Shantanu, Kapoor and sons!

The Mahabharata is a complicated story. There is a main storyline which we are all fairly familiar with. The devil is in the details. The problem starts with the lineage. Every adaptation of the story begins from King Shantanu and his son Bheeshma.
The central characters are of course the Pandavas and the Kauravas. The problem is connecting these dots. How does the lineage travel from Shantanu to the Pandavas? Bheeshma took the oath to be a bachelor all his life. We remember this point. It is here that the family-tree gets confusing. Most people are completely blank  when asked this question. It is as if, they have never thought about it. If the person is a little more informed, he throws a few names- Satyavati, Vichitravirya, Amba, Ambalika, Dhritarashtra and Pandu. Still, he cannot piece the puzzle together. The more he tries, the more he ties himself in knots. As far as the listener is concerned, he is now even more muddled than before. He wishes he had not started the topic at all. Finally, we give up with words of wisdom- why worry about these non-essential details? We should never try to trace the source of a river...or a sage- “nadi-moolam and rishi moolam”! They may have had a past, but we do not care. All we care about is the present! With these parting words, we extricate ourselves from this topic.


If you thought this lineage is tough to understand, wait till you get to the Kapoors. Like Shantanu, the lineage starts with Prithviraj Kapoor. He is the patriarch. That part is clear. We are also sure about the present generation- Ranbir and Kareena Kapoor. The trouble is in connecting these two with the patriarch. We are suddenly faced with too many pieces in this jigsaw puzzle. Somehow, you have to fit all of them correctly. We have Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor. And some other Kapoors we have heard of- Rajiv Kapoor, Karan Kapoor and Kunal Kapoor. And the women- Karishma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor. And yes, Ranbir Kapoor. Without consulting your favorite computer search engine, if you try to trace this family tree, you will go nowhere. Suddenly, the mind completely shuts down. It cannot recall whether Rishi Kapoor was Raj’s son or sibling! Many a mighty film connoisseur has had mud on his face when faced with this most elementary question. The more we struggle, the more exasperated we get. It is as if this whole world is filled with only Kapoors. We’ve drawn an elaborate family tree on paper, with several corrections and end up with Ranbir as Prithviraj’s father! And each time, we’ve forgotten one Kapoor, and in trying to fit him, the tree has to be redrawn once more. Seeing us tied in knots, someone has a bright suggestion- What about Tushar Kapoor and Anil Kapoor? We react sharply at the person- “Silly! They do not even belong to this family tree! Don’t think I have such a poor Kapoor memory!” 

Lineages are tough for the human mind. It is not designed to make sense out of them. It brings back the scars of childhood and that blank moment in the History exam when it could not recall whether Aurangzeb was Babur’s son or father! We prefer English History for one simple reason. At least, King George V was after King George III. We wish all naming conventions were that easy!

Thoughts on Tyagaraja's kriti "Chakkani raja"

One hour into the concert, the moment the musician sings the first phrase of Kharaharapriya raga, our face immediately lights up! We know this is going to be the main piece of the concert. The first kriti that comes to mind is Tyagaraja's "Chakkani raja". And when our hunch proves right and he starts the kriti, we break into a big smile! We wait with bated breath for the neraval centered on "kantiki sundara". In the darkness of the auditorium, as the musician explores this phrase in multifarious ways, it is as if the mind rests; it rests on the beauty of the phrase, the beauty of Rama's face and the beauty of Kharaharapriya's grace. When it comes to recorded concerts, how many times have we replayed that neraval by Madurai Mani, who lets his imagination loose as only he can.
In this essay, we look into this song to see what it conveys and how it has become such a favorite with musicians and rasikas alike.


