In comparison, beauty seems to be such an inessential quality! Surely this focus on beauty is worth questioning? We even come across hymns and prayers from ancient times which describe the beauty of the Gods in extravagant terms.īut why do Gods need to be beautiful? This bothers me somewhat, especially in the climate of today where there is an obsession over beauty. I would like to think of Gods as being compassionate, loving, just, generous and forgiving. Finally the mystery was resolved! All of you Kannada speakers are no doubt wondering at my ignorance!Īccording to the great poets and songwriters of India, Gods are indeed beautiful.
I was almost giving it up after more than 2 hours of searches when I finally found a mention in an old article in Carnatica that this word is in Kannada and the Bhagavatar has often thrown in a few Kannada words into his Sanskrit compositions. How odd, I thought! I have had a cataract operation only day before yesterday and am still struggling with my eyesight so all this computer work made me quite dizzy. There was no trace of this word in kritis by any other composers. I searched for other uses of this word, but only MB seems to have used this word in his kritis. Or perhaps a declension of some other word? Checking declension tables did not help.
I looked up multiple dictionaries but could not find this word. Note about translation : The lyrics were easy to translate except for the word Salahau. The loving woman ( kaminI) who is dear to ( priya) Lord Shiva ( harikEsha which is also the poet’s signature), She who showers ( varshiNI) us ( implied) with the ambrosia of immortal ( amRuta) bliss ( Ananda) O Lotus-eyed one ( sarasija-Lotus, akshi-Eyes)!! O Goddess ( implied) who fascinates ( mohini) the whole world ( jagat)! She who is decorated ( bhUshaNI) by the gems ( maNi) of beautiful ( sarasa) ragas. O Goddess Vijambika who is praised ( nuta) by Brahma ( vidhi) and Indra, O Pure One ( vimalE)! O Goddess ( implied) who is the essence ( sArE) of the Vedas! Protect me ( salahau – this word is in Kannada, not Sanskrit)! O Goddess ( implied) who is imbued with (- mayI) and is a reservoir ( nidhi) of nectar ( sudhA), O Goddess ( implied) who holds a bow ( kOdanDE) made of sugarcane ( ikshu) with arrows ( shara) of flowers ( suma). HarikEsha priya kAminI AnandAmRuta varshiNI (alt: karshiNI) SarasijAkshi jaganmOhinI sarasarAga maNi bhUshaNI VidhIndra nuta vimalE salahau vEda sArE vijayAmbikE SudhAmayI sudhAnidhi sumasharEkshu kOdanDE I have always had a great liking for Maharajapuram Santhanam who sings Sudhamayee with an effortless charm which I am sure you will appreciate.Ĭomposer : Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar
įor a vocal version, I have chosen a recording from the same era. Out of nostalgia, I am presenting a rendition from an old recording of Kadri Gopalnath from 1985, a rendition which is so very familiar to me. The man who made the music has passed as I too will one day, but I imagine those moments of beauty remaining suspended little gems floating in the atmosphere for eternity. At times, when I have listened to his music, when notes follow cascading notes, I have felt bathed in the beauty of music. A post to honour a musician who created beautiful music and a Goddess who is adorned with the same is a good match, don’t you think! I also felt that a raga which is called Amrutavarshini or ‘ she who showers the ambrosia of immortality’ is a good choice to honour a man whose music will remain immortal. This song is particularly suitable as the poet-composer Harikesanallur Muthiah Bhagavatar describes the Goddess as being ornamented with beautiful ragas. I cannot believe that one year I had even managed nine kritis for the nine days of Navaratri! So very belatedly, I am presenting this beautiful song to honour Goddess Ambika. This is my first miss for Navaratri since I started this blog in 2011. Navaratri has passed by without my having made a single post. In selecting a song to honour Kadri Gopalnath, I have chosen a devi kriti. May he play his sax in celestial spheres for evermore. I dedicate this post to this man and his music. A man who bent his will over the saxophone such that it blew to his tune, a man who paved an untrodden path to show that the saxophone is an instrument of choice for Carnatic Music, a man of immense talent that we have all admired over many years, he is a man who will never be forgotten. What a great loss we Carnatic Music lovers have had this past week! Kadri Gopalnath, the saxophonist par excellence, is no more.
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