Rāga: Taraṅgiṇi

Tāḻa: Ādi

Composer: Muttusvāmi Dīkṣitar (1776-1835)

We return to usual programming.

‘Māye tvam yāhi’ is perhaps one of Dīkṣitar’s most personal, and haunting compositions. The pallavi – the first line repeated as a chorus – says ‘O illusion (māya)! Go away! Who are you to trouble me?’ The anupallavi – the second line –says, among other things ‘come back, bless me, protect me!’

It is also one of the compositions most severely mutilated by 20th century performers. I grew up listening to a completely different song in a rāga descibed variously as ‘Śuddha Taraṅgiṇi’ or ‘Sudhā Taraṅgiṇi’, which had an chatśruti dhaivata and sounded indistinguishable from Cencuruṭṭi.

The authentic composition, as recorded in the Sangīta Sampradāya Pradarṣiṇi of Subbarāma Dīkṣitar, is in ‘Taraṅgiṇi’, designated as the rāgāṅga rāga of the 26th meḻa in system outlined in the Anubandha (c 1750) to the Caturdanḍiprakāśikā (c 1630).

For an intimidatingly thorough analysis and exploration of the song Māye, the rāga Taraṅgiṇi, and the history of its misuse, see Ravi Rajagopalan’s excellent essay: https://guruguha.org/tarangini-story-of-a-quaint-beauty/.

Rāga: Śāraṅga

Tāḻa: Ādi

Composer: Tiruvoṟṟiyūr Tyāgayyar (1845-1917)

For a change, I thought I’d play something not by Dīkṣitar or any member of the Trinity. This piece is a tāna varṇam composed by Tiruvoṟṟiyūr Tyāgayyar, son of Vīṇai Kuppayyar (1798-1860), widely acclaimed as the most accomplished disciple of Tyāgarāja (1767-1847). I am performing this composition in both speeds, rather than in just madhyamakāla as is customary for tāna varṇas.

Tyāgayyar was an accomplished vaiṇika (veena player) like his father, as well as among the first Karnatic musician-composers to publish notations for both his own compositions and those of his father. Consequently, his works serve as valuable guides for understanding how rāgas have evolved over time.

My rendition deviates from the original composition—there is an additional eṭṭugaḍai svara passage in the original that, for unclear reasons, is generally omitted nowadays. Nevertheless, one can discern something of how Śāraṅga must have sounded in the past from the sparing use of the śuddha madhyama, particularly in the caraṇam. He also composed in Kannadabaṅgāḻa and other rare rāgas only Dīkṣitar is known to have used, though “the scales adopted by Tyagayyar for these ragas differ to varying extents from those adopted by Dikshitar” (Kuppuswami and Hariharan, 136).

Besides this, Tyāgayyar accomplished the monumental task of composing a series of 108 (aṣtottara) kṛtīs in praise of his family deity, the Veṇugopālasvāmi—a form of Kṛṣṇa—of Tiruvoṟṟiyūr, now a suburb of Chennai. Kuppuswami and Hariharan observe that “Tyagayyar was the first composer in the annals of the history of Carnatic music to have composed Ashtottara group kritis and only one other composer has so far emulated Tyagayyar in this regard viz., Sangita Kalanidhi Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar, who was Tyagayyar’s junior by a generation” (1987, 134).

This assessment requires correction. Eṇṇappadam Veṅkaṭrāma Bhāgavatar (1880-1961) - my great-grand-uncle - also composed a series of 108 kṛtīs, coincidentally also in praise of Kṛṣṇa. According to an autobiographical preface to a compilation of his songs, he began composing at age 51 while bedridden with smallpox. His first compositions were five songs in praise of his village goddess, Parukkāñcēri Bhagavati. Astrologers had predicted his death at this age, and propitiating the indigenous, non-Vedic deity was considered the best chance for survival. The same astrologers had also warned of two attempts to poison him, which provided the impetus for composing his set of aṣtottara kṛtīs (Venkata Ramaneeyam, 1964, i-iii). This appears to have done the trick. He lived to 81.

