SUNDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2013 (PAGE-3) SACRED SPACE TRIBUTE Yoga in Gita Remembering Malika Pukhraj Lt Col R K Langar action is favorable or unfavorable towards attainable by unswerving devotion. Lalit Gupta us. Knowledge is praised in verse 18 of chap- If one truly wants to understand what Yoga as skill in action(Yogah karmasu ter 7 where Lord states that he holds a The gifted singer whose musical voice echoed the is YOGA there is no other book other than kausalam) When you invoke God in your Janani as his very self. Action is praised earthly sounds of melody and became synonym with Bhagavad Gita which can give a compre- actions then you even do not claim the in verse 19 of chapter 3 where Lord states Dogra ethos, Malika Pukhraj, will always remain inex- hensive meaning of the word yoga. Bha- doership of actions. The action loses its that by doing his duty without attachment tricable part of modern Dogra lore as well as the shared gavad Gita as a scripture is Brahmavidya power to bind you and your action become man attains to Supreme. In a number of legacy of the sub-continent. Malika Pukhraj was born and to realize It Gita teaches Yogashas- efficient means for liberation. For this one verses of the Gita knowledge, devotion in 1912, in village Mirpur, on the banks of the River tra. The yoga of Gita is a practical disci- has to be endowed with wisdom. There and action are combined to enable a Akhnoor. When she grew up her mother moved to Rajinder Bazaar, Kanak Mandi area of Jammu then pline for realization of God or Brah- devotee to come to God. An example of known as Urdu Bazaar, where she spent early years this is found in verse 65 of chaper18. mavidya, the philosophical wisdom. Each of her life. She was given the name "Malika" at birth, of the eighteen chapters of Gita are titled Some of the commentators of Gita feel by 'Majzoob', Baba Roti Ram, a spiritualist, in Akhnoor as Yoga chapters with the subject and at and named Pukhraj by her Aunt. Since her mother the end of each chapter definition of Bha- insisted to get her educated, she learnt Urdu and Per- gavad Gita as science of the Absolute and sian from a distant uncle Gulzar Hussain. As a young the method to realize It through practice of Lord Krishna states in prodigy she had melodious voice and started to recite yoga. `Nohas' and `Marsiyas' from the age of five. She Yoga is a very popular word in India and chapter 4 of Gita that He received music lessons in a Delhi sojourn from very the West but not many are aware that the taught this yoga (which He strict Ustads. One of her teachers has been quoted as origin of Yoga is India. We commonly hear Ustad Mubarik Ali Khan. Ustad Ali Baksh Kasuri, father these days that 'I am doing yoga' which is teaching Arjuna) to Sun- of Bare Ghulam Ali Khan Sahib also nurtured her. She hoon ("I am still youthful") continues to ring with the involves certain body Asanas and god first and now He is received training in the classical dance form which youth and vitality of her voice. Besides singing Hafeez Pranayam. Some of them openly declare complemented Thumri from Ustad Mamman Khan. The Jalandhari's poems, her rendition included Lo phir bas- that after doing yoga, they have got rid of teaching the same secret to opportunity to sing during the coronation ceremony of ant aay and Quli Qutub's Piya baaj piyale piya jaye na certain body pains and they feel better. So Arjuna, since it has been Maharaja Hari Singh opened a new world for the ama- and Faiz Ahmed Faiz's Mere qatil mere dildar mere far so good. But the aim of yoga is not to teur singer. She was bestowed with the honour of being relieve people of their physical pain. It is to lost because of long lapse of a court singer at the young age of nine. She remained join the individual soul or Atma inside the there for nine years. It is said that she laughed in The opportunity to sing during body with the Supreme self of which the time. Maharaja’s Darbar on some funny happening – This soul or Atma is a part. Yoga is a spiritual being viewed as contempt, she was warned by Janak the coronation ceremony of discipline to link one's divine Self to Singh. Due to some court intrigues she left the Jammu Supreme. We all are divine at the core and that there is a tilt of Bhagaved Gita and Kashmir State service. After Partition she moved Maharaja Hari Singh opened a the aim of yoga is to free the embodied soul towards devotion. In my opinion it may not to Lahore