MUSIC AND ITS MALADIES ... 4
The tradition of Indian classical music and dance, living and vibrant, is testimony to the heights to which civilisation had soared here in the days of this country's cultural ascent and is proof of the continuity of her evolving spiritual life. Music and dance in the classical sense here are expressions of the Divine and are geared to bring about the union of the individual soul and the universal soul which is the aim and aspiration of life in this blessed land of the gods.
From remotest antiquity the sound has cradled Indian civilisation as the seedless Om has evolved form and given shape to the idea that sought expression. The mantra tradition has flown simultaneously with the musical as the Sama Veda revealed to rishis the music that underlies life. Truth was uttered by these seers in poetic terms and in cadences.
The earliest literature was orated by sages and seers from the harmonic depths of their souls whence flowed abundantly the verses that were to form India's storehouse of word-culture and inundate the land with ethereal vibrations that sanctified the land for good. Music was in these rhythms and metres and gradually emerged as a synthetic system of great spiritual profundity once civilisation had traversed through its earlier experiences and could navigate through the intricacies of such self-expression.
The beauty of this whole development was that it centred entirely on the spiritual and music and dance became the conduits to the Divine. Music was recognised as a foremost form of spiritual sadhana (austere practice) as it threw up through the centuries a succession of minstrel saints like Meera Bai, Surdas and Haridas Goswami who realised union with God through their music.
The musical essence has been attributed even to our gods and goddesses. Shree Krishna is the eternal flautist, Shiva the drummer divine and Saraswati the source of the syllable that manifests as all knowledge of the sciences and the arts of which music forms the melodic undercurrent.
It is this aspiration for spiritual oneness that is then the fundamental idea that impels Indian classical music and so long as exponents adhere to this principle in their pursuit of its practice, our music will be on the incline. But if worldly considerations begin to play truant with the notes of the ragas, classical music will have met its demise so late in the day that recovery thereof may be difficult. We are on the horns of such a dilemma in this increasingly materialistic world where making a living out of music is making horrendous compromises with its inner essence which is of pristine purity.
Written by Sugata Bose
Photo : Sharan Rani studying the sarod under Baba Allauddin Khan at Maihar (source : internet).
The tradition of Indian classical music and dance, living and vibrant, is testimony to the heights to which civilisation had soared here in the days of this country's cultural ascent and is proof of the continuity of her evolving spiritual life. Music and dance in the classical sense here are expressions of the Divine and are geared to bring about the union of the individual soul and the universal soul which is the aim and aspiration of life in this blessed land of the gods.
From remotest antiquity the sound has cradled Indian civilisation as the seedless Om has evolved form and given shape to the idea that sought expression. The mantra tradition has flown simultaneously with the musical as the Sama Veda revealed to rishis the music that underlies life. Truth was uttered by these seers in poetic terms and in cadences.
The earliest literature was orated by sages and seers from the harmonic depths of their souls whence flowed abundantly the verses that were to form India's storehouse of word-culture and inundate the land with ethereal vibrations that sanctified the land for good. Music was in these rhythms and metres and gradually emerged as a synthetic system of great spiritual profundity once civilisation had traversed through its earlier experiences and could navigate through the intricacies of such self-expression.
The beauty of this whole development was that it centred entirely on the spiritual and music and dance became the conduits to the Divine. Music was recognised as a foremost form of spiritual sadhana (austere practice) as it threw up through the centuries a succession of minstrel saints like Meera Bai, Surdas and Haridas Goswami who realised union with God through their music.
The musical essence has been attributed even to our gods and goddesses. Shree Krishna is the eternal flautist, Shiva the drummer divine and Saraswati the source of the syllable that manifests as all knowledge of the sciences and the arts of which music forms the melodic undercurrent.
It is this aspiration for spiritual oneness that is then the fundamental idea that impels Indian classical music and so long as exponents adhere to this principle in their pursuit of its practice, our music will be on the incline. But if worldly considerations begin to play truant with the notes of the ragas, classical music will have met its demise so late in the day that recovery thereof may be difficult. We are on the horns of such a dilemma in this increasingly materialistic world where making a living out of music is making horrendous compromises with its inner essence which is of pristine purity.
Written by Sugata Bose
Photo : Sharan Rani studying the sarod under Baba Allauddin Khan at Maihar (source : internet).
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