Dear sri vaishNva perunthagaiyeer, The music season in Chennai is on. Already for the past two weeks plus next two to three weeks music and dance will be flowing to the brim in numerous sabhaas in Chennai. The great musician MS passed away and that caused a damp patch. But resuming the programs, after a brief sorrow, now rasikaas are finding it difficult as to which performance to attend, which one to miss. Many a music and dance programs center around my krishNa and his baala leelaas. These are by way of krithis and slOkams taken from sreemadh bhaagavatham, naaraayaNeeyam, compositions of krishNa bhakthaas like ooththukkaadu venkata kavi, narayana theertha et al. Now, we will see in this write up, the dance program of a great dancer. Generally Siva is called nataraaja ? meaning `king of dance'. nata means dance, raajaa means king. His `oozhith thaaNdavam' ? `dance during massive destruction' is one of the very famous dances of siva and many dance recitals has this item in some form. During a dance in competition between siva and his wife sakthi [or paarvathi], siva lifted his one leg high and danced, which she could not perform being a women. So she accepted the defeat ? so goes the story of the competition between the two. May be that is why he is called nata raajaa [I am not sure on this]. Dear bhakthaas, now, perhaps the fiery temper is on the rise, with you all, on this `anya dhEvathaa sthuthi' in the lists. My intention is not to discus about nata raajaa but about nata vara ? the means the chief actor or dancer. One may be a raja ? a king. But there is one chakravarthy ? is it not ? the chief or king of kings - like that nata vara is krishNa. Sree sukha brahmam gives a wonderful title as nata vara and [we are discussing about the other title to raama given by his dear wife in the other article] goes on to describe the music and dance of my krishNa in the sreemadh bhaagavatham slOkams. KrishNa is described here as natavara, the best dancer. Generally in Sanskrit drama, a young couple is brought out before the main play actually begins called soothradhaara. This is to enchant the audience and slowly lead into the main play. They are dressed beautifully and they appear ready to dance always. This is called nata. When they appear before the audience, the entire audience falls silent and gives them full attention. KrishNa is called the best of dancers. As already said siva is a known dancer (nata raaja). The Gandharvaas, the demigods, but KrishNa is described as vara, the best. He is the soothradhaari for all these wonderful dances. Let us see the decoration of this wonderful `dancer' first. Then we can study about his music, then about the dance. If we are simply dumbfounded with his music itself, then perhaps about the dance, we will talk later. Now the decoration is taken up. Sree aaNdaaL says that `vada madhurai mainthan thooya peruneer yamunaith thuRaivan is a maayan' [re 5th paasuram in thiruppaavai] ? yes. His dressing is a special, some thing unusual. The music and dance programs, which he is going to conduct, are also other unusuals, - maayams. On the banks of river yamunaa, in the brindhaavan forests, he entered with his gOpa friends. He is the lord of yamunaa river, also the husband of kaaLindhee - the daughter of soorya - another name for yamunaa. His dressing was some thing unusual for a dancer. That is why this catches the attention. So aaNdaaL simply calls him maayan. Sree sukhabrahmam describes the dress great. See ? this slokam is supposed to be one of the best in sreemadh bhaagavatham. barhaapeedam natavara vapu: karNayO: karNikaaram bibhradh vasa: kanaka kapisam vaijayantheem cha maalaam ! randhraan vENOr aDhara suDhayaapoorayan gOpa vrundhair vrundhaaraNyam sva padha ramaNam praavisadh geethakeerthi: !! 