Sadananda Thandavam

शिवरात्रि शुभाशयाः ! சிவராத்ரி வாழ்த்துக்கள்! Shivaratri Greetings! Prayers to the Lord to protect us always!

I have such a great affection for the Lord in his form of Nataraja, the Dancing Lord. What is it about this particular depiction of Shiva which fascinates me so? There is elegance and beauty in the form, but of course! I am sure that everyone will agree that the bronze-casts of Tamil Nadu are second to none. But there is more than that. That unperturbed face seems to be quite in opposition to the vigour of the Tandava, for surely the dance must be vigorous to make the hair fly so! On one side, the damaru beats time incessantly to remind us that the fire in his left hand is ready to destroy and regenerate, yet his right arm is in Abhaya mudra says, ‘fear not‘. His pose is elegant and perfectly balanced yet he stands on the unsteady back of the demon of ignorance, Apasmara. So many opposing factors coming together to make a wonderful whole! In my mind’s eyes, I picture His Tandava, the eternal dance which keeps this universe ticking, and I am filled with awe.

Curious about the origin of the word Tandava, I looked up a translation of the Natya Shastra to see if this 2000+ year old document says anything. I found references which say that Lord Shiva ‘invented’ dance forms and taught them to Tandu Muni. The Muni set them to a dance with instrumental music. That is the origin of the word Tandava – the dance as taught by Tandu. A random quote from the Natya Shastra which I liked very much: ‘Dance is occasioned by no specific need; it has come into use simply because it creates beauty‘ (Chapter 4, verse 267). Can that be said of Nataraja’s dance too? Does the universe go through its cycles of creation and destruction simply because it creates beauty?

I have featured many compositions devoted to Nataraja – Natanam Adinar, Kaalai Thookki, Adum Deivam, Aadi Kondar and Ananda Natanam Aduvar Thillai. Today I am pleased to offer one more song for the Dancing Lord. Sadananda Thandavam in Raga Bahudari was composed by Achyuta Dasar. Not knowing much about him, I did a bit of research. He was born in Polur, North Arcot district in 1850. His mother tongue was Telugu, but he also knew Tamil and Sanskrit very well. Though he was married, he was not interested in domestic life. Instead, he followed his calling in spirituality. Slowly, all worldly ties fell away and with the help of a guru, he reached the deep state of meditation called Nirvikalpa Samadhi in which he stayed for 8 days. He composed many songs based on his spiritual experiences. He achieved samadhi in 1902.

As his spiritual quest interested me very much, I was very keen on what he has to say in his lyrics. Not many people who reach the state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi hang around telling us of the experience! I struggled through the translation for indeed it was quite a difficult task. Please excuse the many errors which I have no doubt made! He says that, to reach Nirvikalpa samadhi, one goes beyond thought and thoughlessness. We all know that in meditation one tries to still one’s mind and go beyond thought. But what is the stage beyond even that? In the second charanam, he says that the true meaning of Vedanta is to reach a singular state of non-attachment. That is an interesting interpretation. The third charanam seems to imply that he had a vision of the Lord. I wonder if I’m reading it right…

I cannot but feature the musician whose voice pops up in my head whenever I think of this song! My father was a great fan of Madurai Mani Iyer and I have heard his renditions countless times in my childhood. A matter of nostalgia for me…

If you cannot see the above embedded video, here is a link to YouTube.

Here is a recent, very nicely rendered version by Sriranjani Santhanagopalan.

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Footnote (Lyrics and Translation):

Composer: Achyuta Dasar
Raga: Bahudari
Language: Tamil

பல்லவி
சதானந்த தாண்டவம் செய்யும் பாதா – வரம் தா தா- ஜகந்நாத

அனுபல்லவி
சிதாகாசத்தில் (alt:சிதாகாரத்தில்/சிதாகாசத்திடை) அற்புதாகாரமாய் ஒளிர தாமுறை தெரிய சுதாம்ருதம் சோரிய

சரணம் 1
முக்தரும் சித்தரும் முநிவர்களும்
மோத மாதவரும் மூவார்களும்
நித்திரையாதிவிட்டு நினைப்பும் மறப்புங்கெட்டு
நிர்விகல்பத்தை (நிருவிகற்பத்தை) நன்று மருவித் தனி நின்று

சரணம் 2
ஜாதி (alt:சாதி) சமய மதாசாரமென்னும்
சழக்க கன்றனைத்திலும் சமமென்னும்
நீதி விளங்கும்படி நிகழ்த்தும் நிகமமுடி
நிஜப்பொருள் வெளியாகப் பசையாமிருனேக

சரணம் 3
தனு* மூன்று அதில் அவஸ்தைகள் மூன்றும்
தாண்டிச் சந்தாய்ப் பெருந்தகை தோன்றும்
தினகரன் அம்புலிக்கும் திவ்ய தேஜஸளிக்கும்
சீரகண்ட பதமாய் நேரில் அச்சுதமாய்

Lyrics sourced from அத்வைத கீர்த்தனானந்தலஹரி (1995) published by Sri Semmangudi Srinivasier Golden Jubilee Trust, with minor variations.

