Vol. 10, Art: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow 1. Music (1)
One day the Emperor Akbar said to his chief singer, Tansen, "You are such a great singer and there is such wonderful magic in your voice, I wonder how great your teacher must have been." "Please," Tansen said, "never compare me to my teacher, there is no comparison." Akbar said, "Is your teacher then so great? Is he still alive?" Tansen said, "Yes, he is living dead." "Where can one find him?" asked the emperor. "I should like to hear him." Tansen said, "I will try, but I am afraid that his spirit might revolt if he saw that he had to sing before the emperor." Then Akbar said, "I shall come disguised as your servant." Tansen said, "In that case, it might be possible.'
Akbar went with Tansen, and after travelling a long way they found this teacher in the mountains, in solitude. Although Akbar was dressed as a servant the sage recognized him; still, the emperor's humble attitude appealed to him. And then he sang, and both Akbar and Tansen became spellbound; the sphere of the earth was lost from their consciousness.
When they came to their senses they saw that the sage was not there any more. "Where is he?" asked Akbar. Tansen said, "He has left this place for ever, fearing that we might come again and trouble him." Akbar could not say one word in praise of the music he had heard.
After their return to the palace, one day the emperor said, "Tansen, I feel such a longing to hear him again." Tansen said, "We can never find him again now that he has left that place." "But," said Akbar, "I feel so restless, I long so much to hear that voice again. Do you not know that raga which he sang?" Tansen said that he did know the raga and began to sing it. But when he had finished the emperor said, "It is not the same. Why is it?" And Tansen felt hurt and said, "It is because I sing before you, but my teacher sings before God!'
This incident awakened in Tansen's heart such a feeling of independence that he saluted the emperor and bade him goodbye. He saw that the source of his imperfection was the relationship he had with the court; and he could no longer bear it. And so he left, and the rest of his life he wandered through the country and led a meditative life.
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