Bhikkhu
Buddhist monks in Thailand
Chinese name
Chinese	比丘
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin bǐqiū - Wade–Giles Pi3-ch'iu1
Native Chinese name
Chinese	和尚
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin héshàng - Wade–Giles he2-shang4
Burmese name
Burmese	ဘိက္ခု
Tibetan name
Tibetan	དགེ་སློང་
Transcriptions - Wylie dge slong - THDL gelong
Thai name
Thai	ภิกษุ
RTGS	phiksu
Japanese name
Kanji	和尚
Transcriptions - Romanization Oshō
Tamil name
Tamil	துறவி turawi
Sanskrit name
Sanskrit	Bhikṣu
Pali name
Pali	Bhikkhu
Nepali name
Nepali	भिक्षु

A Bhikkhu (Pāli) or Vhikṣu (Sanskrit) is an ordained male Buddhist monastic.^[1] A female monastic is called a Bhikkhuni (Skt: Bhikṣuṇī) Nepali: भिक्षुणी). The life of Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis is governed by a set of rules called the patimokkha within the vinaya's framework of monastic discipline.^[1] Their lifestyle is shaped to support their spiritual practice, to live a simple and meditative life, and attain Nirvana.^[2] In the Vinaya monastic discipline, a man under the age of 20 cannot ordain as a bhikkhu but can ordain as a samanera (เณร); the female counterpart is samaneri.

Introduction[link]

Tibetan monks engaging in a traditional monastic debate.

Bhikkhu may be literally translated as "beggar" or more broadly as "one who lives by alms". It is philologically analysed in the Pāli commentary of Buddhaghosa as "the person who sees danger (in samsara or cycle of rebirth)" (Pāli: Bhayaṃ ikkhatīti: bhikkhu). He therefore seeks ordination to release from it.^[3] The Dhammapada states:

He is not thereby a Bhikkhu
merely because he seeks alms from others;
by following the whole code (of morality)
one certainly becomes a Bhikkhu and not (merely) by seeking alms. Herein he who has transcended both good and evil,
whose conduct is sublime,
who lives with understanding in this world,
he, indeed, is called a Bhikkhu.^[4]

A bhikkhu has taken a vow to enter the Sangha (Buddhist monastic community)^[5] and is expected to obey the Patimokkha, rules of monastic conduct (typically around 227 for a male and 311 for a female) as set out in the Vinaya, although there are considerable local variations in the interpretations of these rules. A novice monk or nun in the Tibetan tradition takes 36 vows of conduct. The minimum age to take bhikkhu vows according to ruling is 20 years counted from the conception (i.e., approximately 19 years and 3 months from birth).

In English literature before the mid-20th century, Buddhist monks were often referred to by the term bonze, particularly when describing monks from East Asia and French Indochina. This term is derived via Portuguese and French from the Japanese word bonsō for a priest or monk and has become less common in modern literature.^[6]

Becoming a Bhikkhu/Bhikkhuni[link]

In India, monasticism is part of the system of "vows of individual liberation".^[3] These vows are taken by monks and nuns from the ordinary sangha, in order to develop personal ethical discipline.^[3] In Mahayana Buddhism, the term "sangha" is, in principle, often understood to refer particularly to the Arya Sangha (Tib. mchog kyi tshogs, pronounced chokyi tsok)) the "community of the noble ones who have reached the first bhumi". These, however, need not be monks and nuns.

The vows of individual liberation are taken in four steps. A lay person may take the five upāsaka (Pali and Sanskrit; feminine: upāsikā; Tibetan dge snyan/dge snyan ma, pronounced genyen/genyenma, "approaching virtue") vows. The next step is to enter the pabbajja (Srt: pravrajya, Tib. rab byung pronounced rabjung), or monastic way of life, which includes wearing monk's or nun's robes. After that, one can become a samanera (Pali; feminine: samaneri; Skt. śrāmaṇera/śrāmaṇeri, Tib. dge tshul/dge tshul ma, pronounced getshül/getshülma), or novice monk/nun. The last and final step is to take all the vows of a bhikkhu/bhukkhuni (Pali, Sanskrit: Bhikṣu/Bhikṣuṇīs, Tib. dge long/dge long ma>, pronounced gelong/gelongma) a "fully ordained monk/nun."

