VARIOUS FORMS OF KARNĀTIK MUSIC

GĪTAM
PART ­ IV

Welcome to the lecture series on Karnātik music.

In this session let us discuss about the meaning of the gītam ‘Umaipati iḍam’
Sāhitya
Umaipati iḍam amai nī manamē
Ariyan avanaḍi tozhudār sīr
Amai vizhi pozhiya aruḷ suvai kēḷ
Śiva śiva venavē sīrāi
Āgama vidhi muzhangiḍumē
Takadimi yanavē Tani naḍam purivan
Irukaran talaimisai ēṛkum aḍiyarai
Āḷuvānē Tāḷinaiyālē

Word meaning
» Umaipati iḍam – with the husband of Goddess Uma, Lord Śiva
» Amai nī – you rest yourself
» Manamē – oh my soul
» Ariyan – He is the learned one
» Avanaḍi – His feet
» Tozhudār­ worship
» Sīr Amai vizhi pozhiya – glances of blessings
» Aruḷ suvai kēḷ ­ relish of compassion
» Śiva śiva venavē Muzhangiḍumē sīrāi – properly chants the name Śiva
» Āgama vidhi ­ Vedās and Āgamās are the Holy Scriptures believed to have
arrived directly from the Lord. They elucidate ways of attaining salvation.
» Takadimi yanavē – ta ka di mi are syllables for dance
 » Tani naḍam purivan – Majestic dance
» Irukaran – both the hands
» talaimisai Ēṛkum – raising above the head
» Aḍiyarai ­ devotees
» Āḷuvānē ­ rules
» Tāḷinaiyālē – Lotus feet

Meaning
In this gītam, the composer describes and praises the Lord Śiva at Cidambaram.
This temple is considered as the abode of the Lord on earth. Here the Lord assumes
the form of a cosmic dancer.
He talks to his mind telling, oh mind! Calm down in the presence of the Lord of
Uma (Pārvati). When a learned person worships His feet, you (the mind) realize the
relish of His compassionate glance.
The Āgama vidhi (the conventions established by Āgama) constantly chant ‘Siva
Śiva’ very profoundly. Vedās and Āgamās are the Holy Scriptures believed to have
arrived directly from the Lord. They elucidate ways of attaining salvation.
The Lord Siva dances to the syllables Takadimi in a very majestic manner. The
Lord with His lotus feet, rules his devotees, who worship him with both hands above
head.
The words ‘umaipati – amai’, ‘manamē – muzhangiḍumē’ are the rhymes found
in this gītam. The composer has used crisp words deep meaning.
When analyzing the Svara framework, the gītam commences with the phrase
‘nndpmpd’ which is a very characteristic phrase of Bhairavi. The Janṭa svaras are such
as ‘ṇṇssrrg’ are used which adds beauty to the gītam. The Dhaivatham used in the
phrases ‘mp,dnṡṙ’ and ‘pdnṡ’ is Chatusruthi Dhaivatham. Whereas the Dhaivatham used
in the other phrases are Suddha Dhaivatham. The range of the gītam extends till the
higher octave ṁ (Madhyamam) and the ṇ (Nishādham) in the lower octave. The whole
gītam gives almost all the characteristic phrases of the Bhairavi Rāgam.
Let us discuss about another Gītam, Sarasvati Gītam.

GĪTAM – 6
SARASVATI
Rāgam: Bēgaḍa (29) Ārōhana: s g​
2​r​ g​
2​ m​
2​ p d​
1​ 2​pṡ
*​
Tāḷam: Tiśra Jāti Tripuṭa Avarōhana: ṡ n​ d​2​p m​ g​ r​
1​ 2​2​s

| |
m g m | p , | d p n d p | m g | m p
| |
sv | na g |
sa ra ­ | ­ | ti ­ ­ na | nā ­ | ḷi
a | n e |
| |
p d p | ṡ n | ṙ ṡ ṁ ġ ṙ | ṡ ṙ | n ṡ
| |
n | gr h |
ya lli ­ | ku | sa li a va ḷa | nu ­ |
i | a a |
| |
p d p | ṡ n | d p m p d | m , | g r
| |
na m | kh dh |
di n da | ­ | na da li | mā ­ | ­
n u | a u |
| |
g , , | g , | m p g r s | g r | g m
| |
ry | |
­ ­ | śri ­ | la li ta va ca | naṅ ­ | ga ḷu
ā | |

| |
p d p | ṡ n | ṙ ṡ ṁ ġ ṙ | ṡ n | ṙ ṡ
| |
| gr h |
ja ni ­ | su ­ | ge ­ a va ḷa | nu ­ |
| a a |
| |
p d p | ṡ n | d p m p d | m , | g r
| |
| n |
va ra da | vāl ­ | mi ­ ki mu ni | Peḷ ­ | da
| u |
| |
g , , | g , | m p g r s | s , | s ,
| |
m | bh |
śri ­ ­ | rā ­ | ṇa śu ca | ri ­ | tra ­
a | a |

Explanation for gītam – 5​

– SARASVATI
 This gītam is in Rāgam Bēgaḍa. This is a Janya Rāgam derived from its parent
th
rāgā Dhīra Shankarābharanam, which is in the 29​ mēḷa. It is a Vaķra raga and an
upānga raga. The scale of this Rāgam is as follows,

*​
Ārōhana: s g​r​
2​ g​
2​ m​
2​ p d​
1​ p ṡ ­ Avarōhana: ṡ n​
2​ d​ p m​
2​ g​
1​ r​
2​ s
2​

