Krsna Kirtana Songs est. 2001                                                                                                                                                      www.kksongs.org

Mridanga Abuse

Lord Krsna was preparing to come to earth in the form of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. In this process, the flute of Lord Krsna wanted to come along too. However, the flute was not the instrument that was to be played in Kali-yuga. Therefore, the flute came on earth as a sacred clay drum known as khol or mridanga (mrit = clay + anga = body). Since then, the avanadha accompaniment was through the mridanga. The acaryas made it a point to learn this drum and pass the knowledge down for benefit. Srila Prabhupada wanted his disciples to learn mridanga properly and correctly.

 

True mridanga knowledge was traditionally obtained through a gurukula format. One would serve the teacher and the teacher, being pleased with service, obtains knowledge of this instrument. The teacher would teach the bols or syllables describing the sounds of the mridanga, rhythmic practice pieces, and rhythmic cycles known as talas. Upon learning that, there are more cadences, cyclic forms, and other important pieces in learning this instrument. Although the gurukula system began to loose popularity in the current times, these elements are still taught scientifically in mridanga classes. When the first devotees got a hold of the mridanga, it was pretty much an experiment with how to produce sounds. Srila Prabhupada didn’t mind so much, but he wanted his disciples to learn the instrument properly. The instrument is the form of Lord Krsna’s flute. Unfortunately today, people have not cared to learn the instrument in its correct or scientific form. This article will expose the issues that are considered “mridanga abuse.”

 

THE “BIG BANG”

Mridangas, which were originally the sweet sounding instrument, has become a banging drum. On every instance of playing mridanga, it is ultimately banged. With more than one mridanga, it is banged so loudly that some devotees cannot stand hearing such cacophony. Even though the Lord will have the hearing the capacity to accept it, many devotees won’t. Along with clashing whompers, the mridangas banged excessively can cause problems. Isa Dasa, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, invented a mridanga which is made of fiberglass, with plastic heads. They seem virtually indestructible, considering the fragile nature of clay and the weather changing skin heads are removed. However, recently, at my local temple, because of the excessive banging of the Balarama mridangas, the dayan head of one mridanga does not produce a sound. It’s syahi has detached from the inside. Likewise on the baya of another Balarama mridanga, the head had split open. Two mridangas were dead because of such big-bangs. A defect of the mridanga should be repaired as soon as possible and people should be conscious of how one uses it.

 

The above story described a situation with the Balarama mridanga. With clay mridangas, extra care must be considered, as they are very fragile and delicate. Even more, I would advise that unless the clay mridanga is yours, do not play a clay mridanga if you intend to bang it. The instrument was put through a lot of time and care. Banging it and causing such harm to the instrument is not only being offensive to the instrument, but also disrespectful to the owner of the instrument. Even if you own the clay mridanga, do not bang it excessively. Banging clay mridangas with buffalo skin heads causes pieces of the syahi to chip off and destroy the intended finish of the head.

 

FORECASTS FOR SEVERE DAMAGE

People enjoy going to Harinamas and sankirtana parades with their mridangas, which creates an ecstatic environment for devotees. In doing this, couple of considerations must be there. Only use the Balarama mridangas. Do not ever bring any kind of skin-headed mridangas outside. They will react to weather, especially humid or cold weather! In the rain, they will destroy the syahi and result in poor sounding mridangas. As a matter of fact, severe damage and convenience in receiving mridangas were the reasons why Srila Prabhupada ordered Isa Dasa to invent the Balarama mridanga.

 

Lastly, if you own a skin headed drum, please have covers protecting the heads. This way, moisture and pressure will not affect the head. The reason why many mridangas at temples are starting to deteriorate is because they are not using proper head-covers. In addition, do not expose the heads too much too humidity, moisture, or expose any water to it. Water will mess up the configuration of the syahi and the mridanga will sound horrible.

 

MRIDANGA CONTROL IS GOOD

Through kirtana, everyone wants to have some way of serving the Lord through a musical instrument. For top-quality musicians, harmonium will be used. However, if a harmonium is not available, mridangas and kartals are up for grabs. The mridanga should be played by devotees who know how to play the instrument as well as care for it. When used in kirtana, it must be used for accompanying only. Unless the lead singer allows you to go in tangents, you should strictly follow the main singer. If the singer wants you to go in double-time, then do so accordingly. If the singer wants you to slow down, or go back to single time, then do that. If you do not know how to play mridanga, then play kartals. If kartals are too difficult, then resort to clapping hands, as the clap is the source of all rhythms. If instrumental control is there, then kirtanas will be enjoyable, as well as well-coordinated.

 

FINAL NOTE

Before ending the article, I wish to discuss the way Prabhupada lead kirtanas. Prabhupada is rarely ever heard playing fast kirtanas or even medium tempo kirtanas. His style had him playing in vilambit tala, or slow tempo. Besides Srila Prabhupada, very few devotees sing in vilambit lay for kirtans or bhajans. People will try to speed it up or make it louder than it is. Although it is the devotion that count, kirtanas should be regulated so that the Lord will be pleased; thus devotees will be pleased in return.

 

In conclusion, this is just a small scale guide on how to prevent abuse of mridangas and how to play, preserve, and protect them. Hopefully, one will be inspired to learn the beautiful art and science of playing the Lord’s dearest drum.