Re: reference to caste in tyAgAraja kIrtanalu
Prasad Chodavarapu (chprasad@hotmail.com)
Wed, 15 Apr 1998 08:25:22 PDT
Ravi writes...
>Hello Friends,
>
> This mail is reference to the chain of mails questioning/
>criticising Saint Thygaraja's reference to caste.
>
>Let me try to put forward my views. At the time of Tyagaraja
>the castes were based on the nature of work and social
responsibilities.
>The references made are not respect to the caste in today's sense
>how all of us and our power hungry polititions view it as.
>Comming to someone want to drop the lines of song "duDuku gala nannE",
>the question itself should not arise. pUrvakAla sAmAjika paristitulanu
>baTTi wrAsina sAhityAnni prastuta paristulaku anvayimchukoni
tiraskaristE
>manaku cheppukOvaTAniki sAhityamanEdE migalaka pOvaccu. goppa goppa
vyaktulanu
>ataDu mAkulamu vADu ani kondaru, aitE mEmu atanu cheppinadi vinamu ani
>marikOndaru pravartistE manamu amdaramu garvinchadagga vyaktulanu
navvula pAlu
>cEsinaTTE.
i differ. yes, our past literature is replete with such references. but
that doesn't mean we keep singing the same thing even today. no question
that tyAgayya is a saint, given the musical heritage that he left for
centuires to come. that however does not mean that one cannot disagree
with a couple of lines out of the thosuands of kIrtanas that he wrote.
what is needed is a rational enquiry, not some passionate defense or
attack based on preconceived notions. as nasy pointed out, we have two
issues here. one, should tyAgayya be censured for what some of us today
think these lines mean. the answer depends on whom you ask. some might
give tyAgayya the benifit of doubt, most people who value his musical
heritage would. some may not, and they are justified too, after all,
everyone knows the discrimination practiced those days and as nasy said,
there is no evidence that tyAgayya rose above the ordinary to champion
the causes of the downtrodden. secondly, should today's singers echo the
sensibilties of the times when they sing these lines. imho, any artist
should have the freedom to chose what he does. nothing should be so
sacrosanct that it just can't be touched without being called
blasphemous. dogmatic adherence to whatever was written centuries ago,
can only increase the alienation of art from the masses. and that
usually means only one thing in the long run. death, or complete
colonization of the art in some sections of the society.
>
>Comming back to "duDukugAla", "sUdrula panulu" anE padAnni, kulamu
drusTitO
>kAka, appaTi sAmAjika paristitilO, tyAgaraja swAmy tanaku nirdEsimca
baDina
>panulu cEyalEka poyinanduku bAdhapaDutunnatlugA bhAvipagalarani nA
manivi.
imagine what a singer belonging to those castes would feel like when
singing those lines.
regards
prasad
>
>bhavadIyuDu,
>Ravi
>
--
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