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The greatest gem to emerge from the reservoir of
devotional music of India is the bhajana traditions. More than any
other music genre, bhajana music and traditions have permeated every
part of Indian society. However, defining bhajana only as a type of
music or as a set of rituals would not make us comprehend even
remotely the significance behind the revival of the bhakti/bhajana
movement in Tamil Nadu and its later adoption by the whole of India.
Like other religious and social rituals followed
in India, the bhajana rituals can be understood only when we view
them within the context of the Hindu way of life and history. Every
ritual that a Hindu performs in his/her daily life has evolved from
religious and social contexts. For example, when an individual
prostrates before another, it is not a simple physical act of
greeting the other. It is an expression of humility, respect to an
elder or a learned person, and a subliminal seeking of wisdom. In
the same vein, the bhajana ritual is not merely group singing but a
symbol of greater meaning that makes sense only when viewed within
the realm of social, political and philosophical contexts.
Bhaj means adore or worship; during the bhajan, a
worshipper expresses his/her love or adoration for the deity through
singing and dancing. The belief is that by showing unflinching love
to God, the devotee eventually becomes one with God. The most
significant aspect of a bhajan is that the expression of bhakti is
performed as a member of a congregation. Traditionally, among Hindu
religions, there is no congregational worship similar to
Christianity or Islam. As Swami Vivekananda said, “Our temples are
not churches or mosques. They are not places of public worship, for,
properly speaking, there is no such thing as public worship in
India.” Thus, bhajana ritual was a significant deviation from the
traditional practices of Hinduism in that it was a concerted effort
at uniting people.
To participate in a bhajan, one need not be a person of high caste,
belong to a specific religious sect, or have high social status. The
only requirement is to perform Nama Sangeerthana - to musically
recite the numerous names of the Lord. The Nama Sangeerthana concept
requires that the worshiper be disciplined enough to concentrate on
the multiple names of a God. The devotee’s intense focus on God
eventually moves the devotee from multiplicity and differentiation
to unity and oneness.
As Dr Mahadevan said, “By focusing on the name of the Lord, one can
rid oneself of obsession with the name-and-form world.” These
bhajana principles of brotherhood, relinquishing differences, and
striving towards unity were later re-emphasised by Saint Tyagaraja
in his compositions. According to Tyagaraja, there should be no
divisions in a true votary of a religion; ‘Bedharahita Vedanthamu’,
‘Matha Bedhamuleka’ and ‘Dhaiva Bedhamuleka’ – there should be no
quarrel over deities or denominations. No other ritual in Hindu
tradition parallels bhajana in propagating this concept.
The bhajana rituals also communicate other great philosophical
values and truths. A cursory glance may show bhajanas to be merely
story telling through music and dance. For example, a Radha Kalyanam
is nothing more than the story of Radha, a Gopika, seeking the love
of a married Krishna. Krishna’s absence makes Radha miserable and
she finally unites with her beloved Krishna. To a skeptic, the story
of Radha being in love with a married man (God) would appear immoral
and unpalatable. But a deeper examination of the story reveals that
the Radha-Krishna relationship is a symbol of a high philosophical
concept; the human soul yearning to unite with the supreme soul or a
Jeevatma wanting to unite with the Paramatma.
Similarly, Sita Kalyanam is not the enacting of a marriage ritual
but the story of
Sita,
a woman who showed compassion, grace and fortitude in the midst of
terrible misery. Sita is the symbol of the female side of every
human being – showing compassion and forgiveness even to those that
caused distress. In the story of Sita,
Hanuman is the quintessential devotee – one who serves without expectations
or rewards and a model that the ordinary individual must emulate.
The bhajana traditions also provide great insight into the evolution
of India’s classical music traditions. Indian classical music
composers have traditionally used their compositions and music as a
means to communicate great values. In this sense, the bhajana
compositions and music are no different. But, the bhajana traditions
extended this concept even further by displaying, both physically
and dramatically, the acting out of philosophical values that are
integral to Hindu culture. The rituals demonstrate how simple music
could be used to not only convey moral and ethical values but also
to bring a community together. For example, during the bhajana
rituals, people from all walks of life join together for one purpose
only – to recite the names of a chosen deity. The purpose of this
mass demonstration of faith is to unite the community behind a
common objective – bhakti or devotion. In this sense, the bhajana
music and rituals were simple and yet very powerful social and
political vehicles.
One of the most significant and often unrecognised contributions of
the bhajana movement is revealed only when we look at the movement’s
antecedents through the prism of social and political history. The
bhajana movement and the revival of the bhakthi traditions started
in Tamil Nadu as a weapon against the influence of other religions.
For hundreds of years, the secular Hindus tolerated and even
participated in the growth of other religions such as Buddhism and
Jainism. But the limit to tolerance eroded when these religions
began to convert the Hindus and later, through rising political
power, began to dominate the Hindus.
The friction was exacerbated further because of the teachings of
Buddhism. Buddhism was an agnostic religion that did not believe in
the existence of a universal soul. It propagated asceticism over
karma or gnana. These concepts were antagonistic to Hindu
philosophies and tended to confront and undermine the Hindu
traditions. A fitting response was required to preserve the
time-tested beliefs and values of Hindus.
The saint-composers from Tamil Nadu (the Nayanmars and the Alwars)
revived the concepts of bhajana - Nama Sangeerthanam and bhakti -
and offered them as counter forces to restrain the influence of
other religions. Soon the bhajana movement began to spread strongly
through Andhra, Karnataka, and the rest of India, leading to a
weakening of Buddhist and Jain influences.
It would be an exaggeration to state that the bhajana movement was
the cause of the demise of Buddhism or Jainism in India. The Islamic
invaders, who were angered by the godless Buddhist religion, played
a negative but significant role in the demise of Buddhism by
massacring people of Buddhist faith. But, the bhajana rituals
contributed in a more positive way to the reawakening of Hindu
beliefs and the bringing together of the communities. With the rise
of the bhajana movement, many of the converts to Buddhism and
Jainism, including powerful kings, came back to the Hindu faith.
Significant credit must be given to the Nayanmars and the Alwars for
energising the bhajana movement. The Nayanmars and Alwars composed
many devotional songs aimed at uniting the people. Later day
composers such as Purandaradasa, Annamacharya and Tyagaraja Swami
also followed this tradition by using musical compositions as a
unifying force.
But a greater reason for the popularity of the bhajana movement was
that the poet-scholars1 composed devotional songs in vernacular or
local languages rather than relying on Sanskrit, a language that was
alien and incomprehensible to most. Additionally, the poet-scholars
came from all walks of life, lower to upper castes, kings to
paupers. The familiarity of the lyrics and the ability to relate to
the poets as one of us helped the ordinary individual to participate
in the congregation without any reservation or constraints. The
bhajana movement became so popular that it continues even today with
the same enthusiasm, long after the near exit of Buddhism and
Jainism from the Indian soil.
As the symbols and development of the bhajana movement show, many
important aspects of Indian music, heritage and culture can only be
understood when viewed from historical, social or political
contexts. Unlike complex classical music or temple rituals where the
individual has a limited role, bhajanas made music, rituals and
religious worship and rituals accessible to everyone. Every strata
of society can join the singing of bhajans and participate in the
rituals.
This congregational approach to music, religion and rituals
energised the people to whom spiritual perspectives were very
important. It also helped integrate a society ridden by divisions
and made it withstand the onslaught of other religions. At the same
time, the congregational rituals preserved the personal relationship
an individual has with his or her chosen deity.
Ram S. Sriram (Atlanta)
sriramgsu@gmail.com
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