SUCH ARE THE SAGES

SUCH ARE THE SAGES

We are so captivated by the world outside of us. But the source of its beauty is within where we look not, so entranced are we by its external manifestation. And this source is called God, the 'Sundaram Principle'.

He, the beauteous one, draws us outside through the senses till we reach the limit of progression and then He sends us careering within to behold Him in all His bewitching beauty. As we draw closer to Him, we meet our beloved divine and on contact merge in Him to be lost in the immensity of the Being. Now neither am I there nor He. It is a stillness of being, transcendent, Self-conscious, the eternity of existence absolute. Relativity gone, it is a singularity of existence with no possibility of partitioning unto multiplicity. It is infinite in no spatial sense, eternal in no timely sense and existing ion no causal sense, for it is the state of transcendence of the phenomenal trinity.

The Self broods on the Self in a Self-conscious way without break or fractional analysis but in an integral manner so very different from the integration of parts to lend wholeness to a substance. It is an integral entity, so to say, that has no parts, can have no parts and can never not be but the One that it is. The closest analogy that may be given is that of a condensed solidarity of absolute existence and absolute consciousness of a dimensionless spherical wholeness. The body and mind have simply been transcended and there remains no trace of such, even their very memory till the leeward retracing of shadowy steps begins, lowering the level of the aspirant, now rendered divine, till base camp is reached and the terrestrial drama is beheld again but with an transformed vision, an altered interpretation. Such are the sages.

Written by Sugata Bose

TWEETS GALORE ... 26

1. The present is as unreal as the past and the future. Reality transcends time. It is the Presence.

2. There is a seeming 'I' and a real 'I'. The former is the ego, the latter the Atman.

3. The separatist tendency springs not from the spirit of independence but from the slavish urge to maintain the puny self. Integrate unto freedom.

4. Provincialism and nationalism --- these are the dominant themes in the political scene today. Humanism yet a far cry.

5. Politics is ruled by rogues for it involves power. Money is in the hands of rogues as well. And when the two combine, we suffer.

6. Resistance to evil is as much a part of dharma as forbearance enjoined by it. Duty lies in discrimination and in deed thereof.

7. Young men of Bengal, yield not to effeminacy. It has become chronic in our land.

8. Strength must come to the land through the practice of continence and contemplation on the Divine. Renounce and rejoice.

9. Young men of Bengal, read Vivekananda and aspire to be like him, a total man.

10. Masculinity lies in continence, not in domination over women.

11. To convert a Hindu to Islam or Christianity is like conferring a bachelor's degree to a post-doctorate.

12. It is not good enough to be a Hindu by birth or belief. One must be a Hindu in essence as well. Realisation of the Self is the key.

13. Subtle is the truth, subtler the means to arrive at it and subtlest the end when the means dissolve.

14. When all transactions have ended, realisation dawns.

15. God is the Self.

16. Brahman ever Self-realises.

17. When everything drops, realisation remains. Revelation then is of the Self.

18. We labour in the world of ignorance. Love is the guiding spirit in all our travails. It is the best reflection of Truth.

19. To label truth is to hide it in name and form. The universe is the largest label on Truth.

20. Why even bother to come to this State gone despicable? Remain a world citizen and keeping bringing sanity to the discussion that most involves you so that malefic politicians in due course are brought to book by an enlightened electorate at whatever distant a date it may be. Do not ever be disheartened by your banishment from your homeland for the geography of it is not all that constitutes it. Wherever you are, you carry the fragrance of your soil in your being, in your writings and in your very longing to tread on it, the aspiration ever approaching the real.

@Taslima Nasreen

21. Oh, how many people starve still!

22. Freedom is not attained, freedom ever is. The bondage just drops to reveal that bondage never was.

23. Karma only apparently binds, not really, for the Real is free of all karma. There no thought subsists.

24. Hardly anyone can expound on the truth of the Atman. Too many worldly words, too many analogies, too little of spiritual silence.

25. Where realisation is, there textual references galore become redundant and the preacher speaks from his immediate experience.

26. On one hand, capitalism is creating wealth and lifting millions out of poverty, on the other, it is reducing millions to penury.

27. Why do people always refer to a Muslim by his religious denomination but a Hindu or a Christian or a Buddhist not by such?

