INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

By singing these lines he wanted to draw the audience’s attention to the subject of
death and make them realize that all will die one day, he said. Similarly, on happy
occasions like weddings or birthday parties the same ragi extracted gurbani lines that
contained keywords or themes appropriate for the particular events. In times of marriage
he preferred some of the many compositions in which the Gurus let the passionate
love between a young bride and her husband stand as a metaphor for the
affectionate relationship between God and humans. Motifs of meeting and unification
were particularly significant in this context. Experienced performers may store a
repertoire of memorized lines to be evoked in various performance situations or consult
handbooks on gurbani for assistance in selecting a suitable line. 520 In either case
the referential content of the chosen hymn should in some way or another link up
with a theme or situation for which kirtan is conducted. The verse sung should introduce
and invite the audience to the topic of the performance that will follow.
The main section of a kirtan program may follow various musical rules and
structures depending upon the poetic forms of the hymns rendered and the individual
style of performers. A key rule for a successful performance, however, is the ragi’s
ability to adapt the selection of gurbani verses and the choice of raga to a particular
context in order to evoke moods and processes of reflection among the audience. A
ragi performer in Varanasi illustrated the need for context-sensitiveness and improvisations
by Vairagi kirtan, the music performed when mourning families organize the
last prayer for a deceased family member (See Chapter 4). A natural death at an old
age does not involve the same grief as when a young person passes away, and consequently
he would for the latter context perform hymns specifically aimed to give the
mourners relief. The life-work and moral character of the dead would also influence
the choice of verses. In cases where the deceased had a good and religious nature he
would bring up a hymn in which Kabir tells people not to cry for the dead because
they have returned home to their real home. 521 If the deceased was a drunkard of less
popularity in society he would instead emphasize another line in the same hymn
about how humans are gifted with intellect but forget God and do things that create
sadness in the world. In both instances he combined three to four ragas that had the
capacity to generate feelings of peace and sadness. Within the song structure he
would also insert a general discourse on the universal truth of death based on another
verse from Guru Granth Sahib, because “our duty is to keep the congregation
attached to gurbani”, he said.
To mark the end of kirtan the performer may sing a freely chosen line or verse
from the Guru Granth Sahib. In case the performance will be followed by the reading
of the Ardas and distribution of karah prashad, the ragi jatha will sing the first five
519
GGS: 1365.
520
Such as Piara Singh Padam’s book Guru Granth Vichar Kosh (1998), in which excerpts of
hymns are quoted and indexed under specific topics.
521
Kabir’s hymns in Rag Maru are considered proper for Vairagi kirtan.
298
Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008