ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Om namo bhagavate vasudevaya
Purandara Dasa, is one of the fathers of the medieval Carnatic System of music. He lived in Karnataka, Índia, in XV century. One of the greatest devotees of Lord Krsna, his history is out of this world! As a great bhakti yogi, he had the darshan (vision) of Krsna Himself, renouncing his good jewelry store to dedicate his life to singing the glories of the Lord.
Composer of 475.000 songs, now only 1.000 are available, between Geethams, Svarajatis, Varnams and Kritis (Kirtanas), not only that, he developed the system for learning Carnatic Music as we are learning today. And after a long journey through the svaras and talas exercises in Maya Malawa Gowla raga, we can go further. Because of him, we start to learn the first Geethams composed by him like “Lambodara”, "Kunda Goura”, "Kereya Neeranu”, “Padmanabha”, and “Kamala Jadala” and “Kamala Sulochana” in other ragas like Kaliany and Ananda Bhairav.
Baladeva Nitai Das, a Brazilian bhakti yogi, son and disciple of the great musician Geraldo Tonelli, is the leader and producer of the project called Vrindavan that was born in the city of Vrindavan, India, in 2015. With Vrindavan three albums was already release called “Krsna Vrindavan”, “Bhagavatam” and “Shikshastakam” and some devotees around the globe already worked together in this project like Narasimhadeva Das, Kapila Muni Das, Brhat Mrdanga Das, Kamalaksi Rupini, Amrta Vishnu Prya, Gaura Mani, Samy Erick, Balarama Nitai, Adryane Lins, the great Brazilian Maestro Marcus Viana, Décio Ramos (Uakti), Balajie Ramjie, Rajini Singh and others in great chorus. By the mercy of Lord Krsna and His devotees, and a “blessing pressure” from his wife Kamalaksi Rupini Devi Dasi, the great brazilian Bharatanatyam dancer, Baladeva Nitai went to India in 2016 to study the Carnatic System of music.
The spiritual journey is a mystery, and during the internal transformation manifested in the phenomena of this world, Baladeva Nitai took Diksha initiation in Sanatana Dharma by H.H. Radhanath Swami Maharaj, disciple of A.C. Bhaktivendanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON. Now he is going deeper in the study of the spiritual music by the guidance of Vijaya Lakshmi Gopalakrishna in vocals and Geetha Rao Shyamprakash in Sarasvati Veena, the ancient sacred string instrument. His Sanskrit studies is guided by Rajini Singh. He is also studying Music at Annamalai University, Chidambaram, South India by the blessings of Krishna Swami Dhikshitar, and because of all this he worked in this tribute to the great Purandara Dasa as a gratitude for all this.
The Flute is the simplest and oldest melodic musical instrument that exists. When I was around 15 years old, I went camping with some friends for the first time, and during that experience I made a bamboo flute. I didn't have any technique to make the instrument, but I did it anyway. For this very reason, the flute was ready, but no sound came out. I just imagined the melodies I played with my fingers, but I couldn't hear them as the fingers developed techniques anyway. In that way, she became my magic flute! When I got home I showed it to my father, who appreciated it, and in the same week he gave me an original Sweet Flute. Now the sound could really be heard, and it was with this Flute that I created the melodies that today, after 20 years, are recorded in this unique EP. As if the Meditation that Flute melodies naturally cause in our mind wasn't enough, the songs have an atmosphere of synthesizers with ingenious designs that literally massage your brain. A unique work, with such valuable meanings and concepts, that it arrived on the NFT market for true lovers of a work of art before being released to the public. For you to know me, I am an artist who has dedicated my whole life to creating music, and has traveled the world improving my being and art so that it can be shared in a human way. Art has no measurable value, so it is valuable. Welcome to Baladeva Nitai's "Sweet Flute Meditation"
Baladeva Nitai – You The Others
“…it's seems like groove rock, Magical Mystery Tour, to me, spiritual, love songs, swirling effects, groove, sometimes yoga like…” (Robert Singerman)
“Who am I?” That’s the first question that a human being has to ask when it starts to develop some consciousness. When we are born on this planet, in a certain culture, we gain a kind of lifestyle from the people and the environment around us. We grow up with so many conceptions and all this is expressed as our personality and in the way we relate with others - with people, with other species of life, with nature and in the end with the entire universe that goes beyond our comprehension. In this journey of life it is always better not to fake ourselves with the intention to “Please Their Illusion”, better not to pretend to please others. That is definitely not love and will never work for the goal of this life. If we have this gift of our free will, let’s choose the truth and make a good wish when we see a magical “Falling Star” in the sky. If we are different, and if there is diversity out there in a tolerable way, you can respect that. But if you feel that some people are bringing suffering to others, and you realize that you are “Not Like Them”, you can be strong enough to fight for what is right, for justice, for the trust that it is still possible to survive in this world. It’s natural that you will find someone that can walk by your side and maybe get married if you wish. In the ancient Sanskrit language, desire for pleasure is called “Kama”, and it’s fair that you fulfill your desire in a proper way, with balance and respect for others. Of course all this is difficulty to learn in just one lifetime, and because we are in this world we are not perfect. The magic of consciousness and poetry is that “Imperfect” can become “Inperfect”. We can look for the final answers and dive inside ourselves, and it is certain that this will reflect outside us. This is sharing life with others. It’s like a child who opens the window and sees beautiful tall trees and other families playing in a park, that place where the community meets, and she says: ‘It’s a Beautiful View that refreshes my mind when I am sad.” We are all connected. It’s not about “you and I”, nor “me and the others”, nor even “you and the others”. It's a direct connection: “YOU THE OTHERS”. In this concrete gross life we have to transcend this first immediate reality and bring the potency to learn about what is subtle. Music can make us go to infinite different places, and maybe in the end we can find someone with a “Mouth of a Deity”, so we can have a love kiss.
This album is to remember us that this temporary life is not the only life for someone who believes to be a soul, eternal and immortal. It is to help us to live this life we have in the best way we can, so we can really answer the fundamental questions and find who we really are. I am “You The Others”, and you?