28. It is the will that has to be strengthened so that we may exert ourselves to diligently discover the Truth.

29. The individual is superimposed on the universal, the relative on the absolute to create this delusive drama of life.

30. There is but One and it is Me.

31. The whole of humanity is Me.

32. Men are caught in their little whirlpool of existence, not having even an inkling of the fact that they are the Infinite.

33. Life is a constantly getting beaten up from all sides unless you cling to the Lord for support.

34. Preaching words of the Vedanta will not end human suffering in even a single life. It is the light of the Guru that must shine in the life of the disciple for suffering to cease. The life of renunciation of the sage inspires lesser mortals to aspire for freedom. Mere words forever fail to release any from bondage.

35. The shedding of the material is the unfolding of the spiritual.

36. It is torture for the spiritually inclined to be drawn into the mundane necessities of life. One must accordingly shed all material baggage and stand free in the knowledge of the Self. Else, their is suffering, there is no peace.

37. The Self is subtle and cannot be expressed adequately in words or images for the latter are bound by name and form which the Self transcends. The Self is the absolute truth which has no parallel in relativity for it to be borne out by illustration that caters to duality.

38. Enlightenment may be sudden but will have to be rationalised in due course through spiritual practice for it to bear fullest fruition in life, for it to conduce to world-welfare. The enlightened one has known his non-existence in the body and the mind and his eternal and solitary existence in the Self which is one with God and in derivatives downward manifests as the universe with its multiplicity. All things are now manifestations of the perceived Self and the solidarity of existence is now perceived even through the mist of name and form.

39. To be able to directly address the issue is the call of the hour in this hectic age of high technology when people hardly have the time to spare or the patience to endure any winding about or meandering in delivering a message. This is the age of precision in thinking, brevity in delivery and proper packaging of stuff for the attention of the audience to last for any sizeable length of time. Then comes the content whose quality will determine the period for which the message will live in the minds of the listeners.

40. The moderator is just flitting from point to point and seems uninterested in the answers to her questions. She has somehow to fit in her questions as per a set pattern which is repeated in every show almost in an identical and, hence, predictable fashion. Her lack of interest in the answers elicited by her to her questions is plainly evident on her face and is not in keeping with good culture for a show of this repute where the best artistes of the country are being interviewed. This fact must be taken note of and amendments made to the show accordingly.

41. When the pressures of life get too much for the body to bear, it seems that the system is poisoning and earthly existence becomes an excruciating affair that is better rid than borne any more. In such a moment of extreme distress comes the memory of the ever-loving Lord and life is freshened with hope and joy and the longing to seek a new day when the dewdrop will reflect stellar beams once more to bring back boyhood dreams of a fragrant future. Once more the autumn breeze will carry the tidings of the southern sea, once more the springtime buds shall burst into bloom, once more the monsoon current shall inundate the banks of one's being till love and light and life become one. My friend, for such an hour of fulfilment bear the present predicament so that the moment ripens into fullness and the bars that bind give way unto freedom perennial.

42. Any academic pursuit must be along the lines of the Gurukul with continence as its base and austere practice as the method.

43. The Geeta exhorts non-attachment to the result of action but only a handful practise it despite professed devotion to Sri Krishna.

44. This bondage we call work must be deified and done in order to save the soul from the ignominy of earthly existence.

45. Beauty binds but not if beheld in the soul.

46. When the character softens, the will weakens. Then desires run amok to render order into chaos. Then descends the Avatar.

47. It is impossible to be an atheist, for even to deny God affirms His existence. The definition, though, may differ.

48. The optimal touch is what constitutes great art and is the secret of the economy of the world.

VISHMADEV CHATTERJEE, THE WONDER-DISCIPLE OF KHALIFA BADAL KHAN ... 1

VISHMADEV CHATTERJEE, THE WONDER-DISCIPLE OF KHALIFA BADAL KHAN ... 1

Never may one see the like of Vishma Babu again. What a loss that I missed listening to his concert performance even though I lived in the same city where he lived and sang to enthral audiences! What a wonder-disciple of Khalifa Badal Khan!

Written by Sugata Bose

TO RECEIVE IS EASY, TO GIVE SO DIFFICULT

To receive is so easy, to give so difficult. This springs from attachment to the puny self and is fundamental to exploitation. At the root of it is ignorance, ignorance of the essential oneness of existence despite its apparent diversity and discreteness.

