Pride goes before a fall

LAKSHMI DEVNATH

It was pouring cats and dogs. The wind was whistling and the leaves rustling in the trees. Everything was so musical. The child was fascinated. Was this what Amma meant when she said that the materials for music were provided by nature?

As if reading her thoughts Amma smiled. "In fact the ancients not only found music in nature, but even related the sound of the seven notes to the cries of birds and animals. They were:

Sa - Cry of the peacock

Ri - Bellowing of the bull

Ga - Bleat of the goat

Ma - Cry of the Heron

Pa - Note of the Cuckoo or the nightingale

Da - Neighing of the horse

Ni - Trumpeting of the elephant

Sargam understood. Yes! There was melody in everything; not only melody but also rhythm. The measured way the train moved on its tracks, the swirling of the fan above the head, the woodpecker pecking the wood. She was woken up from her reverie by the buzz of the bee near her ear. Could this sound be related to Sa? Was this how the mechanical drone was invented? She flipped through the pages of a few 'Amar Chitra Kathas' lazily. One fact caught her attention, the presence of musical instruments in the hands of each one of her favourite deities. She took out a paper and made a list which read as below:

* Saraswati - Veena

* Vishnu - Shankha

* Krishna - Flute

* Shiva - Damaru

* Nandikeshwara - Mridangam

The music of Krishna's flute was legendary. She remembered all that she had read about the music of Krishna. On hearing it, it was said: trees shed tears, peacocks danced, deer and cows stopped grazing and listened to it with raised ears not to mention the gopis who left their near and dear and rushed to him. That was the power of his music. Only last week she had read somewhere in a science journal that cows yielded more milk; plants grew faster; diseases were cured because of music. Her favourite subject was certainly fascinating. She smiled to herself.

Suddenly she looked at her watch. Hey! This was story time.

"Come, I will tell you some stories about Narada." Amma entered the room with a book in her hand.

"On one occasion Narada accompanied Shiva and Parvathi to the Himalayas. All three were shocked at the gruesome sight they saw. Every where lay scattered the mutilated limbs of a number of bodies. When asked, one of them cried "Have pity on us! We are the Saptaswaras. As long as we came out of Saraswati's veena we were okay, but now a sage called Narada who thinks he is a know- all has torn us limb by limb because of his indifferent music. A word from Mother Parvathi will bring us back to life."

"So be It," said the Goddess, and the Swaras came back to life. Narada's pride was humbled.

On another occasion Hari Mithra, a devout Vishnu bhaktha was given a grand reception at Vaikunta (the abode of Vishnu). The place was filled with the divine music of Tumburu and Nandikeshwara. Narada was jealous and it showed on his face. Vishnu noticing this remarked that his music was certainly not as good as Tumburu's and suggested that he learn music from Ganabandhu, an old owl, living on the banks of Mansarovar. Narada obeyed but after his tenure went to Vaikuntha wanting to challenge Tumburu. He was again shocked to see the mutilated bodies of the Saptaswaras. "Oh my God not again!" he cried. Vishnu consoled him and asked him to come to Vrindavan where he was to be born as Krishna.

"You can learn there from Rukmini and Satyabhama." But there even Rukmini's servants pronounced him as inept. Narada was forlorn. But on a clue from the Lord he understood that what was required was humility, faith and devotion. And lo and behold! When he combined these three virtues with his music Krishna pronounced him equal to Tumburu.

The moral of this story my child is: "Pride goes before a fall." So saying, Amma closed the book.

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