Meera Bhajans

[seeksha]

Namaste,

I recently learnt that not all Meera bhajans sung today ( even some of the ones in MS Meera album) are by Saint Meera Bai, but by Indira Devi who was a saint composer who composed with the same name. Is this information correct ?

Doesn't composing with the same name confuse people and make the authentic songs difficult to distinguish.

Thanks
Aravind

[cienu]

In the mid 1940’s when the Hindi version of Meera was made , most of the songs in the film were composed by the singer saint Meerabai herself.

The songs were taught to MS by Dilip Kumar Roy of the Aurobindo Ashram , Pondicherry.

However being a film (and in those days movies were 95% songs!) , Sri Sadasivam had added a few more songs by different composers to match with the story line of the movie. All of them have used the mudra "Meera" , but the in the film titles , appropriate credit has been given to the names of the original composers.

Some of the songs in the film by composers other than Meera herself are as follows:

Yadave Yadave , Brindavan ki Mangala Leela. This was composed by Rehana Tyabji , daughter of Abbas Tyabji, Judge of Baroda High Court who quit his post (after Jallianwala Bagh massacre) to join the Mahatma's freedom struggle.

Songs were also composed by Pandit Narendra Sharma , (who later on directed music for the Ramayana of Ramanand Sagar). They are as follows:

Nandabala Mera Pyara
He Hare Dayala
Janardhana
Asharan Sharane Shyam Hare

Indira Devi , a sanyasin, came along much later in the MS fold , sometime in the early 70’’s. She was a disciple of Dilip Kumar Roy , but later on started seeing herself as “ Meera’.(She also used the Mudra "Meera") Infact many considered her as a reincarnation of the singer saint. Her compositions were also considered master pieces.

Some of the songs of Indira Devi , set to tune by Dilip Kumar Roy and Srinivasa Rao are as follows:

Kitne Dosh
Hari Maitho
He Govinda He Gopala
Gungaroo Bandh Pag Aayee Meera

However you can be rest assured that in the MS commercial CD of Meera Bhajans, all the songs are those sung/composed by the “originalâ€

[Karnaticfan]

Cienu,

that is a good piece of info. I hv found 'giridhara nAgara' too frequently come in many songs, apart from 'meerA kE prabhu'.

[arasi]

Great post, Cienu!
And I have met Rehana Tyabji in my teens! I knew she was a writer. She even gave me an autographed book of hers titled: suniyE kaKa sAheb! (hope I got the title right). It was about kaka saheb Kalelkar, one of the mahAtmA's ardent followers.
I had no idea the muslim writer had written that song!
There is a Mohd Rafi thread which is alive again where I have written about bhAratiyAr's love for all lands and languages expressed in his wanting us to learn and to speak languages other than our own and speak them like the natives would!.
In Rehana Tyabji and others of her kind, you witnessed integration of people of all religions and walks of life. I repeat--how I wish they wer all around in these primitive times!

[VK RAMAN]

Could it be why our dakhina sampradaya bhajan includes abhang (Tukaram, Namdev etc), surdas/meera/etc bhajans? One way to become human in real sense is to crave and learn different languages, knowing various cultures and visiting various countries?

[arasi]

Absolutely. Ignorance is not bliss.
Surely, other cultures have just as much to offer, by way of human values and culture. Of course, travels and living among other cultures throw open a door to us. We learn that our little world in our corner of the globe-while it is wonderful-does not encompass (or represent) the lives of other humans on earth. Exchanging thoughts and cultivating friendships outside our own little worlds can be enightening. Yes, we may learn new languages and get familiar with the cultural expressions of the place. We also learn to 'get along', and to get adjusted to new surroundings, climates, languages and differences...

[VK RAMAN]

arasi:

Your observation is right on target.

Music has no barriers and it is universally accepted and enjoyed.

While I do not intend to trumpet myself, all my fans are from countries other than India and they come forward to collaborate and create new waves of music with my vocal. Only time can pass judgement as to whether it is good or bad for our carnatic culture as part of enrichment.

