As an avid yoga enthusiast and practitioner, I am enchanted by the rich tradition
of literature, philosophy, and ideas that undergird yoga practice. This
composition came into being upon discovering Lorin Roche’s translation of the
Vijnana Bhairava (a medieval Tantric text). What inspired me to write a choral
setting was the beautiful sounds of the Sanskrit text, along with the rich
expression of tantric philosophical principles beautifully expressed in Roche’s
translation. Tantric yoga posits a world of play between the masculine and
feminine energies, a world that vibrates and pulses from that play of energies.
This work is a dialogue where the divine feminine (dynamic and in constant
movement) asks the divine masculine (symbolising a steady state of
consciousness) about the nature of existence, “I have been listening to the hymns
of creation, / Enchanted by the verses, / Yet still I am curious. / What is this
delight-filled universe / Into which we find ourselves born? / What is this
mysterious awareness / Shimmering everywhere within it?” For me, the clarinet
soloist symbolises human dynamism and questioning, and the choir depicts the
steady, underlying, divine consciousness.

— K.B.

śrutaṁ deva mayā sarvaṁ rudrayāmala sambhavam
trika bhedam aśeṣeṇa sārāt sāra vibhāgaśaḥ
adyāpi na nivṛtto me saṁśayaḥ parameśvara
kiṁ rūpaṁ tattvato deva śabda rāśi kalā mayam