Kaisika Puranam/Natakam

[Guest guest]

Dear Members,

 

Here is a link on Kaisika Puranam and nampAduavan

 

http://www.narthaki.com/info/intervw/intrvw35a.html

 

Sometime back Sri M N Ramanuja of IISc, Bangalore posted a note on Kaisika

Ekadasi. I am requesting him to share his reflections on this topic.

 

Regards,

 

Malolan Cadambi

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

On Thu, 7 Nov 2002, Malolan Cadambi wrote:

> Dear Members,

>

> Here is a link on Kaisika Puranam and nampAduavan

>

> http://www.narthaki.com/info/intervw/intrvw35a.html

>

> Sometime back Sri M N Ramanuja of IISc, Bangalore posted a note on

>Kaisika Ekadasi. I am requesting him to share his reflections on this

>topic.

>

> Regards,

>

> Malolan Cadambi

>

>

 

Dear Members,

 

It was really a pleasure to go through the link posting the interview of

Prof S.Ramanujam of Thanjavur University regarding the

revival/reconstruction of the almost lost art of Kaisika Natakam

running to five hours duration which was conducted with great fanfare and

attendance at Tirukkurungudi till 1955 with the efforts of Sri

T.V.Sundaram Iyengar. It is unfortunate that no records or scripts are

easily available, we have to be grateful to the efforts of Prof S

Ramanujam who could collect relevant manuscripts from Sri

Tirunarayanaiyengar. We hope that the Prof and Smt Anita Ratnam team will

be able, with their theatrical and dramatic expertise, to reconstruct the

Kaisika Natakam and play it regularly at various places.

 

What is the origin of this word kaisika? Was NampAduvAn the opener of

this word? Has it been cited in any reference before? Why is the name

kaisika ekadasi/dvadasi given to that day? are some questions that arise

in our mind. It will be great if some bhakta can throw some light on these?

 

Meanwhile, adiyen has some clues about this, which have to be

authenticated by very enlightened members of the list. This word kaisika

has appeared first of all in Srimad Valmiki Ramayana in the first canto of

Sundara kanda *sEvitE vAridhArAbhi: patagaischa nishEvitE; charite

kaisikAchAryai: airAvata nishEvitE* etc. Hanuman flew in the skies which

had a number of waterfalls, and various birds frequented. where the great

order of gods or preceptors who were expert in singing the raga or svaras

of kaisika cruised; where airavata or indra's elephant resorted to. Here

'kaisika' is already referred to as well known in treta yuga as a special

kind of singing or raga or svara.

 

In the introduction of kaisika purana vyakhyanam by Sri Parasara Bhattar,

there is no reference to the genesis of the name kaisika purana. It is

only referred to as 'bhagavad guna apadAna gAnam' or singing in praise of

the qualities and heroic deeds of Lord Narayana. Nampaduvan, as is well

known, was caught by a brahma rakshasa, in a forest and ultimately

transferred a small amount of his good deed of singing in front of varAha

nAyanAr by which the brahmarakshasa was released of his bad birth and went

to heaven. Sri Parasara Bhattar makes an interesting remark about the

holding of nampaduvan (singer to god) or the chandala

(shvapacha dog-cook or dog eater) by the brahma rakshasa. "Avan

brahmananallAmeyAle oru panjAdiyai chcholli tannai viduvittuk kolla

mATTitthilan. durbalanagaiyAle parakramatthAle viduvitthuk kolla

maTTitthilan. Avan nam pakkalile bharanyAsam panninAn kANum." as said by

Sri varaha nayanar to bhoomi piratti. Not being a brahmin he (nampAduvan)

could not recite a panjAdi from veda and get himself freed from the brahma

rAkshasa and not being strong he could not fight his way free from the

captor. He did only surrender to Me and waited. This shows that in sri

Bhattar's opinion veda mantra had powers to free one from the clutches of

brahma Rakshasa. After sixteen shlokas of various swearings taken by

nampAduvan promising to return to him after singing till daybreak, brahma

Rakshasa allows nampaduvan on his mission.

 

He returns after daybreak and offers himself as food to the demon, when he

changes his mind and requests him to transfer all his merits earned by

singing throughout the night of kaisika ekadasi and help him be released

from the janma as a demon. Nampaduvan refuses to part with any punyam and

finally after listening to the story of previous birth as a vile brahmin

and death during a sacrifice and consequent birth as a brahma rakshasa,

nampaduvan's heart softens and offers to give the punyam of singing the

last song. "yanmayA pashchimam gItam svaram kaisika samjnakam; phalena

tasya bhadram tE mokshayishyAmi kilbishAt". Here what he said is to be

noted. He said that he sang a last song with the svara named kaisika.

This particular single song earned so much merit as to be powerful enough

to release the brahma rakshasa from his mean life and send him to heaven.

Perhaps, to point out the significance of this song, the whole episode

was named as kaisika puranam.

