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Ramprasad Sen

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Ramprasad Sen
Bornc. 1723[1]or c. 1718[2]
Garalgachha,Hooghly District,Bengal Subah
Died1781(1781-00-00)(aged 62–63)[2]
Halisahar,Bengal Presidency,British India
Other namesSadhak Ramprasad
Occupation(s)Saint, poet
Known forRamprasadi
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Rāmprasād Sen(c.1723/1718 – c. 1775) was aHinduShaktapoet and saint of 18th-centuryBengal.[3][4]Hisbhaktipoems, known asRamprasadi,are still popular in Bengal—they are usually addressed to the Hindu goddessKaliand written inBengali.[5]Stories of Ramprasad's life typically include legends and myths mixed with biographical details.[6]

It is said that, Ramprasad was born into a BengaliBaidyaBrahmin family, and showed an inclination towards poetry from an early age. He was highly influenced byKrishnananda Agamavagisha,a Tantric scholar andyogi.Ramprasad became well known for his devotional songs. His life has been the subject of many stories depicting his devotion to, and relationship with, Kali. Ramprasad's literary works includeVidyasundar,Kali-kirtana,Krishna-kirtanaandShaktigiti.

Ramprasad is credited with creating a new compositional form that combined the Bengali folk style ofBaulmusic with classical melodies andkirtan.The new style took root in Bengali culture with many poet-composers combining folk and raga-based melodies, mi xing every common style of music from classical to semi-classical and folk.[7]His songs are sung today, with a popular collection—Ramprasadi Sangit( "Songs of Ramprasad" )—sold atShaktatemples andpithasin Bengal.[5]

Biography

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Biographies of Ramprasad are a mixture of biography, metaphor, and legend.[6]

Early life

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Ramprasad was born inGaralgachha,inHooghly District(at his maternal house), in aBaidyafamily,[8][9]belonging toDhanvantarigotra.[10]Due to the absence of birth records, his actual birth date is not known, but it is believed to be around 1718[2]or 1723.[1]His father, Ramram Sen, was anAyurvedicdoctor andSanskritscholar. Ramprasad's mother Siddheswari was Ramram's second wife.[1]Ramprasad was sent to a Sanskrittol(school) where he learned Sanskrit grammar, literature,Persian,andHindi.[6][11]As a youth, he had a talent for poetry and learning new languages.[11]

House of Ramprasad Sen at Halisahar

Ramram hoped his son would follow in his profession, but Ramprasad showed no interest in practical pursuits. As he grew up, his spiritual inclinations caused a great deal of anxiety to his parents. Believing that marriage would make Ramprasad more responsible, his parents married him to a girl named Sarvani when he was twenty-two years old.[11]In keeping with the family custom, the newly wed couple was initiated by the family's spiritual teacher, Madhavacharya. According to traditional accounts, during initiation when theguruwhispered themantrato him, Ramprasad became consumed by intense longing for the goddess Kali. One year after the initiation, he lost his guru.[11]Ramprasad later became the disciple ofKrishnananda Agamavagisha,a Tantric yogi and scholar. Agamavagisha was a well known devotee of Kali and the author of the Bengali bookTantrasara.Agamavagisha instructed Ramprasad in Tantricsadhanas(spiritual disciplines) and worship of Kali.[12]

Employment

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Instead of following his parents wishes and looking for a job, it is said that Ramprasad devoted most of his time tosadhana.Ramram died before he could make provisions to support the family. Forced finally by poverty, Ramprasad moved to Kolkata and worked as an accountant in the household of Durga Charan Mitra for a monthly salary of thirty rupees.[12]According to traditional accounts, during his employment Ramprasad would write devotional songs to Kali.[12]His fellow employees were appalled to see Ramprasad write poems in his account book, and reported him to their employer. Durga Charan Mitra, upon reading Ramprasad's work, was moved by his piety and literary skill. Instead of dismissing Ramprasad from work, he asked him to return to his village and compose songs to Kali, while continuing to pay his salary.[6]

