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SrI:
SrimatE Raamaanujaaya Namaha //
SrimatE Nigamaanta Mahaa Desikaaya Namaha //
SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya/
SrIman! SrI Ranga Sriyam anupadravam anudhinam Samvardhaya//
KAvEri VardhathAm kAlE, kAlE varshathu vAsava: /
SrI RanganAthO jayathu Sri Ranga Sri cha VardhathAm//
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SRI RANGA SRI VOL.08 / ISSUE # 08 dated 26th November 2006
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EDITORIAL
Dear Bhagavatas:

As Sri Anbil Ramaswamy Swami is in Cleveland, I am sending this on
his behalf.. Swami is available at:
25807 Iris Court, Westlake, OH-44145
Phone # (440) 716- 0771 Cell # (770) 876- 9188
You may contact him at Ramanbil@xxxxxxxxxxx 

Regards
Namo narayana
dAsan Madhava Kannan
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INTHIS ISSUE:
1. "THE MIGHTY AND THE ALMIGHTY ? A CLASH OF WILLS?? Part-6"
BY SRI ANBIL RAMASWAMY
(This is from his talk at Sri Hayagrivar Temple , Pondicherry on
31st May 2006)
2. "DRAMIDOPANISHAD TATPARYA RATNAVALI" ? PART- 8":
BY SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO
3. "MAGIC OF MUSIC 
BY SRI ANBIL RAMASWAMY 
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ISSUES RELEASED
With this issue, about 233 Regular issues of SRS have been released
so far, apart from numerous "Special Issues" as indicated below:
27 Issues of Vol. 1
15 Issues of Vol. 2
42 Issues of Vol. 3
35 Issues of Vol. 4
28 Issues of Vol. 5
30 Issues of Vol. 6
50 Issues of Vol. 7 and
07 Issues of Vol. 8
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1. "THE MIGHTY AND THE ALMIGHTY ? A CLASH OF WILLS? ? Part-6"
PUNARJANMA (REINCARNATION)
BY ANBIL RAMASWAMY
(This is from his talk at Sri Hayagrivar Temple , Pondicherry on
31st May 2006)
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(Excerpts from Chapter 11of"Hinduism Rediscovered")
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The concept of Punarjanma (Reincarnation) has been spelled out with 
telling effect by none other than Lord KrishNa when he said:  "Just 
like a person discards an old worn out dress and dons fresh ones, 
the soul casts off the present body and takes another body"

Vaasaamsi jeerNaani yathaa vihaaya navaani grihNaati narO aparaaNi/
Tathaa sareeraaNI vihaaya jerNaani anyani samyaati navaani dEhee// 
(BG 2/22)

We saw that 'Prarabda' karma is only a fragmentary fraction of the 
Himalayan load of 'Sanchitha Karma', to experience the effects of 
which - the soul inherits at the commencement of the current life. 
The balance of Sanchita karma is so formidable that it could take 
innumerable lives for the soul to pay off the karmic price for all 
the actions by experiencing the cosmic requital of karma. This is 
based on the assumption that the soul does not accumulate any 
further 'Agami Karma' in the current and subsequent lives. 

This takes us to the 'Reincarnation theory' which is inextricably 
interlinked with the 'Karma theory' "The Reincarnationist, grounded 
as he is in the karmic principle, is only extending the scene, 
knowing as he does that man has a much longer history than the date 
on his birth - certificate; He has also a longer future than the 
date that is to be on his death certificate A future which be can 
make or mar"    
(Mc Gregger, Geddes in "The Christening of Karma"(p.9)

"The process by which a soul passes through a sequence of bodies is 
known as 'Reincarnation' or transmigration of the soul. In 
Sanskrit, 'Samsara' - a word which means 'flow through', the word is 
derived from the roots 'Sam' - Together and 'Sru' to flow. It is the 
perpetual bondage to the universal flow - a continuum of all Karman. 

