SANKIRTAN YOGA

By

SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA

The Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy

DT. TEHRI-GARHWAL, U.P., INDIA

Price] 1961 [Re. 1

Copyright Reserved By

THE DIVINE LIFE TRUST SOCIETY

Printed out of the magnanimous donation received from

The Members of the Divine Life Society, Visveswarapuram Branch,

Dedicated

To

SRI GAURANGA MAHAPRABHU

Contents

SANKIRTAN PURIFIES AND NOURISHES .............................................................................. 7

VARIETY OF KIRTAN ............................................................................................................... 9

DIVYA NAMA KIRTAN. ............................................................................................................14

MAHARASHTRA KIRTAN DHWANIS......................................................................................34

10. SELECTED KIRTAN DHWANIS. ........................................................................................35

EKA SLOKI RAMAYNA ...........................................................................................................37

EKA SLOKI BHAGAVATA .......................................................................................................38

PHILOSOPHY OF LOVE ..........................................................................................................40

PUBLISHERS' NOTE

Today, after over three decades of Swami Sivanandaji's divine service unto

the Lord and His Creation, in the shape of spread of His Name, and of the

glory of Sankirtan, even the peoples of the materialistic West need hardly be

sermonized on the glory of the Lord's Name. Swami Sivanandaji's mission

With the Lord's Name on his lips, his heart pouring forth sweet music in

praise of his Beloved!

Siva, intent on diving deeper into the ocean of nectar that is Divine Name,

slipped off from the cruel embrace of worldly life, thirty-seven years ago. Siva

renounced worldly prosperity for the sake of the Lord's Name; to him the

Name was food, drink, clothing and shelter; Name led him to Realization; the

spread of the Lord's Name or Sankirtan has since been his main concern.

We have great pleasure in presenting to the public this valuable work of Sri

Swamiji Maharaj on Sankirtan Yoga. We trust that this book will be a great

boon to all sincere aspirants, who wish to attain summum bonum of life-God-

Such is the glory of the Lord's Name. How can it be described by mere futile

words? It is verily an impregnable unassailable armor, ever protecting the

devotee from all hostile forces.

Blessed indeed are they on whose lips the sacred Name of the Lord is ever

present. He who sings the glorious Name constantly, obtains at once the

fruits of all austerities rituals and sacrifices. For these latter are all merely the

means to please the Lord whereas Name brings the devotee face to face

with the Lord Himself, nay, transforms him into his beloved Lord. Because

repeating the Name is equal to possess the Lord Himself, for Nami and

Nama are one.

The science of Sankirtan, its efficacy and how it is conducted in different

provinces in India, even in the foreign lands, have all been beautifully

explained in the following pages. In the end, the addition of some selected

Vedanta Forest Academy. It has been my endeavor right from the time I had

the good fortune to pay my respects to you at Sivananda Nagar last year to

read as much as I can from these publications and I feel considerably

benefited by the same. I cannot thank you adequately. I only wish that I may

deserve all the kindness and blessings you are bestowing on me.

SANKIRTAN YOGA

Are you regular in doing Japa, Kirtan and meditation?" He gives the answer

"My dear sir, what shall I do? I cannot get now good rice or wheat flour,

vegetables, ghee and milk. The price of food stuffs is considerably high. The

foodstuffs are adulterated. I am starving. I am weak. I cannot do any worship

or meditation" He puts the whole blame on food.

Food says "Do not blame me, Sir. My condition entirely depends upon rain.

There is no good rain in these days, Hence the production of food is very

Agni says " Do not blame me. People do not perform sacrifices or Homa or

Havan. A few Agni Hotris perform Havan in a half-hearted manner without

sufficient ghee and materials. Millions of people perform their own Agnihotra

in their own way. They smoke cigars and cigarettes ceaselessly and pollute

the atmosphere. Even there are cigarette-girls and cigarette-boys. As soon

as they get up from their bed, they start Agni Hotra as the first thing in the

morning and taint the air with their puffs of smoke. Horrible! Shameful! It is

their first worship of the Lord. How can you expect good rain and good food?

People are degenerated. No Sandhya, no recitation of Gayatri, no Kirtan, no

Japa. They cat drink. smoke, sleep. That is all. The day closes. Life ends.

direct Agni to bring forth abundant rain.

Akasa says " doubtless I am the source or womb for the four Tattwas Vayu,

Agni, water and earth. I generate sound. People have polluted me by using

horrible vulgar words. Even children utter foul words when they are playing.

