Real Music

Tansen was a famous singer at the court of Akbar. Once Akbar  and Tansen went to meet Sant Haridas. Akbar was dressed not as the Emperor but as an ordinary man, a humble lover of music. He only wanted to hear Sant Haridas sing.
Sant Haridas been Tansen’s music teacher, and he lived the austere life of a hermit. When Tansen and Emperor reached his hut, he was busy with his daily chores. When they asked him to sing he smiled but said firmly, ‘I am long past the age for singing.’ Even his favorite pupil could not persuade him to change his mind.

But Tansen knew how to get round him. He offered to sing before his guru. And he deliberately made a mistake, that’s not the right note, Tansen,’ cried his teacher, amazed. ‘What has happened to you?’
Tansen did not seem to understand and he made the same mistake again. Exasperated, Sant Haridas took the tanpura from Tansen’s hands and sang the right note. Then he went on to the next and the next!
His melodious voice flowed across the forest, like the first glimmer of dawn or the fragrance of jasmine. Both Akbar and Tansen listened to him, hypnotized. The emperor had not known that music could sound like this! He had certainly never heard anything like it before.
As they walked back, the Emperor suddenly broke the silence. ‘Why can’t you sing like that, Ustadji? He asked.
Tansen smiled. ‘Shahenshah, I sing at your command-the command of the Emperor of Hindustan. But Guruji sings forom one who is the King of Kings! His music springs from the depths of his soul, unasked and free. How can my music hope to reach those heights?’