A Comparative Study of Some of the Leading Music Systems of the 15th, 16th, 17th & 18th Centuries c6: Sadraga — Chandrodaya

A Comparative Study of Some of the Leading Music Systems of the 15th, 16th, 17th & 18th Centuries c6

Language: English

Sadraga — Chandrodaya

c6.1

We shall now take up another group of Sanskrit treatises on Music. This group contains four works and the names of them are (1) Sadraga-Chandrodaya, (2) Raga Mala, (3) Raga Manjari and (4) Nartana-Nirnaya. We shall not discuss the last here, because the swara and raga chapters of that treatise, are the same as in the Raga Mala which we shall consider. The rest of the Nartana-Nirnaya deals with the art of dancing and falls beyond the scope of this paper. The author of the four treatises is Pundarika Vithala. He originally came from that part of India which is known as the Karnatik. It appears he came to the north and first settled in Khandesh. He describes his country and parentage in the concluding verse of the Sadraga Chandrodaya as follows:--

c6.2

कर्णाटे शैवगंगाभिधननिकटे सासून्रान्वयो यो ।
ग्रामस्तत्राप्रजन्यप्रवरसु निकरान्जामदग्न्योऽस्तिवंशः ॥
तत्र श्रीविठ्ठलायौऽभवदमितयशास्तदग्रण्या तु तस्यै-
तत्सूनो रागचंद्रोदय इति च भजनं कैरवाणां मुदेऽस्तु ॥

c6.3

When the Pandit actually wrote his Sadraga-Chandrodaya he, was in the service of Faruqui rulers of Khandesh. This appears from the opening verses of the work.

c6.4

वंशः फारकिभूपतेः सुसरलो भूमारधारक्षमः ।
श्रीमत् सद्गुणदानशूरविमलक्षमापालशाखानिधृत् ।
विख्यातो भुवि यत्र कान्यरसिकाः सत्कीर्तिवल्लीश्रिताः ।
चित्रं संचरतीति विश्वमखिलं के वर्णयन्तीतितत् ॥
तज्ञः श्रीबुरहानखान चतुरः कामानुकारी वरः ।
संगीतादिकलाप्रपूर्णविमलः साहित्यतेजोमयः ।
दारिद्यांधतमश्च यश्च गुणिनां हंताद्यदारैः करैः ।
भूमौ फारकिभूपतीश तिलकश्चंद्रश्चिरं राजते ॥
श्रीमद्दक्षिणदिङ्मुखस्य तिलके श्रीखानदेशे शुभे ।
नित्यंभोगवतीव भोगिवसती रम्या सुपर्वादिभिः ।
अस्ति स्वस्तिकरी नरेंद्रनगरी स्वानंदवल्लीति या ।
तत्र श्रीबुरहानखान नृपतिः संगीतमाकर्णयत् ॥

c6.5

From these verses it appears that Pundarik Vithala was in the service of King Burhan Khan of Khandesh. Burhan Khan was the son of Taj Khan, the son of Muhammad Khan. Mr. Stanley Lane-Poole, in his work "The Muhammadan Dynasties" at pp. 315 says as follows:--

c6.6

"Akbar took Burhanpur, the capital of Khandesh and received the homage of its king in 1562 A.D.; but Khandesh was not fully incorporated in the Moghul empire until 1599 A D when Ashirgarh fell in a six months' siege"

c6.7

This enables us to fix the date of Pundarik Pundarika does not leave us in doubt as to his date at all In his Raga Manjan he says,

c6.8

श्रीमत्कण्ठपवदीपरमहाराजाधिराजेश्वरः ।
तेजःपुञ्जमहाप्रतापविकरो मानुः क्षितौ राजते ॥
तस्यामीक्षितदानतनयो वीराधिराजेश्वरः ।
क्षोणीमण्डलमण्डनो विजयते भूमण्डलेश्वरः ॥
तस्य द्वौ तनयौ प्रभूतविनयौ शूरौ महाधार्मिकौ ।
जातौ पञ्चरथामजीत्वकरशोषीपतेः स्वौ भुजौ ॥
सिहौ माधवमानपूर्वपदकौ संयामदक्षावुभौ ।
तेजत्यागमहस्तकलितौ श्रीमत्रभूमीश्वरो ॥
अकबरनृपधर्मा शक्रधार्तितीमी ।
धारीगणमध्ये जगमो मध्यमेकः ।
सकलनृपतिराचदगुरू इमी द्वौ ।
जगति जयनशीलौ माधवमानसिंहौ ॥

