Who are the Rasikas? (Part 1)
[[Who are the Rasikas? (Part 1) Source: prekshaa]]
It will be appropriate to explain the purpose behind reminiscing several musicians and rasikas. 1 The purpose is simply the lament that connoisseurship has decreased in today’s world. Everywhere and in all walks of life, the business mindset reflected by the materialistic nature of people has increased. The number of people asking the question “What do you get by listening to music?” is increasing. High-rise buildings have value. Silk clothes have value. Motor cars have value. Gold and precious stones have always had immense value. Liquor and food also have great value – among the wealthy folk. Kāvya (poetry) and Saṅgītā (music) are the ones that aren’t valued any more. If there’s a wedding in the house, it is customary for a few sounds to fill the ambience. Kāvya-vācana^(^([2])), music, etc. are part of those sounds. The three things that have lost value in our society are:
The notion among today’s elites is that let such programs take place, even if mediocre, with the least expenses. I can give an example of a true story that I heard about.
An anecdote
There was a wedding at a wealthy landlord’s house, in Bangalore. It was a very lavish wedding in every aspect. A huge pandal, decorated with buntings, colorful electric lightings, sofa, chairs, and other furnishings – everything was in abundance.
Around 4pm in the evening, the music party arrived. A main vocalist, a singer to assist, a violinist, a mridaṅga (Indian drums) player, a tāṅpura player, a person for tāḻa^(^([5])) – all six people arrived with their instruments. One of them requested the landlord to reimburse the expenses of the car.
Landlord: “Are these to be paid separately? These expenses are included in the contract.”
The musicians kept quiet, as they did not want to obstruct the event. The concert began. At around five-thirty, one of the musicians approached the landlord and asked, “Any coffee arrangements?”
Landlord: “They are not separate. It is included in the contract,” signaling a “No” by his hand gesture. The musicians bought their own coffee.
It was half past eight. Landlord said, “Time’s up.” The musicians concluded the concert with maṅgaḻam^(^([6])).
The landlord said to the musician, “What’s this, sir! You charge a considerable amount for the concert, but you waste a lot of time between each of the songs,” while garlanding him.
To the violinist, he said, “The musician was at least gasping for breath. What about you? Is it so hard to move your fingers? Why were you idle?”
The mridaṅga player was criticized too; “How hard is it to beat the drums?”
He finally stood near the tāṅpura player. “You are truly loyal. You played without taking any break. The money paid to you is worthy,” he said and garlanded him.
This is the rasikatā of the wealthy. These kind of people apparently exist even in the western countries. They are called Nouveau riche – “The New Rich.”
Encouragement from the Business Community
I can strongly proclaim that rāsikya had not fallen to such low standards in our country, about forty-five to fifty years ago. In those times, many businessmen were also music enthusiasts. Whenever the Doḍḍaṇṇa Hall in Bangalore was available, it hosted concerts of vocalist Viduṣī Rajayi, Viduṣī Sarasvati-bai’s harikathā^(^([7])), music concert of Maharajapuram Vaidyanatha Iyer and many more – In all these performances, one-third of the audience were wealthy businessmen; another one-third were officials and lawyers; remaining were commoners like me. I also knew businessmen who actively tutored music. I knew a person, a mason by profession, who went all the way to Pudukkottai, to learn khanjarā (also called khanjira)^(^([8])) from Dakshinamurthy Pillai. Both Bidaram Krishnappa and [Mysore] Vasudevacharya were patronized by the wealthy business community of Mysore. Even a tiny village like Mulbagal generously rewarded the musicians who were invited to perform in their village. It was a golden era. Every town had enough number of people who revered the guest-scholars and extended great hospitality. There were fifty-sixty inquisitive listeners. Out of them, at least ten were capable of providing monetary assistance. Usually, the remuneration was no less than five rupees. Ten rupees was not uncommon. An artist would be pleased with ten rupees as remuneration. Even renowned scholars of the last forty-fifty years, were happy with ten-fifteen rupees of remuneration in those times.
In those days, art was felicitated. People were of the opinion that, just as good quality milk and ghee are essential to physical health, music and literature are essential to the well-being of the mind.