Transliteration

pallavi
sadAnanda tANDavam seyyum pAdA varam tA tA jagannAthA

anupallavi
chitAkAshattil (alt:chidAkArattil) aRputAkAramAi oLira tAmuRai teriya sudhAmRTam soriya

charaNam 1
muktarum sidhdharum munivargaLum
mOda mAdavarum mUvArgaLum
niddiraiyAdivittu ninaippum maRappungkeTTu
nirvikalpattai (alt:nirvikaRoattai) nanDRu maruvit tani ninDRu

charaNam 2
jAti samaya matAchAramennum
chazhakka kanDRanaittilum samamennum
nIdi viLangumpaDi nigazhttum nigamamudi
nijapporuL veLiyAgap pasaiyAmirunEka

charaNam 3
tanu* mUNDRu adil avasthaigaL mUNDRum
tANDi sandAi peruntagai tOnDRum
dinakaran ambulikkum divya tEjasaLikkum
sIrkaNDa padamAi nEril achchudamAi

Translation

O Lord (nAtha) of the Universe (jagan) whose feet (pAdA) perpetually (sadA) perform (seyyum) the dance (tANDavam) of bliss (Ananda), grant (tA) me (implied) a boon (varam)!

anupallavi
Shining (oLira) as an amazing (arputa) form (AkAramai) in the space (AkAsam) of consciousness (chit), displaying (teriya) nobility (tAmurai-*1 below), pouring forth (soriya) the nectar (sudhA) of immortality (amRtam).

charaNam 1
The liberated (muktarum), yogis/sages who have acquired supernatural faculties (siddharum) and seers (munivarum), joyous (moda) ascetics (mAdavarum) and the celestials/Devas (mUvArgalum-literally, those who never age–*2 below), forsaking (vittu) sleep (niddirai) etc (Adi) and loosing (kettu) both (implied) thought (ninaippum) and thoughtlessness (maruppum-literally forgetfulness, but thoughtlessness matches better), stand (nindru) alone (tani) well-embracing (nandru maruvi) the state of Nirvikalpa Samadhi (nirvikalpattai– *3 below).

charaNam 2
O Lord (implied) who explains (nigazhttum), such that it is understood (viLangumpaDi), the truth/law (nIdi) of equality (samamennum) in all matters (anaittilum) which are insignificant (kanDRu) and useless (sazhakku) such as (implied) clan/race (jAti), current (samaya) religious practices (matAchAram) and explains such that (implied) the true (nija) meaning (poruL) of Vedanta (nigama-vEda, muDi-end or anta in Sanskrit) comes to light (veLiyAga) thus reaching (implied) the singular (Eka) state (iru, short for iruttal or existence) of non-attachment (pasaiyA).

charaNam 3
Having overcome (tANDi) the three (mUNDRu) bodies (tanu – *4 below) in (adil) their three (mUNDRum) states (avastaigaL -*5 below), the noble person (peruntagai) who gives (aLikkum) divine (divya) brilliance (tEjas) to the sun (dinakaran) and the moon (ambulikkum), appears (tONDRum) like a messenger (sandAi) of complete (akhanDa) excellence (sIr) and joy (padam), appearing (nEril) as the imperishable (achchutamAi).

*1: Though I could not find தாமுறை in the dictionary, Chat GPT assures me that it means it means nobility/honour/courage etc. I asked for quotations with தாமுறை and it listed a few. Check for yourself!

*2: The lyrics I consulted showed மூவர்கள், not மூவார்கள். I did some exploring as it did not fit well. mUvArgaL fits much better, so I have chosen this word instead. mUvargaL may indicate Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva if you wish to stay with that.

*3: Deepak Chopra’s site says that ‘Nirvikalpa Samadhi is a higher state of awareness where the ego and samskaras have been dissolved and only Consciousness remains. Patanjali says the material world has become like a shadow from which you are completely free. In Nirvikalpa Samadhi there is no mind as you know it—there is only infinite peace and bliss. Here nature’s dance stops, and the knower and the known become one. Here you enjoy a supremely divine, all-pervading, self-amorous ecstasy. You become the object of enjoyment, the enjoyer, and the enjoyment itself.‘.

*4: Hindu philosophy defines our bodies to be three-fold – the कारण शरीर (Causal body), सूक्ष्म शरीर (Subtle body) and the स्थूल शरीर (Gross body).

*5: Hindu philosophy talks of three अवस्था – states of being which are जाग्रत waking state, स्वप्न dream state and सुषुप्ति  state of deep sleep. तुरीय -Turiya- meaning the 4th, is the state beyond these states.