THERAPY: in Greek, this word means to cure, to heal, to serve, to worship.
We have seen that Dhrupad singing is a worship, that it is a Yoga, and Yoga is meant to heal our physical body as well as our psyche or our soul.
   As already mentioned above, ancient civilizations knew that singing is a natural and an obvious therapy. In Greece, in Delphi texts have been found which told of melodies to cure mental diseases. In Rome the knowledge of healing songs was as necessary as the knowledge of medicinal herbs. In Egypt to become a priest one had to be able to sing. Also in ancient China one knew about the relations between musical tones and organs.

   In singing we do experience the healing power of sound: singing helps us to breathe deeply and fully and we know the importance of correct breathing on the health by now; interestingly to breath is said ATMEN in German, and in Sanskrit ATMA means soul!
Singing Dhrupad helps us to centre ourselves in our Hara or Dantian (in Chinese it means the ocean of life energy), it relates and balances the various planes of our physical and subtle body; it is an inner massage, massaging the organs and the cells.

   Ravi Shankar: "…The highest goal our music is to reveal the Being of the universe that it reflects and the Râgas are a way through which this Being can be grasped. So it is possible to reach God through this music."
"…Those great musicians were not only singers or interpreters, but also great yogis who had the full control over their minds and over their bodies. They knew all the secrets of the Tantra, Hatha Yoga and other forms of the occult power; they were pure and holy beings. That is the wonderful tradition of our music."