RMIM Archive Article "72".
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian
#
# RMIM/C Archives..
# Subject: Great Master's series
# Great Masters #12: Vishnu Digambar Paluskar
#
# Posted by: Rajan Parrikar (parrikar@colorado.edu)
# Sources: An Introduction to Indian Music" by B. Chaitanya Deva
# (Publications Divi- sion, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,
# Government of In- dia, 1981), pp 104-108.
#
Great Masters Part XII: Vishnu Digambar Paluskar - Musician,
Teacher, Scholar and Saint!
Namashkaar! Today's episode of "Great Masters" features Pandit
Vishnu Digambar Paluskar. The sketch is taken from "An Introduc-
tion to Indian Music" by B. Chaitanya Deva (Publications Divi-
sion, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of In-
dia, 1981), pp 104-108.
Rajan Parrikar
ps: For a more detailed account, see 'Pandit Vishnu Digambar
Paluskar' by V.R. Athavale (National Book Trust, 1967)
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Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar
By
B.Chaitanya Deva
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The Gadgils were a family of Brahmins in the village, Palus, in
Maharashtra. One of them is said to have had a vision of the
Divine and blessed by it and from then on this family became
something special and came to be known as the Paluskars, the ori-
ginal name being forgotten. Into this family, Vishnu Digamber was
born on August 18, 1872 at Kurundwad, the principal town of an
Indian Vishnu's father, Digambar Gopal Paluskar, was a Keertankar
(singer of Keertan - a religious discourse). Keertan in Maharash-
tra, like the Harikatha Kalakshepam in South India, is a kind of
story-telling of puranic legends, in song, verse and prose; Di-
gambar was one such singer of puranas. Vishnu, naturally, from
childhood acquired a taste and bent for singing, as he accom-
panied his father during the latter's concerts. He was also
studying at a local school in Kurundwad, due to the kind interest
taken in the young boy by the raja of the principality.
Near Kurundwad, is a small town called Narsobachi Wadi, where
every year a festival, Datta Jayanti, is celebrated with great
eclat, fireworks and all. Vishnu, like millions of others, was
an active participant; on one such occasion of merriment a crack-
er burst near his face, damaging his eyes permanently. No treat-
ment at Kurundwad was of any avail; the boy was then sent to the
neighbouring town, Miraj, where the royal physician, Dr. Bhad-
bhade tried his best but failed to restore vision to the poor
lad.
Both the avenues - academic studies and that of keertankar - were
cut off to Vishnu. Dr. Bhadbhade, who had listened to the boy's
devotional songs felt that he could blossom out into a musician.
With the consent of Digambar Paluskar, he spoke to the Raja of
Miraj. The ruler was quick to realize the talents of the child
and put him under the guidance of Balakrishna Bua lchalkaran-
jikar.
Balakrishna Bua was the doyen of musicians in Maharashtra. The
grand old man had learnt singing in Gwalior under eminent masters
and was highly respected for his knowledge of the art. Paluskar
studied with him till about 1896. It was a hard and strenuous
discipleship, for there were no regular courses, no regular les-
sons and everything depended on the moods of the teacher. Be-
sides, one had to do all the household chores for the guru and
his family. This kind of apprenticeship - guru kula vasa - was
difficult but paid dividends in the long run. Vishnu was very
successful and this, perhaps, raised the ire in his fellow stu-
dents. They were all the more jealous of him, for he was quite
intimate with the royal family, which they were not. It is possi-
ble that they poisoned the Bua's mind against Vishnu; in any
case, the relation between the two became strained. So Paluskar,
along with two of his friends, left Miraj; and after visiting
many places reached Baroda. This city like Gwalior was then a
well-known seat of learning and art, and he decided to settle
there. News of the arrival of a young singer and his attractive
music slowly reached the Maharaja. In course of time an invita-
tion to sing at the Court came and he gave a commendable per-
fomance in the royal presence. The Maharani was pleased with the
young man and presented him with lavish gifts and a friendly
warning - he had better leave Baroda as local musicians were
becoming too envious fr him to be safe!
