Music - Song celestial
by Life Positive
By Kishori Amonkar, Hindustani classical vocalist, as told to Rupali Patil
I
am a vocalist dealing solely with musical notes. I strive
hard to perceive, understand and present them in all their purity and
vitality. The credit goes to my gurus. "Teach yourself," they said, "to
be a good human being before you call yourself an artiste." According
to them, music is a balm that relieves pains
and miseries. Its purpose is to put us in touch with ourselves.
My mother told me: "Sing for nature and everything will respond to you." How true were those words! Birds,
animals, trees, the grass and even the sun seem to reciprocate when I
sing. Whenever I feel this, I feel convinced that I am giving divine music
to the world.
Today, music is treated as a commodity. Those who sing for the
gallery add further fuel to fire. They don't realize that just gathering
a repertoire does not necessarily make them knowledgeable about the spirit
of music. Music ,
according to our ancient treatises, has a medicinal value, provided we
know when and how to use a particular note. We should remember
the purpose
of music, its beginning, its transit and its end. To understand
and assimilate this, we should seek help from a guru.
A guru always guides us into the deeper realms of knowledge. In fact,
a guru reaches the ultimate and becomes an embodiment of the ultimate.
Little wonder we call our guru:
Guru Brahma, guru Vishnu, guru devo Maheshwara
Guru sakshat parambrahma,
tasmaishri guruve namah
I have tremendous faith in Guru Raghavendraji. To me, he is God. In fact, his
presence is so kind that it is impossible to distance myself from him. I also
respect Mother Teresa. She helped the needy till her dying day. In that sense
she was extremely religious.
I believe God is everywhere, even in my
musical notes. Hence, it is important not to treat them but be treated
by them. Whoever wants to know music should perceive the entire ocean of notes.
Perseverance is essential. In fact, I see myself today as a sadhaka, a
spiritually devoted learner, treating the subject as a sadhana, devoted
practice, to attain the sadhya, the spiritual goal.
