Post No. 15,241
Date uploaded in London – 4 December 2025
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When they say Music is a universal language, they mean it can communicate with all the human beings irrespective of the languages they speak. But Hindus go one step further and say that it communicates with plants and animals as well. We see it in Kalidasa’s Shakuntala, Divya Prabandham and Periya Puranam.
Periyalvar sang about the effect of music on humans, animals and plants. One of the 63 Nayanmars (naayanmaar) Aanaya Nayanar also showed us the effect of his music on the living beings. Both Lord Krishna and Aanaya Nayanar ( aanaaya naayanaar) played on their flutes and did this remarkable feat.
Periyalvar (periyaalvaar) while describing the effect of Krishna’s flute music he exclaims, I have found a wonderful thing. Listen to me!
Listen to a wonderful thing!
275. O beautiful girls who live in this Jambhudvipa,
listen to a wonderful thing!
When Thirumaal who has a white valampuri conch in his hand
plays the flute with his divine lips,
the cowherd girls who have young breasts
hear the sound of the flute, get excited
shiver and run away from their houses
where they are guarded,
untying the ropes that they are tied with.
Putting the ropes on their necks as if they are garlands,
they come, shyly and surround him.
***
276. When Govindan takes his flute in his hands,
bends his eyebrows, blows the air bending his stomach and plays,
the young girls who are beautiful as peacocks
and have doe-like eyes, listen.
Their hair decorated with flowers becomes loose,
their dresses become loose.
Holding their falling dresses
they stand looking at him out of corners of their eyes.
***
Effect on Heavenly Apsaras Women
277. He is the prince of the sky.
He is the little one of Vaikuṇṭam. He is Vasudeva.
He is the king of Madhura.
He is the princely son of Nandagopan.
He, Govindan, is the little child of the cowherds.
When he plays his flute the young Apsarases
come down from the sky and approach him.
Their hearts melt and their flower-like eyes shed tears.
Their hair swarming with bees becomes loose.
Their foreheads sweat
and they close their ears to everything else
and hear only the music of his flute.
***
Effect on Ramba, Urvasi, Menaka, Tilottama
278. He fought, conquered and destroyed
the evil Asuras Dhenuhan, Pilamban and Kaliyan.
When that small dark child plays his flute
wandering about in the forests,
Menaka, Thilothama, Ramba,
Urvasi and other heavenly Apsarases,
fascinated as they hear his music, become speechless.
They come down from the sky, dance, and sing with joy.
***
Effect on Singers in the Sky
279. The kings of the three worlds are afraid of the god.
He came in the form of a man-lion and killed Hiraṇyan.
When Madhusudanan plays the flute,
Narada who plays the veena,
those who play the Kinnaram,
the Midunam and other string instruments,
hear his music, forget their skills and say,
“We won’t touch our musical instruments
because we can’t compete
with the lovely music of Madhusudanan.”
***
Effect on Gandharvas 280. He is the small son of Devaki,
who has large beautiful eyes and strong arms.
He is our highest god and a lion among the gods.
When he plays his flute,
the Gandharvas who wander in the sky,
fascinated by the nectar-like music,
say, “He, our highest god, is playing the flute,”
and they feel ashamed because they can’t play like him,
and they stand folding their hands and worshipping him.
***
281. Listen to the wonders that I have seen on this earth.
When the god who sleeps on Adishesha plays his flute
in the middle of a crowd of young cowherds,
the music is heard in the gods’ world
and all the sky dwellers forget to eat their sacrificial food
and enter the cowherd village.
Their ears are filled with the sweetness of the music
and they follow happily wherever Govindan goes
and do not leave him at all.
***
Effect on Birds and Cattle
282. When Govindan plays the flute
holding it in his small fingers, his beautiful eyes close,
his red cheeks puff out
and his brow sweats with small drops of water.
The flocks of birds leave their nests,
come and surround him.
The herds of cattle leave the forest
where they graze, come near Govindan,
and lie down holding their legs apart.
They bend their heads, listening to the music of the flute
and move their ears as if they are dancing.
***
Effect on Herd of Deer
283. His body is dark like a cluster of clouds,
his face is beautiful like a red lotus,
and his dark curly hair is the colour of the bees.
When he plays his flute,
a herd of deer, fascinated with his music, forgets to graze.
The grass that they have eaten
hangs from their mouths
and, unmoving from side to side,
they stand motionless as if they were painted pictures.
***
Effect on Trees and Plants
284. Our god, the matchless one,
the chief of the cowherds
decorated with dark-eyed peacock feathers
and a silk garment tied tightly and beautifully
on his handsome body plays the flute.
The trees stand without moving,
flowers pour honey-like rain
as if to bow and worship him.
Their straight branches bend to hear the music.
They all turn towards wherever the beautiful god Thirumaal is
because that is their nature.
***
285. Vishṇuchithan, the chief of Puduvai,
composed poems about
how the music flowed like a flood of nectar
from the holes of the bamboo flute
in the beautiful hands of Govindan
who has curly hair and a tuft on his head.
Those who know Tamil well
and recite these poems of Vishṇuchithan
will be among the devotees of the god.
***
Above verses are from Project Madurai website; translated by Kausalya Hart.
***
Kalidasa on the feelings of Plants and Animals
Periyalvar must have mastered Kalidasa’s work. We see in Shakuntalam ,
Priyamvada says to Shakuntala
“The bitterness of parting is not yours alone; look around and see how the holy grove grieves, knowing the hour of parting from you is near:
The doe tosses out mouthful of grass
the peacocks dance no more
pale leaves flutter down
as if their vines are shedding their limbs.