Kuppuswami, G., and M. Hariharan. “Tiruvottiyur Tyagayyar.” Journal of the Madras Music Academy 58 (1987): 130-140.

Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi. Venkata Ramaneeyam: 146 Musical Compositions of Late Sri Ennappadam Venkata Rama Bhagavathar. Trichur: Geetha Press, 1964.

Rāga: Bhairavi

Tāḻa: Aṭa (Khanḍa jāti)

Composer: Pacchimīriam Ādiyappayyā

This is a piece I found absolutely tedious as a child and dreaded practicing—but have come to deeply appreciate with age and experience.

This is arguably the original tāna varṇam in the challenging Aṭa tāḻa, composed by the legendary Pacchimīriam Ādiyappayyā, an 18th-century musician in the Tanjore Maratha court. Ādiyappayyā was guru to both Śyāmā Sāstri (1782-1827) and Ghanam Kṛṣṇayyar (1790–1854). Subbarāma Dīkṣitar (1839-1906) honored him with the title Mārgadarṣi for inventing the tāna varṇam form itself.

Ādiyappayyā was also an ancestor of the renowned Veene Sheshanna (1852—1926), the Mysore court musician who revolutionized vīṇā technique by popularizing the horizontal playing style we know today—before him, it was typically played vertically like the sitār.

The musicologist and performer Mudicondan Venkatrama Iyer (1897-1975) credits this single composition with establishing Bhairavi as the Carnatic mainstay it is today, effectively eclipsing the very similar rāga Māñji.

What you hear here—and what is typically performed—is an extremely abbreviated version of the much longer original. The complete composition includes an additional eṭṭugaḍai svara (between the second and third sections) and an ‘Anubandham’ following the caraṇam that connects back to the muktāyi svara and returns to the pallavi. Mudicondan Venkatrama Iyer's student, the incomparable Sangīta Kalānidhi R. Vedavalli has recorded this extended version, though even she omits the sāhitya (lyrics) for the muktāyi and eṭṭugaḍai svaras. Without these lyrics, the caraṇam’s opening line remains incomplete and puzzling: “Cirunavvu mōmu” (small smiling face…).

I have notation for the Anubandham and access to P. Sambamoorthy’s book containing the missing sāhitya. However, I’m still searching for the lyrics to the eṭṭugaḍai svara that I’ve only heard Smt. Vedavalli perform. If anyone knows where to find this text, I'd be immensely grateful.

Further Reading: For an extremely informative analysis with a rare recording of another recently discovered varṇam possibly by Ādiyappayyā, visit: https://guruguha.org/tana-varna-margadarshi-adiyappayya

A North Indian rāga, the first known mention of it in the South is in Veṅkaṭamakhin's 'Caturdaṇḍiprakāśika' (c 1750), which encapsulates it in the 'śloka' (formula) as

जुजावान्ताख्यरागश्चसंपूर्णःसग्रहानवितः |

लक्ष्यमार्गानुसारेणगीयतेगानवेदिभिहि ||

In other words, 'Jujāvanti' is a sampūrṇa rāga with the full complement of seven notes, and is to be comprehended through practice (as opposed to theory).

Another blogger claims it was first adopted in the South in Kathakaḻi dramas. He provides no references though.

In Volume 1 of the Sangīta Sampradāya Pradarśini of Subbarāma Dīkṣita, it is listed as a janya ('child') - that is, derivative - of Harikedāragauḻa, or what we now call Harikāmbhōjī. Subbarāma Dīkṣita maintains that it suitable for singing at all times, that its jīva svarās are Ri and Ma, and that 'Besides its own shadow, this jujāvanti shines with the additional shadows mixed from erukalakāmbhōji [incorrectly called yadukulakāmbhōji], darbār, sahānā, and bhairavi.'

