By abhirambharat

Vande mataram

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वन्दे मातरम्
सुजलां सुफलां मलयजशीतलाम्
शस्यशामलां मातरम् ।
शुभ्रज्योत्स्नापुलकितयामिनीं
फुल्लकुसुमितद्रुमदलशोभिनीं
सुहासिनीं सुमधुर भाषिणीं
सुखदां वरदां मातरम् ।। १ ।। वन्दे मातरम् ।
कोटि-कोटि-कण्ठ-कल-कल-निनाद-कराले
कोटि-कोटि-भुजैर्धृत-खरकरवाले,
अबला केन मा एत बले ।
बहुबलधारिणीं नमामि तारिणीं
रिपुदलवारिणीं मातरम् ।। २ ।। वन्दे मातरम् ।
तुमि विद्या, तुमि धर्म
तुमि हृदि, तुमि मर्म
त्वं हि प्राणा: शरीरे
बाहुते तुमि मा शक्ति,
हृदये तुमि मा भक्ति,
तोमारई प्रतिमा गडि
मन्दिरे-मन्दिरे मातरम् ।। ३ ।। वन्दे मातरम् ।
त्वं हि दुर्गा दशप्रहरणधारिणी
कमला कमलदलविहारिणी
वाणी विद्यादायिनी, नमामि त्वाम्
नमामि कमलां अमलां अतुलां
सुजलां सुफलां मातरम् ।। ४ ।। वन्दे मातरम् ।
श्यामलां सरलां सुस्मितां भूषितां
धरणीं भरणीं मातरम् ।। ५ ।। वन्दे मातरम् ।।

"Vande maataraM
sujalaaM suphalaaM malayaja shiitalaaM
SasyashyaamalaaM maataram ||

 Shubhrajyotsnaa pulakitayaaminiiM
pullakusumita drumadala shobhiniiM
suhaasiniiM sumadhura bhaashhiNiiM
sukhadaaM varadaaM maataraM ||
 

Koti koti kantha kalakalaninaada karaale
koti koti bhujai.rdhR^itakharakaravaale
abalaa keno maa eto bale
bahubaladhaariNiiM namaami taariNiiM
ripudalavaariNiiM maataraM ||

Tumi vidyaa tumi dharma
tumi hR^idi tumi marma 
tvaM hi praaNaaH shariire

Baahute tumi maa shakti
hR^idaye tumi maa bhakti
tomaara i pratimaa gaDi
mandire mandire ||

TvaM hi durgaa dashapraharaNadhaariNii
kamalaa kamaladala vihaariNii
vaaNii vidyaadaayinii namaami tvaaM

Namaami kamalaaM amalaaM atulaaM
SujalaaM suphalaaM maataraM ||
  
ShyaamalaaM saralaaM susmitaaM bhuushhitaaM
DharaNiiM bharaNiiM maataraM |"


English Translation by Shree Arabinda

Mother, I bow to thee! 
Rich with thy hurrying streams, 
bright with orchard gleams, 
Cool with thy winds of delight, 
Dark fields waving Mother of might, 
Mother free. 

Glory of moonlight dreams, 
Over thy branches and lordly streams, 
 Clad in thy blossoming trees, 
Mother, giver of ease 
Laughing low and sweet! 
Mother I kiss thy feet, 
Speaker sweet and low! 
Mother, to thee I bow. 
 

Who hath said thou art weak in thy lands 
When the sword flesh out in the seventy million hands 
And seventy million voices roar 
Thy dreadful name from shore to shore? 
With many strengths who art mighty and stored, 
To thee I call Mother and Lord! 
Though who savest, arise and save! 
To her I cry who ever her foeman drove 
Back from plain and Sea 
And shook herself free. 
   
Thou art wisdom, thou art law, 
Thou art heart, our soul, our breath 
Though art love divine, the awe 
In our hearts that conquers death. 
Thine the strength that nervs the arm, 
Thine the beauty, thine the charm. 
Every image made divine 
In our temples is but thine. 

Thou art Durga, Lady and Queen, 
With her hands that strike and her 
swords of sheen, 
Thou art Lakshmi lotus-throned, 
And the Muse a hundred-toned, 
Pure and perfect without peer, 
Mother lend thine ear, 
Rich with thy hurrying streams, 
Bright with thy orchard gleems, 
Dark of hue O candid-fair 

In thy soul, with jewelled hair 
And thy glorious smile divine, 
Lovilest of all earthly lands, 
Showering wealth from well-stored hands! 
Mother, mother  mine! 
Mother sweet, I bow to thee, 
Mother great and free!  

