Learning to play Mridanga

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Why should we learn to play Mridanga?
1. Mridanga playing is a traditional art which is of great importance in our Gaudiya Vaishnava culture.
2. In the Sankirtan movement of Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Shri Krishna’s flute appears in the form of Mridanga
which is a constant accompaniment of hari-naam. So if one wants to be part of Sankirtan movement, it’s good to
know how to play Mridanga.
3. It is the most effective way of pleasing many Vaishnavas simultaneously. If one can play Mridanga very well in the
Kirtan then devotees can dance on those tunes forgetting everything and can have an enlivening experience. It’s
easiest and best way of serving Vaishnavas

What should be our objective & attitude towards learning Mridanga?

1. We should treat learning Mridanga playing as an important activity and not as optional or secondary. Only when
we would give it a priority & take it seriously we can learn it.
2. The objective should not be to display our art, impress others, show our prowess and get appreciation for the
same.
3. We should not be learning or playing Mridanga as an art, but with the only objective to serve Vaishnavas

How to handle Mridanga?

1. Mridanga comes as part of the paraphernalia of Lord, which is expansion of Balaramji. Hence we have to treat
Mridanga very respectful, as good as the deity.
2. Mridanga should be placed on ‘Aasan’ or elevated platform and not directly on the floor. Can be either kept
vertical on its base or horizontal.
3. While picking up Mridanga, it should be always held using the loops which are created on both the sides of
Mridanga, the ones from which goes the strap
4. While walking or carrying Mridanga with us, it should be always held in our hands, where one hand should
support the base (bigger surface) of the Mridanga and the other hand can hold the loop on the other surface.
5. Never bow down or offer obeisance keeping it on our shoulder.
6. We should always be careful and should ensure that we don’t cause any damage to Mridanga, just as we would
take care of the deity. Unlike material world, in spiritual world everything is treated as person, so also Mridanga.
Only when we give respect to Mridanga we can play it properly not otherwise.
7. Care should be taken that Mridanga is never exposed to humidity and is always kept covered. Don’t heat Mrdanga
directly iver the flame, consult some expert to tighten it.

How to hold Mridanga while playing?

1. Never play covered Mridanga, as in that state it’s considered that the deity is sleeping. Before playing we should
open the cover and offer the prayers.
2. If we want to play it while standing, then we should put the strap across the right shoulder just like Brahmin
thread (or even on left shoulder is ok) and supported by the back fully. Never place strap around the neck, can
lead to problems.
3. If we want to play it while sitting, then sit by putting right foot in front of the left foot thus making a cavity which
can hold the Mridanga firmly. We can also support it further by putting strap behind i.e. on our back.

Prayers to be offered to Mridanga

1. Shloka by Chanakya Pandit
“Srimad yasoda suta padakamale naasti bhaktir naraanaam
Yesaam abhira kanya priya guna kathane nanurakta rasajna
Yesam acyutalila kathayam sadarau naiva karnau
Dhik tam dhik tam dhigetan iti kathayati kirtanastho mrdangah“
Meaning:-
Those who do not have the ear to hear the activities of Darling of mother Yashoda and they do not have
unflinching devotion to Him.
Those have not developed taste to hear the pastimes of the Lord of the Gopis.
Those people who have no respectful veneration towards hearing the narrations of the supreme Lord's activities.
Fie upon them fie upon them, to hell with them; thus states Mridanga.

2. “Namo bhrahmanya rupaya lavanyam rasamadhuri

Sarva guna samyuktaya Mridangaya namo namaha”
Let me offer my respect to Mridanga which emanates spiritual sound vibration, is very beautiful abode of all sweet
rasa and which has all wonderful auspicious qualities.

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Learning to play Mridanga
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3. If not the above prayer, after picking up Mridanga for playing, we can offer our respect to Mridanga by
remembering in mind Nityananda Prabhu and Lord Balaram and praying to them by saying, “Let me play this
Mridanga for the pleasure of deities and devotees in accompaniment of this Kirtan and let me not become proud of
the skills I am exhibiting. Let me do it as service to Vaishnavas.”

