Ashtasakhas of Pushtimarg

Ashtasakhas of Pushtimarg (18 photos)

"THE ASHTA SAKHA" Vaishnav Sangh!
The Ashta chhap poets were the eight devotional poets of Pushtimarg who composed and sang their pads (songs) for ShriNathji.

Four of the Ashta sakhas namely Shri Surdasji, Shri Kumbhandasji, Shri Krishnadasji & Shri Paramananddasji were the disciples of Shri Vallabh. The other four, Govindswamiji, Chhitswamiji, Nanddasji and Chaturbhujdasji were the disciples of Shri Gusainji. They all were designated to sing as per ashta-pore samay, that is the eight periods of Shree seva and darshan. It was in 1608 that Shree Gusainji formally established the Ashta Sakha mandal and from then onwards the pads as per ashta-prahar became the foundation of of Kirtan seva in Pushtimarag.

So why are the Ashta Chhap pads so special?

Let’s take a look at poetry in general and consider the different approaches of poets in their creation.

The worldly poets create poetry from the power of their imagination (kalpana).

The semi-inspired devotional poets create poetry from their perception (bhavna) of the sentiments and experiences sited by other self-realised beings through their scriptural writings.

The self-realised devotional poets create poetry from their full comprehension and personal experience of God.

The Ashta Chhap poets’ poetry (pads) was purely the revelation of devotional reflections (bhav) of their personal experiences with Shri Krishna. By Thakorji’s grace, their souls were experiencing an eternal blissful union with Shri Krishna and they perpetually participated in His divine games (leela). They composed and sang the pads at the same time that they had darshan of the leela, hence the very vivid and meaningful recitations that we have the benefit of even today. For each leela, they composed the most appropriate pad, and the pads have been integrated with every one of the eight darshans of Thakorji and even after 500 years, these pads are still sung in the temples of Pushtimarg.

These pads form a huge part of the Vraj-Bhasha literature in India and are respected by the disciples of other religions as well. Most of the pads have been written in Vraj-bhasa (language), although some are in Sanskrit. Shri Surdasji is the most famous amongst the Ashta Sakhas, he composed 125000 pads during his lifetime(108 Years). We have prepared the attached table summarising the achievements of all Ashta Sakhas.

For them to be so well graced by Thakorji, they must have been special souls, and it is believed that in fact they were sakhas and sakhis of Shree Krishna during his leela,(around 5000 years ago), and were reincarnated to be part of ShriNathjibawa’s leela (around 500 years ago). Not only that, but they are in Thakorji’s Nitya-leela, as we will see further on.

An important part of their poetry creation was their bhav, how they maintained this in their recitement of Kirtans. When we think of "Bhav" we remember Surdasji who insipte of his blindness, saw with his innermost eyes (Aantarchakshu) in Nandalaya, Balkrishna being in palna and Yasodaji was swinging palna to put him to sleep. This motherly love and its darshan was very accurately and with bhav recited in his pad, "Jasoda Hari Palnay Zulaway".

Kumbhandas depicted his experience(anubhav) of the Leelas of Yugal swaroop and hence he recited a pad of Yugalgeet: "Bani Radha Giridharki Joru". Parmananddasji sang the mahima of bal-leela by giving us that immortal pada:"Maiyee Mitho Hariju kay Bolna".

Thus, in all the pads, there was 'Cheet-astat pravanam', which means that these kirtans and pads in Seva brings our mind (cheet) into seva- bhav and in turn our heart gets fully attached (hradai-bhav). At that moment in the seva kram, we experience param anand.

In Pushti-marg, three important elements of seva that vaishnavs perform to please Thakorji are:

– Raag(singingpads)
– Bhog(offeringsamagri)...mangalbhog,rajbhog,etc – Shringar(decorations,vastra,aabhusan .

The pads that we sing are based on:

The rutu (season) we are in – there are three Ushnakal (summer),

Sheetkal (winter) and Varsa (monsoon).

