A Comparative Study of Some of the Leading Music Systems of the 15th, 16th, 17th & 18th Centuries c12: Raga-Vibodha

A Comparative Study of Some of the Leading Music Systems of the 15th, 16th, 17th & 18th Centuries c12

Language: English

Raga-Vibodha

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The author of this Sanskrit work is Pandit Somnath of the Andhra country. The date of the work as given by the author is the shaka year 1531, corresponding with 1610 A.D. It is considered to be a work of great interest in the Southern presidency. There are several features of the work however, which will make its study no less interesting to the Northern Musician. A careful perusal of the book will lead the reader to conclude that the author at some period of his life had come into contact with the music and musicians of northern India. A mere glance at the table indicating the shuddha and vikrita swaras of Somnatha, will be enough to show it. The names and descriptions of the ragas again will further support the view. In the Raga Vibodha, the reader will find some distinctly Persian Raga names, such as Husseini, Navroj, Zeeluf, Erakh, and so forth, referred to.

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The important points in connection with this work for consideration will be:—

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(1) How many out of the 22 srutis did Somnath use as swaras in his ragas.

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(2) How did he place his shuddha and vikrita swaras on the srutis.

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(3) How many thatas did he use for the classification of his ragas.

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(4) What was his classification of the janya ragas.

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(5) Will any of his raga definitions be useful for the Northern musician.

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I may state at the very outset that Somnath like all his predecessors whether southern or northern recognised the wellknown twenty two srutis, which again were the same as those of the older writers. The orthodox rule for the location of swaras on the srutis, was also accepted by him. He says:—

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षड्जर्षभगंधारा मध्यमपंचमकधैवत निषादाः ।
इत्यभिधास्त्वमीषां स रि ग म प ध नी ति संज्ञाऽन्याः ॥
तेषां श्रुतयः क्रमतो वेदा रामा दशौ तथां बुधयः ।
निगमा दहनाः पक्षा एवं द्वाविंशतिः सर्वाः ॥

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These verses speak for themselves, and we need not discuss them any further. The placing of the shuddha swaras is described thus:

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तृतीया सप्तमी तासु नवम्यां श्रुतौ त्रयोदश्याम् । सप्तदशी विंशतिर्वंशेषु च ते स्फुटाः क्रमशः ॥

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Evidently, 4, 7, 9, 13, 17, 20, 22, were also the "adhara-srutis" of the shuddha swaras of Somnath. The method adopted by Somnath for placing the twenty two srutis on the key board of the vina, differed from that of Sharangdeva pandit. The latter put twenty-two separate wires each representing a sruti, on his vina Somnath put twenty two frets under the wires of his vina and made them produce the intended twenty two srutis The principle of determining the sruti was the same in both cases. The whole length of the wire produced the fundamental note 'mandra-shadja', and the frets below the wire produced the remaining srutis when the wire was pressed against them

c12.13

मन्द्रमध्वनिराधा अयं क्रमोऽस्वने किंचित् । न्यस्याः सूक्ष्माः सार्धोऽथ द्वाविंशतिरधरामताः ॥ तंत्री यथेयमुच्चैस्तरा किम्पि तासु स्यात् । शतनेऽन्यतः श्रुतयः इति रवा इहाप्यतव्या सः ॥ कथमस्ततीयसार्यम् १. १. १.

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"मनागुच्चध्वनेः," "मन्ये विसदृश ध्वन्यतर न रयातथा."

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These points of Bharata and Sharangdeva were strictly followed by Somnath also We cannot say for certain whether or not he understood their real significance. Perhaps he did not. The verses may be translated thus:--The first wire should be tuned to the lowest possible pitch, and it will be the first sruti The next three should be so tuned that each will be a little higher than the next preceding one. (Thus there would be four wires on the key board) Next place twenty two small frets under the fourth wire in such a way that each will produce a sound a little higher than that of the preceding one, care being taken to see that between any two consecutive sruti sounds, no dissimilar "dhwani", or sound is permitted to appear. (The author means to say that the ratio between any two consecutive sruti sounds should be the same all through) The fourth wire will produce the sound of shadja Among the frets, the third will produce rishabha, the fifth will produce gandhara and so forth Compare the statement of Sharangdeva:--

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आपा मन्द्रमध्यानां द्वितीयाऽथार्धमर्धलात् । मैतथं साऽष्टतयोऽन्येऽप्यन्यतस्तथाश्रुतेः ॥