where she gave private recitals and later got from its involvement with matter or body, may be other skillful workers but since they be so because knowledge and devotion associated with Lahore Radio Station. Her natural style new world for the amateur mind and intellect so that the individual do not invoke God or Yoga, their skillful are interlinked to that extent that a devo- of folk singing, distinct and clear style of rendering soul regains the three characteristics of work does not contribute towards their lib- tee is a janani and a janani has complete Ghazals made her a popular star in short time. At the singer. She was bestowed with Brahman which are SAT(Truth), eration from the cycle of birth and death. devotion towards God. This could be time of partition there were in all four film studio in Pak- CHIT(Knowledge and Pure conscious- Bhagavad Gita asks us to work without found in verse 16 of chapter 7 where Lord istan (all at Lahore) including two studios of Dilsukh the honour of being a court singer ness) and ANAND(Bliss which is never making the fruit of actions as our motive Krishna said that among the four types of Pancholi. One of the Pancholi Studios was initially allot- ending). Bhagavad Gita mainly gives four because we are not the author of results men who worship Him, one out of them is ted to Afzal Himaliyawala but the allotment was can- at the young age of nine. methods through which we can have a per- of actions. This is explained in chapter 18 a man of wisdom. In verse 10 of chapter celled in 1954 and the same was re-allotted to Malika manent realization of divinity within. These of Gita where one cause of action out of 13 where qualities of man of wisdom are Pukhraj.(renamed as Malika Studio). She lived in old are Karma yoga, Gyan yoga, Dhyan yoga five causes is not under control. This is given, one of the qualities is unswerving Lahore City at that time. Shabbir Husain Shah a Gov- and Bhakti yoga which suite different tem- called Daivam, fate or destiny. Yoga gives devotion to Lord. The more you know ernment Officer very much liked her singing fell in love paas raho. In her music, she never lost sight of the perament of people who are of extrovert of efficiency in the completion of work in addi- about God, the more you love God. The with her. They were then married. She continued meaning of poetry and in the flow and ebb of the voice active, introvert, contemplative and emo- tion to character efficiency inwardly. more you love God, more knowledge singing after marriage. She had six children. Malika she kept to the dynamics of the couplet. In recogni- tional types. All these types of yoga are Lord Krishna states in chapter 4 of Gita about God you will have. Devotion being was considered to be a very harsh teacher of music. tion of her contribution to music, she received the Pak- deeply interconnected and Gita recom- that He taught this yoga (which He is teach- as easier path than knowledge, is often One of her daughters, Tahira having learnt singing istan’s Presidential Pride of Performance Award in mends synthesis of all types of yoga to ing Arjuna) to Sungod first and now He is quoted in the Gita. When Lord Krishna under her mother’s strict discipline, today is a well 1980. In 1977, when All India radio, for which she sang attain divinity even though one type of yoga teaching the same secret to Arjuna, since shows his cosmic form to Arjuna He known Pakistani singer. Continuing in her style, Tahira until Partition, was celebrating its Golden Jubilee, she has re- sung many of her mother’s famous songs, may be the start point of a spiritual aspi- it has been lost because of long lapse of states that by single minded devotion to was invited to India, and awarded with the 'legend of including her Dogri songs. Malika Pukhraj had visited rant. Other definitions of yoga are given in time. Lord Krishna further states in ch 5 Him, His cosmic form can be seen. Voice' award. Malika Pukhraj also recorded her mem- Jammu for the last time in 1988 along with her daugh- subsequent paragraphs. Yoga is to realize that without Karma yoga it is difficult to It should be clearly understood that all oirs in the novel Song Sung True. According to experts ter Tahira Syed. There was an atmosphere of festivity like G.N. Joshi, “Malika Pukhraj’s silvery rich voice and oneness with others as God is present in attain Gyan or Knowledge as action is eas- forms of yoga given in the Gita when clear- during her weeklong stay in the city.