Naaga Phani sarma got it easy? No.
Kumar Vadaparty (kumarv@bellcore.com)
Mon, 9 Sep 1996 18:57:45 -0400 (EDT)
In the following Mohan questions the relative difficulty of satavadhanam,
as done by MNPS (madugula naga phani sarma) in NY/NJ. I argue that MNPS
had a rawer deal (i.e., worked harder) because of time limitations we imposed
on him, not an easier deal.
Mohan's question:
>
>Even if you can get 108 pRchchakulu, the avadhaani is not going to take all
>the questions and keep in his memory and simultaneously work on them.
>
> The avadhaani proceeded to the
>next one only after finishing the one on hand. (He had very few in
>pending). So isn't this effectively Ekaavadhanam or utmost
>ashTaavadhaanam embedded in a grand 108/1116 avadhaanam ?
First, there is no such thing as "simultaneous" no matter what format you
use. It is concurrent. Not simultaneous. You have one input resource (ear,
although you have two, brain processes them together; two are used for
stereo phonic input), and one output the mouth. Hence, it's got to be
concurrent.
The input is a question (poetic or otherwise), and the output is a poem
(a song in the case MNPS -- a variation).
Next. He processes one question at a time, providing partial solution,
each time. This is done in a round-robin way (at least for the dattapadis).
Thus, each time, you recite the next piece of the poem, and then, go to
the next samasya. Thus, you have to temporarily store the partial solution
somewhere, get back to it again, in the next round, and so on for four rounds.
And, at the end, recites all the answers, completely (dharana). This is
the format no matter who does the avadhanam (MNPS or otherwise).
The idea of dharana is that those poems you construct in pieces, you recite
them at the end. Actually, doing this in four rounds is easier for the
avadhani, than doing this in 2 rounds. This is how I argue:
If you are doing in four rounds, you get to say the previous lines more
number of times, so, there is a better chance to remember it well. However,
MNPS had done the dattapadis in 2 rounds, the first one completing 2
lines, and the second one in dharana itself.
The true problem is in samasya purana, where MNPS had no choice.
Indeed, the samsya puranam of
NY/NJ style was most difficult. He gets to mull over the poem just once:
when he is doing it first time. Then, in Dharana, he has to recount all
of it in one shot.
This is no better than asking the avadhani to recount asuvu poems.
Poor guy, for our time limitations, he did work harder. So, the least
we can do is to admit it.
Hope this clarifies.
Sincerely,
Kumar.