Monks and nuns take their vows for a lifetime. A monk can give bhikkhu vows back and return to home living,^[5] and take the vows again later.^[5] He can take them up to three times or seven times in one life; after that the sangha should not accept him.^[7] In this way, Buddhism keeps the vows "clean". It is possible to keep them or to leave this lifestyle, but it is considered extremely negative to break these vows.

In Tibet, rabjung, getshül, gelong ordinations are usually taken at ages six, fourteen and twenty-one or older, respectively.

Robes[link]

Monk at Great Wild Goose Pagoda, Xi'an, China

The special dress of ordained people, the robes, comes from the idea of wearing cheap clothes just to protect the body from weather and climate. Monks often make their own robes from cloth that is donated to them.^[1] They shall not be made from one piece of cloth, but mended together from several pieces. Since dark red was the cheapest colour in Kashmir, the Tibetan tradition has red robes. In the south, yellow played the same role, though the color of saffron also had cultural associations in India; in East Asia, robe color varies from yellow to brown (Thailand, Theravada), red to purple (Burma, Theravada) and grey or black (e.g., Vietnam, Vajrayana (Zen)).

The robes of getshül novices and gelong monks differ in various aspects, especially in the application of "holes" in the gelong dress. Some monks tear their robes into pieces and then mend these pieces together again. The rabjung novices shall not wear the "chö-göö", the yellow tissue worn during Buddhist teachings by both getshüls and gelongs.

In observance of the Kathina Puja, a special Kathina robe is made in 24 hours from donations by lay supporters of a temple. The robe is donated to the temple or monastery, and the resident monks then select from their own number a single monk to receive this special robe.^[8]

Additional vows in the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions[link]

Portrait of a Buddhist Monk

In Mahayana traditions, a Bhikṣu may take additional vows not related to ordination, including the Bodhisattva vows, samaya vows, and others, which are also open to laypersons in most instances.

In addition, in some traditions there are forms of non-vinaya ordinations, the holders of which are not considered Bhikṣus. These included ordination into the "White Sangha" lineage of Tibetan yogis (Tib. naljorpa/naljorma, <rnal hbyor pa/ma>), and all of the ordination lineages of the various Japanese traditions.

Conclusion[link]

"Ordination" in Buddhism is a cluster of methods of self-discipline according to the needs, possibilities and capabilities of individuals. According to the spiritual development of his followers, the Buddha gave different levels of vows. The most advanced method is the state of a bikshu(ni), a fully ordained follower of the Buddha's teachings. The goal of the bhikku(ni) in all traditions is to achieve liberation from suffering.

Monks in Japan[link]

Saicho (AKA Dengyo) petitioned for a Mahayana Ordination Platform to be built in Japan. Permission was granted seven days after Dengyo died.^[9] The platform was completed in 827 CE by Dengyo's disciple, Gishin.^[9] Dengyo believed the 250 precepts were Hinayana, and that people should be ordained with the Mahayana Precepts of the Brahma Net Sutra.^[9]

During the Meiji Restoration, monastics in Japan were permitted to marry and eat meat to secularise them and promote the new imperial Shinto as a state religion, Buddhism having been the administrative assistant of choice of the previous regime.^[10][11]

See also[link]

• Anagarika
• Unsui
• Master Cheng

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Inwood, Kristiaan. Bhikkhu, Disciple of the Buddha. Bangkok, Thailand: Thai Watana Panich, 1981. (No ISBN listed in the Library of Congress catalog.)
• Inwood, Kristiaan. Bhikkhu, Disciple of the Buddha, revised edition. Bangkok, Thailand: Orchid Press, 2005. ISBN 978-974-524-059-9.