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The reader can easily see from this that these ancient writers considered their srutis to be based upon a standard sruti ratio In other words, they understood the srutis, to rise in pitch in geometrical progression Pandit Somnath then proceeds to locate his vikrita swaras thus: इति सप्रोक्ताः शुद्धा विकृतान् सैव वच्मि सहनाम्ना । साधारणंतरश्च श्रुति श्रुती चेत्य गो मस्य ॥

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Translation.—Having described the seven shuddha swaras in this way, I shall now mention the seven vikrita swaras in this way by their names. When shuddha gandhara takes the first sruti of 'ma' it becomes sadharana 'ga', and when it takes the second sruti of 'ma', it becomes antara 'ga'.

c12.19

निःकैशिकी च काकल्यथ सस्यैकां भजंश्च तां ते द्वे । निगमा मृदुपर समपाः समपतृतीयश्रुतिस्थ्या ॥

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Translation.—When nishada takes the first sruti of shadja it becomes kaishika 'ni', and when it stands on the second sruti of shadja, it becomes kakali 'ni'. When the swaras 'ni', 'ga' and 'ma' rise to the third sruti of the next 'sa', 'ma', and 'pa', they become "mrdu sa", "mrud ma" and "mrud pa" respectively.

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Observation.—The term "mrdu", it will be seen, corresponds with the term "chyuta" of Sharangdeva and Rama Amatya. Pundarika Vittala used the word "laghu" instead.

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Somnath then discusses the twelve vikritas of Sharangdeva and tries to proves that in spite of the use of twelve separate swara names for the vikrita, Sharangdeva really used only seven vikrita swaras, which were the same as those he himself used. There were some more vikrita names in use in his time, and the author referring to them says:

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रिधयोः परश्रुतिगतेश्वतस्र इह पंच षट् तथाश्रुतयः । देशीरागेषु अभिवीक्ष्यन्ते च षट् तथा गमयोः ॥

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Translation.—In the modern or deshi music we sometimes come across 'ri' and 'dha' swaras with four five or six srutis. And these are known as चतुःश्रुतिक, पंचश्रुतिक, षट्श्रुतिक ऋषभ & धैवत.

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These notes are the result of 'ri' and 'dha' rising through the srutis of the next following notes गांधार & निषाद.

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Observation.—चतुःश्रुतिक रि, पंचश्रुतिक रि & षट्श्रुतिक रि would naturally enter the intervals of gandhara and maddhyama. The reader will here ask "Are these new vikritas added to the seven already referred to by the author?" The answer is

c12.27

इति तेषु संभवंति त्रयोऽन्या एभ्यो विलक्षणा विकृताः । पंचश्रुतिःशुचेर्गांधारात् साधारणतश्च षट्श्रुतिकः ॥ रिनं पृथक् तादृग्धो नेः कैशिकिनश्च षट्श्रुतिगौ मात् । कितुक्त रिगधमानां व्यवहृतयं पृथगिताः संज्ञाः ॥

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Translation — No doubt three more vikrita swaras will result from this arrangement, but it will be observed that pancha sruti 'ni' and shat-sruti-ri are in no way different to shuddha 'ga' and sadharana 'ga' already noticed. The same observation will be made in the case of पंचश्रुतिक ध & षट्श्रुतिक ध which are no other than the sounds of shuddha 'ni' and kaishika 'ni'. Although this is so, it is convenient to retain these new swara names in practice. Somnath then compares these last named vikritas with those of the other music schools which use the vikrita terminations 'tivra', 'tivratara', and 'tivratama'. He says

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तीव्रतःधुनिरे पंचश्रुतिक एव तीव्रतरः ।
षट्श्रुतिकत्वे तीव्रतम इति पर ता यथायोग्यम् ॥

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Translation — Tivra 'ri' is चतुःश्रुतिक रि, tivratara 'ri' is पंचश्रुति रि and tivratama 'ri' is the same as षट्श्रुतिक रि. The same reasoning applies to the case of dhaivata; but the author adds पर ता यथायोग्यम् that is, these vikritas cannot be used indiscriminately.

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Observation — The commentary on these lines is rather interesting; पर ता यथायोग्यम् । यस्य यस्य च षट्श्रुतिकत्वे तीव्रतम इति एवम् सज्ञा, i.e. there will be no चतुःश्रुति ग & पंचश्रुति ग or म चतु श्रुति ग is the same as अंतर ग & पंचश्रुति ग is मृदु म.

