MODULE 23 THE BHAKTI POETRY OF MEERABAI AND ASTA CHHAP KAVIS

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5 PAPER 5 DANCE, POETS AND POETRY, RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY AND INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE MODULE 23 THE BHAKTI POETRY OF MEERABAI AND ASTA CHHAP KAVIS Kathak dance is closely associated with Krishna bhakti. That is not to say that the paeans of other gods and goddesses do not find reference in Kathak, but most certainly Krishna is the most popular and overarching theme in Kathak dance. In the two main gharanas of Kathak, namely the Jaipur and Lucknow gharanas, history has had a big role to play in giving it this direction. In the case of the Lucknow gharana, the fact that the isht devta / इष ट द वत of the Maharaj family, the first family of kathak was Krishna, and they were driven by a desire to revitalise and establish Krishna natwari Nritya / नटवर न त य, was a very important reason for the growth of a Krishna centric art form. So important was this reason that under their influence, even in Benares, which was Lord Vishwanath s city, the motif of Krishna remained prominent in the dance and bhav artistry emanating from it. Secondly the main patron, of the gharana, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was himself so enamoured by Krishna that he himself wrote and composed dramas and dances around him. He interacted with the Rasadhari and rasaleela tradition and although he learned Kathak from the Krishna bhakt Maharaj family, he independently created a version of the rasa, which he called Rahas, which was enjoyed by the court, in which he himself played the role of Krishna. Thus, a Krishna centric form grew in Lucknow. According to Pt. Birju Maharaj, when it comes to Rama or Shiva, you maintain a distance of 1

6 respect. But Krishna can be hugged as a child, a friend or as a lover, and can be made one s own. In the case of the Jaipur gharana of Kathak, although Shiva bhakti, Devi bhakti and Ganesh bhakti were part of religious life in rajasthan and were more suited to the martial community of the Rajputs, the worship of Krishna gained in significance with the arrival of the sacred images from the Gangetic belt as they avoided the onslaught of Islamic invasions. With the images that were brought to Rajasthan for safe keeping came the ritual specialists who sang and dance bhakti poetry dedicated to Krishna. From the fifteenth century onwards, the royal houses became custodians of the Krishna faith and the songs of the Bhakti period appealed to the common people as well. The Hindu kings received political authority through their relationship with the gods of their kingdom, and in miniature paintings Rajput kings are often shown as faithful devotees. The first significant outpouring of Krishna bhakti poetry came from the state of Mewar. Mewar was the most powerful of the Rajput states and the last to be drawn into the Mughal political sphere in the early seventeenth century. Its first capital was Chittor. The first set of passionately moving poetry was written by Meerabai, born to a royal family in 1498 in Merta. Authentic historical records about Meera are not available, and scholars have attempted to establish Meera's biography from secondary literature that mention her, and wherein dates and other details are available. Most legends about Meera mention her fearless disregard for social and family conventions, her devotion to god Krishna, her treating Krishna as her lover and husband, and she being persecuted by her marital family for her religious devotion, and her miraculous escape each time. While miracles are contested by scholars for the lack of historical evidence, it is widely acknowledged that Meera dedicated her life to Hindu deity Krishna, composing songs of devotion and was 2

7 one of the most important poet-sant of the Bhakti movement period. Thousands of devotional poems in passionate praise of Krishna are attributed to Meera in the Indian tradition, but just a few hundred are believed to be authentic by scholars, and the earliest written records suggest that most were written down only in the 18th century. Many poems attributed to Meera were likely composed later by others who admired Meera. These poems are commonly called Meera Bhajans and are popular across India. In her poems, Krishna is a yogi and lover, and she saw herself as a yogini ready to take her place by his side unto a spiritual marital bliss. Her poetry is of a high literary order eve as it retains the flavor of literature of the soil, it was direct and suitable for dance. It could be moulded musically into padas, bhajans, and thumris. Meera is often classed with the northern Sant bhakts who spoke of a formless divinity. Meera s worship was both, of Madhura / मध र and Kanta / क त bhav, as she met with Krishna most intimately, and experienced the thrills and joys of being united as well as the pangs of being parted. Jaipur gharana dancer Prerana Shrimali has worked on rare compositions of Meera Bai set to music by Madhup Mudgal, and performed by an ensemble lead by her. Titled Doosaro na koi this composition employs the open-endedness of Kathak to accommodate the ecstasy of meera, thereby breaking away from the stereotypical representation of Meera as an icon of devotion, bhakti and sacrifice. The triad of love, defiance and liberation as exemplified by Meera is so complex and multilayered that it demands a different and complex dance language to enact or embody it. The seven verses selected embody, in a symbolic way, Meera s entire life, and the complexity of its emotional tapestry, weaving in elements of sanyoga / स य ग, lajja / ऱज ज, viraha / ववरह, upalambh / 3

