Samgiita – Song, Dance and Instrumental Music
(English edition of “Nrtya – Vadya – Giita Tine Samgiita”, published in 1987)
Dedication
To the sacred memory of the Late Ramnidhi Gupta (Nidhu Babu) and the late Ustad Alauddin Khan, two music maestros who brought about epoch-making changes in the world of music.
- Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar
Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar understood the urgent need of cultural renaissance for the all-round progress of humanity, and throughout much of His life took a two-track approach toward the realization of that renaissance. As a philosopher, following His own intuitive approach, He focused unprecedented life on various aspects of the cultivation of Art, literature, and music, as well as on the human journey from the aesthetic to the supra-aesthetic. And along the second track, that of His practical activities, He once again opted for a dual approach: on the one hand He founded institutions that wholeheartedly and explicitly supported and encourage various aesthetic pursuits; and on the other hand he personally composed a body of songs called Prabhata Samgiita which finally came to total 5018 compositions. The present book is a compilation that consists of His discourses on the subject of music, and also of various of his own Prabhata Samgiita songs.
Prabhata Samgiita does not only mean songs written by Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar. The word prabhata also means “dawn”, so Prabhata Samgiita heralds the dawn of a new era of music. Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar used the charming and melodious medium of song to doubly ensure that the ideas in his discourses would penetrate the core of listeners’ beings and be translated thence into action. It is worth mentioning here that the author referred to his own Prabhata Samgiita songs in one discourse of this book, and also included one of his songs in another discourse.
Out of the vast body of Prabhata Samgiita songs (5018 songs in all) there are scores of songs which are in conformity with the contents of various discourses of this book. But only twenty of the most relevant songs have been selected and included.
Contents
Part One
SAMGIITA
1.Shiva – The Embodiment of Samgiita
2.Samgiita as Soft Expressions of Art
3.Song, Dance and Instrumental Music
4.Aesthetic Science and Samgiita
5. Are Samgiita and Supra-Aesthetic Science Inseparable?
6.Kiirtana: The Panacea for All Afflictions
7.Kiirtana Dispels Calamities
8.Serve the Supreme by Kiirtana
9.Where My Devotees Sing
Part Two
SONG
1.The Inner Science of Surasaptaka
2.The Musical Octave and Kurma Nadii
3.The Cosmic Ideation and Unit Ideation of Ragas and Raginiis
4.Dhrupadii Style of Music
5.Meditative Songs Heard from Afar
6.Samgiita
7.The Virtuoso of Samgiita
8.Vaekharii Power
9. Practice of Songs – Sore Throat and Its Remedy
10.Komalagiiti – Soft-Sounding Songs
11.Carnatic Music
12.Baul, Jhumur and Kiirtana Songs of Rarh
13.Two Folk Songs – Bhaíiyali and Bhaoyaiya
Part Three
DANCE
1.What I Said in Switzerland
2. Tandava Dance – What and Why?
3. Koramudra – Kaomudii Dance
4.Mudra
5.Fine Arts and Mudra
Part Four
INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC
1.Ektara – One-Stringed Musical Instrument
2.The Science of Instrumental Music Has Multifarious Expressions
3.Classifications of Flute
4.Invention of Various Musical Instruments
Glossary
Pages – 129
Price – $12
