Words that make up stories or poems change for each person according their own experiences, by their particular understanding of language and by the meaning they give those words, by the connotation they have for you at any given time. Those words that once had meaning, however, seem to lose their worth as we move through the passage of life. Many experienced artists use a text to suit an occasion or their mood. The rasika, or viewer, receives this as they see fit. Some do not receive the meaning at all; some receive a meaning that neither the poet nor the dancer intended. Some text also has the capacity to move the rasika without any prior knowledge of its meaning, simply by the power of expression, the power of recitation. It also receives strength from the power of expression invested in it by the particular raga and the voice and rendition of the singer.
Artists of exceptional talent like Balasaraswati were able to create “an experience” for the audience. Then words had little meaning. The idea, of course, is to transcend meaning. It is necessary to get over the words and transfer them, to look at the soul within words, not be bound by them. They must become the truth for each of us, in our own time.
“Music Research Library is a collection of publicly accessible and downloadable electronic resources related to Indian Music organized into various collections. These include manuscripts, articles, books, periodicals, source texts and teaching resources.”