It is said that a man's life is like a bead on a necklace whose 
other beads represent past and future life spans.  
(Gard. P.113)

A lifetime is one 'en-via' (i.e.) a passage. We can neither seek nor 
do we need to be afraid of its end. The immortal soul will don an 
appropriate body. SAMSARA is then a 'half way house', `a home away 
from home', a ' transit camp' from one station to another in the 
journey of life"   (Smith, H p.68)

The Upanishads declare that those who are of holy conduct here will 
enter a holy womb either of a Brahmin, Kshatriya or Vaisya. But, 
those who have a despicable conduct here will enter a despicable 
womb say of a dog or a pig. 

"A person's 'karma' is the principal factor in determining his 
happiness or unhappiness in life. A man reaps at that age, whether 
in infancy, youth, or old age at which he had sowed it in his 
previous birth"-  
(Gaer, p.22)

Some are precocious or born geniuses. Why? 
It is the carry over of the 'Vasanas' and unfinished 'Sadhanas' 
(accomplishments) in their previous lives. 
For example: If Mandolin Srinivas and Ravi kiran on Vichitrveena are 
found adepts in their respective fields right from their childhood, 
guess how they could have acquired such skills in this birth. We can 
explain it only by concluding that they might have practiced their 
skills in their previous birth, the proficiency of which they are 
carrying over to their present birth.

"The psychiatrist traces the reaction of psychological inputs within 
a single life. Karma theory probes deeper, in fact all of the 
previous lives and the unbroken chain reaction of Karma"    
(Haught pp.174-175)

Desires trigger the will, Will prompts the deeds  Deeds lead to 
habits, Habits mold the character. Character decides the Destiny. 

The extent of each individual's life, his happiness or otherwise in 
this life will be measured exactly by what he has wanted in the 
past; similarly, his present aspirations and behaviors would 
determine his future state. Every act of his has its equal and 
opposite reaction on himself. 

"Each thought and deed delivers an unseen chisel blow toward the 
sculpturing of his destiny" (Haught (2) pp.174-175)

Together these theories constitute an explanation of the 
inexplicable. Without these, many of us would have shared the same 
lack of peace of mind which the people of developed countries are 
experiencing. They have every thing except peace of mind. As they 
try to rationalize the anomalies of life, they ultimately turn to 
India to find valid explanations which they condemned earlier as 
senseless superstition. 

These theories of Karma and Punarjanma provided Hindus with a reason 
for human differences or mental abilities, that it must be a result 
of their deeds in this life or a past life. Karma and Samsara also 
encourage Hindus to act ethically because if they do not, they only 
will suffer for their poor actions. 

Why are some born great or rich, why some become great or rich and 
why for some others greatness and riches are thrust on them? Why 
some are born meek, weak or poor and continue to languish? 

A lady went to a maternity ward to observe the births of children 
and found different babies born differently. If God is merciful all 
babies would have been born alike in health and comforts. This 
itself shows that they had several lives before and they were born 
so differently now because of the differences in the past-karma of 
each one of them. 

To blame 'karma' is like blaming science and technology for the 
violence and terrorism that rock the world today. If we do not 
understand the Karma theory, it is because only when the outcome of 
our choice is happy do we claim credit for the causative actions; 
when the consequences are otherwise, we tend to deny any association 
with the causative factors and seek 'alibi' for escaping 
responsibility for the wrong action. 

We have heard people saying that if they had the opportunities like 
their model personality, they would have become as great as that 
model personality. But, this is not true. The greatness of the said 
model personality must have grown by his repeatedly doing through 
innumerable lives the things he has been specializing. The 'talents' 
or 'gifts' come from one's having so specialized over so many lives 
that in due course of time he starts reaping the fruits of such 
specialized talents Cases of birth- marks corresponding to death 
wounds in previous lives and very often, cases of phobias and 
philias are carry over from previous lives. 

It is questioned whether it is not immoral to be held accountable 
for sins one had perhaps committed in previous life and had long 
been forgotten. Is it not true that if you want to discipline a 
child, the admonition should swiftly follow the wrong doing so that 
the child might remember for what it is punished and learns to avoid 
recurrence of the fault? Will it not render the disciplining act 
irrelevant and ineffective, if meted out long after the mistake had 
been forgotten? And, is not the punishment rightly resented? How can 
one develop a disposition of penitence for one's misdeeds, if one 
cannot even remember them? 

