Translation:
This rhythm helps us obtain the knowledge and vision of Vishnu
Likewise, the angels enjoy dancing.Likewise, Muttumari Pillai enjoys the dance.
In the 74 cycles of the 4 yuga's, your golden feet are everywhere
Oh, the four-handed, disc-wielding Lord!
Ruler of the World, he is the 4 Vedas. Effortlessly, he destroyed theRavana of Lanka
The slayer of the demon Madhu,
oh Wizard, you assumed the forms of Fish, Turtle, Boar, Dwarf that measured the land
Oh, you are the beautiful One!
Oh fearless One, who has beautiful hair.
You are the One who shines like gold,you are the God-Man.
The item is a kauthuvam dedicated to Vishnu. The poet, Muttumari pillai, says that the very rhythm of this kauthuvam has a mystic power of granting the devotee the vision of Vishnu.
The name Vishnu comes from the root VISH, which means, "to spread in all directions, to pervade". He is the inner center, the core, the nucleus, and the cohesive point through which everything exists. He swells in everything, owns everything and overcomes any thing. He is the central and the major deity of the trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Though technically amongst these three chief gods known as creator, preserver, and destroyer, Vishnu is the Preserver, for all practical purpose he
is vishnu in his vishwaroop deemed to be all-powerful, all knowing and all present. He represents the sustaining power of Brahman. It is believed that Vishnu pervades the universe by descending to earth in different forms when the forces of evil threaten to overcome the forces of good. Vishnu may be depicted with two or four arms. When shown with four arms, these represent his power over both the four points of the compass and the four stages of life through which the 'twice born' Hindu man was thought to travel. Images of Vishnu combine compassion and strength.
The four symbols most commonly associated with Vishnu are the conch shell which represents water and the first sound of creation, the lotus which symbolizes the unfolding universe, the mace which is interpreted as the power of knowledge conquering time and finally the discus which is associated with the conquering of evil and ignorance. His vehicle is Garuda, depicted either as a crowned eagle or as a bird with a man's head. He is a powerful opponent of evil.
The hood of snakes' heads which shelter him represents the endless cycles of creation and reflects one of the central stories of creation in the Hindu tradition. Three hands hold three of the standard symbols, conch shell, discus and lotus and the fourth is held in the traditional hand gesture symbolizing protection. The four arms indicate Lord's omnipresence and omnipotence. The two front arms signify the lord's activity in the physical world and the two back arms signify His activity in the spiritual world. The right side of the body represents the creative activities of the mind and the intellect. The left side symbolizes the activities of the heart; that is, love, kindness, and compassion.
In His hands He carries a conch (shankha), a mace (gada), and discus (chakra). He wears a crown, two earrings, a garland (mala) of flowers, and a gem around the neck. He has a blue body and wears yellow clothes. The Lord is shown standing on a thousand-headed snake (named Shesha Nag), and the snake stands with its hoods open over the head of the Lord.
The snake denotes the mind and the thousand heads of the snake signify innumerable desires and passions of an individual. Just as a snake destroys its victim by its venom, an uncontrolled mind destroys the world by the venom of its possessiveness. The Lord has controlled all desires, and this is symbolized by showing Him seated on the two coils of the snake. When a sincere devotee of the Lord controls his desires, the Lord fulfills the devotee's genuine desires and helps him on his path.
A conch in the upper left hand indicates that the Lord communicates with His devotees with love and understanding. When blowing His conch, He reminds his devotes to live in this world with kindness and compassion towards all living beings. The Conch (shankh) named panchjanya is the fountain that evolves the five elements, i.e., water, fire, air, earth and sky or space. When blown it produces a sound that is associated with primeval sound from which creation developed. From the yoga point of view, the sound of the conch is heard when the yogi reaches a very high level of concentration.
A chakra in His upper right hand conveys the idea that the Lord uses this weapon to protect His devotees from evil. The mace denotes energy and a mace in the Lord's left lower hand signifies that He sustains the manifest world by the energy that He holds in Himself. His front right hand is depicted bestowing grace on His devotees.