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These are independent names. These notes take no other संज्ञा or names in practice. Then again चतु श्रुति म is the shuddha 'ma' itself and पंचश्रुति म is never heard of in practice. षट्श्रुति म is no doubt allowed but it will be called tivratara ma and not tivratama 'ma', which name would have been more proper. The reader may compare this reasoning with that of Lochana and Ahobala with advantage. The author defends these new संज्ञा by citing a text from Ratnakara:— अत्र च पूर्वोक्त निगमानो समपतुतीयश्रुतिरतत्व रिधमानां चतुःश्रुतिस्त्वं पुरातनानुक्तात् शास्त्रत विसदृम्. According to Sharangdeva himself,— यदालक्ष्यप्रमाणानि शास्त्रान्येतानि । अर्थात् शास्त्रामय्यप्यत्रमपि लक्षणस्थापन प्रोक्तम्. Somnath means to say that although the ancient authorities did not allow 'ni' 'ga' and 'ma' to rise upto the third srutis of their respective succeeding notes, the actual fact was that these vikritas were found in practice. That being so, their use must be justified by the उपलक्षणन्याय process. That is by saying that the old "mrdu" places had only taken new names.

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The author then further supports his argument by showing what other writers under similar situations did

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षट्श्रुतिकं म पंचश्रुतेधं च चतुः श्रुती रिधावदत् ।
रागविवेकवाक्यस्यास्याने कलिनाथगुरिरपि ॥

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Pandit Somnath then proceeds to locate his vikrita swaras thus:

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इति ससोक्ताः शुद्धा विक्रतान् ससैव वचिम सहनाम्।
साधारणतरथ श्रुति श्रुती चेत्य गौ मस्य॥

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निःकैशिकी च काकल्यथ सस्यैकां भजंश्च तां ते ढे।
निगम मृदुपर समपाः समपतृतीयश्रुतिस्थिल्या॥

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Observation.—The term "mrdu", it will be seen, corresponds with the term "chyuta" of Sharangdeva and Rama Amatya. Pundarika Vittala used the word "laghu" instead.

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रिधयोः परश्रुतिगतेश्वतस्र इह पंच षट् तथाश्रुतः।
देशीरागेषु अभिवीक्ष्यते च षट् तथा गमयोः॥

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These notes are the result of 'ri' and 'dha' rising through the srutis of the next following notes गांधार & निषाद.

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इति तेषु संभवति त्रयोऽन्या एभ्यो विलक्षणा विकृताः।
पंचश्रुतिःशुचेर्गांधारात् साधारणतश्च षट्श्रुतिकः॥
रिनं पृथक् तादृधो नेः कैशिकिनश्च षट्श्रुतिगो मात्।
किंतुक्त रिगधमानां व्यवहतये पृथगिताः संज्ञाः॥

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Translation — No doubt three more vikrita swaras will result from this arrangement, but it will be observed that pancha sruti 'n' and shat-sruti-n are in no way different to shuddha 'ga' and sadharana 'ga' already noticed. The same observation will be made in the case of पञ्चश्रुतिक ध & षट्श्रुतिक ध which are no other than the sounds of shuddha 'ni' and kaishika 'ni'. Although this is so, it is convenient to retain these new swara names in practice. Somnath then compares these last named vikritas with those of the other music schools which use the vikrita terminations 'tivra', tivratara', and tivratama'. He says

c12.48

तीव्रश्रुतिःश्रुतिवे पञ्चश्रुतिकत्व एव तीव्रतरः ।
षट्श्रुतिकत्वे तीव्रतम इति पर ता यथायोग्यम् ॥

c12.49

Translation — Tivra 'ri' is चतुःश्रुतिक रि, tivratara 'ri' is पञ्चश्रुति रि and tivratama 'ri' is the same as षट्श्रुतिक रि. The same reasoning applies to the case of dhaivata; but the author adds पर ता यथायोग्यम् that is, these vikritas cannot be used indiscriminately.

c12.50

Observation — The commentary on these lines is rather interesting: पर ता यथायोग्यम् । गस्य मस्य च षट्श्रुतिकत्वे तीव्रतम इति एकैव संज्ञा; i e there will be no चतुःश्रुति ग & पञ्चश्रुति ग or म चतुःश्रुति ग is the same as अंतर ग & पञ्चश्रुति ग is मृदु म.

