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{{Infobox | {{Infobox Kiirtan | ||
|name = Kiirtan | |name = Kiirtan | ||
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| | | performers = Av. Ananda Krpa Acarya | ||
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| | | audio = {{#widget:Audio|url=https://sarkarverse.org/Kiirtan/AK005.mp3}} | ||
}} | }} | ||
'''Kiirtan''' (or ''kiirtana'' | '''Kiirtan''' (or ''kiirtana'') nowadays is typically the chanting out loud of a specially empowered [[:wikipedia:Mantra|mantra]], an 8-syllabled ''siddha mantra'' (perfect incantation). In [[Ananda Marga]], the mantra used is '''''Bábá nám kevalam'''''. | ||
== History == | == History == | ||
Amjhariya 1970 October 8 | Kiirtan with ''Bábá nám kevalam'' was introduced by [[Shrii Shrii Anandamurti]] at the Amjhariya Forest Rest House (about 70km east of [[:wikipedia:Ranchi|Ranchi]]) on 1970 October 8. Present on the occasion was only a small group of Margiis. | ||
== Tradition == | == Tradition == | ||
[[:wikipedia:Kirtan|Kiirtan]] has a long, rich, and storied history. The word ''kiirtan'' means "narration", "glorification", "celebration". It is an artistic expression of devotion. So classical kiirtan took on many musical forms over the ages, and it had many luminous proponents (for example, [[:wikipedia:Chaitanya Mahaprabhu|Chaitanya Mahaprabhu]]. While the many classical forms of kiirtan are currently not much in vogue in Ananda Marga, several compelling examples of them are found in [[Prabhat Samgiita]]. See for instance [[List of songs of Prabhat Samgiita|Songs 138-152]]. | |||
== Practice == | == Practice == | ||
* General kiirtan (with or without dance) | * [[#General kiirtan|General kiirtan]] (with or without dance) | ||
* Akhańd́a kiirtan | * [[#Akhanda kiirtan|Akhańd́a kiirtan]] | ||
* Kathá kiirtan | * [[#Katha kiirtan|Kathá kiirtan]] | ||
* Nagar kiirtan | * [[#Nagar kiirtan|Nagar kiirtan]] | ||
* Ávarta kiirtan | * [[#Avarta kiirtan|Ávarta kiirtan]] | ||
=== General kiirtan === | |||
General kiirtan may be practiced with or without instrumentation. It may be sung collectively or in the form of caller-response. For percussion, the [[:wikipedia:Mridangam|mridangam]] is preferred.<ref name="LC">{{cite book|last=Anandamurti|first=Shrii Shrii|title=Light Comes|chapter=Táńd́ava, Kaośikii and Kiirtana|location=Kolkata|year=|publisher=Ananda Marga Publications|editor=|language=English|isbn=}}</ref> If dance is done (as is usual at [[Dharmacakra]], then the dance is ''lalita mármika''.<ref name="AV14">{{cite book|last=Anandamurti|first=Shrii Shrii|title=Ananda Vacanamrtam Part 14|chapter=Kiirtana and Dance/The Psychic Order|location=Kolkata|year=|publisher=Ananda Marga Publications|editor=|language=English|isbn=}}</ref> | |||
Typically this kiirtan is done with men and women sitting or standing in separate columns, facing toward a puja table holding picture(s) of [[:wikipedia:Guru|Gurudeva]]. | |||
=== Akhanda kiirtan === | |||
''Akhańd́a'' means "continuous". Akhańd́a kiirtan is similar to general kiirtan, the main difference being the length of time that kiirtan is practiced. In Akhańd́a kiirtan, typically the duration is in multiples of 3 hours. Generally, the puja table is not in front of the dancers but in the center of the dancers, with the dancers circling the puja table in a counter-clockwise direction. | |||
=== Katha kiirtan === | |||
Katha kiirtan features stories of the Lord (often personal experiences with Gurudeva) interspersed between sessions of collective kiirtan. | |||
=== Nagar kiirtan === | |||
Nagar kiirtan is kiirtan done as a public procession through a village, town, or portion of town. As with Akhańd́a kiirtan, Nagar kiirtan might be a constituent part of some social function or festivity in Ananda Marga.<ref name="CC1">{{cite book|last=Anandamurti|first=Shrii Shrii|title=Ananda Marga Caryácarya Part 1|chapter=Appendix: Maháprayáńa Divasa|location=Kolkata|year=|publisher=Ananda Marga Publications|editor=|language=English|isbn=}}</ref> | |||
=== Avarta kiirtan === | |||