Background and history

  On 70 year celebration of BBC on online survey of World’s ‘top ten’ songs was conducted in November 2002.  It received tremendous response from millions of Internet users from 155 countries; results were declared on December 21, 2002 and the Irish National Anthem A Nation Once Again topped the list.  An Indian song Vande Mataram acquired second position.  Although the voting was for a version with the tune set by A R Rahman, the song has been extremely popular in India for over 100 years.  Several musicians and singers have recorded it on gramophone records from as early as 1905.

This article traces back the various aspects of this evergreen, controversial and sacred song, which Bengalis would call Bande Mataram whereas Indians from other states call it Vande Mataram.

Vande Mataram - National Anthem? National song? or a Cultural song?

 

Sunday, 7th November 1875.  'Akshay Navami' Bankimchandra Chatterjee (1838-94) wrote his famous song Bande Mataram at his residence in Kantalpada, in Naihati village, which is just a few miles away from Calcutta.  The song is now 125 years old.  It is probably the only Indian song that is still widely popular all over India, and musicians still want to sing it again and again, and keep composing new tunes for it.  During this year of celebrations, a book in Marathi, Vande Mataram: Ek Shodh by Mr Milind Sabnis, was published in Pune.  This is a carefully researched monograph, which should be translated into Hindi and English soon.  This year, an edited Hindi version of Bankimchandra’s novel, Anandmath was published in Mumbai.  A few audio/video albums featuring Bande Mataram have been released in the last five years.  "The Society of Indian Record Collectors," a Mumbai-based organization, has traced about one hundred different versions of Vande Mataram recorded over the last hundred years.  These versions vary from the voices of Rabindranath Tagore to that of A R Rahman.  Based on available recordings, an attempt has been made to note the musical aspects of this evergreen song. 

Bankimchandra was among the first batch of graduates from Calcutta University.  Soon after he had securred his BA, he was appointed as Deputy Magistrate, and eventually became a Deputy Collector.  In his work, he had ready access to old papers and gazettes, and came across the documents related to the mutiny of Sanyasis (saints) in Dhaka, North Bengal, Nepal, Tarai, Dinajpur, Rangpur, and Purniya during the period from 1763 to 1780.  He decided to write a novel, Anandmath, based on the heroic deeds of these sanyasis.  In his youth, he had witnessed the unsuccessful mutiny of 1857.  Around 1870, the British rulers were trying hard to force their anthem, God Save the Queen, on Indians.  This made a deep impact on Bankimchandra’s sensitive mind, and he wrote Bande Mataram in one sitting, in a mood that must be called transcendental.  He wrote the song as a prayer in which the nation 'Bharat' was described as 'The Mother'.  The song was later included in his novel Anandmath, which was published serially in his magazine Bangdarshan during 1880-1882.  The song was heavily criticized by his friends, and also by his daughter, for the words were difficult to pronounce, and the song comprised of a mixture of Bengali and Sanskrit words.  He argued that he wrote it spontaneously to express his emotions and thoughts without caring for its future.  However, like a prophet, he said, "I may not live to see its popularity, but this song will be sung by every Indian like a Ved Mantra." And that is exactly what happened after the partition of Bengal in 1905.

Beginning of the century - The song remained in the novel Anandmath until it was sung by Rabindranath Tagore at Beadon Square in the 1896 convention of the Indian National Congress.  It soon became part of a tradition after that, and even today Congress conventions, and sessions of the Loksabha and the Vidhansabha begin with the recitation of the first stanza of Bande Mataram.  In 1905, large crowd gathered at a town hall in Calcutta to protest against the partition of Bengal, and someone from the crowd shouted Bande Mataram. It became a very popular slogan overnight.  It crossed the boundaries of Bengal and spread all over the country like a flame.  Soon the British administration banned the songs and the very slogan Bande Mataram.  Given its growing popularity it is no surprise that early recording companies like Bose records and the Nicole Record company recorded it in the voice of Rabindranath Tagore, Babu Surendranath Banerjee, Satyabhushan Gupta, R N Bose and others.  Hemendra Mohan Bose released a version commercially on his label, H Bose Records, in 1907.  The police destroyed the factory, and the existing stock of records.  However a few copies of the disc survived in Belgium and Paris (where Pathe/H Bose records were pressed).  Hence we can still listen to Bande Mataram in Rabindranath’s voice.  Unfortunately, he recites the song in a rather shrill, high pitched and nasal voice, and in extremely slow tempo.  This is the oldest recording available on a gramophone record.  It has now been released on CD and is available along with a book, Rabindranath Tagore: Facets of a Genius, published by All India Radio in 1999.