Lord Vishnu is also known by other names, such as Vasudeva and Narayana. He is Hari, which represents the mystic golden light.
the first two incarnations of Vishnu are in the animal form, the third one is half-human and half-animal, and the fourth and the subsequent ones are all in human form. These incarnations relate to human evolution.
Matsya (fish) saves Sage Manu from floods and recovers the Vedas from demons.
Kurma (tortoise) sustains the earth on his back.
Varaha (boar) brings the earth back from the bottom of the ocean where it was dragged down by a demon, known as Hiranyaksha; Varaha kills the demon.
Vamana (dwarf) the first human incarnation of the Lord, kills the demon King Mahabhali, who had deprived the gods of their possessions.
The Discus or wheel (chakra) of Vishnu named sudarshana has six spokes and symbolizes six-petal lotus. It represents the limitless controlling all the six seasons and is the fearful weapon that cuts off the heads of all demons. The Lotus of Vishnu is named padma. It is the symbol of purity and represents the unfolding of creation. It is the truth (sathya). The element from which emerge the rules of conduct (dharma) and knowledge (jnana).
Translation:
Oh Ranjani, the fascinating goddess with delicate eyes like lotus petals!
You are the language of refined words, and fulfill your devotees' wishes.
You relieve us of our minds' egos
Oh Ranjani, you are Divine
You take delight in the musical chanting of Sama Veda. You gave birth to the Moon-like Cupid,
Oh Ranjani, the captivating Goddess!
Oh, the One who weilds the Trident, you protect your devotees from sufferings and evil.
You relieve us of our sins and purify your devotees.
You are the fascinating goddess adored by the people
This song, known as Ranjani Mala, describes Devi as Ranjani (the entertaining one), Sriranjani, Megharanjani and Janaranjani.The Great Goddess, known in India as Devi, has many guises. She is "Ma" the gentle and approachable mother.
Devi is first seen as cosmic force, where she destroys demonic forces that threaten world equilibrium, and creates, annihilates, and recreates the universe. Next, in her gentle, radiant dayini form, she is the gracious donor of boons, wealth, fortune, and success. Devi is seen as a local protector of villages, towns, and individual tribal peoples. |
Translation:
Oh may the enchanting goddess
of Madurai bless us!
Her sacred dance enthrals, brings delight to Lord Shiva.
born in Kadambavanam
You are the daughter of the Mountain king,.
Mahakali Maheshwari, you destroyed the demon Mahesha.
Oh mother Bhuvaneshwari, with your grace light exists on earth.
Joyful Brahma, Vishnu, Lord Shiva’s wife,
I worship you. Protect us.
Joyful Bhairavi, you dance to the bhava, raga and thalam.
Mother, I implore you to relieve us of our worries and sorrows.
You are the beginning of the alphabet,
you have beautiful long curly, shiny hair.
It’s your world. Let your praise be there forever. Give us good fortune.
You are Lakshmi, You are Saraswathi,
You are Parvathy. You are sculpturesque.
You are the world’s music. You are the rhythm of the universe.
Your divine body is worshipped by the poet.
At the chanting of OM,
heaven and earth are pervaded with it.
You are full of knowledge. You create wonders. Save us from the sins of our previous births.
With patience, you gently remove the darkness from ourselves. You make us dignified.
You are there for us any time. You are the one who comes to us running and dancing.
You go and search for your devotee when they get in trouble. Would your heart condescend to us?
This item is Varnam Maye manam kanindarul purivaye composed by Madurai Muralidharan. Varnam is a long item, very demanding in terms of stamina and concentration, and is the benchmark to judge the dancer’s capacity to perform both abinaya and nritta, as a series of complex steps are interspersed with abhinaya passages.
Maye manam kanindarul purivaye’s theme is about Shakti, or the active power or manifest energy of Siva that pervades all of existence. Shakti is represented as female, and Siva as male. In Hindu temples, art and mythology, they are everywhere seen as the divine couple. Shakti is personified in many forms as the consorts of the Gods. For example, the Goddesses Parvati, Lakshmi and Sarasvati are the respective mythological consorts of Siva, Vishnu and Brahma.
