By Rasananda das
Of all the sixty four arts practiced by the gopis and in the vedic culture, among the topmost if not _the_ topmost, is singing. Krishna learned how to sing in the _kula_ of Sandipani Muni. Students of Indian classical music now spend twenty or thirty years learning how to sing. It is not a question of simply mouthing the words even though "loud and clear" (although that, by itself, is not completely devoid of merit). It best requires some bhava, devotional emotion (which one can hear Prabhupada's voice suffused with). Or at least knowledge and obedience to the standards. If there is no one else present with any devotional idea, then any sincere devotee present, even though his voice may be completely untrained, should sing rather than any professional style singer present lacking a true devotional attitude. Besides the matter of the high philosophical contents of the prayer being sung, there is the matter of the singing being an offering to the deities. Just as there is the injunction (in Nectar of Devotion) that no-one can touch the deity other than a properly initiated person, singing should also be done by someone who has properly understood the purpose of the Krishna consciousness movement. In other words he should be a true devotee.