#bhakti katha

[aatmyogashala]

Kirtana, also rendered as Kirtan or Keertan, is a Sanskrit word that means "narrating, reciting, telling, describing" of an idea or story, specifically in Indian religions. It also refers to a genre of religious performance arts, connoting a musical form of narration or shared recitation, particularly of spiritual or religious ideas, native to the Indian subcontinent.

With roots in the Vedic anukirtana tradition, a kirtan is a call-and-response style song or chant, set to music, wherein multiple singers recite or describe a legend, or express loving devotion to a deity, or discuss spiritual ideas. It may include dancing or direct expression of bhavas by the singer. Many kirtan performances are structured to engage the audience where they either repeat the chant, or reply to the call of the singer. . 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 & 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬: Website: https://aatmyogashala.com/ Call OR WhatsApp: +91-8445993766 E-mail: AatmYogashala@gmail.com

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Listen !!!! Nd=Forget=Yourself !!!! " Maha==Mantra"{{Madhav=Prabhu}}

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जितिया का व्रत | जीवित्पुत्रिका व्रत | Jitiya Vrat | Jivitputrika Vrat |...

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Jai Shree Ram - Jyai Nagar (Cover Song)

[brijkerasiya]

श्री संतोषी माता चालीसा हिंदी अर्थ सहित (Santoshi Mata Chalisa)

श्री संतोषी माता चालीसा विडियो श्री संतोषी माता चालीसा (Santoshi Mata Chalisa) ।। दोहा ।। श्री गणपति पद नाय सिर, धरि हिय शारदा ध्यान। सन्तोषी मां की करूँ, कीरति सकल बखान।। ।। चौपाई ।। जय संतोषी मां जग जननी, खल मति दुष्ट दैत्य दल हननी। गणपति देव तुम्हारे ताता, रिद्धि सिद्धि कहलावहं माता। माता-पिता की रहौ दुलारी, कीरति केहि विधि कहूं तुम्हारी। क्रीट मुकुट सिर अनुपम भारी, कानन कुण्डल को छवि…

[rrcraft-and-lore]

So, this thread is for @Spirited_Gal , who is a wonderful person & author. She reached out curious about Asian storytelling structures and techniques, then links to South Asian ones. This became a convo about native/common/historical structures/styles/techniques from South Asia. 

So, let's get into some loosely (just to make y'all aware, without turning this into an academic essay because it easily can - but I do not have time for that, and am not being paid for that writing, and it could be a lot when fully fully fleshed out). 

Katha | Kathya: this is an Indian style of storytelling rooted in religious stories (mythology) - the performances are ritual events in Hindiusm. Sikhism holds a different take on it but somewhat related in that there is a focus on religious discourse, taking things apart, - 

questioning meaning/interpretations, & then using this to teach scriptures for a moral/religious education - directing beliefs & practices. But the purpose regardless when reduced to the simplest is the same: the moral/religious education & impartation of societal good values to people through the stories.

Usually the stories and this style are performed with a class of people who are both priests and narrators (narrators/storytellers have a massively important role in South Asian culture that they cannot be understated and undervalued, especially- 

considering so much of the religious history | myths, epics/stories were orally performed and passed down. Aural (listening/hearing) pleasure are just as important as music and song and dance accompany these performances, and couplets, hymns are common as well. 

Anyways, Katha is its own style focused on the religious epics like Ramayama. These stories as mentioned feature a storyteller proficient in classic music, oration, accompanied by dance/song at times, and involve story digression points - if that sounds familiar :throws copy of The First Binding at your face (lovingly).

This particular style is called: Kathakalakshepa.

Another style of Katha is: Purana-Pravachan - built on/around expounding the Puranas, a vast collection of folklore, stories, poems, legends, and more. They are heavily layered with- 

deep symbolism, diverse, incorporation tales of all sorts including sciences and topics like cosmology and cosmogony (not the same). This style focuses on the spiritual interpretation of these stories while reciting them. 

Folk Narratives (and I have another thread on specific ones such as Panchatantra and Jataka tales which I have talked about and have been argued by some experts to contribute | inspired to 30-50 percent of western nursery tales, ballads, "fairy" tales, as well as some (some not all, not many) middle eastern ones. Some. These are usually narrated with drumming and bow-string instruments. You might see more of these in future Tremaine novels. Perhaps even book two <.<

One of the most common type of story within the folk narrative is particularly - the heroic ballad.

