Written by London Swaminathan

Post No. 16,082

Date uploaded in London – 12 August 2026

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Shyama Sastri (1762-1827)

One of the Trinities of Carnatic Music (Sangita Trimurti) – the musical genius and composer Shyama Shastri was born to Visvanatha Iyer and Vengalakshmi in a Tamil Brahmin family at Tiruvarur on April 26, 1762.  Venkata Subrahmanya popularly known as Shyama Shastri was the eldest of the three jewels of Carnatic music – Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar, and Shyama Shastri .

At a very young age, Shyama Shastri showed great musical ability. Discovering his interest in music, his mother requested her brother to initiate his music education and teach him the fundamentals of music. Shyama Shastri’s earliest gurus were his father who taught him devotional songs and his uncle who taught him the basics of music. However, his was a well-to-do family of priests and felt that Shyama would not be able to earn a living as a musician.

Shyama Shastri’s family moved on to settle in Thanjavur.  A chance encounter with Sanyasi Sangita Swami, a mendicant and musical exponent from Kasi who was passing through Thanjavur, breathed new life into Shayma Shastri’s music education.

During Sangita Swami’s short stay of four months at Thanjavur, he taught Shyama Shastri all the intricate details of Raga, Tala and Swara Prastharas (improvisation with musical notes). Impressed by his melodious voice, keen intellect and grasping power, the Sanyasi directed his student to approach Paccimiriyam Adiyappayya, a prominent court musician in Thanjavur.

Shyama Shastri was a Devi Bhakt (devotee of the Goddess) and priest at the temple of Goddess Bangaru Kamakshi, where his forefathers were priests for several years. Most of his compositions are on Devi Kamakshi.

Shyama Shastri composed nearly 300 krithis in praise of the Goddess. He also created Navaratnamalika which is a set of nine compositions praising the Goddess Meenakshi of the famed Meenakshi Temple in Madurai. He went on pilgrimage and created compositions on deities of the temples he visited. He wrote compositions praising Tiruvaiyaru Dharmasamvardini, Nagapattinam Neelayadakshi, Thiruvanaikaval Akhilandeswari, one Tana Varnam on Kanchi Varadaraja and one krithi on Vaidheeswarankovil Muthukkumaraswamy.

His compositions were in three languages -Tamil, Telugu, and Sanskrit – he preferred Telugu as the medium of expression. He is the only one among the ‘Trinity’ to have composed in Tamil. He was a contemporary of Saint Tyagaraja and Muthuswami Dikshithar. Tyagaraja and Shastri  spent a lot of time discussing music together.

King Sarabhoji of Thanjavur was his patron.His Mudra in the kritis is Shyama Krishna’. On February 6, 1827, he at the age of 65, this great Kamakshi devotee breathed his last.

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Sindhu

Sindhu River, is a major 3,180 km (1,980 mi) trans-Himalayan river in Asia. It originates in Tibet, flows through Ladakh (India) and Pakistan, and empties into the Arabian Sea. It gave India its name; Greeks and Persians did not have S and so they called Hindu. Sangam Tamils never mentioned this river and so no connection with Indus Valley Civilization. But Sangam Tamils mentioned River Ganga 17 times. They also knew Himalayas but no knowledge of North West India. Major Tributaries: Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers. Sindhu is mentioned in the Rig Veda, the oldest book in the world. it cradled ancient urban centres like Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro (now in Pakistan). Harappa is also mentioned in the Rig Veda as Hari Yupia (Where Vishnu’s Yupa Pole  is found)

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Sikhandi

Śikhaṇḍī (शिखंडी).—Shikhandi fought in the Kurukshetra war on the side of the Pandavas, according to the Mahābhārata He was originally born as a girl child named ‘Shikhandini’ to Drupada. Shikhandi was killed by Ashwatthama on the 18th day of battle. S/he was the rebirth of Ambā, daughter of the king of Kāśī. Ambā ended her life with the vow that she would take revenge on Bhīṣma and was born in the next life as the daughter of king Drupada under the name Śikhaṇḍinī, and Śikhaṇḍinī helped Arjuna in the war at Kurukṣetra to kill Bhīsma. During the battle of Kurukṣetra, he fought in front of Arjuna, while attacking Bhīṣma. Bhīṣma dropped his weapons because it was against the rule to kill a “woman” and this allowed Arjuna to fill Bhīṣma with arrows from behind Sikhandin/i. Śikhaṇḍī was later killed by Aśvatthāmā, while he was asleep in the Pāṇḍava camp. Both incidents show war means treachery.

