Lecture demo class by Sri Shankar Bhagavathar (Trivandrum) in Sampradhaya Bhajana Vidyalayam on 4th Nov 2012

The Lecture Demo class by Shankar Bhagavathar went on very well and was handled with ease and value addition.  A lot of practical aspects on bhajan rendering was demonstrated and all the participants appreciated the nuances of singing Thodaya mangalam and Dhyana Slokas.  Bhagavathar also explained the meanings of the Sahithya and dwelled more on Telugu scripts as it is his mother tongue.

Sri Shankar Bhagavathar from Trivandrum giving a lecture demo on Thodaya Mangalam

A few points on the discussion is furnished below:-

1.       Life style and contributions of Pudukottai Gopalakrishna Bhagavatha swamy.  He stayed confined to his asramam in Pudukottai till age of 60.  Then moved out to all places in India.

2.       Hari narayana is usually rendered in Mayamalava gowla raga as it is so apt and it sets the ambience for the bhajan.

3.       One should learn sampradaya bhajan for enjoying the same.  It  is an anushtana rather than simple learning.  You should not learn it for giving a programme or to become a bhagavathar of repute.  All such things will follow, if one deserves it.

4.       Why Pundareekam is sung – to set our attention and sruthi right.

5.       Trinity in sampradaya bhajan.

6.       Mooshika vahana and Mandaara mooley are additions done by Gopalakrishna bhagavathar.  No need to sing Jaya Jaya after mooshika vahana. He has made such additions at various stages in the Sampradaya.  But he has never deleted anything in his paddhathi which was set up by Marudanallur Sath Guru Swamy.

7.       The Charanam  -- Parama Pada Govinda Madhava coming in between in Sharanu Sharanu -- is an addition in sanskrit and probably added by  some other bhagavathar.

8.       In Yennagala prahlada bhakthulu charanam, `yelamitho mimu koluva kippudu' as well as `koluva vachiri' – are OK.  The praacheena form is `vachiri'.

9.       Gimmics trend that has swept modern bhajan – is very unfortunate.  First understand the Sahithyam and sing in simple style. Nuances will follow with orginality, when you sing with bhakthi.  Never learn initially with intricate and complicated sangathees.

10.   Most important is Sahithya, then Sruthi and then laya.  You cannot afford to move away from Sruthi.

11.   There can be Music in bhajan, but bhajan should not go after Music.  More important is the involvement, bhakthi and surrender to the Lord.

12.   In Murahara Nagadhara, last charanam `Naada priya the' and `Radha priya the' are correct.

13.   In last charanam of `Madhava bhavathu the'…. Vijaya gopala pala is correct.  Not `bala'. Otherwise sing as Vijaya gopala they mangalam.

The lecture class started at 3.30 PM and concluded by 5.10 pm.  Shankar bhagavathar had to rush to catch the  5.30 Venad express from TPRA.  We are extremely thankful to him for having graced the occasion and contributed to the value addition.  Our pranams to him.  The class was attended by about 30 students of the Vidyalayam. 

First Class by Subbarama Bhagavathar - Key Points

- Harinarayana  to be sung in Maya malava gowla.

- What is Thodaya mangalam?  - Thodaya means   "invocation"

- 5 songs - jaya janakiRamana by Bhadrachdala Ramadas, in Sanskrit,  sung in Gambheera naatai..

               - Saranu Saranu  and  Murahara nagadhara  by Annanmayya

               - Devesa  and Madhava Bhavathuthe.. by  VijayaGoplaa Swami

Talk By Sridhar Gopalakrishnan on Sampradaya Bhajana Vidyalayam's Inaugural Day

About Sridhar Gopalakrishnan

Sridhar Gopalakrishnan is working as a S/w Development Manager, HP India, Bangalore. Sridhar holds a B Tech degree from NIT Calicut, and is pursuing e-MBA from IIM Calicut.

Sridhar is an avid listener of great spiritual speakers, and is deeply involved in Sampradhaya Bhajana. He also takes special interest in understanding our Dharma Shastras.

Here are some of the pearls of wisdom shared by Sridhar on the day of Sampradaya Bhajana Vidyalayam's inaugural day.
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SBV's  mission  would be to impart the sampradaya legacy. What is the need to explain Sampradaya, and why should we follow it? And how?

Though the Rishees  and great Bhaagavthas (who have experienced divinity)  have clearly laid out a sampradaya and tradition, our minds are not yet equipped to understand and experience  the same.   Hence we need to quench our mind with some reasoning  (along with the faith or belief in it) behind most of the practices that we do.

Let's look at few examples  and try to  think and understand the reasoning behind why we do them..

·         Ganesha dhyaanam -  When we start any new learning, the lord's posture reminds us to  LISTEN (big ears) a lot and thereby attain an ELEVATED(  elevated and big masthakams)  level of knowledge about the subject, EQUIP OUR MIND to understand simple as well as  detailed intricate things (like the trunk),  SEE ONLY what;'s needed and do MANANAM or reflection of what we have learnt (small eyes)  and TALK LESS , LISTEN MORE small mouth

·         Shuklam Bharadaram -  We strike 5 times on our forehead to invokve or alert the nerves  to be ready for learning. Its inner sense is to equip our mind to be pure, not distracted, ready to execute, reflect, and pleasant expression of thoughts and thereby not having any obstructions and attain peace  in  our venture. In short  EQUIP OUR MIND TO INVOKE PEACE in ANY ACTION that we set for for its successful completion.

·         Gayathri Japam or purpose of Japam - is to  take away our mind from the various thoughts that we go through every day  and deeply think and realize that god is WITHIN  US . Thereby we attain better knowledge. Because Knowledge is power. So let's devote some time  every day for this  reassurance and  realization.

·          Why we chant NAMAM - There are many reasons. A couple of them are -  As depicted in Bhagavatham, the creation of  pancha bhootha started with space->Air->Agni->Water->Earth. The sound is the property of Space which is the closest to the supreme being. As we can see , we need the chanting to invoke god in all other forms of Pancha bhoothas. So Chanting has highest significance. This is also reflected in the Shravanam Keerthanam Vishnum.. sloka.

·         Another reason  to chant NAMAM is - All namam of God means well being and good qualities that we should have . Eg: RAAMA - most beautiful where we should ideally be submerged with (thats why this namam  leads to Moksham) , KRISHNA - who takes away the sins, SHIVAM - Auspicious,  or mangalam.   When we chant them, we automatically develop these qualities. Our thoughts->actions->habit-> character .. Also there are asthu devahas in space who keep blessing what we wish and say, may it happen. So when we chant good things, that automatically happens to us. 

·         Why we need NAAMA SANKEERTHANAM -   Plain chanting of namam  is very difficult due to worldly distractions. So we use music as an undercurrent to  bring in the focus. And it should just be used for that. So singing with focus on the saahithyam and Bhaavam is the most differentiating  act of Naama Sankeerthanam as opposed to other forms of music which are for joyous listening. An analogy could be drawn from the presence of shruthi   for a music rendition. It is needed just  to align the pitch. Similarly musical element is used to only to  have focus in the naamam  that is being chanted..