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Raagas Some Thoughts Starting with Shankarabharanam

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I am just starting this thread with some little bit knowledge I have on the so called raagas. Actually I do not know even abcds, anyways I will try see if I can share some little bit i have here.

Shankarabharanam: This beautiful raaga always comes to my mind through the famous movie shankarabharanam.

I performed some logical thinking on this and found my below answers.

What is shankarabharanam?

Shankar= Siva,

Abharanam= Ornament
the ornament of Shiva's Neck

It is the serpent. now what does this serpent represents?
it represents the Kundalini, which means kunda thil lini, kundam=universe
lini=agni/energy the energy of the universe,


which actually represents the whole universe.


now here comes another 2 lines which provides further description of the word,

Om Kaara Nadhaanu sandhanamo nadhame sankarabharanamu.

Om = A , U MA ,

which stands for creation, management and destruction, srishti, sthithi paripalanam,

nadam= stands for the universe, refer to nadabrahmam, brahmam= universe or the totality,
so basically,

if the whole nadabrhamam is analyzed using the Om Kara we get a nadham which is sankarabharanam, so when we sing this ragam, we arise to the same level as all the sages of India.

In India, there existed a tradition of self realization through music or naadopasana, naadam is 5 levels, para, pasyanthi, vaikari, madhyama and para pasyanthi, so nadam is actually the saguna brahman itself, and who with truth does nadopasana reaches the same bliss of god as through any other method.

Shankarabhranam reminds us that nadham is the ornament of Siva himself through that same raagam we can reach him................... to be continued with another raagaa......................
 
wonderful thought on sankarabharanam! looking forward to the other beads to follow in this music(al) thread! -- regards, rj
 
Sri Rakesh,

Thanks a lot for sharing such an informative/useful post. Thoughts so well expressed. . . Yes, Music/Naadopasana is one of the paths to reach the Almighty. :)

With Respect and Regards,
One more soul in God's Creation
 
I am just starting this thread with some little bit knowledge I have on the so called raagas. Actually I do not know even abcds, anyways I will try see if I can share some little bit i have here.

Shankarabharanam: This beautiful raaga always comes to my mind through the famous movie shankarabharanam.

I performed some logical thinking* on this and found my below answers.
Shri Rakesh,

*emphasis mine.

I am sorry to say that I am unable to find "logic" in your derivations. (explained below.)

What is shankarabharanam?

Shankar= Siva,

Abharanam= Ornament
the ornament of Shiva's Neck
The Sanskrit word "AbharaNam" means ornament in general and it does not necessarily mean ornament of neck; in this case it could refer to the crescent on Siva's head as well, for example.

It is the serpent. now what does this serpent represents?
it represents the Kundalini, which means kunda thil lini, kundam=universe
lini=agni/energy the energy of the universe,
The logic behind, "...now what does this serpent represents? it represents the Kundalini,..." itself is flawed because serpent does not necessarily represent kunDalini unless some corroborating indication is present; here there is none.

kuNDalini is a Sanskrit word. The etymology is from 'kuNDalin' = decorated with ear-rings, and kuNDalini is the Sakti. But the further break-up as "kunda thil lini" is puzzling; is it the Tamil குண்ட தில் லினி or in Sanskrit कुण्ड तिल् लिनि? In Sanskrit, the word kuNDa does not have the meaning "universe"; may be the Tamil word குண்டம் has that meaning but then it is not correct to derive the etymology of a Sanskrit word by splitting into Tamil. If தில் is taken its relevance has not been given. The word "lini" also seems strange; is it Tamil?; is there any other place where it has been used in literature to mean "energy"?

I have heard about only four forms of speech viz., parA, paSyanti, madhyamA, and vaikhari; can you cite any reference for the fifth form "parapaSyanti" mentioned by you.
 
Hi Sangameswaran,

Since you asked about Kundalini, I happened to try and get the correct one, Kundam= sabdataravali gives the meaning as a big vessel which is closed, now this vessel can be taken as the body i meant muladhara, now the same energy in the muladhara is also visualized as the whole universal energy, my whole point above is my view of how this raga is a reference to the tradition of nadopasana. now what is kundalini and all is a subject of debate, kundalini is referred in the book Sir John Woodroffe The Serpent Power, kundalini in shakti agamas is refered as devi herself, now devi herself is also referred as the brahman as well as the universe, i think its like 1=2 and 2=3, then 1=3,
now since you are not interested in taking kundalini as the universe its fine, you can take it as the shakti in the muladhara,


now with regards to your question I would like to clarify that speech is not naadam,

there are levels above para also I can try to find some reference for you in the meantime, because my knowledge is limited to people whom i believe are adept in the scriptures and have shared that with me, i am not a typical scriptural guy and do not plan to be one, may be my naming is wrong, but i am sure there are levels above the big 4, because i have read the names but cannot recollect it, probably in another couple of days i will find the reference and I can share it with you,

regards,
rakesh
 
so whats your real name, i think it would be better if you could just leave your name while you are posting so that i can address you,

regards,
rakesh
 
Hi Sangom,

Since you requested other levels of nadam, there are 16 levels totally (there could be more not quiet sure, this is what i could get). paralpara, para pasyanthi, couple of names for you, the complete levels are available in Kularnava tantra second part Jnanarnava tantra.
 
so whats your real name, i think it would be better if you could just leave your name while you are posting so that i can address you,

regards,
rakesh
It is the accepted practice in this forum to address a member by the user name and there is no compulsion to reveal true name. Hence, sorry... I do not want to reveal my name.
 
Dear Mr. Rakesh,

You had started a beautiful thread and left it incomplete and unattended!

There is a possibility to exchange so much of interesting information about the RAgAs and I wonder why the thread has been left loose?

SankarAbharanam (whatever the name may mean, signify and symbolize) is the undoubtedly the most popular rAgA in the world.

It is known by the name Major Scale in the Western music with notes
C D E F G A B C and is the most widely used rAgA in the western music.

This rAgA is known for its "gambEram" and can be sung very elaborately.
Narasayyar (Tanjore Asthaana Vidhvan) is credited with the rendering of this rAgA for one whole week- without repeating himself even once!

He was popularly known as SankarAbharanam Narasayyar.

This rAgA is most suited for rendering vruththam, slokam and padhyam. It is one of the ancient rAgAs. This rAgA is known by the name Bilaval in Hindustani music and is considered as the most creative among all rAgAs.

I strongly feel that you should continue this thread and keep it alive despite the criticisms.

with best wishes,
Mrs. V.R.

 
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According to Ms. Sudha Jagannathan,

"The swaras of Raga Sankarabharanam form the ornaments of Lord Shiva."

"These seven notes represent the seven ornaments of Shiva, which are Sa-Sarpa, Ri-Rudraksha, Ga-Ganga, Ma-Mruga, Pa-Puspha, Dha-Damaruka and Ni-Nishkara."

Well, if any one wants to challenge this list of ornaments, they are free to approach Ms. Sudha Jagannathan for further clarification.

As for Mr. Rakesh he should continue this thread despite the criticisms and oppositions.
 
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