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Sita

Rama’s wife; an ideal woman who shared all the sufferings of her husband Rama in the forest for 14 years. She was abducted by the demon king Ravana of Sri Lanka . Rama invaded Lanka with the support of Vanara Sena and killed Ravana and rescued Sita. Because a washer man doubted her integrity, Rama sent her to forest where she stayed with Rishi Valmiki. She gave birth to Twins Kusa and Lava. Both met Rama later and Rama recognised them and Sita. But Sita Devi entered the earth where from she came. When she was a baby Janaka found her in the field and Viswamitra helped Rama to meet her and marry her. Two Ramayana anecdotes are in Sangam Tamil literature praising Rama and condemning Ravana.

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Siva

Auspicious form of Rudra. Rig Veda mentioned only once according to Professor Wilson. Yajur Veda gave the mantra Nama Sivaya in Rudram.  Though foreigners got confused and confused Hindus, Tamils from the Sangam days are clear that both Rudra and Siva are one. Tamils mentioned his Blue Throat, Three Eyes etc 2000 years ago. His consort was Parvati/Uma and his abode was Kalilash in the Himalayas. He has many forms and formless shape called Linga.  Linga was mentioned in Sanskrit and Tamil at a very late stage. Not in Sangam books nor in Tevaram or Tiruvasagam

Siva manifests himself in five different forms

1.     He who is the soul of the universe is called Īśāna.

2.     The illusory (māyā) material world is Tatpuruṣa;

3.     Buddhi with its eight components beginning from dharma is Aghora;

4.     Vāmadeva pervades the whole of the universe in the form of ahaṅkara

5.     and the manas-tatva (mind) is Sadyojāta.

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Soma

The Divine Elixir with mysterious properties extracted from a mysterious plant, now extinct. Vedas differentiated Soma from Sura (liquor).

Like Anti Hindu foreigners mislead the world by wrong interpretation of Harappan Civilization, they misled the whole world by dubbing Soma plant as a g drug. They identified some plants as Soma plants but never proved it was the one that Vedic Hindus used.

Soma is also Moon and Moon God.

Divine elixir Soma was extracted from  a plant of heavenly origin which grew on remote mountains. An entire Mandala of hymns in the Rig Veda is devoted to this plant. If one reads those hymns in Rig Veda and other hymns in other Vedas one would understand where foreigners went wrong. Very elaborate rituals were detailed in the Vedas for the preparation of this elixir for the Yagas. Foreigners who showed fake and false proofs for Aryan migration to India could not show anything similar to Soma in other parts of the world. If they have really identified the plant, they would have made a drink like Coca Cola and made millions of dollars every minute. Because they were frauds, they could not prove anything they said. They couldn’t even give proper meaning for many Soma hymns and so the mystery continues.

The Soma hymns in the Rig Veda are an extensive collection of sacred chants dedicated to Soma, both a ritual plant extract and the divine god of inspiration, energy, and immortality. Entirely comprising Mandala 9 (all 114 hymns) plus dozens scattered across other books, they describe the pressing, filtering, and exhilarating effects of the sacred juice. If it is a real hallucinate drug no stupid would waste it by pouring it into Yaga fire.

Mandala 9: Known entirely as the Pavamana Mandala, dedicated completely to Soma Pavamana (Soma being purified).

