Product Code Database
( 1723/1718 – c. 1775) was a Hindu Shakta poet and saint of 18th-century Bengal., p. 64 His bhakti poems, known as Ramprasadi, are still popular in Bengal—they are usually addressed to the Hindu goddess Kali and written in Bengali language., p. 162 Stories of Ramprasad's life typically include legends and myths mixed with biographical details.
It is said that, Ramprasad was born into a Bengali language Baidya Brahmin family, and showed an inclination towards poetry from an early age. He was highly influenced by Krishnananda Agamavagisha, a Tantric scholar and yogi. 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 include Vidyasundar, Kali-kirtana, Krishna-kirtana and Shaktigiti.
Ramprasad is credited with creating a new compositional form that combined the Bengali folk style of Baul music with classical melodies and kirtan. The new style took root in Bengali culture with many poet-composers combining folk and raga-based melodies, mixing every common style of music from classical to semi-classical and folk. His songs are sung today, with a popular collection— Ramprasadi Sangit ("Songs of Ramprasad")—sold at Shakta temples and pithas in Bengal.
Raja Krishnachandra of Nadia district, heard Ramprasad's hymns. Being an ardent devotee of Kali, he appointed Ramprasad as his court poet., p.220 Ramprasad rarely attended the Maharaja's court and would spend his time in sadhana and worship of Kali instead. Krishna Chandra became Ramprasad's benefactor, giving him of tax free land. Ramprasad, in return, dedicated his book Vidyasundar ("Beautiful Knowledge") to the Maharaja., p. 204 Krishna Chandra also gave Ramprasad the title Kaviranjana ("Entertainer of poets")., p. 158, p. 17 During the Maharaja's last years, Ramprasad stayed beside him, singing hymns to Kali.
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 at Sabarna Sangrahashala in Barisha.Bangiya Sabarna Katha Kalishetra Kalikatah by Bhabani Roy Choudhury, Manna Publication. Ramprasad Prayan Rahasya by Sibsoumya Biswas, Bartaman Patrika, 05.10.2015
Another popular story is told of Ramprasad's vision of goddess Annapurna of Varanasi. 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." 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 reached Triveni Sangam, where he took rest under a tree on the bank of the Ganges. 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.", pp. 225–226
Ramprasad created a new compositional form that combined the Bengali folk style of Baul music with classical melodies and kirtan. 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",, p. 64. though his lyrics were sung in classical style rather than a folk style. Two of his notable successors as composers in the same style were Kamalakanta Bhattacarya and Mahendranath Bhattacarya., p. 846., p. 168.
Ramprasad's songs are known as Ramprasadi. The devotion to Kali often included as a background the events in Bengal during his time, such as the Bengal famine of 1770, economic hardships, and the deterioration of rural culture. His poems were very popular during his lifetime.
Ramprasad's literary works include Vidyasundar (or Kalikaman-gala) (ca. sixth or seventh decade of the 18th century), Kali-kirtana, the fragmentary Krishna-kirtana, and Shaktigiti., pp. 155–156, pp. 3912–3913 Kali-kirtana is a collection of lyric and narrative poetry describing the early life of Parvati. Krishna-kirtana is an incomplete book of poems and songs to Krishna—the complete collection is yet to be discovered. Vidyasundara Kavya is 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. Shaktigiti is Ramprasad's well known and respected work, in which he expresses his deepest feelings and love for Kali. In Shaktigiti, 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.
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, a mystic of nineteenth century Bengal, often sang his songs and regarded Ramprasad as his beloved poet., pp. 16–17, p. 214 Many of these songs are recorded in The 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…" The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, by Swami Nikhilananda, Introduction, p. 13. Paramahansa Yogananda also was an admirer of Ramprasad and his devotional songs, frequently singing them., p. 157 Sister Nivedita compared Ramprasad with the English poet William Blake.
One of Ramprasad's hymns to the Goddess is as follows:, p. 60
You'll find Mother In any house. Do I dare say it in public? She is Bhairavi with Shiva, Durga with Her children, Sita with Lakshmana. 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:, p. 334.
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, p. 19, p. 175, p. 261, "Ramprasad Sen, and eighteenth-century Bengali Sakta devotee of Kali who is still popular among his compatriots." and recited regularly in the worship of Kali. 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"., p. 207 Many of his songs were sung by popular Shyama Sangeet singers like Dhananjay Bhattacharya, Pannalal Bhattacharya, and Anup 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.
|
|