The Pre-independence period: Due to the British ban, the song became even more popular and an abiding source of patriotism.  The couplet Bande Mataram received the status of a Vedic Mantra, and served as a slogan for revolutionaries.  Pandit Visnu Digambar Paluskar sang it in Raga Kafi in congress conventions for several years.  After his death in 1931, Pt.Omkarnath Thakur used to sing it in Raga which he called Bangiya Kafi.  Paluskar did not cut any gramophone discs, but Omkarnath Thakur’s commercial recording is available and he has sung it in very slow tempo, without percussion accompaniment, and only the haunting notes of a tanpura in the background.  The rendering reminds us of his famous record Mitawa Balamva in Raga Nilambari.

In addition to its status in political contexts, several composers and singers both in Bengal and in Maharashtra considered it as a wonderful lyric for expressing devotion towards the motherland.  Around 1928, Vishnupant Pagnis (later famous for his role in Prabhat Film Company’s film Saint Tukaram) cut a record in Raga Sarang.  Sung in the very loud and clear voice of a Bhajan singer, he has even changed the order of the stanzas in the original text.  In 1910/12, another bhajan singer, Savlaramboa from Mumbai [Lalbaug/Parel], sang it in Raga Kalingada, and his rendering can touch the soul of any responsive listener.  While setting the tune to a well-known folk melody, Keshavrao Bhole [famous as a music composer for the Prabhat Film Company] cut an Odeon record in 1935 in Raga Deshkar, which is an early morning melody.  His singing is scholarly, with showers of taans which can remind knowledgeable listeners of the famous Marathi stage song Priye Paha.

During this period, Bengali composers and singers were also setting the song to a variety of different tunes, cashing in on its steady popularity.  Desh Das, Satyabhushan Gupta, Dilipkumar Roy, Bhavanicharan Das, Hemchandra Sen, and Harendranath Dutt recorded under different labels.  Typical Bengali pronunciations and mridanga accompaniment are the peculiarities of these recordings.  The style is inclined towards Rabindra Sangeet.  In the South, Smt.  D Vasanta and D Vimla have cut records, but these are no longer easily available.  M S Subbulakshmi has sung it as a duet with Dilipkumar Roy with a different Raga and tempo for each stanza.  M S Subbalakshmi has also sung a Tamil version of Bande Mataram in a translation by Subramaniam Bharati.  This recording creates a devotional mood.  Among other duets, Geeta Dutt has sung it with G M Durrani.

Chorus/Orchestral Bande Mataram: Several such records were made and released commercially.  These were especially used in public functions or meetings.  Rabindranath’s original tune was sung by Viswa Bharati artists, and it is available both in vocal and in instrumental form.  Upon the suggestion of Subhashchandra Bose, Timir Baran set the tune to Raga Durga in the style of a marching song.  This gramophone record was used for the parades of the Azad Hind Sena, and the record was frequently broadcast from Singapore radio.  There is a mixture of Indian and western instruments in the orchestration.  Sursagar Jagmohan, Matrusevak Dal of Kamal Dasgupta Pankaj Mullick, Aanadi Dastidar, Rajan Ssarkar and others made similar recordings. 

Several composers, musicians and singers from Bengal and Maharashtra were confident that this would become the Anthem of independent India.  Hence they set a number of tunes for the song.  Among these were Master Krishnarao Phulambrikar and Mr V D Ambhaikar.  The latter is now 90 years old and lives at Dadar.  Master Krishnarao composed it in Raga Kafi and also in Raga Jhinjhoti.  The tune is simple and could be sung easily by anyone.  He cut a gramophone record around 1935.  His radio broadcast was interrupted soon after he began to sing the banned song at the end of his program.  He then boycotted all radio programs.  He popularized his tunes through gramophone records and by singing it in his music concerts.  After Independence, he was invited to sing on All India Radio and he began his concert by singing Vande Mataram.  In 1948, when he learnt that Pandit Nehru was against the music of the song and not the contents, he volunteered to prepare tunes that would conform to guidelines similar to those laid down by the British.  He prepared several alternative versions of the song recited solo, in chorus, as a marching song, with and without accompaniment.  These recording were played to members of the Constitution Committee.