 

We know that in music, kaisika is associated with the svara nishAda as

'komala kaisiki nishAda and kaisiki nishAda' which is a part of several

enchanting ragas as nathabhairavi, kharaharapriya, rathnangi etc, of which

bhairavi etc, are janyaragas. Perhaps, it can be guessed that one of

these ragas was sung by nampaduvan. We do not know if any specific song

was sung or any song in those ragas could be sung concerning His praise.

 

We have to wait and see what the research of Prof S.Ramanujam will

reveal regarding Kaisika puranam from the manuscript obtained from

Tirukkurungudi. The photos of nampaduvan's and brahma rakshasa's roles

posted in the website in the kaisika nataka are very interesting and we

all do wait eagerly to see the drama and enjoy it. As srivaishnavas,

though, we do not think in terms of the other angles viz.,

societal and social aspects as mentioned by the Prof. For us, it is

forbidden to inquire into the birth aspects of a srivaishnava devotee,

as in "vIttinba inbappAkkaLil dravyabhAShA nirUpaNa samam

inbamAriyil ArAychi" and "mlEchchanum bhaktanAnAl ... pUjai

konDu, tIrthaprasAdanAm" and "janma vritta vidyAnaipuNAdigal ... shava

vidhavAlamkAramenru kazhippargal". It may be of academic and

political interest to say that a svapacha gave moksha to a brahmin,

though in fact it was the power of kaisika mahatmyam that cleansed

the sins of the brahmarakshasa.

 

 

dasan

Ramanuja

 

Adiyen had posted the moolam of the kaisika puranam last year

in the site http://mannaram.tripod.com/ramanuja

I will try to post the translation of Bhattar's vyakhyanam asap.

Meanwhile, a posting of Sri Lakshmi Narasimhan in bhakti-list has thrown

more light on the kaisikam for which we are thankful to his respected mother.

According to this information, it is a fact, that bhairavi raga was sung,

agreeing with adiyen's guess.

[Guest guest]

Prof Ramanujam (who had been with the South Zone Culture Centre and is now

with the Tamil University at Thanjavur) had been kind enough to visit me 3

years back in Srirangam, and we discussed the primary preparations to make

for establishing meaningful theatre of 'kAiSika purANam' which would

authentically reflect the tradition and yet be more enriched and very

different from the sorry stuff 'presented' by the illiterate persons who

have been with it at tiru-k-kuRun-kuDi, heaven knows for how many

generations. (In to-day's Tamil Nadu, illiteracy obdurate becomes sacred,

and boisterous illiteracy earns a State award !)

 

The professor struck me as highly committed to the cause.

 

I had the good fortune last night (kAiSika-EkAdaSee, November 16 Saturday)

to meet Sri Tirunarayana Aiyangar svami (who is the Sri-kAryam) of

tiru-k-kuRun-kuDi jeeyar svami maTham, at the commencement of araiyar-sEvai

on tk tiru-vAi-mozhi "ennganEyo annaimeer-kAL" in the audience of

namperumAL. When I protested that his visit to Srirangam was too brief for

my spiritual gains, he said he had to get back rightaway to be with the

rehearsal for staging of the kAiSika-purANam in different places.

 

It has already been pointed out that the SrirAmAyaNa reference to 'kAiSikam'

is found in sundara-kANDam.

 

[1:174] *sEvitE vAri-dhArAbhi: pataGaiS-cha nishEvitE, charitE

kaiSikAchAryai: airAvata nishEvitE*

 

Two of Sri-rAmAyaNa commentators, Govindaraja and Ramanuja (?), explain

"kAiSikAchAryA:" as the celestial vidyAdharas like tumburu who are masters

of the rare melody (rAGa-viSEsha:) known as 'kAiSikam'. [The succeeding

epithet "AirAvata-nishEvitE" does not have to do with Indra's famed albino

elephant. The phrase paints a rainbow ~~ AirAvatam ~~ across the skies

which Hanuman was traversing.]

 

-

"M.N.Ramanuja" <mnr

"Malolan Cadambi" <cadambi

Cc: <bhakti-list>

Wednesday, November 13, 2002 3:05 PM

Re: Kaisika Puranam/Natakam

 

> On Thu, 7 Nov 2002, Malolan Cadambi wrote:

> > Here is a link on Kaisika Puranam and nampAduavan

http://www.narthaki.com/info/intervw/intrvw35a.html

 

Sometime back Sri M N Ramanuja of IISc, Bangalore posted a note on Kaisika

Ekadasi. I am requesting him to share his reflections on this topic.> >

 

It was a pleasure to go through the link posting the interview of Prof

S.Ramanujam of Thanjavur University regarding the revival / reconstruction

of the almost lost art of Kaisika Natakam running to five hours duration

which was conducted with great fanfare and attendance at Tirukkurungudi

till 1955 with the efforts of Sri T.V. Sundaram Iyengar.

 

It is unfortunate that no records or scripts are easily available, we have

to be grateful to the efforts of

Prof S Ramanujam who could collect relevant manuscripts from Sri

Tirunarayanaiyengar. We hope that the Prof and Smt Anita Ratnam team will

be able, with their theatrical and dramatic expertise, to reconstruct the

Kaisika Natakam and play it regularly at various places.