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These are independent names. These notes take no other संज्ञा or names in practice. Then again चतुःश्रुति म is the shuddha 'ma' itself and पञ्चश्रुति म is never heard of in practice. षट्श्रुति म is no doubt allowed but it will be called tivratara ma and not tivratama 'ma', which name would have been more proper. The reader may compare this reasoning with that of Lochana and Ahobala with advantage. The author defends these new संज्ञा by citing a text from Ratnakara:— न च पूर्वोक्त निगमानां समपतृतीयश्रुतिरथ रिधगमानां चतुःश्रुतिमत्त्वं पुरातनानुक्तत्वात् शास्त्रान्तर विरुद्धम्. According to Sharangdeva himself;— यद्यलक्ष्यप्रधानानि शास्त्राण्येतानि । अर्थात् शास्त्राणामन्यथात्वमपि लक्ष्यस्थापनय प्रोक्तम्. Somnath means to say that although the ancient authorities did not allow 'ni' 'ga' and 'ma' to rise upto the third srutis of their respective succeeding notes, the actual fact was that these vikritas were found in practice. That being so, their use must be justified by the उपलक्षणन्याय process. That is by saying that the old "mrdu" places had only taken new names.

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The author then further supports his argument by showing what other writers under similar situations did.

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षट्श्रुतिकं म पञ्चश्रुतिकं च चतुः श्रुती रिधावदन् ।
रागविवेकध्यायस्याने कलिनाथमुरिति ॥

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Translation.—The vikritas षट्श्रुतिम्, चतुःश्रुतिः, पंचश्रुतिः, चतुःश्रुतिध, पंचश्रुतिध have also been mentioned by Pandit Kallinath in his commentary on the Ratnakara.

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Observation.—The whole point of the discussion is this:—Music is a progressive science and art. It progresses with the taste and needs of the community. In deshi music, we cannot always pretend to stick to the old orthodox theories and rules. New technical expressions and new rules are bound to come in course of time, and we must be prepared to make room for them. The author points out that even Hanuman was of the same opinion:—

c12.56

ग्रामश्रुतिस्वरादेर्नियम उक्तो हनुमता येन ।
देशी रागे मेषां ध्रुतिस्वरादि पदेन ।
प्राया षड्जमध्यमौ ।
ध्रुवः षड्जादिषु नियताश्रुतयः ।
स्वरा म्नायविकृतलक्षणाः ।
आदि शब्देन षाडवौडवसंपूर्णत्वानि महाशादि जातयः ।

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In all these matters, changes are bound to happen and we shall have to treat them with respect.

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Having discussed the first two questions out of the five raised by us, we shall now proceed to give definite answers to them. Pandit Somnath uses fifteen vikrita swara-names, in all and these are:

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Five of these will have to be rejected because they coincide with three vikrita and two shuddha swaras already counted. In other words they overlap these latter. Thus:—तीव्रतर रि, तीव्रतम रि, तीव्रतम ग, तीव्रतर ध, तीव्रतम ध are identical with शुद्ध ग, साधारण ग, शुद्ध म, शुद्ध नि, कौशिक नि respectively. Real vikritas according to the Pandit are those notes which have independent sounds. The remaining ten being unobjectionable, it may be said that the system of Raga Vibodha is based on seventeen swaras, (seven shuddhas and ten vikritas) only. The following chart will clearly show how Somnath placed his swaras on the srutis.

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| | शुद्धस्वर | विरतस्वरा: | False Vikrits | Hindustani Swaras |
| १ तीव्रा | ... | कौशिक नि | तीव्रतम ध | कोमल नि १ |
| २ कुमुद्वती | ... | काकली नि | ... | तीव्र नि २ |
| ३ मंदा | ... | मृदु सा | ... | ... (तीव्रतम नि) |
| ४ छंदोवती | सा | ... | ... | सा (१) |
| ५ दयावती | ... | ... | ... | ... |
| ६ रंजनी | ... | ... | ... | ... |
| ७ रत्तिका | री | ... | ... | कोमल री (२) |
| ८ रौद्री | ... | तीव्र रि or चतुःश्रुति | ... | ... |
| ९ क्रोधी | ग | ... | तीव्रतर री | तीव्र री (३) |
| १० वज्रिका | ... | साधारण ग | तीव्रतम री | कोमल ग (४) |
| ११ प्रसारिणी | ... | अंतर ग | ... | तीव्र ग (५) |
| १२ प्रीति | ... | मृदु म | ... | ... (तीव्रतम ग) |
| १३ मार्जनी | म | ... | तीव्रतम ग | म (६) |
| १४ क्षिति | ... | ... | ... | ... |
| १५ रक्ता | ... | तीव्रतम म | ... | तीव्र म (७) |
| १६ संदीपनी | ... | मृदु प | ... | ... (तीव्रतम म) |
| १७ अलापिनी | प | ... | ... | प (८) |
| १८ मदंती | ... | ... | ... | ... |
| १९ रोहिणी | ... | ... | ... | ... |
| २० रम्या | ध | ... | ... | कोमल ध (९) |
| २१ उग्रा | ... | तीव्र ध=चतुःश्रुति | ... | ... |
| २२ क्षोभिनी | नि | ... | तीव्रतर ध | तीव्र ध (१०) |
| | ७ | १० | | |

