Nataraja Pathu - Tamil hymns on Nataraja with English translation - Sridevi Nrithyalaya

This hymn is a dialogue that the devotee engages in with the Lord. Where all is fair in this inexplicable relationship of the Lord and the devotee, the latter sometimes cries, sometimes chides, at times introspects and at other times, even commands, seeking answers to the questionable transciences and striving to become one with the Lord who is ever in Trance. In the first stanza, the devotee addresses Nataraja as the omniscient one and intellectually internalises His formless omnipresence. The second stanza is an interesting contradiction as well as a reiteration to the first, where the devotee describes His form and His dance, and also affirms that the movement of the Universe, is but His dance. In the third stanza, the devotee begins the inward journey, introspecting and questioning the Lord about the ephemeral happenings in the world. The next stanza is proof of the devotee’s progress in the journey, for it is a clear account of all that s/he doesn’t desire or seek. The following fifth stanza witnesses a devotee who takes liberty to mock the Lord of His indifference. In the sixth stanza, the devotee goes one step closer to the Lord and holds Him responsible for all the misdeeds of the former. In the process of this journey, the following stanza sees maturity in the devotee who seems to have realised the pain of the endless cycle of births and deaths. To be relieved of the incessant circle of life, in the eighth stanza, the devotee pleads the Lord to forgive her/him for all the wrong doings, however grave or silly it may be. The ninth stanza is the voice of a devotee who gradually gathers strength and develops a detachment towards relationships, wealth, fame and power. The Lord chooses the devotee and He alone lays down the path for the devotee unto Him. In that very path, there could be phases of introspection, doubtfulness, realisation, conviction and certainly, hopelessness. The last stanza is an open cry to the Lord from a devotee who feels hopeless, helpless and cheated by the Lord’s indifference. Having known that He is the one who pervades the Universe as the five elements, the devotee now truly realises and experiences His omnipresence, which is metaphorically depicted as the five forms of the Lord (in His Panchabhootha Kshetras) as Ekambreshwara (Earth), Jambukeshwara (Water), Arunchaleswara (Fire), Srikālahasthiswara (Wind) and Nataraja (Ether). Now, what other way does the devotee have, but to surrender? It is when the devotee completely surrenders, that the Lord appears. We have interpreted this hymn as an inward journey of the Self: a journey unto Him. Dancers: Sanjena Ramesh Rajadarshini Saravanan Kameshweri Ganesan Mridula Sivakumar Mrinalini Sivakumar Bhairavi Venkatesan Harinie Jeevitha Nishkala Ranjeev Vishwashree Sai Smriti Suresh Meghna Unnikrishnan Lakshita Madhan Krithika Krishna Kamaladevi Nattuvangam - Dr. Sheela unnikrishnan Music & Vocal - Sri Srikanth Gopalakrishnan Mridangam - Dr. Guru Bharadwaaj Veenai - Kumari Anjani Srinivas Lights - Sri Murugan, Kumar Stage Videography - Dop Sri Lakshmananjai Assistants - Sri Kaadhar & Kumari Karishma Music recorded @ Aarabhi Studios Special thanks to Sri Ravindranath Linga and family Dr. Kuldeep M Pai Our heartfelt thanks to Dr. S. Raguraman for guiding us with the meaning of the hymns. English translation Bhairavi Venkatesan Harinie Jeevitha Props Meghna Unnikrishnan Our copyright policies on SDN’s productions Since SDN is run by SRIDEVI NRITHYALAYA TRUST, all the productions of SDN, be it music or dance, become intellectual property of the Trust. Sridevi Nrithyalaya Trust (SDNT) owns all the productions and will not allow anyone to download or use SDN videos/audios, even it is meant to be for non-commercial purpose. Our social media team, assisted with a legal team, watchfully works in curbing audios/videos of Sridevi Nrithyalaya that have been used in unauthorized way and uploaded in social media. Though we do not put up copyright declarations in all our videos, we strictly adhere to legal formalities and procedures regarding copyrights. We honestly work hard and spend a good time and amount of our resources to produce our music and dance videos. They are produced and uploaded in our social platforms solely to take our art to all those raiskas around the globe who are unable to reach us in person to enjoy SDN’s art live. It is not about ’misuse’ or ’trying to support’ our dance and audio productions by just giving credits. Art is for all for sure. Our productions uploaded in social platforms are for the art lovers worldwide to WATCH and ENJOY but definitely not for copying or reproducing without SDNT’s authorisation. SDNT has anonymously derived to this strong conclusion. Therefore, SDN or any individual from SDN would be not to able to grant anyone permission to reproduce our work of any form.