Page 2 - June 2025

For an artist to express their art, a medium is essential. A
musician cannot perform without an instrument. A gétakära
(composer) or sähityakära (writer) relies on words – çabda-çakti –
to bring out the various rasas of literature. For musicians, the
svaras, musical notes, are the medium, which they skillfully weave
into melodies. A citrakära (painter) uses colors to bring forth beauty.
Once, an artist visited our ashram and asked us to draw
anything – random lines and squiggles. Then, using those strokes,
he transformed them into stunning pictures. As we chanted
stotrams to the Goddess Saraswati, he had sketched a divine image
of Her by the time we finished.
A çilpakaläkära (sculptor) works with stone, wood, or other
materials, shaping them to form an image already present in
their mind. Great sculptors
often say they do not create
the idol; they merely remove
what conceals it. We have
all witnessed this truth in
the breathtaking Rama Lalla
mürti, recently unveiled
in all its divine splendour.
Who is the Heart?
Furthermore, every artist
must understand their
art in-depth – superficial
knowledge is insufficient.

The practice of bhakti requires
In loving memory of no material wealth, no
stupendous effort to control
SMT. LALITHA & the activity of the mind, and
SHRI R. KRISHNAMOORTHY no exceptional powers of
Secunderabad discrimination.
Swami Chinmayananda

Tapovan Prasad 21 June 2025