From there he toured Saurashtra, Gwalior, Mathura, Bharatpur,
Delhi and reached Punjab. While in Saurashtra he gave a public
concert charging a nominal fee - a scandalous thing to do and a
complete departure from tradition. For traditionally concerts
were always either in the chambers of a rich patron or in a tem-
ple.
While at Mathura he studied the Brij dialect in which exist some
of the finest compositions in Hindustani music and this helped to
a great extent his understanding the beauty of the language of
these songs. Punjab was really the starting point of the most
significant aspect of Vishnu Digambar's life. He lived in Amrit-
sar for some time, but soon shifted to Okara in Montgomery Dis-
trict to be the tutor of Sir Khemsingh's children. After a few
months of stay there, he came to Lahore; and here on May 5,1901
he founded the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. This is one of the most
interesting turning points in the history of modern music, as it
was the first school run by a middle class musician without the
direct patronage of rajas and maharajas. The vidyalaya (school)
was run by public support, donations from the richer classes and
funds raised by the concerts of Vishnu Digambar - it was truly a
school of the people for the people.
Here he brought together a set of pupils whom he trained not only
in music, but also inculcated in them a respect for the art and a
missionary zeal. This group of his early students became later
some of the most distinguished performers and teachers in North
India. What was more important was the atmosphere in the institu-
tion: while there was strict discipline in musical training,
there was stricter discipline in moral training. The usual odium
attached to the clan of musicians was thus removed and they began
to be treated with respect.
Paluskar now felt that his activities needed expansion and,
therefore, came to Bombay in September, 1908 to found a branch of
the Gandharva Mahavidyalaya there. Gradually, as the work in this
city increased, the school at Lahore was shifted to Bombay. Even
the printing press which he had established in Lahore to print
books in music was taken over to the new precincts. Vishnu
Digambar's fame as teacher spread and hundreds of students began
to pour into his vidyalaya.
Before long it became necessary to increase facilities for teach-
ing; with the help of loans from friends, a building to house the
Gandharva Mahavidyalaya was built in 1915. A little later even a
hostel for students was constructed. All this involved consider-
able borrowing of money and Paluskar came under huge debts. Even
with the best of efforts it became almost impossible for him to
discharge the loans. He gave concerts at various places to col-
lect the necessary funds but this never fetched him sufficient
money. In 1924, when he was on a concert tour, his creditors at-
tached his properties and auctioned them to realize their debts.
Paluskar must have been a heart-broken man after this. The cause
for which he had struggled so far received an irretrievable set-
back. He had, however, one satisfacion: he had created a number
of zealous disciples who went to almost every region of the land,
esta- blished schools and taught selflessly.
Even while in Bombay, Vishnu Paluskar had started Sri Ram Nam
Adhar Ashram in Nasik; to this hermitage he moved in 1924. From
this as centre he travelled widely in India and Nepal. But his
health was running down and the Raja of Miraj shifted the ailing
musician to Miraj, the town which had seen the rise of Paluskar's
career. There he passed away on August 21, 1931 to the music of
the sacrcd chant of Rama's name.
The domestic life of Vishnu Digambar was disappointing in a
sense. Of his three sisters, one had become a widow and lived
with him, along with her children. He had twelve of his own; but
all of them except one died young. The last, a son, was Datta-
treya. Even he could not get the advantage of studying with his
father, for Vishnu Digambar died when the boy was only eleven
years of age. Dattatreya later came under the care of the senior
pupils of Paluskar and grew into a very highly promising singer.
But, as ill-fate would have it, Dattatreya Vishnu Paluskar died
young suddenly in 1955.
Vishnu Digambar Paluskar was a towering figure in the field of
music; a musician of a high order, a great teacher, a man of un-
compromising moral courage and a soul imbued with the awareness
of the social values of art. As an artiste he was a very popular
and successful one. The training he had had with the great Ichal-
karanjikar was a thorough one and Paluskar himself was endowed
with an attractive voice and musical sensitivity. His apprentice-
ship under his father as keertankar might have given him a sense
of the dramatic in artistic presentation.
Wherever he went, he drew an appreciative audience and was
honoured by prin- cely patrons. But characteristically, he spent
all the fortune he amassed to further the cause of music. More
than any other aspect of his musical career -which was dynamic in
every direction - was his deeply religious approach to the art.
