The unwavering light
GAUTAM CHATTERJEE
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Thakur Jaidev Singh, whose 20th death anniversary falls this May, was a mystic among musicians.
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Thakur Jaidev Singh was a polymath. He was a musicologist, a direct disciple of Ustad Faiyaz Khan of the Agra gharana and virtually a Kashmir Shaivite as well. After renouncing the services of All India Radio and his post at the Sangeet Natak Akademi, he spent most of his time in Varanasi till his death at the age of 93 in May 1986. Here he produced several works on classical music, Kashmir Shaivism and Kabir. "Indian Music" is his representative work in the field of Indian classical music.
Recalling Faiyaz Khan
During those last days, we had a long discussion on Dhrupad, Khayal, prabandha, gharanas, gayaki and aesthetics. The Thakur, who delivered several lectures on these subjects and wrote over 70 articles, had a love for the `rangili gayaki' of Ustad Faiyaz Khan. He used to recall his Kanpur and Agra days when Faiyaz Khan Saheb once came to his house and sang for two hours.
"Khan Saheb had a resilient quality in his vocal chords to produce a special kind of sound quality. He could create bhava with rasa only by the precise use of swaras. He had popularised some ragas like Darbari, Natavihag and Jaijaiwanti, etc. While presenting Bahar, he emphasised Madhyam from the very beginning. I never heard Natavihag, Kanhada and Paraj as he presented them in my house. Ravi Kichalu was there. He taught me a Dadra in Gara: `Jiya me lagi aan baan'."
Raga as emotion
How can a single raga yield so many divergent expressions and connotations? He answered, "The word raga is used both in the technical and etymological sense, like the word pankaja.
The root of the word raga is ranj or rang, which means both to colour and delight or charm. Every raga therefore, while it delights, also suggests an emotional mood which colours the mind in a particular way, brings along an atmosphere. This is the etymological sense of the word raga. That's why, from time to time, it varies in feeling in accordance with different minds."
As to how he dealt with the process, he explained, "In answer to this question, Abhinava Gupta (the great polymath of the 10th Century) puts forth the powerful imagery of a mirror. He says, the mirror reflects the existence of a city, but one cannot see the real city, where the mirror is not different from the reflection.
Similarly, the consciousness is our mirror. Delight in music is mere reflection of the light or Sadashiva, who is standing behind. The seen is Vimarsha, and the unseen is Prakasha in Kashmir Shaivism.'
He would relate and compare the philosophically `upside-down' language of Kabir with Taoism and explained in terms of Agama or Tantra. He used to say, "Beyond is always beyond, and the creative time is here and now."
Book on the anvil
The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts is now compiling all his articles and lectures into a voluminous book. Before his death, he had nearly completed his fifth book on Kashmir Shaivism, "Paraatrishikaa-Vivarana" (The secret of Tantric Mysticism of Abhinava Gupta).
He had spent six years on it, translating from Sanskrit to English with notes, etc. It appeared posthumously in 1988. "Indian Music" was also published posthumously in 1995, thanks to Professor Premlata Sharma's initiative, another remarkable musicologist.
Oral literature
Thakur Jaidev Singh also made an important contribution in compiling the oral literature of Kabir as "Sakhi", "Sabad" and "Ramaini". He had a strong desire to dip deeper and deeper into the pure knowledge of Kashmir Shaivism, in the profound work of Abhinava Gupta related to music and Tantra. Closing the interview, he said, "I have to taste the pure consciousness in the simplest way or musically, and recognise myself to shed all my false selves. These 93 years were insufficient. The light never gropes. It is looking at me."
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