Parents teach them to use vulgar words. They are their Gurus. Children

imitate them. People do not do Kirtan regularly. If all do Kirtan daily the whole

atmosphere will be purified. There will be abundant rain and abundant crops.

In olden days there was Kirtan in every house, and so there were good rains

and good food. Even this little food on this earth is due to the Kirtan done by

some devotees. Had it not been for this the whole world would have perished

by this time on account of severe famine. If you really want peace and plenty

do Kirtan, purify the atmosphere and propitiate Lord Hari. Sankirtan is the

children and all members of the family and in the temple, Mutts and town

halls and enjoy the bliss of the Eternal.

tastes immensely in each of the preparations individually, even so devotees

sing in ecstasy the blessed Names of the Lord and enjoy the unparalleled

spiritual bliss. Mind is a peculiar combination of various kinds of moods,

temperaments, whims, fancies and sentiments. It is a strange mixture of

various sentiments emotions etc., that is known of in this world. Therefore,

the Rishis of yore have designed various methods to control the mind.

Control of the mind forms the most important and major item of spiritual

Sadhana in the path of God-realization.

Bhakti Yoga and especially Sankirtan being the easiest, surest and quickest

chandan and kumkum. It is on this Deepa that the devotee does Avahan of

the Lord. The Dcepa or the Light is placed in the centre to symbolise the

Light of Lights, to give the devotee the Real Light or Knowledge and lead him

on from darkness to Light.

(To deviate a bit from the trend, Divya Nama Kirtan includes in it all the nine

modes of Bhakti, Sravan (hearing the Lilas of the Lord), Smaran (repeating

His Names), Kirtan (singing His Lilas), Padasevan ( worshipping His feet),

Deepa the devotees stand and begin to sing His names, "Rama Krishna

Govinda, Krishna Rama Govinda," etc., etc., As this proceeds further and

further, and as the Bhava increases, the devotees go round and round the

Deepa, clapping their hands and dancing in joy, suited o to the trend or

rhythm of the respective songs. It is noteworthy that these Namavalis and

Kirtans are sung in different tunes or Ragas.

When the song,

"Ehi Mudam Dehi, Sri Krishna, Krishna,

he sings this song doing Pradak-shina of the Deepa, clapping his hands and

dancing in joy.

Many of the songs contain "Pahi Mam" «Raksha

Mam" indicating absolute self-surrender.

It is just about the middle of Divya Nama Kirtan that the famous "Gopika

Geetam" (of Srimad Bhagawata, is sung. Picture as it does the various Lilas

of Lord Krish-na, sung by the Gopis, the song takes one nearer and nearer

the Bhav of Atma-Nivedan.

The "Gopika Geetam" is followed by the songs "Anga-nam Anganam," etc.

All the devotees will form a circle by interlocking each other's fngers and

This is followed by Kolattam, which is really very interesting and thrilling.

Then comes "churning." This is done in batches of two or three (but in any

case not more than three.)

One man takes hold of another man's left and right palms by his right and

left palms and rotate in a circle (around the Deepa) keeping the hands in a

horizontal position. The song selected for this purpose is one of Mira Bai,

whose devotional songs still inspire each and every one.

Bhava created, such a sphere this song and dance will create.

Then comes the song "Tharo Jagannatha Tharo Hare" which deals with all

the ten Avatars of Lord Vish-nu. At the end of this song, when Lord Anjaneya

is in-voked, one of the devotees will assume the pose of Anja-neya and not

unoften one of the devotees to please the "Anjaneya" will put a plantain into

"His" mouth.

The finishing touch to Divya Nama Kirtan is given by dedicating every one of

our actions to Him,

At the end of Divya Nama Kirtan, Slokas in praise of the Lord are sung, and

the Deepa is lifted from its place by one of the devotees ( and as soon as

The Lord will be requested by the Bhaktas to go to bed and a song is

specially sung for this purpose. And the cock will cry 'kokoko', to announce

that it is early morning. ( This is actually done by one of the Bhaktas.) And

all the devotecs will sing in the Bhupala tune to rouse up the Lord.

"Kausalya Supraja Rama Purva Sandhya Pravarta-te Uttishtha Narasardula

Kartavyam Daivamahnikam," etc,

(This particular sloka occurs in Srimad Valmiki Ramayana, where Sri

Viswamitra wakes up Lord Rama and Lakshmana. )

I

"Glorified, above all, is the chanting of

the mirror of chitta; which extinguishes

the great fire of the successive births

and re-births; which operates like the

moon beam upon the white lily of spiritual

life of bride Vidya; which swells the ocean

of bliss; which gives the chanter the

fullest enjoyment of that Divine Love at

the utterance of each word and bathes the

there.

