Gurbani: Dancing

Indian Classical Music And Sikh Kirtan
by Gobind Singh Mansukhani (M.A., LL.B, Ph.D.) © 1982

Dancing

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Dancing
Dancing is so akin to music that often both of them go together. In the singing of Vaishnav bhagats, Krishna-Lila was accompanied by dance. Actors played the parts of Gopis, Radha and Krishna. This was more like an entertainment and display of theatrical skills rather than devotion. Besides this, there were dances in the halls of nobles and royal-courts where professional dancers and sometimes talented slaves danced to provide entertainment and fun for the rich. The Gurus rejected both types of dancing as cheap entertainment, catering to the lower passions. However, they extolled kirtan as the noblest of fine arts because it is addressed more to the inner consciousness than to the hearing faculty, while the dance is mainly directed to the hearing faculty, while the dance is mainly directed to the audio-visual faculties. Guru Amardas says in this connection:
“By dancing and jumping, the Lord’s devotion is not obtained. That person who merges in the Divine Word performs the Master’s devotional service” [27].

However, the inner dance- the ticking of the mind to the Holy Word-is permitted in Sikhism. Guru Amardas approved of the dancing of the inner self in harmony with the Guru’s word”[28]. Guru Nanak has described the true dance thus:
“Make intellect your musical organ and love your tambourine.
By these joy and buoyant pleasure are ever produced in the mind...
Deem the praise of the Lord as the clapping of the hands,
Others dances produce sensuous pleasure in the mind.
Let truth and contentment be your pair of cymbals;
Let the perpetual vision of the Lord be your ankle-bells,
Let non-duality be your music and song.
With such devotion, dance, by beating time with your feet” [29]

Guru Arjan describes in detail the dance-worship acceptable to the Almighty thus:
“Make your hands the cymbals, your eyes the kettle-drums and your forehead the rebeck to play upon.
Chime the sweet music of the flute in your ears and with the tongue sing the celestial strain:
With the ankle-bells dance, O man, and shuffle the rhythmic movements of your hands.
This alone is the dance approved by the Lord” [30].
Holy dance due to devotion and ecstasy is permitted by Gurus, but theatrical dance with make-up, gaudy dresses and decorations to win the approbation of the audiences tabooed. These are generally the antics and tricks either to get money or fame. The real test of dance is the fervour and devotion of the performer. True dance is spontaneous and inevitable in a condition of superconsciousness when the individual, overcome by love of the Lord is beside himself and simulates to the rhythm of his inner self. The Gurus liked the kind of dance which produced the feelings of love, peace and bliss. Clapping and gesticulation, which are associated with the response of the audience to courtly and profane dances are not permitted in Gurudwaras or in kirtan-darbars. The Gurus rejected the traditional dancing by Devadasis (temple dancing girls).

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