Swami Haridas (, also spelt ''Svāmī Haridās'') was an Indian spiritual poet and

classical musician Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

. He was a Court musician of Raja Man Singh Tomar of

Gwalior Gwalior (Hindi: , ) is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; It is known as the Music City of India having oldest Gwalior gharana, musical gharana in existence. It is a major sports, cultural, industrial, and political c ...

and credited with a large body of devotional compositions, especially in the

Dhrupad Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music (for example in the Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampradaya), and is als ...

style, he is also the founder of the Haridasi school of mysticism, still found today in

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

. His work influenced both the classical music and the

Bhakti movement The Bhakti movement was a significant religious movement in medieval Hinduism that sought to bring religious reforms to all strata of society by adopting the method of Bhakti, devotion to achieve salvation. Originating in Tamilakam during 6t ...

s of

, especially those devoted to

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

's consort

Radha Radha (, ), also called Radhika, is a Hindu goddess and the chief consort of the god Krishna. She is the goddess of love, tenderness, compassion, and devotion. In scriptures, Radha is mentioned as the avatar of Lakshmi and also as the Prak� ...

Biography

There are rival versions of the biography of Haridās, since his following was divided in the 1600s among the hereditary householder gosvāmīs and ascetic sādhus. Modern scholars state that he lived in the 1500s. The gosvāmīs claim he was born in Haridāspur and that his father was from Multān, but the sādhus claim he was born in Rājpur next to Vr̥ndāvan. The gosvāmīs claim that his father was Aśudhir, a Sārasvat Brahmin, but the sādhus claim that Haridās was a Sanathya Brahmin and that Haridās was only the pupil of Aśudhir, not his son. The gosvāmīs claim that Haridās was once a married man but later became a sādhu in the Viṣṇusvāmī sampradāya, but the sādhus claim that Haridās was never married and that he was a member of the Nimbārka sampradāya. Modern scholars state that Haridās was likely not initiated into any sect and that he followed his own independent devotional path of sakhībhāva in Nidhiban, although he might have been influenced by the two sects. It is in Nidhiban that he discovered the deity Bāṅke Bihārī, whose worship was later managed by a priest named Jagannāth. The gosvāmīs and sādhus agree that the gosvāmis are the descendants of Jagannāth, who the gosvāmīs claim was the younger brother of Haridās, but the sādhus claim was merely a Sarasvat priest who attended Haridās' Kr̥ṣṇa idol. His most prominent ascetic follower was Viṭṭhal Vipul. Haridās composed Braj Bhasha poetry, collected in two works called ''Aṣṭadaś Siddhānta'' and the ''Kelimāl''. Haridās sung in the

dhrupad Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music (for example in the Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampradaya), and is als ...

style, and the content of his work solely consisted of describing and praising the forest līlās of Kr̥ṣṇa-Kuñjbihārī and Rādhā-Śyāmā. According to popular tradition Haridās was the teacher of Miyān Tānsen, who sang at the court of

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

, however scholars consider this to be unlikely.

References

External links

Bankey Bhihari Temple, VrindavanBankey Bhihari Temple WebsitePostage stamp on Swami Haridas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haridas, Swami People from Mathura People from Aligarh Performers of Hindu music Indian Hindus Indian male classical musicians Bhakti movement 1478 births 1573 deaths 16th-century Indian musicians

Biography

See also

References

External links