Gopika manoharam bhajeham -Mohanam

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HarishankarK
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Gopika manoharam bhajeham -Mohanam

Post by HarishankarK »

Is the subject kruthi Dikshitar’s or not?

kmrasika
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Re: Gopika manoharam bhajeham -Mohanam

Post by kmrasika »

@HarishankarK :
Some consider it a prakṣipta kr̥ti, though IINM, (@Lakshman Sir could confirm), Sundaram Iyer included it in his series of books.

Lakshman
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Re: Gopika manoharam bhajeham -Mohanam

Post by Lakshman »

The song is not found in Kriti Manimalai or in TKG's book.

HarishankarK
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Re: Gopika manoharam bhajeham -Mohanam

Post by HarishankarK »

Okay thanks

shankarank
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Re: Gopika manoharam bhajeham -Mohanam

Post by shankarank »

A nice little kriti. My teacher taught me as the first one after vaRNams. Certainly has pedagogical value for beginners and little ones.

Lets not reduce it's importance because of authenticity questions.

SrinathK
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Re: Gopika manoharam bhajeham -Mohanam

Post by SrinathK »

There is an entire set of Dikshitar kritis popularized by this school that are suspect. One of them is even in modern kalyanavasantam. How is that happening even?

rrkaushik
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Re: Gopika manoharam bhajeham -Mohanam

Post by rrkaushik »

Is there a good list of these prakṣipta krithis of Tyagaraja & Dikshitar with doubtful authorship? TKG's Tyagaraja book has a few listed. A bigger list would be useful to see.

Of course, does not increase or decrease the musical value in any way, but of academic interest.

nAdopAsaka
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Re: Gopika manoharam bhajeham -Mohanam

Post by nAdopAsaka »

In the footsteps of NadaJyoti Muthuswamy Dikshitar..

I think the inherent organization and structure underlying the majority of the Dikshitar kritis offer some clues on possible “outliers” or “contested” kritis ? I also think this applies to the Maharaja’s kritis.

I do not know what “school’ is being referred to in the trailing post and it is not my intent to identify or deride any such school, regarding this particular kriti.

Misattributions could be the result of over-zealous shishyAs, particularly of the 2nd or later generations or they could be motivated by groups anxious to propitiate a particular deity, that such groups feel is perhaps less covered by Dikshitar.

Regarding the latter, for example, it has been suggested in past that Upanishad Brahmendra was instrumental in getting Dikshitar to elevate the Rama deity to a Vibhakti set.

Sticking just with the kriti “gopikA manoharam” which is subject of this thread, it can first be asserted that there are 6 other accepted Mohana kritis of Dikshitar, ALL of which carry the Mohana raga mudra, namely “nAgalingam namAmi”, “kAdambari priyAyai”, “narasimhAgaccha”, “pAhimAm pArvati”, “rakta ganapatim”,
and lastly and most interestingly “rAjagOpAlam bhajEham”.

This last kriti to viSnu also describes him as “gopijana mAlolam”. So Dikshitar is not oblivious of this key aspect of
krSnA as the amorous “cow-herd” !

However the kriti "gopikA manoharam" curiously does NOT carry reference to Mohana as raga mudra or otherwise.

Giving the raga mudra is NOT an absolutely necessary element of Dikshitar, however its appearance in all 6 known Mohanas by him , suggests a trend.

I note in passing that there is another kriti to viSnu, "vAsudEvamupAsmahE vasudEvAtmajam harim"
in the much-less heard raga “mALava paHncamam” .

This kriti also does not give any clear mudra (unless it should have been in Kambhoji !! based on that word appearing in the kriti) . It should be noted that four separate descriptors of krSnA given in the “gopikA manoharam” kriti also appear in this “vAsudEvamupAsmahE vasudEvAtmajam “ verbatim !!

Along those lines , the towering (and still unchallenged in authorship) Bhairavi of Dikshitar “bAlagopAla” ends with the words “gopikA manohara”. Similarly the Kamas also to the viSnu “sArasa daLa nayana” ends with the phrase “gOpikA manOhara gOvarddhanadhara”. A reference to “GopikA Vasantam” in the kriti BalakrSnam bhAvayAmi is also noted.