> What is the origin of this word kaisika? Was NampAduvAn the opener of

this word?

> Has it been cited in any reference before? Why is the name kaisika

ekadasi/dvadasi given to that day?

>It will be great if some bhakta can throw some light on these? Meanwhile,

adiyen has some clues about this, which have to be authenticated by very

enlightened members of the list.

 

This word kaisika has appeared first of all in Srimad Valmiki Ramayana in

the first canto of Sundara kanda [1:174] *sEvitE vAri-dhArAbhi:

patagaischa nishEvitE, charitE kaiSikAchAryai: airAvata nishEvitE*

 

Hanuman flew in the skies which had a number of waterfalls, and various

birds frequented. where the great

order of gods or preceptors who were expert in singing the raga or svaras of

kaisika cruised; where airavata or indra's elephant resorted to. Here

'kaisika' is already referred to as well known in treta yuga as a special

kind of singing or raga or svara.

 

In the introduction of kaisika purana vyakhyanam by Sri Parasara Bhattar,

there is no reference to the genesis of the name kaisika purana. It is only

referred to as 'bhagavad guna apadAna gAnam' or singing in praise of

the qualities and heroic deeds of Lord Narayana. Sri Bhattar makes an

interesting remark about the holding of nampaduvan (singer to god) or the

chandala

(shvapacha, dog-cook or dog eater) by the brahma rakshasa.

 

"Avan brahmananallAmeyAle oru panjAdiyai chcholli tannai viduvittuk kolla

mATTitthilan. durbalanagaiyAle parakramatthAle viduvitthuk kolla

maTTitthilan. Avan nam pakkalile bharanyAsam panninAn kANum,"

 

as said by Sri varaha nayanar to bhoomi piratti. Not being a brahmin he

(nampAduvan) could not recite a panjAdi from veda and get himself freed from

the brahma rAkshasa and not being strong he could not fight his way free

from the captor. He did only surrender to Me and waited.

 

After sixteen shlokas of various swearings taken by nampAduvan promising to

return to him after singing till daybreak, brahma Rakshasa allows nampaduvan

on his mission. He returns after daybreak and offers himself as food to the

demon, when he changes his mind and requests him to transfer all his merits

earned by singing throughout the night of kaisika ekadasi and help him be

released from the janma as a demon.

 

Nampaduvan refuses to part with any punyam and finally after listening to

the story of previous birth as a vile brahmin and death during a sacrifice

and consequent birth as a brahma rakshasa, nampaduvan's heart softens and

offers to give the punyam of singing the last song. "yanmayA pashchimam

gItam svaram kaisika samjnakam; phalena tasya bhadram tE mokshayishyAmi

kilbishAt". Here what he said is to be noted. He said that he sang a last

song with the svara named kaisika. This single song earned so much merit

as to release the brahma rakshasa from his mean life and send him to

heaven. Perhaps, to point out the significance of this song, the whole

episode was named as kaisika puranam.

 

We know that in music, kaisika is associated with the svara nishAda as

'komala kaisiki nishAda and kaisiki nishAda' which is a part of several

enchanting ragas as nathabhairavi, kharaharapriya, rathnangi etc, of which

bhairavi etc, are janyaragas. Perhaps one of these ragas was sung by

nampaduvan. We do not know if any specific song was sung or any song in

those ragas could be sung concerning His praise.

 

We have to wait and see what the research of Prof S.Ramanujam will reveal

regarding Kaisika puranam from the manuscript obtained from Tirukkurungudi.

The photos of nampaduvan's and brahma rakshasa's roles

posted in the website in the kaisika nataka are very interesting and we all

do wait eagerly to see the drama and enjoy it.

 

As srivaishnavas, though, we do not think in terms of the other angles

viz., societal and social aspects as mentioned by the Prof. For us, it is

forbidden to inquire into the birth aspects of a srivaishnava devotee,

as in "vIttinba inbappAkkaLil dravyabhAShA nirUpaNa samam inbamAriyil

ArAychi" and "mlEchchanum bhaktanAnAl ... pUjai konDu, tIrthaprasAdanAm"

and "janma vritta vidyAnaipuNAdigal ... shava vidhavAlamkAram enRu

kazhippargal".

 

It may be of academic and political interest to say that a svapacha gave

moksha to a brahmin, though in fact it was the power of kaisika mahatmyam

that cleansed the sins of the brahmarakshasa.

> dasan > Ramanuja

>

> Adiyen had posted the moolam of the kaisika puranam last year in the

site http://mannaram.tripod.com/ramanuja

> I will try to post the translation of Bhattar's vyakhyanam asap.

Meanwhile, a posting of Sri Lakshmi Narasimhan in bhakti-list has thrown

more light on the kaisikam for which we are thankful to his respected

mother. According to this information, it is a fact, that bhairavi raga

was sung, agreeing with adiyen's guess.