Written by Sugata Bose 

Comments :

Poulome Mitra Shaw You have written a book I think I saw it in the airport. Is that your book? I would want the amazon link if available there.Sugata Bose I have written none as yet. Are you by any chance mistaking me like so many others have done in the past and continue to do so even today to be the TMC MP Prof. Sugata Bose who has written a few books?Poulome Mitra Shaw Then it is written by somebody with your name. Writes like you. I thought I will pick it up. I reached late so didn’t pick up. Now am regretting. I get a feeling I will like that book. He shares his name with you and your kind of nationalism.Sugata Bose I will remember this compliment of yours, albeit not in the right context, though, through no fault of yours, and I will, if you will still be staying in contact in any manner with me through my writings or otherwise, definitely remember to apprise you at the very outset when I do chance to publish my own work. As of now the only publication I have is a translation work of the life of Swami Yatiswarananda published by Ramakrishna Mission, Chennai, who have conveniently, though, bypassed the act of naming both the author (Surjasarathi Gangopadhyay) and the translator (myself) and published it. The book's name is 'Swami Yatiswarananda As We Knew Him'. It is a two-volume publication and my piece is at the very beginning of the first volume and bearing the name 'Biographical Profile'. I am giving you hereby the link to it. https://www.amazon.in/Swami-Yatiswarananda.../dp/8178835800

PADMAVATI SHALIGRAM

PADMAVATI SHALIGRAM

Padmavati Shaligram was a singer in the classic mould of the maestro and was devoid of airs and attitudes of the modern-day musicians with their mannerisms and posturing, all geared to self-advertisement and establishment in the musical world at any cost despite no real credentials for being so.

Hailing from the same Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana, she reminds one of the great Kesarbai Kerkar, so similar is her voice in its deep resonance and in the gamak taankaari to that of the immortal Kesarbai, and she represents one of the last of the great female vocalists of the 20th century. The sheer confidence exhibited in her bold singing style is proof of her musical mastery and this is what modern-day vocalists must take care to learn from stalwarts such as our subject.

These exponents of Hindustani music were better human beings, too, than the current crop of pretenders and I include in this list of fake musicians some of the past singers as well who pulled strings to rise to the top of public acclaim and governmental awards but whose fame will be finally fleeting as the years roll on and they are lost to public estimation. Contrarily, singers such as Padmavati Shaligram could not gain the favour of the authorities through mean means and remained less in the spotlight but they left behind glorious work through some of their recorded recitals which will survive the ravages of time and win for them a permanent place in the hearts and minds of music-lovers of future generations, for it is art alone that triumphs over the tyranny of the times and never clever manipulation or dubious deeds. May the spirit of Padmavati Shaligram inspire our present-day talents to pursue music in the right spirit and to thus arrive at its fruition!

Written by Sugata Bose

TWEETS GALORE ... 25

1. When a disciple leaves the Guru, how hard it hits the Guru only he can tell, for it is a work undone, a mission unfulfilled.

2. Rituals may serve to be religious embellishment but fail to be a sufficient tool for realisation.

3. Alaap is a fast disappearing feature of music owing to the demands of quick satisfaction of the audience. This must be reversed.

4. Sur is Saraswati -- this we often hear. But what does it mean? Your valued opinion please.

5. We as a nation must learn accuracy in thinking and in expression thereof, that is, we must cultivate the scientific temper.

6. Unless the senses are subdued and the mind made introspective, great music cannot flow. It is spiritual consciousness whose outflow is music.

7. "Earlier there were so many master musicians and so few listeners. Now it is the reverse, such a vast audience but hardly any musical maestro." ...Mallikarjun Mansur.

8. Listen to the Devgiri Bilawal of Pandit Ajoy Sinha Roy. It is a beautiful alaap, soulful, introspective, characteristic of the Maihar Gharana.

9. To receive is so easy, to give so difficult. This springs from attachment to the puny self and is fundamental to exploitation. At the root of it is ignorance, ignorance of the essential oneness of existence despite its apparent diversity and discreteness.

10. Devotion devoid of culture will degenerate. To deepen devotion, refine your artistic sensibilities.

11. When cornered by smooth talk of adversary, stay clear of such influence or resist hard to clear such a one out.

12. Desist from associating with men with malefic intent. Associations cast their influences on the character. Hence, desist.

13. This is how souls are darting to their destination as yet unknown but which, nonetheless, pull them along unto their eventual end.

14. Self-preservation is the basis of both selfish and selfless work, one done in ignorance, the other in awareness of the Self.