[arasi]

Keep on singing. Meanwhile, music as well as other enrichments in life is what I meant...

[mohan]

Cienu thanks for the useful information. Was thinking that He Govinda He Gopala and Gungaroo Bandh Pag Aayee Meera were Meerabai compositions.

Using a mudra of another composer is indeed confusing. KV Srinivasa Iyengar (brother of Tiger Varadachariar) has used the Thyagaraja mudra in some of his compositions such Nidhe Charanamule (Simhendramadhyamavathi). More listed at http://www.carnaticcorner.com/articles/prakshipta.html

The similar has occurred with Muthuswamy Dikshitar and Swati Tirunal krithis.

[rshankar]

Mohan,

I think 'pag ghunghrU bAndh mIrA nAcI rE' is an original composition, not 'ghunghrU bAndh pag AyI'.

[PUNARVASU]

Mohan,

I think 'pag ghunghrU bAndh mIrA nAcI rE' is an original composition, not 'ghunghrU bAndh pag AyI'.

There is a bhajan' ghunguru bandh paga AyI meera' in Sindhubahiravi I think; Is this a composition of Indira Devi?

[cienu]

Mohan,

I think 'pag ghunghrU bAndh mIrA nAcI rE' is an original composition, not 'ghunghrU bAndh pag AyI'.

You are right rshankar .
This song begins as

Paga Ghungaroo Re .. Re...
Paga Ghungaroo Re ....
Paga Ghungaroo Bandh Meera Nachi Re.

This is an original composition of Meera . In the film this song comes immediately after the Rana's sister tries to poison Meerabai and hence the lines in the Charanam of the song:

Vish ka Pyala Ranaji Ne Bheja
Peevath Meera Haansi Re
Paga Ghungaroo Re .. Re...!

[cienu]

There is a bhajan' ghunguru bandh paga AyI meera' in Sindhubahiravi I think; Is this a composition of Indira Devi?

Yes Punarvasu, you are correct, as I said in my earlier post , this composition is by Indira Devi and set to tune in Sindhu Bhairavi by Srinivasa Rao.

[mohan]

Thanks rshankar - I did get confused between the two

[rshankar]

Cienu,

Yes - that was a lovely moment in the movie - aren't the next lines, 'lOg kahE mIrA bhayi rE bAnvarI, nyAt kahE kul nAsI rE, mIrA kahE prabhu giridhar nAgar sahaj milE avinAsi rE?'

Here is a link to a book that seems like a nice buy: http://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/IDF197/

Meena had posted it on the forumhub some time ago.

[cienu]

Cienu,

Yes - that was a lovely moment in the movie - aren't the next lines, 'lOg kahE mIrA bhayi rE bAnvarI, nyAt kahE kul nAsI rE, mIrA kahE prabhu giridhar nAgar sahaj milE avinAsi rE?'

That's right. Incidentally this was one Meera Bhajan which MS learnt from one Sri. Bhat , who also composed the tune.

[cienu]

Some of the songs in the film by composers other than Meera herself are as follows:

One other song which was missed out was "Ghanshyam Ayari" which is a composition of Dinesh Nandini

[cienu]

Great post, Cienu!
And I have met Rehana Tyabji in my teens! I knew she was a writer. She even gave me an autographed book of hers titled: suniyE kaKa sAheb! (hope I got the title right). It was about kaka saheb Kalelkar, one of the mahAtmA's ardent followers.
I had no idea the muslim writer had written that song!
There is a Mohd Rafi thread which is alive again where I have written about bhAratiyAr's love for all lands and languages expressed in his wanting us to learn and to speak languages other than our own and speak them like the natives would!.
In Rehana Tyabji and others of her kind, you witnessed integration of people of all religions and walks of life. I repeat--how I wish they were all around in these primitive times!

Very True Arasi,

I think Rehana Tyabji has continued in the great tradition of Muslim poets like Rahim and Raskhan who have written poetry full of Krishna bhakti.

