Dhaharakasham

[MaamiAtHeart]

I dont really know Sanskrit but i love listening to MD kritis. In the Anandanatanaprakasam kriti (Kedaram), there is a profound line in the Anupallavi - "Bhukthi Mukthi pradha dhaharakasham"

I checked a lot of websites for sahitya and translatation and did find some explanations from various sites including the guruguha.org wiki page. However, I dont feel satisfied with my understanding of this line. Does MD mean that God is "the one who bestows well being and salvation and the one who is the space in the heart"? Or the one who is worshipped in the space in the heart? I always thought Akasham meant sky. Does it mean space instead of sky? Does Dhaharakasham mean inner space? I am really hoping someone on this forum can help me understand this chidambara ragasiyam (pun intended!)

I listen to this song almost every day, i really feel like the essence of Advaitha is conveyed in this song - God being space which pervades the entire universe as well as space in one's heart.

[Rsachi]

M@H,
this is one of the most wonderful compositions of Dikshitar which I have also immensely enjoyed!
MD is a sadhaka, pandita, vaggeyakara and vainika-gayaka so it all comes together in each of his compositions.
This composition is about the fifth element SPACE. It is also described as ether, and Chidambaram is the kshetra for worshipping this aspect of the Infinite in the form of Shiva.
'daharAkASa' means subtle space, not gross sky. This element pervades all existence. Without this element, other elements wouldn't actually exist..everything needs space to exist!

Of course that Shiva bestows bhukti and mukti is the aspect of his grace towards the devotee.

In other words, as in so many of MD kritis, you find a confluence of Jnana and Bhakti.

I wish you many many hours and years of bliss listening to this kriti.

Sachi R

[Rsachi]

TKG:

[priyaram78]

I love this song and wanted to know the meaning. Thanks a lot.

[Rsachi]

More info from other sources:
Satyananda.net:
Daharakasha the space in the regions of mooladhara and swadhisthana; space associated with vigyanamaya kosha

Aurobindo:
daharakasha: space of the psychic worlds.

Kamakoti:
Followers of Samayachara worship Mahatripurasundari mentally and internally, meditating on some assumed form or Srichakra, the body or mind itself constituting the Srichakra on the vacuum in the center of the heart called `Daharakasha'. This kind of worship is mainly the union of Shakti with Shiva and worshipping Shakti and Shiva in their inseparable creationistic aspect.

I found a fine rendering of this song by TMK on You Tube.

[rshankar]

kunjitAbjacaraNam (kuncita abja caraNam) - not just lotus-like foot, but lotus-like foot that is bent/curved (kuncita)

[Rsachi]

TKG has translated kunjita as 'lifted' or raised (he is dancing!). In Sanskrit, kuncita will not become kunjita.

[MaamiAtHeart]

RSachi, thank you SO much for the detailed explanation and the scanned page. Which book is this from? Wow, i feel like 7 lifetimes are not enough to understand and assimilate the profound thoughts conveyed by all the saints before us. Even i listen to TMK's rendition. It is from the Panchabhutham CD from Charsur that i mentioned on another thread.

[Rsachi]

My pleasure!

TK Govinda Rao, Ganamandir Trust, has published works (with translation and notation) of T, MD, SS and ST.
Can buy online at carnaticbooks.com

[rshankar]

Sachi, I am not sure of sanskRt, but I do remember Dr. Padma Subramaniam describing as a bent/curved foot, in one of the episodes of a series she produced for Madras DD. IIRC, that is how my daughter's dance teacher also interpreted it - she would ask her to curve her foot while holding one of the poses for naTarAjA.
I thought that kuncita could become kunjita, just like kanca daLAyatAkshI becomes kanjadalAyatAkshi...

[Rsachi]

Ravi, you may be right.
In Sanskrit a ca does not become a ja...
the meaning of kanja is lotus...
see

[rshankar]

I do not find kunjita as a word in the sanskRt lexicon I have. kuncita does exist...

[Rsachi]

Ditto..

[rshankar]

So, is that word incorrect then?...it should perhaps be kuncitAbjacaraNam?

[Rsachi]

Don't know really....
By the way the are so many Malayali gentlemen with the family name kuncitapAda. Maybe we should explore that name also...

[PUNARVASU]

So, is that word incorrect then?...it should perhaps be kuncitAbjacaraNam?

It could be a typo. I find, that, in the scanned page, it is 'padanjali' instead of 'patanjali'. May be another such mistake.
Another one, is that, it is 'guruguha tAtamAdyam', whereas, in the scanned copy it appears as 'guruguhamAdyam'.
Guruguha tAta means the father of guruguha. It is ,guruguhatAtam, Adyam, I think. The thALam also will not fit in, if it is just guruguhmAdyam.
Would like some experts to clarify this.

[PUNARVASU]

We were also taught by our teacher that 'kunchitAbja charaNam' means a bent, lotus like foot.

[rshankar]

The different pAdas from the nATyaSAstra include the curved, kuncita...so it is a curved foot - naTarAjA's raised foot is curved.
TKG's explanation doesn't seem to be right.
I have a feeling that there is some tamizh interposition here..i.e., sanskRt to tamizh to sanskRt...because that will certainly explain kuncita becoming kunjita, patanjali becoming padanjali etc....

[ghariharan]

dhaharakasam is the term referring to the infinite space. that is consciousness, in which the physical space that is perceived comes (appears)and goes (disappears). This is a matter for recognition by anyone, and cannot be explained, since it is beyond words. Everything is appearing to take place in this akasam. It is the same as Brahman. Even Chidambaram celebrates this infinite Thatvam, (hence called chit, i.e., consciousness, plus ambaram, meaning space).