c6.9

From this it appears that Pundarik was, when he wrote his Raga Manjan, in the service of the two brother princes Man Singh and Madhava Singh who were the feudatories of the Emperor Akbar Pundarik was the contemporary of Akbar (1556-1605) It is possible when Khandesh was annexed about the year 1599, Pundarik lost his appointment and took service at the capital of Madhava Singh

c6.10

Here a question will arise Was Pundarik a southern or a northern musician? There is no doubt he came originally from a part of the country where the prevailing music system was the Karnatik system It is also true that in all the four books he wrote on Music, the shuddha scale on which he based his system was the Southern Mukhari or Kanakangi scale But a careful study of his books will show that the music which he actually wrote upon was undoubtedly the northern music. In the Sadraga Chandrodaya, we do find the author dealing with Ragas, common to both the systems, but in the Raga Mala and the Raga Manjari, he clearly expounds the music of Upper India We may safely, therefore, count Pundarika among our Northern authorities. His works are most clearly written. His poetry is charming The shuddha scale he adopts in his books may be written thus सा रि ग (called shudha ग) म प ध ध (called shudha नि) सां ।

c6.11

This is the shuddha scale of the southern music even at the present day.

c6.12

We shall now go into the subject matter of Pundarik Vithal's first book Sadraga Chandrodaya. The author begins by stating his srutis and swaras as follows:

c6.13

द्वाविंशतिस्तिक्षणतराः क्रमेण ।
नादं तु तावच्छुतितां नयन्ति ॥
कंठप्रदेशेऽप्यथ मूर्धदेशे ।
द्वाविंशतिः स्युः श्रुतयस्तथैव ॥
स्वराः श्रुतिभ्यः प्रभवन्ति ते तु ।
षड्जादयः सप्त यथाक्रमेण ॥
वेदाग्निपक्षान्धिपयोधिबन्हि ।
पक्षांतिमश्र त्यधिसंश्रिताः स्युः ॥
षड्जामिधानस्तृषभस्ततः स्यात् ।
गांधारको मध्यमपंचमौ च ॥
ततः परं धैवतको निषादः ।
इति स्वराः सप्त मता मुनींद्रैः ॥

c6.14

The Pandit in these verses accepts the ancient view that there are twenty-two sounds, rising one above the other, available in music and known as srutis. Mandra maddhaya and tara are the three seats of sound. Each of these has twenty two srutis. The distribution of the twenty-two srutis among the seven swaras is the same as that in the case of the ancient writers. The names of the swaras are:

c6.15

षड्ज, ऋषभ, गांधार, मध्यम, पंचम धैवत, निषाद

c6.16

Their places among the srutis are not disputed because he accepts the usual rule that:—

c6.17

चतुःश्रुतःश्रुत्यैव षड्जमध्यमपंचमाः ।
द्वे द्वे निषादगांधारौ तिश्री ऋषभधैवतौ ॥

c6.18

The shuddha swara stands as before on the last sruti. We know that all these facts were admitted by Lochana, Hrdaya, Ahobala, and Srinivasa too. But it must be remembered that the system adopted by Pundarik has never to be confounded with that of the other four Pandits. The shuddha scale of Pundarik being the Southern, his system will have to be studied independently. The swara names and some of the technical terms will differ from those of the northern system. Thus:

c6.19

शुद्धाः स्वरा य तु भवंति सप्त ।
तज्ज्ञान् विकारान् प्रवदामि सप्त ॥

c6.20

स्वोपान्तिकधु व्यविमथितः स्यात् । षड्जामिधानो लघुषड्जनामा ॥ एवं मपौ स्तो लघुमन्दपूर्वा । साधारणे गः प्रथमश्रुतिस्थः ॥ तस्य द्वितीयश्रुतिगेऽन्तरः स्यात् । षड्जस्य प्रथमश्रुतिस्थः ॥ तथा द्वितीयश्रुतितेमाने । निःकैशिकी काकलिनमधेयः ॥ स्वरलकरधेषु च तेषु मेष्टाः । स्वरेषु भेदा विहता मुनीन्द्रैः ॥

c6.21

Translation — There are first of all the seven shudha swaras I shall explain next the seven vikrita swaras When shadja stands on its penultimate or the third sruti, it is called 'laghu-shadja' Similarly 'ma' and 'pa' standing on their penultimate srutis would be called 'laghu-ma' and 'laghu-pa' When 'ga' stands on the first sruti of 'ma', it is called 'sadharana-ga' and when it stands on the second sruti of 'ma', it is called 'antar-ga': when nishada stands on the first sruti of 'sa' it is "kaishiki-ni", and when it stands on the second sruti of 'sa', it is called "kakali-ni". When the swaras stand on their proper places or srutis, they are supposed to be shudha swaras only

c6.22

From these verses it will clearly appear that in the music system expounded in the Sadraga Chandrodaya, there will be seven shudha swaras and seven vikrita swaras The names of the seven vikrita swaras are as disclosed in the verses, are

c6.23

(१) लघु षड्ज (२) लघु मध्यम (३) लघु पञ्चम (४) साधारण गान्धार (५) अन्तर गान्धार (६) कैशिकनि (७) काकलीनि.

c6.24

Their places among the srutis, will enable us to see that they will correspond with our present Hindusthani swaras bearing the following names —

c6.25

तीव्रतम नि, तीव्रतम ग, तीव्रतम म, कोमल ग, तीव्र ग, कोमल नि, तीव्र नि.

c6.26

Our modern komal 'ga' and komal 'ni', as we saw, were the shudha 'ga' and shudha 'ni' of Lochana, Hridaya, Ahobala, and Srinivasa, and our shudha 'ga' and shudha 'ni', (which we call tivra 'ga' and tivra 'ni') were the tivratara 'ga' 'ni' of those writers

c6.27

I have already said that the shudha scale of the Sadraga Chandrodaya is the same as the shudha scale of the southern system We may conveniently compare it with our modern Hindustani shudha scales and also with the shudha scale of Lochana, and Ahobala as follows :-

Shuddha Swaras

c6.s1.1

Vikrita Swaras

c6.s2.1

c6.s2.2

N. B.—The positions of these swaras will explain themselves better when we examine their places on the vina frets.

c6.s2.3

The Vina of Pundarika was almost the same as our modern Vina, the wires and frets on both being placed and tuned alike. In the following verses, Pundarika describes the way he tuned the wires of his vina and placed his frets under them :—

c6.s2.4

लक्ष्यप्रवीणेन विनिर्मितायां ।
सुवीणिकायामुपरि प्रदेयाः ॥
तंत्र्यश्चतस्रोऽथ स एव पार्श्वे ।
ऽधो दक्षिणे तिस्र इमा निवेश्याः ॥
पुरोदितानामुपरिस्थितानां ।
वामप्रदेशाश्रितपूर्वतंत्र्याम् ॥
षड्जं विदध्यादथ मंद्रसंज्ञं ।
द्वितीयतंत्र्यामणुमंद्रं च ॥
तृतीयतंत्र्यामपि मंद्रषड्जं ।
चतुर्थतंत्र्यामथ मंद्रमध्यम् ॥
त्रितंत्रिकाणामधराश्रितानां ।

c6.s2.5

माया तु मध्यस्थितपङ्कजेन ॥ तंत्री समानश्च निरोपितव्या । द्वितीयाका मद्रपदेन तद्वत् ॥ तृतीयाका मद्रकयङ्कजेन । निगद्यमुः श्रुतिनामधेयाः ॥

c6.s2.6

This is exactly how our modern musicians tune the wires of their vina. Some of our players put anumandra 'ga' on the first wire in the place of the ancient anumandra 'sa'. The three side wires were then called srutis. We now call them "chikars". Their tuning is immaterial for our purpose here.

c6.s2.7

सारिनिवेशनम् । (The placing the frets) आधानुमद्राद्व्यपङ्कजंतव्या । शुद्धा यथा स्यादुपमस्तथाया ॥ सारी निवेशयेत तथा द्वितीया । तथ्या तया शुद्धमिदंहेतोः ॥ सारी तृतीयापि तथैव तंत्या । धीयेत साधारणगस्य तिप्ये ॥ सारी चतुर्थी लघुमध्यमस्य । मिर्थ तया तंत्रिकया तथैव ॥ तथ्या तयी पंचमारिका च । निधीयते शुद्धमधाधनाय ॥ सारी निवेश्या च तथैव षष्ठा । तथ्या तथैव लघुपाव्हयाय ॥

c6.s2.8

The purport of these verses can be best followed with the help of the following vina chart.

c6.s2.9

c6.s2.10

Here a question will naturally be asked — Where are the frets for antara 'ga' and kakali 'ni' which two notes are also recognised by Pundarika among his vikritas? In fact without them, there would be only five vikritas and not seven. The author anticipates the question and answers it thus —

Shuddha Swaras

c6.s3.1

Vikrita Swaras

c6.s4.1

c6.s4.2

N. B.—The positions of these swaras will explain themselves better when we examine their places on the vina frets.

c6.s4.3

c6.s4.4

लक्ष्यप्रवीणेन विनिर्मितायां ।
सुवीणिकायामुपरि प्रदेयाः ॥
तंयश्चतस्रोऽथ स एव पार्श्वे ।
ऽधो दक्षिणे तिस्र इमा निवेश्याः ॥
पुरोदितानामुपरिस्थितानां ।
वामप्रदेशाश्रितपूर्वतंत्र्याम् ॥
षड्ज विदध्यादणुमंद्रसंज्ञं ।
द्वितीयतंत्र्यामुममंद्रप च ॥
तृतीयतंत्र्यामपि मंद्रषड्जं ।
चतुर्थतंत्र्यामत मंद्रमारुयम् ॥
त्रितंत्रिकाणामधराश्रिताना ।

c6.s4.5

मात्रा तु मध्यस्थितपञ्चकेन ॥ तंत्री समानश्च निरूपितव्या । द्वितीयाका मद्रवेपेन तद्वत् ॥ तानीयाका मद्रयञ्जेकन । तिघोद्यमूः स्युः श्रुतिनामधेयाः ॥

c6.s4.6

This is exactly how our modern musicians tune the wires of their vina Some of our players put anumandra 'ga' on the first wire in the place of the ancient anumandra 'sa' The three side wires were then called srutis We now call them "chikaris" Their tuning is immaterial for our purpose here

c6.s4.7

सारीनिवेशनाम् । (The placing the frets) आघातुमद्राव्हयपञ्चतन्त्रा । शुद्धो यथा स्यादुपमस्तथाया ॥ सारी निवेशयेत तथा द्वितीया । तथ्या तया शुद्धगनिद्हेतोः ॥ सारी तृतीयापि तथैव तथ्या । धीयेत साधारणगस्य सिध्ये ॥ सारी चतुर्थी लघुमध्यमस्य । सिध्ये तया तंत्रिकया तथैव ॥ तथ्या तयी पचमसारिया च । निधीयते शुद्धमधानाथ ॥ सारी निवेश्या च तथैव षष्ठा । तथ्या तथैव लघुपाव्हयाय ॥

c6.s4.8

The purport of these verses can be best followed with the help of the following vina chart

c6.s4.9

मंदतंत्री चतुर्थी मंद सा तंत्री तृतीया अनुमंद प तंत्री दिनीया अनुमंद सा तंत्री प्रथमा

c6.s4.10

| (१)सारी | " | लघु | प | मंद | शुद्ध | सा | अनुमंद | प | अनुमंद सा मंद |
| (२) " | " | शुद्ध | प | " | शुद्ध ऋषभ | " | शुद्ध धैवत | " | मंद शुद्ध ऋषभ |
| (३) " | " | शुद्ध | ध | " | शुद्ध गांधार | " | शुद्ध निषाद | " | शुद्ध गांधार |
| (४) " | " | शुद्ध | नि | " | साधारण ग | " | कैशिकनि | " | साधारण गांधार |
| (५) " | " | कै० | नि | " | लघु | म | " | लघु | मा | " | लघु मध्यम |
| (६) " | " | लघु | सा | " | शुद्ध | म | | | | " | शुद्ध मध्यम |
| | | | | | | | | | " | लघु पंचम |

