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Song and Memory: “Singing from the Heart”

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Song and Memory: “Singing from the Heart” SONG AND MEMORY: “SINGING FROM THE HEART” hir kIriq swDsMgiq hY isir krmn kY krmw ] khu nwnk iqsu BieE prwpiq ijsu purb ilKy kw lhnw ]8] har kīrat sādhasangat hai sir karaman kai karamā || kahu nānak tis bhaiou parāpat jis purab likhē kā lahanā ||8|| Singing the Kīrtan of the Lord’s Praises in the Sādh Sangat, the Company of the Holy, is the highest of all actions. Says Nānak, he alone obtains it, who is pre-destined to receive it. (Sōrath, Gurū Arjan, AG, p. 641) The performance of devotional music in India has been an active, sonic conduit where spiritual identities are shaped and forged, and both history and mythology lived out and remembered daily. For the followers of Sikhism, congregational hymn singing has been the vehicle through which melody, text and ritual act as repositories of memory, elevating memory to a place where historical and social events can be reenacted and memorialized on levels of spiritual significance. Hymn-singing services form the magnetic core of Sikh gatherings. As an intimate part of Sikh life from birth to death, Śabad kīrtan’s rich kaleidoscope of singing and performance styles act as a musical and cognitive archive bringing to mind a collective memory, uniting community to a common past. As a research scholar and practitioner of Gurmat Sangīt, I have observed how hymn singing plays such a significant role in understanding the collective, communal and egalitarian nature of Sikhism. The majority of events that I attended during my research in Punjab involved congregational singing: whether seated in the Gūrdwāra, or walking in a procession, the congregants were often actively engaged in singing. The importance of congregational singing is reiterated frequently. Gūru Arjan writes: “Individual recitation is like irrigation by water from a well which only benefits a small field; on the 1 other hand, group kīrtan is like rainfall which covers a large area and benefits many people at the same time.”1 This essay examines the repertoire of Śabad kīrtan and connection to the folk singing traditions of Punjab. Organized into two parts, in Part One, I classify hymns into five thematic groupings, exploring how Śabad kīrtan promotes a space of collective identity. Part Two considers the congregational singing of liturgical hymns and their impact on memory. Part One: Śabad Kīrtan and Punjabi Folk Music Influence Śabad kīrtan plays a key role in Sikh life, holding sway over all aspects of life from birth and marriage to death services. This music is both temporally and spatially linked to the folk music traditions of northwest India, which are made up of five geographic and cultural regions: Malwa, Puad, Doaba, Majha and Pahari. Alka Pandey, writing on Punjabi folk song tradition, explains: There is not a moment when the vibrant Punjabi does not break into a song or dance. Whether it is the men working on the fields or the women going about their domestic chores, the rural Punjabi has a song for every moment. From birth to death, every occasion has its song. The folks songs of Punjab are an element of the little tradition; and while the rendition varies from region to region, the thematic content shows a remarkable similarity.2 The folk traditions of these regions are linguistically and culturally distinct, each possessing their own musical and poetic forms. The Sikh Gurūs intentionally employed techniques of composing in multi-lingual, multi-musical, and multi-poetic forms to make it easier for common folk to absorb the religious teachings. Borrowing extensively from 2 local folk and religious idioms, and from familiar song styles and tunes, they reinterpreted common folk themes related to love, beauty, human desire, family, wealth, sorrow, and death with spiritual significance, assigning them metaphysical meanings.3 Dr. Gurnam Singh observes: Punjab is a major cultural canvas for the origin and development of Sikh religion. The Rāgās, styles of singing and instruments that developed from Punjabi folk music have been preferred by the Sikh Gurus. They established their authenticity through practical application of Śabad kīrtan and theoretical inclusion in the Baṇī of the Sri Gurū Granth Sāhib.4 In her study of the folk traditions of Punjab, Alka Pandey classifies folk songs under six themes: lifecycle songs, seasonal songs, devotional songs, love songs, ballads, and children songs.5 These themes may be applied to the grouping of Gurbāṇī hymns, with the children songs replaced here by liturgical songs. I will use this thematic classification to analyze the folk-influenced genre of hymns so deeply woven into the fabric of congregational singing. [Figure 1] Figure 1. Themes of Śabads 1. Lifecycle śabads 2. Seasonal/Temporal śabads 3. Love/Devotional śabads 4. Ballads – Vārs 5. Liturgical śabads Each of these themes includes a standard repertoire of hymns and melodies that act as a sonic link connecting the Sikh to Gurū, self, and community through the oral tradition. The table below provides a sample of popularly sung hymns, many of which I heard and recorded during my research. [Table 1] In the following pages, I will examine each of these themes. 