Ragas and Raginis: A Pictorial and Iconographic Study of Indian Musical Modes Based on Original Sources c6.82

c6.82

Whatever may have been the basis of the subsequent development, the six rāgas enumerated in the Sangīta-makaranda formed the earliest group and was made the foundation of the earliest mythology of the melodies. The earliest legends ascribe to Śiva, or Naṭarāja, the origin of the science of music and dramaturgy. Śiva the cosmic dancer, is known as the arch-dramatist, and the whole of the Nāṭya-śāstra (embracing singing, dancing, and dramatic representations) is derived by ancient legend from this great-god (Mahā-deva). According to this legend, the rāgas are said to have been derived from the union of Śiva and Śakti (female energy),—Pārvatī, or Giri-jāyā. From the five faces of Śiva at the beginning of his dance (narttā-rambhe) came out the five rāgas:—Śrī-rāga, Vasanta, Bhairava, Pañcama, and Megha, while the sixth rāga, Naṭa-