MusicalNirvana - Articles on Shyama Shastry

Articles on Shyama Shastry

He sang paeans to the goddess
Shyama Shastri who spoke to the Goddess and to whom the Goddess spoke

Taken from "The Hindu" dated 24-06-95,an article by Y.Bhagavati.

Reproduced here for educational purposes only

He sang paeans to the goddess

Shyama Shastri was born to Visvanatha Iyer and Vengalakshmi on April 26, 1762. He was a Tamil - speaking brahmin known as auttara vadama. Visvanatha Iyer and his forefathers were archakas in the temple of Goddess Bangaru Kamakshi.

Syama Sastri's actual name was Venkata Subrahmanya. But he was affectionately called Syama Sastri. At the age of seven, his Upanayanam was performed. He was taught devotional songs, given sound education in Sanskrit and Telugu. He used to accompany his father to the temple. Gradually his faith in the Goddess grew. Finding his aptitude for music, his mother requested her cousins to teach him the fundamentals of music. Within a short period, the boy became proficient in it.

When Syama Sastri was 18, his father settled down at Thanjavur. A sanyasi, Sangita Svami, an Andhra brahmin, came to their house from Banares. He was pleased with the talents of Syama Sastri and offered to be his guru. After teaching him the mysteries underlying the raga and tala prastaras, he directed Syama Sastri to go to Paccimiriyam Adiyappayya. As per Swamiji's advice, Syama Sastri approached Adiyappayya and the influence of Adiyappayya is reflected in his 'svarajati-kamakshi' in Bhairavi raga.

Once, Kesavayya, a great musician from Bobbili, came to Thanjavur and challenged the court musicians in handling intricate talas. Syama Sastri had to face him. He entered the temple and stood in deep meditation. He sang "Devi brova samayamide' meaning "Devi! now it is the time for you to protect me". Later he gained confidence and went to the court to face the contest and defeated the challenger.

Muthuuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri were good friends. They often met and spent hours together singing. Syama Sastri had deep regard for Tyagaraja.

Once Syama Sastri was singing Brhadamba in Pudukottai, an elderly saint was pleased and directed him to go to Madurai and sing in praise of Meenaksi Amman and receive her blessings. Syama Sastri decided to do so and composed "navaratnamalika' (nine kritis)

Once at Nagapattinam, Syama Sastri defeated, in a contest Appukutti Nattuvanar who was proficient in music. Consequently Appukutti forfeited his tambura and tala for ever.

Most of Syama Sastri's compositions are in praise of Devi. He composed about 300 songs. Though he was a Tamil he had chosen Telugu as the medium of expression for his songs because of the inherent beauty of that language. There are a few Sanskrit and Tamil songs also.

His style is neither simple as that of Tyagaraja nor difficult as that of Muthuswami Dikshitar. He signed his songs as Syama Krsna. He died on February 6, 1827, at the age of 65.

This article appeared in "Sangeetham" (Newsletter of CMANA)

Reproduced here for educational purposes only

Shyama Shastri,who spoke to the Goddess and to whom the Goddess spoke

"If you would sense the thrill, you have to go to the chapu tala for it and if you would like to enjoy its maximum effect you would find it in the compositions of Shyama Shastri", writes the Late T. V. Subba Rao. He adds that the contribution of Shyama Shastri to Carnatic music is of the highest order and that his compositions are replete with the natural pathos and tenderness of a child crying out to reach its mother.

Shayama Shastri was the oldest of the Trinity of Carnatic music. He was a contemporary of the other two, Tyagaraja and Muthuswamy Dikshitar, and was a personal friend of the former. He was born in Tiruvarur (of Tanjavur district in Tamil Nadu) on April 26 1762, into the scholarly and priestly Tamil Brahmin family of Viswanatha Iyer; a family not particularly interested in music. Though Shyama Shastri attained scholarship in Telugu and Sanskrit at a young age, he got no further than the elementary stages in music education, in spite of his melodious voice. When he was eighteen years old, his family moved to Tanjore.

Around then, his family got a chance to host a sanyasi (monk), sangitaswami, a master of dance and music, who was spending some four months in Tanjore. The sanyasi was quick to discover Shyama Shastri's keen intellect, melodious voice and musical talent and foresaw greatness in him. He obtained the father's consent to tutor the son in music and taught Shyama Shastri all aspects of raga, tala and swara prastharas. The teacher found that the student could absorb even the intricate details very quickly.. all in a matter of four months or less. Sangitaswami presented Shyama Shastri with a few rare treatises on music and certified that the student had gained full knowledge on the theoretical aspects of music. He advised his student to seek the friendship of and listen to the music (but not learn anything from) one Adiyappayya, a composer of the famous bhairavi ata tala varnam, viriboni, and a court musician in Tanjore. Shyama Shastri duly did as he was advised.

