I came across a beautiful bandish or a composition in a classical raag sung in Dhrupad style (Dagarvaani) of Indian Classical Music. To the unaware Dhrupad is the most ancient and most pure style or Hindustani Classical where the focus is on meditation and prayer, apart from musical notes and musical framework.
I was looking to hear it from singer Smt Sombala Kumar, but couldn’t find it online. However, I bumped across the bandish very able sang by the Gundecha brothers the link shared at the end of the post.
Disclaimer: This is not an exact translation but a restructured interpretation of “Jheeni Beeni Chadariya” poem by Sant Kabir Das ji. I wrote as and as much I could make sense of it. Hope you like it, will be waiting for your comments as well.
Subtly, slowly & delicately, he wove the wrap!
But, what was it woven with? What was the fibre, the weft, and the warp?
His warp & weft were ‘Ingala’ & ‘Pingala’,
His fibre was ‘Sushumna’,
He turned the eight-fold lotus wheel (Dharmawheel),
And knit the wrap with The Five Elements and The Three Gunas (Attributes).
Meticulously knocking, knitting & weaving the wrap
To get it right, for a very long time, he toiled.
As he wore it and continued his chores,
In the process, he discovered the wrap soiled.
All – Gods, Men and Sages – have worn this wrap,
And sullied it, in their wearing.
This servant of God is wearing it with care,
So that he leaves it as is, unsullied.
References
▪️5 Elements: Aakash-Spirit, Vayu-Air, Agni-Fire, Jal-Water, Prithvi-Earth
▪️3 Gunas or Attributes: Sattva, Rajas Tamas
▪️Sattva Guna: Purity & Knowledge
▪️Rajas Guna: Activity & Desire
▪️Tamas Guna: Darkness & Destruction
▪️Ingala-Pingala Nadi: The duality – light-dark, male-female, subconscious-conscious, me-others, sensory-intuition, thoughts-feelings, facts-opinions
▪️Sushumna Nadi: The ideal balance between Ingala & Pingala. The perfect manifestation of oneself
▪️The Eight-Fold Lotus Wheel or the ‘Dharmawheel’, is the wheel of life, as defined in Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism and all religions originated from the ‘Akhand Bharat’.
Thanks for reading. With all my respect to Sant Kabir Das ji, Smt Sombala Kumar and the respected Gundecha Brothers, and most importantly Dhrupad style of classical music, I now leave you with the original bandish which I heard and led me to this highly fulfilling research on this journey of literature, philosophy, music and life. Thank you.
the parallel opinion 