Thakorji’s darshan time - from the eight darshans – Mangla, Gwal, Shringar, Rajbhog, Uthapan, Bhog,

Sandhya- Aarti, and Shayan.

If there is a special Manorath (event) in the Pushti calendar, then the pads for that leela would be sung, for example Janmashtami, Holi, Diwali, etc.

For each rutu, pads are sung in different raag, the main ones being - in Ushnakal, sarang, in Sheetkal, dhanashri and in Varsa, malhar

But it is not singing in perfect raag that pleases Thakorji, its singing with bhav that he yearns for even more.

In Chatur Sloki Shree Vallabh has said:

Ataha Sarvatmana shaswad, Gokulaswar Padayo; Smaranam Bhajanam Chaapi na Tyajaymiti may mati

That means when we are at lotus feet of Shree Krishna we should recite and sing bhajans as this will lead to liberation (moxa).

When we sing bhajans, these should be of Thakorji, that is thinking of Lord and his Leelas when singing and one should have bhav in totality in the bhajans and pads and kirtans. To a merchant he only knows "bhav" as price, cost of the goods, material etc., but here is not saleable entity, but it is deeply rooted with our heart, our songs, our Pads and our Kirtans and also is connected to life's feelings.

There is the varta prasang of "Rupa Podiyo" who used to sing shayan kirtans for Thakorji. His main duty was of a security guard of Mandir and in the evening before starting his duty as a security guard, he used to sing shayan kirtan in his husky coarse voice. One day Govindswami heard Rupo singing his creation of Kirtan and was very upset the way he was singing. He scolded Rupo and told him not to sing anymore as his voice is so coarse that Thakorji will not be able to sleep when he listens to this, sung without any raag. So that evening, he did not sing any Kirtan. At late night Thakorji spoke to Shree Gusainji, that He can't sleep because Rupo did not sing, in his singing he has that Bhav which makes me go to sleep. When Shree Gusainji asked Rupo, he explained the incident with Govindswami. To this Shree Gusaiji asked Rupo to carry on singing as Thakorji liked the bhav in his singing.

A true bhav is the heart of all Kirtans and Pads. Not only human beings, but, Shree Goverdhan Nathji also becomes Bhav-vibhore when anyone sings with Bhav. Once when Parmanand Dasji was singing "Jiya Ki Sadhi Jiya hi Rahi re", a Virah pad, and Shree Vallabh heard the pad, he became "Bhav-Vibhore" and lost all his "Dehasudhi" i.e all physical senses for three days.

As for each Ashta Sakha’s characters, as an example, let’s look at Surdasji: Surdasji was a sarasvat bramhin who used to live in a small village named '

Sinhi.' near Delhi.

In Nitya leela, Surdasji is one of the 8 main sakhas of shri Krishna and his name was 'Krushna sakha'. It’s worth noting that there were lots of sakhis but only 8 pushti sakhas. The gopijans in nikunj (gupt) leela have 2 swaroops .

(1) Purush bhav roop sakha and (2) Stri bhav roop sakhi

Surdasji also has 2 swarops. In Nitya Leela, he is Thakorjis sakha named 'krushna sakha' where as in nikunj leela, he is Shri Thakorji’s sakhi named 'Champaklata sakhi'

So as such, Surdasji has 3 swaroops:

(1) Krushna sakha (sakha roop) (2) Champaklata ( sakhi roop)

(3) Surdasji (as a sevak on bhutal)

There are 8 main dwars (doors) in Shri Girirajji. The Ashta Sakhas are the mukhya adhikaris (right holders)of these 8 dwars. They are nitya birajman (permanently resident) here in their sakhi roop, and only after getting their permission, any jeev can enter these dwars. One of these 8 dwars is at Govind kund and to its front lies 'Parasoli Chandrasarovar.' Surdasji is the mukhya of this dwar.

In conclusion, Astha Sakhas hold a very special place in Pushti-Marg dharm, and the pads that they composed and sang have special significance in seva, but more importantly, provide immense pleasure to Thakorji.