Ooththukkaadu Venkatasubbaiyer

Come without dancing or jerking…

Music, Movies and Mamta Are you ready: Image makeover Red One for Achchamundu! Achchamundu! A day-trip to Dakshin Chitra குசேலன் நஷ்ட ஈடு: தணிந்த சூடு வில்லன் வேடத்தில் சீயான் கலங்க வைத்த இசையமைப்பாளர்

Lyrics: Ref. # 1

Meaning:
Pallavi: Oh, KaNNA please come without dancing or jerky movements since when you dance the entire galaxy of 14 worlds oscillate in unison with your dance.

Anupallavi: In order to watch your dance, the Lord of tillai (Nataraja of Chidambaram), abandoned his dance and came to Gokulam. Hence, you MAdavA, who wears a peacock feather, please stop your dancing. 

Caranam: Your little feet make the jingling sound of the anklets in them. Those who hear such sound get immense pleasure. Your braided hair goes out of alignment and the peacock feather that you wear keeps moving around. The peacock, vehicle of the 12-handed Lord (Murugan) spreads its plumage, dances and entertains you. 

You handsome KaNNA with your sweet music emanating from your flute, those who come to see you watch you dance. If ever they cast an evil eye on you, I would be terribly offended. So do not dance, just come without dancing. 

General comments:

This song is a dream of every student of Bharatanatyam since it lends itself to deft handling of the little activities described. Traditionally only Lord Siva is known to be the foremost expert in dance. However, Krishna, especially in his childhood was known to dance beautifully. The Kalinga narthanam (the dance on the head of the huge snake (in the Yamuna river which terrorized folks in Gokulam) has also been captured in absolute splendor by the same composer.

The composer imagines that Lord Nataraja comes to Gokulam to watch Krishna dance which gives testimony to the charm of Krishna’s dance. The incident that is imagined by the composer is the dance by the child Krishna who is bedecked with jewels and peacock feather with his hair braided up. The dance is so enchanting that the whole universe participates in witnessing it. The composer is also imagining here that some in the audience might cast an “evil eye” on the child Krishna which would be unbearable.

Ooththukkaadu Venkatasubbaiyer (OVK) wrote most of his songs in Thamizh in a mixture of chaste and colloquial language which blend quite easily and flow smoothly. A remarkable group of his compositions is the trilogy that he wrote about the ladies of Gokulam complaining about the mischief of Krishna to his mother Yasoda. The three compositions, tAyE YasOdA (tODi ragam), illai illai illai ammA (mOhanam), and pEsAdE pOngaLaDi (madyamAvati) constitute a beautiful set of pleasant but rational arguments about Krishna’s mischief, the accusation by the ladies at Gokulam, a forceful defense by the child Krishna, and the dispensation of the judgment by Yasoda. They resemble the modern day court arguments of plaintiff and defendant with the judge delivering a fair(?) judgment.

OVK’s diction in Thamizh is commendable. It is worth mentioning that in several songs, the choice of certain words is so impeccable and absolutely irreplaceable. 

Composer’s bio:

Ooththukkaadu Venkatasubbaiyer (1700-1765) predates the Trinity. He was born in Needamangalam and lived in Mannargudi in Thanjavur district. Very little is known about him. His songs have been compiled, edited, and published by Needamangalam Krishnamurthy Bhagavathar, one of OVK’s descendants. OVK composed many kritis in Sanskrit and Thamizh, mainly on Krishna.

OVK was the first to compose thematic compositions like Navavarana and Saptaratna kritis consisting of nine and seven songs in each, respectively. He learned the rudiments of music from Pooranur Natesa Bhagavatar. Without further recourse to additional training, he found his mental guru in Lord Krishna himself. In addition to kritis on Krishna, OVK also composed on Lord Ganesha and other deities. 

OVK was the first one to use the ‘madyma kAlam” –a fast-pace delivery- in his compositions. His compositions have pleasant melody, ringing rhythm, and free-flowing rich devotional lyrics. Most of his compositions are popular among dancers. His famous works include Rudra sabhadham, Nandana geetham, Kalinganarthana prabhavam, Rajagopala Nrityotsavam, and Sri Krishna Ganam. There are quite a few padams in the compendium Sri Krishna Ganam.

Some other OVK’s Thamizh compositions that are very popular in music concerts and commercial recordings are: tAyE yasOdA (tODi), asaindADum mayilonRu (simmEndira madyamam), alai pAyudE (kAnaDA), kuzhalUdi manamellAm (kAmbhOji), pArvai onRu pOdumE (suruTTi), nI tAn meccikkoLLavENum (sriranjani), kaNNan varuginRa nEram (kAvaDic cindu), ADum varai ADaTTum, and tEril vandAnO (husEni), yArenna sonnAlum (maNirangu), pullAip piRavi taravENum (senjcuruTTi), eppaDittAn en uLLam (nIlAmbari), and pAl vaDiyum mukham (nATTaikkurinji).

References:

Sri Krishna Ganam (Ooththukkaadu Venkatasubbaiyer paadalgaL). Edited by Needaamangalam Krishnamurthy Bhagavathar. Publisher: K. RajammaaL. Printed by Rajan & Company Printers, Chennai-6000 001
1. http://www.geocities.com/promiserani2/co1036.html
2. http://www.carnatica.net/composer/oothukadu.htm

Sethuraman Subramanian
subramaniansethu@hotmail.com

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Published on 2^nd June, 2004