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Somaskanda

Somaskanda.—South Indian representation of Śiva along with Umā and Skanda

In Sanskrit, Somaskanda (सोमास्कन्द) means “with Uma and Skanda“. It is a compound word formed from sa (with), Uma (another name for the goddess Parvati), and Skanda (their son, also called Kartikeya or Murugan). Lord Skanda is seated in the centre with Siva and Uma.  South Indian temples have many idols of Somaskanda

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Sringeri

Sringeri is a historic hill town in the Chikkamagaluru district of Karnataka,  set along the Tunga River. It is famous for the Sringeri Sharada Peetham, the first cardinal  Mutt established by the philosopher Adi Shankaracharya.

Jagadguru Shankaracharya Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamiji is the current head of the Mutt and his junior is Jagadguru Shankaracharya Sri Sri Vidhushekhara Bharati . Pujas are done every day both in the temple and the Mutt. They have lot of followers in Kerala, Karnataka and other parts of the world.

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Srngara rasa

Śṛṅgārarasa (शृङ्गाररस).—the sentiment of love. And it is one of the Nava Rasas (nine sentiments or moods). It is used in Bharta Natyam and dramas.

This sentiment of love (śṛṅgāra-rasa) is divided into two varieties—

1.     union (sambhoga-śṛṅgārarasa),

2.     separation (vipralambha-śṛṅgārarasa).

In Bharata Muni’s ancient text the Natya Shastra, eight primary rasas (aesthetic flavours or emotional essences) are codified. Each rasa is evoked in the audience through the expression of a corresponding permanent psychological state (sthayi bhava).

The Eight Primary Rasas:

Śṛṅgāra (The Erotic / Romantic): Arises from rati (love or attraction).

Hāsya (The Comic): Arises from hāsa (mirth or laughter).

Karuṇa (The Pathetic): Arises from śoka (sorrow or grief).

Raudra (The Furious): Arises from krodha (anger).

Vīra (The Heroic): Arises from utsāha (energy, enthusiasm, or courage).

Bhayānaka (The Terrible): Arises from bhaya (fear or terror).

Bībhatsa (The Disgusting): Arises from jugupsā (aversion or disgust).

Adbhuta (The Marvellous / Wonder): Arises from wonder or astonishment (vismaya)

The ninth rasa added to the original eight in Indian aesthetic theory is Śānta (peace, calmness, or tranquillity), turning the traditional group of sentiments into the Navarasa. Scholars like Udbhata and later Abhinavagupta formally introduced and championed Śānta as the ninth rasa.

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Sthanu

Another name of Siva.

Sthāṇu (स्थाणु) refers to “immovable” or “standing firmly”.—A particular posture adopted by some holy men (sādhus) who vow to remain for months or years perfectly motionless. Sthāṇu is also an epithet applied to Śiva. It refers to his great ascetic practices (tapas), when he remains motionless like a post, until the dissolution of the universe (pralaya).

Sthāṇu (स्थाणु).—a. [sthā-nu pṛṣo° ṇatvam] Firm, fixed, steady, stable, immoveable, motionless; नित्यः सर्वगतः स्थाणुरचलोऽयं सनातनः (nityaḥ sarvagataḥ sthāṇuracalo’yaṃ sanātanaḥ) Bhagavadgītā (Bombay) 2.24; Mahābhārata (Bombay) 1.34.5.

– An epithet of Śiva; स स्थाणुः स्थिरभक्तियोगसुलभो निःश्रेयसायास्तु वः (sa sthāṇuḥ sthirabhaktiyogasulabho niḥśreyasāyāstu vaḥ) V.1.1.

S/Thanumalayan Temple, also known as the Suchindram Temple, is a famous Hindu temple  located in Suchindram, Tamil Nadu, India. It is unique because the main deity represents the Hindu Divine Trinity (Trimurti)—Lord Shiva (Stanu), Lord Vishnu (Mal), and Lord Brahma (Ayan)—combined into a single form.

To be continued…………………….

Tags- Shyama Sastri, Sthanu, Siva, Somaskanda,Sindhu river,  Navarasa, Srngara rasa,  HINDU DICTIONARY IN ENGLISH AND TAMIL 97; இந்து மத கலைச்சொல் அகராதி-97