This kriti is addressed by Tyagaraja to his own mind. The word "O manasaa" comes towards the end of the Pallavi. The song is a conversation between Tyagaraja and his mind. Each of the stanzas has a built-in "when you have something so beautiful, why are you drifting off to something else?"- that question is seen in each of the stanzas. In the Pallavi, is the main question- when you have such a beautiful (chakkani) raja-maarga, a royal path in front of you, O mind, why are you drifting off into wayside gullies (sandulu) that lead nowhere? He does not disclose what the raaja-maarga is. He keeps the suspense going and reveals it only in the charanam. We will also analyze the raaja-maarga only towards the end of the essay. He has not mentioned what the way-side gullies (sandulu) are- but we can infer from the context, which will see later.
The pallavi is built in such a way, it is as if we are travelling on the raaja-maarga. We are seated on a chariot hooked to horses...and slowly picking up speed. First, the horse takes a few gentle paces, then a friendly trot and eventually breaks into a gallop. The raaja-maarga is smooth and even- not one jerk in this joy-ride . As the sangatis of the Pallavi are unraveled, starting with the simple ones and expanding into the ones with more complexity, we experience the rhythm of this ride.


The anupallavi also starts with the same refrain- "when you have this, why are you doing something else?" In most Tyagaraja kritis, he takes two examples and drives home his point. The Pallavi had the first example- the royal path versus a wayside alley. In the anupallavi, he gives another example- milk versus toddy. He says, when you have wholesome, nutritious, creamy (meegada) milk (paalu) which can nourish you, why would you go after toddy, which is exactly the opposite- something detrimental (cheeyanu) to your health? To rhyme with chakkani, he uses "chikkani" here to qualify the wholesome nature of milk. Interestingly, the word used for toddy is ganga-saagaram, perhaps a jargon in Tyagaraja's time. Adi Shankara uses a similar example in a verse where he says people are so obtuse that they gravitate towards flour-water (jaley-paishte) and mistake it to be milk (ksheeram).


In the charanam, the secret of the raaja-maarga is revealed. It is the dhyaanam on Rama's rupa and his naama-japa. The Pallavi starts with the famous line "kantiki sundaramagu roopamey". It refers to Rama's beautiful form which is a feast to our eyes (kantiki). The sundara word here takes us to the sundara-kaanda where Hanuman starts Rama's description with the line- "raamah kamala-patraakshah sarva-bhoota manorathah". Rama's eyes are like a lotus-petal's and the beauty of his form enamors all beings. It is as if Tyagaraja keeps this line in mind and starts the Charanam.
Next he says, Shiva is forever engrossed in Rama's naama-japa. He nicely ties "kantiki" with "mukkanti" (the three-eyed one- i.e. Lord Shiva). Rama nama is enjoyed the most by Lord Shiva- this is an idea seen in multiple kritis of Tyagaraja. In the famous kriti extolling Rama-nama (inta saukhya maniney), Tyagaraja says the same..."shankaruniki thelusu"....Lord Shiva understands the beauty of Rama nama. We can remind ourselves of Vishnu Sahasranama too, where prompted by Parvati, Shiva answers that Rama-nama is equivalent to all the 1000 names of Lord Vishnu.


By bringing Rama and Shiva together, he also ties it with the name of the raga. Rama is khara-hara: when he took on Khara and Dushana and 16000 rakshasas and vanquished them. It is as if the raga is hara-priya- favorite to Lord Shiva as well as to Rama- khara-hara-priya.
In the Charanam also, Tyagaraja asks the same question- O mind! when you have Rama, whose form is so alluring and whose name is so beautiful, so much so, that even Lord Shiva is doing his nama-japa….when such a Rama has come to your home (intiney), why are you going down...wayside gullies and not on this royal path?
The home can be taken as Tyagaraja's home, where we know he had a Rama vigraha. It can also be Tyagaraja's heart ("hrdayaagara"), taking the cue from his other compositions. With this, the kriti comes to a close.


The question is- what is "the raaja-maarga" and what are the gullies, sandulu? Can it be taken as Rama worship versus anya-devata worship such that Rama-worship alone would qualify as raaja-maarga? We cannot take such a reading because Tyagaraja himself has composed kritis on Lord Shiva (Shambho Mahadeva), on Devi and on other Gods too.
Hence, we can broadly take, raaja-maarga as life centered on God while sandulu can be taken as a materialistic life. As we see in the Upanishad, "ayam lokah naasti para iti maani"- the one who takes this world as an end in itself, he goes nowhere. This is definitely a cul-de-sac, a road to nowhere, the sandulu that Tyagaraja wants us to avoid.


