December 2021
Note: This is the transcript of the Keynote Address delivered at the beginning of the lecture series titled Exemplars of Indian Wisdom from Karnataka, which was jointly organized by Gokhale Institute of Public Affairs and Prekshaa Pratishtana.
I offer my heartiest greetings to all who are present here and also to hundreds of friends who are with us online. Considering the general environment that prevails today, it will be no exaggeration to...
As Nala was wandering through the forest wearing the cloth torn in half, he saw a forest fire. He heard a voice calling out for help from within it – “O Noble soul! The forest fire is consuming me – I might die in the fire! Please rescue me from here!” When he looked in the direction of the cry, he saw a snake curled around, fallen there. He picked it up and carried it on his shoulder. As he was walking, the snake said – “count ten footsteps...
Expertise in Gamaka
Subrahmanya Shastry’s skill at gamaka was one of the many things that brought him a lot of fame. He had a keen ear for music from a very young age and was excellent at singing. He had a great sense of aucitya – propriety in employing his skill at music to the art of gamaka. He always chose rāgas which could gel well with the story line. What is more important than his skill was the manner in which he would lose himself while...
If we consider the verses between the ninth verse – “yajñārthāt...” and the sixteenth verse – “moghaṃ pārtha sa jīvati” as one single meaningful portion, the meaning might be clearer. The style of the text here is a little complex. Two or three metaphors are combined thus: Kāmadhenu (the milch-cow of desire), jīva-cakra (the cycle of jīvas), brahma-cakra (the cycle of brahma). The topics too are knotty. Food, rain, crops, yajñā, distribution of...
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