There are several kinds of Kirtan in Bengal. Paalaa Kirtan, Shyama Sangit,

Parvati and Nama Kirtan are the important ones. Kirtans are generally sung

with accompaniments or Khol, Jhal, Veena, Pakhwaj Mridanga and other

musical instruments.

Paalaa Kirtan is the mosr ancient Kirtan in Bengal, They are written in verse

with rhythm. Most of them deal with the life history of Lord Krishna. They

were written by Ramprassad, Chandidas, Vidyapati during sixteenth century.

are sung only on the special occasions.

Recitation of the names of various gods and goddesses and hymns relating

to them is called Nama Kirtan. They are generally sung in the evening after

Pooja. Parvati Kirtan is another form of Nama Kirtan, sung in different Swara.

Particularly, it is sung in Bhairavi tune in the early morning. It is also sung in

Prabati Feri. During Arati, they do Nritya with khol and other musical

instruments and sing "Hari Bol".

Brindaban: —

"Barhavipeedam Natavaravapu Karnayo Darnikaram Bibhratvasam

Kanakakapisam Baijaiantincha malam Randhran Venoradarsudhaya

Purayan Gopabrindai Brindabanam Swapadaramanam Pravishad Gitakirti."

The last word Kirti denotes praise and from this is derived 'Kirtan' which is

now commonly known as a certain type and method of melodious singing,

particularly singing Lord Krishna's and His 'Leela.' Only praising the name of

the Lord and His 3 'Leela' in melody for the purposes of keeping the flame of

from Lord's feet so the flow of 'Kirtan' comes out of the hearts of mortals and

reaches the Lord's feet. Both these flows are purifying.

Singing about the Lord is usually known as 'Bhajan' in most parts of India

and there is nothing comparable to 'Kirtan' singing of Bengal outside the

province.

Kirtan can be classified under two heads:-

1. 'Namakirtan' 2. 'Leelakirtan' or 'Rasakirtan.' Singing the names of the Lord

'Namakirtan.' The main Sadhana in the nine kinds of 'Bhakti' is 'Namakirtan.'

The influence and utility of this are highly appreciated among the

'Vaishnavites' of Bengal among all the religious cults of India. They think that

the essence of all religios in 'Kaliyuga is 'Namasankirtan'..."Kalau

Namasankirtanat." Singing Lord Hari's name aloud is 'Sankirtan. From this

he sincerely sings the name of the Lord. This is called 'Avesha'. A 'Bhakta'

attain 'Samadhi' by singing the Lord's names just as a 'Yogi' does through

'Ragas' and 'Raginis' of the hours of the day and night, e.g. in the morning

hours in 'Bhairab,' in the noon in 'Bagesree,' ihe evening in Purabi' or 'Imam

Kalyan,' in the night in 'Behag.'

Mass singing in such style and compass when the singer and the audience

both calling the Lord with tears rolling down their cheeks is characteristic of

Bengali 'Kirtan' and such examples are rare except in Indian music.

'Namasankirtan' is usually singing Lord's name e. g.

'Hare Kirhna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare-Hare Rama Hare

teachings of Lord Sri Chaitanya is : —

"Satye Yad Dhyayato Vishnum

Tretyam Yajato Makhaih

Dwapare Paricharyayam

Kalau Tad Harikirtanat."

When the mind is attracted towards the Lord the heart experiences a selfless,

blissful state and this is called 'Rati'. When this 'Rati' gets a greater hold it is

termed 'Prem'. 'The devotee does not wish for 'Moksha' because even asking

for or wanting 'Moksha' is a type of Vasana and selfishness. When

'Bhagavan' is the only object of attainment what else can be desired. The

utility of 'Namasankirtan' is the purification of the heart and it is both the

'Leelakirtan'. It is ascribed to Lord Sri Gouranga that 'Leelarasa' should be

tasted in company of very intimates whereas 'Harinams Sankirtan' should be

preached and practised among general companies, lest those who are not

deeply immersed in Krishna Bhakti misunderstand or misconstrue the

significance of the Lord's Leela. But it is difficult to judge the attainments of

general companies. If Lord's name gives one pleasure it is but natural.

Singing Lord's qualities and about His 'Lecla' should also give him equal

pleasure. Whatever overfloods the heart with bliss is termed 'Rasa'. As

hearing of Lord's doings merges the heart in 'Ananda' or bliss, 'Leela Kirtan'

is otherwise termed 'Rasakirtan'.

