topics: |  india | music |

Many Indian biographies tend towards unstinted devotion to the subject.
While this is not quite the case here, nor does it have any pretence to
scholarship.  At times Misra descends to hagiography :

	Every particle of dust in Brajbhoomi was made 
	sacred by the Leelas (divine sports) of Lord Krishna...

whereas at times there is a semblance of balanced reporting:

	Although he was a prolific composer, not a word has he mentioned
	about his family or personal life.  Hence the entire story of his
	life is shrouded in legends and popular stories. [Swami Haridas]

However, the book is still useful as an unfiltered collection of legends
collected from the lucknow-centered musical culture and possibly farther
afield.  At the very least, a list of sources would have helped the reader
place the work in the suitable goup.

Excerpts: Swami Haridas

While writing about the traditions and history of Hindustani classical
music, the general tendency has been to give the entire credit for the
growth of classical music to the Moghul courts. Undoubtedly, the Moghul
kings and the upper classes of those colourful times encouraged the arts of
music and dance with their lavish patronage and appreciation. But this is
really only a partial view and remains only part of the story of the
development of Hindustani classical music.

[Brajbhoomi] echoed with the impassioned devotional music of great
saint-singers.  Among these, it is Swami Haridas of Brindaban whose name
comes uppermost in our mind. Brindaban was the vital centre of the
Vaishnava cult and the highest classical music traditions, and the place
was for ever thronging with a large number of great saints, musicians,
composers, poets, and bhaktas. The keertanas of those times were actually
Dhrupads set in classical ragas and talas, and many of them are sung even
today.

The Dhrupad style and Braj Bhasha dominated Hindustani music in those
times, and Swami Haridas was a master of both, a true "Vagyeyakar" who
exalted the Dhrupad Parampara by composing a large number of Dhrupads in
the mellifluous Braj Bhasha. To Swami Haridas, Hindustani music owes a
large debt; few gurus bequeathed such a brilliant galaxy of pupils. He has
enriched not only the music, but also the poetry and the culture of our
country.

Not just the guru of Tansen

Today, most people know Swami Haridas merely as the revered guru of Tansen,
but few are aware of his lasting contributions to the world of music, and
fewer still will believe that he was a greater musician than Tansen
himself. Tansen achieved more worldly fame and acclaim because he adorned
the magnificent and awe inspiring court of Emperor Akbar.  But Swami
Haridas, like Saint Thyagaraja, was an ascetic who turned away from worldly
pleasures and rewards, because both of these saint-musicians found bliss in
the path of bhakti through the medium of music. In the sphere of Hindustani
music,

Swami Haridas occupies the same place as saint Thyagaraja in Karnatic music
although their favourite deities (Ishta Devatas) were different. Whereas
Swami Haridas was an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna (Bihariji), Thyagaraja
was a devotee of Rama.  Naadopasana was the medium of their bhakti
marga. Swami Haridas was the great poet of love for the Divine pair, the
selfless devotee of Radha-Krishna (Shyama-Shyam), the great singer who
sanctified the very atmosphere of Nidhuban in Brindaban by his bhakti. All
day and night, he lived in communion with God through his music and
devotion.  Although he was a prolific composer, not a word has he mentioned
about his family or personal life.  Hence the entire story of his life is
shrouded in legends and popular stories.

Childhood

There are different versions about Haridas' early boyhood.  Some say that
his grandfather Gadadhar (a Saraswat Brahmin) and grandmother Chitradi,
originally lived in Uchchagram near Multan in the Punjab, now in
Pakistan. Unable to bear the aggression of the Yavanas (Greek overlords),
they set out of Multan accompanied by a large number of religious minded
Hindus. Travelling slowly in a caravan of bullock-carts, they finally
settled down in village Khera near Aligarh. Some people even clailn that
this village was renamed as H Hnridaspur'' after the birth of
Haridas. Others believe that Haridas' parents Asudhir and Gangadevi had
further migrated to Rajpur village near Brindaban before the birth of their
three sons, Haridas {1537), Jagannath (1541), and Govindraj (1545). They
were a very devout couple who revered saints and Sadhus, and there fore,
their children were born and brought up in this deeply religious
environment.

Right from his childhood, Haridas was a strangely thoughtful boy, deeply
sensitive to the beauties of nature, utterly indifferent to games, and a
seeker of solitude.  The small boy was often discovered seated all alone
beside some river, or in some lonely forest, lost in the contemplation of
the beauty and glory of the divine pair (Krishna Radha) enshrined in his
heart. With the hope of changing his ascetic temperament, the loving
parents married him off at the age of fourteen to a sweet young girl
Harimati. But even this virtuous girl could not alter his ways nor attract
him into the life of an ordinary house-holder.

A few years later, when Haridas decided to sever all family ties and go to
Brindaban, his neglected bride plucked up courage for once to confront and
ask him: "My lord; why is it that there are no mental or physical bonds
between you and me as in the case of other married couples? Have I said or
done anything to offend you?" Haridas smiled con1passionately, and consoled
Harimati, "Harimati, the union in this world is not a permanent one.  We
meet in this world, only to be parted sooner or later. It is wiser to love
and adore Krishna, the Lord of the Universe".

In his early twenties, Haridas left his home and wandered in many sacred
pilgrimage centres and spots but ultimately, it was in Brindaban with its
natural serenity and beauty that he found the ideal place for his
Naadopasana, his chosen path of Bhakti. When Vaishnavism spread all over
the north, it also included a deep love for music. Brajbhumi became the
focal centre of our music. Haridas was the most outstanding among the
bhaktas, an accomplished singer and a peerless devotee,.  who sanctified
the very atmosphere of Braja.

His entire life was a shining example of lofty detachment and
selflessness. His only worldly possessions were a set of old clothes and
an earthern pot. Just as Saint Thyagaraja had darshans of Sri Rama, Swami
Haridas also is said to have had a vision of his Baanke Behad in 1567.

Contents

Foreword (vii)
Preface (ix)
 l. Hazrat Amir Khusrau (1253-1325) 1
 2. Sangeet Samrat Tansen (1532-1595) 9
 3. Swami Haridas (1537-1632) 17
 4. Maharaja Swati Tirunal (1813-1847) 23
 5. Rahimsen and Amritsen (1814-1894) 29
 6. Kudau Singh Pakhawajiya (1815-1910) 36
 7. Nawab Wajid Ali Shah (1823-1887) d 41
 8. Ustad Khurshid Ali Khan (1845-1950) 48
 9. Chaturpandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (1860-1936) 54
10. Ustad Allauddin Khan (1862-1972) 59
11. Pdt. Vishnu Digambar Paluskar (1872-1931) 70
12. Ustad Abdul Karim Khan (1872-1937) 78
13. Ustad Mushtaq Hussain Khan (1872-1964) 85
14. Ustad Ahmad Jan Thirakwa (1878-1976) 90
15. Ustad Faiyaz Khan (1880-1950) 96
16. Sufi lnayat Khan (1882-1927) 103
17. Raja Bhaiya Poochwale  (1882-1956) 112
18. Ustad Yusuf Ali Khan (1887-1962) 118
19. Ustad Hafiz Ali Khan (1888-1972) 123
20. Smt. Kesarbai Kerkar (1890-1977) 132
21. Pdt. Omkarnath Thakur (1897-1967) 138
22. Dr. Srikrishna Narayan Ratanjankar (1900-1974) 148
23. Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (1901-1968) 155
24. Smt. Siddheswari Devi (1903-1977) 162
25. Ustad Amir Khan (1912-1974) 168
26. Begum Akhtar (1914-1974) 174

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