from the movie 'Ananthi Jothi' (1963)
It seems that poet Kannadasan started off as an atheist. With time, through his voracious readings and research for his songs, he claimed to be an avid practitioner of Sanathana Dharma (Eternal Duty) or Hinduism in his later years. Many of his later compositions brilliantly express the entity we assume to be God - the Force that puts order to things around us, the seen and the invisible, the heard and the silent, the felt and the void.
Here, Mahakavi Kannadasan, in a 1963 composition, tries to explore the meaning of God, which carries different visions to different people, from an external force that oversees every move to an internal mechanism so intricate that it does its own checks and balances.
You say He is not there because you cannot see Him. When you float but cannot see the air, you are hovering upon. When you close all your senses to the external stimuli, is the something you feel is God?
In the crypts of darkness of the night, you awaken. It is pitch dark, but you can make a composite picture of the person before you. There is something beyond what you see.
The melodious sound of music transcends the listeners to an elevated level. The right pluck excites the right heartstrings of life. You dictate the musical notes, but can you see the shape of the music that raises you?
It seems that poet Kannadasan started off as an atheist. With time, through his voracious readings and research for his songs, he claimed to be an avid practitioner of Sanathana Dharma (Eternal Duty) or Hinduism in his later years. Many of his later compositions brilliantly express the entity we assume to be God - the Force that puts order to things around us, the seen and the invisible, the heard and the silent, the felt and the void.
Here, Mahakavi Kannadasan, in a 1963 composition, tries to explore the meaning of God, which carries different visions to different people, from an external force that oversees every move to an internal mechanism so intricate that it does its own checks and balances.
You say He is not there because you cannot see Him. When you float but cannot see the air, you are hovering upon. When you close all your senses to the external stimuli, is the something you feel is God?
In the crypts of darkness of the night, you awaken. It is pitch dark, but you can make a composite picture of the person before you. There is something beyond what you see.
The melodious sound of music transcends the listeners to an elevated level. The right pluck excites the right heartstrings of life. You dictate the musical notes, but can you see the shape of the music that raises you?
Nobody knows what the other person's heart feels. We cannot read the writings in one's heart, but our gut gives a feeling about it.
Buddha may have deceased, but his guidance remains. The knowledge, the path to life, is that divine? Has truth and charity become unfashionable? After reading about how karma hits back and history repeats, should we be stressing ourselves but let nature take its course?
At a time when justice seems unattainable, and public display of resentment seems futile, when justice is unamenable to the law and whip, let the long arm of Time shall take charge. Time would not hesitate to save the day, slowly but surely! Hence, Time must be God. Is this rhetoric to pacify a crying baby, or is it the secret of life?
This song appears in the MGR-starred 1963 movie 'Anantha Jothi' (Glorious Light) when MGR, a schoolmaster, is running from the law after being falsely accused of murder. Just as he is about to give up hope on proving his innocence, his inner consciousness reassures him there is God. His idea of God gives him the confidence to stand steadfast and persevere to clear his name and marry his beau at the end of the day.
The nuances of the lyrics will surely carry a veiled reference to specific people close to Kanadasan, as narrated by late musician MSV. Many of his messages are cryptic. Just like the song in Paava Mannippu (1961), where a Hindu child adopted by a Muslim family and grows up as a Muslim belts out a devotional song during Prophet Mohammad's birthday. The exciting feature of the song, which was revealed much later after his death, is that every verse of the song ended with words that rhymed with the suffix 'Om'. Kannadasan was quoted to have said that one cannot take the Hinduness out of anyone born a Hindu. Subconsciously, he still thinks as a Hindu.
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