[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Architecture and art](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art) › [Ragas and Raginis: A Pictorial and Iconographic Study of Indian Musical Modes Based on Original Sources](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935) › c7 # Ragas and Raginis: A Pictorial and Iconographic Study of Indian Musical Modes Based on Original Sources c7: Ragas and Raginis Rāgas and Rāginīs: A Pictorial and Iconographic Study of Indian Musical Modes Based on Original Sources c7 - **Language:** English ### Ragas and Raginis ### [c7.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.1) The differentiation of rāgiṇīs from rāgas is a topic of some complication. The evolution of the rāgiṇīs as a class of melodies to be distinguished from rāgas properly so-called is a matter of later history. The word rāgiṇī does not occur in the works of Dattila, Bharata, or in the Bṛhaddeśī. Rāgiṇīs are believed to be graceful, minor, diminutive, or abbreviated forms of rāgas. At an earlier stage, such as we find in the Bṛhaddeśī, they were looked upon as the derivatives of the root-rāgas, and as reflecting the character of the rāgas (Chāyā-mātrānuga). They are then designated as bhāṣās, and vibhāṣās, and antara-bhāṣās. And each of the several earliest grāma-rāgas, or rāga-gītis (see Appendix 3) had particular bhāṣā-gītis assigned to them. According to the definition of Mataṅga, ‘the bhāṣās were derived from the grāma-rāgas, the vibhāṣās spring from the bhāṣās, and the antara-bhāṣās were born of the vibhāṣās’.¹ In the nomenclature of this definition, and in the feminine endings given to these early derivatives of the root-rāgas, we have the seeds for the later classifications of rāgas and rāgiṇīs, picturesquely called as the wives of the rāgas, and the classification of rāgas and their derivatives picturesquely called as the sons (putras) of the rāgas. The three types of derivative rāgas, mentioned by Mataṅga, have names with feminine endings (strī-pratyaya). ### [c7.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.2) According to an ingenious suggestion by a modern scholar of music,² it is the placing of the emphasis on the cadential notes (nyāsa, vinyāsa, apanyāsa, sannyāsa) on the stronger or the weaker pulses of the rhythm of a melody that determines its sex. And that when the musical phrases or ### [c7.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.3) (1) “Grāma-rāgodbhavā bhāṣā bhāṣbhyāśca vibhāṣikāḥ| Vibhāṣābhyāśca sañjātā tathā cāntara-bhāṣikāḥ||” Mataṅga, Bṛhad-deśī, p. 105. (2) Paṇḍit Kṛṣṇa Chandra Ghose Vedānta-Cintāmaṇi. ### [c7.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.4) structure of a melody have an upward or ascending tendency (ārohaṇa) with the cadential notes resting on the stronger pulses—then it is called a rāga (a masculine melody). And when the phrases and structure have a downward or descending tendency (avarohaṇa) with the cadential notes resting on the weaker impulses,—it is characterized as a rāgiṇī (a feminine melody). ### [c7.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.5) The conception of rāgiṇī, as a graceful, or a diminutive phase of a rāga, and designated with a feminine ending appears to be a peculiarity of the Northern system. Śārṅgadeva does not recognize rāgiṇīs, but only bhāṣās, vibhāṣā and antarabhāṣās. The differentiation of female melodies is first come across in the Saṅgīta-makaranda of Nārada, who gives three classes of melodies under the headings of (i) male rāgas (puṃliṅga-rāga), (ii) female rāgas (strī-rāgas), and (ii) neuter rāgas (napuṃsaka-rāgas). This classification is ascribed to Brahmā, and the three groups are allocated to three different types of emotive values. The male melodies are assigned to the sentiments of Wonder, Courage, or Anger, the female melodies are assigned to the sentiments of Love, Laughter, and Sorrow, while the neuter melodies are assigned to the sentiments of Terror, Fear, Disgust, and Peace.¹ ### [c7.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.6) It should be noted that Nārada does not actually use the word rāgiṇī, but uses the term strī, or ‘yoṣit’ (wife) of a rāga. If Mammaṭa (8th century) is the author of Saṅgīta-ratnamālā, then the earliest reference to rāgiṇīs is to be found in this text; it has been freely utilized by the author of Saṅgīta-nārāyaṇa and various later authors. But this is somewhat problematic, as Nānyadeva, (12th century) an authority of the Northern School does not mention rāgiṇīs, so the term does not appear to have been used very much before the date of the Rāgārṇava (c. 14th century), though the recognition of a female rāga must be fairly old in the Northern system. ### [c7.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.7) Gurjarī, Saindhavī, Gāndhārī, Ābhirī, are some of the earliest feminine melodies designated by Matanga under the ### [c7.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.8) (1) “Raudre’dbhūte tathā vīre pum-rāgaḥ parigīyate| Śṛṅgāra-hāsya-karuṇām (?) strī-rāgaśca pragīyate|| 65 || Bhayānake ca vibhatse śānte gāyannapumsake|| Saṅgīta-makaranda, (G. O. S. Vol. XVI, p. 19). ### [c7.