The Divine Mother’s fierce or black (asita) forms include Bhairavi. The benign or white (sita) forms include Uma, Gauri, Ambika, Parvati, Maheshvari, Lalita and Annapurna.
The beauty and attractiveness of Bhuvaneshwari, the Creatrix of the World, comprises the rhythms of creation, maintenance and destruction, even the hankerings and sufferings of the human condition is nothing but Bhuvaneshvari's play, her exhilarating, joyous sport.
Bhairavi, the Goddess of Destruction, arises or becomes present when the a creation declines and degrades. She is an ever-present goddess who manifests herself in, and embodies, the destructive aspects of the world. Destruction, however, is not always negative, creation cannot continue without it.
One of the stories that Varnam Maye manam kanindarul purivaye portrays is the story about Mahishasura, whose father Rambha was king of the asura, and he once fell in love with a water buffalo. Mahishasur was born out of this union. He is therefore able to change between human and buffalo form at will ("mahisha" means buffalo). Despite being an asura, Mahishasura was also pious in his meditation to Brahma, who granted him a boon that no man or god would be able to conquer him. He drove all the devas out of heaven. To fight Mahishasura, the gods combined the powers of all the devas and created his nemesis in the form of a young devi, Durga. The goddess then attacked Mahishasura's empire and after nine days of fighting, during which much of Mahishasura's army was decimated, he was finally killed on the tenth day of the waxing moon, by her incarnation, Kali that appeared from her forehead.
Translation:
Oh Bearer of the skull, the compassionate spouse of Parvathi, protect us!
The Supreme God-father, you are the director on every stage.
You irradiate harmlessness. Bless me whole-heartedly.
Oh Lord of Sama Ganam, Sivagami’s husband,
You are the Hero of the Universe, the Supreme God.
Oh Protector of common people,
your wife is your other half.
You bear the crescent,
you wear the tiger skin,
you drank the poison, oh blue-throated Lord.
Oh the dweller of the highest peak of the Universe, you kicked Yama, the god of death.
You are the Supreme God.
Kapalini is about Lord Shiva who is the Lord of mercy and compassion. Lord Shiva annihilates evil, grants boons, bestows grace, destroys ignorance, and awakens wisdom in His devotees.
Lord Shiva symbolises the ascetic principle. He wears a necklace made of skulls (kapalini) signifying his role as destructor. He has snakes coiling all over his body. His hair is matted and long extending over the whole sky and space. The crescent moon adorns his crown, signifying his control on the time cycle. He smears his body with ashes & wears a tiger skin and elephant skin. He has a third eye on his forehead which is the source of knowledge & wisdom. The holy Ganges is imprisoned in his flowing locks.
The padam portrays an episode of the churning of the ocean of milk, one of the most famous episodes in the Puranas. The ocean was churned by using the Mount Mandara as the pole and the King of Snakes, Vasuki, as the rope. The Gods held the tail of the snake while the demons (Asuras) held the head end of the snake and they pulled on it alternately causing the mountain to rotate which in turn churned the ocean. However, once the mountain was placed on the ocean, it began to sink. Then came Vishnu in his second incarnation, in the form of a turtle Kurma, and supported the mountain on his shell back.
Halahala ("the most vicious and venomous poison") was produced which started killing both sides. Both parties prayed Lord Shiva to help. Shiva being the supreme one chose to consume the poison. His wife Parvati, alarmed, stopped it in his throat with her hands thus earning him the name Vishakantha (the one who held poison in his throat). The poison made his throat turn blue. Hence he is also known as Neelkantha (the one with a blue throat). The other Gods fled from Death in terror; but Shiva consumed the mortal draught without hesitation, since He is Mahakala, the immortal Lord of Time itself, and Destruction and Death are his own.
The dancer shows Shiva kicking the god of Death, Yama. This is from the story about sage Markandeya who, on the day of his destined death, continued to worship Shivalingam. Yama himself came in person to take his life away and sprung his noose around the young sage's neck. The noose landed around the Shivalingam, and out of it, Shiva emerged in all his fury, and kicked Yama and killed Death itself. He then revived him, under the condition that the devout youth would live for ever. On a spiritual level, this story explains how one can obtain immortality even for one’s physical body. |
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