External links[link]

• The Buddhist Monk's Discipline Some Points Explained for Laypeople
• Thirty Years as a Western Buddhist Monk

Anup Jalota
Anup Jalota at Bhubaneswar, Orissa
Background information
Born	(1953-07-29) 29 July 1953 (age 58)
Origin	Nainital, India
Genres	Bhajan, Ghazal
Occupations	Vocalist
Instruments	Harmonium
Years active	1985–present

Anup Ji with his Fan, Orissa

Anup Jalota (Hindi: अनुप जलोटा}{Urdu: انوپ جلوٹا) (born 29 July 1953) is an Indian singer/musician, best known for his performances in the Indian musical form, the bhajan and the Urdu form of poetry: ghazal.

He is popularly known as the Bhajan Samraat (Emperor of Bhajans).^[1] Padmashree for 2012 has been conferred upon him in the field of Art-Indian Classical Music- Vocal

Early life[link]

Anup Jalota was born in Nainital, Uttarakhand to Purushottam Das Jalota, a renowned exponent of bhajan and hails from the Sham Chowrasi Gharana of Punjab. He was educated in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Anup's brother, Ajay Jalota, currently lives in California. He has one older brother Anil Jalota and two sisters Anjali Dhir and Anita Mehra.

Career[link]

Jalota started his musical career as a chorus singer in All India Radio. He is usually backed by a santoor player, a dholak player, a sarod player, a sarangi player, a violinist, a sitar player, a tabla player and a guitarist. Some of his popular bhajans include: Aisi Lagi Lagan, Main Nahi Makhan Khayo, Rang De Chunariya, Jag Me Sundar Hai Do Naam, and Chadariya Jhini Re Jhini.

He met Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj in Mumbai and agreed to release several CDs of his compositions.^[2]

Personal life[link]

For Anup the first two marriages ended in divorce. Currently, Anup Jalota is married to Medha, niece of former Indian Prime Minister, Inder Kumar Gujral.^{[citation needed]} They have a 14 year old son, Aryaman, studying in Mumbai, India.^{[citation needed]}

Recognition[link]

Anup Jalota earned a record number of 100 certified gold, platinum and muti-platinum discs.

Discography[link]

The popular Bhajans and ghazals for which he is credited the most are given below

• Aisi Lagi Lagan
• Chaand Angdaiyaan Le Raha Hai
• Tumhare Shahar Ka Mausam
• Main Nazar Se Pee Raha Hoon
• Hum Se Achi to Kahin Aaine ki Khismat Hogi
• Rukh Se Parda Hata De
• La Pila De Saqiya
• Shree Hanuman Chalisa
• Mere Kabr Par Pate Huye
• Tum Kya Samjho Tum Kya Jano
• Kategi Ye Zindagi Ab Rote Rote
• Laga Chunari Mein Daag^[1]
• Rang De Chunariya
• Prabhuji Tum Chandan Hum Pani

References[link]

External links[link]

• Virtual Fan Club of Anupji… Devotional Harmony
• Anup Jalota Bay Area USA Live Concert 28th Aug 2009
• Listen Anup Jalota Online
• Anup Jalota - Official website
• Anup Jalota @ Last.fm (Listening examples)
• http://mysticamusic.com/anup-jalota.php

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Anup Jalota

Jagjit Singh
Jagjit Singh performing at Jaidev Hall, Bhubaneswar, on 7 September 2011
Background information
Birth name	Jagmohan Singh
Born	(1941-02-08)8 February 1941 Sri Ganganagar, Bikaner State, India
Died	10 October 2011(2011-10-10) (aged 70) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Genres	Ghazal, Classical, Devotional, Folk
Occupations	Composer, Singer, Music Director, Activist, Entrepreneur
Instruments	Vocals, Harmonium, Tanpura, Piano
Years active	1965–2011
Labels	EMI, HMV, Saregama, Universal Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Polydor, TIPS, Venus, T-Series, Magna Sound, Big Music, Times Music

