In the centre of any scale invented by humans, lies a constant.
Pancham.
Never-changing.
Unaltered.
Impermeable.
Indestructible.
Pancham.
Everything changes, Devi, but this constant factor.
Other swarams change.
They appear and disappear,
take on sharp and flat qualities,
are sung with special nuances or not,
but Pancham remains.
One constant note, sung always the same, holding the universe in place.
Sometimes it is the beginning,
sometimes the middle,
sometimes the end
but always it keeps its essence
and keeps the song and the singer in place.
We depend on this constant in order to survive the changes in our lives.
Remove the pancham
and it still pervades the ragam—
which we identify first by its missing panchamaswaram—
thus too is it constant.
Always present, even in its absence.
In every part, in the whole, in the idea of part and whole,
you are the panchamaswaram, Devi.
Namastasyai namastasyai namastasyai namo namaha.
Swarna
Chennai, October 1, 2003
Return to Navaratri 2003.
Go to Shashti.