Introduction
Mokshamu Galadhaa is a composition of Tyagaraja in raga Saaramathi. Over the past few days, I happened to hear two vocal renditions of the song which made me recall the other versions I had listened to earlier and thus was this blog born.
The Song
The song and its meaning are given in the website www.Karnatik.com
Lyrics
Pallavi
MOkSamu galadhA bhuvilO jIvanmuktulu gAni vAralaku
Anupallavi
SAkSAtkAra nI sadbhakti sangIta jnAna vihInulaku
CharaNam
PrANanAla sam-yOgamu valla praNava nAdamu sapta svaramulai bAraga
vINA vAdana lOluDau shivamanO vidha merugaru tyAgarAja vinuta
Meaning
Is salvation attainable by anyone in this world, who has not realised the Self? Are you not, Lord, ever ready to vouchsafe your vision to those intensely yearning for it? Is Beatitude attainable by anyone who has not experienced the profound ecstasy of devotional music?
The vital force praaNaa and anaala, fire, combine to generate praNava, the Omkaara (sound of Om). From that Omkaara, the seven musical notes emerge. To those who cannot intuitively perceive the mind of Shiva, who worships naada through the VeeNa, is salvation attainable?
In the following paragraphs, I present multiple versions of the song as I have heard it rendered by various artists over the years.
Dr. Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu (1893-1964)
I heard the song for the first time in the summer of 1962 when my brother Viji and I spent a few weeks in Pandu near Gauhati with our Chithi and Chithappa. He was then in charge of construction of the Saraighat rail-cum-road bridge across the Brahmaputra. He was a music lover with an eclectic taste ranging from Pankaj Mallick and K L Saigal to MLV and Chembai. He had a very good collection of records. I heard Mokshamu Galadhaa played on the violin by Dwaram and fell in love with the tune. My knowledge of Carnatic music was rudimentary and it was from then on, that my ‘Kelvi Gnanam’ took root. Dwaram’s was a basic version of the song with no aalaapana of the raga. Yet it made such an impression on me that I enjoyed listening to the longer versions from then on.
M S Gopalakrishnan (1931-2013)
From 1965 to 1967, I was pursuing my MSc in Physics at the Central College, Bangalore. My classmate and fellow music lover Raghavendra was a good vainika himself. We had somewhat similar tastes and MSG was one of our common favourites. I recall listening to a Akashvani Sangeeth Sammelan concert of MSG during those years where he played Mokshamu Galadha. I am unable to lay my hands on that concert. I am however giving the link to another YouTube recording.
Among younger Carnatic musicians, Sandeep Narayan has established a name for himself as a vocalist who can blend classicism with popular appeal and attract the youth of today to concerts. I came across his Mokshamu Galadhaa by chance a few days ago. I liked his leisurely aalaapana as well as the detailed rendition of the song. Hence, I have featured it in this blog.
Thanjavur S Kalyanaraman (1930-94)
I don’t know it is just machine learning or its fuller-blown avatar AI, Sandeep Narayan’s Margazhi Maha Utsavam concert from 2020 landed on my inbox a few days back. There, in the first Q&A feature, Sandeep says that among musicians who are no more, he would like to spend a day conversing with S Kalyanaraman. After that, he goes on to sing Arula Vendum Thaaye, Dandapani Desigar’s Tamil song in raga Saaramathi. Coincidence or the power of AI? To make matters even more eerie, Kalyanaraman’s own rendering of Mokshamu Galadha popped up in my inbox thereafter. He brings out the Karuna and Bhakthi rasa of Saaramathi exquisitely. Please listen and enjoy.
Mandolin Srinivas (1969-2014)
I am adding one more instrumental rendition and my choice is Mandolin and Srinivas. His fingers dance over the instrument as he brings out the bhava of the raga very beautifully. His death at such a young age was an irreparable loss to the world of music!
Mokshamu Galadha is sometimes sung starting from the Anupallavi as Bombay Jayashri does here. I like her presentation both because of its leisurely tempo and relaxing qualities enhanced by the interplay of the piano and the flute in the background.