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| मेल नाम | सा | री | ग | म | प | ध | नि | Hindustani Equivalents |
| १ मुसारी | शुद्ध | शुद्ध | शुद्ध | शुद्ध | शुद्ध | शुद्ध | शुद्ध | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| २ रेव गुप्ति | " | " | अंतर | " | " | " | " | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| ३ सामवराली | " | " | शुद्ध | " | " | " | काकली | गा री री म प ध नि सा |
| ४ तोडी | " | " | साधा-रण | " | " | " | कौशिक | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| ५ नादरामकी | " | " | " | " | " | " | मृदुगा | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |

c12.63

| मेल नाम | सा | री | ग | म | प | ध | नि | Hindustani Equivalents |
| ६ भैरव | " | " | अंतर | " | " | " | कैशिक | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| ७ वसंत | " | " | " | " | " | " | काकली | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| ८ वसंत भैरवी | " | " | मृदुम | " | " | " | कैशिक | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| ९ मालवगौड | " | " | " | " | " | " | मृदुसा | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| १० रीतिगौड | " | " | शुद्ध साधा-रण | " | " | तीव्रतर | कैशिक | सा री री म प ध नि सा |
| ११ आमीरनाट | " | तीव्रतर | " | " | " | शुद्ध | मृदुसा | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| १२ हमीर | " | " | मृदुम | " | " | " | " | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| १३ शुद्धरामक्री | " | शुद्ध | " | तीव्रतम | " | " | " | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| १४ शुद्धवराटी | " | " | साधा-रण | " | " | " | " | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| १५ श्री | " | तीव्र | " | " | " | तीव्र | कैशिक | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| १६ कल्याण | " | तीव्रतर | " | मृदुप | " | शुद्ध | मृदुसा | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| १७ कांबोदी | " | " | अंतर | शुद्ध | " | तीव्रतर | काकली | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| १८ मल्लारी | " | " | मृदुम | " | " | " | मृदुसा | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| १९ सामंत | " | तीव्रतम | अंतर | " | " | तीव्रतम | काकली | सा ग ग म प नि नि सा |
| २० कर्णाटगौड | " | " | मृदुम | " | " | तीव्र | कैशिक | सा ग ग म प ध नि सा |
| २१ देशाक्षी | " | " | " | " | " | तीव्रतर | मृदुसा | सा ग ग म प ध नि सा |
| २२ शुद्धनाट | " | " | " | " | " | तीव्रतम | " | सा ग ग म प नि नि सा |
| २३ सारंग | " | तीव्रतर | तीव्रतम | मृदुप | " | " | मृदुसा | सा री म म प नि नि सा |

c12.64

Explanatory Note शुद्ध रि, ध = कोमल रि, कोमल ध शुद्ध ग, नि = तीव्र रि, तीव्र ध तीव्रतर री, } तीव्र रि, तीव्र ध तीव्रतर ध

c12.65

तीव्रतम रि, ध = कोमल ग, कोमल नि मृदु म, मृ. प, मृ. सा = accepted as तीव्र ग, तीव्र म, तीव्र नि कैशिक नि = कोमल नि काकली नि = तीव्र नि साधारण ग = कोमल ग अतर ग = तीव्र ग For details refer to the chart of swaras.

c12.66

c12.67

It is not necessary to discuss the definitions of these derivative Ragas here. Many of these Ragas will be found to have retained the major portions of their old forms to this day and thus the Raga Vibodha will be of great importance, from the historical point of view, to the Northern musician. Many of Somnath's Ragas are known to the Northern musician. The fifth question therefore may be safely answered in the affirmative.

Linked texts (2)

Saṅgītaratnākara — Śārṅgadeva, Sanskrit
Rāgavibodha — Somanātha 1584, Sanskrit