8 उऩ ऱ भ, nishchay / ननष चय, pratiksha / प रत. The treatment of the select seven compositions of Meera in this presentation is distinct in each case. It ranges from a simple word-to-word dance enactment to the more subtle treatments where the dance provides, as it were, choreographic notes to the main text. Sometimes the dance creates suggestive images, at other times it leaves the poem almost untouched. Meera appeals across generations. Therefore, senior dancer Bandana Sen, who had her early training in Jaipur Gharana from famous dancer Smt. Jaikumari Debi and later she became fortunate enough to get guidance from the legendary Maestro in Lucknow Gharana Nritya Samrat Sambhu Maharaj, has explored Meera as has young dancer Apoorva Wadke, disciple of Jaipur gharana s doyenne, Urmila Nagar. Apoorva created a ballet titled Meera - Ek Aatmik Sadhana Ki Yatra / म र - एक आत त मक स धन क य त र that starts with the child Meera getting a Krishna doll and beginning to love it- going on eventually as we well know, to love Krishna very intensely. In 1970, Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra created a ballet called Meera. Later, its director Shobha Deepak Singh worked with the Kendra s repertory company to create a memorable Meera in which she took the discourse to contemporary issues like gender empowerment, cultural enlightenment of women, seeking the freedom to live life on own terms and standing up to conventions and male domination in feudal frameworks of a patriarchal society. The kinetics employed were assembled from the traditional Kathak, Bharatnatyam, Odissi, Chhau, Gujarati garba and Mathura raas leela nritya. It was enhanced by nritya and natya abhinaya two key theatrical precepts of Indian dance dramas that engage the 4

9 participants in dialogue, because Singh wanted to portray the Meera in you and me. When she could break away from the purdah, why can t a woman today break out from the concrete world? The singing and dancing Meera Bai depicts freedom from male domination. In fact, my choreography has two Meera Bais- one that fits into the established image and the other that defies, explained Shobha Deepak Singh. Chitra Jhankar of Amita Dutta, based on well known songs of Meera, opens with the famous hymn to Krishna, sung by Bharat Ratna M.S. Subulakshmi, in the raga Hamir, in the film Meerbai - Baso more nainan mein. The rest of the production employs very well known film songs on Krishna tuned largely on a classical register. The concept of madhura bhakti where Lord is the "Supreme lover" gained popularity amongst the worshipers of Krishna, especially with the compositions are of the Ashtachhapkavis / अष टछ ऩकवव. The Ashtachhapkavis were eight poets, who were the followers of Vallabhacharya and after his death, of his son, Vithalnath. Vallabhacharya founded the Pushti marga / ऩ त ष ट म गग which literally means the path of grace. It involved surrender of the highest order to Krishna, in his incarnation as Shreenathji, the seven year old child Krishna. Several noted poets and philosophers from south, particularly of Telugu origin, just like Vallabhacharya, namely, Rupa Goswami / र ऩ ग स व म, Sanathana Goswami / सन तन ग स व म, Gopal Bhatta / ग ऩ ऱ भट ट migrated to north and spread Pushti Margi and Vaishnava teachings across the region. Many later poets who wrote on the themes of Krishna continued to live in Carnatic music and the many classical dance forms in South India. The sect established by him is unique in its facets of devotion to Krishna, 5

10 especially his child manifestation, and is enriched with the use of traditions, music and festivals. Today, most of the followers of this sect reside in western and northern India. The principal shrine of Shrinathji / श र न थज is situated at the old temple town of Nathdwara, located 48 Kilometers North-east of the lake city, Udaipur in Rajasthan. Vallabhacharya s son, Vithan Nath institutionalised the worship of Shrinathji at Nathdwara, and in keeping with his immense popularity, even the town of Nathadwara is called Shreenathji. Shrinathji specifically refers to the narrative in the Bhagwat Puran wherein Krishna lifts the Goverdhan Mountain in an effort to protect the inhabitants of Vrindavan from torrential rain sent by the king of Devalok- Indira. The image of Shrinathji depicts him in the pose of holding up the Goverdhan Mountain. The ashtayam sewa / अष ट य म स व is conceived of how a mother plans the day for a child with hours of rest and play. The arts associated with the shrine of Shrinath ji are many. Hereditary Kirtaniyas / ककतगननय of the temple of Nathadwara would dance in the inner courtyard- the Dol Tiwari / ड ऱ नतव र, singing the praises of the lord and his parents, when permitted by the order of administrative priests. Shrinathji is depicted wearing the most exquisite of jewels. Shrinathji followers have significant influence on Hindu art in the form of the Pichhwais / वऩछव ई, which are intricate and colourful paintings on cloth, paper, walls and temple hangings which portray Shrinathji. These are devotional textiles that centre on the image of Shrinathji. Nathdwara is the hub of the pichhwai art, called Nathadwara paintings. Among the Ashtachhapkavis, the eight devotional poets of Pushtimarg who composed and sang their pads (songs) for Shrinathji, 6