In this link below please find 2 letters from the Mahatma to Rehana where among other things he also extols her singing of Meera Bhajans. (Pages 221- 222 and 241 - 242)

http://www.gandhiserve.org/cwmg/VOL036.PDF

[rshankar]

In this link below please find 2 letters from the Mahatma to Rehana where among other things he also extols her singing of Meera Bhajans. (Pages 221- 222 and 241 - 242)

http://www.gandhiserve.org/cwmg/VOL036.PDF

Sri Cienu,

What a fabulous link!

ananta kOTi namaskAram!

I think these are the relevant letters you alluded to in your post! I have bolded the parts I found interesting/relevant to the thread!

222 THE COLLECTED WORKS OF MAHATMA GANDHI
250. LETTER TO REHANA TYABJI
THE ASHRAM,
SABARMATI,
August 21, 1926
DEAR SISTER1,
It was a delight to receive your letter, it would seem, after ages.
Do you want me to write to Sir Henry Lawrence directly or to prepare
a note for you which you can send? Whilst your answer is quite good,
he must have all the satisfaction that one can give him in the way of
statistics. After all the trouble one may take, it is just possible what
may appear to us to be solid and tangible may not appear so to him.
But that does not matter as the inspirer of The Song Celestial2 would
say. We must act with detachment and leave the results to God.
I observe that, as behoves a good girl, your postscript is as long
as your letter and, perhaps, more important. Please tell the sceptical
sister that the revival of the spinning-wheel has actually rescued from
destruction many arts and crafts. Does she think that there was no art
in India before we received silk thread from China and Paris which we
began doing only a hundred years ago or less? When spinning and
waving were at their height, we were in possession of the highest art
and all the art on fabric one sees now is a copy of the Indian original.
Personally, I do not mind the use of Chinese silk for embroidery. But
those who are afraid of art destruction may use as much as they like
of Chinese thread so long as the background is hand-spun khaddar.
No amount of travelling and appeals to newspapers, etc., can possibly
rescue Indian art from destruction if we cannot rescue ourselves as a
nation from destruction. Revival of Indian art will only come when we
develop love enough for our country to enable us to cling to one
another and sink our differences and to sacrifice our all for the sake
of the country. The best way, therefore, to preserve and revive the
Indian art is for us to become sufficiently Indian ourselves. But all this
I don’t need to say to you. You are saturated with the national spirit.
May God give you long life and health for exhibiting that spirit as
occasion demands. Those who love to do certain things end by doing
those things, and if you are longing to meet Miss Shade whom we call
Mirabai and still more to sing to me some of your new bhajans then
you will end by coming here at the earliest opportunity.
With love to you all,
Yours,
BAPU

272. LETTER TO REHANA TYABJI
THE ASHRAM,
SABARMATI,
August 29, 1926
MY DEAR REHANA,
I have now secured both your letter and postcard. Both the letter
and the postcard I got only yesterday. You have addressed the
postcard at Ahmedabad. So it came redirected from Ahmedabad a
day late. The letter remained on the office board for some time as
unclaimed because of the Urdu writing on the envelope which nobody
understood. You wrote my name in English but the receiver thought
that the Urdu name belonged to someone else in the Ashram. It was
only on a searching enquiry that the letter was traced on the office
board outside. Of course, the moral of it is that every one of us should
know both Devnagari and Persian scripts. Till then, these mistakes and
delays will continue.
I shall now deal with Sir Henry Lawrence directly and send him
the information he requires.1
The battle over China silk has now to be postponed to another
day when all of you come again to the Ashram. You should
understand that I did not have enough of your bhajans when you
were here. You have, therefore, to come, if for nothing else, for giving
me more bhajans. You must become better and stronger. Mirabai has
told me all about your conversation with her. You shall certainly come
and stay as long as you can and as often as you like. If you will only
make yourself at home here and express all your needs every
endeavour will be made to supply them.
Yours sincerely,
BAPU

[arasi]

Thank you, Cienu.
Ravi,
You made it easy for me by posting the letters (you know my deficiency in finding things).
Just like Bharathi, the mahAtmA expresses his feelings about how we should be multilingual, not only in speech but also in our ability to read and write!