To him music was a path to God-realization and could not be di-
vorced from moral commitments. The ways that most musicians lived
were far from clean. The texts of songs even in kheyals were
sometimes nauseating - and even today one cannot often meet
kheyals of really good poetic worth in Hindustani music.
Paluskar felt that these kept the more intelligent section of so-
ciety away from music. To remedy the situation, he brought in a
strict living and behaviour in his school. His own conduct was
above reproach and he saw to it that his students were of exem-
plary character. As for the songs, he either composed new ones
with cleaner content or altered the words of older ones, keeping
their tunes unchanged. These efforts gradually had their effect.
More and more students - particularly girls - came out to join
his Vidyalaya; society began to feel that even if music was not a
very paying profession, it, at least, was not a debasing one. To-
wards the end of his life his time was devoted almost entirely to
religious music and finally his end also came amidst the singing
of Ram dhun (Rama's name.)
With very few exceptions, Paluskar was undoubtedly the most re-
nowned teacher of music of recent times. Many great musicians
were not necessarily great teachers and many well-known ustads
and pandits were not necessarily fine musicians. But Vishnu Di-
gambar was both an artiste and a teacher of high order. His most
notable task was the opening of the musical world to amateurs,
for traditionally it was almost impossible for outsiders to enter
into the clannish monopolies of the ustads.
Paluskar himself had learnt music the hard way and must have seen
the inordinate wastage of time and energy on the part of the stu-
dent in non-musical activities of 'serving' the guru. He, there-
fore, founded schools which ran on regular syllabi. Books with
notations of songs to help the student were published. Theory of
music was taught on a systematic basis. It was the pioneering ef-
forts of Paluskar and Bhatkhande that have become the incentive
for music to be considered academic enough to be included in the
courses of studies in universities. Institutionalizing musical
training has been the most significant trend set by these two sa-
vants. Obviously, all this was well intentioned. But whether it
really has been creatively effective is a question that is raised
in many quarters: for, often, it is felt and said that it has
spread an interest in the art but has lessened the depth of
understanding.
It was an era when musicians were socially looked down upon. They
were illiterate, uncouth and immoral. Paluskar had had bitter ex-
periences of his own guru being treated in a disdainful manner.
He was determined to show to the world that musicians were as
good and great as anyone else! It is said that a maharaja wanted
to listen to Vishnu Digambar and fixed a time for the soiree, at
the musician's house. At the appointed time, the king and his re-
tinue gathered and the singer began. After a while, the ruler,
wanting to smoke lighted his cigar. To Paluskar, it was not only
unpleasant but an insult. Being blind, he did not know who was
smoking, but, in any case, he ordered that the smoking be
stopped. The embarassed aide whispered into his ears, "How can it
be? It is the maharaja and I dare not ask him to desist".
Paluskar exclaimed, "What do you mean by maharaja; I am the
maharaja in my room! Ask him to stop it or get out".
More than anything, Vishnu Digambar's contribution is to the so-
cial values attached to music and musicians. An art which was
once held sacred, as a royal road to realization, a science which
was the fifth veda, had fallen into bad days. It had taken to
nothing but Bohemian pleasures - almost - and musicians were, as
apart from being musicians, not welcome as very pleasant ci-
tizens. Paluskar had to fight against the orthodoxy of the 'el-
ite' who looked askance at the art and artists and against the
professionals who would not step out of their secretive guilds.
It was an arduous, thankless and challenging task. But he did
succeed. He was able to persuade society that music was a fine ne
art and musicians were not necessarily a despicable tribe. Great
social and political men of his time like Gopala Krishna Gokhale,
Mrs. Annie Besant and Mahatma Gandhi recognized his missionary
work and social awareness. Paluskar's Ram dhun, "Raghupati Ragha-
va Raja Ram" was sung at the head of the famous Dandi March led
by Gandhiji in 1930 and his "Vande Mataram" was invariably heard
at the sessions of the then Indian National Congress. Thanks to
Paluskar, today one can become a musician without having to bow
his head in shame.
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Rajan Parrikar
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian