Who is he? This person they call Krishna? This prankster of a boy, this god of a man? Who is he they sing and dance for? Who is he they weep in joy for? Who is he they call to from the depths of their beings? Who is He? What can one say about a personality that dons the colour of the sky and sea with the splash of a golden sun draped over his shoulders. With the peacock’s hues tucked behind his crown, making his song heard through a flute’s melody as it wafts across the heart of the land? We can say much but it will never be the whole story. We can say little and in the silence itself, one may find all that there is to him.
Krishna who is the Divinity, Joy, Love, Bliss we seek and yearn for. Take away from him his blue hue and yellow robe, golden crown and peacock feather, chariot and flute, and Krishna will become no less. These are only symbols of his Divine nature, the name only a means to identify and idolize. It is not the sky or the lots that should remind us of him but that in the tentacled greys of depthless pits we are inspired to see the soft tinge of blue and smell the veiled Sweetness. It is the essence, the Krishnahood, that is of consequence; it is that he wants us to discover, that he wants us to understand and that he wants us to become. It is for us to see the Divine in our sons and our sons in the Divine as Yashoda did or to see the Divine in our friend and our friend in the Divine as Arjuna did. All is resplendent of him, He is resplendent of all. It is for us to seek the Krishna within, the Krishna without.
Each seeker, according to his nature, approaches God through the image he finds most suitable. “This is what is called in yoga the ista –devata, the name and form elected by our nature for its worship.” He may come to us as Vishnu or Shiva, Durga, Ganesha, Ram or Krishna. And yet, all these are but forms of the one and it is to the one Godhead that all worship is offered.
“Shyam Smaranam” is a collection of stotras that arise from the devotee’s heart. There is in this seeking for the Divine all the varied sentiments and passions, the many moods and experience of love. In the intensity of this love there is no distance or fear. Krishna is not only worshiped as the Supreme Purushottama, as the Purna Avatara, but also as the king of thieves, ‘Cauradhipati’. Several of these hymns have a Mantric quality and even if we do not understand the words, the sound – rhythms themselves are capable of lifting us into another world. To chant or to simply listen to them is to heighten and deepen one’s own inner quest by experiencing the love, the bliss and the adoration of the true devotee.
Volume 1
1. Invocation 2. Mangalagitam 3. Chaurashtakam 4. Balamukundashtakam 5. Gopika Viraha Geetam 6. Shrikrishnashtakam 7. Achyutashtakam 8. Madhurashtakam 9. Vishvarupadarshan – Stuti
Volume 2 - Non musical version
Volume 2 comprises of the same shlokas presented in the first Volume, without accompanying Instruments. This non – musical rendition in a traditional manner is ideal for the purpose of chanting.
Sung by Pavitra Kumar, Ujjvala Haldar, Chandrima Haldar, Durba Bhattacharya, Binita Shah & Sampadananda Mishra
Composed by: Pavitra Kumar Arranged by: H. Humor Ezhilan Recorded at: Waves Digital Studio, Pondicherry Recorded, Edited & Mixed by: R. Vittobane Co – ordination & Supervision – Dr. Sampadananda Mishra All stotras taken from “Stotravali” published by Sri Aurobindo Society. Conceptualized and Produced by Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry.
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