IN my last paper, I referred to a religious association, the members of which followed the temple idol, when it was carried in procession, and sang sacred lyrics. In a neatly built room, in the middle of the village, surrounded on all sides by a flower garden, is the meeting place of this religious association, which in Tamil is called Bajanakutam. At the entrance over the gateway is represented the trident mark of the Vishnava sect with the figures of Garuda and Hanuman on either side. Inside, on the walls all round, are hung pictures representing the different incarnations of Vishnu, and on the floor are seen scattered in confusion various musical instruments. Here in this room, con- secrated to Vishnu, the members of the Bajana-kutam meet for worship. The day on which the festival described in my last paper took place, was a gala day with the people of the association. All the members were present on the occasion, and followed the idol to the top of the hill, and in the evening when it was taken down in procession they displayed un- usual interest in their work and did their utmost to please the people. They were all dressed alike, with sandal abundantly smeared over their bodies. Their hind-locks were profusely decked with flowers. The chief man of the association, who is also the most intelligent, had what is called a tambour resting on his right shoulder, and he dexterously passed his forefinger over the steel wires of the instrument, while in his left hand he had two small pieces of wood with iron rings and small bells attached. The sound produced by striking the two pieces of wood against each other, blending with the tinkling of the small bells, produced a curious effect. This musician had, besides, strings of small bells tied round his legs. Thus accoutred, he sang in a loud voice and also danced, with both his hands engaged. Another member of the Bajanakutam played the drum, while a third played the fiddle. Two or three had small circular shaped metallic instruments which when struck against each other sent forth sharp shrill sounds. To the accompaniment of these musical instruments the members of the asso- ciation sang sacred songs when following the idol. There were hundreds of people near the singing party who seemed to thoroughly enter into the spirit of what was sung. Their faces beamed with joy, and some actually danced and clapped their hands. It may interest my readers to have translations of one or two of the songs sung on the occasion to which I refer. Here is one:—
Trust firmly in one God and thus be saved, O mind ! Do not be born again by trusting in false gods, It is not easy for the lame, O mind ! To reach the honeycomb upon the tree And drink of its sweet honey. Even so ’Tis hard for sinful men to contemplate The sacred name of Govinda, O mind !
Trust firmly in one God and thus be saved, O mind ! Do not be born again by trusting in false gods. Thou know’st how powerless is the frog to cull Sweet nectar from the lotus. Even so To sinful men no happiness affords The sweet and sacred name of Bagavan.
SACRED LYRICS. 195
Trust firmly in one God and thus be saved, O mind! Do not be born again by trusting in false gods. Say if the ass, that carries on his back The kung’ma flower,1 its uses understands: E’en so, are fools and madmen helpless to Discern the greatness of our Venkatésa.
Trust firmly in one God and thus be saved, O mind! Do not be born again by trusting in false gods. ‘Tis only Siva who can understand The goodness in the sacred name of God. E’en so, the virtuous and the good alone Are able to discern the highest truths.
Trust firmly in one God and thus be saved, O mind! Do not be born again by trusting in false gods. Know well what has been taught to thee, O mind! By the great Thathadésikar, and thus Enjoy the presence of Parankusa Who lives in heaven, the dwelling-place of God.
Here is another:—
Be saved by meditating every day On Ramanama mantra, thou, O mind!
It is the only mantra that to us Affords salvation sure from all our sins.
It is the sacred mantra, thou, O mind! That saved Gajanthra in the hour of need.
It is the mantra, thou, O mind! that gave The never ending cloth to Draupatha.
It is the sacred mantra, thou, O mind ! That Prakalath to mankind so well taught.
It is the sacred mantra, thou, O mind ! That with Govarthana the shepherds saved.
It is the sacred mantra, thou, O mind ! That to Valmiki showed the way to heaven.
It is the sacred mantra, thou, O mind ! That to his wife great Siva taught of old.
It is the mantra, thou, O mind ! that saved Kabir and Ramdoss in this kaliyug.
It is the mantra, thou, O mind ! that gives Eternal joy to good and virtuous men.
It is the sacred mantra, thou, O mind ! That to Parankusa gave joy divine.
Such are specimens of the lyrics sung by the members of the Bajanakutam. It may be well that I should explain briefly the various allusions in the latter. The third stanza refers to the story of Gajanthra having once gone to drink water in a channel and been caught by a crocodile. For several days the elephant had neither food nor water, and his life was in imminent danger. At last when he had no strength to extricate himself from his perilous position and was about to be dragged into the water, he thought of Vishnu. It is said that Vishnu immediately appeared and saved him.
The allusion in the next stanza is to the story which appears in the Mahabaratha, one of the two great national epics of the Hindus. Duri- yodhana of the Kurus wanted to insult the chaste Draupatha, of the Pandus, before a large assembly, and with this object he directed that she should be stripped of her cloth. Draupatha thought of Vishnu, and thereupon the cloth which she was wearing went on increasing in length. The result was that the person charged with the duty of stripping grew tired, and Drau- patha was saved.
The next stanza refers to one of the most popular stories in India. Prakalath was the son of Hirania, who tried to dissuade him from owning Vishnu as his god by punishing him in various ways. But Prakalath would not re- nounce Vishnu, and in the end was saved, while Hirania was killed by Vishnu himself.
The story of Krishna lifting the hill of Govarthanagiri to save the shepherds will be found fully related in my last chapter.
It is said that Valmiki, the renowned author of the Ramayana, was at first an illiterate hunter, but that by having been taught con- stantly to utter the word Rama he came to understand the divine truths, and afterwards by inspiration wrote the grand epic. It is said that Siva once taught his wife about the greatness of Vishnu. It is believed that Kabir, a Muhammadan, and Rama Doss, a Hindu, were in very recent times (in the present kaliyuga) saved by Vishnu for believ- ing in him even at the risk of their lives. The above stories are known to the most ignorant villager, so that the references to them in the pieces sung by the members of the Bajanakutam were highly appreciated. Also the references made in the first piece to the ass that bears the kunguma flower, the lame man that wishes to reach the honeycomb on the tree, and the frog that is unable to extract the honey from the lotus, are so well known that every one understands them. In fact, there are proverbial sayings founded on them which every Hindu is able to quote. Further, the language in which the above lyrics and all similar lyrics are expressed is very plain and simple. Although they are written with full regard for the rules of Tamil prosody, they are nevertheless easily under- stood, as they are intended for the masses. There is still another peculiar characteristic to be found in these pieces, and that is the refer- ence made to Siva, who, it is said, has acknow- ledged the superiority of Vishnu. The Saivites do not admit this, and the Saivites and Vishnu- vites hate each other most intensely.
The members of the Bajanakutam honour and respect one another greatly. When two members meet, they fall at each other’s feet and exchange kind words. At these times they use a language peculiar to themselves, and which is called in Tamil Paribasha. In this article and the previous one I have given a brief account of the great feast of Pongal, which to Hindus is as important as Christmas is to Christians, and of the religious association existing in Kélambakam, the members of which follow the village idol and sing sacred lyrics.
Notes
A costly flower used in Indian medicines. ↩︎