Indian Classical Music And Sikh Kirtan by Gobind Singh Mansukhani (M.A., LL.B, Ph.D.) © 1982 Guru Amardas (1479-1574) |
| Guru Amardas (1479-1574) Guru Amardas was devoted to kirtan. He wrote 907 hymns in seventeen ragas which are included in the Scripture. In one of his famous composition called Anand Sahab, he dwells on the path of sahaj, which is the singing of the Lord’s praises: “Through the valuable melodies and their branches, the celestial fairies have come to sing the Guru’s hymns. They who enshrine the Lord in their minds, sing Gurbani in praise of the Lord” [19]. In the Anand, he affirms that the five types of musical instruments-panch shabad-if used for the praise of the Lord’s glory will control the five passion-panch doot, and as such bring solace and peace to the individual. Anand is sung in its abbreviated form (first five verses and the last) at all important Sikh ceremonies and for consecration of Karah Prasad (sacred food). Anand is a popular composition and it details the Sadhana, the cultivation of qualities necessary for gaining spiritual bliss. Balwand and Satta have paid a tribute to the third Guru’s love of the Divine Name in the following lines: “On the bow of Truth, he mounted the arrow of the Lord’s praise. In the Dark Age, there was pitch darkness; the Guru rose like the shining sun”[20]. Guru Amardas calls himself a Dhadhi-minstrel of God-engaged in praising the attributes of the Lord. Using the image of the bard, the Guru tells him what to do: “O bard! Strike such strains on your strings, That it emits the celestial melody of the Word, And the devotee gets attuned to his Lord”[21]. The Guru affirms that the love of the Lord finds a natural outlet in singing His glory: “He who has the Lord’s love within him sings God’s praises, And by Guru’s instruction gets easily absorbed in spiritual bliss” [22]. The Guru’s love of music continued till his ripe old age. In the evening of his life-a sort of winter-he thought of the blooms of spring and the joy produced by the chanting of the Divine Name: “Through the Name, whereby the body and the heart are reverdured, one ever abides in Spring... When the Lord’s mercy rains, the body and the soul blossom and the entire world grows green” [23] Before his passing away, the Guru gave instructions that no one should lament at his departure; only kirtan be performed in his memory [24]. Bhai Bool and Pandha were the kirtaniyas at his court. Bhai Gurdas pays a compliment to the two musicians: Pandha and Boola knew Gurbani well and sang it beautifully”[25]. Historians have also named Bhai Deep and Ugarsain as his court-musicians. |