TANSEN AND RABINDRANATH

[chapter 6]

Great creators and personalities appear snd disappear in the eternal space and time of the Universe. But there are a few great ones, who shine like eternal luminaries to illumine and inspire the mind and soul of the mankind. Their creations are imperishable and their memories are carefully preserved in the subliminal depths of human consciousness. The glorious examples of such great creators have been recorded In the history of mankind and in this connection we way mention the hallowed names of Valmiki and Vedavyas, Plato and Pythagoras, Shakespeare and Kalidas, and lastly Tansen and Rabindranath. On this issue I am dealing with the special contributions in the field of music of the great creators, Tansen and Rabindranath.

Tansen was acclaimed by Abul Fazal, ( the celebrated historian adorning the court of Akbar the Great ) to be the greatest Indian musician since the time of Bharat. Rabindranath on the other hand, is universally regarded as one of the greatest poets of all times. In India his position as the greatest lyrical poet is admitted by all. But Tansen was not only a great musician and a wonderful creator and composer of music, but his songs have their poetical worth as well.

Rabindranath's poetical masterpieces also combined charming composition of musical notes. As such we find that both Tansen and Rabindranath, combined poetry with music. Rabindranath was a practical musician also with an exquisitely charming voice. In fact, in his prime when as a young poet and musician he adorned the house of Maharshi, nobody could foretell in whither way the flowering of his genius would take place and that whether he would be a great musician or a great poet.

Tansen had no parallel in the melodiousness of the voice and Rabindranath also was gifted with a shrill and enchanting tone. Of course Tansen absorbed his soul in quest of Nada. He reached the fountains of the Ragas which are the embodiments of the cosmic melodies. He gave the most profound and richest expressions of Raga melodies through the system of the Hindusthani Dhrubapada. Rabindranath in his prime followed the footsteps of Tansen in his superb compositions of Bengali Dhrubapada music. He assimilated the spirit and forms of Tansen in giving expressions of Bengali classical music most of which fall in the category of "Brahma Sangit". But these songs, although containing influences of Tansen's music, were in no way mere imitations of the past great Master of music. Rabindranath during his long career has composed thousands of lyrical songs of all types of music prevalent in North India and specially in Bengal. The vast field of his musical creations include not only the songs In which the Ragas find their beautiful expressions but viso the dramatic songs, lyrical songs, folk songs, kirtans and others. He has not left anything untouched. He was a versatile genius and had no bound of self expressions. He was not only a great poet but also a great dramatist, novelist, essayist, philosopher and critic. Besides his greatness as a writer he also shone in exceptional glamour as a great actor, singer and a painter. However we are dealing in this little article only about his musical genius which also had manifold expressions in keeping with the lines of his manifold personalities. Tansen's genius of course, found its expression predominantly in music; but as a poet also his contributions have eternal worth. The exact modes of his songs are not easy to discover and are confined to the Gharanas of his descendants and disciples. But the compositions are still there and we can easily determine their poeticaI values which are sublime indeed ! The greatest lyrics of Rabindranath as well as the songs of Tansen, have been devoted to their spiritual realisations. The adoration of one supreme divine inspired both of them. Thus the essence of the Vedantic teachings is the basis of the realisations of both these great masters.

In the Islamic religion embodied by the prophet Mahammad, we find the same monism of the Vedanta, and Mian Tansen discovered the unity of the Vedanta and the Islam in the adoration of one supreme God. But he also assimilated the Truths of the Pouranic religions and Sufism with their rich emotional expressions.

On the other hand, Tagore also while following the unitary truth of upanishad, adopted the symbols of Pouranic cults in the expressions of his sublime emotions. In fact, we find an ideological synthesis of all religions in both Rabindranath and Tansen. Akbar the Great accepted Tansen as his Guru not only for his sublime music but also for propagation of a liberal synthesis of all the religions and philosophies which were flourishing in his time. Akbar's ideal was to establish an Indian Empire in which people of all cults and religions would unite in fraternity with one spiritual goal inspite of the variation in the ways in attaining it. To-day in the middle of the 20th century India is faced with far different circumstances with vaster problems for solutions and in this critical moment of the human history, the problems of religions

are not so acute in the modern world, but the problems of the nations and the systems of life are extremely acute. These problems need a spiritual solution and here we find Rabindranath standing with message of the spiritual Brotherhood of mankind and the peace of the world. He has shown to us that beauty and joy of life are essentially spiritual and men must be free from hatreds and mutual distrust to attain a happier state of existence in love, joy and beauty. Thus it is perfectly befitting for India watch is trying to establish an international order of fellowship and brotherhood to commemorate the centenary of the treat Tagore in a befitting manner.

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