There are various routes to moksha or God-realisation: bhakti (devotion) yoga, karma (action) yoga and other pathways, but one of the safest and surest ways to attain God-realisation is through sankirtan (devotional singing) yoga. It is a universally accepted fact that sangeet or music is at the fountain-source of our being. Its emotional appeal awakens our higher aspirations. The science of music goes hand in hand with bhakti yoga. “Music is a synthesis of the various yogas or paths to God-realisation.” (Swami Shivanand)
Music is naad yoga and many yoga adepts have recognised that there are vital centres in the subtle body of man, which vibrate and produce certain astral sounds. Great minstrels of the Lord such as Mirabai, Purandara Das, Surdas and Narsi communed with their Lord through music. When mantras are chanted or kirtan sung, these inner vital centres are influenced and the spiritual power latent in them is made manifest. This power enables the nadopasaka (the spiritual aspirant who has made music his spiritual sadhana) to acquire absolute control over his mind and senses, thereby enabling him to ascend to the superconscious realms of samadhi (total immersion in Divinity).
Sangeet breaks the three granthi or knots of ignorance: Brahma granthi, Vishnu granthi and Rudra granthi. It purifies the various naadi (the body’s subtle channels) and the praanamaya kosha (vital air sheath). It awakens the dormant kundalini (primal energy) that is coiled up in the muladhaara chakra at the base of the spine and eventually induces a divine ecstatic mood (bhava samadhi).
In addition, music also destroys the rajas (materialism) and tamas (sluggishness) modes of nature and fills the mind with sattwa (truth). The aspirant who practices this naad yoga succeeds in rising above dehadyaasa (identification with the body) and shifting his attention to the spiritual. One’s choice of music and songs is guided by bhakti ras (the essence of devotion). It should be noted that vulgar and obscene songs combined with intoxicants appeal to the gross, lower animal instincts and lead to baser thoughts and other negativities.
The Lord says to Saint Narada, “I dwell not in vaikuntha (heaven), nor in the hearts of sages and saints, but where my devotees sing, there I am, O Narada.” Music gives peace and calms our minds when we are agitated. Music is a sacred science, its goal being God-consciousness.
