Krsna Kirtana Songs est. 2001                                                                                                                                                      www.kksongs.org

Why Sing Devotional Songs?

Nearly one month ago, I got a very interesting e-mail with a question that bore spiritual weight. It was something that was worth real thought, as mahamantra is considered the best mantra. If the mahamantra is all, then why chant a devotional song? When I gave my e-mail response, I felt it was necessary to write an article. After all KKSongs.org is centered on devotional songs.

The devotional song has been sung from time immemorial. From the creation of the world through the Brahma Samhita to the present day, the devotional song has always played a role in cultivating the Krsna Consciousness within one’s heart and the hearts of those who read and sing it. However, through many scriptures, the Hare Krsna mahamantra was regarded as the highest mantra, especially in the current Age of Quarrel and Hypocrisy, known as Kali Yuga. If that is so, then why sing devotional songs? Devotional songs are actually, the extension of the mahamantra. Alone, the guru pranam mantras, Panca Tattva Mahamantra, and ultimately, the Hare Krsna mahamantra are the key essentials. However, pure devotees sang their humble songs and poems of the glories of the Lord, His devotees, and His glories. Through these devotional songs, important spiritual concepts can be understood.

One defect of this age is that intelligence levels and duration of life are both shortened. In prior ages, people used to memorize Vedic texts and scriptures by heart. With the help of the brahmanas (priest class of the varnasrama system), qualified persons would be able to learn scripture and thus, understand the true essence of what exists in the world and what is transcendental to that. However, in this age, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to be able to memorize the four Vedas, the one-hundred-eight Upanisads, the Puranas, and other forms of Vedic literature. Many attempts to help people in Kali Yuga have been performed. Vyasadeva, the literary incarnation of Krsna, organized and transcribed all Vedic literature. After Vyasadeva, devotees within the four bonafide sampradayas have written commentaries and explanations of the scriptures and Vedic literature. Even in our era, by the grace of Srila Prabhupada, the most important essential scriptures were translated and explained in great depths in many languages in order to reach the heart of the most common individual. To highlight the important concepts, devotees have written songs about the important concepts. For example, the song “Vacya O Vacaka” by Bhaktivinoda Thakura explains how there are two forms of the Lord, namely the Deity form and the name form which both are non-different from Krsna. To learn how to properly surrender to Krsna, Bhaktivinoda Thakura sang “Sri Krsna Caitanya Prabhu Jive Doya Kori” which shows the six processes of surrender. Of course, this song is an invocation to his songbook known as Saranagati, but it does highlight the important points of what real surrender is. Then, throughout the entire songbook, each one of the six processes of surrender is fully elaborated, which gives a person strength to develop the proper mood of surrender. Otherwise, how can one understand what surrender is unless one hears a song like “Ki Jani Ki Bale Tomaro Dhamete Loinu Sarangata?”

In addition, for a person who doesn't have a Srimad Bhagavatam, they will at least know the ten avataras of Krsna by singing "Pralaya Payodhi Jale." How will one understand the importance of a spiritual master without reading the qualities of a spiritual master through "Samsara Davanala Lidha Loka." Many more examples of essential concepts could be given, where bhajans can give us a stronger foundation beyond the mahamantra. But ultimately, the mahamantra is Supreme. The purpose of bhajans is to develop a taste for God through song and dance, understand spiritual concepts, and find a way to apply them in our lives. This is what is known as vijnana, science.

After establishing the importance of the devotional song, the bigger question comes, “why do we sing the songs from our previous gurus?" The reason why is because our gurus and our acaryas are pure devotees of the Lord. They are devotees of the chain of disciples (guru parampara) which came from Lord Caitanya. If one were to look on the Gaudiya Vaisnava Parampara page, one could see that the post-Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's era, many devotees began writing poetically in glorification of the Lord. Before His appearance, devotees like Jayadeva Goswami, Candi-dasa, Jnanadasa, etc. have written bhajans and scriptures about the Lord. Bhaktivinoda Thakura said that even though these devotees were before His avatara, they are preaching what was in line with the teachings of Lord Caitanya. If one were to look further back, the obvious authors from the Vedic time frame can be found, like Vyasadeva (who transcribed verses from previous sources: Narada, Brahma, and Sri Krsna). Since all of these devotees are in our line, we remember their levels of devotion by singing their bhajans. In addition, we have other devotees who were related to the Brahma (Gaudiya) sampradaya, like Murari Gupta and Vasudeva Ghosa, whose bhajans are also sung amongst us. In representing Krsna Consciousness, bhajans by devotees in the sampradaya or related to the sampradaya are the most ideal ones to chose.

