The Music of Hindostan c16.64

c16.64

The oldest forms of Hindu song are the *Pada* and *Bhajana*. The *Pada* is generally some pithy saying taken from Sanskrit verse and enlarged upon. The *Bhajana*, ‘adoration’, is connected with *Bhakti*, ‘faith in a personal God’, ‘love for him as for a human being, the dedication of everything to his service, and the attainment of *mokṣa* (emancipation) by this means rather than by knowledge, or sacrifice, or works’.¹ The *Bhajana* specialized in the Krishna literature; and as the Bengali *Kīrtana* does the same they may be classed together. The former is a religious recital in which the congregation sing all the time under a leader, *Bovā* (‘man of piety’), and takes place between sunset and sunrise. In the latter the leader has a long story to tell, of a dramatic nature, and the congregation act as chorus. Its invention is ascribed to Chaṇḍīdās, a native of Birbhaum, the birthplace of Jayadeva; it is mentioned in the *Ain-i-Akbari*. With it is associated the mystery play, *Jātrā*, which circled round the love of Krishna and Rādhā.