II. India's Regional/Devotional Music: 5. Baul Song, "Ekdin Matir Bhitar Hobe Ghar"

Question 1

What kind of devotion song is worship of a divine who is beyond all description? The senses cannot perceive him directly, and there are no words capable of describing him. These Bhakti’s often cross the boundaries that divide religious sects.

Answer 1

Nirgun Bhakti (devotion to a divine that is “without characteristics”)

Question 2

What is one of the most well-known Nirgun Bhakti sants and is admired across sectarian lines? He is said by Hindus to be Hindu and by Muslims to be Muslim, and his songs form a part of the Sikh sacred book.

Answer 2

Kabir

Question 3

This Sant was born into a poor weaver’s family in the Hindi-speaking region of North India in the 15th century. His poems speak out against hypocrisy, blind ritual, and class prejudices. His poems ask us to find truth by looking deeply into our own selves. Don’t depend on a priest, Pandit (scholar) or teacher he says. Don’t even depend on a deity like Brahma. The only real teacher is within you.

Answer 3

Kabir

Question 4

“Vaishnava Jana To” is a Bhajan that was the favorite of which famous social-political figures in Indian history?

Answer 4

Mahatma Gandhi

Question 5

This is another type of Hindu devotional music that means “sung praise” and the term is used in a variety of ways. In the Hindi-language region of North India this type of music is a chant.

Answer 5

Kirtan “sung praise” (chants)

Question 6

This devotional singing of poetry is contained in the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib.

Answer 6

Sikh Kirtan

Question 7

How are Kirtan’s used in the United States?

Answer 7

In large groups assembled in yoga studios, workshops, and special gatherings are led in kirtan chants. These chants are non-sectarian (non-religious) and are seen as healing or soothing.

Question 8

Which language straddles the Indian state of Bengal and the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in the northeast? Also, which widely dispersed sect lives there?

Answer 8

Bengali and the Baul.

Question 9

How do you become a Baul?

Answer 9

By renouncing home life and social norms and following Baul ideals.

Question 10

What do Bauls believe?

Answer 10

That the divine is to be found inside oneself and is cultivated through love. Men, women, and people of all castes and religions are equal in Baul philosophy. Music is central to Bauls, who sing and dance poetry written by past and present-day Baul poets.

Question 11

What kind of song is “Ekdin Matir Bhitar Hobe Ghar?”

Answer 11

Baul Song

Question 12

What is the central idea in “Ekdin Matir Bhitar Hobe Ghar?”

Answer 12

How fleeting life is. Wealth, pride, and good looks are just temporary. The poet reminds himself to look beyond this to find what is permanent.

Question 13

This plucked, fretless string instrument opens the “Ekdin Matir Bhitar Hobe Ghar” song.

Answer 13

Dotara (plucked, fretless string instrument)

Question 14

What small one or two piece hand drum is used in “Ekdin Matir Bhitar Hobe Ghar” and other Baul music?

Answer 14

Duggi (small hand drum)

Question 15

What are the bells called in “Ekdin Matir Bhitar Hobe Ghar?” These bells are tied to the Baul singer’s ankle.

Answer 15

Ghungur (bells)

Question 16

How many beats are in “Ekdin Matir Bhitar Hobe Ghar?”

Answer 16

8

Question 17

Baul poetry, music, and philosophy came to be widely known through the writing of who? He was a Bengali thinker and poet and India’s first Nobel Prize winner.

Answer 17

Rabindranath Tagore