Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer - An excerpt in Behag from a shloka

This is the greatest exploration of Behag I have ever come across. I hope it moves you deeply! Some more description towards the end. The shloka is as follows (text courtesy my friend, whom I relate to musically the most): susnigdham nIlakEsham sphuTa madhura mukham sundara bhrU lalAtam | dIrghAksham ćArunAsApuTam amalamaNi shrENikA danta panktim || (The behag portion) bimbOshTam kambu kanTham katinataramahOraskam | AjAnubAhum mushTigrAhyAvalagnam pruthujaganamudarorujAngAnghri mIde || Random musings: This excerpt of music, which I consider as one of the few artistic gems I have come across in my life, is significant because of the following. What's most ancient in my opinion is also most modern if the spirit of the endeavour is to behold the core placed on a pedestal piercing through all that's superficial. Time is sometimes not even a factor in this equation. This rendition has a lot of connection with the aforementioned thought. Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer is also the most important link between the ancient and the modern when it comes to Karnatik Music, arguably one of the greatest and quintessential musicians of the last century along with T Brinda! How can this Behag sound so modern to my ear when it was sung by someone so ancient? The man was born in 1908, quite astounding if you think about it. The music of those times could be deemed alien to the karnatik ear, examples being ample in texts like the sangeeta sampradaya pradarshini. Remember this rendition is from the late 50s/early 60s. I still remember vividly the first time I listened to something significant from Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. It was in my early 20s, and it was a Ragam Thanam Pallavi (RTP) in Kedaragowlai, again a quintessential and ancient Karnatik raga. I recall the thunderstorms heard halfway through the RTP, which also resonated with my shock and catharsis. I had no clue how a piece of art could be so overwhelming and bring tears to my eyes, especially when Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer wasn't indulging in any histrionics or means to impress or awe the listener. It was pure raga music, where the core was placed on pedestal, and nothing else mattered. Some of the phrases in this excerpt are pure statements of emotion! Raga is a complex being and is very evident in this track. It's not only a technical being, but it is historic, cognitive, emotional, psychological, etc in nature. What's also noteworthy is that bhava is oftentimes so misunderstood. In an art music form like Karnatik Music, bhava or emotion is not necessarily tied to literality, it's the non-literal and the abstract that are far more signifant in soundscaping. If you pay attention to this excerpt and keep listening to it on loop, as crazy as I may sound, you could perceive all this. But then, art experience is very personal. So I'll let you experience this excerpt for yourself from this point. Thanks for reaching this part of the description, if you managed to do so! Uploaded for the sheer joy of sharing!