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.9) name of bhāṣā. According to the terminology of the mythology of the tantras, the minor melodies have been born of the union of the male and the female phases of the melodies. ### [c7.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.10) Nomenclature of Rāgas: As Nārada has remarked, ‘curious, indeed, are the names of Rāgas’.¹ If we study their names we find three distinct phases. At the first stage, about the time of the Nāṭya-Śāstra the melodies took their names from the dominant or significant note prevailing in their compositions. Thus, one of the grāma-rāgas is called Ṣaḍjī, from the note Ṣaḍja; Ārṣabhī, from the note Ṛṣabha, Gāndhārī, from the note Gāndhāra, and so on. The last-named melody still survives in current practice. The name ‘Madyamādi’ (now regarded as a rāgiṇī of Bhairava) is so-called as it begins with the note ‘Madhyama’ (F). Vibhāṣā, originally a generic name for a class of derivative melodies (a sub-division of bhāṣās) now survives as a proper name for a rāgiṇī. In the second stage, the melodies derived their names from the ancient tribes inhabiting various parts of India. Thus the Śakas, the Pulindas, the Ābhīras, the Savars, and the Bhairavas² appear to have lent their names to the following rāgas: Śaka-rāga (with variants called Śaka-tilaka, Śaka-miśrita), Pulindi-rāga, Ābhīrī, Sāverikā (Sāvirī) and Bhairava-rāga. Three of the earliest rāgas, (a) Mālava (with its derivatives Mālavikā, Mālavaśrī, Mālava-pañcama, Mālava-vesara, Mālava-kaiśika,³ vulgarized into Mālkausa), (b) Āndhrī, and (c) Gūrjarī, may have come from the ancient tribes known as the Mālavas, the Andhras, and the Gurjaras respectively. As is well-known, the Mālavas the \*Goths\*, the \*Vandals\*, the \*Suevi\*, the \*Burgundians\*, the \*Alani\*, the \*Huns\*, the \*Franks\*, the \*Saxons\*, the \*Thuringians\*, the \*Rugians\*, and the \*Heruli\*. The names of these tribes are familiar to the reader, but their origin, their migrations, and their settlements are involved in the deepest obscurity. The most probable opinion is that they were all of German or Scythian extraction, and that they had been driven from their native seats by the pressure of the Huns, a formidable nation of Tartars, who had crossed the Volga and the Tanais, and were advancing with rapid strides towards the frontiers of the Roman empire. ### [c7.11](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.11) ¹ “Nāradena vicitrena santi nāmāni vakṣyate”| Saṅgita-makaranda, p. 18, 56. ### [c7.12](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.12) ² The Bhairavas were an aboriginal sect mentioned along with the Śakāras, Ābhīras, Chaṇḍālas, Pulindas and Savaras in Sāradātanaya’s Bhāva-prakāśana (Gaekwad’s O. S. Vol. XLV, 1930. Introduction, p. 61). ### [c7.13](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.13) ³ According to Mataṅga (Bṛhaddeśī, T. S. S. p. 98) Mālava-Kaiśika is so called because it is derived the Kaiśikī-jāti melody’ (“Kaiśikī-jāti-sambhūtiḥ rāgo Mālava-kaiśikaḥ”|| (346). The term ‘Kaiśikī’ (literally—‘hair breadth’) is derived from the theory of Śrutis (microtones). Thus, ‘Kaiśikī nī’ is nikhāda (B) less by one Śruti. ### [c7.14](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.14) TODI RĀGINĪ ### [c7.15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.15) The first of these nations that crossed the Danube was the \*Goths\*. They were divided into two great branches, the \*Visigoths\* or Western Goths, and the \*Ostrogoths\* or Eastern Goths. The Visigoths, under the conduct of Fritigern, implored the protection of the emperor Valens, and were permitted to settle in the province of Thrace. But the perfidy of the Roman governors, and the insolence of the Roman soldiers, soon provoked them to rebellion. They defeated the imperial armies, and Valens himself perished in the battle of Hadrianople. ### [c7.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.16) The death of Valens was followed by the accession of Theodosius, who, by his wisdom and valour, restored the discipline of the Roman legions, and compelled the Goths to accept a peace, which was rather a truce than a permanent settlement. The Goths, however, remained in the heart of the empire, and their presence was a constant source of danger and alarm. They were no longer the rude barbarians who had first crossed the Danube; they had learned the arts of war and the policy of the Romans, and they were ready to take advantage of any opportunity to assert their independence. ### [c7.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.17) The reign of Theodosius was the last period of the glory of the Roman empire. After his death, the empire was divided between his two sons, Arcadius and Honorius. Arcadius reigned in the East, and Honorius in the West. The division was fatal to the interests of the state. The two brothers were weak and indolent, and they were governed by their ministers and favourites. The Goths, under the command of Alaric, took advantage of the weakness of the government, and invaded Italy. They besieged and took Rome, and the eternal city, which had for so many centuries been the mistress of the world, was plundered by the barbarians. ### [c7.