Bhajana Sampradaya
“Chant the name of Govinda, for when the end is near, mere rules of grammar and prosody will not protect you” said Adi Sankara, in the opening lines of his work bhaja gOvindam.
From time immemorial, the concept of direct communion with Godhead has held universal appeal. The Bhakti movement strengthened the belief. During the times of the great saints such as Kabir, Nanak, Tulsidas, Meera and Surdas, congregations began to grow in strength. These men and women of God eschewed the high flown Sanskrit of the priests and began singing in everyday language. The gathering received the teachings of the savants in rapt attention and in complete bliss would begin singing of the glory of God, to the accompaniment of simple music instruments such as the EktAra, the cipla and the dhOlak.
Having gained ground in North India, bhajans made their way south with the arrival of the Mahrattas at Tanjore in 1676 AD. The entertainers who followed the rulers, from their native land were soon to find great fan following among the general public of the region. Language was not a deterrent, for bhajans involved the repetition of certain simple tenets and names of God, set in simple music that a chorus could sing. Over time, language barriers also vanished for bhajans came to be composed in southern languages too.
The Tanjore region became the bhajana tradition’s stronghold with the arrival of the bhajana sampradAya trinity, namely Sadguru Swamin, Bhodendral and Sridhara Venkatesa Ayyaval. The trio existed between 1684 and 1817 AD. Ayyaval who was the senior most is considered the father of the Bhajan tradition in South India. Born in Tiruvisanallur, Tanjore District, Ayyaval was a contemporary of King Shahaji I (ruled 1684-1712). He firmly believed in nAma siddhAnta, the principle of chanting God’s name and composed several simple songs for congregational singing. The test of his devotion came on a day when he had invited several Brahmins to his house in connection with certain rites to please his ancestors. As the ceremony was to commence, a starving person of a lower caste appeared at Ayyaval’s doorway and moved by his plight, Ayyaval offered him the food meant for the Brahmins. This angered the priests who refused to partake of food in his house unless he had purified himself by bathing in the Ganges, which of course was several thousand kilometers away. Ayyaval proceeded to the well at the back of his house and composed a hymn in praise of the great river. The waters of the Ganges flooded his well, enabling him to teach the Brahmins a lesson in equality of all before the Supreme. Ayyaval is commemorated till date at Tiruvisanallur, where the bhajana tradition is maintained.
Bhodendra Swamigal was the 59th pontiff of the Kanchi Kamakoti Pitham. He was a close friend and contemporary of Ayyaval. Bhodendral firmly believed in the efficacy of chanting rAma nAma as the answer to all ills. He was thus referred to as bhagavan nAma bhOdEndra. Bhodendral laid down the rules and methods of conducting bhajana. It is said that once a Brahmin lady while returning from Benares was forcibly abducted by a Muslim and had to cohabit with him for sometime. When she returned to Tanjore, her husband refused to accept her. The matter was referred to Bhodendral who asked her to utter the name of Rama and singing of him, to plunge into the waters of a lake. When she did so, a divine voice proclaimed her innocence. Bhodendra Swamigal is commemorated at his Samadhi in Govindapuram.
The youngest of this Trinity was Venkatarama Sadguru Swamin who hailing from Tiruvisanallur, set up the bhajana tradition at Marudanallur. Struck dumb while a child, he was blessed with speech by Bodhendra Swamigal. He later traveled far and wide bringing many into his fold. This included King Sarabhoji. Sadguru Swamin included in his repertoire several aShTapadis of Jayadeva and the Tarangas of Narayana Teertha. He introduced the usage of the tambura to keep shruti during the singing sessions. He is commemorated at Marudanallur where the Radha Kalyana Utsavam is held every year. It was at the Marudanallur Mutt that Papanasam Sivan got the inspiration for holding bhajan sessions, which he continued from 1921 every year till his demise in 1973, at the Mylapore Kapaliswarar Temple.
Over the years, bhajan has come to embrace a variety of deities. It is in fact the great unifying force for it includes everyone from the learned to the laity. Today it is most evident among the worshippers of Sai Baba, for the only form of worship that He asks for is the bhajan. It is simple in its appeal and emotional in content, thereby making it an effective method to communicate with God.
Dear Sir, I like your blog both the selection of topic and your narrative writing. I enjoy reading it. On this blog on Bhajans, the comment i propose to make below is not at the outset finding fault with some statements in this blog, its only an additional food for thought which u may want to consider and hence request you not to mis understand. The development of bhajana sampradya in Tamilnadu specially has a strong influnece from Maharashtra- the warkari sect- the pioneer being Saint Dnyaneshwar followed by Abhangs of Saint Tukaram, then several others followed (to keep it cryptic) them. The paddhati of bahajanai and its sampradya was born and honed here and went to south during the maratha rule. The Tanjore maratha kings encouraged the arts and it got inbibed in our tamil culture and indigenous tamil bhajanais took a good shape so is the case with Katha Kalakshepam.How much strong was the northern influence to this am not aware ( as there were no Hindu kings of north who ruled South, the moughals or nawabs seem to have not planted north bhajans in south). Even before the maratha influence our tamil saints had holy names sung, but the strcuture of the marathi bhajana sampradaya is what truly added the lusture. Today our tamil people sing such beautiful abahngs and kirtans of the maratha saints both in laya and sahitya that it moves once emotion ( some times i feel even Tukarma would have been wonder struck with the sheer beauty of how sis abangs are sung by tamilians with a shade of our carnatic rasa its so beautiful, many maharashtrias themselves have told me that they are better sung then the natives). I mention this as i notice it in the city of mumbai-in all places-temples,bus and local trains also.Our own Ganapti Tukaram Maharaj is doing wonders ….
Best regards
Dear Sir
I agree with you 100%
Regards
Od late Sri Haridasgiri maharaj, his sishya Br. Sri.jayakrishna dhikshidar are spreading the bhajan Sampradaya Not to be left alone is Udayalur Kalyanarama Bhagavatar, who with his melliflous voice,has attracted thousands, to be spell bound and sing and dance with him.
Of course the Harikatha sampradaya also descended from Maharashtra, to the banks of Cauvery, which welcomed with open arms theVijayanagar kings, who left the Telugu Natyar nataka sampradaya in Saliamangalam and Melattur, who till the last chitra powrnami, enact the Prahlada Charitram, over night, after a sumptuous dinner with the three fruits, mango, plantain and jack fruit.
How sambhar, in our menu, descended from maharashtra, is another story.
Glad to note the trinity of Bhajana . I am sure the “Trinity” will be remembered every year befitting their invaluable contribution in a manner similar to Thyagaraja Aradhana. I have heard of Water sprouting out in the well on the occasion of Karthik Amavasya Day. I have also heard of the Alangudi Bhajans held every year. May their traditions continue