AN ARTICLE FROM THE SUNDAY EDITION OF THE HINDU,18/10/04

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Music gives the healing touch

Sri Ganapati Sachidananda Swami has been effectively tapping the soothing

properties of ragas. How does he do it? LAKSHMI DEVNATH explains. Sri Ganapati

Sachidananda Swami has been effectively tapping the soothing properties of

ragas. How does he do it? LAKSHMI DEVNATH explains.

 

 

 

 

Sri Ganapati Sachitananda Swami blessing devotees.

 

"MUSICAL NOTES have their effects on our body. Why? Because the tunes

correspond to our nerves. The knowledge about this is called Ragini Vidya or

Siddhi

Vidya. When one hears the right kind of music, its effect on the body is

therapeutic. The nerves can be touched with the help of music. In fact, so

soothing is the outcome, it is as if the nerves are being given a massage." As

Sri

Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji of Mysore speaks, his gentle words along

with an aura of peace and love that he radiates, have a tranquillising effect on

the listener.

The Swamiji is passionate about music. He is not a mere connoisseur. He

talks about texts on music that focus on its healing properties, yet he is not

just a theoretician.

Prolific composer

 

He is an accomplished musician and a prolific composer with more than 5,000

compositions, in several Indian languages, to his credit. He has identified a

unique purpose for his music — that of healing.

At a music session in Switzerland, in 1992, Sri Swamiji spoke, "There are

particular tunes, particular ragas and also particular instruments. When you

combine the instruments, which nowadays is called an orchestra, again you get a

particular quality. You can compare each instrument with a doctor,

specialist who takes care of a specific ailment."

Quest begins

 

But, let us trace this story to its beginning. The Swamiji's quest began

when he was a child of eight. On May 26, 1942, in the small hamlet of Mekedatu,

Jayalakshmi and Narasimha Sastri were blessed with a baby boy. They named him

Satyanarayana. His parents were engrossed in spiritual practices and

Satyanarayana grew up in this atmosphere. Even as a young boy, he displayed a

natural inclination to classical music and spirituality.

Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamy says, "I was eight years old when I first read

in the Sastras about the healing effects of music. I was, by the grace of

God, also naturally gifted with this art. With no formal training, I could play

various musical instruments like the sitar, veena and so on. I thought my

music would be put to good use if it could benefit mankind. I conducted small

experiments and they proved successful. This encouraged me to go deeper into

the subject."

Nadopasana

 

Satyanarayana became Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji at the age of 22.

His mantra was Nadopasana (worship of music). The Swamiji elaborates: "The

body has a number of energy centres called chakras and 72,000 metaphysical

energy channels called nadis. Each of these has its own elemental basis such as

earth, water, fire, etc. Each raga produces sound vibrations appropriate to a

specific element and therefore to a specific chakra and a set of related body

organs."

So how does the Swamiji apply this therapy? He explains: ``I primarily relay

on my intuition when it comes to prescribing the right kind of music for a

patient. When I see an ill person, I can intuitively identify the kind of

music that will benefit him. While specific ragas like Nilambari, Charukesi and

so on do have special therapeutical properties, I also create my own

combinations of notes, in specified frequencies. I call this process

`sampling.'" As a

first step in this methodology, the Swamiji requests various musicians to

play several notes as specified by him on their respective instruments.

Interestingly, this experiment also includes musical instruments of other

countries.

 

Once Swamiji is convinced about the right note and its right frequency it is

fed into the synthesiser that he describes as a modern vina. The end product

is a unique composition created by the Swamiji that assures a primary or

supplementary cure for diseases.

The Swamiji has also adapted the basic melodic structure of some select

kritis of Saint Tyagaraja like Mokshamu Galada (Saramati), Shobillu Saptaswara

(Jaganmohini), Samaja vara gamana (Hindolam) and so on.

Namasankirtana

 

But what about vocal music? Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji is an ardent

votary of Namasankirtana. He has himself composed several bhajans that are

also said to be replete with curative powers for as he says, "the lyrics of my

bhajans incorporate several bijaksharas (mystical syllables) in them.

The Swamiji bases his compositions mainly on the ragas of Carnatic music —

its 72 melas (parent ragas) and their innumerable off spring. "Incidentally,"

says the Swami, "I come in the lineage of the father of the 72 Melakartha

scheme — Venkatamakhi, although not a direct descendant.

All the top performers of Carnatic music consider it an honour to provide

accompaniment to the Swamiji's performances. They are his ardent devotees too.

Violin maestro Chowdiah was the first to have accompanied the Swamiji in his

bhajan sessions.

Many of these performances have been recorded and form a part of the

ashram's `music for healing' series. The Swamiji always recommends that his

music be

used in addition to the treatment for it expedites the healing process.

The Ashram's literature records studies conducted on various patients and

their positive responses to musical therapy