Music in India.


Apart from its aesthetic and artistic value, this wonderful art of music had always held for the Indian mind, a clarion call to spiritual development, and had been widely cultivated and had attained a high level of perfection in India, at least some three thousand years ago. It was in fact one of the unmistakable indications to us of the high state of civilisation which the people of the land had reached even in those early times. What distinguished Indian Music, however, from its prototypes in other climes was its outlook and tendency: it was never regarded in India as a mere lay art, as a mere system of pleasing the sensuous part of man. It was always held to be but an extension and outward symbolisation of the Omnipresent Pranava Sound - OM - and utilised only for purposes of God attainment - a feature it has retained to the present day, as will be evident from the fact that, up to the end of the last century, the subject of musical compositions has rarely been anything but God and His glories.

Classical music of the Indian subcontinent has a rich history of being one the most developed expressions of our cultural heritage. Its foundations pre-cede 5000 years, going back to the ancient Indus civilisation. Many instruments such as harps, flutes and percussion instruments were found during the excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, the centres of the Indus valley situated in present day Sindh, Pakistan.

The earliest form of Indian music was based on chants or recitation of hymns, found in scriptures or Vedas, the earliest of which were the Rig Veda and Sama Veda. The music of the Vedic era was of a simple nature, yet it retained a systematic order, the basis of which is still in existence today. The earliest musical treatise, the Natya Shastra was written 2000 years ago and gave details on dance, vocal and instrumental music. In this treatise differentiation between classical music and folk music was made using the terms Marga and Deshi. The next important treatises on music of the early period were the Brihaddeshi and Sangeet Ratnakar.

Sarangdev’s Sangeet Ratnakar was written at the end of the 12th century and gave valuable information on the state of music before the coming of the Muslims. The text revealed the progression of Indian music since the Vedic era. Prabandhas had now replaced the Vedas, different scales (raags) were being used and the text also included a detailed description of musical instruments. The music was still firmly rooted in religion and often performed in temples as part of worship rituals.

The first encounter of Indian music with Muslims was through Sufi saints who were attracted by traditional Hindu temple music. Sensing that music was an essential feature of the daily lives of the local inhabitants, Sufis used music to spread the message of Islam across to the populace of India.

Sufi saints such as Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, Hazrat Bahauddin Zikriya Multani, Sheikh Allaudin Lajuri, and Shaikh Pir Bodhan held regular sessions of sama or qawwali at their khanqahs to propagate Islam to the masses

Music and Meditation...


It is quite possible to be both a musician and a Yogi. In Mother India there have been many saints, sages and spiritual Masters who were blessed with divine music. Their musical talent did not interfere with their God-realisation, and even after achieving God-realisation, their musical talents did not leave them.

Yoga means union, inseparable oneness with God. A Yogi is one who has established conscious union with God. He can easily become a musician because in his inseparable oneness with God, he can do anything he wants. But a Yogi has to wait for God’s Will. If it is God’s Will, he will become a musician; or if it is God’s Will, he will become something else. Otherwise, he will just remain with his own lofty realisation and oneness; he will reveal and manifest the highest Peace, Light and Truth the way the Supreme wants him to.

When an individual realises God, he and God are not different beings; they are one, like a tiny drop and the vast ocean. In the same way, sometimes the soul responds to music. The soul thrills to music; it just melts and becomes one.

A Yogi’s qualities and a musician’s qualities can go side by side, provided the Yogi has the capacity and inherent talent for music. Even if the Yogi spends a very short time in the musical world, he can be a very good musician, but it will take infinitely more time for a musician to become a Yogi.

Spiritual Masters who have musical capacity can eventually show the world at large that inner music can be played outwardly and appreciated by the world. Inner music one can hear and one can create while one is meditating. We can hear inner music through aspiration. What is inner music? We have learned from the Indian Vedas that this music is the mother tongue of humanity, the language of the soul. It is through music that the Divine in us gets the opportunity to manifest itself here on earth.

When a musician’s spiritual capacity becomes most powerful, he doesn’t even have to speak. Others will just look at his face and see some illumination.

When a spiritual Master plays his music, through his music he enters into the heart and soul of the audience. At the same time, he is bringing down light from above. He is not just playing on an instrument. He is receiving something from the higher world and then offering it to the world at large. In an hour, thousands of people can feel this higher light as their very own. So music has the opportunity, the capacity, to claim the universe as its very own


Now, let us consider the spiritual Power of Music. Music melts the hardest heart, softens the brutal nature of man, heals many people of many maladies. Wherefrom has music derived this mighty power? From the Supreme Music of Brahman, the Sacred Pranava. Listen to the vibration of the Tambura or the Veena: do you hear the majestic Pranava-Nada? All the musical notes are blended beautifully into this Pranava; all the musical notes spring from this Pranava; music is intended to reverberate this Pranava-Nada in your heart. For OM, or the Pranava is your real name, your real Swarupa. Therefore, you love to hear music which is but the most melodious intonation of your own essential name. When the mind thus gets attracted and unified with one’s essential nature, the great Power of God stored up there wells up within and heals body and mind. The Bhakta enters into Bhava-Samadhi by singing devotional music. He comes face to face with the greater storehouse of Knowledge and Wisdom, Ananda or Supreme Bliss. Therefore, he emerges from this Samadhi as a Jnani and radiates Peace, Bliss and Wisdom all around.