A Spiritual Dialogue

One of the many accomplishments of Guru Nanak was to elevate the importance of music and to restore to its spirituality. Naturally he encountered resistance from people who preached that music catered to man's lower nature. The following is a recorded dialogue between Guru Nanak and Pir Dastgir, a Muslim, which is supposed to have taken place in Baghdad.

Pir: Music makes a man,s mind mercurial and wayward. It diverts man's mind towards vice. The wicked and luxurious people are ruined by it. 

Guruji: Music does not make a man mercurial; rather it helps a man in concentration. On hearing music, the mind is softened; it melts the heart and makes it compassionate and loving. Such a pliable mind can be given any desired shape. Music makes a man broadminded, produces emotion in him and inspires him to do good actions. It purifies cravings. Everybody, be he an old man, youth, child or animal ! loves music.

Pir: Has God made music. 

Guruji: Yes, it is the gift of God. Man has not made it but has discovered it.

Pir: Rebeck, sitar and other musical instruments have been made by man and without them there can be no music. 

Guruji: Nature is full of music. There is music in flow of water and the waves of the sea; there is music in the blowing winds. Birds sing sweet notes. Sound coming out of man's throat produces music. Ears have been made to appreciate music.

Pir: Music has added to the indulgence of man. It resides in the houses of the immoral and depraved people. It has produced beggars and prostitutes. 

Guruji: This is not the fault of music. It possesses immense power of changing the mental attitude of man. It produces a balance, an equipoise and harmony in man. Poisonous serpents are enchanted by it; this is the effect of the music of pure sound with no words in it.

Pure and wordless music is the inner voice of man; ideas are expressed by the language but the emotions are expressed by the music. It is very difficult to understand pure music of the sound. To make it intelligible, man adds language to it. Emotions expressed in music combined with ideas given in language become a potent force.

Some people have degraded music by mixing bad ideas with it through language and others have elevated it by putting good ideas in it. Romantic poetry is the example of the first while scriptures are the instance of the second. The defect, therefore, lies in the language mixed with it and not the music. Dissociate music from the low ideas given through language; it will prove very pure and clean. If a pearl is bound in a dirty cloth, it is the cloth that is undesirable and not the pearl. Don't you praise, admire and adore God?

Pir: Yes, we do; that is the chief characteristic of our religion. 

Guruji: Admiration is of three types:

(a) We can admire God by thinking about God and concentrating on His attributes. 
(b) We admire God through words and speech. 
(c) We sing the attributes of God and come into emotion.

The third method is the best.

Pir: Can't we do without music? 

Guruji: Music is inevitable; it bursts out of man like a fountain; it cannot be stopped; it is spontaneous. Everybody in the world sings. The farmer sings at the handle of the plough; the sailor at the oars; the labourer at his action; the girl at the spinning wheel; some sing at a low and others at a higher pitch but sing they must when they are in the mood to sing.

If singing is a must, then why not sing what is good and what elevates the man and brings him nearer to God. If you do not sing the praises of God, then the music will be used by people for bad purposes.