Carnatic Compositions – The Essence and Embodiment
– Aparna Munukutla Gunupudi
Our intent for this essay is to highlight the great features of the language, emotion and melody (rAgam) of a krithi (song/composition) and also to provide the song for your listening pleasure. Most of you may know these krithis, but when you discover the distinct features of a krithi, you may enjoy a new beauty or an attribute in the krithi.
Note: Krithi is defined as a song containing pallavi, anupallavi and charanam that have high musical value and can be sung elaborately with improvisations. Whereas, Keerthana also has a pallavi, anupallavi and charanam but is sung in a single form or simpler pattern.
chandram baja
raagam: asAvEri
taaLam: MaTya
Composer: Muttuswaami Dikshitar
Language: Sanskrit
pallavi:
candram bhaja mAnasa sAdhu hrudaya sadrusham
anupallavi:
indrAdi lOkapAlEDita tArEsham
indum shODasha kalAdharam nisAkaram
indirA sahOdaram sudhAkara manisham
caraNam:
shankara mowLi vibhUshaNam sIta kiraNam caturbhujam
madana chatram kshapAkaram venkaTEsha nayanam
virAN manO jananam vidhum kumuda mitram
vidhi guruguha vaktram
shashAnkam gIshpati shApAnugraha pAtram
sharat candrikaa dhavaLa prakAsha gAtram
kankaNa keyUra hAra makuTAdi dharam
pankaja ripum rOhiNI priyakara caturam
Meaning:
candram bhaja – praise the planet moon
mAnasa – in your mind
sAdhu hrudaya – gentle hearted
sadrusham – equal to
anupallavi:
indrAdi – indra and others
lOkapAlEDita – rulers of the world and eight directions
tArEsham – lord of the stars
Indum – the moon
shODasha – six plus ten – sixteen
kalAdharam – possessor phases
nisAkaram – the holder of the night
indirA – goddess lkashmi/indira
sahOdaram – brother
sudhAkaram – possesses coolness
anisham – always
caraNam:
Shankara – lord sankara
mowLi – headgear
vibhUshaNam – adorned
sIta – cool
kiraNam – rays
Caturbhujam – four armed
Madana – cupid’s
chatram – umbrella
kshapAkaram – provider of the moon light
venkaTEsha – lord venkatEswara
Nayanam – eye
virANmanO – from the hearts of women
Jananam – born
Vidhum – the moon
Kumuda – water lilies
Mitram – friend
Vidhi – lord Brahma
Guruguha – guruguha
Vaktram – always speaks of them
shashAnkam – deer as his symbol (image on the moon)
gIshpati – Guru
shApa – curse
anugraha pAtram – blessed
sharat – fall season
Candrikaa – moon
dhavaLa – bright/white
prakAsha – shining
gAtram – body
kankaNa – bracelet
keyUra – armlet
hAra – necklace
makuTAdi – crown and other jewelry
dharam – decked
Pankaja – lotus
ripum – enemy
rOhiNI – star rOhiNi
priyakara – lover
caturam – expert
Summary:
Praise the lord of the planet Chandra/Moon, the gentle hearted one, in your mind. He is the lord of the stars and is worshiped by the indra and other lords of the world. He possesses the 16 phases, one each for the 15 days of the fortnight and the 16th one is adorned by lord Siva. He is the lord of the night (visible only in the night), he is the brother of goddess Indira/Lakshmi and always spreads coolness. He is adorned by lord Sankara, spreading cool moon rays and has four arms. He aids the cupid by spreading pleasantness as an umbrella and possessor of coolness. He is the eye of lord VenkatEsa (the sun and the moon are his eyes), he is born out of hearts of loving women, he is a friend of water lilies, and lord Brahma and Subrahmanya are in his talks. He has the deer as his symbol (the image on the moon resembles a deer), he was cursed by guru. His body shines bright like the moon in autumn season, and is decked with bracelets, armlets, necklaces, a crown and other jewelry. He is an enemy of the lotus (lotuses close up in the night) and he loves rOhiNi and is talented.
This krithi is one of the Navagraha krithis, nine kritis on the planets. This one is on the planet Moon and the composer described all the attributes of the planet. In Hindu astrology, moon is one of the most important planets since the position of moon designated by birth star in one’s horoscope, which is also called “Raasi”, and is used for general predictions as a base. In astrological theory, the planets and zodiac signs are related by sign rulership or adhipatis (see below table). Moon rules cancer and aspects the seventh house*. Aspecting refers to looking into or watching a house or the planets positioned in that house. Moon is portrayed as a cool and friendly planet and does not conflict with Sun and Mercury. It is said that if Moon is positioned in a good house, he bestows calmness, fine arts and a good life partner.
* House is a section of 30 degrees in the orbit.
The power of music is profound
The joy of music is sweet and sound
The awe of music is abound
Music makes the world go round
Tanikella Chandra Bhanu is an accomplished Carnatic musician and a graded artist in All India Radio (AIR). She teaches music at Smt. Durgabai Deshmukh Music College. She has performed extensively in India and abroad. She lives in Bangalore.
| Planets/Ruler | Color | Friend | Enemy | Neutral |
| Sun | Red | Moon, Mars, Jupiter | Saturn, Venus | Mercury |
| Moon | White | Sun, Mercury | None | Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn |
| Mars | Crimson Red | Sun, Moon, Jupiter | Mercury | Venus, Saturn |
| Mercury | Green | Sun, Venus | Moon | Mars, Jupiter, Saturn |
| Jupiter | Yellow | Sun, Moon, Mars | Mercury, Venus | Saturn |
| Venus | White | Mercury, Saturn | Sun, Moon | Mars, Jupiter |
| Saturn | Black | Mercury, Venus | Sun, Moon, Mars | Jupiter |
| Rahu (Nodal planet) | Ultra violet | |||
| Ketu (Nodal planet | Infra red |
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Aparna Munukutla Gunupudi is a poet, lyricist and short story writer. She has written dance ballets such as Queen of Jhansi, Prasanna Ashtalakshmi, Usha Kalyanam, Sneham, Jamsetji Tata and they were performed in Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam styles. She wrote songs for “Prema Tarangini” an audio cassette released by noted music director Sri Manohar Murthy. She considers her parents, who provided and encouraged her in book reading, are her “gurus” and Sri Jandhyala Payayya Sastri as her writing mentor.