11 are Surdas / स रद स, Kumbhandas / क म भणद स, Krishnadas / क ष णद स & Shri Paramananddas / श र प र म न दद स, all four who were the disciples of Shri Vallabhacharya/वल ऱभ च यग. The other four, Govindswamiji / ग ववन दस व म ज, Chhitswamiji / चचतस व म ज, Nanddasji / न दद सज and Chaturbhujdasji / चत भ गजद सज were the disciples of Shri Gusainji / श र ग स ईज, the son of Vallabhacharya. They all were designated to sing as per the eight periods of Shree seva and darshan. It was in 1608 that Shree Gusainji formally established the Ashta Sakha Mandal / अष ट सख मण डऱ and from then onwards the pads as per ashta-prahar / अष ट-प रहर became the foundation of Kirtan seva / क तगन स व in Pushtimarg / ऩ त ष टम गग. There are 8 main doors in the Shrinathji temple, and the Ashta Sakhas are the right holders of these eight doorways. They are permanently resident here and it is believed that only after getting their permission, can any devotee enter them. In Pushti-marg, three important elements of seva that devotees perform to please Shrinath ji are Raag / र ग, Bhog / भ ग and Shringar / चश र ग र. Raag includes the musical padas of the ashtasakhas, bhog includes the food service and shringar the adornment as per the appropriate time of the day. The poetry of the ashtasakhas was imaginative, and emotion laden, and established man s relationship with his god on an intensely emotional manner, as it appeared that they were participating in his leela. The range of bhakti subforms, like Shrigara bhakti, Dasya bhakti / द स य भत तत, Vatsalya bhakti are reflected in his poetry. Meera sang Mane chakar 7

12 rakhoji in Dasya bhakti, Surdas sang "Jasoda Hari Palnay jhulaway" in Vatsalya bhava and Kumbhandas sang in eternal viraha, Roop dekhi naina palak lage nahi, Goverdhan dhar ke ang-ang prati nirkhi naina man rahat nahi." They composed and sang the pads at the same time that they appeared to have had darshan of the leela; hence the poetry is very vivid and meaningful. This poetry has been integrated with every one of the eight darshans of Thakorji and even after 500 years, they are sung in the temples of Pushtimarg. These pads form a huge part of the Vraj-Bhasha literature of India although some padas are in Sanskrit. Surdas lived long life of 108 years. As the most famous amongst the Ashta Sakhas, Surdas is said to have written and composed a hundred thousand songs in his magnum opus the 'Sur Sagar / स र स गर' (Ocean of Melody), out of which only about 8,000 are extant. He is considered a saguna / शग न bhakti poet. It is believed that Surdasi was a sarasvat bramhin / स रस वत ब र त म हन who used to live in a small village named ' Sinhi' near Delhi. He was blind from birth and neglected by his family, a fact that possibly accounted for his single minded devotion to Krishna. When we think of "Bhav" we remember Surdasji who in spite of his blindness, saw with his innermost eyes (Aantarchakshu), the beauty of the child Krishna or even his romance with Radha, almost like an eyewitness, even as he sang Akhiya Hari darshan ko pyasi. Surdas' poetry was in a dialect of Hindi, Braj Bhasha, until then considered to be a very plebeian language. The works of Surdas raised the status of Brij Bhasha from a crude language to that of a literary language of great repute. Kumbhandas was a poor farmer, but an ardent devotee of Krishna. He lived a principked life and never desired any wealth. He depicted 8