Quite true. Quite true also when applied to the parental practice 
for training kids. But, life situations are totally different. 
Modern psychoanalysts have discovered that it is these forgotten 
misdeeds lying buried in our subconscious layers that trouble us the 
most. We do have to pay the price for past misdeeds which we have 
long forgotten and this is where our likes and dislikes fail to have 
any effect. 

It is easy to insult or injure a person and then forget about it. 
The greater the offense, the more ready I am to forget it (i.e.) ' 
to push it down the memory lane' into the unconscious. It is the 
person at the receiving end who will remember it for long - not the 
one who perpetrates. Justice demands that the act cannot go without 
being avenged, sooner or later, irrespective of whether I remember 
it or not. 

You don't remember what you ate yesterday - something that does not 
agree with your system. Your system may not react immediately. In 
fact, it tries to generate antibodies to fight the toxic effects of 
what you ate. But, if the toxicity of what you ingested is quite 
potent, it will show up if not immediately - may be long after you 
have forgotten your consuming the 'forbidden fruit'. You cannot 
dictate to your system that it cannot revolt because you don't 
remember. 

If you don't remember what you ate yesterday, how can you remember 
what you did in previous life? If what you ate yesterday can give 
you an indigestion today  what you did in previous life can have an 
effect now - whether you remember it or not. Just as 'ignorance is 
no excuse in law' in the cosmic law forgetting is no excuse - 
whether you forget it willingly or otherwise. So also, the result 
cannot be blamed since it only follows the cause as 'a calf follows 
the mother cow'. 

A non liberated soul is condemned to be reborn and as most human 
actions are corrupted by greed, malice and other 
undesirable "Vasanas", the risk of being reborn in a lower condition 
may be as an animal or even as an insect is more probable than of 
being born in an evolved state - unless one has consciously striven 
for controlling the evil tendencies and acquired the noble 
tendencies over a whole lifetime. 

In Hinduism, It is SIN that is condemned - NOT THE SINNER. 
In Hinduism, Man is not punished FOR his sins. - But BY his sins. 

"It is Nature's kindness that we do not remember past births. What 
is the good in knowing in detail the countless births we have gone 
through? Life would be an unbearable burden if we carried such a 
tremendous load of memories. A wise man deliberately forgets many 
things as a lawyer forgets the details handled by him, as soon as 
they are disposed of." (Gaer Joseph: "What the great religions 
believe", p22)

Maybe some lawyers forget the details even before arguing a case! 

The laws of Karma are as relentless and demanding as the laws of 
physics. In a sense, we should be happy that it precludes any 
fanciful excursions from the routines that are at the basis of all 
universal functions. 

John F Haught has this to say on the value of vicissitudes of life:

"When one has gone through a difficult life involving joys and 
tragedies, agonies and ecstasies, ups and downs of many sorts, it 
may seem at any particular point that one's existence has had little 
significance. Disappointment, monotony or disorder seems to rule at 
various times. It would have been better if some things had gone 
along more smoothly. Or, it might have been better if certain other 
things had not happened. But in retrospect such twists and turns can 
contribute to the richness of life. We often meet elderly people who 
in the twilight of their years express the sentiment that they would 
not trade such a life for anything. They now value their lives 
including the rough spots, the precipices along with the heights 
from a seasoned perspective; they cherish their rough but 
adventurous journeys more thoroughly than life undergone without all 
the contrasts of joy and sorrow. They are happy that they have 
weathered the storms because their horizons have been widened, their 
vision of the world enlarged and their courage deepened in the 
process. They are 'at peace' and often they will say so explicitly".
(Haught John F "What is God?" Paulist press NY 1986-90 pp 174-175)

In fact, it has been held that no one is required to shoulder an 
amount of his past Karma any more than one is able to bear. This may 
be questioned by some experiencing seemingly endless misery too much 
for them to bear. But, somehow, most people do manage to survive the 
tribulations of life even though it had not been any easy. 

