| Bhajan |
| Bhakti [Sanskrit √ bhaj vt "to serve, honor, revere, love, adore . . . , to divide, distribute, allot or apportion to . . . , to share with." Hindi: devotion, particularly devotion to the divine supernatural.] became a potent religious force in India towards the end of the first millennium, CE. It offered an alternative way for Hindus to experience God. Instead of having to go through the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, devotees (particularly those of low social rank who were the farthest from release from this cycle) could now experience God now through their devotion to Him. The path to this release for the devotee or bhakta is the bhakti marga [Sanskrit marga "path." Hindi: path of devotion, a life-style that emphasizes devotion to God]. |
| Two important ways of expressing this devotion are arati [or √ arathi Sanskrit vi aramati "readiness to serve, obedience, devotion; (generally personified as) a goddess protecting the worshippers of the gods and pious works in general, RV" (Monier-Williams 1899:87a). Hindi: n.fem. "the ceremony performed in the worship of gods by moving a lighted lamp or camphor circularly round the idol" (Bhargava 1972: 106b); the music performed as part of the above-mentioned ceremony] and bhajan [Sanskrit bhaj (see above), Hindi: devotional song which may be sung communally or individually and which is a vehicle through which to serve and to honor God by expressing love, adoration, and reverence]. |
| Bhajans are generally composed of two parts: dhruva-pada and pada. The dhruva-pada is the refrain (a couplet) sung at the beginning of the bhajan performance and after each succeeding pada (verse of a rhymed couplet). In most performances each pada and dhruva-pada is repeated. |
| Bhajan texts are often didactic and autobiographical. Didactic texts suggest idealized behaviors for devotees to imitate. Autobiographical texts cite examples from the lives of famous bhaktas such as Mïrabai (see below). Sometimes, bhajans also take a deity, such as Krishna or Rama, as their subject and cite examples from their lives as examples for believers. |
| In this last kind of bhajan the distinction between it and kirtan becomes less clear, the bhajan becoming like the praising kirtan. One way of distinguishing the two is that kirtan generally demands a specialist for performance and, although specialists can be involved in the performance of bhajan, they are not required (see below). Within the context of bhakti, bhajans are not only a way of expressing one's devotion to God, they are also a way to temporarily experience the presence of God on a personal level, thus active participation by the bhaktas is necessary. |
| Devotees can purchase bhajan texts in small booklets (bhajanavalis sold in the bazar or at bus and railway stations) or they can hand copy texts compiled by devotees in school notebooks. A gathering of devotees is a bhajan mandal [mandal Sanskrit: "a disk (esp. of the sun or moon); anything round . . . ; a circle . . . ; a multitude, group, band, collection, whole body, society, company . . . ; (Monier-Williams 1899: 775c) Hindustani: devotional singing group]. A member of such a group is a bhajan mandali and one who knows and can perform many bhajans is a bhajanik. |
| Many women or men (the groups are usually segregated by sex) get together on a weekly basis (often on Thursdays) as a communal singing group to sing bhajans. Sometimes, these groups become so proficient or control such a special bhajan repertoire that others will hire them to come lead their own bhajan mandal. In these performances, anyone can lead: they need only have the devotion and conviction to begin and the others will follow. |
| In the tradition of Gujarati bhajans the tunes are recycled (so to speak) in that a single tune can serve as a vehicle for a number of different texts. This standardized melody to which several texts can be sung is referred to as a dhal [Gujarati nm "matrix" or "mold"]. |
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| References |
| Monier-Williams, Monier. 1899. Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Regerence to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. Second Reprint 1981. |
| Singer, Milton. 1972. Radha-Krishna Bhajans. In When a Great Tradition Modernizes: An Anthropological Approach to Indian Civilization ed. by Milton Singer. New York: Praeger Publishers. |
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| Selected Performances |
| Arathi and bhajan, "Avo, Avo ne Nandaji na Lal" |
| Mira bhajan: "Meware Rana Koi Karate?" |
| Mira bhajan: "Saya Dukhiya Re Ame, Nathi ukhiya" |
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