Ávarta kiirtan requires dancing with a slow rotation or whirl, with six different melodies, one for each direction. If the puja table is to the north, then one starts facing the north (the puja table). Then with the next melody, one faces west. Then south, east, and north again. However on reaching north for the second time one first faces upward, and then with the last melody downward. While practicing Ávarta kiirtan, mind is to be concentrated at a specific cakra ([[:wikipedia:Anahata|anáhata]] or above, though typically [[:wikipedia:Ajna|ájiṋá]] or [[:wikipedia:Sahasrara|sahasrára]].<ref name="AV22">{{cite book|last=Anandamurti|first=Shrii Shrii|title=Ananda Vacanamrtam Part 22|chapter=Rules for Kiirtana|location=Kolkata|year=|publisher=Ananda Marga Publications|editor=|language=English|isbn=}}</ref> | |||
== Benefits == | == Benefits == | ||
As explained and demonstrated by Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, the benefits of kiirtan are extensive. They are both individual and collective. The benefits accrue even to those who just happen to hear, but the benefits are still more to those who participate.<ref name="AV32">{{cite book|last=Anandamurti|first=Shrii Shrii|title=Ananda Vacanamrtam Part 32|chapter=The Benefits of Kiirtana|location=Kolkata|year=|publisher=Ananda Marga Publications|isbn=}}</ref> | |||
== Perfect kiirtan == | == Perfect kiirtan == | ||
In 1982 (exact date unknown), Shrii Shrii Anandamurti gave a discourse in which were set out the requirements for a ''perfect kiirtan''. Many other topics were also addressed, for example the appropriate ideation to be taken while practicing kiirtan and why a ''siddha mantra''{{#tag:ref|A special type of mantra suitable for general use.|group="nb"}} must have eight syllables. This discourse was distributed in the form of [[:wikipedia:Cyclostyle (copier)|cyclostyled]] sheets under the title of "Bio-psycho-spiritual System of Kiirtan". [[Abhidevananda|Ac. Abhidevananda Avadhuta]] kept secure his copy of that discourse. In the mid-1990s he submitted his copy to the Central Publications Department of [[Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha]], which had put out a request for any lost discourses. However, this discourse was only published subsequent to a reminder and after more than six years (in 2002).<ref name="AV30">{{cite book| | In 1982 (exact date unknown), Shrii Shrii Anandamurti gave a discourse in which were set out the requirements for a ''perfect kiirtan''. Many other topics were also addressed, for example the appropriate ideation to be taken while practicing kiirtan and why a ''siddha mantra''{{#tag:ref|A special type of mantra suitable for general use.|group="nb"}} must have eight syllables. This discourse was distributed in the form of [[:wikipedia:Cyclostyle (copier)|cyclostyled]] sheets under the title of "Bio-psycho-spiritual System of Kiirtan". [[Abhidevananda|Ac. Abhidevananda Avadhuta]] kept secure his copy of that discourse. In the mid-1990s he submitted his copy to the Central Publications Department of [[Ananda Marga Pracaraka Samgha]], which had put out a request for any lost discourses. However, this discourse was only published subsequent to a reminder and after more than six years (in 2002).<ref name="AV30">{{cite book|last=Anandamurti|first=Shrii Shrii|title=Ananda Vacanamrtam Part 30|location=Kolkata|year=|publisher=Ananda Marga Publications|editor=Acarya Vijayananda Avadhuta|language=English|isbn=81-7252-101-4}}</ref> When the discourse was published, it went out in a mangled form (minus the explanatory Saḿskrta and with misleading rather than constructive footnotes) as the final part of an appendix ("From the Notebooks of Devotees"). Below is the complete discourse in its original form and with appropriate footnotes. | ||
=== Bio-psycho-spiritual System of Kiirtan === | === Bio-psycho-spiritual System of Kiirtan === | ||