c6.s4.11

Here a question will naturally be asked -- Where are the frets for antara 'ga' and kakali 'ni' which two notes are also recognised by Pundanka among his vikritas? In fact without them, there would be only five vikritas and not seven The author anticipates the question and answers it thus -- चतुर्दशोक्ता ननु पूर्वमेते । स्वरास्ततो द्वादशसंख्यकानाम् ॥ सारिनिवेशः क्रियते भवद्भिः । कृतोऽत्तरे काकलिनि द्वयोर्न ॥ अत्रोच्यते काकलिनाऽतरस्यं । पंक्तौ प्रयुज्ये यदि सारि के द्वे ॥ संकीर्णभावान्न तदाऽतुकुल्यं । स्याद्वादनेऽतो न कृते पृथग् द्वे ॥ तयोः समुत्पातिरुदीर्यते तु । चेत् प्रस्तुतस्तसहितोऽपि रागः ॥ लध्वाख्ययोः षड्जमयश्च सायो । स्यातां यदैैकश्च तेर्वैिहीनौ ॥ तदाच काकल्यमिधांतरो स्तः । किंत्वत्र सूक्ष्मध्वनिभेदविज्ञाः ॥ लध्वादिकं सं लघुमध्यमं च । तत्रातिनिध्येन वदंति लक्ष्ये ॥

c6.s4.12

He says he deliberately omits these two frets because these frets coming too close to those of 'laghu-sa' and 'laghu-ma' would make play inconvenient. If, however, there are any ragas which require those two notes, those well versed in the shastra of music would allow these two notes to be represented by the higher notes laghu-sa and laghu-ma. The difference of one sruti will not make much of a difference in the general effect of the raga.

c6.s4.13

Observation.—This also shows that Pundarika was aware of the northern practice of expressing ragas in terms only of twelve notes.

c6.s4.14

We shall now proceed to the nineteen thatas under which Pundarika classifies his ragas.

c6.s4.15

तत्राद्यमेलस्तु मुखारिकायाः । ततो भवेन्मालवगौडमेलः ॥ श्ररागमेलस्तदनंतरं स्यात् । स्याच्छुद्धनट्टाव्हयस्य मेलः ॥ देशाक्षिकाया अपि मेलकः स्यात् । कर्णाटिगाडस्य भवेत् सुमेलः ॥ केदारकारुयस्य भवेत् सुमेलः । हिजेजमेलोऽपि हमीरमेलः ॥ कामोदरागाभिधस्य मेलः । ततः सुतोड्याव्हयस्य मेलः ॥ आभीारिकायाः सुमतश्च मेलः । मेलो भवेत् शुद्धवराटिकायाः ॥ स्याच्छुद्ध रामक्रियाभिधस्य मेलः । देवक्रियायाश्च भवेत् मेलः ॥ सारंगमेलस्तदनंतरं स्यात् । कल्याणमेलस्तु ततः परं स्यात् ॥

c6.s4.16

हिंडोलरागस्य भवेत्तु मेल: । स्यान्नादरामक्रियमेव मेल: ॥ इतीतितास्ते नवचंद्रमस्या: । एव परास्तान् कलयतु प्रज्ञा: ॥

c6.s4.17

These may be written with their respective swaras as follows —

c6.s4.18

| थाट नाम | सा | री | ग | म | प | ध | नि | Hindustani Equivalents |
| १ | मुसारी | सा | शुद्ध | शुद्ध | शुद्ध | शुद्ध | शुद्ध | शुद्ध | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| २ | मालव गौड | सा | " | लघु म | " | " | लघु सा | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| ३ | था | सा | चतु: श्रुति | साधारण | " | " | चतु: श्रुति | कौशिक | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| ४ | शुद्ध नाट | सा | त्रिधु. | लघु म | " | " | त्रिधु. | सा ग म प नि नि सा |
| ५ | देशाक्षी | सा | " | " | " | " | शुद्ध नि | " | सा ग म प नि नि सा |
| ६ | कर्णाट गौड | सा | " | " | " | " | " | " | सा ग म प ध नि सा |
| ७ | केदार | सा | शुद्ध ग | " | " | " | शुद्ध नि | लघु सा | सा ग म प ध नि सा |
| ८ | हिजेज | सा | शुद्ध | " | " | " | शुद्ध कौशिक | लघु मा | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| ९ | हमीर | सा | शुद्ध ग | त्रिधुति | लघु प | " | शुद्ध | लघु मा | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| १० | कामोद | सा | शुद्ध | साधारण | शुद्ध | " | त्रिधुति | कौशिक | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| ११ | तोडी | सा | " | " | " | " | लघु मा | मा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| १२ | आसावरी | सा | शुद्ध ग | " | " | " | लघु मा | मा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| १३ | शुद्ध वराटी | सा | शुद्ध | शुद्ध | लघु प | " | लघु मा | सा री री म प ध नि सा |
| १४ | शुद्ध रामक्री | सा | " | लघु म | लघु प | " | " | मा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| १५ | देवकी | सा | " | " | " | " | " | " | मा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| १६ | सारंग | सा | शुद्ध ग | " | लघु प | " | शुद्ध नि | लघु मा | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| १७ | कल्याण | सा | " | साधारण | लघु प | " | शुद्ध | कौशिक | लघु मा | सा री ग म प नि नि सा |
| १८ | हिंडोल | सा | शुद्ध | त्रिधुति | शुद्ध | " | " | लघु सा | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |
| १९ | नादरामक्री | सा | " | साधारण | " | " | " | लघु सा | सा री ग म प ध नि सा |

