An exquisite Keertana from Adhyāthma Rāmāyaña - Subramanya Kavi - M Balamuralikrishna

Yī samshayamu vārimpavé –Móhana - Chāpu - Subramanya Kavi (An exquisite Keertana from Adhyāthma Rāmāyaña) The Rāmāyaña of Valmiki is probably one of the most interpreted works. The Rāmāyaña has a prominence in all our art forms. It has been widely rewritten and has been adapted to all levels of audience. The Adhyāthma Rāmāyaña or the philosophical Rāmāyaña describes and praises the spiritual and philosophical aspects in the Rāmāyaña. Some believe that this philosophical Rāmāyaña was written by Veda Vyasa as it is an integral part of the Bramhānanda Purāna. All the seven Kāndās of the Valmiki Rāmāyaña are described here in a spiritual light. The text reinforces devotion in Rama (the supreme Self) and is based on the Advaita school of thought. In the Bramhānanda Purāna, the Adhyāthma Rāmāyaña comprises 4500 verses in 65 chapters. The Adhyāthma Rāmāyaña is based on the following plot: Adorning the Mount Kailash by their distinctive presence, Shiva and Pārvati were engaged in conversation. The mother goddess asked Shiva, how was it possible that Rāma, the eternal God, acted as a human and showed limited intelligence? In response to the question, Shiva narrated the “Adhyāthma Rāmāyaña”. Many poets and writers have written thousands of works based on Adhyāthma Rāmāyaña. Sri Munipalle Subrahmanya Kavi was a renowned 18th century poet, scholar and musician. He was the āsthana vidhwan in the Kalahasti court of King Damerla Timmappa Nayaka. His magnum-opus was the Adhyāthma Rāmāyañam Kīrtanams. The opening kīrtanam of the work, “Namah Shivaya” in rāga Dhanyasi finds itself in most of the Bharatanatyam and Kuchupudi recitals. The work has about 104 kīrtanams spread over 6 kāndās. Each kīrtanam is narration-oriented and brings out the beauty of traditional music. Though these kīrtanams were widely popular in the 18th century, they became confined to households and temple festivities. These were not sung in concerts as the Charanams were long and the lines were word-heavy. This treasure would have remained confined to the homes, if not for the efforts made by AIR Vijayawada. The Bhakti Ranjani programme needs no introduction. It gave the listeners gems from the depths of Indian spiritual and devotional literature. One such gem was this Adhyāthma Rāmāyañam Kīrtanams. In our search for music for posterity, we found a rendition of “Yī samshayambu vārimpavé” in the rāga Móhana sung by Dr. M. Balamuralikrishna in one of his concerts of yore. This kīrtanam features in the Bālakāndam of Adhyāthma Rāmāyañam Kīrtanams. It is the question asked by Pārvati to Shiva. Shiva answers her question by eulogising the qualities of Rāma. The kīrtanam is sung in a fast tempo to enable the singing of long sentences continuously. BMK’s perfect diction and his ability to understand the mind of the composer enhances the value of the kīrtanam. I thank Kum. S Vinaya for her research on this topic and for compiling the above narration. Here are the lyrics of t