3 Table 1: Thematic Classification of Popular Hymns Theme Shabad Rāgā/Author AG page # 1. Lifecycle Songs: Birth “Apune har pah binatī M4, Rāgā AG, 561 kahīai” Dēvgandārī Birth “Pūtā Mātā kī Āsīs” M5, Rāgā AG, 689 Gūjarī Engagement- Kuṛmāyī: “Sat santōkh kar bhāō M4, Rāgā Sūhī (AG, 776) kuṛam kuṛmāyī” Wedding “Dēh tējaṇ jī rām M4, Rāgā Sūhī (AG, 575-579) Processionals- Ghōṛīān ūpāīyā rām” Wedding ceremony- “Lāvāñ” M4, Rāgā Sūhī (AG, 773-74) Lāvāñ Wedding songs - “Mārēhis vē jan M4, Rāgā Sūhī (AG, 776) Chhants houmai bikhiyā” Dirges – Alāhuṇīān “Dhan sirandā sachā M5, Rāgā (AG, 578-579) pātisāh” Wadhans Śabad at time of “Jai ghar kīrat M1, M4, M5, (AG, 1-13) Cremation ākhīyai” Rāgā Gauṛī Dīpakī, Rāgā Āsā, Rāgā Dhanāsarī , Rāgā Gauṛī Purabi 2. Seasonal/Temporal śabads Śabads for spring “Maulī dharatī Bhagat Kabīr, (AG, 1193) mauliyā akās” Rāgā Basant Śabads for the rainy- “Rāṇē kailās tathā M1, Var Rāgā (AG, 1279) season māladē kīdhuni” Malār Pauṛī Śabads for the twelve “Har jēṭi juṛandā M5, Rāgā Mājh (AG, 134) months - Barāh Mahā lōṛīyai” Śabads on division of a “Pahilai paharai naiṇ M1, Rāgā (AG, 1110) day into 4 “watches”- salōnaṛīyē” Tūkhārī Pahare Śabads for Day and “Sēvī satiguru āpaṇa M5, Rāgā Mājh (AG, 136) Night –Dinraiṇ har smirarī chin sabh raiṇ” Śabads for The Lunar “ēkam ēkankār nirālā” M1, Rāgā (AG, 838) Days – Tithi Bilāwal Śabads for the seven “Ādit vār ādi purakh Bhagat Kabīr, (AG, 841) days of the week-Vār hai sōī” Rāgā Gauṛī Sat 3. Songs for 4 Love/devotion Kafīan - “Chētanā hai to chēth M9, Rāgā (AG, 726) lai nis din mai prānī” Tilang Songs of Separation - “Pārabrahm prabh M5, Rāgā Āsā (AG, 431) Birahaṛē simarīyai” 4. Ballads Vārs Har amṛta bhinṇē M1, 2, 4, 5, and (AG, 462-475) lōiṇā” Satta and Balwant in eighteen different rāgās 5. Liturgical Hymns Anand Sāhib “Anand bhaeiā mērī M3, Rāgā (AG, 917-922) māē satigurū mai Rāmkalī pāeiā” Sō Dār Rahirās “Sō dar tērā kēhā sō M1, 3, 4, 5, 10 (AG, 451) ghar kēhā” Rāgā Āsā and Rāgā Gūjarī Arati “Gagan mai tāl rav M5, Rāgā (AG, 12-13) chand dīpak banē” Dhanāsarī Sukhmaṇī Sāhib “Simaro, Simar Simar M5, Rāgā (AG, 262-296) Sukh Pāvō” Gauṛī 6.1.1 Lifecycle Hymns The poetry of the Gurus is imbued with symbols of common folk life, assigning the mundane with a supra-mundane significance. Discouraging esoteric mysticism, Gurū Nānak sought examples of the mystical experience in the here and now of everyday living. A fine example is his hymn in Rāgā Basant in which the Persian water wheel is interpreted metaphorically, imbued with a spiritual message: “Let your hands be the buckets, strung on the chain, and yoke the mind as the ox to pull it; draw the water up from the well. Irrigate your fields with the Ambrosial Nectar, and you shall be owned by God the Gardener.”6 Many of these hymns were sung to traditional folk songs and tunes which are 5 referred to in the title of the śabad, such as Chhants and Vārs. Pashaura Singh observes, “All these musical directions concerning the chhants reveal an important fact that they were sung in popular folk tunes used at the time of weddings or other happy occasions.”7 Several rāgās included in the Gurū Granth Sāhib are linked to folk origins (Rāgās Āsā, Mājh, Waḍhans, and Tūkhārī).8 Rāgā Waḍhans has been used extensively for folk compositions in lifecycle śabads pertaining to birth, marriage and death.9 Two examples, Ghōṛīān and Alāhuṇīā set in Rāgā Waḍhans, will be explored below. Ghōṛīān The Ghōṛīān, (literally “horses”) is a popular folk-style śabad sung as a processional hymn at Punjabi weddings. The Ghōṛīān narrates the wedding ceremony, commencing with the procession of the groom on horseback. Sung in Rāgā Waḍhans, Gurū Rām Das interpreted this event metaphorically, imparting spiritual meanings to mundane references. “The mare” of the secular version becomes “the human body,” “the saddle” becomes “the subjugated mind,” “the bridle” is construed as “the knowledge,” and “the whip” as “the love of God,” while “the wedding journey” is the “the journey of illusory life” and “the marriage feast, “ the “spiritual consummation and bliss.” This popular Ghōṛīān, “Deh Tejan Ji Rām” in six-beat Dādra tāl, was transcribed from a recording of Bhai Avatar Singh.”10 “Deh Tejan Ji Rām” vfhMsu mhlw 4 GoVIAw <> siqgur pRswid ] dyh qyjix jI rwim aupweIAw rwm ] DMnu mwxs jnmu puMin pweIAw rwm ] mwxs jnmu vf puMny pwieAw dyh su kMcn cMgVIAw ] gurmuiK rMgu clUlw pwvY hir hir hir nv rMgVIAw ] eyh dyh su bWkI ijqu hir jwpI hir hir nwim suhwvIAw ] vfBwgI pweI nwmu sKweI jn nwnk rwim aupweIAw ]1] 6 vadhans mahalā 4 ghoṛīā ik oankār satigur prasād || dēh tējan jī rām oupāīā rām || dhann mānas janam pun pāīā rām || mānas janam vaḍ punnē pāeiā dēh su kanchan changaṛīā || guramukh rang chalūlā pāvai har har har nav rangaṛīā || ēh dēh us bā nkī jit har jāpī har har nām suhāvīā ||vaḍabhāgī pāyī nām sakhāī jan nānak rām oupāīā ||1|| Wadahans, Fourth Mehla, Ghorees ~ The Wedding Procession Songs: One Universal Creator God.
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