Is it possible that Dikshitar felt that this particular aspect of krSnA (as the amorous cowherd pursuing gopis ) needed further exposure in a separate Mohana kriti ? The words in the rest of the kriti do not however focus on this aspect.

Which leads to a discussion of individual Mohanas (covered by Dikshitar) and relative musical content of each Mohana versus that in this kriti. I will leave that discussion for later.

At this time I only wish to point out that all of Dikshitar’s mohanas which are uniformly of high quality (to me) have worthy competitors in two other Mohanas [1] the padam Vadiga Gopaluni (of MuvvaGopala ?) and [2] Seve Sri Padmanabham of Maharaja. There used to be a fine version of the latter on the web by SeetalakshmiA. one of Semmangudis leading female students but I cannot find it. However some weaker renditions may be seen.

In my opinion, Dikshitar's formality may be the reason for this, which doesn't let him unlock some available features of Mohana that I believe are seen in these two kritis..

I give an excellent example of the padam here which is from the 80’s-90’s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvZCUum90aI
The lyrics may not be for the faint-hearted but Mohana is in full bloom..

ps I think this padam is a creation of the MuvvaGopala (simply because of the terrific way it opens, however there is some doubt in regard to this authorship ! )…in the unmistakable way that it captures at once the charm of the raga Mohana and the gopi’s desires within the first breath !!.

Some fine examples of how padams open and then hold attention/interest are found in this demo...
.see the ghanta at minute 9.30 for example..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRWAMVxMnto

shankarank
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Re: Gopika manoharam bhajeham -Mohanam

Post by shankarank »

nAdopAsaka wrote: 14 Oct 2020, 19:24 Dikshitar’s mohanas which are uniformly of high quality (to me) have worthy competitors in two other Mohanas [1] the padam Vadiga Gopaluni (of MuvvaGopala ?) and [2] Seve Sri Padmanabham of Maharaja.
nAdopAsaka wrote: 14 Oct 2020, 19:24 I give an excellent example of the padam here which is from the 80’s-90’s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvZCUum90aI
Mohana is in full bloom..
That tune has been borrowed into bhajana sampradAya , with kAmam taken the same way - but kAmam tava pAda kamalam. :) . In the tarangam however, the syllables place some break in music - not an issue in Bhajana tradition of beat keeping.

Padams are steeped in rAgA music, but have no less felicitous sAhityam in the syllabic part of the music. The latter is the one that let them develop richness in music as such a rich music could not have been "composed" in one go. It must have developed in the singing tradition.

In contrast kritis themselves were NOT sung much , much less SrI dikshitar's ones.

Old timers ( rasikas with some training on music) have also stereo-typed a typical dikshitar kriti rendition as "it begins" and "ends" quickly. Gopika manOharam is one such. There are quite a good number of short ones that have authenticity as well are'nt they?

Kriti has good syllabic extensions and movements in (e.g) tApArthi hara caritam, gAmbhIrya mRdu bhASam, and that may be it's focus and not rAgA by itself. Second the rAgA's asampURna property is brought out by making many a jump across notes in a fast flowing kriti. Some say he is a note based composer. I'd say he truly believed in asampURNa even in his composition , beyond what is suggested by the rAgA itself.

So I feel comparison of rAgA output alone is not comprehensive!

nAdopAsaka
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Re: Gopika manoharam bhajeham -Mohanam

Post by nAdopAsaka »

I'm thinking the initial word (v-adiga) and the variations introduced on this word sets up this common phrase with the tarangam you are referring to. I think in particular the artiste does a fine job of showing this unique feature of this Padam.

similar contrasts are set up for example in other MuvvaGopalA padams.. "Evvade vAdu, s'bharana etc. etc.

ps The NArayana tirtha tarangam is illustrated here quite nicely !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR21Qyoa9QI

I think Padams reflect a key aspect of SrNgAra which I believe is somewhat-less accessible to Bhakti...
.that there is competition (among the cows to be milked or all the gopis to be pursued.)
.....and that this "competition" leads to an urgency which calls for a distinct flavor right out of the gates..

For the Bhakti driven composers like NArayana Tirtha or Dikshitar, there is complete faith in the deity
, so no special enticements are needed , comparatively speaking..

