17. Bhāt songs.
In conclusion a few specimens of Bhāt songs may be given. The following is an account of the last king of Nāgpur, Raghuji III., commonly known as Bāji Rao:
They made a picture of Bāji Rao;
Bāji Rao was the finest king to see;
The Brāhmans told lies about him,
They sent a letter from Nāgpur to Calcutta,
They made Bāji Rao go on a pilgrimage.
Brothers! the great Sirdārs who were with him,
They brought a troop of five hundred horse!
The Tuesday fair in Benāres was held with fireworks,
They made the Ganges pink with rose-petals.
Bāji Rao’s gifts were splendid,
His turban and coat were of brocaded silk,
A pair of diamonds and emeralds
He gave to the Brāhmans of Benāres.
Oh brothers! the Rāja sat in a covered howdah bound on an elephant!
Many fans waved over his head;
How charitable a king he was!
In the above song a note of regret is manifest for the parade and display of the old court of Nāgpur, English rule being less picturesque. The next is a song about the English:
The English have taken the throne of Nāgpur,
The fear of the English is great.
In a moment’s time they conquer countries.
The guns boomed, the English came strong and warlike,
They give wealth to all.
They ram the ramrods in the guns.
They conquered also Tippoo’s dominions,
The English are ruling in the fort of Gāwilgarh.
The following is another song about the English, not quite so complimentary:
The English became our kings and have made current the kaldār (milled) rupee.
The menials are favoured and the Bhāts have lost their profession,
The mango has lost its taste, the milk has lost its sweetness,
The rose has lost its scent.
Bāji Rao of Nāgpur he also is gone,
No longer are the drums beaten at the palace gate.
Poona customs have come in.
Brāhmans knowing the eighteen Purāns have become Christians;
The son thinks himself better than his father,
The daughter-in-law no longer respects her mother-in-law.
The wife fights with her husband.
The English have made the railways and telegraphs;
The people wondered at the silver rupees and all the country prospered.
The following is a song about the Nerbudda at Mandla, Rewa being another name for the river:
The stream of the world springs out breaking apart the hills;
The Rewa cuts her path through the soil, the air is darkened with her spray.
All the length of her banks are the seats of saints; hermits and pilgrims worship her.
On seeing the holy river a man’s sins fall away as wood is cut by a saw;
By bathing in her he plucks the fruit of holiness.
When boats are caught in her flood, the people pray: ‘We are sinners, O Rewa, bring us safely to the bank!’
When the Nerbudda is in flood, Mandla is an island and the people think their end has come:
The rain pours down on all sides, earth and sky become dark as smoke, and men call on Rāma.
The bard says: ‘Let it rain as it may, some one will save us as Krishna saved the people of Brindāwan!’
This is a description of a beautiful woman:
A beautiful woman is loved by her neighbours,
But she will let none come to her and answers them not.
They say: ‘Since God has made you so beautiful, open your litter and let yourself be seen!’
He who sees her is struck as by lightning, she shoots her lover with the darts of her eyes, invisible herself.
She will not go to her husband’s house till he has her brought by the Government.
When she goes her father’s village is left empty.
She is so delicate she faints at the sight of a flower,
Her body cannot bear the weight of her cloth,
The garland of jasmine-flowers is a burden on her neck,
The red powder on her feet is too heavy for them.
It is interesting to note that weakness and delicacy in a woman are emphasised as an attraction, as in English literature of the eighteenth century.
The last is a gentle intimation that poets, like other people, have to live:
It is useless to adorn oneself with sandalwood on an empty belly,
Nobody’s body gets fat from the scent of flowers;
The singing of songs excites the mind,
But if the body is not fed all these are vain and hollow.
All Bhāts recite their verses in a high-pitched sing-song tone, which renders it very difficult for their hearers to grasp the sense unless they know it already. The Vedas and all other sacred verses are spoken in this manner, perhaps as a mark of respect and to distinguish them from ordinary speech. The method has some resemblance to intoning. Women use the same tone when mourning for the dead.
[1] Tribes and Castes of Bengal, art. Brāhman.
[2] Art. Bhāt.
[3] Malcolm, Central India, ii. p. 132.
[4] Rājasthān, ii. p. 406.
[5] Malcolm, ii. p. 135.
[6] Rājasthān, ii. pp. 133, 134.
[7] Great King, the ordinary method of address to Brāhmans.
[8] Rājasthān, ii. p. 175.
[9] Rāsmāla, ii. pp. 261, 262.
[10] See later in this article.
[11] This present of a lakh of rupees is known as Lākh Pasāru, and it is not usually given in cash but in kind. It is made up of grain, land, carriages, jewellery, horses, camels and elephants, and varies in value from Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 70,000. A living bard, Mahamahopadhyaya Murar Dās, has received three Lākh Pasārus from the Rājas of Jodhpur and has refused one from the Rāna of Udaipur in view of the fact that he was made ayachaka by the Jodhpur Rāja. Ayachaka means literally ‘not a beggar,’ and when a bard has once been made ayachaka he cannot accept gifts from any person other than his own patron. An ayachaka was formerly known as polpat, as it became his bounden duty to sing the praises of his patron constantly from the gate (pol) of the donor’s fort or castle. (Mr. Hīra Lāl.)
[12] Rājasthān, ii. p. 548.
[13] Viserva, lit. poison.
[14] From dhol, a drum.
[15] Rājasthān, ii. p. 184.
[16] Lit. putli or doll.
[17] Tribes and Castes, art. Bhāt.
[18] Ibidem. Veiling the face is a sign of modesty.
[19] Postans. Cutch, p. 172.
[20] Vol. ii. pp. 392–394.
[21] Rāsmāla, ii. pp. 143, 144.
[22] Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarāt, Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparām, pp. 217, 219.
[23] In Broach.
[24] Westermarck, Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas, ii. p. 242.
[25] Westermarck, ibidem, p. 246.
[26] Westermarck, ibidem, p. 248.
[27] The above account of Dharna is taken from Colonel Tone’s Letter on the Marāthas (India Office Tracts).