You may have noticed some very Sahānā stylings by me. On this, Ravi Rajagopalan writes that "Subbarama Dikshita’s cryptic foot note on this is rooted to a very subtle point... Modern Sahana has practically only G3/antara gandhara. However for Subbarama Dikshita,... Sahana is a raga under Mela 22 – with sadharana gandhara dominating and antara gandhara occurring sparsely. Thus this older Sahana and the Jujavanti of Ceta Sri Balakrishnam documented in the SSP has much melodic overlap... And so the raga Dvijavanthi can at best be treated as a sibling of modern Sahana..."

#karnaticmusic #veena #dvijavanti

Rāga: Jujāvanti (also called Dvijāvanti)

Tāḻa: Rūpakam (2 kaḻai)

Composer: Muttusvāmi Dīkṣitar (1776-1835)

My new favourite song by the 'modernist Shaman.' When I was learning music, this piece tended to be overshadowed by 'Akhilāṇḍeśvari rakṣamām' in the same rāga. A consensus has since emerged that Akhilāṇḍeśvari is not an authentic Dīkṣitar composition.

There is no question at all about 'Cetaḥ śrī bālakṛṣnam' - it is listed in Volume 2 of Subbarāma Dīkṣitar's monumental Sangīta Sampradāya Pradarśini as the prime examplar of Jujāvanti (the secondary exemplar being a Maṭya tāḻa sañcāri of Subbarāma's composition). Subbarāma Dīkṣitar was the biological nephew, and adopted son of Muttusvāmi.

It is mentioned several times in Justice TL Venkataramana Iyer's biography of Muttusvāmi Dīkṣitar, where he states that 'In Dwijavanthi the piece Ceta Sri of Dikshitar stands out in solitary splendour…' He makes no mention of Akhilāṇḍeśvari.

Venkataramana Iyer wasn't just a distinguished jurist - he served as Chief Justice of the Madras High Court and also for 4 years on the Indian Supreme Court, where he apparently had a penchant for referring to US Supreme Court cases - but a student of Ambi Dīkṣitar, the son of Subbarāma, and so, a descendant of the composer.

Alongside Ambi, Venkataramana Iyer also taught DK Pattammal, generally considered the foremost authority on Dīkṣitar compositions. According to a lecture given by V Sriram, Venkataramana Iyer once asked Pattammal to sing Cetaḥ śrī bālakṛṣnam when the President Rajendra Prasad was visiting him, and from then on Rajendra Prasad would always ask Pattammal to sing this song whenever he happened to be in Madras.

Rāga: Nāṭakurañjī

Tāḻa: Miśra Jhampa

Composer: Muttusvāmi Dīkṣitar (1776-1835)

Following on from the last piece, 'Cetaḥ śrī bālakṛṣṇaṁ' in Jujāvanti, I felt compelled, for reasons unknown to me, to re-learn this piece, widely considered the finest in the rāga Nāṭakurañjī.

In praise of Mercury, it is often described as a 'Navagrahakṛti' - that is, of the series in praise of the nine planets. This is wrong. The best evidence is that Dīkṣitar only composed seven kṛtis on the Sun and the other six planets of the Indian system. The additional two pieces on Rāhu and Ketu are inauthentic; likely composed by his brother, Bālusvāmi or his descendants Subbarāma or Ambi. In fact, in his monumental 'Saṅgīta Samprdāya Pradarṣiṇī' ('SSP'), Subbarāma describes Budhamāșrayāmi as a 'vāra' kṛti. In other words, the series is not organised around the planetary system, but on the days of the week. In yet other words still, this is the song for Wednesday / Mercredi.

The kṛti relates the story of Mercury - 'Budha'. According to Hindu myth, Budha is born of an extramarital affair between the Moon (Candra) and Tāra - the wife of Jupiter (Bṛhaspati). The cuckolded Jupiter takes his rage out on the unusually intelligent child by condemning him to have no gender (nāpumsaka). Budha expiates the curse through austere devotion to Śiva.