Regarding the use of Samashti Charana , ( a klunky word by itself, I recollect Prof. SRJ turning his nose up at this word in a you-tube video !..he said it was coined perhaps by subbarAma dikshitar), it seems to be an artifice employed by Dikshitar in about 120-150 kritis (or about 1/3 rd his output) mostly in the less-heard melas.

I say artifice, because it looks like Dikshitar wanted to do the (bare?) minimum in these melodies e.g. Purva varali, Bhinnapanchamam, BhAnumati, Tanukirti, Senagrani, Kokilaravam, Rupavati, Geya hejjaji
Caturangini, SantanA manjari, Jyoti, Dhauta panchamam, Rasamanjari, Kosalam...to cover all asampurna melas.

The nAsAmani samashti charana of course has the splendid "sri ramA saraswati" which is less than 20 words..
S. Rajams fine rendering..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OKFhCa0q48....
there is a much less heard other kriti by MD in this too

Incidentally "mAravairi ramani" (which seems to lack Tyagaraja mudra ?!) is also a very short kriti !!?
Here is an excellent rendition of this by a rising pair of sisters - veena+percussion !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1uCYcw8Lso

Whether Mohana merited such a samashti charana by dikshitar, for the "contested" Gopika Manohara,
after 6 full other kritis is of course debateable and what this thread is about...I observe that notably VallabhA nAYaka in begada and sri sAmbasivam in bilahari are without anupallavi....

rajeshnat
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Re: Gopika manoharam bhajeham -Mohanam

Post by rajeshnat »

nadopasAka
I am assuming post your followup any if needed on Gopika Manoharam thread you will continue to post your thoughts in Dikshitar thread . May be you can just double post the first gopika manoharam reply that you did (#8) and move forward there.

RSR
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Re: Gopika manoharam bhajeham -Mohanam

Post by RSR »

The child-boy Krishna was the darling of every one including the women of the place. Why should we attribute 'amorous' meaning ? and assume that it refers to the grown-up youth Krishna? I very much doubt if the Trinity, especially MD would have oomposed any such varNam .Let us dissociate the Rasa Leela scenes from our mind and fully enjoy the childlike pranks of the endearing Balakrishnan.

nAdopAsaka
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Re: Gopika manoharam bhajeham -Mohanam

Post by nAdopAsaka »

I agree Dikshitar (and most of the other great vAggeyakaras) have distanced himself/themself from
crass aspects of rAs lIla as perhaps indulged in by Padam experts, such as MuvvaGopala and more recent masters of this..

..a few Tantric-related symbolisms in MD of Shakti+Shiva are agreeably platonic..

I note in passing that some of the attributes in "gopikA manoharam" kriti do not seem to be limited to the child-krSna or balagopala e.g. "gambhIrya mrdu bhASam, ananta vEda ghOSam etc." ...i.e. .attributes that do not typically incite
a motherly affection for a playful child..

But we have yet to establish whether this is an original Dikshitar kriti.

RSR
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Re: Gopika manoharam bhajeham -Mohanam

Post by RSR »

https://sites.google.com/site/ncvasanth ... rasa-dhala

Just now checked up the lyrics. What a lovely last two lines.
It is a common thing in our rural areas for all the gents, boys and middle-aged and aged women to adore very oung and cute boys. Even today. How do we understand 'gopika' in this marellous kruthi? Just the women of the cowherd village. The llast line is Govardhana giri episode
------------------------------------------------------
There are some great poems In Mullaikali of Kalitthokai of Sangam literature about the practice,
The rich lady sends her maid with the llovely boy to sight-seeing and every woman in the village plies the child with sweets and things and cheek-kisses. The lady gets worried and chides the maid severely for the delay. The maid pleads that it is not her fault as every woman took the boy to her house and wont let him go easily.
.
----------------------------------------

nAdopAsaka
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Re: Gopika manoharam bhajeham -Mohanam

Post by nAdopAsaka »

Dikshitar embeds the khamAs raga mudra in the last lines of the kriti "sArasa dala nayana",
via "mA-gha mAs otsava"

mAgha month is believed auspicious for several events..

