Laya and tala

 Hari Aum.

A happy New Year to all readers. I hope your new year has started well, especially from the perspective of spiritual life.

In my case, as mentioned in previous posts, natya yoga or dance in particular is currently playing a key role in spiritual life. As a student of Bharatanatyam and Carnatic vocal music, I would like to discuss two key concepts related to these subjects which I feel are closely connected with spirituality and mantra chanting in particular-- namely, 'laya' and 'tala'.

The word 'laya' has many layers of meaning. From a spiritual perspective, laya means the state of temporary dissolution of the individual ego/jiva for example, in the state of deep sleep (when consciousness is withdrawn from the physical/mental layers and rests in the karana sharira or causal body). (Note- this is of course different from samadhi or the permanent dissolution of the ego when one realises one's true nature as being one with the Supreme/Brahman/God).

From a musical perspective, laya refers to the tempo or speed of music. In Carnatic music (and therefore, Bharatanatyam, which is danced to Carnatic music) we have three main types of laya-- 'vilamba' (slow), 'madhyama' (medium) and 'durita' (fast). (Each speed is double the previous one, i.e. medium is double of slow, and fast is double of medium.)

In Sanskrit, the word 'tala' means a 'clap'. However, in Carnatic music, this word indicates a rhythmic cycle to which music is sung or played, and to which the dancer dances (these rhythms are kept by making specific hand movements). There are various talas e.g. of  4, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 14 beats. The most popular and widely used tala is Adi Tala (meaning 'first tala') which is an 8 beat cycle.

Tala is a very intricate topic in Carnatic music and I will not attempt to explain the whole subject here as I am myself still learning (and when you go a bit deeper, it can get quite complicated in terms of the maths involved because each beat can be subdivided in numerous specific ways with regard to the notes that are sung or played). 

The links below provide a nice summary of some of the key concepts of laya and tala in Carnatic music, and some information about Adi Tala:

Laya and Tala

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-60gfzGa1E

Adi tala:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbKOT4mVxpw

The Paras thillana that my dance classmates are I are currently practicing (for our performance which is due to take place soon) has all three speeds, and a significant portion of our choreography is set to the durita laya or a fast tempo-- this is proving to very challenging for us as beginners! 

To explain further, there are extended sections where 4 steps are performed per beat/second, which means 32 steps in a cycle of 8 beats (it is set to Adi talam)-- and performing this with a decent level of skill requires a lot of stamina and practice! 

However, when we protest to our teacher that we find this too difficult, he only replies saying 'you need to push yourself or there will be no improvement' so we are valiantly plodding on! (He tells us that his role is only 1% and we have to put in 99% of the work to make any progress!) As Krishna says to Arjuna in the Gita, 'Abhyasena tu Kaunteya!' (Keep practicing, Arjuna!) when he complains that controlling the mind is too difficult-- our dance teacher also unfortunately seems to share this view!

One interesting thing about the durita laya, is that the mind has to be completely absorbed in the music and dance to be able to move to the rhythm at this speed. A moment's lapse in concentration, a second of doubt ('Did I make a mistake with that step?), or a moment of uncertainty ('What is the next step in the sequence?!), and one finds oneself completely out-of-rhythm. One needs to be fully present in the moment. 

In this sense, dancing demands intense concentration of mind similar to the practice of seated mantra japa or meditation. It also creates a heightened awareness of our thoughts and feelings, and is a valuable bhakti yoga practice. I truly feel this is an excellent adjunct to the practice of mantra japa. 

As Carnatic music has its roots in Vedic chanting (which has strict rules regarding pronunciation, intonation and metre), it is unsurprising that one has to pay a lot of attention to laya and tala when singing and dancing-- these arts were traditionally associated with temples and places of worship.

(Note- As we know, Vedic prayers require years of training to master the correct Sanskrit pronunciation and intonation. Unlike Puranic mantras, these mantras need to be chanted in a very precise way to produce spiritual benefits (e.g. a long vowel needs to be double the length of a short one). The rhythmic sounds and melodies are said to produce specific effects upon the mind and body. 

Western science has begun to study some of these effects as outlined in this article called the 'Sanskrit effect': https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/observations/a-neuroscientist-explores-the-sanskrit-effect/). 

I wish all of you a very happy New Year. May the Divine bless us all with spiritual and material progress. May we be ever in rhythm with the universe and Divine will.