c6.s4.19

*शुद्धौ समौ शुद्धपनी तथैव लघ्वादि कौ षड्जकपंचमौ च । पचश्रुतिर्मध यदा भवेत्तु देवक्रियाया कथित: स मेल: ॥

c6.s4.20

Explanatory note

c6.s4.21

Pundarika's notes--Hindustani Notes Hindustani Notation signs शुद्ध रि, शुद्ध ध = कोमल रि, कोमल ध री ग ध नि = कोमल रि, कोमल ग, ध, नि चतु:श्रुति रि, चतु:श्रुतिध = तीव्र री, तीव्र ध म - - - = तीव्र म शुद्ध ग, शुद्ध नि = कोमल ग सा - - - = तार मा साधारण ग = कोमल नि कौशिक नि = कोमल नि लघु सा, लघु म, लघु प = तीव्र नि, तीव्र ग, तीव्र म

c6.s4.22

c6.s4.23

We shall not go into the definitions of these Janya Ragas here.

c6.s4.24

The Hindustani musician will find this classification very interesting. He will find many of his own ragas in the list. Some of these latter seem to have retained their original swaras to this day. The book therefore, is supposed to be of great historical importance.

c6.s4.25

This is another treatise by Pundarika Vithala. It deals with the Northern system of Music proper. Here too the author builds up his Raga system on the Southern Shuddha scale सा री ग म प ध नि सां.

c6.s4.26

We know that was also the shuddha scale of the Sadraga-Chandrodaya. The names of the vikrita swaras here are not those of the Chandrodaya. The ragas again are divided into three classes, namely 'purusha' ragas, 'stree' ragas, and 'putra' ragas. This is supposed to be the genuine northern style of Raga classification.

c6.s4.27

After mentioning the three seats of sound 'mandra' madhya and 'tara', Pundarika says — यंत्रेनुमद्रस्थान स्याद्वाये के तदप्यथम् । मन्द्रादितत्रयं स्थान व्यवहारैर्निधीयते ॥

c6.s4.28

The sruti is distinguished from the swara in the usual way इतिः श्रुतिस्ततो लभजातोऽनुरणध्वनिः । माविर्दातः श्रुतिश्चितं स्वतो रंजयति स्वर ॥

c6.s4.29

It is worth noting that in the time of Pundarika, as also in that of Hridaya, Ahobala, and Srinivasa, there was only one 'grama' in use and that was the shadja-grama. All ancient writers were agreed that the shuddha scale commencing with shadja was the shadja-grama. Pundarika's The shadja-grama of Lochana was our modern Kafi thata. The shadja-grama was the southern shuddha scale mentioned above. The author accepts the old twenty-two srutis, and their distribution among the swaras.

c6.s4.30

द्वाविंशतिः श्रुतिस्थान सोपानाकारवत् क्रमात् । x x x प्रभवत्युच्चतस्ततः श्रुतयः श्रान्यमायतः ॥ रागादिव्यवहाराय तासु सप्त स्वर स्थिताः । षड्जभ मध्यमेथैव गंधारो मध्यमस्तथा ॥ पंचमो धैवतश्चाथ निषादश्चेत्यनुक्रमात् । तेषां संज्ञाः सरिगमपधनीत्यपरा मताः ॥ वेदाचलश्रुतिषु त्रयोदश्यां श्रुतौ तथा । सप्तदश्यां च विंश्यां च द्वाविंश्यां च श्रुती क्रमात् । षड्जादीनां स्थितिः प्रोक्ता प्रथमा भरतादिभिः ॥

c6.s4.31

The word "sthiti" in the last line has to be carefully noted. Pundarika means by it the original or shuddha place of the swara. He uses the word in contradistinction to the word "gati", by which he means the vikriti of the note. When a swara becomes vikrita, it leaves its original place or "sthiti" and moves. Thus the word "gati" happily represents the idea of change. The shuddha scale being southern, the vikritis of the swaras will necessarily be the higher "gati" of the shuddha swara. Each "gati", will be measured by a sruti. For instance, gandhara rising one sruti will be called "trigatika", when it rises two srutis, it will be supposed to have gone up two "gatis" and so forth. The shuddha place of the gandhara, is as we know, two srutis above the shuddha rishabha.

