Bhakthi-NAdhOpAsanA

srI: Dear Friends, First and foremost, let me give you an idea of what you can expect from this blog. Through this blog , I wish to propagate the importance and the greatness of Bhakthi-NaadhOpAsanA and the nAdhOpAsakAs. That's how I see what is commonly refered to as "carnatic music"(CM), which is just another casual term refering to some form of music , like "western music" or "hindustani music". Based on my experiences alone I am and I will be writing my posts here. Through this blog my intentons are not to offend any others personal opinions/ to induce discredit to the glorious CM pathanthara. I simply would like to identify certain important aspects of CM(from now onwards BN, for bhakthi nAdhOpAsanA) that a CM enthusiast should seriously take into consideration at some point in his life (The sooner the better). Also, I am continuing to write based on the assumption that the reader understands the need of bhakthi.I am continuing to write based on the assumption that the reader understands the need of bhakthi and realizes its importance. As i term , bhakthi nAdhOpAsana is all about nAdhOpAsanA for cultivating sthira/sthAyi bhakthi. It is not about "playing around" with swaras/saahithyas focused on giving a better public performance and expecting/ receiving appreciation or for other trivial results. Before talking more about bhakthi music, let me digress a bit on bhakthi as i view it from my perspective. Bhakthi is induced by being close to bhakthAs, bhAgawathAs and thus the bhagawAn or the "Brahman". Thus, Bhakthi can't be "cultivated" by frequently visiting temples where most people pay visit to seek material favours from God. I mentioned that bhakthi has to be "cultivated", means developed step -by-step. Bhaktha pRahlAdA has already very clearly shown how all bhakthi can be cultivated "srvanam kIrthanam VIshnO: smaranam, pAdha Sevanam, DAsyam, Archanam,vandanam,sakhyam and Aatma NivEdhanam," sravanam/ listening to the glories and bhagawan nAmA is the base from which bhakthi starts. KIrthanam/ Singing the glorious of bhagawAn and his nAmA really kindles the spirit and establishes the swaroopam of the lord in our mind and convinces our mind to do further services to bhagaWan willingly and happily. This is sath mArgA ,definitely pleasing to listen but really really difficult when it comes to actually following especially with multitudes of kali bAdhAs. With this knowledge, when one starts to follow the nava vidha bhakthi mArgAs, can anyone reap the benefits? Sathuguru ThyAgayyA in his pOOrna chandrikA krithi, "telisi rAma chinthanathO nAmamu " questions if chanting "rAma rAma" a thousand times with the thoughts of ramA (woman)/ other mundane thoughts help in anyway? (such a wonderful krithi, will write an entire post on it later). Now comes the problem, the mind has to be controlled and should be pure. Well, the upAyam (means) and the UpEyam( end) are known to us. What else is needed? It is the character that makes a big difference. When a great bhAgawathA / rishi / nAdhAmrutha upAsakA , who has by all means surrendered to the divine by giving up all selfishness and is devoid of all tAmasikA gunAs, chants the mantra/ gives upadEsam to the aspirant , it makes a huge difference. That is exaclty why the words of the great seers like the Kanchi Seer Sri ChandraSekharEndra swamigal and other poorna kAmAs (fully content, without any desires) are sweeter than honey. They are verily the mahAnubhAvAs that our Sathguru thyAgayya has praised in his peerless Sri RAga krithis "EndarO mahAnubAvulu" (again , a krithi that can be studied and enjoyed for days). Closely associated with this is the vAishnavA philosophy of prapatti and sharanAgathi and as i have mentioned in my previous post ,by surrendering and reaching our bhagawans divya kamala pAdams , we find those mahAnubAvAs singing the glories of bhagwan(pAdukA rathnAs). A secular anology will be to compare those mahAnubAvulus to an expert programmer who knows how to effectively use a programming language by putting in practice the best practises and not only that he also effectively communicates them to others. Any corporation would be ready to hire him any time. Just like that , by seriously taking the advice of those great souls ( nAdhOpAsakAs here) with shraddhhA and bhakthi thereby gaining their katAkshams, I am sure that one can enjoy brahmAnandam not "AlpAnandam" . "shradhA and bhakthi" are two very important terms here in this context. Developing Guru/BhAgawatha bhakthi itself is very similar to developing bhakthi towards God. All those nava vidha bhakthi mArgAs of prahlAda should also be applied here as much as possible. With all that foreground, let me now talk about what you are going to be expect through this blog. Developing Guru/BhAgawatha bhakthi ( nAdhoPAsakAs/the saptharathnAs here ) is the main focus of this blog. I seek the blessings of those great souls I am going to use some helpful refernce material that I come across to write up posts (of course with a personal flavour) on their lives and teachings (through their krithis) to truly understand their mahAtmyams and strive to leverage the guru bhakthi levels. Of course , this is not a task that can even be completed in one life time. Definitely most of my posts will have a thyAgayyA touch because he is my most favorite mAnasIka guru. I personally invite him to be with me all the time even when my mind fails to think about him. Just like me, some of you might have feelings for Sri Muthuswamy dikshithar and will have a greater admiration of his krithis. If any of you is lke that ,please feel free to contribute your inputs. What is coming up next? Sathguru ThyAgayya- A personal GlOrification and Idolification :) MahAtmyams of pancarathnAs of Sathguru and more... Also, please feel free to drop in your ideas on how to improve content delivery (all those logistics) . With sathguru dhivyakamalapAdha smaranams krishna sarvam jagadhAnandhakArakAyA seethArAmchandrArpanam