But today, everything is valued by money. Business mindset and commercial spirit mark the characteristics of today’s society. It gives more importance to the bahiraṅga 2 and less to the aṅtaraṅga^(^([10])). The day emotional connect lost relevance in the society, humanity declined. We are distancing from humanity and falling towards barbarism.
This series of articles contains biographies of dancers and musicians. I believe that this will especially be appealing to the rasikas.
Who are rasikas?
A rich man on getting old, pondered about the future of his family and his wealth, and to know the inherent character of his four children, he came up with a plan. He called upon each of his sons separately and handed over a rupee to each one of them and said, “Buy any household item.”
The first son bought candles. Will it not light-up the entire house? The second son bought cow dung (usually used as fuel or sanitizer). Can’t it be used to sanitize the entire house? The third son got a stack of hay. Can’t it be spread around all the rooms of the house?
The fourth son bought aromatic incense sticks. Upon lighting the incense stick, does the fragrance not spread through the entire house?
Out of the four sons, the last one is a rasika.
In this world, an object carries value for two reasons: one for utility; another for beauty. Broomsticks and dust pans have value in terms of utility. Flowers and scents have value because of its essence (of fragrance and beauty).
There is no meal without rice, lentils, salt, and sugar. There is no life without these essentials. But without flowers or scents, no one will die. This is the argument of most people. But there is a counter-argument to this. What’s the use if you just eat rice and dal and do not experience any kind of fragrance in your entire life? Will it not be just like dogs or jackals?
It is a question that everyone ponders about. This is well-reflected in a Kannada proverb that translates to: “Fighting someone selling sandal powder is better than friendship with someone selling cowdung.”^(^( [^21.11]))
This is the first part of a two-part English translation of the twenty-first essay in D V Gundappa’s magnum-opus Jnapakachitrashaale (Volume 2) – Kalopasakaru. Edited by G S Raghavendra.
Footnotes
^(^([2])) Recitation of classical poetry, typically set to classical rāgas.
^(^([3])) Mantra is a sacred utterance that has spiritual power. It could be a syllable, a word, a phrase, a sentence, a verse, or a whole poem. It is often used for meditation.
^(^([4])) As per the traditional definition, kāvya, ‘poetry,’ refers to content and not to form. A prose piece can be a kāvya as long as it evokes rasa (aesthetic/emotional experience) while verses written in meter will not be kāvya if they don’t evoke rasa.
^(^([5])) Striking by hands and fingers to indicate the measure of time in music, while singing or playing musical instruments.
^(^([6])) A customary song that is sung at the end of a concert or an auspicious occasion.
^(^([7])) A mythological and musical discourse.
^(^([8])) A percussion instrument of Carnatic classical music.
^(^([10])) Subtle emotional feelings, thoughts associated with the heart and mind.
^(^([11])) “ಸಗಣಿಯವನೊಡನೆ ಸರಸಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಗಂಧದವನೊಡನೆ ಗುದ್ದಾಡುವುದು ಲೇಸು.”
Who are the Rasikas? (Part 2)
[[Who are the Rasikas? (Part 2) Source: prekshaa]]
The Nature of Rasikas
Say, you have an invite to a dinner at a relative’s house, which is loaded with laddoos and chirotis (sweets). M S Subbalakshmi’s concert is scheduled elsewhere, at the same time. Which one of them would you have chosen? If you choose to go to your relative’s house, they will warmly welcome you and you will be given a royal treatment. On the other hand, no one will acknowledge your presence in the concert. You will have to struggle to find a seat and make yourself comfortable amongst thousands of people. Which one will you choose? The one that is palatable to your taste buds or the one that is appealing to your ears and mind? The character of a true rasika is to give prominence to things that brings happiness and joy to his mind, and enriches his mind and soul.
T S Venkannayya was a rasika. We were once discussing about the bees, being jet black in color, their buzz, and their delight of being amidst the flowers. We thought that we will be able to witness the excitement of the bees during sunrise in Lalbagh^(^([1])), and decided to go there the next day. We woke up at 4am and ran to Lalbagh. We both were coffee addicts. But we completely forgot about it that day. After pleading with the gatekeeper, we went into the park around 4.30-4.45am and stood near the Surahonne (Indian-Laurel) tree. After ten or fifteen minutes, we ran to the Pādari (Yellow snake) tree. After ten minutes, we stood near a Hippe (Honey) tree. At the crack of dawn, the first glimmering rays of sunlight were visible. It became apparent that day that the poets of yore were accurate in their glorification of the bees.