This is a cover version of the song put together by an ensemble led by the young vocalist Mithun Jayaraj. Like Bombay Jayashri, he too begins from the Anupallavi. The gentle notes of the guitar and keyboard enhance the appeal of the melody. Mithun has a good voice that holds it all together.
Conclusion
This is not a blog that started out to be about a particular raga or composition. It began serendipitously with my hearing Sandeep Narayan and Kalyanaraman, dived back to Dwaram, MSG and Srinivas and moved forward to Jayashri and Mithun. Those who are fond of Carnatic music or at least familiar with it, can go through the song in any order of the artists. The novitiates may like to start with Mithun and Jayashri and work their way up.
Radhu, a family friend and regular reader, had called me two days ago to convey her appreciation of an earlier blog Baaro, Baaramma, Baaro. It was nice to know Krishna Nee Begane Baaro was one of her favourites and hear her describe my presentation of six versions of that song as “Aru Suvai Virundhu”. With seven musicians rendering Mokshamu Galadhaa in this blog, I have added to Radhu’s problems. She may have to savour one of the tastes a second time!
Postscript 1
Vilasini and I got married in 1972. My mother’s cousins B V Raman and B V Lakshmanan sang at the reception. (Incidentally, those interested, may read about their music in my December 2022 blog titled ‘Gentle Giants’). Ahead of the concert, I gave them a list of songs I wanted to hear them sing, including Mokshamu Galadhaa. Ramu Anna (as the elder twin was addressed) drew me aside and told me in a hushed tone that it is not an appropriate song at marriages. I never asked him why nor have I since found out the reason. My guess is that the wedding day is a little too early in life to begin pondering over Moksha!
Postscript 2
Recordings of Mokshamu Galadhaa by renowned artists like Santhanam and MLV are available on YouTube. Just now, the Kadri Gopalnath version has popped up in my iPhone. Please savour them, if this blog has vetted your appetite rather than kill it!
S. Krishna Kumar
10th April, 2024
Bengaluru
Blog # 93
Talk the Walk 
It is surprising that you haven’t listened to Lalgudi Shri Jayaraman’s solo version of the song. It came out in EP recorded disc and to my mind it was one of the best renderings of the beautiful composition. I think U tube version must be available. Please do listen. Its divine rendition
Thank you Gurumurthi for drawing attention to an inadvertent ‘lapse’ on my part. I have indeed heard and appreciated Lalgudi’s rendition of Mokshamu Galadhaa. The reason it did not make it to the final list was that I had heard the Dwaram and MSG versions earlier. The other self-imposed constraint was the number of artists to be featured. In a blog like this, the objective and subjective elements often get mixed up. Rest assured that if I ever do a blog on Charukesi or Keeravani, Lalgudi’s Adamodi and Kaligiyunte will find their pride of place there.
I came across this version by Madras String Quartet:
Thanks, Sunder. Interestingly, I hadn’t come across either the Madras String Quartet or this recording of theirs earlier. Otherwise, I would certainly have featured them in the blog. It is very nice to hear a traditional Carnatic music piece being rendered in the Western classical style. In that sense, theirs is a logical extension of the Bombay Jayashri and Mithun Jayaraj versions where only some of the instruments used were Western but the style of singing was still Carnatic.
Though you have covered a number of versions, the most moving one is missing. I am referring to the one by Lalgudi with his sister Sreemathi. In Tamil there is a saying: thiruvasagathuku urugar, oru vasagathirkum urugar. It is equally applicable to Lalgudi’s Mokshamukha.
Though you have covered a number of versions, the most moving one is missing. I am referring to the one by Lalgudi with his sister Sreemathi. In Tamil there is a saying: thiruvasagathuku urugar, oru vasagathirkum urugar. It is equally applicable to Lalgudi’s Mokshamukha.
Thanks. I am guilty as charged. My ‘defence’ is the same and is contained in my reply to the comments of L N Gurumurthi earlier in this section/blog.