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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00107 Dec 2004

 
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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. 









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