Sadhanaand poetry

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After returning to his village, Ramprasad spent most of his time insadhana,meditation, and prayer. Traditional accounts tell of several esotericsadhanasthat he performed, including standing neck-deep in the riverGanges,singing songs to Kali.[13]Ramprasad would regularly practice hissadhanain a panchavati: a grove with five trees—banyan,bael,amalaki,ashoka,andpeepul—all regarded as holy in Tantric tradition.[14]He would reportedly spend hours meditating on apanchamundi asana(an altar inside which are interred five skulls–that of a snake, frog, rabbit, fox, and man).[15]According to popular stories he had a vision of Kali in her form ofAdyashakti Mahamaya.[16]

Raja KrishnachandraofNadia,heard Ramprasad's hymns. Being an ardent devotee of Kali, he appointed Ramprasad as his court poet.[17]Ramprasad rarely attended the Maharaja's court and would spend his time insadhanaand worship of Kali instead.[17]Krishna Chandra became Ramprasad's benefactor, giving him 100 acres (0.40 km2;0.16 sq mi) of tax free land. Ramprasad, in return, dedicated his bookVidyasundar( "Beautiful Knowledge" ) to the Maharaja.[18][19]Krishna Chandra also gave Ramprasad the titleKaviranjana( "Entertainer of poets" ).[19][20]During the Maharaja's last years, Ramprasad stayed beside him, singing hymns to Kali.

Death

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During Ramprasad's old age, he was looked after by his son Ramdulal and daughter-in-law Bhagavati.[21] A folk story is told of Ramprasad's death.[19]Ramprasad was very fond of taking part inKali pujaon the night ofDiwali,the festival of lights.[21]On one Kali puja night, he performed the puja and sang throughout the night. In the morning, Ramprasad carried the jar of Divine Mother's sanctified water on his head to the Ganges. He was followed by the devotees, who carried the clay image of Kali to be immersed in the Ganges after the night of worship. Ramprasad waded into the holy river, until the water was neck deep, all the while singing for Kali. As Kali's image was immersed, Ramprasad died—[22]this was believed to be around 1775.[23]

However, recent documentary evidence, a Kabulatipatra dated April 1794 bearing the sign of Ramprasad Sen as a witness, clearly proves the fact that Ramprasad Sen was alive in 1794. The said Kabulatipatra has been preserved and displayed atSabarna SangrahashalainBarisha.[24][25]

Stories and legends

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In Bengal, popular stories and legends are told of Ramprasad.[26]One of the most well known stories is about a "radiant girl" who helped him one day. Ramprasad was repairing a fence with the assistance of his daughter, who left shortly thereafter. Soon a "radiant girl", whom he didn't recognize, came to help him. After finishing the task, she vanished. According to the story, Ramprasad then realized that she was a manifestation of Kali.[6]

Another popular story is told of Ramprasad's vision of goddessAnnapurnaofVaranasi.Ramprasad was on his way to the river for his daily ritual bath when a beautiful young woman stopped him, asking if she could hear him sing a devotional song to the Divine Mother. Ramprasad requested her to wait, since it was getting late for his noon worship. When he returned, he couldn't find her, and began to think that it may have been the "play of Divine Mother."[27]Sitting down to meditate, he was surrounded by a radiant light and heard a female voice saying, "I am Annapurna (…) I came all the way from Varanasi to hear your songs but, alas, I had to leave disappointed." Ramprasad was angry with himself and immediately left for Varanasi to find Mother Annapurna and sing for her. After walking many miles, he reachedTriveni,where he took rest under a tree on the bank of theGanges.Here he reportedly received another vision, saw the same mystical light, and heard the Mother's voice saying, "Stay here and sing for me. (…) Varanasi is not the only place where I live; I pervade the whole universe."[27]

Poetry and influence

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Goddess Kali, the patron goddess of Ramprasad Sen

