, and
one less is found in Smt Vidya Sanker’s book (“ShyAmA ShAstri’s
Compositions”). Among these, 51 are in telugu, 15 in sanskrit, and the
remaining 5 in tamil. The musical style of these compositions include: k.rti
(59), gItam (5), svarajati (3), and varNam (4). His three monumental
svarajatis are sparkling gems in the field of KarNaTik music, and are often
referred to as “ratna trayam”. He has employed only 13 meLams (namely 8, 15,
16, 17, 20, 22, 28, 29, 36, 39, 53, 56 and 65), and even there, he has
composed only in 5 mELa rAgams tODi (4), shankarAbharaNam (2), nATa (1),
varALi (2), and kalyANi (8)), Overall he has used 28 janya rAgams. But these
janyams include some very rare rAgams like cintAmaNi, kalagaDa, mA~nji, and
karNATaka kapi. The other two of the trinity have not composed in cintAmaNi or
kalagaDa. Though Anandabhairavi was his favorite (7 songs), the maximum number
of songs he composed are in kalyANi rAgam (8). He has four songs each in tODi,
paraju and sAvEri. He did not use elaborate sa”ngatis in his songs, a feature
that is so common in TyAgarAja k.rtis.
He was a master of rhythms, and has used a
variety of tALams The phrases, “ta dhiM ki Na tOm, ta ka ta dhiM ki na tOm”,
and the corresponding sAhitya phrases, anudinamu, maravakane, manavinivinumA,
etc., are abundant in his compositions. The breakdown of taLams in his
compositions is: Adi (30), mishra cApu (10), tripuTa (10), rUpakam (5), aTa
(3), jhaMpa (3), maThyam (3).
Invariably, all his songs have multiple
caraNams, three being a common number in 50% of them. One k.rti with a single
caraNam, “parAkEla nannu”, in nATTakura~nji appears in shri T.K.Govinda Rao’s
book, but is missing in the book by Smt. Vidya Sanker. Usually, in the last
caraNam, he incorporates his signature (mudra) either as the shyAmak.rSNa
paripalini (one who is the savior of shyAmak.rSNa), or shyAma k.rSNa sOdari
(the sister of Lord shyama k.rSNa). Except four compositions, all remaining 67
songs feature this type of vAggEyakAra mudra. Incorporating a rAga mudra was
not his forte, and we find only one instance, where the rAga mudra for rAgam
lalita appears by default in the k.rti, “nanu brOva lalitA”.
Unlike DikSitar, he was not a zealous pilgrim.
He visited only a handful of shrines: KA~nci, Ta~njAvUr, Madhurai,
TiruvAnaikkA, NAgapaTTaNam, TiruvaiyARu, and VaidIshvaran koil. He has 35
compositions on Goddess kAmAkSi (16 explicitly on kA~nci kAmAkSi, 5 explicitly
on Ta~njAvUr BA”ngAru kAmAkSi, 6 refer to kAmakOTi and do not use the phrase
kA~nci, and 8 simply on kAmAkSi). There are 5 songs on akhilANDEshvari, 3 on
dharmasamvardhani, 2 on nIlAyatAkSi, and 8 on madhura mInAkSi, Only two songs
are on deity other than a Goddess. One is on MuddukumAra of VaidIshvaran kOil,
and the other, a varNam, is on KA~nci VaradarAja. (This varNam is special in
its contents that expresses sh.r”ngAra rasam; here ShyAmA ShAstri imagines
himself as a nAyaki and addresses “her” sakhi, and expresses that she is
unable to bear the pangs of separation from Lord VaradarAja). The remaining 7
songs are on DEvi in general (with no specific deity in mind). One of them is
a ma”ngaLm piece on DEvi.
It is well-known that the k.rtis of DIkSitar
are packed with intricate details and deep philosophy that require quite a bit
of intellectual effort to understand and grasp the full meaning, As opposed to
this, ShyAmA ShAstri’s compositions, mostly in telugu have simple theme and
are very easy to comprehend. (It is customary to compare DIkSitar compositions
to a coconut, and ShyAma ShAstri’s songs to banana fruit). They do not contain
any purANic anecdotes, advaita/tAntrik philosophy, lofty ideas, or temple
iconography. Nor do they follow any bhakti-vibhakti pattern, a feature
normally found in DIkSitar k.rtis. Also, no description of “nAdOpAsana” or
“sa”ngIta prashaMsa” found in TyAgarAja composition is available here. There
is only a single theme uniformly present in all his compositions. ShyAma
ShAstri’s songs are just his pleadings, as a humble devotee of the Goddess, in
simple phrases, to appear before him and bless him immediately. He bursts out
and cries why there is so much delay on the part of the Goddess to bless him.
