Thanks Dr. Vissa for your educating input on this topic and it SURE made
an interesting reading. Your analysis of the BASICS of Candassu and Classical
rAgAs is well supported by the examples. lemme add a couple of my comments
on one of my favorite topics..
> In order to reduce the musicality and induce some more flexibility as well
> as identity to 'literature' value, it is often felt that the evolution of
> telugu poetry brought in the 'upajaati vRttamulu' (tETageeti, aaTaveladi,
> seeSamu, kandamu) into existance. These are not based on the fixed 'gaNas'
Though I agree with the above argument in a broad sense, I think that the
evolution of these upajAtulu came into existence more because of the shift
of our lAkshaNikas from Sanskrit oriented poetry to telugu poetry with
more and more "saraLa padamulu". There are very few 'saraLa' vRttAlu
(jAti vRttAlu written using the light telugu words) when compared to the
upajAti vRttAlu. It has been a practice to go for tETagIti/ATa veladi for
light hearted/saraLa sounding BAva/mood, rather than a campakam/utpalam.
May be that explains why jAti vRttamulu using 'simple words and mAnDalIka
padAlu' are not that many.
Extending the same argument - I am not sure if a serious/sorrowful tune in
Sivaranjani can be applied to a poem written in relatively short and light
sound oriented tETagIti/ATa veladi. I can't feel the same impact with a
SrI rAga+kanda combination compared to SrI+campaka mAla or Sivaranjani+
mattEBam combination. One of my school telugu teachers (usually they were
Good singers too) used to sing pOtana's gajEndra mOksham padyAlu and those
mattEBAlu used to have a great impact on the audience when he took off
in high pitched Sivaranjani or SrI.
More over, BAva/mood comes prior to the svaras/words. So emotion is the
first step before some words are uttered or svaras are generated. Depending
on the mood, the flow almost always takes the path of a good tune(in the
suitable rAga) and then the words follow. There could be some situations
where the words come out prior to tune but even in those situations, those
words have a rhythm and rhyme associated with them. Whenever a poet comes
out with a poem there is almost always an inherent tune apart from the
Candassu. What do you think is the source of it ?? I believe it is the basic
emotion/BAva. And the choice of a rAga/Candassu which follows is upto the
liking and suitability. So associating Cnandassu to letters and words is
just similar to making a rAga using swaramulu.
But the point about these 'gang of four' (vRtta jAtulu) is that their length
and the inherent rhythm that comes out of their structure makes them suitable
for many different moods.I donno who decided upon the number of mAtrAs or
even the structures of these GOF, but they are all suitable to depict any of
the nava rasas. This is not completely TRUE in case of upajAtulu.
When we associate a rAga along with the inherent musical rhythm which is
already present in these GOF, it makes a pleasant reading. Identifying the
inherent rhythm of poems based on Candassu is an important step in writing
poems rather than remembering the 'gaNa viBajana' by heart. Once this is
done, the choice of words is the next step which is flavored by the creativity
of the writer/poet. As you said the flexibility is more in upajAtulu than
the GOF and it has been popular belief that selecting suitable words for
writing a GOF padyam is more complex and more difficult than writing a light
hearted upajAti vRttam.
Another point is that a rAga does not only comprise the ArOhaNa nad avarOhaNa
but also the gamakamulu and the svaralakshaNamulu But Candassu has no
variations like this. That way, it is rather easy to construct the later
pAdamulu of a GOF vRttam once the first/last pAdam is finalised. ex. samasyA
pUraNam where one of the lines is chosen along with a hinted BAva in it. This
is not the same in case of rAgas. i.e. one may set a piece in mOhanam/hindOLam
and to set another piece in the same rAga with a little variety is a little
more difficult than filling up the words in the CandO badhdha pattern in a GOF
piece.
Writing CandO badhdha poetry and setting songs to classical tunes, both of them
are great arts in their own way but the basis for both of them comes from the
emotion and the appeal hidden in the inner-self. That's why we find some
music directors/singers writing their own lyrics. The converse may not be true
for every good writer may not be gifted with a good voice but he/she can
surely suggest a rAga (even without knowing it's name or lakshaNa) while
his piece is being set to tune. Similarly, writing a sorrowful kanda could
be much easier than composing a piece conveying sorrowful mood into a
conflicting rAga like hindOLam.
Come to think of it, Candassu/grammar mostly carries the inherent rhythm with
it and the laguage/words as such help by enhancing its aesthacity. andukE,
BAvam putTa gAnE baTTa kaTTadu - dAniki saraina sAhityam kudarAli, Apai
andamaina sangItam amarAli - appuDE adi vinE vArikI, pADE vArikI
AnandAnnistundi.
regards..
- Ram (Ramabhadra Dokka from sdokka@st6000.sct.edu)