Where are the original devotional composers of India?
India has had a rich tradition of music, especially when it comes to soulful devotional compositions. There have been great composers/singers from all parts of India through the ages whether it be Meera, Andaal, Kabir, Tyagaraja or many more, pouring their soul out through heart melting lyrics set to stirring music that expresses profound depths of inquiry into Truth and devotion to the Divine. But sadly such original composers have been mostly conspicuously absent in India in the last couple of centuries. There is no originality in even the most famous singers of modern India, classical or otherwise. Even if a few rare ones sing with genuine devotion along with great skill, it is not their own compositions or lyrics that they sing. Holistic music with one’s own melody, lyrics and feeling coming from the heart seems almost entirely absent. What we see instead is a singer switching from a deep devotional song to a vapid pop number, neither of which he has composed or written lyrics for but just giving voice like a parrot. Even the purists who stick only to classical music are found to badly mispronounce the existing lyrics, let alone write lyrics of their own! And what’s worse, the established orthodoxy actively discourages anyone from even venturing to explore new territory on their own.
On the contrary, we see that a striking feature of music in the West is that almost always it is entirely the creative output of a particular artist or band, expressing not just their skill and talent but their thought and their soul. What is expressed, in many cases, may be quite dark in expressing their frustration with society, rage against the established order etc. but it is at least authentically them. There is a certain consistency to the creative output because it is their own.
This was certainly the case with the great composers of India and at a whole other dimension. Their songs reveal their bright souls filled with devotion and wisdom. They go past the material frustration with society to the transcendent reality and therefore it switches from being dark to being the very embodiment of light. And it is uniquely the outpouring of the composer’s devotion. For instance, Tyagaraja did not perform any songs of another great composer such as Syama Sastri, however great they are. Because it was not an expression of his devotion. Same with Tulsidas and Kabir for instance. There is a unique stamp (mudra) of Tyagaraja or Kabir or any of the great composers of India in their songs.
Those who are into Indian music may look into this question of why there is no originality anymore. It is true that one can get into great depth of devotion by truly connecting to the compositions of the greats. But it will also be nice if there is some revival of that glorious tradition of a total expression of one’s being seen in the great composers of India. There is hardly any like that in modern India in any genre. But the potential for originality is clearly there and has expressed itself at sublime heights in the past.
Now one may question whether any art is even original in the sense of being new. It is certainly true that the subject of any art is as ancient as the hills. And art is not produced in a vacuum, so there are always influences of the past. So being original is not about being new as much as being fresh. This can be seen in any creative enterprise. Say if one writes a piece expressing oneself. No word is new obviously. Yet a sincere exploration brings them together in a fresh way that is authentic. If one instead just quotes somebody else, there is no freshness or active inquiry there. It has its great value certainly, especially when we look at the words of certain beings who have lived and expressed profound truths. But it’s important to complement it with our own inquiry which can come out in ‘our own’ words and have an aliveness to it. Same is true with music or any art for that matter. A fresh exploration can make any activity come alive, whether it be cooking, writing or singing. Otherwise we reduce humans to second hand creatures.
So what’s necessary is a sincere look into this lacuna in Indian music of the recent past and its possible causes. A fundamental contributing reason may be that the soil of Indian civilization itself has been weakened in the last couple of hundred years tremendously through an educational system that was designed to produce people who can take orders and not think critically. The soil has to be changed over before giant trees can again take root. This requires not just a new system of education toward which some good efforts are underway but also a foundational shift in consciousness.
There are other specific factors related to music at play I am sure, that more informed people may be aware of.
All that being said, certainly there are some shining exceptions. And unfortunately most of them are unsung and even unheard of, due to the stranglehold of the orthodoxy. It will be very interesting to bring to light such exceptions and give them more exposure.
One such tremendous example of an unsung musical genius who lived recently is Sadhu Om. He was prolific in his outpouring of devotion to Ramana Maharshi, each song dripping with the nectar of wisdom and divine love. I will follow up with a series to present some of his soulful compositions with simple lyrics that are accessible to common folk and yet laced with uncommon wisdom.