Ramprasad Sen is regarded as one of the notable figures of thebhakti movementin Bengal during the eighteenth century.[28][29]He is credited with popularizing thebhaktiShaktatradition[30][31]andShyama Sangeet—devotional songs to the goddess Kali.[32][33]Ramprasad was the first Shakta poet to address Kali with such intimate devotion, and to sing of her as a tender loving mother or even as a little girl. After him, a school of Shakta poets continued the Kali-bhaktitradition.[2]

Ramprasad created a new compositional form that combined the Bengali folk style ofBaulmusic with classical melodies andkirtan.This new form took root in Bengali culture for the next hundred and fifty years, with hundreds of poet-composers combining folk and raga-based melodies, and bringing together styles of music that included classical, semi-classical, and folk. His poetic style has been described as "sweet, familiar and unsophisticated",[34]though his lyrics were sung in classical style rather than a folk style.[5][35]Two of his notable successors as composers in the same style wereKamalakanta BhattacaryaandMahendranath Bhattacarya.[7][36]

Ramprasad's songs are known asRamprasadi.[37]The devotion to Kali often included as a background the events in Bengal during his time, such as theBengal famine of 1770,economic hardships, and the deterioration of rural culture. His poems were very popular during his lifetime.[5]

Ramprasad's literary works includeVidyasundar(orKalikaman-gala) (ca. sixth or seventh decade of the 18th century),Kali-kirtana,the fragmentaryKrishna-kirtana,andShaktigiti.[31][35]Kali-kirtanais a collection of lyric and narrative poetry describing the early life ofUma.Krishna-kirtanais an incomplete book of poems and songs toKrishna—the complete collection is yet to be discovered.Vidyasundara Kavyais written in a narrative style that was already popular in Bengali literature, telling the traditional love story of Vidya and Sundara—children of kings who are aided by Kali in meeting, falling in love, and marrying.Shaktigitiis Ramprasad's well known and respected work, in which he expresses his deepest feelings and love for Kali. InShaktigiti,he shares the most intimate relationship with Kali—a child who can both love and quarrel with his mother over the inequities of human birth.[35]

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa,a mystic of nineteenth century Bengal, often sang his songs and regarded Ramprasad as his beloved poet.[38][39]Many of these songs are recorded inThe Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna,which at one point mentions,"…he (Ramakrishna) would spend hours singing the devotional songs of great devotees of the Mother, such as Kamalakanta and Ramprasad. Those rhapsodic songs describing direct vision of God…"[40]Paramhansa Yoganandaalso was an admirer of Ramprasad and his devotional songs, frequently singing them.[41]Sister Niveditacompared Ramprasad with the English poetWilliam Blake.[37]

One of Ramprasad's hymns to the Goddess is as follows:[42]

You'll find Mother In any house.
Do I dare say it in public?
She isBhairaviwithShiva,
Durgawith Her children,
SitawithLakshmana.
She's mother, daughter, wife, sister—
Every woman close to you.
What more can Ramprasad say?
You work the rest out from these hints.

Another of his popular poems describes the human attempt to understand the Goddess:[43]

You think you understand the Goddess?
Even philosophers can not explain her.
The scriptures say that she, herself,
is the essence of us all. It is she, herself,
who brings life through her sweet will.

You think you understand her?
I can only smile, you think that you can
truly know her? I can only laugh!
But what our minds accept, our hearts do not.
Ants try to grasp the moon, we the goddess.

Ramprasad's songs are still popular in Bengal[37][44][45][46]and recited regularly in the worship of Kali.[39]Scholar Shuma Chakrovarty notes that his songs are "broadcast over the radio and sung on the streets and in the homes and temples of Calcutta by a cross-section of people—children, the elderly, housewives, businessmen, scholars, the illiterate, monks, householders, and the youth of all classes".[47]Many of his songs were sung by popularShyama Sangeetsingers likeDhananjay Bhattacharya,Pannalal Bhattacharya,andAnup Ghoshal.Uttara Devi,Kamla Jharia 

Still his master literature combination of simple words in the songs melts one's hearts and floods the eye with tears. An [anekanta]vadin reading of Ramprasad's texts is also found.