A Kirtan singer should not only be a good musician but also must be learned,

otherwise he may unwittingly offer the audience by "Rasavasa' i.e. mixing up

on inappropriate 'Rasas' in a Leela.

In the Vaishnavite Literature 'Padavalis' which are lyrical poems and songs

combined concerning Lord Krishna's Leela have a very high place and

generally are those which have been composed by Vaishnava Bhaktas and

Saintly persons like Jayadev, Chandidas, Vidyapati, Jnandas, Govindadas

and others. In the present age Rabindranath Tagore, Sisir Kumar Ghose

have also made a gift of beautiful 'Padavalis' but the Orthodox sehool of

"Vaishnavas' in Bengal, though they admire these, do not admit these to be

'Rasakirtan' in the real sense of the term. The excellence and sublimity of

explained in the biginning of this article, and from the spiritual standard these

are 'Bhajana' of 'Bhagavan'.

There are five primary 'Rasa's acknowledged by the Bhaktas', over and

above the usually known nine 'Rasa.'

These five are :

1. 'Santa' … Equilibrium.

2. 'Dasya’ ... Service.

3. 'Sakhya' … Intimacy, friendship.

Principally 'Padavalis' are based on the 'Leela' of Lord Krishna. His 'Bhajan'

had been in vogue from earlier times bit Lord Sri Chaitanya placed 'Krishna

I cela' on a higher pedestal. Lord Sri Chaitanya's ideal of 'Prem' inspired

many poets and they composed many 'Padas' or poetical songs taking as

their theme 'Gouranga Leela'. These 'Padavalis' are known as 'Gourachand-

rika'. In real Kirtan first 'Gourchandrika' has to be sung before 'Krishna Leela'.

The life, character and teachings of Lord Sri Chaitanya are sublime, deep,

uplifting and purifying.

Volumes like 'Chaitanya Charitamrita', Chaitanya Chandrodaya,' 'Chaitanya

Bhagavat,' 'Chaitanya Man-gal' testify to this. It is doubtful if anywhere in the

world any religious preacher or reformer had been able to generate so much

'Bihara' in Paharpur in North Bengal is the mute evidence of the fact of the

great influence of the then decaying Budhistic Religion having its stronghold

in that part of the Province. With the lapse of time these Buddhists took to

mysterious and secret rituals and cults. The practitioners of these cults are

mentioned in 'Vaishnava' literature as 'Pasandi.' More than about 1000 years

ago Buddhist Acharyas like Luipad used to perform something similar to

'Kirtan'. The 'Bhikkus' and 'Bhikkunis' used to do 'Kirtan' in different localities.

In Koi Fong Iron Temple in China, built sometime between 900 and 1280 A.

D. there is a picture of Kirtan as it is practised in Bengal, an exact Replica of

Kirtan done in the days of Lord Sri Chaitanya. It is taken for granted that the

It is mentioned in 'Chaitanya Bhagavat' that on his return from Gaya Lord Sri

Chaitanya was mad after

'Harinam', The pupils of his 'Tole', religious school, told Him "Lord, we also

would like to do Kirtan with you but we do not know how to do it, please teach

us." Lord Sri Chaitanya sang :

"Haraye Namaha Krishna Yadavaya Namah

Gopala Govinda Rama Sri Madhusudana".

in accompaniment with clapping of hands. Thus began 'Sankirtan' in India.

Dancing to the accompaniment of musical instruments like 'Mridanga,' a

special type of Drum, and 'Mandira' - Cymbals—are integral parts of 'Kirtan'.

It is the practice to begin 'Kirtan' after worshipping 'Mridanga' with

Sandalwood paste and a garland of flowers. In the state of Manipur where

'Vaishnavism' is in vogue Kirtan starts after 'Arati' of 'Mridanga'—also called

"Khol' and 'Mandira' - generally known as 'Karatal'. The 'Kirtania' or Kirtan

singer is also garlanded before commencement of the function. The Kirtan

singer, his party and the whole audience start 'Gourchandrika' standing and

then everyone sits down and the subsequent portion of Kirtan is performed

Rajshahi, is known as 'Garanhati' (B) In the district of Burdwan from

Manoharsahi Pargana came 'Manohar- sahi' introduced by Acharya Srinivas

and propagated by Jnandas, Balaramdas, who were contemporaries of

Narottamdas. (C) From Ranihati, also in Burdwan district comes , Reneti'