15. The life of the Spirit is best felt in meditation when the world about you dissolves and you are lifted above your own self.

16. You must never seek the Real in ancient texts or in modern ones. The Real simply is and everything else is delusion. You are That.

17. The Real is inexpressible, yet, we, who are apparent expressions, keep attempting to express It. And this is Maya.

18. Brahman is the Vast Void, that is, It is devoid of substance that has apparent objective reality. Purna = Shunya

19. All deliberations about Reality are so many attempts to comprehend the finitely incomprehensible. Negation leads to realisation.

20. Thought is action, is karma.

AMONKAR, AN APOLOGY, THOUGH NOT QUITE

AMONKAR, AN APOLOGY, THOUGH NOT QUITE

You (Kalpana Sarkar) are absolutely right that she was a soulful singer of khayal, too. Her earlier recordings were steady but with age the voice thinned out appreciably and, strangely so, for usually it thickens with age, and the voice began quivering unduly, perhaps, more than she would have liked, and even more than her gayaki in the Jaipur-Atrauli style of Mallikarjun Mansur would have permitted. I add on, though, to say that she was not following Mansurji as such but being an ardent admirer of this musical genius from her gharana --- although, she repudiated the very concept of gharana as being a limiting factor in musical development as opposed to it being a stylistic variation with some unique features of its own with its characteristic contribution to music overall --- she could not have failed to have been influenced significantly by the maestro's rendition style. Mallikarjun Mansur had a similar quivering style of presentation as is evident in Amonkar's latter renditions. The quiver, though, often is a deliberate doing to effectively amplify the production of the right shrutis of the notes of the particular raga and this fact must be underscored in our appraisal. Where the quivering exceeds such limits as enjoined by the exposition of shrutis, there the voice may be faulted with due deference and with regard to other factors such as age and health as stated above.

All things said, it must be admitted, though, that these were the bearers of our musical heritage and must be revered critically and not blindly --- for blindness leads not to knowledge but to ignorance --- and a fair appreciation must be their due for their legacy to last along innovative and original channels of self-expression of this millenia-old musical tradition.

Written by Sugata Bose

MAESTRO AND THE MODERATOR

MAESTRO AND THE MODERATOR

The interviewer must be adequately knowledgeable in the discipline whose expert he chooses to interview. Otherwise, as is so often the case, it will be a well-below-par interview and the priceless opportunity of getting the maestro to speak in-depth will have been squandered. As it is, these musical maestros, often not too articulate, are so reluctant to come out of their shells and, to add on to the difficulty, these interviewers, ignorant as they are of the subject of expertise of the maestro, disorient them by drawing them into the by-lanes of the conversation and, so, mar what could have been a revelation for the listeners from the very lips of the master. The distraction the interviewer causes on account of the dearth of data at his disposal and his lack of comprehension of whatever information he has on the subject of discussion and, so, it is human nature to drag the discussion down to one's comfort zone of ignorance. This the television channels must assiduously avoid, when it comes to interviewing gurus in a field of knowledge, to raise the goodwill of their channels and it, in the long run, will raise revenue as well to sustain such excellence. But the powers that run the shows from behind the curtains must for this reason be adequately cultivated in artistic sensibility for them to even comprehend these unforgivable lapses in television anchoring. Else, it will be a continuous slide downhill till kingdom come.