Food eaten can be bland but the music that you listen to has to be laden with emotions. It does not matter if clothes are in tatters, but it is required to be around the fragrance of the jasmine. This is the opinion of a rasika.
Signature of Rasa
Rasa means to bring out essence. The flavor or quality of a substance which makes us yearn for more and more of that substance, is the rasa.
The signature of rasa is described in the Vedas as:
rasaggaṃ hyevāyaṃ labdhvā ānandī bhavati
The ecstasy experienced due to the guṇa-viśeṣā (special quality) or śakti-viśeṣā (special strength) of a substance is rasa.
It is common knowledge that a person who gives more importance to rasa is called rasika.
Rasika in interested in the quality, rather than the quantity of a substance. He regards and respects the emotional aspect of the substance, instead of its commercial value.
The eminent personality, Sir M Visvesvaraya, used to eat just four morsels for a meal. But he used to relish the taste of each and every morsel. He used to call obbattu^(^([2])) as national delicacy. But he used to eat only a small piece from the central portion of it. He was a true connoisseur of food. He did not want the food to be overly spiced or garnished. He just relished the natural taste of the core ingredients.
Metaphorically, rasika is the resident of “kingdom of mind.” It does not mean that he does not care for the physical realm. Without the body there is no mind. But for a rasika, what body experiences, is like branches of a tree, while what the mind experiences, is like its flowers and fruits.
Every house has a kitchen, dining room, store room. It also has a hall and a living room. We spend most of the time in the living room; that is where we have our lively conversations.
A rasika spends time in the physical endeavors, only as much as it is required. But he is more curious about the mind. Whatever that brings joy to the mind forms the essence of his life.
The same can be said in context of clothes and jewelry. A beautiful girl from Kerala wore just a single jasmine flower over her thick black hair. Not an entire bunch of flowers. The contrasting backdrop of the thick black hair enhanced the brightness of the jasmine flower. It also enhanced the beauty of her hair by two fold.
Arcot Shrinivasacharya, had a unique way of listening to music. He used to hand-pick the musicians to perform for forty-five minutes to one hour. Within that short span of time, he just requested either one rāga or one kṛti^(^([3])). He did not want a wide range of songs. He needed only a few, but a melodious few.
The essence of a pot of milk lies in either its cream or small-seed sized butter. This essence is what a rasika is after, not the entire pot of milk.
Rasikatā is Culturally Enriching
We perceive the world at two levels. The first is through the body, and the other is the mind. It begins with the senses. It then extends to the mind. Describing ānandā^(^([4])), upaniṣad-ācaryās^(^([5])) give an example of the happiness experienced by a young man who is hale and hearty, and also financially sound. They then ask to multiply that happiness hundred-folds and infer the feeling of brahmānandā^(^([6])). This is a crude description. But the important takeaway is that our initial experiences of the world are through our senses. Our senses are the means through which we measure all our experiences. Sensual happiness is momentary. But if that happiness manifests into our mind and soul, then the effect is everlasting. This effect is called rasikatā. Rasa first enriches the mind and then extends to our life. In this way, rasa is culturally enriching. It rejoices our mind and helps in evolution of our life by inculcating mannerisms like tenderness, humility, patience, decency, and magnanimity. For this reason, music and literature that fosters rasikatā, is highly valued in our society.
This is the second part of a two-part English translation of the twenty-first essay in D V Gundappa’s magnum-opus Jnapakachitrashaale (Volume 2) – Kalopasakaru. Edited by G S Raghavendra.
Footnotes
^(^([1])) A huge park in the south of Bangalore city.
^(^([2])) Sweet-stuffed rotis (Indian flat bread).
^(^([3])) A musical form in South Indian classical music.
^(^([4])) Happiness, joy, bliss.
^(^([5])) Teachers who are experts in the Upaniṣads, the ultimate portion (and essence) of the Vedas.
^(^([6])) Eternal bliss or the divine state of being.