10 -20 - 5 barhaa = peacock feather aapeedam = as the head decoration nata vara: = of the best of dancers (or unparalleled in amorous intrigues or gallantry) vapu: = the transcendental body karNayO: = on the ears karNikaaram = a flower similar to the yellow lotus bibhrath = wearing vasa: = garments kanaka kapisam = yellowish like gold vaijayantheem = named vaijayanthee (a garland strung from flowers of thulasi and five different colors and which extends down to the knees) cha = and maalaam = the garland randhraan = the holes vENO: = of the flute adhara: = of His lips sudhayaa: = with the nectar aapoorayan = filling up; gOpa vrundhai: = by the cowherd boys; vrindha aaraNyam = the forest presided over by Vrindha dhEvi - the forest of Vrindhaavanam sva padha: = because of the uncommon marks of His lotus feet ramaNam: = enchanting; praavisath = He entered geetha keerthi = being sung His glories meaning: Krishna is adorned with a peacock feather and His ears are graced with flowers, Krishna's clothes are the color of bright gold. He wears a Vaijayanthi forest garland And appears as the actor-husband. He is the gOpees choice, Their Lord and husband. He fills the holes of His flute With the nectar from His lips. The song of His praise sounds As He enters brindhaavan Surrounded by His cow lad friends. His lotus feet appear splendid And create dalliance wherever They touch the ground. There are two other slOkams describing krishNa in the same way as above. One ? brahma doing eulogizing krishNa at the end of his defeat at krishNa's hands after he having taken away the calves and gOpa lads and hid them for a year. Another, the wives of the braahmins describing krishNa with the special dress in same language [these brahmins were conducting a yaagam from whom krishNa sought food for his friends and himself on the borders of brindhaavan]. Now see these two slOkams. Sree brahma uvaacha noumeeDya thE~ bhra vapushE thaDidhambaraaya gunjaavathamsa paripiccha lasan mukhaaya ! vanyasrajE kavala vEthra vishaaNa vENu lakshma sriyE mrudhu padhE pasu paangajaaya !! 10 ?14 ?1 sreemadh bhaagavatham dhasama skandham syaamam hiraNya pariDhim vanamaalya barhi dhaathu pravaaLa nata vEsham anuvrathaamsE ! vinyastha hastham itharENa Dhunaanam abjam karNOthpalaalaka kapOla mukhaabja haasam !! 10 ?23 ? 22 sreemadh bhaagavatham dhasama skandham How about correlating with one or two later authors [than sukha dhEva] on this decoration of dancer par excellence. chithraakalpa: sravasi kalayan laangalee karNapooram barhOththamsa sphuritha chikurO bandhujeevam dhaDhaana: gunjaabadhDhaa murasi laLithaam Dhaarayan haarayashtim gOpasthreeNaam jayathi kithava: gOpi koumaara haaree -17 gOpaala vimsathi of swamy dhEsikan barhOththamsa vilaasi kunthaLaparam maadhurya magnaanam prOnmeelan navayouvanam praavillasadhvENu praNaadhaamrutham aapeenasthana kuDmalaabhirabhithO gOpeebhiraaraadhitham jyOthich chEthasi naschakaasthi jagathaam Ekaaraamaadhbhutham -1-4 krishna karnaamrutham karNalambitha kadhamba manjaree kEsaraaruNa kapOla maNdalam nirmalam nigamavaagagOcharam neelimaanam avalOkayaamahE -2-31 krishna karnaamrutham manyE thvaam iha maadhava dhaivam maayaa sveekrutha maanusha bhaavam dhanyairaadhrutha thath svabhaavam dhaathaaram jagathaam athivibhavam brundhaavana chara barhaavathamsa baththa kunjavana bahuthara vilaasa santhraananhda samuthkeerNa haasa sangatha kEyoora samudhithahaasa - sree naarayana theertha in his Krishna leela tharangiNi krithi ? pooraya mama kaamam in raga bilahari. [Bila hari is nrusimha one who has a open mouth] For those who know Sanskrit, it is easy to enjoy all verses given without meaning. For others, I have to say please wait till next post for the length is increasing. [only one clue I can give now is that all these verses describe the krishNa in the dress described by sree sukha dhEva with a little additions / deletions, but central focal point is content of barhaapeedam slOkam ]. Dhaasan Vasudevan MG. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> It is better to give.... Especially when giving to a child in poverty. Click here to meet a child you can help. http://us.click.yahoo.com/FZp9YD/0nhJAA/i1hLAA/VkWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SriRangaSri/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: SriRangaSri-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! 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