Notes

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  1. ^abcHarding 1998,p. 215
  2. ^abcdHeehs 2002,p. 346
  3. ^Martin 2003,p.191
  4. ^Ayyappapanicker 1997,p. 64
  5. ^abcdMcDaniel 2004,p. 162
  6. ^abcdeHixon & Jadunath Sinha 1994,pp. 205–207
  7. ^abArnold 2000,p. 846.
  8. ^McDaniel 2004,p. 162.
  9. ^"Ekhon Samay".ekhonsamay.Archived fromthe originalon 15 June 2021.Retrieved15 June2021.
  10. ^Bhaṭṭācārya, Āśutosha (1951).Early Bengali Saiva Poetry.Calcutta Book House. p. 59.Kaviranjan Rāmprasād Sen is known to be the first and the foremost poet of these Agamaní and Vijayā songs. Rāmprasād, the devotee poet of Bengal, was born, in the first part of the Eighteenth Century, of a respectable Vaidya family of Dhanvantari gotra.
  11. ^abcdHarding 1998,p. 216
  12. ^abcHarding 1998,p. 217
  13. ^Harding 1998,p. 219
  14. ^Harding 1998,p. 221
  15. ^Budhanananda 1994,p. 21
  16. ^Harding 1998,p. 228
  17. ^abHarding 1998,p.220
  18. ^Hixon & Jadunath Sinha 1994,p. 204
  19. ^abcIslam & Sajahan Miah 2003,p. 158
  20. ^Thompson 2006,p. 17
  21. ^abHarding 1998,p. 231
  22. ^Harding 1998,p.233
  23. ^Heehs 2002,p. 346
  24. ^Bangiya Sabarna Katha Kalishetra Kalikatah by Bhabani Roy Choudhury, Manna Publication.ISBN81-87648-36-8
  25. ^Ramprasad Prayan Rahasya by Sibsoumya Biswas, Bartaman Patrika, 05.10.2015
  26. ^Hixon & Jadunath Sinha 1994,p. 205
  27. ^abHarding 1998,pp. 225–226
  28. ^Zaehner 1983,p. 145
  29. ^Zaehner 1983,p. 139
  30. ^Rodrigues 2006,p. 183
  31. ^abSen 1960,pp. 155–156
  32. ^Islam & Harun-or-Rashid, Aklam Hussain 1992,p. 286
  33. ^McDaniel 2004,p. 21
  34. ^Ayyappapanicker 1997,p. 64.
  35. ^abcMajumdar 1992,pp. 3912–3913
  36. ^White 2001,p. 168.
  37. ^abcThompson 2006,p. 19
  38. ^Hixon 1998,pp. 16–17
  39. ^abHarding 1998,p. 214
  40. ^The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna,bySwami Nikhilananda,Introduction,p. 13.
  41. ^Satyananda 2006,p. 157
  42. ^Nathan & Clinton B. Seely 1982,p. 60
  43. ^Monaghan 1999,p. 334.
  44. ^Tagore, Krishna Dutta & Andrew Robinson 1997,p.175
  45. ^"Eminent Personalities".Govt. ofBarrackpur.Retrieved5 May2009.A poet, sensitive about his time and his songs are to be heard in practically every rural Bengali home even today.
  46. ^Lipner 1998,p. 261, "Ramprasad Sen, and eighteenth-century Bengali Sakta devotee of Kali who is still popular among his compatriots."
  47. ^Hixon & Jadunath Sinha 1994,p. 207

References

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Further reading

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  • Banerjee, Shyamal (January 2004).Divine Songs of Sage Poet Ramprasad.Munshiram Manoharlal. p. 275.ISBN978-81-215-1085-1.
  • Singing to the Goddess: Poems to Kali and Uma from Bengal,Ramprasad Sen, Translated by Rachel Fell McDermott (ISBN0-195134-34-6)
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