The same ideas (and even some phrases) are repeated over and over again in
many songs. He also addresses Goddess by a handful of qualifying names,
kAtyAyani, kaumAri, kalyANi, Ba”ngAru Bomma, one with a moon-like face (indumukhi),
one with teeth like a jasmine flower (kundamukundaradana), one with lips
resembling the bimba fruit (biMbAdharA), one whose tresses are black as a
rain-pouring cloud (nIradavENi) , one who is flanked by LakSmi and Sarasvati (mAvANI
sEvitA), one who is adored by Brahma, ViSNu, shiva (sarasijabhava hari hara
nuta), or one who is the consort of shiva (who in turn, is described as the
one whose ornaments are the serpents – ahibUSaNa, pannagabhUSaNa, etc).
Click below for:
SHYAMA SASTRI COMPOSITIONS
WITH A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS in DIACRITICAL ENGLISH (PDF format)
The navaratnamAlikA compositions
ShyAmA ShAstri was born in a family of priests
of Ba”ngAru KAmAkShi, who had not much of a musical training. One Sa”ngIta
svAmi, who was visiting Ta~njavUr for his “cAturmAsyma” was his musical guru.
He derived all his musical talents from him, as well as from Paccimiram
Adiyappa of the “viribONi” varNam fame. Later, when ShyAmA ShAstri became a
famous vAggEyakAraka, one night, Sa”ngIta svAmi appeared in his dream, and
instructed him to go to Madhurai and compose songs in praise of Goddess
mInAkSi, and seek Her blessings. ShyAmA ShAstri fulfilled this desire of his
guru, and this is the origin of the so-called “navaratnamALika” songs on
Goddess mInAkSi of Madhurai,
Another version of the same episode runs as
follows. At PudukOTTai, while ShyAmA ShAstri was singing in praise of Goddess
B.rhannAyaki, an old man in the temple went into a devotional rapture and
asked him to go to Madhurai and compose nine songs in praise of Goddess
mInAkSi After composing seven songs on mInAkSi, ShyAmA ShAstri reverted back
to singing in praise of his family Goddess Ba”ngAru KAmAkSi. That night, the
same person appeared in his dreams and reminded him that to fulfil his
commitment, he is supposed to compose two more songs on mInAkSi. ShyAmA
shAstri realized his lapsed and completed the group of nine songs.
On this occasion, ShyAmA ShAstri received a
great welcome and many valuable presents from the people of Madhurai. It is
said that when he rendered the song “mAyammA’ in Ahiri, the devotes were
deeply moved, and one listener spontaneously offered him a silk shawl that was
already adorning DEvi’s idol, as a fitting gift, indeed an appropriate
blessing from DEvi. Yet another person offered him an expensive tambUra in
appreciation of his talents.
Every author claims that ShyAmA ShAstri
composed “nine” songs called navaratnamALika on Goddess mInAkSi of Madhurai,
but nobody took time to list these nine songs. After intense search, I am only
able to locate eight of them from available books. These eight songs are:
1. mInalOcanA brOva – dhanyAsi – mishra capu
2. sarOjadaLanEtrI – sha”nkarAbharaNam – Adi
3. dEvI mInanEtrI – sha”nkarAbharaNam – Adi
4. marivErE – Anandabhairavi – mishra cApu
5. dEvI nIdu pAdasarasamulE – kAMbhOji – Adi
6. mAyammA –Ahiri – Adi
7. nanubrOva lalitA – lalita – mishra cApu
8. rAvE parvatarAja kumAri - kalyANi- Adi
The Malayalam publication, “karNATaka sa”gIta
caritram” by K. T. Ravindranath (National Book Stall, Kottayam 1984), which
also claims nine songs, lists seven from the above list (omits the last one,
“rAvE parvatarAjakumAri”), and leaves two as blank, with rAgams specified as
shrI and nATTakura~nji, perhaps implying that the lyrics of these two songs
are not available to him. Smt Vidya Sanker also mentions that ShyAma ShAstri
has composed two k.rtis in the praise of Goddess in the rAgams shrI and
nATTAkura~nji, but again, the lyrics are not found anywhere! The available
songs in nATTakura~nji, and shrI are not on Madhurai, but on kAmAkSi and
B.rhannayaki, respectively.
