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Sangeet
Music. Music indeed brings us closer to divine.
Even nature speaks to us in musical notes. The seven principal notes
said to be associated with the cries of animals and birds, and are
classified as: Shadaj (Sa) - the cry of peacock; Rishabh (Rey) - the sound
made by the cow when calling her calf; Gandhaar (Ga) - the bleat of the
goat; Madhyam (Ma) - the cry of the heron and the tonic of nature;
Pancham (Pa) - the note of the Cuckoo or Kokilaa, the Indian nightingale;
Dhaivata (Dha) - the neighing of the horse; Nishaad (Ni) - the trumpeting
of an elephant.
The real aim of Indian music has always been to attain self-realization
and through music practiced as Naadopaasanaa. Music was never a form of
entertainment, nor a fine art, but it was a mode for attaining eternal
beatitude (Moksh, Apavarg, Swarg, etc.). That is why we had a large
number of saints, evolved souls and devotees among its best exponents
and composers.
Saarang Dev pays homage to Lord Shankar as `Naad Tanu,' i.e.
`one whose body is sound' which led to music itself being
described as `Brahm Naad'. Naad itself being Ahat and Anahat. Since
Anahat Naad being devoid of aesthetic beauty, does not afford pleasure to
the mind, hence Ahata Naad alone was studied and meditated upon by us.
Saarang Dev has written as how Naad is
caused in the human body. The Aatma or soul, desiring to speak or sing,
stirs the mind; the mind strikes the fire abiding in the body; the fire
strikes the wind; the wind abiding in Brahm Granthi, rising along the
upward path, manifests sound in the navel, the heart, the throat, the
head and the mouth. I guess he talks about the Anahat Naad which we hear
in silence and once we recognize that, we ultimately enjoy the Ahata
Naad in a much better way. The success of Mantra chanting also lies in
realizing these two Naad clearly and separately.
When one meditates on the silence before the chanting of a Mantra or
sound and the silence at the end of the Mantra - one who meditates on
the silence, stillness and void – can become one with the Mantra Deity. (Beginners can experience this better with OM chanting).
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