Sunday Story: Tansen, The Devoted Disciple

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Akbar and Tansen visit Swami Haridas

We have seen so many cases where the disciples or students have been no less illustrious than their Gurus or teachers. To give a few examples, Nivruttinath and Dnyanraj Mauli, Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekanand,  Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller, Guru Ravidas and Meera, Swami Haridas and Tansen. 

To emphasize the point, here is a story of Swami Haridas and his student, Tansen. 

Swami Haridas believed to be an incarnation of Lalita Sakhi, used to please Krishna, who he lovingly called, 'Shri Bihariji', by singing sweet devotional songs he composed as he played the vina. While singing, he would become so completely absorbed in it that he would  forget everything in and about him. Tansen was his disciple. Upon hearing about Swami Haridasa’s glories from Tansen, Akbar desired to relish his blissful music. But Swami Haridas had firmly resolved not to entertain anyone but his deity, Shri Bihariji.  

Therefore one day Emperor Akbar disguised himself as an ordinary man and along with Tansen came to Swami Haridas’s bhajana kutira in Nidhivan. Tansen had purposely brought his vina along and now began to sing a song. His singing enchanted Akbar, but Swami Haridas then took the vina from Tansen and began to sing the same song, pointing out the errors that Tansen had made in singing it. Swami Haridasa’s singing was so sweet and rapturous that even the deers, birds and other animals of the forest came to that spot, where they listened silently. Emperor Akbar's amazement knew no bounds. He was so pleased that he immediately wanted to present something to Swami Haridas, but the wise Tansen indicated to the emperor not to do so.  He said, “I sing for you because I work for you, but my Master is different, he sings only for God, that is why his music is so Divine.”

As his disciple, not only did Tansen reach near perfection in his music, but in the story we see how the master had put in the extra edge of devotion in the music that transformed it from good to Divine. Tansen had realised what his Guru had, which he did not. On one hand it is Tansen's humility, when he mentions this to Akbar and on the other, it is the Guru's greatness where he creates an atmosphere of devotion where both the Guru and his disciple learn and progress.

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