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Re: Kaisika Puranam/Natakam

From the Bhakti List Archives

M.N.Ramanuja • November 13, 2002 


On Thu, 7 Nov 2002, Malolan Cadambi wrote:

> Dear Members,
> 
> Here is a link on Kaisika Puranam and nampAduavan
> 
> http://www.narthaki.com/info/intervw/intrvw35a.html
> 
> Sometime back Sri M N Ramanuja of IISc, Bangalore posted a note on 
>Kaisika Ekadasi. I am requesting him to share his reflections on this 
>topic.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Malolan Cadambi
> 
> 

Dear Members,

 It was really a pleasure to go through the link posting the interview of 
Prof S.Ramanujam of Thanjavur University regarding the 
revival/reconstruction of the almost lost art of Kaisika Natakam 
running to five hours duration which was conducted  with great fanfare and 
attendance at Tirukkurungudi till 1955  with the efforts of Sri 
T.V.Sundaram Iyengar. It is unfortunate that no records or scripts are 
easily available, we have to be grateful to the efforts of Prof S 
Ramanujam who could collect relevant manuscripts from  Sri 
Tirunarayanaiyengar. We hope that the Prof and Smt Anita Ratnam team will 
be able, with their theatrical and dramatic expertise, to reconstruct the 
Kaisika Natakam and play it regularly at various places. 

What is the origin of this word kaisika? Was  NampAduvAn the opener of 
this word? Has it been cited in any reference  before? Why is the name 
kaisika ekadasi/dvadasi given to that day? are  some questions that arise 
in our mind. It will be great if some bhakta can throw some light on these?

Meanwhile, adiyen has some clues about this, which have to be 
authenticated by very enlightened members of the list. This word kaisika 
has appeared first of all in Srimad Valmiki Ramayana in the first canto of 
Sundara kanda  *sEvitE vAridhArAbhi: patagaischa nishEvitE; charite 
kaisikAchAryai: airAvata nishEvitE* etc. Hanuman flew in the skies which 
had a number of waterfalls, and various birds frequented. where the great 
order of gods or preceptors who were expert in singing the raga or svaras 
of kaisika cruised; where airavata or indra's elephant resorted to. Here 
'kaisika' is already referred to as well known in treta yuga as a special 
kind of singing or raga or svara. 

In the introduction of kaisika purana vyakhyanam by Sri Parasara Bhattar, 
there is no reference to the genesis of the name kaisika purana. It is 
only referred to as 'bhagavad guna apadAna gAnam' or singing in praise of 
the qualities and heroic deeds of Lord Narayana. Nampaduvan, as is well 
known, was caught by a brahma rakshasa, in a forest and ultimately 
transferred a small amount of his good deed of singing in front of varAha 
nAyanAr by which the brahmarakshasa was released of his bad birth and went 
to heaven. Sri Parasara Bhattar makes an interesting remark about the 
holding  of nampaduvan (singer to god) or the chandala 
(shvapacha dog-cook or dog eater) by the brahma rakshasa. "Avan 
brahmananallAmeyAle oru panjAdiyai chcholli tannai viduvittuk kolla 
mATTitthilan. durbalanagaiyAle parakramatthAle viduvitthuk kolla 
maTTitthilan. Avan nam pakkalile bharanyAsam panninAn kANum." as said by 
Sri varaha nayanar to bhoomi piratti. Not being a brahmin he (nampAduvan) 
could not recite a panjAdi from veda and get himself freed from the brahma 
rAkshasa and not being strong he could not fight his way free from the 
captor. He did only surrender to Me and waited. This shows that in sri 
Bhattar's opinion veda mantra had powers to free one from the clutches of 
brahma Rakshasa. After sixteen shlokas of various swearings taken by 
nampAduvan promising to return to him after singing till daybreak, brahma 
Rakshasa allows nampaduvan on his mission. 

He returns after daybreak and offers himself as food to the demon, when he 
changes his mind and requests him to transfer all his merits earned by 
singing throughout the night of kaisika ekadasi and help him be released  
from the janma as a demon. Nampaduvan refuses to part with any punyam and 
finally after listening to the story of previous birth as a vile brahmin 
and death during a sacrifice and consequent birth as a brahma rakshasa, 
nampaduvan's heart softens and offers to give the punyam of singing the 
last song. "yanmayA pashchimam gItam svaram kaisika samjnakam; phalena 
tasya bhadram tE mokshayishyAmi kilbishAt".  Here what he said is to be 
noted. He said that he sang a last song with the svara  named kaisika. 
This particular single song earned so much merit as to be  powerful enough 
to release the brahma rakshasa from his mean life and  send him to heaven. 
Perhaps, to point out the significance of this song,  the whole episode 
was named as kaisika puranam. 
 
We  know that in music, kaisika is associated with the svara nishAda as 
'komala kaisiki nishAda and kaisiki nishAda' which is a part of several 
enchanting ragas as nathabhairavi, kharaharapriya, rathnangi etc, of which 
bhairavi etc, are janyaragas. Perhaps, it can be guessed that one of 
these ragas was sung by nampaduvan. We do not know if any specific song 
was sung or any song in those ragas could be sung concerning His praise. 

  We have to wait and see what the research of Prof S.Ramanujam will 
reveal regarding Kaisika puranam from the manuscript obtained from 
Tirukkurungudi. The photos of nampaduvan's and brahma rakshasa's roles 
posted in the website in the kaisika nataka are very interesting and we 
all do wait eagerly to see the drama and enjoy it. As srivaishnavas, 
though, we do not think in terms of the other angles viz., 
societal and social aspects as mentioned by the Prof. For us, it is 
forbidden to inquire into the birth aspects of a srivaishnava devotee,
as in "vIttinba inbappAkkaLil dravyabhAShA nirUpaNa samam 
inbamAriyil ArAychi" and "mlEchchanum bhaktanAnAl ... pUjai 
konDu, tIrthaprasAdanAm" and "janma vritta vidyAnaipuNAdigal ... shava 
vidhavAlamkAramenru kazhippargal".  It may be of academic and 
political interest to say that a svapacha gave moksha to a brahmin, 
though in fact it was the power of kaisika mahatmyam that cleansed 
the sins of the brahmarakshasa.  


dasan 
Ramanuja  

  Adiyen had posted the moolam of the kaisika puranam last year
in the site http://mannaram.tripod.com/ramanuja
I will try to post the translation of Bhattar's vyakhyanam asap.
Meanwhile, a posting of Sri Lakshmi Narasimhan in bhakti-list has thrown 
more light on the kaisikam for which we are thankful to his respected mother.  
According to this information, it is a fact, that bhairavi raga was sung, 
agreeing with adiyen's guess.
 






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