Over the years, Shyama Shastri became a wellknown and respected musician, scholar and a composer. He was quite admired and respected by Tyagaraja and it appears that the two of them often held scholarly and lengthy discussions on their latest compositions. Shyama Shastri, like his father was the archaka (priest) in the Bangaru Kamakshi Temple in Tanjore. He was a very pious and genuine devotee of Goddess Kamakshi. According to Professor Sambamurthy, "He was a person who spoke to the Goddess and to whom the Goddess spoke". He is believed to have lost consciousness of the outside world on several occasions as he prayed to the Goddess. On such occassions, he would sing his kritis extemporaneously. His father had the patronage of the Tanjore king. Hence, the family was financially comfortable.

Shyama Shastri had two sons, Panju Shastri and Subbaraya Shastri. The former became a priest and the latter was a versatile musician (and a disciple of Tyagaraja). Through Panju Shastri, the family tree grew and produced quite a few scholars. Shyama Shastri's great grandson was alive till the age of 94 and passed away only in 1950. Hence, many incidents of Shyama Shastri's life are known. He was reportedly a tall and a rather stout person with a fondness for betel leaves! Shyama Shastri, like Tyagaraja and Dikshitar, was well-versed in astrology. Like his great contemporaries, he too correctly predicted the time of his passing. He passed away on February 6, 1827, six days after, his devoted wife passed away.

Although he did not compose as many kritis as his two prolific contemporaries, Shyama Shastri's compositions are equally well known. It is said that he has composed about three hundred pieces in all. He did not have too many disciples to propogate his compositions, nor was the printing press an easy convenience during his time! More importantly, the scholarly nature of his compositions was not appealing to the layperson; they needed to be studied to be savoured. He composed in Telugu, Sanskrit and Tamil and mostly on Goddess Devi. He has composed kritis in, varnams and swarajatis with the ankita/mudra (signature) 'Shyama Krishna'. He is said to be the architect of the swarajati musical form. His set of three famous swarajatis is referred to as 'ratna trayam'. These are in Bhairavi, Yadukulakambodhi and Todi. "These stand unparalleled both for the delineation of the raga bhava and the fecundity of musical ideas", writes Prof. Sambamurthy.

Shyama Shastri's compositionsare usually in common ragas, except for a few in ragas such as Manji, Chintamani, Kalagada and Karnataka Kapi. His favourite ragas seem to have been Saveri and Anandabhairavi, judging from the number of kriti-s composed in these ragas. Anandabhairavi, an old raga that was frequently used in folk music, seemed to acquire a new stature after he composed masterpieces such as mariveregati, himachala tanaya, o jagadamba, pahi sri giriraja and even a couple of varnams in it. His rare originality was in swara sahitya compositions and the use of swarakshara. In other words, swara and sahitya having identical sounding syllables such as 'padasarara' corresponding to the swaras pa da sa in the kriti, devi ni in Kambodhi. Though most of his compositions are on Goddess Kamakshi, he is said to have composed his navaratnamalika on Goddess Meenakshi of Madurai at the request of a person unknown to him. These include kritis such as 'saroja dala netri' in Shankarabharanam, 'mayamma' in Ahiri, 'meena lochana brova' in Dhanyasi , etc.

According to Prof. Sambamurthy, Shyama Shastri would perhaps stand out most for the "rhythmic beauties" employed in his kritis, such as the use of five-syllable words like sarasamukhi, varamosagu, kamalamukhi, etc. These correspond to the rhythmic phrase "ta dhin gi na thom". His kritis feature the abundant use of the misra chapu tala (4+3). He also features dual rhythms as in sankari samkuru in raga saveri, with the inherent rhythm of rupakam and a suggestive rhythm of adi tala. "Shyama Shastri had a rhythmical frame of mind and he was always swimming in the ethereal regions of rhythm and tala prasthara. No other composer has composed songs answering to the rhythmical beauties referred above", concludes Sambamurthy.

Shyama Shastri, though not a prolific composer, has been given a permanent place in the musical Trinity due to the quality, depth, variety, scholarliness and bhakthi bhava in his compositions.