Bargît, the devotional song
Srimanta Sankaradeva (1449-1568) was a stalwart who strode over the cultural scenario of Assam for more than a century during his life-time. But more importantly, he continues to influence the cultural world even four and a half centuries after his passing away. He had created a great culture for this region by taking ingredients from numerous ethnic groups living here. This culture, that came to be known as Sankari culture, has been accepted as the main-stream culture of Assam. It has unified the numerous ethnic groups living in the Brahmaputra valley as they find themselves well-represented in this culture.
Cultural interests of Srimanta Sankaradeva were multi-dimensional. He was a maestro of dance, music, play, instruments and so many things. He created new things in all these areas. These were his tools for communicating his philosophy to the people. Culture and literature were his means for proselytising works and social reforms.
Srimanta Sankaradeva created a new classical school of music, known as Sankari music with his Bargît since he created new Râgas for singing these Bargîts. These Bargîts or great songs are one of the main modes of conveying the principles of the Eka Sharana Nâma Dharma, the Vaishnavite order founded by the saint. Sankari music is one of the three major classical schools of music in India, the other two being the Hindustani and Carnatic music. In fact, the development of Sankari music was even older than Hindustani music. Srimanta Sankaradeva belonged to a period earlier than that of Tansen, Man Singh Tomar etc, the major contributors of Hindustani music.
The method of singing in Sankari school of music differ a lot from both the Hindustani and the Carnatic schools. For instance, the extensive rise and fall all over the scales along the path of a Râga is a unique character of Bargît, the devotional songs composed by Srimanta Sankaradeva and his foremost disciple Madhavadeva. They called the first verse in every Bargît as Dhrung, which means constant. This concept is a basic requirement in classical music. The âlâp part is also ingrained in the Bargît. Again, the curvature in the movement along the scales is the highest in the Sankari music among all types of classical music in India. The popular Bargît of Madhavadeva, “Tejare Kamalâpati parabhâte ninda .............” is the best example of this characteristic.
Not only that, the Sankari songs, especially Bargît established the classical traditions of music in India. Other classical musicians like Man Singh Tomar etc came to the arena of classical music much later. Tansen also practised music much later than Srimanta Sankaradeva. Tansen lived from 1532 to 1585. Again, an important ingredient of classical music, Khayâl was evolved by Sultan Hussein Sorkee only in the fifteenth century. Thus all these great musicians were either contemporary or followers of Srimanta Sankaradeva. Srimanta Sankaradeva belonged to that period when the classical music itself was being developed in India in the modern sense. He is one of the great pioneers and a leading light in the world of Indian classical music.
The Bargît and the songs of the Ankiyâ plays of Srimanta Sankaradeva were the first compositions of Sankari music. Srimanta Sankaradeva enacted his first play Chihna Yâtrâ in 1468 at Tembuwani or present Bardowa near Nagaon. He used Râga like Meghamandalî, Timira, Vâyumandalî etc, according to the hagiography Kathâ Guru Charita. All these were his own compositions. The rendering of these Râga were so perfect that leaves of nearby trees had come off and then new leaves sprout there. Such anecdotes are narrated about Tansen also in later times. So Srimanta Sankaradeva was a perfect predecessor for him. The Sankari music came into being with these Râga performed for the first time in 1468. The Meghamandalî Râga became very popular over time.
Later Srimanta Sankaradeva created twenty five Râga for his Bargît, a unique group of devotional songs. These were âshowârî, Dhanashrî, Gourî, Suhâi, Basanta, Shrî, Kedâr, Mâhur Dhanashrî, Tur Basanta, Kalyân, Ahir, Mâhur, Bhâtiyâlî, Sindhurâ, Nât Belowâr, Shrî Gândhâra, Shâranga, Nât Mallâr, Kow, Shyâm, Kânrâ, Purbî, Shrî Gourî, and Tur. His disciple Madhavadeva also composed seven Râgas. These were Mallâr, Bhupâlî, Tur Bhâtiyâlî, Barârî, Kâmod, Shyâmgarâ, and Lalit. Though some of these names are similar to Râga in the Hindustani school and the Carnatic school, Râga of Srimanta Sankaradeva and Madhavadeva are different from these two schools. These thirty two Râga are called Melâ Râga, meaning open Râga. That means these can be sung by using any Tâla or rhythm. It deserves mention here that the Bargît does not have any fixed Tâla. Some maestros sing a single Bargît by using several Tâla. The same Bargît is sung by using different Tâla in Barpeta Than, Bardowa Than and Kamalabari Satra. These three Thân and Satra have thus created three sub-schools of the Sankari music. Different Râgas of Sankari music are performed at different specific times of the day. So a Bargît cannot be sung at any time, but only at prescribed hours.