The next question is...can we then take a religious life as "the" raaja-maarga? Compared to an irreligious life, a religious life is a relatively broader road with scope to progress. So it is a relative raaja-maarga. But even here, there are gradations. As Krishna says, if we use God as an "accomplice" to get out of our problems (aarta bhakti) or to accomplish something (arthaarthi bhakti) in this world, it is fine, but it is also a "sandulu" in a way. However, a person who holds onto God as an end in itself, he is on the raaja-maarga compared to the other two.


Further, even as a bhakta, there is a division- the one who worships god with a form (saguna bhakti) and the one who worships god as formless (nirguna bhakti). Is Tyagaraja then saying that saguna-bhakti is "the raaja maarga"? The answer would be yes, but we have to quickly add what Krishna mentioned in the Geeta. Krishna says that for most of us, we identify so much with our body, that in such a state, we will only appreciate God also with a body, with a form (dehavadbhir-avaapyatey). Hence, saguna bhakti is what Krishna also votes for...for majority of the people. However, he adds, if there is a devotee, who has that mental maturity to reduce his body-identification, for that devotee, nirguna bhakti is the best and that devotee certainly gains the Highest- "tey praapnuvanti maam eva".


Hence, for Ramana Maharishi, "the raaja-maarga" is Self-enquiry. As he says "maanasam tu kim, maarganey krite, naiva maanasam, maarga aarjavaat". The straightest path "maarga aarjavaat" is the one of Self Enquiry- to question the reality of the mind (maanasam tu kim?) and arrive at the Self as the basis of oneself and the world at large. This is the raaja-maarga for such a person.


To summarize, Tyagaraja's raaja-maarga can mean different things depending on where we stand. Ultimately, it depends on us. If we are irreligious, religious life is raaja-maarga. If we are already in religion, god as an end is raaja-maarga. If our body identification is intense, saguna bhakti is our raaja-maarga. If we have already traveled all these roads and our mind is prepared, shastra-vichaara, self-enquiry is the raaja-maarga. Though in most compositions, Tyagaraja's saguna bhakti is seen, we do see examples of the nirguna in rare compositions like "paramaarthmudu".


Utlimately, chakkani-raaja maarga...is our travel- a subjective travel...so that one day we will own up our Self as the aatma raama, the aananda ramanaa.

Thoughts on Tygaraja's kriti "nagumomu ganaleni" set to Abheri raga

One of Tyagaraja's most famous kritis is "nagumomu ganaleni". It is a favorite with both vocalists and instrumentalists. We are reminded of masterly renditions by Semmangudi and an altogether novel interpretation of the same song by Balamuralikrishna. Instrumentalists from Mandolin Srinivas to the violin wizard Kunnakudi loved to perform this piece. The song has a theatrical feel to it as it builds up tempo...reaches a crescendo and thereafter, comes down in cascades of notes. It is a favorite at all marriage functions where nadaswaram vidvans latch onto this kriti with great gusto. We know all this.


In this essay, we look at the kriti to understand Tyagaraja's frame of mind when he composed this piece. The main theme behind this song is one of anguish. Tyagaraja is pained that he cannot see Rama's charming face ("nagu" - beautiful, "momu" - face)  anymore and accuses Rama of indifference. He says that he pines to see Rama's smiling face but Rama, not understanding Tyagaraja's plight (naajaali thelisi), chooses to stay away. For emphasis, he words this as a question to Rama, addressing him as "Hey Raghuvara! Don't you understand my plight, and still, you choose to stay away?" Tyagaraja deliberately chooses to address Rama as Raghuvara and almost mocks him with that epithet. Rama is supposedly the best in the Raghu clan "Raghu-vara", a clan which had an unbroken chain of illustrious kings. We know about Dileep, Raghu, Aja and Dasharatha...all ancestors of Rama, and each a glowing pendant in that necklace. King Dileep had such a noble heart that he was willing trade places with a cow so that the lion could eat him instead of the cow. Rama belongs to this clan and yet, shows least empathy for Tyagaraja. He almost admonishes Rama through this address as "Raghuvara". The Pallavi ends with this.