If you look back at your life, you will be amazed how you got over 
some of the hurdles, disabilities, financial and mental stresses and 
strains that loomed large and insurmountable at the time you passed 
through them - circumstances which appeared to be unbearably 
uncomforting and uncomfortable. And, every time you seem to derive 
strength in some mysterious way and profit by FACING rather than by 
FLEEING away from these intriguing situations. 

Unfortunately, this resilience does not seem to operate as well when 
excessive good fortune favors people. Most of them fail to make the 
best use of their opportunities. Few, indeed, seem to be able to 
withstand the effects of say excessive wealth or excessive power 
without abusing the opportunities - thus creating for themselves 
much new karma of an unfortunate kind from the results of which they 
can never escape. 

It is a redeeming feature that happiness and suffering occur in some 
mysterious rotation that they seem to be alternating in some 
cyclical manner. Periods of misery are sandwiched between spells of 
joy and vice versa. The 'Wheel of Fortune' does not seem to stop 
rotating though it does its rounds but slowly. And, so slowly that 
spasms of 'agony and ecstasy' (especially the former) at the time of 
experience seem to be almost interminable. 

No person is subject to an unbroken tenure of torture or an unbroken 
spell of absolute felicity. This mixture is well proportioned - may 
be to mitigate the boredom of excessive experience of either kind 
and perhaps also to bring in bold relief the contrasts between the 
two which can be better appreciated only under such a scheme of 
alternating experiences. 

Nobody need feel despondent about the present state of misery. God 
holds the scales even. Even in the present state nobody is 
ABSOLUTELY HAPPY OR ABSOLUTELY MISERABLE. 
Life is provided with full of compensations. Even among animals, 
certain compensating advantages and deficiencies are noticed. An 
advantage given to a particular limb is neutralized by a reduction 
in another faculty or vice versa. For every excess there is a 
corresponding deficiency; for every deficiency there is a 
corresponding excess of advantage. For every thing you lost, you 
have gained elsewhere and for everything you gained you lose 
somewhere an equivalent moiety. Nature does not tolerate monopolies 
and exceptions though we are not aware of it. 

Like death which is a 'great leveler' life also has leveling 
circumstances. The petulant, the strong, the rich, the fortunate are 
cut to size almost on the same level with all the rest, may be in 
some other measure, in some other aspect which we do not see. This 
fact of nature must act to instill certain humility in prosperity 
and a certain consolation in adversity. 
"Say Not the Struggle not 
availeth?                                                            
           
If hopes are dupes, fears may be 
liars"                                                               
  
says Clough, Arthur Hugh, Poet. 
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To Continue
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2."DRAMIDOPANISHAD TATPARYA RATNAVALI" ? PART- 7":
BY SRI N. KRISHNAMACHARIAR SWAMI OF CHICAGO
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SrI:
SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.
 
tAtparya ratnAvaLi - Submission 8 - Slokam 6 of avatArikA.
Slokam 6:
 
prAcye sevAnuguNyAt prabhumiha Satake'mamsta mukter-upAyam
mukta prApyam dvitIye munir-anububudhe bhogyatA vistareNa   |
prApyatva upAya bhAvau Subha subhaga tanor-ityavAdIt tRtIye
ananya prApyaS-caturthe samabhavat itarair-ap-yananyAd-yupAyaH  ||
 
In this Slokam, svAmi deSikan proceeds to give the gist of the 
message communicated by nammAzhvAr through each of the ten `pattu'-s 
or Sataka-s - the group of 100 pASuram-s.
 
