Raga and the Divine

[Mukunda H S]

The quote is by Anupam Mahajan in his "Ragas in Hindustani Music."
"In India, an artiste does not consider Ragas as mere skeletons of
tonal structure. Rather they are taken as living things, having in them
real significance and value.It is believed that music is the medium to
reach God therefore ragas themselves are the dynamic life-principal
life-force, which shows us the path of ultimate truth in life."

I am pleasantly surprised by your genuine question. I would like to
put in my few comments from whatever little I know.

It is widely known that the source of all the sound that exists in
this universe has origin in OM. Most of the languages originated from
the expansion of this sound. Sound is considered as an eternal as well
us a worldly entity. This I say because we believe that the
creation-destruction is a continuous process and certain this are
created the same way every time. This is a perpetual phenomenon and
sound is one of such entities. OM is the first syllable uttered by
the creator – Vishnu.

Coming to the divinity in music… OM is the seed of all the sound and
sound is probably one of the most important means of knowing our
creator. All the Vedas are an expansion of this primordial sound, the
first being the division of OM into three swaras, AAAA…
UUUUU…..MMMMMM. You can probably notice that words that we use to
describe god, even in English, carry this sound, though a little
deformed. For example, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Omnipotent… These are
exactly the meanings of the word OM. They further divide into 3
Vyahritis ( BHOO, BHUWA, SUWAH }, from there the Purusha Suktas (Rg
Veda) and from there the three Vedas and further into all the other
sounds. The soul purpose of the Vedas is the description of the god by
knowing whom, we attain the ultimate bliss or MOKSHA.

From single syllable, we extract multi-syllabled mantras. These
mantras are basically insentient, but thro' the divine power of god,
it enters the conscious of certain beings who have done lot of
saadhana (for the want of suitable word in English). They are called
Rishis. Vedas are considered as un-authored (Apourusheya) but are
revealed during the heightened spiritual awareness and they experience
the real nature of the god during those times.

These mantras are recited by others in a specific meter (Chandas) and
when the division of sound takes place, other divine beings are
assigned as the presiding deities of the swaras, chandas, mantras,
ragas etc. They are known as Abhimani-Devatas. In ancient Hinduism,
the worship of insentient things is not practiced; as such entities
are not capable of giving us anything. It is the presiding deity, a
sentient being that bestows upon us, the happiness associated with it.
In the end, the inner-most essence of everything that exists, is the
god and shabda or the sound is the most important means of knowing
him.

Sometimes we refer to incidences where the singer would have a divine
enlightenment of a particular raga. We call this Saakshaathkaara.
Which just means that the raga reveals itself to the singer thro'
divine intervention (When the subject has done adequate saadhana ].

To sum it up, our ancient ancestors, believed ( and rightly so ) that
nothing should be done in our life without the awareness of god. The
swara itself is not the god, but the associated feeling of happiness
is; when it is uttered properly. When this awareness develops in a
person, music becomes a means of attaining god. Hence music is
nothing but divinity.

I would like to add, that our ancient scriptures proclaim that,
without right knowledge there is no moksha or salvation. Hence music
itself does not have the power of giving us the salvation. Saahitya or
the literature is also important. When the swaras morph into words
that praise the greatness of god, the real essence of our creator is
experienced. That is why, Bhajans appeal to the masses. They carry
with them enormous amount of emotion that each individual experiences
in his own way. The same applies even to classical khyals whose
saahitya is closely associated with divinity.

It is a pity that today we hear more music on our televisions/radios
that invoke demons instead of divinity.


Mukunda

[naniwadekar]

Post by Mukunda H S
To sum it up, our ancient ancestors, believed ( and rightly so ) that
nothing should be done in our life without the awareness of god.

Thanks for the sermon, Saakshaatkaarii Mahant Haveri,
but I hope there is a way for us poor folks to enjoy music,
too; those poor folks who believe it is quite important
to 'know thyself' and let Gods screw themselves if
they will.

While it is true that music has close and vital association
with religion and religiosity, your post reads like silly
religious claptrap. Music is its own justification; it can stir
even irrelegious people deeply and can leave religious
people dry if they are not musically inclined. Then there
are others who use power of music to mutter platitudes.

Post by Mukunda H S
It is a pity that today we hear more music on our televisions/radios
that invoke demons instead of divinity.

Today's music which invokes divinity is wretched enough.
In short, it's enough that music be good, but not enough that
it invoke divinity. But you will need to pull your head out of
that religious morass to realise this.


- dn