Jagjit Singh, born Jagmohan Singh); (8 February 1941 – 10 October 2011) was a prominent Indian Ghazal singer, songwriter and musician. Known as "the Ghazal King", he gained acclaim together with his wife, another renowned Indian Ghazal singer Chitra Singh in the 1970s and 1980s. Their combination album comprising music from the films, Arth and Saath Saath is the HMV's largest selling combination album of all time.^{[citation needed]} Sajda (An Offering, 1991), Jagjit Singh's magnum opus double album with Lata Mangeshkar holds the same record in non-film category.^{[citation needed]} He had sung in numerous languages. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the government of India in 2003.

Singh is credited for the revival and popularity of ghazal, an Indian classical art form, by choosing poetry that was relevant to the masses and composing them in a way that laid more emphasis on the meaning of words and melody evoked by them. In terms of Indian Classical music, his style of composing and Gayaki (singing) is considered as Bol-pradhan, one that lays emphasis on words. He highlighted this in his music for films such as Prem Geet (1981), Arth and Saath Saath (1982), and TV serials Mirza Ghalib (1988) and Kahkashan (1991). Jagjit Singh is considered to be the most successful ghazal singer and composer of all time in terms of both critical acclaim and commercial success. With a career spanning over five decades and a repertoire comprising over 80 albums,^[1] the range and breadth of his work has been regarded as genre-defining. He is the only composer and singer to have composed and recorded songs written by Prime Minister - Atal Behari Vajpayee - also a critically acclaimed poet - in two albums, Nayi Disha (1999) and Samvedna (2002).

Singh's 1987 album, Beyond Time, was the first digitally recorded release in India.^{[citation needed]} He was regarded as one of India's most influential artistes. Together with sitar legend Ravi Shankar and other leading figures of Indian classical music and literature, Singh voiced his concerns over politicisation of arts and culture in India and lack of support experienced by the practitioners of India's traditional art forms, particularly folk artists and musicians. He also lent active support to several philanthropic endeavors such as the library at St. Mary's School, Mumbai, Bombay Hospital, CRY, Save the Children and ALMA.

Early life and career[link]

Jagjit Singh was born on 8 February 1941 in Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan, India. His birth name was Jagmohan but this was changed to Jagjit after his parents sought the advice of a member of the Sikh Namdhari sect.^[2] His parents were themselves Sikhs, called Amar Singh and Bachan Kaur, and had several other children, with sources variously reporting the number between six and eleven.^[3][4]

Educated initially at Khalsa High School and Sri Ganganagar Government College, Singh obtained an arts degree from DAV College at Jalandhar and then a post-graduate degree in history from Kurukshetra University in Haryana. Throughout this time, and as a consequence of a natural talent that was spotted by his father, Singh learned music both in Sikh temples and from musicians such as Pandit Chaganlal Sharma and Ustad Jamaal Khan, both of whom were trained in classical Indian music. He performed on radio and on stage, as well as composing some material, although he subsequently claimed that his father, who was a government employee, had hoped that he would become an engineer.^[5] On another occasion his memory was that his father aspired for him to become a bureaucrat, and that his siblings also were encouraged musically.^[3]

In March 1965, and without the knowledge of his family,^[5] Singh moved to Mumbai, where there were many opportunities for music artists because of the Bollywood film industry. He obtained work initially as a singer of advertising jingles and later progressed to playback singing.^[2] In the same year he persuaded the record company HMV to produce an EP, and he also altered his Sikh image by abandoning his turban, shaving and cutting his hair.^[5] His first film role was in Dharati Na Chhoru, a Gujarati production by Suresh Amin.^{[citation needed]}

Fame[link]

