Songs of Experience

Commentaries of Songs : III

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indic prayer sessions engage bhajans, a soulful melody that draws on one's affections towards the object of God. Christian hymns perform something similar. In that we come to the realization that something as infinite as the idea of God cannot be expressed in a single word or sentence. As individuals we are in that way related to the God idea and therein do we encounter a peculiar difficulty in defining our identity.

 

Some years ago, the then Prime Minister of India, Morarji Desai, facing a no confidence vote in parliament remarked quite innocently that India is in God's hands. According to the popular quip, parliament thereafter voted full confidence in God and no confidence in Mr. Desai.

 

In coming to perceive our self identity therefore we are compelled to make certain choices with regards to our self identity. God may well be infinite in scope and form, man on the other hand is born and lives through a specific lifetime before he passes on. The identity of man is therefore specific to his lifetime, name, address, skills, relations and interests. And he is expressed in specific speech.

 

They have been many a man in our collective past who rose to great heights in the service of society. Such men came to be written about and their stories turned into legends. The bards composed songs dedicated to such men as if to say that they are a veritable part of the creation endeavour. These are men who come to be viewed as of God. It refers to the achievement of an ideal that God himself may have intended.

 

Memories of such individuals dot the landscape of our past and we are not without some reverence for the qualities represented by such individuals. They form a collective sense of faith that we give our devotion to as part of the life we live in this one lifetime.  On occasion we are given an insight into our past this way and discern the nature of what we are. At these times, we may find ourselves creating acceptance for our condition or we may break away to form a new view.

 

But to create any clear perception we need to undertake our view with a clarity and coherence that is expressed clearly in speech. At the same time, we need an understanding of the songs we offer as reverence. Sometimes we have to go so far as to write these songs anew ourselves, founded on our experience. Only then do we understand the passion and its contents.