Written by Sugata Bose

COMMENTS GALORE : WHERE LITERARY VALUE OR THEMATIC CONTENT IS PRIME

Sugata Bose The Marathis sing so well that one is swept by it to almost believing that they hold the reins of the music world.Sumit Chandra True. My favorite is Pandit DV Paluskar. Such grace he had and what a musician.He left his mortal coil just at 34 years but has left his legacy for generations to come.Sugata Bose What a beautiful tribute, Sumit, and in what a musical tone, too, set in perfect rhythm! Just read your comment carefully once more and you will realise what I have said. This is what is called the superimposition of spiritual influence, in this case of the maestro, himself, who you pay tribute to.Sumit Chandra Sugata da thank you.Sugata Bose Sumit, I have started a 'Guess Game' in my posts on music. Please participate.
Sugata Bose Her voice is too thin and fragile, hence, unsuitable in classical terms for classical music, especially, the khayal. Guess who?Sandipan Guha Lataji Sir?Sugata Bose No, I did not have Lata Mangeshkar in mind for she is not a classical singer after all at any rate and, although, her voice is thin, it is by no means fragile. Lata Mangeshkar's voice is as robust as robust can be despite its obvious tonal thinness. I have, instead, alluded to a classical artiste of monumental repute but have for reasons of propriety refrained from naming her. Keep guessing and let the game continue.Sandipan Guha What is her gharana and is she a Marathi or Bengali or is she still among us I mean to say is she alive.Nilanjana Chakraborty Kaushiki.Sugata Bose No, not quite, for Kaushiki Chakrabarty's voice is neither too thin nor fragile by any stretch of imagination. It is quite suited to the khayal in so far as voice quality is concerned. However, one may have reservations otherwise about an artiste's capacity as a khayal singer. But that is not the matter of contention here.Sandipan Guha What is her gharana and is she a Marathi or Bengali or is she still among us I mean to say is she alive.Sugata Bose Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana. Sorry, I will not divulge more in one go. You will have to keep questioning to keep the game going.Sutanu Chatterjee Kishori Amonkar?Sugata Bose Sutanu, you have hit the nail on the head.Sutanu Chatterjee I would have hung my head in shame ,had I not ,holding what can be termed arguably one of the largest gramophone and gramophone record collection in India.Kalpana Sarkar I do not agree.She is a beautiful singer also in kheyal.Sugata Bose You are absolutely right that she was a soulful singer of khayal, too. Her earlier recordings were steady but with age the voice thinned out appreciably and, strangely so, for usually it thickens with age, and the voice began quivering unduly, perhaps, more than she would have liked, and even more than her gayaki in the Jaipur-Atrauli style of Mallikarjun Mansur would have permitted. I add on, though, to say that she was not following Mansurji as such but being an ardent admirer of this musical genius from her gharana --- although, she repudiated the very concept of gharana as being a limiting factor in musical development as opposed to it being a stylistic variation with some unique features of its own with its characteristic contribution to music overall --- she could not have failed to have been influenced significantly by the maestro's rendition style. Mallikarjun Mansur had a similar quivering style of presentation as is evident in Amonkar's latter renditions. All things said, it must be admitted, though, that these were the bearers of our musical heritage and must be revered critically and not blindly --- for blindness leads not to knowledge but to ignorance --- and a fair appreciation must be their due for their legacy to last along innovative and original channels of self-expression of this millenia-old musical tradition.
Sugata Bose His voice was booming like cannon balls being fired from the ramparts of the Agra Fort. His medallions bore his merit. Guess who?Sutanu Chatterjee Either Ustaad Faiyyaz khan or Ustaad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Sahib.Sugata Bose Now make your choice Sir. Otherwise, your vote will be nullified as per election rules.Sutanu Chatterjee Having heard both ,and by that I mean not just a few songs ,but a complite gamut of range ,from both these time less maestroes, I will settle for USTAAD FAIYYAZ KHAN Sahib.Sutanu Chatterjee Ustaad Jhande khan does come close enough ,but Ustaad Faiyyaz khan will definitely get my vote for versatility .Sugata Bose Sutanu, there you go booming with the Agra Gharana maestro, Ustad Faiyaz Khan, who I had given away by by my having said that he fired as if from the ramparts of the Agra Fort his booming taans and donned his medallions, too, to give his chest-thumping proof of his genius.Sutanu Chatterjee He was a great lover of Agrey wali Malka Jaan.Sugata Bose Sutanu, she was the mother of the great Gauhar Jaan, am I right?Sutanu Chatterjee Sir ,it's just lovely to know someone who shares my passion of pure music.Sutanu Chatterjee No Sir ,U r wrong here ,Agrey wali Malka Jaan and Gauhar jaan were contemporaries ,but bosom friends.Sugata Bose Sutanu, is it so? But even Gauhar Jaan's mother on embracing Islam had assumed the name Malka Jaan. So, there must have been two in the domain then with the same name. Of course, the period of their performance would differ in all probability in that case.Sutanu Chatterjee KL SAIGOL had sung BABUL MORA ,NAIHAR CHOOT JAY,but how many have heard this from d AGREY wali MALKA JAAN? at d end she says sweetly ..My name is Malka jaan,from Agra.Sutanu Chatterjee Yes ,Sir ,both d ladies had d same name ,but d era differed.Sutanu Chatterjee Today I rediscovered d worth of my collection