Hinduism For All - Bhakti, Music and Dance

Hinduism For All

Bhakti, Music and Dance – Saints

When a devotee craves to be united with the lord in order to be relieved of all the worldly sufferings, this intense desire culminates into devotion or Bhakti. This concept of Bhakti is stressed in Vedas and Puraanic texts citing numerous instances in the lives of the devotees. The devotees hailing from different background, age groups, regions all have only Bhakti as one common element which made them stand aloof from the general crowd. This Bhakti can be roughly be translated in English as devotion, but the term Bhakti carries much greater significance. The devotee pines to attain the Lord and expresses his anguish in the form of songs or uses lyrics which are gesticulated in Dance. The role of Bhakti in the spread of Hinduism is immense for, it is this spontaneous outpouring and disciplined life that makes Hinduism very appealing. Bhakti to the lord is expressed by the devotee by treating God in many forms such as Lord as one’s own son, friend, master, lover etc. In these instances the devotional outpourings of these devotees have enriched Indian Music and Dance from very ancient times.

Unchavrutti :

The practice of singing the divine names of the Lord as the sole means of livelihood, was undertaken by the Bhaagavatas. They used to go around the village

Bhaagavatas participating in the Maargazhi (December - January) month Bhajans

singing the divine names and the villagers supported such devotees by offering rice, vegetables, money etc. The livelihood thus earned is called Unchavrutti. Sri Tyaagaraaja, one of the trinities of Carnatic music lead his life by this method.

Music was used in accompaniment with devotional lyrics to praise the Lord as Master, Father, Mother etc.To highlight the greatness of music, many Indian Gods are associated with Music and Dance. Sarasvati, Maatangi, Krishna are shown playing various Musical instruments. So too, many devotees have chosen to sing and play various instruments in their act of worshipful singing. Sages like Naarada play Veena. In the medivial times, to spread the devotion to lord among the masses, many saints like Meeraa, Soordaas, Ravidaas, Narasi Mehtaa, Purandaradaasa, Bhadraachala Raamadas, Taallapaakka Annamaiyaa and other have sung soul stirring compositions.

play Veena. In the medivial times, to spread the devotion to lord among the masses, many saints like Meeraa, Soordaas, Ravidaas, Narasi Mehtaa, Purandaradaasa, Bhadraachala Raamadas, Taallapaakka Annamaiyaa and other havSoordaase sung soul stirring compositions.

Saint Soordaas, Kabeerdaas, Ravidaas, Tulsidaas, Meeraa Baai and others belong to the Bhakti movement who composed their ‘bhajans’ in various dialects of Hindi.

Sri Aandaal, Saint Tirunaavukkarasar, Sambandar, Sundarar, Maanikkavaachakar (Naalvar), and the 12 Aazhvaars rendered heartful compositions in Tamil.

Saint Eknaath, Tukaaraam, Janaabaai, Jnyaanadev and others were the saints of Maharashtra belonging to Vaarkari Sampradaya composed Abhangs on Purandara Vitthala (a form of Lord Krishna) which are full of piognant devotion.

Purandaradaasa is considered to be the Sangita Pitaamaha (father of Carnatic Music) of Carnatic Music. Kankadaasa and other followers who came to be recognised as “Daasa” whose compositions in Kannada language (of Karnataka State) known as “Daasa Sahityaas” are very popular.

Sri Tyaagaraaja, Sri Shyaama Shaastri and Sri Muthuswami Deekshitar, the trinity of Carnatic music were contemporary Saint Poets whose compositions in Telugu and Sanskrit confirm their composed oneness with the Lord Almighty.

Svaati Tirunaal Maharaja, a devotee-king of Trivandrum (in Kerala State) is known for his multi-lingual compositions.

Sri Talapaakka Annamaachaarya’s compositions on Lord Venkateshwara of Tirupati are unmatched in the devotional outpouring. Sri Raamadaas too composed songs in Telugu on Sri Raama of Bhadraachala in Andhra Pradesh.

All these poet – saint – philosophers have influenced generations after generations with their compositions soaked with devotion. There are many such saints all over India.

Dance too was a part of Bhakti movement, but it was restricted to the trained artistes, who gesticulated the various feats of the Lord. The padas of Kshetraiyya, lyrics of Jayadeva etc., are a part of Dance repertoire even now. To showcase the greatness of Dance, Lord Nataraaja and Krishna are associated with Dance.

This article is a snippet from the Book Hinduism For All, Authored by TS Srinivasan and Edited By Dr Ramchandrashekar. Hinduism for All is available online at www.giri.in & across Giri Trading Agency Private Limited, A chain of Speciality Stores dealing in all kinds of products needed in Indian Culture & Tradition.

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