SONG & DANCE
Of the Universe
When did song and Dance originate
in Humanity? When? When?
In Hindu lore, Lord Siva is either
meditating or Dancing. He loves both these things equally. The meditation takes
him deep inside and into the realms of silence and peace. The dance takes him to
the highest energies of life.
His dance is called taandava. His consort, Parvathi also
meditates or dances; and her dance is called Laasya.
There is no dance without
music. Wherefrom does the music come for tandava of Siva and the lasya of
Parvathi?
The whole creation is
musical. The whole being is musical. There is nothing in the Universe that is
not musical. When you talk so that others listen, it is musical. When the
leaves of the tree move, the sound they make is musical.
The birds sing. The streams
of water flowing down to their destination make musical sounds. The waves of
the sea make musical sounds. Any two objects or beings coming together becomes
music instantly. The peacock sings, and dances too. The cobras dance too. Even
the elephant dances in ecstasy. The Gods dance too.
The song and dance of the
creator is what we see as his creation. The sounds of the heart and the beats
of the pulse are song and dance to a life rhythm in us. When the rhythm stops,
when the song and dance within us stops, life in us has stopped too, for all
practical purposes. All this means, that music and dance are inseparable parts
of life on earth and life in heaven too.
Siva’s dance is fast paced and destructive for the world. It
signifies a huge, indescribable aloneness and an all consuming flame. In
effect, it is craving for a smoothening and soothing force. Parvathi’s lasya
infuses grace into the dance and their togetherness in dance makes for the
flowering of the entire creation. Siva, the Eswara, is now a consummation of
the male and female energies and transforms himself into Ardhanareeswara. There
is no more separation of the male and female energies; it is one single
creative, benevolent, compassionate force that emerges out of the unified dance
of Siva and Parvati.
So when did song and dance
emanate? It emanated in the very beginning of the beginning. It emanated with
the God himself.
How did it come to the human
world? When Manmatha, the God of love or Cupid, who is the male energy in the male and Rathi, the
female energy in the female come together, the whole human creation sings and
dances. Man and woman come together in ecstasy. Many beautiful dance systems
were invented in India to aid the process of losing the self in song and dance and
finding the God within.
But these dance systems are
extremely meaningful. Not a single movement lacks meaning. The song is meaningful and the dance must merge with the song. Even the animals and the birds watching the
dancer must be able to receive the subtlest meanings and feelings inherent in
the song and dance.
But, what if the song is “I
LOVE YOU” and the dance is karate kicks and punches all around? It displays the
individual’s taste!
Be that as it may be. Can
pelvic gyrations of either the man or the woman or both be called dance? Can
vigorous movement of female chest (to the exclusion of other body parts) be
called dance? Dance, it still may be, but it should be a private affair. Not
one open to all families, children, elders and so on. These are clearly sexist
and for common viewing, these are obscene material. If children are viewing
them often, they can soon turn into violent rapists. I am of the opinion that most of the so called item numbers in our movies are tasteless, meaningless and obscene and unfit for children or even elders.
The western music and dance
are good for the western world. Are they good for us? Yes; They are, as long as
they are meaningful, soul touching and not obscene.
If the song is ear-blasting
and the dance is unconnected to the song except being rhythmic to the drum
beats, I would not want to see or listen to it. There are far better things to
see and listen. I prefer meaningfulness for especially such fine arts in life. But, if someone else wants
to listen to meaningless jibberish as music and karate kicks and punchs as
dance form, it is their choice.
Some rock bands are really
good, meaningful and soulful. The body does get into a dance along with their
rhythm. Some are just noise and nothing else. Some of the famous singers and rockers
died so miserably that we can easily understand that there never was any soul
in their song or dance. Not for them at least.
A Sanskrit saying says, “pasurvetthi,
sisurvetthi, vetthi gaanarasam phanihi.”, which means song is something which the cow loves, the
child loves and even the cobra loves. Songs are known to make trees flower
beautifully, make cows give more milk and make children grow as happy kids.
Song and dance should rise to such levels.
There is song everywhere in
the creation. There is dance everywhere in the creation. May the song and dance
grow in a soulful, beautiful, healthy manner and not turn ugly, obscene and
meaningless.
But beyond this, I do not
think, anybody needs to be discouraged from song or dance. These are eternal.
These are divine.
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