c6.s4.32

असपा: पूर्वपूर्वास्ते संचरंत्युत्तरोत्तरम् । त्रिलिंगतीस्ते प्रत्येकं याति गश्च चतुर्गतीः ॥

c6.s4.33

Translation.—All swaras with the exception of sa and pa, will be allowed to rise up to three "gatis" or srutis. The gandhara alone will be permitted to go up to the fourth sruti of the next note maddyama.

c6.s4.34

यथद्रागोपयोग: स्यात्तत्तदिच्छागतिर्भवेत् । गन्योर्गती द्वितीये चांतरकालिनौ स्मृतौ ॥ पंचम्यष्टादशी षष्ठी तथा चैकोनविंशतिः । चतस्त्र: श्रुतयश्चैता रागाचैरप्रयोजंका: ॥ शेषा अष्टादशैव स्यु: श्रुतय: स्वरबोधका: । न्यूनाधिकैकगतिका मंदरात्स्वरस्वरा यदि । न रायहानिका: सर्वे स्पष्टा मध्यसप्तके ॥

c6.s4.35

Translation.—The use of the "gatis" will naturally depend upon the nature of the raga proposed to be sung or played. The second "gatis" of gandhara and nishada have special names, namely "antar-gandhara" and "kakali-nishada". These names will be used whenever the ga and ni rise two srutis. The srutis fifth, sixth, eighteenth and nineteenth will never be used in any raga at all. Barring these four, the remaining eighteen will be allowed to be so used. The rise or fall by one sruti only in the mandra and tara octaves, could safely be neglected. It will not destroy the general effect of a raga. In the maddhya octave, however, it will be proper to use the prescribed sruti-swara.

c6.s4.36

Observation.—The srutis five, six, eighteen, and nineteen are barred because in the southern scale, the shuddha ri and shuddha dha are supposed to be the lowest sounds of those notes. Ri and dha when shuddha, are always three sruti notes. No swaras therefore, are allowed between sa and shuddha ri and pa and shuddha dha. The provision in the last verse is intended to avoid the difficulty of having a four sruti note and a three sruti note standing on the same fret of the vina in samvadi relationship. We find a similar provision in the Raga Vibodha of Somnath.

c6.s4.37

Pundarika being a southern Pandit may have read the Swara Mala Kalanidhi of Ramamatya and the Raga Vibodha of Somnath.

c6.s4.38

The following chart will show at a glance the places and the names of the shuddha vikrita swaras of the Raga Mala.

c6.s4.39

c6.s4.40

After explaining the shuddha and vikrita swaras, the author defines the following technical terms, वादी, संवादी, अनुवादी, विवादी, ग्रह, अंश and न्यास as follows:—

c6.s4.41

चतुर्विधाः स्वरा वादी संवादी च विवाद्यपि ।
अनुवादीति वादी तु प्रयोगे बहुलः स्वरः ।
अंशः स्थायीति पर्यायः रागोत्पादनहेतुकः ।
श्रुतयो द्वादशौवा ययोर्गतगोचराः ॥
मिथः संवादिनौ तौ स्तो गत्यादेश्चविभागतः ।
शेषाणामनुवादित्वं ज्ञेयमन्र्वथतः क्रमात् ॥

c6.s4.42

We have already discussed these terms and need say nothing further about them.

c6.s4.43

गीतादिनियतमात्रः स्वरो ग्रह इतोरितः ।
प्रयोगे बहुलोऽंशः स्यान्यासो गीतसमाप्तिकृत् ॥

c6.s4.44

Translation.—The note which begins a song is called "graha"; the one that ends it is called "nyasa", and the note which is most frequently used in the gita is called "ansha", which is synonimous with the 'vadi' or 'sthayi'. षड्जः सर्वरागे च ग्रहः। Sa is the 'graha' of every raga. The terms 'graha', ansha, and 'nyasa' had apparently lost their ancient significance in the modern "deshi" sangeeta. Pundarika says in the Chandrodaya:—

c6.s4.45

न्यासग्रहशोषु च पूर्णतायां ।
श्रुतौ तथा पाडव औडुवेऽपि ॥
सर्वत्र देशीतरागवृन्दे ।
श्रीमद्धनुमान् नियमं न वत्रे ॥

