The fulfilling finale to a momentous day

Ramanavami celebrates the day of appearance on the Earth of ShriVishnu as the Shriram avataar. Born after a number of barren years for Dasharath, who was unhappy (as were his three Queens) and whose fondest desire of begetting a child was fulfilled after penance and the resulting Paayasdaan. The day when every Sanatan dharmi on the planet looks inwards and invokes that piousness and righteousness that is Prabhu Shriram. As every concert in Hindustani Classical Music ends with a certain raag, which is considered the very last melody just before bringing the curtains down, the raag Bhairavi is frequently entrusted with this task. In the days when the concerts lasted all night long, it was only right that a sampoorna-sampoorna raag of the early morning be used as an end-of-the-concert-rendition. These days, though the various restrictions imposed on all night music concerts means that the early morning raag is often performed in the late night hours. Listen to this divine rendition in Bhairavi which is steeped in Bhakti rasa, that you don’t need and neither want anything to play after this. Truly the last word…. https://youtu.be/2E6gQiRu9Aw

Who better to do the honours than Bharatratna Swarbhaskar Pandit Bhimsen Joshi? He was a colossus in Hindustani Classical Music who strode both fields of Classical music as a singer from the Kirana Gharana and truly remains one the very best I’ve ever heard, -and the fulfilling field of devotional/ spiritual music, where he did yeoman service by pleasing the Pantheon of Divinities (with Pandit Jasraj ji- who can forget his soothing spiritual music that’s a soul tonic) & lifting mere mortals like me to an entirely different plane of spiritual satisfaction. This bhajan is by Sant Tulsidas who wrote the most famous and widely read treatise on Prabhu Shriram: the Ramcharitmanas. Just listening to him sing just a few lines is so serene and satisfying, I am teared up.

भजमन राम चरण सुखदाई

भजमन राम चरण सुखदाई,
भजमन राम चरण सुखदाई ॥

जिहि चरननसे निकसी सुरसरि
संकर जटा समाई ।
जटासंकरी नाम परयो है
त्रिभुवन तारन आई ॥

भजमन राम चरण सुखदाई,
भजमन राम चरण सुखदाई ॥

जिन चरननकी चरनपादुका
भरत रह्यो लव लाई ।
सोइ चरन केवट धोइ लीने
तब हरि नाव चलाई/चढ़ाई ॥

भजमन राम चरण सुखदाई,
भजमन राम चरण सुखदाई ॥

सोइ चरन संत जन सेवत
सदा रहत सुखदाई ।
सोइ चरन गौतमऋषि-नारी
परसि परमपद पाई ॥

भजमन राम चरण सुखदाई,
भजमन राम चरण सुखदाई ॥

दंडकबन प्रभु पावन कीन्हो
ऋषियन त्रास मिटाई ।
सोई प्रभु त्रिलोकके स्वामी
कनक मृगा सँग धाई ॥

भजमन राम चरण सुखदाई,
भजमन राम चरण सुखदाई ॥

कपि सुग्रीव बंधु भय-ब्याकुल
तिन जय छत्र फिराई/धराई ।
रिपु को अनुज बिभीषन निसिचर
परसत लंका पाई ॥

भजमन राम चरण सुखदाई,
भजमन राम चरण सुखदाई ॥

सिव सनकादिक अरु ब्रह्मादिक
सेष सहस मुख गाई ।
तुलसीदास मारुत-सुतकी प्रभु
निज मुख करत बड़ाई ॥

भजमन राम चरण सुखदाई,
भजमन राम चरण सुखदाई ॥

The same bhajan has been performed by virtually the who’s who of music in India, most famously by Bharatratna Vidushi M S Subbulakshmi, whose divine voice soars with felicity in the rarefied, ethereal plane of utter devotion. https://youtu.be/A_ZCXFw9i08

Bhairavi is often referred to as the queen of morning raags. It produces a rich, devotional atmosphere especially suitable for the rendition of Bhajans. I have a tough time deciding which of the two I like better.

Best to stop comparing and just enjoy as the gentle, endearing waves of devotion wash over you. Here’s Panditji once again, the rare recording was made in a private concert, but you’ll find his intensity unmellowed. The hallmark of a genius and a legend… https://youtu.be/D8RfvE2pqMo

Stay happy, I will be lost in the love for the Lord.

Stay healthy and happy