This is not an ancient Rāgam. As the saying goes in Telugu "Bēgaḍa mīgaḍa"
means, Bēgaḍa is the cream; it is an exquisite rāga, and one that provides great relish.
This Rāgam can be rendered whenever desired.
The svaras used in Begada are, Antara Gāndharam, Chatusruthi Rishabam,
Sudha Madhyamam, Paňchamam and Chatusruthi Dhaivatham. Both the Kaisiki and
Kākali Nishādham are present and these are phrase­oriented. For the Bēgaḍa Rāgam,
the Madhyama and the Nishādham are the jīva svaras that provide great raňjana.
This gītam is in praise of the deity, Goddess Sarasvati who is the Hindu goddess
of knowledge, music, arts and science. The goddess is playing the Vīna; this signifies
harmony of all mental strings, agencies and attitudes. Sarasvati is the feminine aspect
that signifies creativity, as a woman can originate a human being in her womb. The
goddess Sarasvati is often depicted as a beautiful woman dressed in pure white often
seated on a white lotus.

Sāhitya
Sarasvati nanna nāḷigeyalli kuṇisali
Yavaḷanugraha dinda nanna mukhadali
Mādhuryā shrī lalita vacanangaḷu janisukē
avaḷanugraha varada vālmīki muni peḷdanu
Shrī ramaṇa shubha caritram
Word meaning
» Sarasvati – Oh Sarasvati
» Nanna – my
» nāḷigeyalli­ in the tongue, (nālige is tongue)
» kuṇisali­ play or stay
» Anugraha­ grace/blessings
» dinda – with
» mukhadali­ from the face, mukha is face, mukhadali is from the face
» Mādhuryā – sweet like honey
» Lalita – gracious and gentle
» vacanangaḷu – words/phrases
» Janisukē – generated/created
» Varada – obtained blessings
» Peḷdanu – told/ sung
» Caritram –history or story

Meaning
In this Gītam, the composer says, let Sarasvati stay & play in my tongue. With
her blessings sweet & gracious words are generated from the composer’s mouth. With
Sarasvati’s grace, Vālmiki muni was also blessed to sing Sri Rama’s story/history.
The Dhātu of the gītam begins with the characteristic phrase of Begada ‘mgmp’.
The other phrase ‘pdpṡ’ is also the most important for this Rāgam, which is found
several times throughout the gītam. The range in the higher extends up to the Svara ṁ.
The phrase ‘mpdm,gr’ also gives the most distinguishing melody for Begada. This is a
very short gītam with fine meaning and crisp melody.
Now let us move on to the next Gītam.
GITAM – 7
ĀNALĒKARA
Rāgam – Suddha Sāveri (29) Ārōhana: s r​m​
2​ p d​
1​ 2​ṡ
Tāḷam – Tiśra Jāti Triputa Avarōhana: ṡ d​
2​p m​ r​
1​ s
2​
ṙ m ṙ | ṙ ṡ | d ṡ || ṡ , ṡ | d p | m p ||
ā , n | lē , | ka ra || u , ni | p , | la di ||
a n ō
d d ṡ | d , | d p || p m r | d d | d p ||
s k la | śā , | stra p || rā , ņ | dī , | na , ||
a a u a m
p , p | d d | d p || p , p | m p | d p ||
tā , ḷa | dī , | na , || tā , ḷa | p ri | ga t ||
m a u
p m r | s r | s r || p m p | s r | s r ||
rē , rē | ā , | , , || ā , , | ā , | , , ||
p p d | p p | m r || r s r | m , | m , ||
ā , , | ā , | , , || s , tu | v , | hā , ||
ē ā
d p d | ṡ , | ṡ , || ṙ ṙ ṡ | d p | m p ||
p ri g | tam , | na , || ja ṭ , | jū , | , ṭ ||
a a m ā
d d ṡ | d , | d p || p m r | d d | d p ||
s k la | śā , | stra p || rā , ņ | dī , | na , ||
a a u a m
p , p | d d | d p || p , p | m p | d p ||
tā , ḷa | dī , | na , || tā , ḷa | p ri | ga t ||
m a u
p m r | s r | s r || p m p | s r | s r ||
rē , rē | ā , | , , || ā , , | ā , | , , ||
p p d | p p | m r || r s r | m , | m , ||
ā , , | ā , | , , || s , tu | v , | hā , ||
ē ā
d p d | ṡ , | ṡ , ||
p ri g | tam , | na , ||
a a m

Explanation for Gītam VI​

­ ĀNALĒKARA
This gītam is in Suddha Sāveri Rāgam and set to Tiśra Jāti Triputa Tāḷam which has
7 counts in one āvartana, with one laghu and two Drutam (I​0 0).
3​

Suddha Sāveri is a symmetric Rāgam that does not contain Gāndhāram or

Nishādham. Suddha Sāveri is considered a Janya Rāgam of Shankarābharanam, the
29th mēlakarta Rāgam. It is a pentatonic scale (auḍava –auḍava Rāgam in Karnātik
music classification – auḍava meaning ‘of 5’). Its Ārōhana ­ Avarōhana structure
(ascending and descending scale) is as follows.

Ārōhana: s r​m​
2​ p d​
1​ ṡ ­ Avarōhana: ṡ d​
2​ p m​
2​ r​
1​ s
2​

It is a scale that uses the following svaras – Chatusruthi Rishabam, Suddha

Madhyamam, Paňchamam and Chatusruthi Dhaivatham. A rāgā suited for singing in the
afternoon. This rāgā is believed to renew the energy centers in the body.

The meaning of this gītam will be discussed in the next session. Thank you!