Mridanga

IN

1 = index finger

OUT 2 = other 3 fingers

BIG END SMALL END

About Mridanga

- Mrid means clay & anga means body, i.e. one whose body is made of clay that is Mridanga, Bengali name for
Mridanga is ‘Khol’.
- Two sides of Mridanga are tied along the body using the strings which are called as ‘vaadi’ and they are 32 in
number. These represent 32 letters from Hare Krishna Mahamantra.
- As per Gaudia Vaishnava’s we should use right hand for SMALL end & left hand for playing BIG end of Mridanga
- Two basic notations played on the either side of Mridanga are
• BIG end - we play “OUT” and “IN”. In the centre we play IN and the outer periphery we play OUT using
front portion of 4 fingers. For IN we press and for OUT we allow it to reverberate.
• SMALL end – we play “1” and “2”. In the centre we play 1 with our index finger & we play 2 using the
other 3 fingers again in the centre. “1” makes high pitch resounding sound whereas “2” makes sound like
chuk
- Above are the 4 basic building blocks for all the beats, hence more precise we play them the sweeter would be the
sound of the beats. Making various permutations and combinations of these notations, other beats (or taal) are
formulated.
- We must learn to sing while playing Mridanga. Only when we master one beat (taal) alongwith singing we should
try to learn the second taal.

Golden rules for playing

1. Play it slow and steady till we get the clarity of all the sounds produced (IN, OUT, 1 & 2). Only when we play it
slow the Taala develops and hands become flexible. Keep it slow for long period of time.
2. Do not increase the speed of playing by compromising the quality of sound. Quality must be maintained even at
high speed.
3. Practice (play Mridanga) while repeating the notations aloud. DON’T NEGLECT THIS thinking it’s trivial.
Eventually as we learn unlimited varieties of beats played using these notations this practice would be useful.

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Various beats that are played on Mridanga

1. Six beat slow - f – faint & s – strong

Beat BIG SMALL - In case while playing we can not understand

No. how to leave gap, then instead there ‘2’ can
1 - 1 be played
2 OUT - - But the gap here (i.e not playing when a beat
GAP 2 is expected) is to create sweetness in the
3 IN - tune, so it would be best to learn to leave
4 - 1 the gap instead of filling it with ‘2’
5 OUT(f) - - This is a simple beat, every beat is played
6 OUT(s) - only on one of the sides there is no
combination
- After second beat and 6th beat there is a gap
i.e. 12.3456.

2. Seven beat slow

Beat BIG SMALL

No. - At the 3rd beat of the kartal i.e. at ‘Sama’ the
1 - 2 7th number of this beat is to be matched.
2 - 1 Thus its played as first beat followed by beat
3 - 2 1 onwards
4 IN - - 7th beat is played on both sides of Mridanga
5 - 1 - Mridanga is hit 7 times and there is a gap
6 OUT(f) - after 7th beat
7 OUT(s) 1

3. Five beat fast

Beat BIG SMALL

No.
1 IN -
2 - 1
3 IN -
4 OUT(f) -
5 OUT(s) 1

- 4th & 5th are to be played together and playing 4th beat ‘OUT(f)’ as faint adds the sweetness

4. Eight beat slow (plain)

Beat BIG SMALL

No.
1 OUT 2
2 - 1 - Both sides are played simultaneously many
3 - 2 times
4 IN 1 - Small side is continuously played
5 - 2 - Playing this beat gives the required
6 OUT 1 flexibility to our hands for playing other fast
7 OUT 2 beats
8 - 1

-
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5. Eight beat slow (off beat)

Beat BIG SMALL

No. - Both sides are played simultaneously many
1 OUT 2 times
2 IN 1 - Small side is continuously played
3 - 2 - Playing this beat gives the required
4 IN 1 flexibility to our hands for playing other fast
5 - 2 beats
6 IN 1 - Rhythm is different from previous 8 beat
7 OUT 2 slow-plain
8 - 1
-

6. Eight beat slow (namami iswaram tune)

Beat BIG SMALL

No.
1 OUT 2
2 OUT 1
3 OUT 2 - Both sides are played simultaneously many
4 OUT 1 times
5 - 2 - Small side is continuously played
6 IN 1 - Playing this beat gives the required
7 - 2 flexibility to our hands for playing other fast
8 IN 1 beats