Another specific style here is the Burra Katha - an oral storytelling technique that comes from the Jangam Katha (an order of religious monks associated with Shiva). It incorporates many of things I've mentioned before: prayer, drama, dance, songs, poems, humor (lewd and tame), and usually focuses on mythological stories, or interpretations to focus on modern social issues. Interesting fact, Burra refers to tambura - a stringed instrument with a hollow shell. In Telegu, the word Burra means brain. The shell of the instrument so resembles a human skull (metal! or...gothic. w.e.), it's made of baked clay, pumpkins, or soft metals like brass/copper. In this style, the narrator doesn't just narrate, they play the instrument and dances to the music. South Asia has very little just tell a story traditions. 

They're all performances. You will move, you will dance, you will evoke, sing, riddles, lessons, so on. :Gestures to Ari:

Okay - that's it that I want to talk about Katha (yep one tradition/style with varied structures). Just one...see how diverse it gets.

NOW, CLASS: 

Kirtan | Keertan: It's narrating, reciting, telling or describing a story or an idea. Wait isn't that the same? No. Because it's a genre of religious performance arts but you're not necessarily breaking down a religious epic/myth a certain way. Instead, you are focused on the 

performance of them, many times in a group, with multiple singers, each of whom recite/focus on the name of a specific deity, or a legend, and then you perform that part, very heavy on emoting, evoking that aspect to the audience, the romance, the heroism, and then use multiple singers to discuss that. This particular style is built to engage the audience.

You bring the audience in on the chanting, on the songs, or reply to the singers. You're not lecturing and teaching a moral/spiritual education here. You're performing them and involving the crowd 

That IS different. This is a collective performance. Just because you might cover similar topics as Katha, for example, doesn't mean it's the same thing.

That's like saying anything involving a four chord progression is the same (I know someone musicy will bring up a joke about how...yeah they're all the same. I KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING WITH THAT BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. CHILLLLL). 

Anyways, what specifically makes Kirtan different is the fact that it's not required to be educational, and it's focused on shared performances. Katha can be performed by ONE person. 

Kirtan again is commonly a call-and-response style performance.

I've already talked about Puranas and Jatka Tales and Panchatantra before (you can look those up in my other thread). Also styles of storytelling because of what they entail in their collections, diversity of topics, and varied styles between them in the presentation. They're not just "works" but it's how they're collected/presented and what they cover. That matters. 

Hitopadesha: Beneficial Advice. This is an Indian text, written in, as you can imagine, Sanskrit. It's compromised of fables with human and animal characters and focuses on, you guessed it, imparting advice - maxims, so on. Things involving political affairs, life advice, and is delivered in simple and elegant language. It is said in fact to actually predate the Panchatantra (which I've shared is already one of the oldest things out of there. This is said at times to be the Panchatantra before Panchatantra ) 

The argued point of this particularly story and its structure of being four books, really, is to both encourage the proficiency of people reading it in Sanskrit expression (writing, poetry, more), and imparting wisdom/good behavior. Note, this is not focused on religious/ mythological connections. These are some of the oldest folklore/folktale/fable style stories. You can convey lessons/wisdom/life advice without a religious epic. Though, note, religious figures DO appear and can in this style. Some examples from within: 

Book one: (Translated title) How to gain a friend (some of y'all might need this with how you behave online). It begins with a statement on how the wise and sincere friends might often appear poor or destitute, however, they are the ones who more often/earnestly help one achieve true success in life. It focuses on finding friends of good quality, doing this through many particular animal stories such as: The traveler and the tiger. Or, the deer, the jackal, and the crow. The old man & his young wife. The huntsman, deer, the boar, & the serpent & jackal. 

Frame Narrative: I think I've talked about this one so much it'll be mildly depressing if I have to really break this one down. But, ahem. Sandwich narrative, kind of self explanatory. Story (or stories) within a story. You have a main narrative and or narrator (hi Ari) set the stage for more emphasized and secondary narratives within (going as deeply layered as you want). The legendary South Asian epic, Mahabharta is the earliest example of Frame Narratives we have, along with Ramayama, Panchatantra, The Seven Wise Masters, and Vikram Vetala (or Vikram the Vampire oh yes, Indian Vampire - technically flesh eating demon, long story. HA. GEDDIT?). Anyways some other examples from other cultures are: 1,001 Nights, The Decameron, and Canterbury Tales. Parts of the Odyssey employ this too, the beginning, where Odysseus tells of his time in the court of King Alcinous.

