“What the guru does is ground you, and give you that living thing which will grow. It's for you to grow it. You have to nurture it. And it will become a different tree. Not the tree that your guru is.” - Vidya Rao
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Vidya Rao is commenting here on a song by the Bhakti poet Shivguru, sung by Kumar Gandharva (Gura to jine gyaan ki jadiyaan dai). This is the opening verse of the poem, which is being discussed:
गुरा तो जीने ज्ञान की जड़ियां दई
वाही जड़ तो म्हाने प्यारी जो लागे
अमृत रस की भरी
He is my guru
Who gave me the roots of wisdom
Those roots are so precious to me
Brimming over with nectar
Vidya Rao is a singer of thumri-dadra and ghazal based in Delhi. She has studied under the legendary late Naina Devi, Shanti Hiranand and Girija Devi. She also sings songs of Sufi and Bhakti poets, verses from Hindu and Buddhist texts and Islamic forms of ‘naat’, ‘soz’ and ‘nauha’. She has been advisor and friend to the Kabir Project since 2002.
Contact Vidya Rao at [email protected], www.vidyaraosinger.com
(Click on Settings for subtitles in English & Hindi.)
This is one of a series of uploads for Ajab Shahar, a webspace dedicated to mystic poem and song, created by the Kabir Project team (http://www.ajabshahar.org ; http://www.kabirproject.org).
Video Credits:
Interview by: Shabnam Virmani & Tara Kini
Camera: Shabnam Virmani
Camera Assistance: Smriti Chanchani
Editing: Sharanya Gautam
Subtitling: Nandini Nayar and Vipul Rikhi
Collection: Kabir Project
Place: Vidya Rao’s residence, New Delhi
Date of Recording: March, 2006