In India from time immemorial extraordinary power have been claimed for music. Several stories of miracles worked by music have been handed down to us by tradition. Whether these stories are authentic or not, it cannot be denied that such a belief has persistently existed. For one thing music has always been considered Divine in origin. Great rishis and devas have been associated with music. The authorship of some standard treatises on music, dance, aesthetics and so on, has been attributed to great rishis. In ancient Sanskrit literature there are descriptions of music concerts in which Great Ones like Brahma, Indira, Prahlada, Narada, the Great Kumaras have taken part and the sage Shuka acted as interpreter of the performance. Music is intimately connected with Divinity.
As I have said above, abnormal powers have been ascribed to music. It is said that Muthuswami Dikshitar brought rain by singing the raga Amritavarshani. I have actually seen rains being brought about by chanting the Varunaiapa. The ragas shivashtakam and rudrashtakam also is considered capable of bringing about cloud-formation in the sky and subsequently ram. Nagavarali subdues snakes. We hear of snake charmers, especially in the village parts. I have heard from authentic sources that the late Nagaswaram Vidvan Sivakozhundu could draw out cobras from their holes and make them swing their hoods rhythmically in tune with the music of his nagaswaram.
Raga is the basis of Indian music; we may say that it is the soul of our musical system. Each raga, for example the Shiva Stotram or Bilvashtakam has its own essential, unique, aesthetic quality, called bhata; each raga has an individuality of its own; it is as it were a unique entity. No one may dare to do anything which will impair a raga's uniqueness. Each raga, such as the Kalabhairava ashtakam or Shiva Panchakshara Stotram is associated with a devata (presiding deity), which is the ensouling principle which gives life and unique structure to the raga, (We may have seen pictorial representations of some of our ragas, especially from the Bengal ochool of painting. Some of them are remarkable and convey the characteristics of the ragas they represent).
In this connection it will be of great interest to note that an young Soviet scientist has succeeded in transforming musical sounds into colour patterns. This discovery is of great importance; we shall hereafter not only "hear" music but "see" it too. May it not be that the raga devatas as conceived by our ancients are only music "seen" in colourfuI patterns?
It is generally believed that all vibrations down here have their correspondences in subtler realms of being. Sound and form are closely linked; form and colour have some mutual association. The idea is that music can build forms in the inner regions and these forms are directly dependent on the music which originates them. If the music is flawless the forms will be beautiful; otherwise the forms may be ugly, truncated or maimed. This is very well illustrated in the following story.
Narada, the sage bard, used to delight Lord Vishnu in Vaikunta every day with his music. And the Lord used to enjoy it and show his approbation by the usual gestures such as shaking of the head and so on. In course of time Narada got to be cocksure of his expertness and ability to please the Lord, and a touch of pride and over-confidence began to manifest itself. Pride is the harbinger of downfall in every region, and in the case of great sages it is unpardonable. The Lord noticed this and wished to teach Narada a lesson.
One day when Narada was playing Om Namah Shivaya on his veena before the Lord, he noticed that the Lord was not giving any sign of approbation; on the contrary there were frequent frowns on the Lord's face indicating displeasure. Narada at once knew that something was wrong, and falling at the Lord's feet, asked to be enlightened as to the cause of the displeasure. The Lord smiled and said, "If you desire to know what real music is, go to Hanuman who is performing tapas in Kandamadana hill and learn it from him."
Narada set forth to meet Hanuman. On the way when he was pass,"!; near a grove he heard the wailings of a number of women and went into the grove- to ascertain the cause. He was shocked at what he saw. He saw a group of otherwise beautiful damsels, disfigured in various ways; some with their noses cut, some with other limbs dismembered - a ghastly and pitiable sight. Moved at the heart Narada made enquiries as to the cause of their plight. They said, "We are the raga devatas; a rishi named Narada played such bad music today in Vaikunta that we have been reduced to this plight. It is only a really good musician who knows our true forms that can bring us back to our original shapes." Narada was humbled. He confessed to them who he was. He said that he was going to Hanuman to learn true music and he promised to restore their original forms as an act of expiation for the sin he had in his ignorance and pride committed against the devatas.
Narada went to meet Hanuman in his hilly home and explained his mission to him; the latter took the veena from Narada and began to play on it. Narada was simply astonished at the mastery and finish of Hanuman's musIc and forgot himself in the enjoyment of that soulful music. After a while Hanuman stopped his playing and put the veena down on the floor. After explaining some subtle points regarding the technique of the' art he asked Narada to play on his veena on the lines explained by him. Narada tried to lift his veena from the ground, but it would not move. When Hanuman was playing veena the rocky floor had melted and when he put it down it was on this molten granite. When the rock cooled and solidified the veena had not stuck up in it. Narada did not know what to do. Hanuman thereupon suggested that Narada might sing and melt the rock and take out the veena. Narada tried and tried but in vain. The story goes that Hanuman sang, melted the rock and then took out the veena. Narada was cured of his pride.
One important point comes out of this story apart from the idea of raga devatas. Music can produce such physical effect as melting a rock. There is nothing strange in this. It is well-known that a glass tumbler can in certain circumstances be broken to pieces by drawing a violin bow along the rim of the tumbler. We also know that if some sand is scattered on a thin metal plate and a bow is drawn across the edge the sand arranges itself into beautiful geometrical shapes.
More Lord Shiva songs are available here.
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