Raga-Adhyaya

c6.s5.1

In the Raga-adhyaya of the Raga Mala, Pundarika, first lays down his six 'purusha' ragas, and then gives each of them five 'bharyas', and five 'putras'.

c6.s5.2

c6.s5.3

It will be seen that all these raga names are to be found in the modern Hindustani system. Nay, many of the ragas, will be found to have preserved as nearly as possible their old forms. The new time theory of the Hindustani musicians naturally brought in some characteristic changes and made the arrangement of the ragas still more attractive. In describing the thata of each raga in the Raga Mala Pundarika accomplishes two wonderful things. He first gives the swaras of the ragas and then gives the devatatmakā appearance or picture of the raga as also the time for its singing. For instance,

c6.s5.4

स्रोजातोद्भवपद्म प्रथमगतिगतिः सविधेन्दोः कपर्दी ।
रक्तायामसिमौली सितवसनो मरमंदस्मिनेत्रः ॥
कण्ठे शृंगि दधानः श्रवणयुगलतो मुद्रिके चन्द्रचूडे ।
ईमंतेऽपि प्रमाते विलसति वृषभे भैरवः शुद्धपूर्वः ॥

c6.s5.5

Explanation.—Here the first line tells us that Shuddha-Bhairava drops pa'and n and is प्रथम गतिगति that is it takes the komal ga and komal ni. The rest of the sloka describes the Mahadeva who is the presiding deity of the raga.

c6.s5.6

I shall not go into all the slokas describing all the ragas here but shall write down the first raga Shuddha-Bhairava with its swaras as given in the book. The Raga Mala is a printed book now which can be had for a few annas.

c6.s5.7

| शुद्ध भैरव | स, शुद्ध रि, एकश्रुति ग, | शुद्ध म, | शुद्ध प, | शुद्ध ध | एकश्रुति नि | Explanatory Note |
| १ धनाश्री | स, एकश्रुति रि, | एकश्रुति ग, | ,, | ,, | शुद्धतीव्र एकश्रुति नि | विपुननि = * |
| २ भैरवी | स, | ,, | ,, | ,, | ,, | ,, | मदनश्रुति = * |
| ३ सैंधवी | स, | ,, | ,, | ,, | ,, | ,, | मतिश्रुति = * |
| | | | | | | कनश्रुति = * |
| ४ मालवी | स, | शुद्ध रि, | तिव्रनि म, | ,, | शुद्ध ध | तिव्रति नि | मदनश्रुति = * |
| ५ वसंत | स | ,, | ,, | तिव्रधति | ,, | ,, | तिव्रति नि | |
| दुःक्रमः | | | | | | | |
| १ भैरव | स, | शु. रि, | तिव्रति ग, | शु. म, | शु. प, | शु. ध, | एकश्रुति नि | |
| २ कु.तति | स, | ,, | तिव्रतिव | हाटी: | takes all | notes of | the सप्तकनि | |
| ३ पंचम | स, | ,, | ,, | ,, | ,, | ,, | ,, | |
| ४ दरब | स, | शु. रि, | तिव्रति ग, | शु. म, | शु. प, | शु. ध, | तिव्रति नि | इति स्वर | |
| ५ बंगड | स, | ,, | ,, | तिव्रति र, | ,, | ,, | ,, | तिव्रति नि | |

Linked texts (4)

Svaramelakalānidhi — Rāmāmātya 1550, Sanskrit
Asirgarh
Nartananirṇaya — Puṇḍarīka Viṭṭhala 1574, Sanskrit
Rāgavibodha — Somanātha 1584, Sanskrit

A Comparative Study of Some of the Leading Music Systems of the 15th, 16th, 17th & 18th Centuries c6: Sadraga — Chandrodaya

Contents

Sadraga — Chandrodaya

Shuddha Swaras

Vikrita Swaras

Shuddha Swaras

Vikrita Swaras

Raga-Adhyaya

Linked texts (4)