In the anupallavi, Tyagaraja takes certain possibilities on why Rama could be indifferent towards him and dismisses those reasons too. He says...it is likely that Rama may be busy. He is a chakaravarti with so many people and things to attend to, that it is possible that he may miss Tyagaraja's earnest call. But Rama will be surrounded by attendants, whose job would be to remind him on what he needs to do. Tyagaraja questions...ok...Rama may be preoccupied...but what about these attendants? Have they forgotten their duty? He also explicitly says that it is unlikely that these attendants will be partial and leaves the sentence open. It is for us to interpret the rest. By taking the Rama's attendants also out of the picture, the needle of accusation is squarely on Rama. Yes, the attendants did remind, yes, the attendants did convey Tyagaraja crying himself hoarse, but Rama still chose to be indifferent. Interestingly, Tyagaraja starts the anupallavi with the phrase "nagaraaja dhara", the one who lifted the mountain. Tyagaraja never bothers about chronology. For him, every manifestation is Rama alone. Krishna lifted "nagaraaja"...the king of mountains and thereby, saved entire Gokulam. He could save the whole of Gokulam through one act of grace, and now, when Tyagaraja explicitly asks for his grace, Rama does not oblige him. "Nagaraaja dhara" can also mean the Lord as kurma avatara, where he helped the Devas by carrying the entire mountain on his back, but interpreting it as "govardhana giri dhara" fits the context more appropriately. The anupallavi ends with this.


The charanam starts with "khaga-raaja". The anupallavi began with "naga-raaja" and here, it is "khaga-raaja" creating a nice alliteration. "Khaga-raaja" is the king of birds, i.e. Garuda. It is also appropriate to start the "charanam" with Garuda who is often called "periya tiruvadi", "holy feet". It is as if the charanam should start with charana (feet)! Here, he questions Rama (in his form as Vishnu), whether Garuda does not obey his orders, perhaps? He enquires whether Garuda says that the distance from the sky "gagana"...i.e. Vaikunta..to the earth is too far...bahu dooram? Though Tyagaraja leaves it as an open question, here too, the implicit assumption is the same. It is unlikely that Garuda would have complained. After all, when the elephant Gajendra was in pain and crying for help, it was Garuda who immediately swung into action. Again, the tone is one of accusation. Tyagaraja says...definitely Garuda would not have said that. It is Rama and his stone-like heart, that is the only reason why he chooses to stay away from Tyagaraja.


Though all the previous lines in this song are one of accusation, Tyagaraja does not end the song in the same vein. He implores Rama even more. He calls him "jagamele paramatma", the Lord of the whole universe and says, other than Him, to whom can he cry his heart out ("moralida") (like Gajendra did)? He pleads with  Rama to shun his indifference and forthwith come and bless him! The song ends on this note.
Tyagaraja's songs are his personal conversations with Rama.  Nagumomu-ganaleni is an earnest cry by Tyagaraja asking Rama to give up his indifference "upeksha" and immediately come and bless him with the vision of his beautiful face.


This song can be looked in a philosophical way too. There is a verse in the Upanishad which says- "satyasyaa pihitam mukham". We are not able to see the Lord's face "satyasya mukham" because it is covered- "pihitam". In the context of the Upanishad, the Lord has been already defined as "Truth" (satya), the One Truth that fills the entire universe "ishaavaasyam idam sarvam". It is this all pervading Being, which is here referred as "satya" and the Upanishad says...that that Being's face is covered! How can....that...which is all pervading...its face be covered...we will ask. The Upanishad itself answers..."hiranmayena paatrena"....covered with a golden-lid. The intent here is to say...that our eyes and mind are so extroverted (conveyed through the word "gold"), that we successfully miss to see that which is everywhere! It is as if, we cover our eyes with the lucre of gold and all else and fail to see the face of that Being which is everywhere! This is the "nagumomu" that we miss.