7. Six beat (fast)

Beat BIG SMALL - In the beginning play it slow till we get

No. perfect sound quality for all beats, then
2 IN 1 increase the speed
3 - 2 - As it may be difficult to leave the gap
4 OUT(f) - after 1st beat, till we get the proficiency
5 OUT(s) - we can start playing from 2nd beat come
6 1 to 1st beat and then take gap
1 OUT 2 - Its important to maintain difference
between faint OUT and strong OUT to
- There is gap after 1 and rest of the beats get the sweetness of the beat
are played together i.e. - Many other varieties of fast beats are
1.234561.234561.23456 based on this beat and can be learnt
easily if this beat is mastered

8. Four beat (fast) (for Jay Prabhupad!!)

Beat BIG SMALL

No.
1 - 1
2 OUT(s) -
3 - 1
4 OUT -

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9. Seventeen beat
Beat BIG SMALL
No.
1 IN -
2 - 1
3 IN -
4 OUT(f) -
5 OUT(s) 1
6 OUT 2
7 OUT 1
8 OUT 2
9 OUT 1
10 OUT 2
11 - 1
12 - 2
13 - 1
14 - 2
15 - 1
16 - 2
17 - 1

- There is a gap after 10th beat and remaining seven beats to be played in two groups as 12 followed by
12121

10. Tihai / Antara

Beat BIG SMALL
No.
1 IN 1
2 IN 1
3 OUT 2
- Repeat 3 times

Beat BIG SMALL

No.
1 IN 1
2 OUT(f) -
3 OUT(s) 1
- Repeat 3 times

Beat BIG SMALL

No.
1 - 2
2 - 1
3 IN -
4 - 2
5 OUT 1
- Repeat 3 times

- Tihai is used at the end of Hare Krishna Mahamantra, mainly to break the monotony of the taal also to add
surprise element in the rhythm to make it sound little different from the taal being played.
- Tihai replaces the 8 beats of the taal, i.e. in the same duration but at the faster pace the combination of 3
or 5 beats tihai is played.

Which beat to play where?

- 6 beat slow, 8 beat slow (off beat) suitable tunes are classical, Indian raga, south indian tunes
- 8 beat off beat suitable for western tune
- 17 beat for sitting kirtans where rhythm is low paced for long period of time e.g. plain simple tunes
- 17 beat or 7 beat for early morning kirtan, where no artistic skills are to be shown e.g. during mangal aarti
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Role of Mridanga player in Kirtan and some other tips
- Mridanga player is a servant not boss, so we should be humble and play as per singer’s expectations, should not
show off our skill over and above the sound of the Holy Name.
- We have to be conscious that the strength and art of playing Mridanga comes from Lord Balaram and he is the
Guru tatva who provides paraphernalia for serving the God & intelligence of how to use that paraphernalia in
service of God. Kirtan is assisting hari-nam which is non-different from Krishna, Mridanga player has to be
conscious of his assisting role in the hari-nam. To repeat once again Mridanga player should never take over the
Kirtan & the hari-nam
- Holy name is the personality of the lord and kirtan or playing musical instruments is like decorating shri vigraha
of the Hari-nam Prabhu, so as Mridanga player we should be conscious of this.
- We want to play in a way that our presence is never felt but at the same time assistance given should be so
powerful that everyone is attracted to Kirtan and chanting of holy name. We have to be conscious of this aspect
and keep reminding ourselves again and again as we tend to forget.
- At any time we lack strength or we are not able to pick up the skill we should pray to Lord Balaram
- Gesturing between singer and Mridanga player normally happens through singer’s eyes, bodily movement,
kartaal and is indicative of which taal to play or change of taal. So don’t close your eyes/ don’t be inattentive
towards the needs of the singer.

Conclusion
Just by learning above beats, almost 90% of the tunes played for Kirtans & Bhajans in ISKCON get covered and can
be played by us. Wish you all the best! May Lord Balarama bless you with the necessary talent, intelligence,
strength and service attitude to become a good Mrdanga Player.

Thank you very much!

Hare Krishna!!

Your servant,
Bala Govinda Dasa.

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