17/09/2024
सभी सेवानुरागी वैष्णवों को हार्दिक आमन्त्रण
Ashta Sakhas or the eight friends of Lord Shrinathji, viz; Surdas, Kumbhandas, Paramanandadas, Krishnadas, Govind Swami, Chatrabhujdas, Nandadas and Chhita Swami, were the disciples of Jagadguru Shrimad Vallabhacharya Mahaprabhu and His second son, Shrimad Vitthalesh Prabhucharan, the profounder of Pushtimarg, the path of Divine Grace. Both the Acharyas blessed them with the divine visions of the various divine sports of Lord Shrinathji. They sang the glories of the Blessed Lord of His various pastimes ranging from mangala to shayan.
The works of these devotional poets in Vrajbhasha, is a major boon to the literary world. Pregnant with the in-depth meaning of the shastras, these padas, sung in numerous ragas (according to time and season), set in different rhythmic cycles (tala), intricately woven in various metric tables (chhanda) have mesmerized scholars from religious, music and literature fraternity.
Based on the ancient Dhrupad style of singing, the Ashta Sakhas created a distinct style of their own, which later was termed as ‘Ashta Chhaap Sangeet’, popularly known as the ‘Haveli Sangeet’ in the modern times. Many contemporary devotional poets were so impressed that without any hesitation, they adopted their unique style and sang before their respective Lords. Even presently, these kirtans are being sung in every vaishnav household where the Pushti Purushottama resides.
With the passage of time, this five centuries old, rich tradition of pushtimargiya music has undergone many changes. ‘Ashta Chhaap Sangeet,’ can be classified into various schools viz; Vraja (Mathura-Gokul), Nathdwara (Mewar), Saurashtra (Gujarat), Benaras and Brihan Mandir (Mumbai), are amongst the most prominent schools of Ashta Chhaap Sangeet. Each of these schools has its own distinct flavor keeping the originality of the Vraja Shaili intact. Unfortunately, in the last few decades, we have witnessed a serious decline in the quality of our music. Though a lot of awareness for kirtans is created in the recent times but, I must admit that we have failed to produce a new generation of properly trained kirtankars. Due to this, one could find lots of impurities, in terms of raga and the style of singing the kirtans. The Dhrupad Anga became a rarity.
H.H.Nitya Leelastha Pujyapada Goswami 108 Shri Mukundraiji Maharaj (Brihan Mandir-Mumbai), who was pre-eminently qualified for an assignment such as this, as he was not only an Acharya of the sampradaya, but also a great musician in his own rights, tried earnestly to fill this void. He not only modified the incorrectly sung kirtans by the modern age kirtaniyas, but also composed many kirtans in the Dhrupad-Dhamar style.
‘Krishna Rasamrita’ is a compilation of ten such beautiful compositions by His Holiness. The beauty of these compositions lies in the manner in which the bhaava of the poet is flowing with the sur. The essence of Dhrupad i.e. sthayi, antara, sanchari and aabhog is aesthetically maintained.
In this album, we have not followed a theme or a sequence of kirtans, either nitya pada i.e. sung from mangala to shayan or kirtans related to a particular festival (utsava) or season (ritu). Rather, we have focused on the Dhrupad gayaki, which was once the only way of singing these devotional songs. It is an effort to revive the ancient shaili which is now, very unfortunately though, found infused with the khayal style. I hope our humble effort will be appreciated by not only the devotees of the pushtimarg sect, but also the traditionalists and connoisseurs of classical music.
I offer prostate obeisance to my guru, my father, H.H.Pujyapada Goswami 108 Shri Aniruddhalalji Maharaj (Brihan Mandir-Mumbai), without his grace this wouldn’t have been possible.
Krishna Rasamrita’ is my humble offering, a tribute to the legend H.H.Nitya Leelastha Pujyapada Goswami 108 Shri Mukundraiji Maharaj. Kindly accept and bless.
Goswami Prashant
Brihan Mandir-Mumbai