- munih prAcye Satake prabhum sevA AnuguNyAt mukteh upAyam amamstah -
  In the first Satakam (hundred pASuram-s), nammAzhvAr tells us that 
bhagavAn is the means for moksham because He is One who is fit to be 
worshiped.  The key words here are `sevAnuguNyAt' 
and `prabhum'. `sevAnuguNyAt' - BhagavAn is full of infinite kalyANa 
guNa-s including the key guNa-s of sauSIlyam, saulabhyam, vAtsalyam, 
etc., that are very essential for the jIva-s to approach Him to seek 
liberation.  Only such a One with these kalyANa guNa-s can be the 
upAyam or means for salvation.  His infinite kalyANa guNa-s are of 
immense help to the devotees, and so He is the surest means of 
liberation.  `prabhu' ? `Lord, Master, One who possesses power'.  
BhagavAn is the Lord and Master of all without exception.  There is 
no one equal to Him or above Him in any aspect.  It is His Lordship 
that comes into play in His svAtantRyam or absolute independence to 
do whatever He wishes, including forgiving all the sins of the 
devotees who unconditionally surrender to Him, and bestowing 
salvation on the qualifying devotees.  Thus, both His kalyANa guNa-s 
and his prabhuttvam come into play in His being the upAyam.
 
-dvitIye, bhogyatA vistareNa mukta prApyam anububudhe ? In the 
second Satakam,  nammAzhvAr explains in detail that bhagavAn is fit 
to be enjoyed, and He is one who is enjoyed by those who have 
attained moksham or salvation.  Thus, He is the Ultimate goal to be 
attained, because He is the Supreme Bliss, and performing eternal 
kainkaryam to Him is the bliss that the nitya-s and mukta-s are 
enjoying in SrIvaikunTham.  prApyattvam.  
 
- tRtIye prApyatva upAya bhAvau  Subha subhaga tanoh iti avAdIt ? In 
the third Satakam, AzhvAr points out that the upAyattvam (the 
fitness to be the upAyam for moksham), and the prApayattvam (One who 
is fit to be sought and attained) that are mentioned above, are 
attributes that can be fitting only to the One Who has the 
auspicious tirumEni that can remove the sins of all, and that can 
involve the devotees in the non-satiating enjoyment of His tirumEni, 
and immerse them in eternal kainkaryam to Him.  divya ma'ngala 
vigraha viSishTan.   Note that the viSisTAdvaita sampradAyam clearly 
declares that bhagavAn is endowed with an auspicious tirumEni that 
captivates the bhakta and that can remove all the sins of the jIva-s 
by the very sight of His tirumEni, and that permanently engages the 
mind of a sincere devotee in the desire to render nitya kainkaryam 
to Him ? divya ma'ngala vigraha viSishTan.
 
-caturthe ananya prApyaH ? In the fourth centum, AzhvAr declares 
that he has chosen emperumAn with the infinite kalyANa guNa-s and 
with the auspicious tirumEni as his only goal; nothing else 
whatsoever interests him, including any aiSvaryam, kaivalyam, etc. 
This is the mark of a true devotee.  In other words, none but this 
Lord is worthy of being sought, worshipped, etc. (No other goal 
except Him). ? ananya prApyattvam.
 
- itaraih ananyAd-yupAyah samabhavat ? In the remaining Sataka-s, 
AzhvAr reinforces that there is no other means for liberation and no 
other purpose in life other than meditating on the kalyANa guNa-s of 
emperumAn.   These remaining Sataka-s elaborate on the guNa-s of 
bhagavAn that were sung in the first Satakam in support of His being 
the upAyam, in greater detail. (No other means except Him). ? ananya 
upAyattvam.
 
Thus, tiruvAimozhi reveals to us that bhagavAn is both the means to 
attain Him, and the end to be attained also.  
 
Feedback:
 
I received the following feedback from one of my greatest well-
wishers, and wanted to share it with all of you.
"I find the excerpt below equally or more applicable to the AcAryar, 
who is the anupravESa bhagavAn.  BhagavAn for nammAzhvAr, but 
AcAryar for
 us".
 
