Editing Bhajan (section)

===Historical roots===
In Hinduism, ''Bhajan'' and its Bhakti term, ''[[Kirtan]]'', have roots in the ancient metrical and musical traditions of the Vedic era, particularly the [[Samaveda]]. The Samaveda [[Samhita]] is not meant to be ''read'' as a text, but sung as it is like a musical score sheet that must be ''heard''.<ref name=staal107>Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, {{ISBN|978-0143099864}}, pages 107-112</ref>

Other late Vedic texts mention the two scholars ''Shilalin'' ([[IAST]]: Śilālin) and ''Krishashva'' (IAST: Kṛśaśva), credited to be pioneers in the studies of ancient drama, singing and dance.<ref name="Lidova1994p111a">{{cite book|author=Natalia Lidova |title=Drama and Ritual of Early Hinduism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TKarwqJJP0C |date=1994 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1234-5 |pages=111–114}}</ref>{{Sfn|Tarla Mehta|1995|pp=xxiv, xxxi–xxxii, 17}} The art schools of Shilalin and Krishashva may have been associated with the performance of Vedic rituals, which involved story telling with embedded ethical values.<ref name="Lidova1994p111a"/> The Vedic traditions integrated rituals with performance arts, such as a dramatic play, where not only praises to gods were recited or sung, but the dialogues were part of a dramatic representation and discussion of spiritual themes.<ref name=varadpande45>ML Varadpande (1990), History of Indian Theatre, Volume 1, Abhinav, {{ISBN|978-8170172789}}, pages 45–47</ref>{{Sfn|Maurice Winternitz|2008|pp=181–182}}

{{Quote box | bgcolor=#FFE0BB |align=right |salign = right 
|quote= '''A lyric from a Hindu Bhajan'''
<poem>
This body is but a guest of four days,
a house made of dirt.
On this earth your mark is made,
a symbol of your good work.
</poem>
|source =— Translated by David N. Lorenzen<ref>{{cite book|author=David N. Lorenzen|title=Bhakti Religion in North India: Community Identity and Political Action|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rpSxJg_ehnIC |year=1995|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-7914-2025-6|page=242}}</ref>}}
The Vedas and Upanishads celebrate ''Nada-Brahman'', where certain sounds are considered elemental, triggering emotional feelings without necessarily having a literal meaning, and this is deemed a sacred, liminal experience of the primeval ultimate reality and supreme truth.<ref name="NettlStone1998p246">{{cite book|author=Guy Beck|editor=Bruno Nettl|display-editors=et al|title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia, the Indian subcontinent|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOlNv8MAXIEC |year=1998|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-8240-4946-1|pages=246–247}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Annette Wilke |author2=Oliver Moebus |title=Sound and Communication: An Aesthetic Cultural History of Sanskrit Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9wmYz_OtZ_gC |year=2011|publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-024003-0 |pages=886–898 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Stephen Breck Reid|title=Psalms and Practice: Worship, Virtue, and Authority|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OyGqWnBY4KIC |year=2001|publisher=Liturgical Press|isbn=978-0-8146-5080-6 |pages=10 }}</ref> This supreme truth is considered as full of bliss and ''rasa'' (emotional taste) in the Hindu thought, and melodic sound is considered a part of human spiritual experience.<ref name="NettlStone1998p246"/> Devotional music genres such as ''Bhajan'' are part of a tradition that emerged from these roots.<ref name="NettlStone1998p246"/>

However, bhajans rose to prominence as a way of expressing fervent devotion to the divine, breaking down barriers of caste and society, during the Bhakti and Sant movements of medieval India (about the 6th to the 17th centuries).

By writing verses in a variety of regional languages, saints and poets like Kabir, Mirabai, Tulsidas, and Surdas played a crucial part in popularizing bhajans and making them understandable to a larger audience. Their Bhajan lyrics emphasized the universality of divine love while praising the intimate connection between the believer and the deity.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}