Religion and Music
Religion plays a central role in South Asian culture, and music is often deeply associated with religious concepts, devotion, or ritual. But because Indian classical music is learned and performed by adherents of various different religions, especially Hinduism and Islam, it is not limited to any one religious context or tradition.
It is worth noting that both artists in the Vidyadhar Vyas listening example are Hindus, as are the majority of Indian classical musicians today. Many gharānās (houses associated with a particular musical ideology), however, trace their lineage to families of Muslim court musicians in the 19th century. Thus Vidyadhar Vyas belongs to the Gwalior gharānā; the founders of this gharānā, Haddu and Hassu Khan, were Muslims, as were most court musicians of the 19th century. The Benaras gharānā, to which Sandip Bhattacharya belongs, is one of the few gharānās that has been entirely Hindu ever since it was founded by Ram Sahai in the early 19th century.
Composer: Vidyadhar Vyas
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"Khyāl in Rāga Mīyān kī Malhār"
Surprisingly, perhaps, the lyrics of the listening example are entirely secular in content, or at least appear to be so on the surface. This is quite typical of khyāl song-texts. But there are a number of respects in which a performance of this kind nevertheless has certain connections with religious traditions.
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Lyrics
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Lightning flashes, rain falls in the thunderstorm.
The clouds are bringing rain. The thunder really frightens me. (Lightning flashes, rain falls in the thunderstorm...) The clouds roar, the heavy lightning flashes. The papiha bird keeps repeating "piyu" (beloved). What can I do, where can I go? My heart trembles. (Lightning flashes, rain falls in the thunderstorm...)
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Translation by Lalita du Perron
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The lyrics of a song like the Vidyadhar Vyas listening example can easily be interpreted as an allegory for the human soul's search for the divine, and feelings of separation, fear and confusion in the absence of divine guidance. This type of allegory is to be found in both Hindu and Muslim religious traditions. It is entirely the choice of the singer or listener whether to interpret the verse in this way, or as a purely secular song.
Rāgas are often regarded, especially by Hindu musicians, as spiritual beings, existing independently of the musician. The rāga is conceived as flowing through, and to some extent controlling, the artist's improvisations. This is a natural extension of Hindu polytheism, according to which the divine is manifested in multiple forms. For Muslims, who are monotheistic in outlook, this is a more problematic concept; but Indian Muslim musicians are often profoundly influenced by Hindu beliefs.
Music is regarded as intrinsically sacred in the Hindu tradition. Sound is seen as a mystical force controlling the universe (nāda-brahma), and is manifested in the ritual recitation of sacred chant (veda) by Brahman priests. Musical sound, and especially the sound of the human voice, is considered an extension of this manifestation. Performance or practice of music is considered by some Hindus to be a form of ritual meditation (sādhanā), whether the lyrics are secular or sacred. Many Indian musicians have been devotees of particular Hindu deities such as Shiva or Krishna. Vidyadhar Vyas's grandfather was a temple musician, singing the praises of Mahālakṣmī, the goddess of prosperity and fortune, on a daily basis.
In orthodox Islam, music is regarded as profane, a sensual distraction from moral behaviour and devotion to God. But in the Sufi traditions of Islam, which have been influential in India, listening to music (samā') is considered a path to communion with the divine. Some consider singing or playing music to be a form of zikr, the ecstatic chanting of God's name in Sufi ritual. Many Indian musicians have been members of Sufi orders or have been profoundly influenced by Sufism. The emotional intensity of khyāl is probably a direct inheritance from the origins of this genre in Sufi devotional ritual.
What are the views of Paṇḍit Vidyadhar Vyas (the singer in the Vidyadhar Vyas listening example) regarding the religious character of music? In a September 2000 interview with Hinduism Today, he writes:
IN HIS OWN WORDS:
PAṆḌIT VIDYADHAR VYAS
Here the Paṇḍit typically asserts that music has a spiritual aspect that transcends the boundaries between specific religions, though he uses Hindu terminology (ānanda) to denote the state of spiritual elevation to which it leads.