Shakuntala also reacts to the feelings of jasmine climber and deer.
***
My Old article
Music Route to Heaven! Story of Saivite saint Aaanaaya Naayanaar also depicts the effect of music on cattle and birds.
Saint who went to Heaven with A Flute in Hand!!!
London Swaminathan
Post No.983; Dated—16th April 2014.
There are different ways to reach God. Jnana route, Bhakti route, Karma route and Yoga route are some of the ways. Hindus popularised another route to heaven—Music route which is part of Bhakti route. That is the simplest and easiest route. It is like a high speed motorway. Anyone can follow it even without knowing music. You simply join a Bhajan group and ‘shout in your coarse and harsh voice’, but with sincerity and purity in heart. God answers immediately. Even in the music route, there are some short cuts. One devotee just played a flute and reached God!! This interesting story is found in the Tamil Purana called Peria (Great) Puranam.
Peria Puranam in Tamil gives the history of 63 saints who were devotees of Lord Siva. It is in verses. It was composed by Sekkizar in the twelfth century CE. This work tells the story of the lives of Tamil Saivite saints who lived at least 1200 years ago. The enthralling stories of the 63 Nayanars (Saivite saints) speak of the matchless devotion and fathomless love for god.
Aanaayar was a cowherd. He lived in Tirumangalam of Melmazanatu, part of Choza territory. He played ‘panchakshara’ mantra (NAMA SIVAYA) on flute and God came and gave him Moksha!
Here is the beautiful story of Aanaayar from two English translations:–
“Aanaayar used to drive his herds to the uncultivated land, and protect them from diseases and wild beasts. He also led them to lush pasture and clear water, so that their number rapidly increased. Like Lord Krishna he carried a flute (Vamsi) with him and used to play divine music. He used to play Lord’s Five Letter Prayer (Pancha Akshara = Na-Ma-Si-Va-Ya), with each of the seven notes accurately pitched. He poured forth a stream of such sweet and graceful sound that the whole world stood still to hear.
One day Aanaayar set out to drive the herds of cattle and their calves to pasture. The blue peacocks called; the beetle sang their forest songs among the creepers; the white jasmine buds smiled seductively. Her waist slender as the lightning, her breast swaying gently as she moved, the maiden TIME drew near to dance in the wide amphitheatre of the world.
The herdsmen, staff in hand drove the cattle out to graze over the cool pastures, and when their leader drew near, they gathered round to greet him. Nearby there stood a cassia tree (Kondrai in Tamil, Siva’s favourite tree), its branches swinging low and its flowers hanging down in clusters, like garlands made by human hands, or like Siva’s matted locks. When he saw the tree, he stood and gazed upon it spell bound, his mind wholly centred on the Lord. Then from his heart he began to pour out his love without restraint.
As his love welled up within and overflowed, he took up his flute and played as he was wont in praise of the Lord’s Five Letter Prayer, with music sweet as nectar that melted the very bones of every living creature!
Herd of cows ceased to chew the cud,
Fell into trance and gathered around him,
Calves with milk-froth ringed mouths
Ceased to suckle at the teats of their mothers,
Bands of bulls with spreading horns
Deer and other forest fauna
All with hairs on their hides a tingle,
Gathered around.
Dancing flocks of peacocks
Ceased their strutting and gathered around him,
Coveys of birds, their hearts filled with the music
Which entered through their ears,
Roosted around him, with roosted senses,
The hefty herdsmen
Working in the neighbourhood
Gathered around him,
Leaving aside half finished jobs.
Denizens of the underworld of snakes
Debouched through underground passages
Mountain-dwelling maids
Many many massed around
Mazed in their minds
Vinjayas, Saranars, Kinnaras, Amaras,
Heaven-dwellers all of undiminishing luminance
All in daze, on the beautiful sky above,
In their chariots in the clouds crowded they.
As the tormentors and the tormented
Enjoyed with the same emotions,
The snake of mouth with full of pearly teeth
Swooned and fell on the peacock; the lion of unflagging ferocity
And the massive elephant sat together;
Beside the jaws of the tiger,
The delicate mouthed deer bedded.
The music of the fluting
Of the hollow reed,
Filling the world and capturing the heavens,
Rose in volume vast enough
To reach the holy ears
Of the out of reach-of deceitful devotion Sire
Who dances in the Golden Hall.
On graciously hearing
The music of the flute of Anayar,
The creator of the music, the Lord
With an eye on the forehead
Accompanied by the Willowy Dame of Austerities,
Whose heart was compassion incarnate
Mounted the bull
An appeared on the aerial highway
With his matted locks, the Nursery of the Moon
Trailing behind him.
The heavenly hosts came too, jostling with the gods and crowding round. No other sound was heard but the soaring music of the flute, praising the Lord in the Five Letter Prayer.
Wishing to enjoy such music for all eternity, the Lord then said to Aanaayar, “Come just as you are, and live with us”.
The Lord then returned to the golden court. As he went, the earth shone bright with the flowers that rained down from on high. Countless sages chanted from the Vedas in his praise, and Aanaayar went with him, still playing on his flute.
Source: The History of the Holy Servants of the Lord Siva by Alastair McGlashan, Trafford Publishing, Oxford,2006 & Peria Puranam by G. Vanmikanathan, General Editor Dr.N.Mahalingam, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Madras, 1985
—subham—-
Tags- Music, Universal language, Periyalvar, Anaya Nayanar, Effect on plants and animals, Krishna, on flute
Tamil and Vedas 