Professor Sambamurthi, like many others, makes
just a mention of navaratnamAlika and names “sarOjadaLanEtrI” as one of the
nine gems, in his book, “Syama Sastri and other Famous Figures in South Indian
Music” (1934). Further, in the book “Great Composers, Part I”, he devotes an
entire section to “navaratnamAlikA”, and lists only seven of the songs
(omitting the kalyANi song in our list).
In his twin-cassette recording (AVM audio BF SR
192/193), “ShrI ShyAma ShAstri k.rtis”, the singer Maharajapuram Santanam
includes a song, “brOvu brOvu” in the rAgam kIravAni, jhaMpa tALam, which in
praise of Goddess mInAkSi. The authenticity of this song is yet to be
established. If it is a genuine ShyAma ShAstri composition, could it be the
ninth missing song from the navaratnamAlika series??
We shall take up the eight established songs
listed above, all of them in praise of Madhurai mInAkSi. Since the meanings of
all these songs are pretty straightforward, we do not attempt a word for word
meaning, but render it in a free style approach.
LYRICS OF NAVARATNAMALIKA
SONGS IN SANSKRIT PDF
We commence this NavarAtri season 2006 by
offering our salutations to Goddess mInAkSi through the famous “mInAkSi
pa~ncaratnam” composed by Adi sha”nkara. You can find the text of mInAkSi pa~ncaratnam
in Sanskrit or diacritical English at
http://carnatica.net/special/devistotras.htm
ShrI
MInAkSi pa~ncaratna stOtram
udyadbhAnu sahasrakoTisad.rshAM
kEyUrahArojjvalAM
bimboSThIM smitadantapa"nktirucirAM
pItAmbarAlaMk.rtAm |
viSNubrahmasurEndrasEvitapadAM tatvasvarUpAM
shivAM
mInAkSIM praNatO’smi santatamahaM
kAruNyavArAnnidhim || 1 ||
muktAhAralasatkirTtarucirAM
pUrNEnduvaktraprabhAM
shi~njannUpuraki"nkiNimaNidharAM
padmaprabhAbhAsurAm |
sarvAbhISTaphalapradAM girisutAM
vANIramAsEvitAM
mInAkSIM praNatO’smi santatamahaM
kAruNyavArAnnidhim || 2 ||
shrIvidyAM shivavAmabhAganilayAM
hrIMkAramantrOjjvalAM
shrIcakrA"nkitabindumadhyavasatIM
shrImatsabhAnAyakIm |
shrImatSaNmukhavighnarAjajananIM
shrImajjaganmohinIM
mInAkSIM praNatO’smi santatamahaM
kAruNyavArAnnidhim || 3 ||
shrImatsundaranAyakIM bhayaharAM j~nAnapradAM
nirmalAM
shyAmAbhAM kamalAsanArcitapadAM
nArAyaNasyAnujAm |
vINAvENum.rda"ngavAdyarasikAM
nAnAvidhADAmbikAM
mInAkSIM praNatO’smi santatamahaM
kAru.nyavArAnnidhim || 4 ||
nAnAyOgimunIndrah.rnnivasatIM
nAnArthasiddhipradAM
nAnApuSpavirAjitA"nghriyugaLAM
nArAya.nEnArcitAm |
nAdabrahmamayIM parAtparatarAM
nAnArthatatvAtmikAM
mInAkSIM praNatO’smi santatamahaM
kAruNyavArAnnidhim|| 5 ||
|| iti "srImatparamahaMsaparivrAjakAcAryasya
shrIgOvindabhagavatpUjyapAdashiSyasya
shrImaccha"nkarabhagavataH k.rtau
mInAkSI pa~ncaratnaM saMpUrNam ||
Next:
mIna lOcana brOva (dhanyAsi)
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