 From this purpose, it'll lead to the discussion of bhajans "outside" of the Brahma Gaudiya sampradaya. There are bhajans and chants which come from the other three sampradayas, namely the Sri (originated by Laksmi Devi), Kumara (originated by the four Kumaras), and Rudra (originated by Lord Siva) sampradayas. In fact, songs like “Srimad Akalanka Paripurna” and “Jaya Jaya Nrsimha Sarvesa” are examples of songs by the Sri Sampradaya that is found on KKSongs.org. As of now, KKSongs.org does not have any song from the Kumara and Rudra Sampradaya, although songs by Lord Siva like “Munindra Vrnda Vandite (Sri Sri Radha Krpa Kataksa Stava Raja)” are found here.

In addition, to attract devotees to Krsna Consciousness and develop taste for the Holy Name, devotees who are real bhajan enthusiasts will sing the recommended bhajans as well as bhajans by Sura Dasa, Mira Bai, and traditional Bengali, Hindi, and Braja Bhasa bhajans. Some will have opposition to it, but many are supportive. Their level of bhakti is different, while ours is centered on seeking a spiritual master, to help us attain love for Krsna. Ultimately, they'll all lead to the same goal. As many devotees who are prolific artists have sung these genuine bhajans in their recordings, KKSongs.org hosts a great handful of their songs. In doing this, it should be noted that these bhajans should really be sung in small gatherings, home programs, or special programs, not really in the general temple environment.  

Another group of devotional songs are more "rasika" based, which sings of more intimate pastimes of Radha and Krsna. These bhajans are usually written by Jayadeva Goswami, Candi Dasa, Jnana Dasa, and Vidyapati, to name a few. Even Rupa Goswami, Raghunatha Das Goswami, Narottam Das Thakura, and Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura (who used the pen-name Hari Vallabha) had written pastimes of this nature. Unlike Mira Bai and Suradasa bhajans where general masses can hear these to develop taste for Godhead, these intimate bhajans can be easily misinterpreted and cause a new devotee to be mislead or become victim to nondevotees' criticism. To respect rasika devotees’ wishes of such bhajans, KKSongs.org contains Rupa Goswami and Raghunatha Das Goswami with careful analysis. In addition, some selected songs by Govinda Das Kaviraja, Candidasa, Jnanadasa, Vidyapati, and Jayadeva Goswami are posted.  Although I have no real qualification to judge which song is “safe” for the devotees’ or the public’s eyes and ears, as a maintainer of such a website, I had to see what was considered "mild" and "acceptable" for web standards. For those who are qualified to sing these, the rasika and intimate-natured bhajans should be sung in small groups with mature devotees. They should not in a temple or even a home program environment, for they will be a powerful misinterpretation amongst neophyte devotees and new temple visitors. While Lord Caitanya would lose Himself in listening to songs of the Gita Govinda by Srila Jayadeva Goswami, He would only sing these songs in small groups of His most intimate devotees and no one else.

With gratitude to the devotee who inquired about this grand topic, this article covered a great spectrum. From the reason why devotional songs are important to what kind of devotional songs exist, this discussion could be very useful for any regularly conducted bhajan programs. While chanting mahamantra is imperative to develop love for Godhead, bhajans should be studied, sung together, and discussed together in order to find pearls of Vaisnava philosophy, seeds of creeper of devotion (bhakti-lata), and understand the feelings and emotions of the Vaisnava acaryas. This way, one will be able to apply these elements in one’s life and become a better devotee.