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

Ganesha: the remover of obstacles

 Hari Aum.

Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah.

I would like to write a brief post on Lord Ganesha today. I recently completed my first ever performance of Bharatanatyam dance on stage with my dance classmates and it was a beautiful (though slightly nerve wracking!) experience. 

This piece was dedicated to Lord Ganesha, the beloved older son of Lord Shiva and Mother Parvati, the One who is worshipped as the embodiment of wisdom and remover of obstacles.

In the Vedic tradition, Ganesha is always worshipped first, before any other form of the Divine (though they are all equal and One). He is worshipped before the performance of any significant or auspicious event, be it for a material or spiritual purpose, because He embodies that aspect of the Divine which removes all obstacles to success. Every important activity in the yogic or Vedic tradition begins with invoking and honouring Ganesha. 

He has the head of an elephant, symbolising great intelligence. In each of His four hands, He holds an object symbolising divine grace and protection.

In His upper right and left hands, He holds divine weapons (the axe and the rope), respectively symbolising the destruction of material desires and binding of the lower ego. 

In His left lower hand, He holds a bowl of delicious sweets (known as 'modaka' in Sanskrit) which symbolises Divine grace and auspiciousness (the sweetness of life, both material and spiritual).

His right lower hand is held in 'abhaya mudra' or the gesture of blessing and granting protection/fearlessness. This gesture symbolises His commitment to protect His devotees and grant blessings, both material and spiritual, including the great spiritual goal of Self-realisation.

I have been worshipping Lord Ganesha a bit more in the past couple of months since my dance teacher announced that He wanted our class to perform a piece dedicated to Him (the performance was to be part of a cultural programme including a Christmas celebration). This was a 'Ganesha vandana' including a 'pushpanjali' (worship of Ganesha with symbolic offering of flowers).

As mentioned previously in October, I had no plans to perform in public anytime soon and was quite nervous at the idea of appearing on stage this month. As our first ever dance performance would be dedicated to Lord Ganesha, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to develop a closer bond with this form of the Divine. 

I have always recited the mantra of Ganesha before conducting any worship of any other deity, including Narayana, but I have never before undertaken a specific tapas or spiritual practice dedicated to Him. 

To invoke the blessings and protection of Ganesha, to request Him to bless me that I may be able to perform this dance without any obstacles, I started to recite His mantra (Om Gum Ganapataye Namah) on certain days (in the past week or two, I recited a mini-mala of 27 recitations daily along with my usual japa sadhana, and did a puja for Ganesha).

The interesting thing is that there were plenty of obstacles in the path of my dance practice in the past six weeks-- some expected and some completely unexpected! These did create some stress but I felt that, due to the grace of God, particularly as Ganesha, I was able to cope relatively well and managed to do some regular dance practice despite it all! 

My dance classmates too would have had their own share of challenges as they come from various backgrounds (many are working women like me and also have families, and some are students)-- but we all managed to practice and learn the dance to a reasonable level by the grace of God. We certainly needed divine grace as our dance Guru tweaked and changed bits of the choreography right until the eve of the performance!

And, finally, when the day of our performance arrived earlier this month, I felt nervous but as ready as I felt as I could be (for a beginner!). The preparation for the performance, the repeated training over and over again (both in class and at home), the sheer effort involved (our teacher is quite tough in a good way and pushed us to our limits!), felt like a tapas or spiritual practice in itself. It felt like both the preparation and the performance itself were a form of worship of the Divine (and not merely a form of entertainment).

I have enjoyed watching Bharatanatyam so many times, and this felt like a beautiful opportunity to be on the other side of the fence-- to share the beauty of this dance with the audience who would be watching, to depict the beauty and glory of Lord Ganesha and hopefully provide spiritual inspiration (even as I have been inspired so many times when I have watched dance performances).

Before entering the stage, I mentally invoked Ganesha, my Guru Sivananda, Shiva/Nataraja, Durga, Sarasvati, Radha and Krishna/Narayana and dedicated the dance to the Divine in all these forms. I asked Sivananda especially to be present with me throughout the performance and I have no doubt that it was he who helped me stay (relatively!) calm and do my best on the day.

