TM Krishna: Manodharma - A Lec-Dem Part Three 

Genius

As you say! I hope my words convey the necessary amount of humility that is required to be carried with them when you read them. The maarga is, as one treads it, for one; as one is led to tread, for the other; as one follows another's trodden path, for yet another but most importantly, I think, to put it as humbly as is possible, the maarga is also influenced by the perspective in which some express their understanding or about a concept. TMK has quite clearly taken out religious intonations from his opinions and in his analysis but has it, in anyway, taken away the non-verbal emotivity of the raagas in his vocal rendition, in this very lecdem? In part 2, he actually uses Lathangi, I think, when describing neraval in a raaga alapana (with lyrics "Bhoologa vaikuntam..." (assuming that we agree that most lyrics are used typically with certain raagas - for instance, "vaathaapi ganapathim..." in Hamsadhvani) that very few would use in a Lathangi style and that has to come from his deep knowledge and discipline to be within the scale and the scope of the/a raaga) so his knowledge range of raagas has not been limited or diminished by his non-belief in bhakti as the source upon which a raaga is built, rendered or vocalised, as a rule. You have possibly filled the layer that does not exist in TMK's world of raagas, but may exist for many of the rasikas and possibly, other musicians but the metaphor of the Deer caused me to comment for TMK and also possibly, inspired by your own well-expressed comment.

He has amplified on the sahitya question in later lec dems, since this is a persistent confusion. All he says is this, the emotive manifestation of the sahitya meaning alone is inherently personal to the listener, and not necessarily relevant to the music. What is the relevant is the flow of syllables as the hooks on which the raga is strung. That sahitya moves you to bhakti is your personal experience of the divine. Mine is the unexpected moves in a melodic line..how does it matter..we are all moved by something...that's what matters

My apologies, it's in the credits. Cheers.

Akshaya Linga Vibho in Shankarabharanam

Many many thanks Gokulanand Iyer! ! :)

It is not a composition just a one line lyrics for pallavi...

And the Pallavi is - Paramananda Govinda Mukunda.

Sibendu Das it depends from venue to venue. Some venues have their own sound setups as in the case of this video. Otherwise Krishna typically uses a Shure SM58.

@@FirstEditionArtsChannel thank you so much for the information. And thank you a lifetime for bringing such treasure troves of musical experience to one and all. Bless you!

He did his research Girish. There a number of compositions of tyagaraja that are sringara bhava and erotic in aspect...but unfortunately buried by the association of tyagaraja with only bhakti. He was a multifaceted giant like other members of the Trinity

T M Krishna is great tretise of Carnatic music. He has good musical lineage being direct student of semmangudi srinivasa ayyar. But his opinion on relation between music & bhakti is unfortunate not for him but for followers of Trinity of Carnatic music. I need not reiterate the compisitions of tyagaraja "samgeeta gnaanamu bhakti vina san maargamu kalade manasaa" and "nigama sirorthamu kaligina nija vaakkulato swara shuddhatato Sogasugaa mrudanga taalamulu jata goorichi chokka jeyu dheerudevvado" the meaning of second composition is that rithem & music are only additions (jatha) to the saahityam(nija vaakkulato) which is fortified with meanings of Upanishads (nigamasirorthamu). There are many other compositions which reiterates the above. "Chaotic mix of seven notes is what type of music like the sounds of frogs & cranes" this is the meaning of another composition of tyagaraja.

Yes, I can say that for Bengali. Rabindranath Tagore has composed several Bengali songs based on pure Carnatic music. The lyrics are in Bengali but the musicality is Carnatic.

It is a Pallavi. It is just one line which may or may not be from a composition. It is then improvised. The particular pallavi you are asking for is as follows:- Dasharathe Karuna Payonidhe Inakula Tilaka.

He means when you sing it with gamaka, they are the same. Not the swarasthanas.

TMK just another pseudo secular intellectual liberal speaking his bullshit everywhere. None can replace our MS Amma, Yesudas, Balamurali . Legends remain legends for a reason

So there are facets which are neither rational nor bhakti too ryt

What is this aversion to Rationality? Humans are rational beings. Rationality is what allows us to comprehend everything around us. Carnatic Music primarily developed in temples. That's why devotional themes encompass it. On the other hand, Hindustani Music primarily developed in royal courts. It has compositions covering a range of topics. Just because Carnatic Composers restricted themselves to making only devotional compositions does not imply that, other emotions cannot be expressed through Carnatic Music.

There is no aversion to Reason or logic. To look at everything through this lens will not let you explore the spiritual or the Bhakthi side. But unfortunately Bhakthi is not a common thing for everyone to revel in it. To me Carnatic music is Bhakthi music primarily. The musicians have used music as a medium to grow in consciousness and scale spiritual heights. This is the case with everything in ancient India. Hindustani music under heavy influence of iconoclastic Islamic rule would have become secularised.

@@youtubaravind common men of spiritual bhaarath had other stuffs to care and work for. After bhaaratheeyans attained a level of satisfaction on all aspects, we will then care about bhakti n carnatic music. Ppl who talk about carnatic music are very far from ancient india 🤣People pf navya Bharath never know who these megalomaniacs are.