ko banajaaro raam ko maeraa ttaa(n)ddaa laadhiaa jaae rae

Hopkinton
September 22 2011

At the Seattle Gurmat Sangeet Darbar, earlier this year, I had the good fortune to listen to Nampreet Singh, a fine young Kirtaniya from Vancouver. Nampreet, who has become a good friend over the years epitomizes the renaissance that is now evident in the world of Gurmat Sangeet. He has been diligently learning the Dilruba and the Taus and has poured a tremendous amount of effort in preserving Puratan Compositions, sung by Ragis such as Bhai Santa Singh Ji, Bhai Avtar Singh Bhai Gurcharan Singh Ji and many others.

We first encountered Nampreet Singh in Toronto in 2005, when for the first time Mehr Kaur and Amrit Kaur traveled outside of Boston to sing at a Gurmat Sangeet Darbar. They had diligently worked on their first Partaal in Raga Basant Bahar, which we had painstakingly tried to recreate from Gian Singh Abbotabad Ji's book. The only probelm was that we didn't have a tabla player! Inderpreet Singh, who lived in Toronto then and was one of the organizers of the Darabr suggested the multi-talented Nampreet Singh, who counted playing the Jori among his skills!

Recordings from this event can be found at

http://www.gurmatsangeetproject.com/Pages/TorontoBasantSamagam.asp

This was a hugely important trip for us in many ways. We met many young kirtaniye in Toronto, who have become close friends and integral members of the extended Gurmat Sangeet Project family, Rupinder Singh, Onkar Singh, Gursev Singh and several others. The experience motivated and energized the Boston kids greatly and in a sense provided the impetus and fuel for our future activities. That same year we organized our First Annual Gurmat Sangeet Darbar in which we honored S. Harbhajan Singh Ji.Several Toronto Kirtaniye including Nampreet Singh attended this Darbar.

http://www.gurmatsangeetproject.com/Pages/GurmatSangeetDarbar05.asp

Over the years, young Kirtaniye like Nampreet have continued to energize and inspire me beyond measure. Their love for Gurmat Sangeet, their humility,their staggering effort as they immerse themselves deeper into Gurmat Sangeet while pursuing busy careers and the deep sense of camaraderie that binds them together has to be seen to be believed!

But anyway !! Back to Seattle !! Six years after our first meeting Nampreet Singh, Accompanied by Preet Singh on Taus and our own Shamsher Singh on Jori, takes the stage at the Renton Gurdwara Sahib in Seattle. The first shabad he sings moves me beyond measure. It is 'Kou Banjaro Ram Ki Mera Tanda Ladya Jae Re'. The melody is profound, melancholy and beautiful, in a way that gives you goosebumps. Later I ask him.... Is that a Bhai Santa Singh Bandish ? The style is unmistakeable. Nampreet smiles and nods.

When I get back to Boston, he sends me the recording by Bhai Santa Singh Ji, which I would like to share with you:

http://www.gurmatsangeetproject.com/recordings/bhai%20santa%20singh/01%20TANDA%20LAADIA%20JAAIY%20RAY...%20%20%20%28SGGS.mp3

Bhai Sahib Santa Singh Ji

In the past few months, I have listened to this recording innumerable times, pondering the beauty of the shabad and its profundity. Marveling at the Rasa that Bhai Santa Singh Ji's rendition is drenched in. I have tried to sing it, trying capture a fraction of the magic. I want to gift this great treasure to every young kirtaniya I know !!

gauVI bYrwgix rivdws jIau ]
Gt AvGt fUgr Gxw ieku inrguxu bYlu hmwr ]
rmeIey isau iek bynqI myrI pUMjI rwKu murwir ]1]
ko bnjwro rwm ko myrw tWfw lwidAw jwie ry ]1] rhwau ]
hau bnjwro rwm ko shj krau b´wpwru ]
mY rwm nwm Dnu lwidAw ibKu lwdI sMswir ]2]
aurvwr pwr ky dwnIAw iliK lyhu Awl pqwlu ]
moih jm fMfu n lwgeI qjIly srb jMjwl ]3]
jYsw rMgu ksuMB kw qYsw iehu sMswru ]
myry rmeIey rMgu mjIT kw khu rivdws cmwr ]4]1]

ik oa(n)kaar sathigur prasaadh ||
gourree bairaagan ravidhaas jeeo ||
ghatt avaghatt ddoogar ghanaa eik niragun bail hamaar ||
rameeeae sio eik baenathee maeree poo(n)jee raakh muraar ||1||
ko banajaaro raam ko maeraa ttaa(n)ddaa laadhiaa jaae rae ||1|| rehaao ||
ho banajaaro raam ko sehaj karo byaapaar ||
mai raam naam dhhan laadhiaa bikh laadhee sa(n)saar ||2||
ouravaar paar kae dhaaneeaa likh laehu aal pathaal ||
mohi jam dda(n)dd n laagee thajeelae sarab ja(n)jaal ||3||
jaisaa ra(n)g kasu(n)bh kaa thaisaa eihu sa(n)saar ||
maerae rameeeae ra(n)g majeet(h) kaa kahu ravidhaas chamaar ||4||1||

And here is my attempt to translate this shabad for my dear readers to enjoy :