Our class had performed a lovely group puja to Lord Nataraja just before the performance. This is an ancient tradition-- we offer worship to God and honour our dance Guru before our first ever performance by offering our dancing/ankle bells to the Divine. This was a lovely and very calming ritual but, by the time we were waiting in the wings to enter the stage, we were all a bit nervous again, and it was helpful to have another round of mantra chanting and divine invocations to calm down!

The actual event itself went off relatively smoothly and we felt very grateful to receive some positive and encouraging feedback from the audience afterwards. Our teacher also said he was satisfied on the whole with our performance (but of course, in true Guru-style, declared that he wanted us to continue to improve and build upon our skills--as we still have a some more years of training to undergo before we can hope to be really good dancers!).

I will conclude this post by quoting the main sloka or prayer upon which our dance was based:

"Mooshika vahana, modaka hasta, 

Chamara karna, vilambita sutra, 

Vamana rupa, Maheshvara putra, 

Vighna vinayaka, pada namaste".

This means:

"To the One who has the mouse as His divine vehicle (the mouse represents the ego that has been brought under control by Ganesha), 

To Him who holds sweets in His hand (symbolising divine blessings and grace),

To the One who has large ears (of an elephant, symbolising His willingness to lend a compassionate listening ear to His devotees), 

To the One who wears the sacred thread (symbolising spiritual wisdom/Divine intelligence),

To the One who has the form of an adorable young child, 

Who is the beloved son of Lord Shiva (Maheshvara),

Who is the destroyer of all obstacles, 

To His holy feet, I offer worship."

This is a music video of the sloka: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoiBNxlgc8k

Om Sri Ganeshaya Namah.

I wish all readers a very happy Christmas and New Year. Let us continue to recite mantras and prayers for inner peace and world peace. 

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

Natya Veda and Lord Nataraja

 Hari Aum.

Many of us would be familiar with term 'Veda'-- this term represents spiritual knowledge that was intuited by seers or 'rishis' in ancient times. There are four well-known Vedas-- the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sama Veda and the Atharva Veda. The knowledge of the Vedas was preserved from ancient times to the modern day by a rigorous system of teaching (that requires the student to spend years memorising the ancient texts and perfecting the pronunciation and intonation of mantras). 

As part of my recent study of Bharatanatyam, I have come to discover the existence of the Natya Veda; some people refer to this as the 'fifth Veda'. I find the legend of the origin of the Natya Veda interesting and will explain a bit about this here.

According to our scriptures, a very long time ago, during the Treta Yuga (the second yuga after the Satya Yuga), the devas (demi-gods) observed that the spiritual consciousness of human beings was declining. People were less inclined to contemplate the divine and thus experienced more negative thoughts. This led to an increase in the number of conflicts and suffering on Earth.  

The devas were greatly concerned by this situation and desired to help humanity. They approached Brahma (the creative aspect of the Supreme Being Narayana) and requested him to find a solution.

Brahma listened to their concerns and assured them that he would help. He went deep into meditation and the answer was revealed to him. He intuited that music and dance was the answer to humanity's problems.

Music and dance that would elevate the restless, negative human mind to sublime spiritual heights was what was required he said. This would allow people to feel the Divine within themselves and others and thus experience bliss.

Brahma took an element from each of the four existing Vedas (e.g. words from the Rig Veda, music from the Sama Veda and so on) and synthesised a unique and beautiful scripture dedicated exclusively to the arts-- this was the 'Natya Veda'. This explained in great depth the use of various types of music (both vocal and instrumental) and dance to express devotion to the Divine. 

He taught this Veda to a sage known as Bharata. The sage Bharata then compiled this knowledge into a famous text known as the 'Natya Shastra'. He then gave this knowledge to his sons, who taught it in turn to their disciples (both celestial and human). Thus, the knowledge of the Natya Shastra was preserved for many centuries via the Guru-disciple tradition.

After imbibing the knowledge of the Natya Veda, the devas decided to put up their first performance-- this was known as 'Asura Parajaya' (meaning the defeat of the demons, the arch enemies of the devas). The asuras came to know about the production of this play and were furious. They were determined that the play should not go ahead and vandalised the building and attempted to attack the artists.

Brahma then commanded the divine architect of the demi-gods, known as Vishvakarma, to construct an extremely strong and secure theatre that would withstand any attack by the asuras. Vishvakarma did as requested and the devas were delighted to be able to put up their first performance (related to the churning of the milky ocean and the procurement of the divine amrita/nectar).Various illustrious guests were invited to attend the play including Lord Shiva, the Divine Mother Parvati and Lord Narayana. 