After all, he is "sahasra sheersha purushah"...with a 1000 heads...and "vishvatomukhah" "with faces everywhere". All the faces we see, whether a human's or an animal's or an insect's....they are His faces. That being the case, how can we miss to see this "nagumomu"? If we are still successfully missing, it means, we lack the divya-chakshu, the "divine eye of wisdom" to appreciate all faces as His beautiful faces.
Hence, we pray for his grace, so that we can finally gain this "eye of wisdom". Tyagaraja's cry of anguish can be taken as this cry for grace. The indifference that Tyagaraja ascribed to Rama previously, is owned up here, as our indifference, our inability to see the obvious.
The Upanishad continues..."yat te roopam kalyaanatamam tat tey pashyaami"...I pray for that grace so that I can "see" (pashyaami) i.e. appreciate the Truth which is all mangala "kalyaanatamam". And further says...that Truth is everywhere, in "that sun" (asau purushah) and then, slowly adds..."soham asmi"....in me too!
Thus, the Upanishad begins by saying Truth's face is covered and I am unable to see it...just like Tyagaraja says and then concludes by saying...how can I miss that Truth...when it is all around...in the sun up there...as well as in me!?

The darkest Corona cloud has a silver lining

Gandhiji will be proud of us! In these Corona times, our life-style has been stripped to the bare-minimum. Each home is self-sufficient when it comes to managing the chores. In the absence of domestic-help, we willingly put out the garbage, clean the toilets and tidy-up the home. There are no cooks to lend a helping hand. We cook something simple and healthy each day.
Our lives are rid of all ostentation. The hair untidily curls up- it has been weeks since the last haircut. The clothes are worn un-ironed. There is a distaste to even reach out to the fancy-wear in the closet. Grooming takes a back seat, make-up kits lay untouched and designer slippers gather dust. Maintaining basic hygiene is enough. Our prayers are genuinely all encompassing. Sitting in the quiet of our homes, we pray for the affected in the slums of Dharavi as for our dear one in America. Both are equally important for our well-being. Who would have thought such a change possible even a couple of months ago?

The whole world is detoxifying itself. The aerial photographs of Mumbai's Marine Drive and Chennai's Marina Beach look like picture-postcards- spic and span and unbelievably beautiful. It is a throwback to the movies from the 1950s with that odd car plying on the road. It is as if we are living in those times. The haze of traffic-smog has lifted. When we hit the pillow each night, the incessant whirr of the traffic is replaced by a different set of sounds- the chirp of the cricket, the occasional hoot of the owl, the sounds of silence...all of which were non-existent for years! We see nature healing in front of our eyes.

No trips to the mall, no weekend party at a resort, no binging at a restaurant, no aimless loitering and no mindless shopping. They say, misery loves company. We have the whole world for company! It is no longer a misery! Each day we follow a disciplined routine and bring that day to a close. Weekdays and weekends, holidays and festival days blend into each other seamlessly. It is as if, in time, there is a continuum of sorts, where only that day has to be lived. We are reminded of Alexander Pope's lines- "Blest who can unconcernedly find hours, days and years slide soft away; in health of body, peace of mind, quiet by day." We can empathize with the lines so much more now.

A flood of social media posts - a friend on an Alaskan cruise, a relative in Paris and a classmate hiking in the Alps.  It was as if the whole world was enjoying out there, bubbly and effervescent, while we alone languished at home. It provoked us to embark on copycat trips to match them to an extent- at least a trip to the nearest hill-station and more importantly, to post those pictures. Suddenly, we are spared from all such compulsion. We know the entire world is at home. In one swish, the Corona brush has painted both the prince and the pauper, the party-animal and the loner in the same colour. Who can complain now? Even if they complain, they complain together!

It has been over 40 days of quarantine; in fact, we have lost count. However, these days are proof that we can adjust and live life in more Spartan ways than imagined. It has opened our eyes that so little is actually required for living. It is more fulfilling to tighten our belt, than allow the belly to expand continuously, so that no belt can match it! Strangely, it required the Corona crisis to instill this value of quiet contentment, the ability to say- "this is enough" from the heart.

When the Corona crisis is over, there will be a sudden spurt of exuberant activity. All the bottled emotion will explode in wild celebration. So let it be. Once that initial euphoria subsides, we will settle down to a more measured and meaningful lifestyle.
Adversity introduces a man to himself, Einstein said. In one stroke, Corona has introduced the entire world to itself. Even the darkest Corona cloud has a silver lining!