Singh was still struggling to make a living in 1967 when he met the Bengali-born Chitra Dutta.^[5] She was also a jingle singer, and was unhappily married with a daughter. She subsequently divorced and then married Singh in December 1969.^[3] Following the birth of their son, Vivek, the couple performed as a singing duo but it was not until the 1976^{[clarification needed]} release of an album entitled The Unforgettables that they found significant, and surprising, success. In the interval, the primary difficulty for them had been that the ghazal music genre was dominated by Muslim artists,^[5] and especially those from Pakistan.^[6]

The Unforgettables, which was the couple's first LP,^[3] was an unconventional recording and it turned them into stars. The song Baat Niklegi from the album achieved great popularity for Singh and his wife.^[4] The Independent described it in 2011 as "ground-breaking ... it became a transformative, before-and-after milestone in the history of Indian popular and ghazal music. It remains that." Using modern arrangements, it consists of ten tracks that include two on which they sang as a duo and the remainder equally split between Jagjit and Chitra singing the lead. The Independent further noted that "This format of solo and duet performances from the first commercially successful husband-and-wife team in Indian popular music proved astonishingly successful."^[2] Jagjit explained that "I was determined to polish up the genre and make it more acceptable to modern tastes, so chose simple poems and set them to simple tunes. I also introduced western instrumentation to make them livelier." Thereafter, the couple worked both on solo and joint musical projects and performed concerts worldwide. There was also success from involvement with the film industry and they amassed a considerable wealth,^[5] while Jagjit became known as "the Ghazal king".^[6]

Jagjit Singh's work in film^[7] encompassed playback singing for productions such as Arth, Saath Saath and Premgeet. He also composed all of the songs for the latter, as well as for the TV serial Mirza Ghalib that was based on the life of the eponymous poet, Mirza Ghalib.^{[citation needed]}

Among their subsequent duo recordings of the 1970s were Shiv Kumar Batalvi – Birha da Sultan (1978), Live in Concert at Wembley (1979) and Come Alive (1979). Of those released in the 1980s, Ecstasies (1984) has been described as "one of their finest".^[2] The joint projects ceased in 1990 when their eighteen year-old son, Vivek, was killed in a road accident. Chitra felt unable to sing following these events. Monica, Chitra's daughter from her first marriage, committed suicide in 2009.^[2][5]

Although Jagjit continued to work and to have success after Chitra withdrew from public life he, too, was affected by the death of Vivek. The Guardian notes that he "suffered from deep depression and his anguish was often evident in his live performances." Aside from occupying himself with solo projects, which he performed in several languages,^[6] he also collaborated with Lata Mangeshkar on an album entitled Sajda, an Urdu word meaning "prostration".^[2][5]

On 10 May 2007, in the presence of numerous political and diplomatic luminaries at an event held in the Central Hall of the Parliament of India, Jagjit Singh rendered Bahadur Shah Zafar's famous ghazal Lagta nahin hai dil mera to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Indian Rebellion of 1857.^[4][8]

Death[link]

Singh toured the UK in 2011 and was due to perform with Ghulam Ali in Mumbai^[5] but suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on 23 September 2011. He was in a coma for over two weeks and died on 10 October 2011 at Lilavati Hospital, in Mumbai. He was cremated the following day at Chandanwadi Crematorium in Mumbai.^[9][10]

A number of tributes have been paid to Singh after his death,^{[11][12][13][14][15]} and some tried to encash his popularity which was criticised by his wife.^[16]

Awards[link]

• In 2003, Singh was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, by the Government of India^[5]
• In 1998, Jagjit Singh was awarded Sahitya Academy Award, a literary honor in India. He was awarded this literary honor for popularizing the work of Mirza Ghalib.
• Sangeet Natak Academy Award
• Sahitya Kala Academy Award by Rajasthan Government in 1998
• Ghalib Academy by Delhi Government in 2005
• Dayavati Modi Award
• Lata Mangeshkar Samman in 1998 by Madhya Pradesh Government
• D. Litt. by Kurukshetra University, Haryana in 2003
• Teacher's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006

Film scores[link]

Discography[link]