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:The whole siddha mantra should be uttered fully in each phrase of the tune – Bábá Nám Kevalam, and not a part of it – while doing kiirtan.{{#tag:ref|Here it must be noted that in 1982, some kiirtans that were practiced did not include the full siddha mantra in every musical phrase. For example, at times there were musical phrases with only Bábá Nám and no Kevalam. Due to the somewhat confusing way in which this instruction came out in writing, at the class which accompanied the distribution of this discourse, it was asked whether this meant that we should only sing "Bábá Nám Kevalam, Bábá Nám Kevalam" in a serial fashion. The response was an emphatic No. It only meant that every musical phrase should contain at least one complete Bábá Nám Kevalam and not just a fragment or fragments of the siddha mantra. In other words, a musical phrase that goes "Bábá Nám Bábá Nám Kevalam" is perfectly acceptable, but a musical phrase that goes "Bábá Nám Bábá Nám Bábá Nám" is not.|group="nb"}} If it is not done, the kiirtan cannot be said to be a perfect kiirtan. Everything must be done in a methodical way. Then you will enjoy and get the upavasya of kiirtan properly. | :The whole siddha mantra should be uttered fully in each phrase of the tune – Bábá Nám Kevalam, and not a part of it – while doing kiirtan.{{#tag:ref|Here it must be noted that in 1982, some kiirtans that were practiced did not include the full siddha mantra in every musical phrase. For example, at times there were musical phrases with only Bábá Nám and no Kevalam. Due to the somewhat confusing way in which this instruction came out in writing, at the class which accompanied the distribution of this discourse, it was asked whether this meant that we should only sing "Bábá Nám Kevalam, Bábá Nám Kevalam" in a serial fashion. The response was an emphatic No. It only meant that every musical phrase should contain at least one complete Bábá Nám Kevalam and not just a fragment or fragments of the siddha mantra. In other words, a musical phrase that goes "Bábá Nám Bábá Nám Kevalam" is perfectly acceptable, but a musical phrase that goes "Bábá Nám Bábá Nám Bábá Nám" is not.|group="nb"}} If it is not done, the kiirtan cannot be said to be a perfect kiirtan. Everything must be done in a methodical way. Then you will enjoy and get the upavasya of kiirtan properly. | ||
=== Accounting for the dogma of serial kiirtan === | |||
The "Bio-psycho-spiritual System of Kiirtan" discourse was first published only in 2002, 20 years after the instructions were given and even 12 years after Shrii Shrii Anandamurti had physically departed. In 2002, some persons who saw the instructions in the final paragraph for the first time, misinterpreted their meaning and even failed to consider the way in which kiirtan was practiced in the 1980s and 1990s (and did not even examine videos of kiirtan taken in the 1980s with Shrii Shrii Anandamurti present and appreciative). Without thinking carefully, they imagined that they had discovered some previously unknown instruction. And ignoring the fact that the instruction pertains to musical phrases, they propagated the dogma that kiirtan must be done by repeating only "Bábá Nám Kevalam, Bábá Nám Kevalam, Bábá Nám Kevalam". | The "Bio-psycho-spiritual System of Kiirtan" discourse ([[#Bio-psycho-spiritual System of Kiirtan|above]]) was first published only in 2002, 20 years after the instructions were given and even 12 years after Shrii Shrii Anandamurti had physically departed. In 2002, some persons who saw the instructions in the final paragraph for the first time, misinterpreted their meaning and even failed to consider the way in which kiirtan was practiced in the 1980s and 1990s (and did not even examine videos of kiirtan taken in the 1980s with Shrii Shrii Anandamurti present and appreciative). Without thinking carefully, they imagined that they had discovered some previously unknown instruction. And ignoring the fact that the instruction pertains to musical phrases, they propagated the dogma that kiirtan must be done by repeating only "Bábá Nám Kevalam, Bábá Nám Kevalam, Bábá Nám Kevalam". | ||
== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
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== See also == | == See also == | ||
* [[Ananda Marga]] | * [[Ananda Marga]] | ||
[[Category:Nonliterary works of Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar]] | |||