After watching the play, Lord Shiva was very pleased. He decided to bless the performers by revealing to them the knowledge of His own sacred dance. He taught this knowledge to a beloved disciple known as Tandu. The disciple then went on to teach this to others; thus this dance of Shiva came to be called 'Tandava' (this dance is a highly energetic one that reflects the power and glory of the masculine aspect of the Divine). 

Mother Parvati too was most delighted by the performance and taught Her beloved disciple, Usha, the knowledge of Her form of dance. This is a more gentle, feminine style of dance and is called 'Lasya'. Usha then shared this teaching with others (including later, the gopis). 

Over the centuries, many great Gurus of classical music and dance have studied the Natya Shastra of sage Bharata and written further texts and commentaries upon this. One particularly famous work is the 'Abhinaya darpana' of Nandikeshvara. This Sanskrit text contains detailed information about dance-- the use of various hand gestures, movements, expressions and more. For instance, it explains the 'mudras' (hand positions) used to represent the deities, the nine 'grahas' (planets), the various avatars of Narayana and so on. It is this text that I have been studying in the past year as part of my learning of Bharatanatyam.

As part of my study for my upcoming examination in Bharatanatyam (there is a theory and a practical portion), I have been asked to contemplate upon Lord Nataraja and the message that He represents. Nataraja is a manifestation of Lord Shiva. I regard Him to be one of the most beautiful manifestations of the Divine and would therefore like to write a bit about Him here. 

In Sanskrit, 'nata' means 'dance', and 'raja' means 'king'; thus, 'Nataraja' means 'King of dance'. In this manifestation, Shiva is portrayed in a dramatic and beautiful form (unlike His popular serenely meditating form, here He is highly active and energetic as He dances). 

He has four hands-- in His upper right hand, He holds a special type of drum (shaped like an hourglass and called 'damaru' in Sanskrit'). The drum represents 'Shabda Brahman', or God in the form of sound (this includes all mantras). The sound generated by this sacred is Om, and it is said to be the origin of all the alphabets of the Sanskrit language and all sound. 

His left upper hand holds a ring of fire that surrounds Him. This fire (Agni) represents the cosmic fire of destruction that occurs at the end of a cycle of Creation so that a new cycle can begin. His other hands are held in a posture to grant blessings and protection to His devotees (abhaya mudra). 

He stands with His right foot placed over a being known as Mulayaka; this being symbolises all that is dark, negative and spiritually ignorant in Creation. By standing upon this being, Nataraja symbolises conquest over the lower forces in the Universe. His left foot is held above the ground and crossed over His body indicating the vigour and energy of His dance. 

Like the serene meditating form of Shiva, this energetic and active form as Nataraja, also has long, matted hair through which the sacred river, Ganga, flows (She represents the waters of immortality). He too has the crescent moon in His hair, representing conquest over the mind.

The essence of the form of Nataraja is said to be the great panchakshara (five syllabled) mantra of Lord Shiva, namely "Namah Shivaya"

The dance of Nataraja is said to represent the Divine Lila of Creation, preservation and dissolution of the Universe. According to Sivananda, He dances in order to free jivas (individual souls) trapped within the cycle of birth and death known as samsara.

I came across a wonderful composition by Maharishi Patanjai recently known as the Nataraja stothram (prayer to Nataraja). It is a poem in Sanskrit and the image of Nataraja it portrays is exceptionally beautiful. (I confess I am totally smitten and now aspire to have His darshan in addition to Lord Narayana and Mother Durga! They are all One of course. In my mind's eye now when I meditate upon Narayana, in His heart centre, I see Nataraja, the Lord of Dance, as described in this poem and what a wonderful sight it is!)

I will conclude by sharing Sivananda's wonderful work on Lord Shiva (there is much written about Nataraja and Tandava here): https://www.dlshq.org/download/lord-siva-and-his-worship/#_VPID_37

I would also like share the beautiful Nataraja stothram that I mentioned above:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBjOaBqYI4c

Om Salutations to Lord Nataraja, the manifestation of the grace of God in the form of beautiful dance. May He bless us all with His darshan.

Om Sri Natarajaya Namah.

Om Namah Shivaya.

Om Sri Durgayai Namah.

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.