Amaradeva sings ‘ Jagan Mohinee’’’
Have
it on loud to hear all background music. Night. Undisturbed.
In
oriental music, the time of the day is a major contributor. Try listening
in the morning too!
Classical, it is the introductory song to the Bharata Naatyam- The
‘Arangethram’ of the Sinhala girls.
Arangethram
is the final dance performance of a trainee after years of apprenticeship.
The
late Sujatha Jayawardena was an exponent with the golden voice of
Laurence Fernando 1980s.
The
licence to perform alone.
jksw
Jagan Mohini
The lyrics of the song Jagan Mohini is by the eminent Sinhala poet Shri Chandraratne Manawasinghe. The lyrics, which contain many Sanskrit words often used in Sinhala, constitute a wonderful work of art in its own right. They are inspired by powerful imagination, and are rich in imagery. The lyrics consist of a brief introduction and three metrical stanzas. The introduction is a glorious salutation to the Goddess Saraswati: It is graceful and dignified: It evokes her noble, beautiful and stately image:
‘Jagan Mohini,
Madhura Bhashini,
Charu Dehini,
Kamalavasini,
Saraswati Devi,
Vande, Saraswati Devi.’
The three metrical stanzas, which follow, paint an altogether different picture of Saraswati Devi. The imagery deviates from her traditional iconography – a lady playing the veena and holding a book and ‘Mala’ (rosary) in her hands. Instead, the Goddess is pictured as a beautiful and playful dancer. Tastefully chosen words such as ‘kampita kanchana mala’ ( moving golden garland ), ‘kinkini nupura’ ( tinkling ankle bells), ‘pada saroja’ (lotus feet ),‘ chanchala narthana lila’ ( lively and playful dancing ),‘kumkuma rekha’ ( kumkuma lines), and ‘surakulavara abhirupa’ ( beautiful goddess), and the lilting rhythm of the verses, go a long way in chiselling this fascinating dream image.
The lyrics of Jagan Mohini was set to music by Pandit W D Amaradeva, who is the greatest exponent of the Sinhala art song. Amaradeva’s music reproduces the images of the lyrics in musical tone; it is pictorial; it is graphic. The introductory salutation is sung in a slow declamatory style, intensifying the lovely and stately image of the Goddess. The three metrical stanzas that follow are set to the same melody and sung in a faster tempo, reproducing the lyricist’s image of the goddess as a lovely and playful dancer.
The song ‘Jagan Mohini’ is essentially pictorial in nature. It is dominated by powerful imagination. This does not mean that it is devoid of emotions. On the contrary, it possesses emotions in abundance. They are serene, blissful, and devotional. However, the emotions are balanced and restrained.
ජගන් මෝහිණී
මධුර භාෂිණී
චාරු දේහිණී කමල වාචිනී
සරස්වතී දේවී වන්දේ සරස්වතී දේවී
කම්පිත කංචන මලා කූචිත
කිංකිණි නූපුර ජාලා
පාද සරෝජේ කටී තටාකේ
චංචල නර්තන ලීලා
මීන මකර පංකජ රූපාකුල
අංකික කුංකුම රේඛා
පූර්ණ කුම්භ මික පීන පයෝධර
පූරිතාමෘත ධාරා
භාග්ය සාධන පුණ්ය මුර්ති ධර
සුරපුර වර අභිරූපා
දේහි දේහි වර දායක හස්තේ
ශුභ මංගල මුද්රා
- පණ්ඩිත් අමරදේව -
PS
1. Goddess Saraswathy is the Godess of the Arts and Culture in the South Asian context, from time immemorial. Goddess Lakshmi is the Goddess of wealth. There is a sayng in Tamil that two females, can never live in peace and amity under one roof. That is how it is claimed that a rich man can never be an accomplished artist and an accomplished artist will spurn wealth.
The English translation of the first verse of "Jagan Mohini' goes as follows:-
'Enchantress of the universe,
One of sweet speech,
Of beautiful body, Seated on a lotus,
Goddess Saraswathy, I worship you, Goddess Saraswathy.'
Thus you can see that this song is an invocation to Goddess Saraswathy, at the start of any cultural event. It is NOT a welcome song.
2. "Arangettam' is a compound of two Tamil words 'Arangu' meaning Stage and 'Eattam' meaning climbing up. In music and dancing a student under a teacher or Guru is permitted by the Guru when he/she is considered sufficiently proficient by the Guru, to do the 'Arangettam'. This is a very old custom in South India.
Philip G V
