The mad singer

 There is a famous story about Tansen. He was the musician in the court of Akbar. Akbar was very interested to have the best from all directions in his court – the best musician, the best poet, the best philosopher, and so on and so forth. He had chosen Tansen, and Tansen was perhaps one of the greatest musicians the world has ever produced. 

Akbar had given orders that where Tansen used to live, throughout the whole neighborhood, nobody could play music. It would be a disturbance to Tansen. Anybody playing music there would be put into jail, or he had to accept a challenge and come to the court and face Tansen with his music. 

So many people came and were defeated; Tansen had certainly something higher to give. But there was a man, Baiju Bawara. His name was Baiju; bawara means mad.  People thought he was mad, so his full name became Baiju Bawara. His whole ambition was to come to a point where he could defeat Tansen – he was a great musician himself. 

He worked hard for twenty-four hours a day. For the final touches he went to Haridas, the same man who was the teacher of Tansen. Haridas was very happy: ”I never thought that another man like Tansen would ever be my disciple. But you have the quality. Just one thing is missing – you have a desire to defeat somebody, and that is not very musical. That is making your being unmusical. 

”You have beautiful instruments and you have beautiful art, but your heart is not in the music; it is in defeating somebody. And unless you drop that idea you will never be equal to Tansen. He has no idea to defeat anybody, that’s why he goes on winning.” 

It was very difficult for Baiju Bawara to get rid of the desire, because that was the desire through which he had devoted his whole life to music. But if the master said so, then it was better to wait. He forgot all about Tansen, slowly slowly. 

And once, when Haridas became very old, be became sick; and he had a kind of paralysis of the legs, so he could not go from his small cottage to the nearby Krishna temple. And without seeing Krishna, he would not eat anything. 

Many physicians tried to treat him. They could not do anything. Baiju Bawara heard about it. He came running from his village, and he played early in the morning, when Haridas used to get up. The music that he played and the song that he sang means: ”My eyes are thirsty to see you.  Give strength to my legs; otherwise you will be responsible if I cannot see you. Don’t leave me.” 

And Baiju Bawara sang with such beauty and played with such greatness that Haridas stood up, went to Krishna’s temple where he was playing on the steps, and worshipped Krishna. Coming back, he told Baiju Bawara, ”Now you can go and have a competition with Tansen.  Now you don’t have any desire of competition or winning. And if your music can heal my legs, you have got the master key.” 

But Baiju Bawara said, ”What is the point? I have fallen in love with music. I have forgotten all about Tansen. It was a childish desire. And you were right – I would have been defeated; and you are also right that today I would be victorious. But now there is no desire; I don’t want to be a court musician. And the very idea is ugly, it is not part of a musical mind. You were right – that kind of desire.... 

”Now music has become my meditation. It is not for competition. It is not to be victorious, to be famous. It is enough unto itself.” 

Haridas said, ”Baiju, you are really bawara! You are really mad. Now is the point at which you can win.” Baiju never went, but because Haridas himself had said, ”This is the point at which you can win,” it was absolutely certain that he had gone higher than Tansen. And in refusing to go in for a competition, he showed that now his music was not part of the marketplace, it was something sacred. Now it had become his meditation. 

If music moves rightly, it will take you to meditation.