Pūrṇapramati Vyākhya

Bhakti Saṅgīta – Śikṣaṇa

[Devotional Music & Education]

Concept Note

तसस्या जस्यानममॆव सस्याधनममतमॆकके

अनन्योनस्याश्रयत्वममतनमॆ ॥
स्वयमम1 फलरूपतमॆमत ब्रह्मककुमस्यारस्यार
...
तसस्यार सस्याधनस्यामन गस्याययंतस्याचस्यायस्यारर
ततकु मवषयतस्यागस्यातम सयंगतस्यागस्यातम च ॥
अवस्याववृत भजनस्यातम
लन्योकमॆऽमप भगवदकुणश्रवणककीतरनस्यातम ॥
ननारद भककक्ति ससत्र – 28-30, 34-37

Commemorating the 'Sapta Śatamānotsava' of Madhvācārya as well as the 'Sahasrābdi'

of Rāmānujācārya in 2017 CE, Pūrṇapramati has chosen 'Bhakti' as the theme for
reflection for the academic year 2017-18 CE.

This Seminar on 'Devotional Music & Education', part of such a reflection,intends to

begin deeper deliberations on 'Bhakti' as an important part of education of an individual
and an inalienable part of character-building of not just an individual but also of collectives.

It is pertinent to recall this quote,attributed to Mark Twain: “I never let schooling interfere
with my education”,in this context.

We live in times where education has come to be equated with what happens in school
and what happens in school is so very inadequate to address the requirements of an
individual for one's own progress in all the three realms of existence: ādhi bhautika, ādhi
daivika, ādhyātmika. The goals of the curriculum taught in schools have everything
arrayed against the kindling of 'Bhakti' that is inherently present in most Indians. The
consequence of this state of affairs is that that inherent nature manifests itself by taking
recourse to developing devotion to things more mundane that may not have the capacity
to transcend the here and now. In other words, it leads to worshipping false gods.

Devotional music,which is grounded in deep philosophical traditions is an effective anti-

dote to this situation. Music, by its very nature touches the heart of a person before it
grows deep into one's mind. Having captured the heart, if the person's conditions are
conducive for one's mind to persist with it, then it deepens the evocation of various bhāva-
s within the person, and for those who are cleansed of their mental impurities, they
experience the rasa. If one were to take the lyrical poetry such as that of Dāsa Sāhitya
also into account, then the range of human experiences, the conduct of rituals of men and
women, the fundamental human condition, essence of a number of Śāstra-s – all these
1 भमक
and more that they convey could be treated as a 'curriculum' of its own kind, that is in the
nature of a holistic education, albeit a non-scholastic one, though it could as well be made
scholastic to meet different purposes. Not everyone may have it in them to be a performing
artiste, but one could certainly 'educate' oneself to be a 'sahṛdaya' to appreciate the best
of an artiste.

The societal implications of such an education are very many. A society of 'sahṛdaya-s'
has little reason for petty considerations, internal dissensions or violent exchanges. It is
possible for such a society to realize the lofty Ṛgvedic ideal: सयंगच्छध्वमम सयंवदध्वमम सयंवन्यो मनस्यायंसस
जस्यानतस्यामम

This Seminar has four performing artistes, three vocal and one instrumental, who have
engaged for a long time in their life for the spread of devotional music as well as the
propagation of the cause of 'Bhakti' in the society through their performances, their
organizations as well as their teaching. The Seminar seeks to learn from the distilled
wisdom of these artistes about their reflections on the topic 'Devotional Music and
Education' in the light of the context thus generated. We request the artistes to top their
reflections with a short performance that they feel would be suitable and appropriate.