The feedback is that the term "prabhu" etc. refer to emperumAn as 
sung by nammAzhvAr, but as far as we, the mumukshu-s and prapanna-s 
are concerned, our thoughts should always be fixed at the holy feet 
of our AcAryan.  Our AcAryan is the pratyaksha bhagavAn for us.  
SvAmi deSikan lists 14 AcArya lakhshaNa-s in the first Slokam of his 
nyAsa vimSati, and in the second Slokam, he points out that these 
are the same lakshaNa-s that emperumAn has, and that AcAryan should 
be worshipped same as emperumAn (devavat syAt upAsyah).  In fact, he 
is above emperumAn for us because he is pratyaksha
 daivam for us, and available to us with all his sauSIlyam, 
saulabhyam, vAtsalyam, etc., unlike bhagavAn who is not available to 
us except through meditation.  (The nyAsa vimSati Sloka-s referenced 
here are elaborated in my write-up available in the bhakti archives).
Obviously, we should resort to our AcAryan through prapatti, and 
without AcAryan's anugraham we cannot attain Him.  
I bow to my AcAryan for having blessed me with the feedback through 
a well-wisher of mine.  
?dAsan kRshNamAcharyan
(To continue)

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3."MAGIC OF MUSIC ? BY SRIU ANBIL RAMASWAMY SWAMI
Recently, I was invited to attend a music performance by Sri Madurai 
Sundar in Cleveland. Sri Sundar is the Son-in-law of my long time 
friend, Sri R. Seshadri Swamin (popularly known as TVS Seshadri) who 
is doing wonderful works of renovation of temples especially the 
Nava Tirupatis. At the conclusion of the performance, the organizers 
asked me to say a few words on Music. 

The following is an excerpt from the impromptu talk presented, for 
your kind information.
Dasoham
Anbil Ramaswamy
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Between the wonderful music you just heard and the equally wonderful 
dinner that is awaiting you, I do not wish to be guilty of 
inflicting a long speech on you. I will try to make it as short as 
possible, if not as sweet as the concert. It is now my turn to bring 
you "down to earth" from the dizzy heights the performance had taken 
you so that you can enjoy the mouth watering smorgasbord tempting 
your palate. 
We now heard the scintillating, enrapturing, enthralling music by 
one of the leading artists of music. 

You will agree with me that by his enchanting rendering, we could 
palpably feel his virtually transporting us into the realm of the 
Almighty "Naada Brahmam" ably assisted by the accomplished Vidwans 
who accompanied him on their respective instruments. 
It is a happy blend of the "Kriti Vailakshyam" and "Gaayaka 
Vailakshyam". 

In this foreign country and in these modern times, he has taken care 
to maintain a faithful adherence to the hoary Saastraic traditions. 
It is these that are responsible for this experience. 
Thank you, Sri Sundar and friends.

The acid test of any good exercise whether a song, a movie, or a 
novel lies in the fact that it permeates your whole attention and is 
jealously exclusive of all diversions and distractions. We had the 
proof of this in the absorbing experience to which the artists led 
us, as it were, on a "guided tour". 

Shakespeare in his "Merchant of Venice" had some devastating comment 
on those who had no ear for music and who cannot appreciate music. 

"The man that hath no music in himself 
Nor is not moved with the concord of sweet sounds
Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils;
The motions of his spirit are dull as night 
And his affections are dark as Erebus;
Let no such man be trusted"

There is a saying in Sanskrit that "A person who has no taste for 
Sangeeta (Music) and Saahitya (Lyrics) is nothing more than an 
animal without its tail" "Sangeeta Saahitya kalaa viheena: Saakshaat 
pasu vishaana heena:" 

On the positive side, the power of music needs no overemphasis. 
Do you know the earliest scriptures of humanity? They are the Vedas 
that exist from time immemorial. They are 4 in number, Rik, Yajur, 
Saama and Atharva. A whole Veda, namely, Saama Veda is totally 
dedicated to rendering of mantras set to music. We Indians ought to 
be proud that we are the pioneers in integrating Music with Mantras 
to guide us on our spiritual journey. 

Lord Krishna's enchanting flute is said to have attracted the Gopis 
and even the cows and deer so much that they dropped whatever they 
were doing or eating and rushed to hear the music flowing from his 
mellifluous flute. 