First a glossary that lists all the difficult words in the shabad :

ghatt Path
avaghatt Difficult
ddoogar Mountainous
ghanaa Extremely
niragun Feeble
bail Bullock
hamaar Mine
rameeeae Waheguru
sio To
baenathee Request
poo(n)jee Capital (used for trading)
raakh Preserve
muraar Waheguru
banajaaro Trader
ttaa(n)ddaa Caravan of carts loaded with goods for trading
laadhiaa Loaded
sehaj Contentment; Calmness
byaapaar Trade
bikh Poison
sa(n)saar The world
ouravaar This world
paar The next world
dhaaneeaa The one who bestows
likh laehu Write
aal pathaal Nonsense
jam dda(n)dd The punishment that the cycle of death and rebirth represents
laagee Catch (as in getting infected by a disease)
thajeelae Renounce
sarab All
j(n)jaal Attachments and worries
jaisaa Like
ra(n)g Color
kasu(n)bh The safflower, whose color is not fast or permanent
thaisaa Just Like
sa(n)saar World
majeet(h) The Madder, whose color is fast and permanent
chamaar A low caste (leather-worker)

Translation :

Gauree Bairaagan, Ravi Daas Jee:
My path is very treacherous and mountainous, and all I have is this feeble bullock.
Oh Lord, I beseech to preserve my capital ||1||
Is there any other merchant of God that I can join? My cargo is loaded and I am leaving. ||1||Pause||
I am the merchant of God; I trade in peace and contentment
While I have loaded the wealth of the Lord's Name; the world deals in poison. ||2||
You, who know this world and the next: write what you will about me.
I don’t care; the cycle of birth and death will not strike me; I have cast off all entanglements. ||3||
This world is like the temporary color of the safflower. The color of my Lord's Love is permanent, like the dye of the madder.
So says Ravi Daas, the tanner. ||4||1||

Reflection :

In a few simple and powerful words Bhagat Ravidas Ji cautions us about the perils that we face in our journey. The feeble ox, laden with our capital, our senses that enable action, is a metaphor for the human condition. Temptation abounds; Kaam, Krodh, Lobh, Moh, Ahankar; they surround us constantly! It is easy to despair, but Bhagat Ji gives us hope. Seeking the company of other like-minded ‘traders’, who seek to ‘trade’ in God’s name and grace, earning not monetary profit but peace and contentment, is the only way to negotiate this treacherous, mountainous path! Further, Bhagat Ji strengthens our resolve even more by reassuring us that if we embrace this ‘trade’ in the company of other ‘traders’ we can be liberated from the cycle of birth and death and forever imbued in the permanent color of Waheguru.

At a very personal level, this shabad makes me ponder the perils of pride. Many of us have a tendency to become vain and arrogant if we do anything that is good or worthwhile. Our piety, our willingness to share, our desire to serve can very easily be perverted by Haumai. After all this ‘bullock’ is very feeble. Sangat is just about the only thing that can save us from this grave peril. Ever since I have heard this sublime shabad, the lines : Gt AvGt fUgr Gxw ieku inrguxu bYlu hmwr ] rmeIey isau iek bynqI myrI pUMjI rwKu murwir ]1], forever resonate in my mind.

A few words on the composition :

This is a most beautiful composition, sung in Bhai Santa Singh Ji’s inimitable style. There are several flavors of Raga Gauri in the Sri Guru Granth Sahib. This shabad is in Raga Gauri Bairagan. The bandish however does not really conform to the definitions of Raga Gauri Bairagan that I have been able to find. Listening to the shabad, I definitely ‘feel’ that it belongs to the Bhairon Parent Scale or Thaat. Both Gauri and Gauri Bairagan belong to the Bhairon Thaat. However, Gauri Bairagan employs both flavors of the Dhaivat, while Gauri employs only the Komal Dhaivat. To my ears at least, this bandish eschews the Shuddha Dhaivat, which makes me think that this is Gauri rather than Gauri Bairagan. Unfortunately the plot thickens further because Bhai Sahib Ji also slips in the Tivar Madhyam when he sings the line ko bnjwro rwm ko myrw tWfw lwidAw jwie ry Unfortunately both Gauri and Gaur Bairagan do not employ the Tivar Madhaym at all! The Tivar Madhyam features prominently in Gauri Poorbi, yet another flavor of Gauri. That said, this bandish ‘feels’ nothing like Gauri Poorbi. In Gian Singh Abbotabad’s book however, I did find under Gauri Poorbi, a bandish that is close to the one that Bhai Santa Singh Ji sings. It liberally uses the Shudh Madhyam, which is really not a valid note in Gauri Poorbi! At this point I must throw up my hands and leave the parsing of the correct Raga to someone more adept than I J I can say this much with confidence; this is a beautiful bandish, in some flavor of Gauri, well worth listening to and appreciating.

Thank you Nampreet Singh! For making this beautiful composition come alive by singing it. As a special bonus, here is Nampreet Singh’s rendition from Seattle.

http://www.gurmatsangeetproject.com/recordings/seattle%202011%202/gsd%20sat/51%20KoBanjaroRam.mp3

Preet Singh, Nampreet Singh and Shamsher Singh