Mr V D Ambhaikar made similar efforts.  He composed a tune in the Raga Khambavati, and prepared a number of test records.  He too presented his tunes to the Constitution Committee.  Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar liked the tune very much and suggested that if a gramophone record were made in the voice of Kesarbai Kerkar, he would be the first person to buy it.  However, she refused to record the song, and finally the record was cut in the voice of Moghubai Kurdikar.  This rendering does create a serene and pious mood, however the pitch and the higher octave used is beyond the capacity of the lay person.  No wonder then that these efforts were rejected by Pandit Nehru.  Around same time, the musician Vasant Desai made records on the Young India label in which he sang the first stanza of the song.  He sings solo, and then the chorus repeats the lines after him.  There are two versions using Indian and western instruments like Shinga, Choughada, Flute and Piano, trumpet and Jhanj.  Very few copies of these records have survived today. 

Pandit Nehru of course gave the final verdict.  In a meeting of the Constitution Committee held on 24th January 1950, President Dr Rajendra Prasad announced that Jana Gana Mana would be the National Anthem of independent India and Vande Mataram would be the National song with same status as the Anthem.  With this decision, all efforts at providing new tunes ended and the recordings made up to that time have now become important documents and part of our cultural heritage. 

Post Independence era: In 1947, this song was included in the Hindi feature film Amar Asha (Immortal Hope).  As no gramophone record was cut and the film reels are not available, the details and the tune are lost to history.  Pannalal Ghosh set the tune in a typical Bengali folk idiom for the film Aandolan in 1951.  It is sung by Manna Dey, Parul Ghosh, Sudha Malhotra, and Shaileshkumar.  The film Anandmath was made both in Bengali and in Hindi in 1952.  The tune is still very famous and popular.  It is composed using a mixture of Ragas Malkauns and Bhairavi, and is highly inspiring.  Hemant Kumar and chorus have sung it in Aarati style with prominent mridanga accompaniment in the Bengali film Mahabiplovi Aurobindo.  The credit titles of the Hindi film Leader (featuring Dilip Kumar) had Vande Mataram sung in chorus in the background.  Naushad gave the music.  No gramophone record was cut and the singers were not identified.  This is a very simple marching tune.  In 1997, Usha Utthup sang it in Shyam Benegal’s Making of the Mahatma in the tune set by Vanraj Bhatiya.  It is set to a tune in a style that resembles Pop music, and occurs as a background score during Gandhiji’s famous long march in south Africa in the first decade of this century, where it appears a little anachronistic. 

Both Jana Gana Mana and Vande Mataram have five stanzas each, and generally only first stanza is sung or played.  As a result, most Indians have either forgotten, or are unaware of, the complete song.  Both the songs were recorded specially by the Gramophone Company for playing on some 800 AIR [All India Radio] stations.  It is believed that Ravi Shankar set the tune when he was a radio staff artist.  Both vocal and instrumental versions were recorded, each lasting for about 58 seconds.  This tune is very simple, and succeeds in creating a serene and solemn mood of worship of the motherland.  Every morning, all the radio stations played Vande Mataram in the vocal version immediately after the signature tune.  Later the same practice was observed on TV/Doordarshan too.  These recordings are also played in public meetings and functions, especially in the South Indian states where Hindi has not been accepted as the national language.

In 1982, Mahendra Kapoor cut one 45 rpm disc in which he has sung both the songs using a chorus.  Apart from this, no one has ventured to compose a fresh tune in the last 50 years.  It continues to be played at the opening sessions of parliament and state legislative assemblies.  Citizens are expected to stand at attention while it is sung or played in all public meetings. 

Golden Jubilee celebrations of India’s Independence and Vande Mataram

In 1997, India celebrated its 50th year of independence.  In celebration, G Bharatbala reviving the words Vande Mataram (in Hindi "Maa Tujhe Salam") while launching A R Rahman’s audio-video album.  This album contains the Bankimchandra original Bande Mataram, sung beautifully in Raga Desh Malhar with wonderful tone and color to the instrumental sound.  The song as played in the other tracks of the album has received widespread acceptance by the contemporary listening public, and its words have acquired a new currency all over India.  But the song text is different from the traditional Vande Mataram in some crucial respects.  The video shows citizens of all age groups with tricolor of different sizes in their hands, while some are shown trying to raise a huge flag lying on the ground.  Nobody seems to have followed the guidelines for flag hoisting during the shooting of the video.  The national flag, which is a symbol of the nation’s prestige and pride, is used in a manner that makes it into a virtual toy or accessory.  The tune shows a Western Michael Jackson type of influence, and it has become extremely popular all over the nation and in other countries where the video has been telecast.  The composer Rahman has posed, sung and danced in Michael Jackson style for the video.  On the eve and at midnight of 14th August 1997, his group gave a live performance at India gate, dancing Vande Mataram - Ma Tujhe Salam.  The event was probably sponsored by the celebration committee of the government.