This khamas kriti celebrates the viSnu of the DakSina dwarkA = Mannargudi

Other Dikshitar kritis were written at this site including Santana Gopala and also the terrific sAvEri
which curiously cites "gopAla bAla shRHNgAra lIla" !!

shrI rAjagOpAla bAla shRHNgAralIla shritajanapAla
dhIrAgragaNya dInasharaNya cArucampakAraNya
dakSiNadvArakApurInilaya
vishiStAdvaitAdvaitAlaya mAm pAlaya

shankarank
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Re: Gopika manoharam bhajeham -Mohanam

Post by shankarank »

nAdopAsaka wrote: 15 Oct 2020, 20:08 I note in passing that some of the attributes in "gopikA manoharam" kriti do not seem to be limited to the child-krSna or balagopala e.g. "gambhIrya mrdu bhASam, ananta vEda ghOSam etc." ...i.e. .attributes that do not typically incite
a motherly affection for a playful child..
gambhIrya mrdu bhASam, ananta vEda ghOSam - follows kamsa haram which sets the context. This is vIRa rasa portrayed as the next line aparajitha, amarESanuta , all point to a victory celebration.

amarESanuta guruguha goes GRS,SDPGRRG - guru going as GR - sUcita svarAkshara. There are many others, but this is a clear one. gAmbhIrya especially falling on "G" is noteworthy with an elongation!

ananta vEda ghOSam : SD,SP,DG,P - where - DG -> da ghO - Suddha and sUcita svarAkshara!

This rendition by Dr Vijayalakshmi Subramaniam https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkEV4jGdKFk - indicates all the clear jumps of notes - with no attempt to smoothen or force a continuity contrary to the [:cough;] "popular" rendition(s)!

Somebody really tried to be dIkshitaresque and got away with it almost :D

nAdopAsaka
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Re: Gopika manoharam bhajeham -Mohanam

Post by nAdopAsaka »

It seems logical to check whether these common phrases with the malava panchamam kriti "vAsudevam upAsmahE" have similar notation...(ps.. this kriti may be linked to Naagapattinam via Vaikuntha reference so it doesn't look like it is identifiable with Mannargudi shrine....of course we do not know yet if the Mohana has any particular ksetra)

following is the charanam of the contested Mohana with the phrases common with
"vAsudevam upAsmahE" identified in red

gOpAlam kaustubha maNi bhUSam
kamsa haram gambhIrya mrdu bhASam
aparAjitam ananta vEda ghOSam
amarEshanuta guruguha santOSam

Using TKG book for mAlava panchamam kriti charanam notation following is observable

kanakAHNga mArishESam kapaTa dashAkRtivESam
ananta vEdaghOSam
R RG M P -D - PNP S

apagata rAgadvESam ghana

kaustubha maNibhUSam
P G M P P M D N

gambhIra mRdubhASam
G M --PMPN S

vanajAsanAdi pOSam vara

guruguha san-tOS-am
G R R S R G M

svarAkshara on "guru"-guha is seen again and also in other places.
some phrases are not lined up..can be done by the readers..

Notations for other phrases could be checked against whatever reference is being
used by the "GopikA manohara school"

I think if Mannargudi = DakSina dwarkA is the shrine linked to the idea of "GopikA manohara"
(whether platonic or not in terms of "rAs LilA" , cute-boy-child affections etc etc ) then
Mohana at this shrine is already described via "RAjagopalam bhajeham" kriti.

Dikshitar does not tend to employ the same raga for multiple kritis at the same shrine..
although Mannargudi has 2 khamas kritis !!

However If nAgapattinam is somehow the shrine then could bear further re-examination..

It would be interesting (to me at least) what evidence is known that dismisses "out-of-hand"
this Mohana samashti charana as being spurious in MD output...

I'm thinking this topic has been beaten enough....

other than looking at whether "bAla srnGAra lIlA" in the Saveri is somehow
the "cute-boy-child affection" festival noted in a post below... .(seems doubtful to me)

anyway all this talk is good excuse to listen and re-listen) to all the music !!
here is the malava panchamam..

a very good effort !! I see that this artist has several other good rare MD compositions..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzuyqqJVq1w

Sivaramakrishnan
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Re: Gopika manoharam bhajeham -Mohanam

Post by Sivaramakrishnan »

Gopikaamanoharam was popularised by Maharajapuram Santhanam in the eighties. The Guruguha mudra naturally attributed it to Dikshitar even while chats were on in rasika circles as to its authenticity. I have not heard ( even in recordings) any other vidwan singing this before the times of Maharajapuram.

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