By Rishpal Singh Sidhu | Opinion |
The singing of kirtan (from Sanskrit kirti, meaning to praise, celebrate, glorify) is a commonly accepted practice of Sikh worship in our gurdwaras today as a means of expressing our devotion to the Divine by singing His praises. Its accompaniment by music and melody is said to facilitate concentration and serenity as it is recited. But, besides hearing, are we really listening and, more importantly, comprehending and imbibing the true and real meaning of the shabad that is being recited? How effectively is the message and meaning conveyed to reach the listener through clearly enunciated text?
Kirtan’s early origins can be traced back to Vedic chants that linked music to heighten the spiritual impact of these chants and recitations on listeners. Namdev (1270-1350AD), whose lifetime predates Guru Nanak, was a Hindu poet and saint known for his devotional songs (bhajan kirtans) rendered in music and some of his hymns are included in our Guru Granth Sahib, as are the 134 shabads (hymns) of Sufi mystic Baba Farid or Shaikh Farid (1173-1265AD) whose lifetime also predated Guru Nanak. “The recollection that Namdev and Kabir met is uncommon, and nearly all hagiographers, biographers, and scholars agree that while Kabir’s exact lifespan dates are hard to determine, it is not likely that they coincided with those of Namdev. In most other hagiographies, and implied in songs attributed to Kabir, Namdev is clearly a historical and intellectual predecessor to Kabir, not a contemporary.”1
Guru Nanak consistently promoted and extolled the bliss of kirtan in raising consciousness of the Divine.
ਰਾਗ ਰਤਨ ਪਰੀਆ ਪਰਵਾਰ ॥ ਤਿਸੁ ਵਿਚਿ ਉਪਜੈ ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤੁ ਸਾਰ ॥
The divine crystalline harmonies, their consorts, and their celestial families from them, the essence of Ambrosial Nectar is produced. (SGGS, p.351)
ਬਿਨੁ ਗੁਰ ਭਗਤਿ ਨਾਹੀ ਸੁਖੁ ਥੀਆ ॥੪॥
Without devotional worship to the Guru, there is no peace. ||4|| (SGGS, p.832)
In the rendition of hymns composed by himself, Guru Nanak was often accompanied by his Muslim companion Bhai Mardana on the rabab or rebeck. However, whilst acknowledging the enhancing role of music in kirtan, Guru Nanak cautioned “against the voluptuous indulgence in music…false are such songs, musical measures, and the many rhythmic beats as bind one to the three modes of Maya,resulting in one’s alienation from God.”2 Hand gestures, clapping, and dancing are proscribed.
ਰਾਗ ਨਾਦ ਸਬਦਿ ਸੋਹਣੇ ਜਾ ਲਾਗੈ ਸਹਜਿ ਧਿਆਨੁ ॥
ਰਾਗ ਨਾਦ ਛੋਡਿ ਹਰਿ ਸੇਵੀਐ ਤਾ ਦਰਗਹ ਪਾਈਐ ਮਾਨੁ ॥
ਪਾਖੰਡਿ ਭਗਤਿ ਨ ਹੋਵਈ ਪਾਰਬ੍ਰਹਮੁ ਨ ਪਾਇਆ ਜਾਇ ॥
The melody and music, and the Word of the Shabad are beautiful, when one focuses his meditation on the celestial Lord.
So leave behind the melody and music, and serve the Lord; then, you shall obtain honor in the Court of the Lord.
Through hypocrisy, devotional worship does not come, and the Supreme Lord God is not found. (SGGS, p.849)
“Shabad kīrtan is a five-hundred-year-old tradition, having started with the songs of the founder of the Sikh faith, Guru Nanak. Its journey over these five centuries has included many new developments — new melodic modes, musical forms, styles, musicians and performance contexts — but also loss and recovery of tradition.”3 The Sikh Gurus that came after Guru Nanak were no less accomplished and in some of their hymns they “have described themselves as “bards of the Lord.”4 Guru Arjan Dev was an accomplished musicologist who introduced and popularized the use of the saranda (stringed folk musical instrument similar to lutes or fiddles). It is played with a bow and has between ten and thirty strings for Sikh devotional music. Guru Arjan Dev has also been credited in creating the jori (percussion instrument made up of two drums and oftentimes confused with the tabla which produces a sharper sound, and which is also played differently from the tabla with a soft motion open hand). He also encouraged lay Sikhs to train as kirtan singers. Other musical instruments created by our Gurus include the taus (stringed instrument, from taus in Persian, meaning peacock) designed by Guru Hargobind Singh, and the dilruba (from the Persian word meaning that which ravishes or steals the heart), also a stringed instrument allegedly created by Guru Gobind Singh as a smaller and portable form of the taus. The dilruba gained prominence in the 1960s through its use by the Beatles during their psychedelic phase.
The entire contents of our Guru Granth Sahib can be sung in shabad kirtan, together with the compositions of Guru Gobind Singh, Bhai Gurdas, and Bhai Nand Lal. The Guru Granth Sahib is organized according to 31 ragas or musical measures, with some variations. Within a raga, there are prescribed ways of ascending and descending the scale, as well as specific melodic phrases that can be performed during improvisation.5
The Sikh Rehat Maryada defines kirtan as “singing the scriptural compositions in traditional music measures (ragas), and that in the congregation, kirtan only of Gurbani (Guru Granth’s or Guru Gobind Singh’s hymns) and, for its elaboration, of the compositions of Bhai Gurdas and Bhai Nand Lal, may be performed, and that only a line from the hymn should be made a refrain.6 For Sikhs, the Gurbani constitutes our Gurus utterances of divine truth and the source of moral and spiritual instruction.