At the same time, a special session of Parliament was convened.  Our MPs were to be seen standing and nodding their heads when Pandit Bhimsen Joshi sang it for over two minutes in the style of a classical music concert, with excellent accompaniment on tabla and harmonium.  One of the points about which objections have been raised before Independence, and since, is that the government-sanctioned version played on AIR is without any accompaniment.  In the following year, on 14th August 1998, Pandit Jasraj sang it at the same place, without instruments but with a chorus humming in the background while Panditji takes the centre-stage.  On both occasions, our MPs have been shown clapping enthusiastically at the end.  Do we ever clap after singing the Anthem?  Is this the way in which we respect our National Anthem?

Vande Mataram at the turn of 20th century

Due to the massive success of this album, the same group launched another album Vande Mataram - 2 in 1999, with a music score by Ranjit Barot, son of yesteryear's famous dancer Sitaradevi.  This album includes a reissued version of Lata Mangeshkar’s Vande Mataram from the 1952 film Anandmath.  The lyricist Mehboob wrote another lyric for Lata Mangeshkar (for the leading line, "Sujjalam, Suffalam, Malayyaj Sheetalam, Sasyya Shyyamalam Maataram") words easily borrowed - or marrowed? - from the sacred song of national pride.  The remainder of the lyric, as before, is different and Lataji has sung wonderfully to the same old Anandmath tune for "Maa Tujhe Salam, Maa Tujhe Pranam." The lyricist appears to have conjoined the words "Salam" and "Pranam," though there is a world of difference between the two.  In the same album Shubha Mudgal has sung the familiar Vande Mataram in a pop idiom, whereas Kausiki Chakravarty sings it like a lullaby. 

Several musicians, composers and singers have re-presented the song recently in different styles and forms.  Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra staged a ballet based on Vande Mataram during the Elephanta festival, and the song was sung by Ustad Rashid Khan.  In one of the Indian Music Group’s concert at St Xavier’s college in Mumbai, Pandit Ram Narain played it on the Sarangi in concluding a recital.  Anoop Jalota sang it in his latest album of Deshbhakti songs.  On 15th August 2000, Hindukush released a new video album Vande Mataram in the voice of Sadhana Sargam.

Vande Mataram in the 21st century

The song Vande Mataram is now 125 years old, and has now entered the 21st century.  In 1975, while celebrating its centenary, a conference was organized at Banaras in which books, monographs and proceedings devoted to the song were published.  In 2000, the Vande Mataram Shatkottar Rajat Jayanti Samiti of Pune published a Marathi book on the song.  The Society of Indian Record Collectors found over 100 recorded versions of the song and presented over 20 illustrated listening sessions to audience of various age groups in Maharashtra.

As usual, no political party (including the Indian National Congress) took any note of these activities.  Hard-liners with slogans like "Garva Se Kaho...." and/or "Is Desh Men Rahana Hoga To Vande Mataram Kahana Hoga" did not seem to know about this event.  Even Bengalis have failed to notice these activities, probably because of the last fifity years of communist rule in Bengal.  The Rashtriya Aghadi Government announced the formation of a committee that would attend to issues concerning the song and its future but nothing has come of it since.

Musically speaking it seems that Indians will never forget this lyric even after another 125 years.  This is clearly seen with the new compositions and renderings.  From R N Tagore to A R Rahman and beyond, numerous tunes have been composed and no other song in Independent India has received so much attention.  This is probably because we Indians do not consider this as the national song or Anthem.  We treat it as the song of our culture, a ‘Prateek’ or living symbol.  In Hindu culture, the mother is considered a God, and worshipping the mother through songs is an age-old tradition.  Vande Mataram is one such song, which describes the motherland.  That is why the song keeps reappearing again and again in different forms.  It will be no great wonder if it gets set to an assortment of new musical idioms - even jazz, rock, rap or metal - in the 21st century.  Its appeal and purpose will keep changing from time to time but the basic aspect of the "Ave Maria-Mother I bow to Thee" will remain.  In this sense, then, all the tunes described above could be said to be well-justified and much appreciated.
(ref. - http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/mataram.htm )