If Lord KrishNa mesmerized all living beings, including humans, the 
flora and the fauna with his flute, do you know that Lord KrishNa 
himself was mesmerized by the music issuing forth from the VeeNa of 
his devotee? Look at the picture of the blind Surdas playing his 
VeeNa and Lord Krishna sitting just in front of him in rapt 
attention relishing the music. You will realize the "Magic of Music" 
in this scene! 

Andal, the God intoxicated bridal mystic repeatedly emphasizes the 
musical aspect of her magnum opus "Tiruppaavai" using the 
word "PaaDu, "PaaDI" etc in most of the 30 stanzas in her work. 
Lava and Kusa are known to have sung the Srimad Ramayanam so 
melodiously that the entire audience was enthralled and Sri Rama 
himself leaving his throne moved to mix with the audience entranced 
by the sweetness of their musical rendering without his being aware 
of his doing so! 

Kulasekara Azhwar in his Perumal Tirumozhi has provided us an 
effective tool in "Mannu pugazh Kousalai thun" that is being sung to 
this day by mothers all over the Tamil speaking world to put their 
children to sleep. 

It is common experience that even a `Cry baby" is calmed and lulled 
into silence on hearing the melody of music and becomes transformed 
into a "Calm baby" 

There is a saying in Sanskrit that the "Sound of music" is 
appreciated even by babies and animals: "Sisur vEthi, pasur vEthi 
gaana rasam phaNi" 

Sri Nathamunigal received in a trance from Swami Namaazhwar the 4000 
holy collects known as "Naalaayira Divya Prabandams" and promptly 
chronicled them, setting them to music and initiated his disciples 
to spread the message through the medium of music. 

Mahaakavi Subrahmanya Bharatiyaar who had a prognosis of 
Independence of the nation from foreign yoke long before it became a 
reality gave a song that kindled intense patriotic feelings in us 
and gave an unprecedented fillip and motivation to the freedom 
struggle: 

"AaaDuvOME paLLUP paaDuvOmE 
Aananda suthantiram aDaindu viTTOm enru" 
(Note the Past Perfect tense used!)
The devotional "Abhangs" and "Dandia Ras" of the North and the 
gala "Gummi" and "kOLaaTTam" of the South provide a rich fare of 
soul stirring music for generations 

Each country has its own "National Anthem" (e.g.) "VandE Maataram" 
and "Jana Gana Mana adhi naayaka jayahE" in India and "Star Spangled 
Banner" in America. The power behind the music in these national 
songs is found to rouse patriotic feelings in the minds of the 
listeners. 

Music is a force that unites humanity. Different cultures find it a 
meeting place of mature minds. It is a harmonizing factor in 
comforting in times of stress and tension. 
Music helps in transmission of spiritual energy. "Listen to music 
with your heart and not in your intellect" says Sri Sachidaannda 
Ganapati of "Duttapeetam" who specializes in "Cure through Music" 
(vide www.Duttapeetam.org for further details)

It has been proved scientifically that animals and plants respond 
positively to music (not the harsh and degenerating variety 
of "rock") miscalled as music" (which is known to have a 
degenerating effect on the psyche of the listeners) 
Cows are known to give more milk when listening to music; Horses and 
camels move in a more disciplined manner; plants give better yields 
both qualitatively and quantitatively. 

Thus, music is in our blood; it is in our breath from time 
immemorial and touches and moulds every aspect of our lives. 
Music for health: The "Vibro-acoustics" that is better known in 
India as "Naada Chikitsa" has been used as therapeutic tool to 
modulate the rate of metabolism and for correcting various physical 
disorders and emotional disturbances. 

Michigan State University has instituted from 1944 a course 
in "Music therapy" which when employed is the safest method of 
treatment that not only cures many known diseases but also gives 
satisfaction. 

American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) has a branch in University 
Hospitals in Cleveland that provides "Music as medicine" for 
physiological and psychological aspects of an illness or disability 
(Vide http://www.musictherapy.org for further details)
Once again, thank you Sri Sundar and friends accompanying him for 
giving us not only a rich auditory treat but also one that elevates 
the spirit and ennobles the soul






 
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