A kirtania or kirtankar is a term often used to describe a single musician or vocalist who performs kirtan in singing sacred Sikh scriptures or shabads from the Guru Granth Sahib. Often, it is the kirtania jatha or ragi jatha ensemble,referred to as a group of three musicians comprising a lead singer who plays the harmonium (known as the vaja or baja), a companion also on the harmonium, and a jori player that now perform kirtan in our gurdwaras on religious and festive occasions. This ensemble may also sometimes include additional singers playing traditional string instruments such as the taus, tanpura (long-necked plucked string instrument with four gut strings), saranda (three main gut strings and around 30 sympathetic strings), as well as cymbals and chimta (tongs fitted with jingling metallic discs).
Though originally produced in the West more than two centuries ago but not patented and called the harmonium until 1840, its use was widely accepted in Indian music in the late 19th century. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has plans requiring all Gurmat Kirtan to be performed at the Golden Temple using “Tanti Saaj” (string devices similar to the taus, dilruba, rabab, dhad and sarangi utilized in kirtan for better reflection of past historical Sikh heritage). The ‘hazuri raagis’ (hymn singers) who currently perform at the Golden Temple using their harmoniums have expressed concern over their job prospects. To placate concerns, SGPC President Harjinder Singh Dhami noted that the use of the harmonium has prevailed for well over a century at Sikh shrines, including the Golden Temple, and that it may well continue to be used in conjunction with the “Tanti Saaj’ in performing kirtan.7
Occasionally, some kirtania combine discourse with their kirtan performance. In this context, questions have occasionally been raised in the past and will doubtless continue to be raised in the future regarding the abilities of some kirtania to correctly explicate the meaning of a particular shabad or shabads. Also, a number of Sikh bodies have been known to organize Rainsabaaee (night long kirtan sessions) and Anhad Kirtan sessions catering to the aesthetic and spiritual needs of their congregations.
Whether the sangat is really listening to the kirtan in our gurdwaras is a vexed question. The expression ‘in one ear and out the other’ succinctly expresses the difference between hearing and listening. Equally, we are also sometimes reminded ‘you might be hearing me, but you are not really listening to what I am saying.’ It is not uncommon for our minds to drift to other thoughts in the darbar hall and we end up not truly listening. Hearing is a passive, involuntary, physical, and physiological sensory process that does not require deep and focused attention. In contrast, listening is active, voluntary, and intentional, and involves mental effort and concentration to make sense of what we are hearing. From an information studies perspective, this sense-making is critical for both our present and future generations as it seeks both, to absorb and comprehend the true and real meaning of the words and sounds that we are hearing with thoughtful attention, seeking to internalize and understand what is being sung, and possibly also including developing an emotional response and affinity to the content of what is being sung. Much more can and needs to be done in this important area. Peace and quiet also needs to prevail in our darbar halls to truly appreciate shabad kirtan, and for some this may well be a tall order!
Research has confirmed the beneficial effects of listening to music in reducing anxiety, blood pressure, and pain, as well as improving memory and mental alertness. Expounding the meaning of the shabad and listening to the soothful singing of kirtan in our gurdwaras to the accompaniment of music may well facilitate understanding, concentration, and serenity, though the primary focus remains on imbibing the true meaning of the shabad/Gurbani/scriptural text. “Musical embellishment and ornamentation are permitted, but what is of real essence is Gurbani or scriptural text. Technical virtuosity for its own sake will have little meaning.”8
References
- Novetzke, C. L. Religion and public memory; A cultural history of Saint Namdev in India. New York. Columbia University Press, 2013, p.59.
- Singh, H. Editor-in-Chief. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism. 2d ed. Vol 2. Punjabi University Press, 2001. p.517.
- Kaur, Inderjit N. (2011). Sikh Shabad Kirtan and Gurmat Sangit: What’s in a name? California, Santa Cruz, JPS 18: 1 & 2, p.251.
- Singh, H. Editor-in-Chief. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism. 2d ed. Vol 2. Punjabi University Press, 2001. p.517.
- Rhythm and Raga: Learn the basics of Indian music.
- Sikh Reht Maryada; The Code of Sikh Conduct & Conventions. English version. Amritsar, Dharam Parchar Committee, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, 2000.
- SGPC: No plans to section out harmonium for now. Tribune Information Service, 28 May 2022.
- Singh, H. Editor-in-Chief. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism. 2d ed. Vol 2. Punjabi University Press, 2001. p.517.
- SGGS translation by Dr. Sant Singh Khalsa
Rishpal Singh Sidhu is a semi-retired casual academic at the School of Information and Communication Studies, Charles Sturt University, Australia. He has a passion for research, writing, and teaching. He is the compiler and editor of the book, Singapore’s early Sikh pioneers; Origins, Settlement, Contributions and Institutions, published by the Central Sikh Gurdwara Board in Singapore in 2017. He is currently based in Sydney, Australia.
* This is the opinion of the writer, organisation or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Asia Samachar.
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