Subbarāma Dīkṣitar introduces Nāṭakurañjī with the following śloka:

परिवर्ज्यावरोहे तु रागो नाटकुरञ्जिका ।

षड्जग्रहसमायुक्ता गीयते लक्ष्यवेदिभिः ॥

This is taken from the 14th verse of the Anubandha of the 'Caturdaṇḍiprakāśikā', a musicological treatise composed around 1650 by his and Muttusvāmi's ancestor, Venkaṭamakhin.

In the Caturdaṇḍiprakāśikā, this verse comes immediately before the one describing Jujāvanti. It comes immediately after the verses describing Sūraṭi, Erukulakāmbhojī, and Aṭhānā. It is the same in the SSP.

Given its structure and name, I had thought Nāṭakurañjī was an ancient rāga derived from Tamil music. This is not so: A minority thinks it is the Paṇ Naṭṭapāḍai. The majority thinks it just 300 years old, and still developing.

Rāga: Kumudakriyā

Tāḻa: Rūpakam (2 kaḻai)

Composer: Muttusvāmi Dīkṣitar (1776-1835)

I've always felt this to be one of Dīkṣitar's more intriguing compositions, and one illustrating why David Shulman calls him 'a modernist shaman who detached Carnatic music from its earlier ritual contexts and transposed it into a new, highly personal, universalist-secular mode.' 

That, of course, is assuming it is a genuine Dīkṣitar composition. In the monumental and authoritative Sangīta Sampradāya Pradarśiṇi ('SSP') of Subbarāma Dīkṣita (1839-1906) - Subbarāma was the composer's younger brother's biological grandson and adopted son - there is a section on the rāga Kumudakriyā, where it is listed as a derivative or janya ('child') of the 51st Meḻa of Kāśirāmakriyā, which we would identify as Pantuvarāḻi. No one, as far as I know, has doubted the authenticity of this piece, but it is strange that Subbarāma Dīkṣita does not include it in the SSP. The ārohaṇa (ascending order) is S R G M D D S, while the avarohaṇa (descending order) is S N D M G R S. 

The SSP normally introduces each rāga with a lakṣaṇa śloka taken from the Caturdaṇḍiprakāśikā, a foundational 17th musicological text composed by his and Muttusvāmi's ancestor, Veñkaṭamakhin. No lakṣaṇa śloka is provided for Kumudakriyā, and the only mention of it I can find in my OCR copy of the Caturdaṇḍiprakāśikā is in verse 39 of the Anubandham ('appendix'):

अथ रामक्रियामेले कुमुदक्रियदीपकौ । 

शान्तकल्याणिमेले तु यम्नाकल्याणिमोहने ॥

I can't make sense of this passage - google translate is not very helpful - other than that Kumudakriyā is a janya of Rāmakriyā, alongside 'Dīpakam'. The SSP mentions the existence of Dīpakam, but says it has been lost. One wonders if this was the Dīpak that Tansen is supposed to have sung to light the lamps in the palace of Akbar.

I cannot find any earlier mention of Kumudakriyā.

The SSP remarks that it is suitable for singing at all times, but there is a tradition - again I don't know from where - that Kumudakriyā evokes the 'bhāva' (emotion) of 'adbhuta,' commonly described as 'awe', but in my opinion better translated as the 'sublime'; that is to say, the combination of beauty and terror. I have always found this rāga profoundly unsettling.

The last line of the madhyamakāla passage in the caraṅam goes 'āraktavarṅam ṣobitam' - 'him who glows in red' - which is interesting because most depictions of Ardhanārīśwara display only his left, female side as red in colour, while the masculine right portion is pure white. It would be interesting to know where he got this.

One suggestion is that it is a reference to the 92nd verse of the Saundaryalahari, which reads 'Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Rudra and Īśvara form four legs of your throne and Śiva who is like pure crystal form the seat for You to sit and He reflects Your deep red complexion.' The Saundaryalahari is of course a central text of the esoteric tradition of Śrīvidya, of which Dīkśitar was an adept, and whose teachings he was expounding through his music. Hence his signature 'Guruguha', which can plausibly be translated as 'teacher of the secret.' 

A modernist shaman indeed.