Tansen Summary
Being the only child of his parents, Tansen was a mischievous but skilled child. He used to mimic the sounds of birds and animals. One day he tried to intimidate a group of passengers with the loud sound of a tiger. It was Tansen — the greatest musician of our country.
Tansen was the son of Mukandan Mishra, who lived in Behat near Gwalior with his wife. Tansen was a mischievous child. He used to go to the jungle to play. There he learned the art of mimicking the sounds of birds and animals.
One day Swami Haridas, a famous singer, was crossing the jungle with his disciples. Feeling exhausted, they stopped under a shady tree to rest. Tansen was looking at him.
He thought it would be fun to scare strangers. After this he hid behind a tree and he made a roar like a tiger. In fear, all the passengers ran here and there but Swami Haridas asked them to come and sit together. Since there was nothing to fear. Tigers were not always dangerous.
Suddenly, one of the passengers all saw a small boy behind the tree. He told Swami that there was no tiger but it was a mischievous little boy.
Swami Haridas did not punish him, instead he went to his father and told him that his son was very mischievous, but very efficient. He suggested to her that he could make her a good singer.
Tansen was 10 years old when he moved in with Swami.
Swami Haridas became Tansen's music teacher. Tansen learned music from him for 11 years and became the greatest singer of his time. During this time his parents died. His father's last wish was that Tansen meet Mohammad Gaus of Gwalior. He was a pious man. Even he lived with Mohammad Gaus, a pious man. There he was often taken to the court of Queen Mriganeni. She was also a great musician. There he married Hussaini, who was in the court of Queen Mriganaini.
Husaini also became a disciple of Swami Haridas. They had 5 children and all of them were also musicians.
Tansen became very famous. He got an opportunity to sing in front of Emperor Akbar. Akbar was very impressed with his music so he asked Tansen to join his court.
In 1556 Tansen joined Akbar's court and Akbar liked him very much. Akbar used to ask them to sing very often at any time of the day or night. Rather, he used to go to their house to listen to them. He gave them many gifts. His growing popularity and Akbar's interest made other courtiers jealous of him. He was so jealous that he planned to ruin her. Shaukat Mian had a clever idea.
He suggested that Tansen should sing the raga Deepak. Another person asked how this could help them. He replied that if that raga was sung correctly it would make the air so hot that the singer would be burned to ashes. Tansen was a very good singer. If he did that he would die and they would get rid of him.
Shaukat went to Mian Akbar to say that in his opinion Tansen was not a good singer. If he was, then let them do the test and ask them to sing Raga Deepak. As only the greatest singers could sing.
Akbar responded with strong conviction that Tansen could sing anything. But Tansen was scared and unable to say 'no' to the king. So Tansen asked the king to give him some time. Tansen went home and was sad. He told his wife that he was capable of singing that raga, but his heat would not only light the lamp, but turn it into ashes.
Then he got an idea that if someone can sing Raga Megha, at the same time if Raga Megha is sung correctly then it will bring rain. He asked his daughter Saraswati and his friend Roopvati to do the same.
He taught them the raga cloud. He practiced a lot for two weeks. Tansen told him not to sing until the lamp started burning.
Tansen went according to plan. The whole city got her together to sing. As soon as they started singing, the air got hot, people started sweating. The leaves dried up and fell to the ground. Birds died and water started boiling in the rivers. People wept in fear and the lamp was lit.
Saraswati and Rupwati started singing the raga megh as soon as the lamp was lit. The sky immediately clouded and showers of rain started pouring on the earth. Tansen survived. After that incident, Tansen fell ill and Akbar felt sorry for tormenting him. He punished Tansen's enemies. When Tansen recovered from his illness, the entire city cheered and celebrated it. Tansen remained Akbar's court singer until his death in 1585. He composed many new ragas.
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