The first Bargît composed by Srimanta Sankaradeva was “Râma meri hridaya pankaje baise ....... .” The saint went on pilgrimage twice, respectively in 1481 and 1550. It was during his first pilgrimage that he composed this Bargît at the residence of one devotee at Rowmari village (now known as Boraibari) in present Indo-Bangla border in 1481. Another important Bargît composed by the saint is “Mana meri Râma charanahi lâgu ........... .” This was composed at Badarikashrama in 1489.
Srimanta Sankaradeva composed two hundred forty Bargîts in total. But the manuscript containing these lyrics got burnt, when it was taken by a devotee named Kamala Gayan and his residence caught fire. In those days, the compositions were recorded in Sânchipât leaves, prepared painstakingly from wood. So reproduction of a book was not easy. There was no duplicate copy of the lyrics. Only thirty four Bargîts survived in the memory of the disciples, which were recovered by Madhavadeva. He also composed his own Bargîts at the express request of Srimanta Sankaradeva. In total, one hundred ninety one Bargîts are now available between both of them. One more Bargît of Srimanta Sankaradeva was recovered later, thus taking the total number of his available Bargîts to thirty five.
Madhavadeva had his own perspective and vision distinct from that of Srimanta Sankaradeva. Uniqueness of Madhavadeva came out loud and clear in his Bargîts. He did not copy from his preceptor; and rather created his numbers in his own style. Bargît authored by Madhavadeva were softer than those of Srimanta Sankaradeva in wording. Most of those Bargîts centre around the activities of child Krishna.
Bargîts are sung in two methods. When these are sung as part of prayer or Prasanga, no Tâla is necessary. But when these are presented as cultural performance, one or more Tâla is used. So we cannot fix one single Tâla for a Bargît. But the songs composed for the Ankiyâ plays had fixed Tâla. Some of the important Tâla are Rûpak, Yati, Kharmân, Ektâl, Paritâl, Bisham etc. There are three components in the Tâla used in the Satra. These are called Gâ-man, Ghât, and Chok. These correspond to Thekâ, Tukrâ, and Relâ of Hindustani music.
The predominant flavour of Bargîts is devotional. The listeners are elevated to a state of quietitude by these songs. However there is also instance of other flavours in Bargîts like Shuna shuna re sura ...... Different feelings experienced by the devotees of lord Krishna are expressed in different Bargîts. The attitudes and inclinations of the pious lady devotees of Gokula-Vrindavana are depicted in most of these lyrics. Their bereavement over separation from lord Krishna is the subject matter of these lyrics. Thus tragedy and devotion form the main theme of many Bargîts.
Srimanta Sankaradeva and Madhavadeva composed their Bargîts and plays in the Brajâwalî form of Assamese language. This form of the Assamese language had been in vogue in Assam at least since thirteenth century. It was a living language at that time which had sister forms elsewhere in the country. So the compositions of Srimanta Sankaradeva and Madhavadeva could be easily understood in entire Northern India. But other forms of Brajâwalî language did not have any literary composition before Srimanta Sankaradeva. The Bargît, Râma meri hridaya pankaje ..... was the first ever composition in any type of Brajâwalî language.
The themes of the Bargîts were devotion to lord Krishna as well as the transitory nature of mundane things. Srimanta Sankaradeva glorified the path of devotion in his lyrics. He stressed on listening and chanting God’s name among the nine different methods of devotion. This stress is loud and clear in the Bargîts. He was successful too in his endeavour. That was why many people came near him after listening to his Bargîts. His main attempt was to elevate the people spiritually. That purpose was certainly fulfilled as people changed themselves when they grasped the meaning of the Bargîts.
Srimanta Sankaradeva’s niece, Kamalapriya used to render Bargît by playing a Sârengdâr. Koch General Chilarai had married Kamalpriya. He got to hear such a Bargît from her and thus became attracted to Ek Sharana Nâma Dharma of Srimanta Sankaradeva. He helped the saint a lot during the latter’s times of trouble. Narayanadas Thakur, another disciple of the saint also came to the order after hearing a Bargît. Thus these songs became a tool for propagating the message of Srimanta Sankaradeva. The saint embedded his spiritual philosophy Vivartanavâda nicely in these lyrics.
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