Abhang vani by Bhimsen

My heart felt regards to the person who uploaded this on youtube.

Kumar Gandharva - Raag yaman

It went straight from ears to soul! Fab!

Dadra- Jamuna kinare mora gaon

Very nice rendition by Smt. Pratibha Atre of Jamuna kinare mora gaon. We have also heard a brilliant rendition of this dadra by Bhuvnesh Komkalli(kumar gandharva's son).

Avaghachi sansar

When a culture/tradition/nation produces such 21 yr olds what can you call it ... a pathological case of  ego-inflation ? :-) :-)

Sung wonderfully by madhuvanti dandekar. I have the feeling that in chorus, this will sound even better.

Ravi Shankar- Tilak Kamod

For reasons best understood after careful listening of this video, Shri Ravi Shankar will remain one of the most "emotive" musicians of our time.

Tilak Kamod.

Raag Kedar

Pilu and kedar are so hard to dislike in any mood. Both in drut and vilambit they have this colorful playfulness attached to them. I love the rendition by Ustad Bade gulam ali khan of Albeli naar. We have also heard our friend Sriram parasuram, But I think this one by Rajan Sajan Mishra is as good as the one by BGAK if not better. So enjoy this gem by the demigods of Kashi.

PS: a version of this by Sriram Parasuram was also posted by me some years ago on this blog.

Yaman- Bhimsen Joshi

We have heard this million times from million people. But this one is priceless.

Nath ha majha - Balgandharva movie Nath ha majha - Balgandharva movie - Anand Bhate

sharada bhujangam

Lava

Attachment
Detachment
attachment to attachment
attachment to detachment
he knows it all.

  

Paimona Bideh

Beautiful sarod with Zeb n Hania's soulful vocals.

Paimana bideh ki khumaar astam;
Bring me the glass so I may lose myself;

Man aashiq-e chashm-e mast-e-yarastam;
I am in love with my beloved's intoxicating eyes;


Find the complete lyrics here.

Naam Sankirtan: OS Arun

Hearing to OS Arunji can be defined in just one phrase: "Uplifting Relaxation"

He deserves Padma Vibhushan. Dont you agree ?

Click here to enjoy the uplifting relaxation. 

Name

Of late I have been deeply intrigued by jewish scriptures. Jewish traditions of kabalah etc. What I find very striking is, that in its most sacred transcendental form, God in judaism is called "the name", in Hebrew its called "hashem". Infact so scared is this name that, traditionally in Judaism, the name is not even pronounced but read as Adonai, "my Lord" during prayers. Its not meant to be said openly lest it gets defiled.  

Since then I have trying to correlate it with Vedic tradition and perhaps the closest we get to is Pranava (ukar akar makar yati).But still, even though divinity is referred to as "the word" it is never mentioned in the nominal sense. So while God/brahman is codified as sound/syllable/word. There is no direct mention of god/divinity being referred to as "Name". Infact even in the later classical sanskrit tradition, we have many shasranaams but God is never called Name, only other flowery adjectives are used. So god's name is important but god is never referred to as "Name".

However little later during bhakti age, we find repeated references of this sort i.e. god being referred to as naam. Kabir Nanak Dadu etc. do it quite often. And in the modern thinkers also we see Name being given a special emphasis by JK/UG etc. Even eckhart etc. 

What are your thoughts on this, i.e. "God" being referred to as "Name". Or I am just thinking too wildly ?

The Last of the mohicans - theme

My fav. theme song.

Pashto Music: Javed Akhtar Zalim Music

I dont know why but the northwest part of Pakistan fascinates me a lot. Not only it is perhaps the "probable" entry point of Aryans(or now a days Aryan languages) in India but it is also a unique and fascinating area for culture-vultures like us. Whether it is the slik route or the kalash people or the Uzbecks/kirgs/Tajiks, the whole region to me is sort of a place where central asian meets greek meets indo-european. Enough now, and lets hear a folk beautiful song in Pashto/urdu. Pashto is the language of Pathans(Pakhtuns/Pashtun). Notice the beautiful folk instruments, IMHO little sound effects and some polish can make it a numero uno chart topper.

Mujhe tum nazar se gira to rahe ho

Mehendi Hasan classic.

Pt.Himangshu Biswas Pt.Dulal Roy

Beautiful Bansuri and jaltarang

Vedic Shakas patha recital

A beautiful beautiful video of different forms of vedic recitals(Shakhas literally branches) from all parts of India(TN,KL,UK,UP,RJ,KN,BI). It contains portions of all 4 vedas and some brahmanas (Shatapatha and Gargi IIRC). Samveda portions are really exhilarating. I only wish there was more ghanapatha but then I have some good ghanapatha recordings with me. One thing which struck me was the White Yajurveda in Tamil nadu. Thus far, I had the impression that Shukla yajur is only in north India but anyway it was nice to hear that too. Transported me back to my grandfathers reciting the Shruti. Enjoy.


Vedic recitation of various recensions of the Vedas from Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies on Vimeo.


If the embedded video doesnt work try here. 

Saraswati Stuti - Veena Sahasrabuddhe

Beautiful saraswasti stuti sung by veena madame.

Man Mast hua phir kya bolen and leher leher

I had heard a fascinating rendition of this bhajan in fast tempo in Shanti Kunj some 15 yrs ago, since then I have been trying to find that version.... never been able to.

Here is one version by Tipannya, nice and  fast but still not quite the one I was looking for. Furthermore another composition by Kabir , "leher leher" might interest you.

Man mast hua

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leher leher

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