13 his experience of the Leelas of Yugal swaroop and hence he recited a pad of Yugalgeet: "Bani Radha Giridharki Joru". Parmananddasji sang the mahima of bal-leela by giving us that immortal pada:"maiyee Mitho Hariju kay Bolna". Thus, in all the pads, there was 'Cheet-astat pravanam', which means that these kirtans and pads during the Sevas brought into our mind the sevabhav and in turn our heart gets fully attached such that we experience param anand. Like Surdas, Nanddas was also one of the famous Ashtachhap Kavis. Nand Das was cousin of the great saint Goswami Tulsi Das. Nand Das has created several beautiful poems blended with devotion and romance. He is believed to have written 38 poems that are contained in two anthologies. One is called Raas Panchdhyayi / र स ऩ च ध य य, which is on the beauty of Krishna s Raas dance, and the other is Bhramar Geet / भ रमर ग त, which is a set of insightful poems. He had an interesting use of language, with alliteration and inbuilt musicality, which is demonstrated by this poem- Chhoto so kanhaiya ik Murali madhur chhoti, chhoto chhoto sakha sang chhoti pag sir ki. Kathak dancers liberally use these songs in their recitals. Vallabhacharya s tribute to Lord Krishna in the 16 th century unforgettable poem "Madhurashtakam," that describes the sweetness of Lord Krishna and evokes his presence as the supreme embodiment of love, bliss and beauty, is danced often by Mangala Bhatt disciple of Kundanlal Gangani and Durga Lal of the Jaipur Gharana. But the appeal of this beautiful Sanskrit composition is not restricted to the Jaipur gharana but appeals across gharanas and also across styles. Krishna's childhood pranks, depicted by Surdas were the epitome of Vatsalyarasa. Maiya mori, main nahin makhan khaiyo feed the penchant for the Leelas of Krishna, being the setting for the Makhan 9

14 Chori. Uma Dogra, disciple of Pt. Durgalal uses the childish playfulness, of the lines Shyam tori bansari nek bajau, - I shall play your flute o Shyam, and concluding with the lines Prabhu tum ho radhika main nandalal kahavun, to explore the immensity of the thought of playing naughtily with your God. The ashtapadi by Surdas, Shri Nand Nandan Nachat Sudhang" has been choreographed by lucknow Gharana dancer, Rani Khanum as ensemble work for the repertory of her institute, Aamad. The composition has music composed by Anil Biswas and it employs all the beautiful featrures of the Lucknow gharana to establish the Sudhang dance of Krishna. Boojhat shyam, kaun tu gori is one of the most popular pieces by Surdas which is performed by Uma Sharma in a leisurely manner, often playing with the word, kaun in an expansive manner. From 1973 she took up different poets to choreograph their work. The first were Surdas and Tulsidas. Her performances based on Panchavati varnan (In the Panchavati Woods) and Rama vana gaman (Exile of Rama) of Tulsidas are celebrated works. At a time when research was not in vogue among dancers, and printed materials on topics of her choice scarce, she managed to compile a formidable repertoire of research-based pieces, the credit for which she gives to the then Secretary of the Sangeet Natak Akademi, Dr Suresh Awasthi who encouraged her to go to Vrindavan, read Surdas, read Tulsidas '. For her unmatched life time interest and skill with poetry, for which she is often heard admitting that Krishna and Ghalib are the two poetic mainstays of her life, she credits her father and other mentors. Incandescent, because of her love for poetry and the high quality training that she received from 1964 onwards by Shambhu Maharaj, are her programmes that bear an old world charm, largely arising from the joy of interpreting the poetic word. Uma Sharma is particularly partial to Vallabahacharya s Madhurashtakam and 10

Meera s Wari wari Shayam hoon wari, both of which she explores in an unstructured manner, with an on the spot interpretation and the organic upaj interplaying.

15 Meera s Wari wari Shayam hoon wari, both of which she explores in an unstructured manner, with an on the spot interpretation and the organic upaj interplaying. The same holds true for her interpretation of Raskhans description of Krishna s mukut - Chiraki chatak hiatak navakundalke. Uma Sharma has the unique distinction of being able to sing as she dances and as she sings Meera, she becomes a khandita nayika, albeit an uttama nayika, besotted by Krishna, as she asks in myriad ways- Kaun sakhi sang tum rang ratey - proving thereby that she has no peers in abhinaya, and that even while depicting shringar rasa madhura bhava, the Krishna legend is shown with many splendored hues and colours. The amorous dalliance of the symbolic lovers Krishna and Radha is often depuicted in the bhakti mode as the meeting of the Jeevatma with the Parmatama. The outpourings of these saint-poets form an integral part of a Kathak dancer's repertoire. In 1982, senior Kathak Guru Rani Karna created a work titled Venu Naad, depicting the eternal love between Radha and Krishna, between Atma and Parmatm. The original music was by Girija Devi ji and the additional music compositions were by Siddharth Bhattacharya. The lyrics were entirely from Surdas padas. To mark the fifth centenary celebrations of the poet in 1978, Maya Rao was invited to create a ballet on the poet saint. Anil Biswas composed the music and the ballet was highly appreciated not just in India but overseas as well. It won an international award for choreography and filming in Paris. 11

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