Mary Shelley's, Frankenstein, has multiple framed narratives in it. Neil Gaiman's used it in parts of Sandman. But we're getting away from the South Asian history/roots.

Next: 

Qissa | Kisse | Kissa (NOTE: This is not solely an Indian origin, but a fusion that comes out of Islamic/Persian heritage that developed a different localized form to Punjabi and Bangladeshi people once introduced and changed for them through migration). The word Qissa is Arabic for epic legend or folk tale. It's regularly common in Indo-Aryan languages like Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, so on. 

You can also translate it as: interesting story (which is a whole own genre - something that has led me to butting some heads with people in the biz when I explain YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE A STANDARD PLOT STRUCTURE FROM THE WEST. SCREAMS. :Jabs at one piece, an epic adventure fiction with a numinous goal still in the distance after 20 years, but strung together with tightly woven character driven and location arcs - it quite literally follows the history of great, grand, ADVENTURE fiction, promising more than anything, a great adventure story in pursuit of a goal. The end).

Anyways, I digress.

Punjabi Qisse/Kisse focuses on stories of love, passion, betrayal, and sometimes a common man's revolt against a larger system. Stories of friendship, loyalty, love. These are usually sung and performed. Poetry forms of this are VERY common (through all the mentioned cultures above, not just Punjabi). The Bengali style is similar (as obvy both evolved out of the Arabic tradition), just focusing more on Bengali culture and stories. They are all UTTERLY beautiful. 

If you've read Tales of Tremaine (and wait for book two) you will catch these themes and notes as well.

It's almost like that series is trying to smash and share every freaking kind of storytelling technique and tradition I can from along the silk road because...there isn't one of those (golden road) in the book. Oh, wait. :blinks:

Kavya: This is a particular style of utterly beautiful poetry performed by court poets. It's a blend of prose and poetry focusing specifically on the flowery/hyperbolic uses of figures of speech, metaphors, and similes. 

Sometimes you'll have pieces flowing through normalized prose and poetry in and out. That is NOT required in that specific way. It's just something that happens/can be done. 

There is a very specific intentional use of that in the chapter, Brahm, in The First Binding, in where there is a creation/cosmogony story, performed in normalized prose, rhyming couplets and quatrains, with a mini section in verse. 

That section is not actually Kavya, just inspired, as it is not a court epic, more drawing from the other requirement of a "short" lyrical work with those aspects I mentioned above. 

There is Bhakti poetry: a specific poetic tradition from the 6th century focusing on celebrating the love and devotion for Hindu gods - showing one's mystical devotion to a god. It's devotional and religious, also focusing on condemning evils, promoting egalitarian values, transcending ideas of caste, gender, and restrictions. It hinges upon message of love.

Dastan: Is an Urdu storytelling tradition focused on epic tales of adventure, romance, chivalry (note, not only pakistani/urdu, other islamic cultures use this style). It is performed both orally and in written format.

This whole thread is JUST A PRIMER.

If you are interested, please take the time to go do a proper deep dive.

[divi26]

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श्रीमद भागवत कथा 2 shri Bhagwan Swarup Brijwasi bhagwat katha

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[bhagvadgita]

Verse 12.17 - Bhakti Yoga 

यो न हृष्यति न द्वेष्टि न शोचति न काङ्क्षति ।शुभाशुभपरित्यागी भक्तिमान्यः स मे प्रियः ॥

He who neither rejoices, nor hates, nor grieves, nor desires. Renouncing good and evil, full of devotion, he is dear to Me.

The meaning of this verse is that the devotee who is free from attachment and aversion to the dualities of life, such as pleasure and pain, gain and loss, honor and dishonor, etc., and who has surrendered all his actions to the Will of God, is very dear to the Lord. Such a devotee does not seek any personal benefit from his actions, nor does he lament for any loss or hanker for any gain. 

He is content with whatever comes his way, and remains steadfast in his devotion to the Lord. He does not judge his actions by their worldly outcomes, but by their conformity to the divine law. He is not affected by the good and evil results of his actions, but renounces them both, offering them to the Lord. He is thus free from the bondage of karma, and attains the Supreme Peace (the Peace that passeth all understanding!) and Bliss of the Lord.

Similar verses from other Vedic texts are:

- Yogavashishta 6.2.215.6:

मोक्षोपायानिमान्पुण्यान्प्रत्यक्षानुभवार्थदान् ।बालोप्यकर्ण्य तत्ज्ञात्व��� याति का त्वादृशे कथा ॥

Having learnt the methods of Realization, expounded in this work which brings about direct intuition; Even a child comes to Realize the Self, what to speak of you who are like that.

This verse from the Yogavashishta praises the efficacy of the teachings of this text, which are based on the non-dualistic philosophy of Advaita Vedanta. It says that anyone who listens to and understands the methods of Realization taught in this text, can attain the direct Realization of the Self, which is the Ultimate Goal of human life. It implies that the seeker who is already endowed with the qualifications of discrimination, detachment, and devotion, can easily achieve this goal by following the instructions of this text.

- Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.4:

नायमात्मा प्रवचनेन लभ्यो न मेधया न बहुना श्रुतेन । यमेवैष वृणुते तेन लभ्यस्तस्यैष आत्मा विवृणुते तनूं स्वाम् ॥

This Self cannot be attained by instruction, nor by intellectual power, nor by much hearing. He whom the Self chooses, by him the Self can be attained. The Self reveals His own Form to him.

This verse from the Mundaka Upanishad declares that the Self cannot be attained by mere verbal or intellectual means, such as listening to lectures, reading books, or reasoning. The Self is beyond the reach of the senses and the mind, and can only be realized by the Grace of the Self. The Self chooses the one who is sincere, earnest, and devoted, and reveals His own nature to him. The seeker who has purified his mind and heart, and who has surrendered to the Self, becomes fit for this revelation.

- Katha Upanishad 2.1.11:

नाविरतो दुष्चरितान्नाशान्तो नासमाहितः ।नाशान्तमानसो वाऽपि प्रज्ञानेनैनमाप्नुयात् ॥

He who has not turned away from evil conduct, who is not tranquil, who is not composed; Who is not peaceful in mind, cannot attain Him by knowledge.

This verse from the Katha Upanishad emphasizes the importance of ethical and moral conduct, as well as mental discipline, for the attainment of the Self. It says that the one who is still engaged in evil actions, who is restless, agitated, and disturbed, who is not calm and serene in mind, cannot attain the Self by mere knowledge. Knowledge here means the intellectual understanding of the scriptures, which is not enough to Realize the Self. The seeker must also practice the virtues of truthfulness, non-violence, self-control, compassion, etc., and cultivate the qualities of concentration, meditation, and devotion, to prepare his mind for the Realization of the Self.

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Nonstop Mata Bhajans | Mata Rani Bhajan | Ambe Maa Aarti | Durga Chalisa | Bhakti Songs | Mata Songs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaOK0LhVoWE Nonstop Mata Bhajans | Mata Rani Bhajan | Ambe Maa Aarti | Durga Chalisa | Bhakti Songs | Mata Songs 1) Ya Devi Sarvabhuteshu – 00:00 2) Sarva Mangala Mangalye – 13:14 3) Gayatri Mantra – 38:53 4) Katha Navdurga – 49:36 5) Durga Chalisa – 01:11:27 6) Ambe Tu Hai Jagdambe Kali – 01:15:10 🔔 Click To Subscribe: https://youtube.com/@bhajanindia and start…

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Nonstop Mata Bhajans | Mata Rani Bhajan | Ambe Maa Aarti | Durga Chalisa | Bhakti Songs | Mata Songs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaOK0LhVoWE Nonstop Mata Bhajans | Mata Rani Bhajan | Ambe Maa Aarti | Durga Chalisa | Bhakti Songs | Mata Songs 1) Ya Devi Sarvabhuteshu – 00:00 2) Sarva Mangala Mangalye – 13:14 3) Gayatri Mantra – 38:53 4) Katha Navdurga – 49:36 5) Durga Chalisa – 01:11:27 6) Ambe Tu Hai Jagdambe Kali – 01:15:10 🔔 Click To Subscribe: https://youtube.com/@bhajanindia and start…