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.18) The fall of Rome was a shock to the whole civilized world. It was the end of an era, and the beginning of a new and darker age. The Goths, after the death of Alaric, retired from Italy, and settled in Gaul and Spain, where they founded kingdoms which were destined to last for several centuries. The Vandals, under the command of Genseric, crossed into Africa, and established a powerful kingdom, which for a time threatened the security of the Mediterranean. The Franks, under the command of Clovis, conquered Gaul, and laid the foundations of the French monarchy. The Saxons, under the command of Hengist and Horsa, invaded Britain, and established the kingdoms of the Heptarchy. ### [c7.19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.19) were ancient martial tribes (\*āyudhaj-jīvī-saṃghas\*), mentioned by Patañjali, and who were formerly settled in the Punjab where they offered resistance to Alexander, and latterly settled in the North-west part of Central India, to which they gave the name the Mālwā.¹ The Andhras, a Dravidian sect, played a more important part in the political and cultural history of India, and founded ruling dynasties occupying various parts of Central, Eastern, and Southern India at different periods.² Similarly the Gurjara clans, probably foreign immigrants associated with the White Huns, formerly settled near Mount Abu, and, later, occupying the peninsula known as Guzerat,—played important parts in developing Indian culture and religious history. They are also associated with an important ruling dynasty known as the Gurjjara-pratihāra dynasty.³ The aboriginal races of India appear to have contributed many shining and colourful threads to the rich and variegated texture of Indian musical tapestry. ### [c7.20](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.20) Other names of rāgas are derived from geographical place names and regions. The most typical example is Vaṅgāla, ‘the celestial form of which’, Matanga points out, ‘is derived from the Vaṅgāla country’.⁴ Cognate examples are (a) Saindhavī, from Sindhudeśa, modern Sind, (b) Sauvīra (with its derivative, Sauvīraka, Sauvīrī) from the ancient region in the South-west,⁵ (c) Takka (sometimes called ### [c7.21](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.21) (1) “The Mālavas” by Adrish Ch. Banerji, \*Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Institute\*, Vol. XIII, 1931-32, pp. 218-229. ### [c7.22](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.22) (2) “Andhra History & Coinage” by Vincent Smith (Z. D. M. G., 1902, 1903). ### [c7.23](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.23) (3) D. R. Bhandarkar: ‘Foreign Elements in the Hindu Population’ (\*Indian Antiquary\*, Vol. XL, 1931, pp. 7-37. C. V. Vaidya: ‘History of Mediæval Hindu India, Vol. I, p. 84. J. C. Ghosh: ‘Patihār’s (\*Indian Antiquary\*, Vol. LX, 1931, pp. 239-246). ### [c7.24](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.24) (4) “Vaṅgāla-deśa-sambhūta vaṅgālī divya-rūpinī,” \*Bṛhad-deśī\*, p. 127. ### [c7.25](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.25) (5) ‘The Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa assigns Sindhu-Sauvīra to the South-west’ (Cunningham’s ‘Ancient Geography of India, S. Majumdar’s Edition, 1924, p. 7). ### [c7.26](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.26) ‘Taku’, later vulgarized as ‘Taṅka’), from Takka-deśa¹ (d) Saurāṣṭrī (vulgarized in forms, such as, Suraṭhī, Suraṭ, Suraṭ-mallār) from the Saurāṣṭra-deśa and (e) Karṇāṭa (Karṇāṭī), from regions of same names. Similarly, the rāgiṇī Kāmbhojī (still surviving in the South in the popular variety known as Hari-Kāmbhojī) is derived from Kām-bhoja-deśa and the rāgiṇī Vairāṭī may have come from Berar, or Virāṭa kingdom, figuring in the epic anecdotes of Mahā-bhārata. Bhoṭṭa, a very early melody, may have come from the region of Thibet (Bhoṭṭa), just as Gauḍa (Eastern Bengal), to be distinguished from Vaṅgāla, and Gauḍī must have been melodies imported from the Eastern part of Bengal. Likewise, the melody Pauravikā (Pūravī, Pūrvī), literally meaning ‘eastern’, may have come from that region. It is quite possible that the melody known as Kakubhā derives its name from an ancient village, famous in Gupta history, as a culture-centre, ‘a very jewel amongst villages, sanctified by the habitations of sages’.² The village Kakubhā still survives under the name of Kahāyuñ, five miles to the west of the chief town of Salampur-Majhauli in the district of Gorakhpur. The rāgiṇī Khamvāvatī, an ancient melody, probably derives its name from the city of the name of Cambay; the site of the ancient city is three miles away from the modern city. The Venetian traveller, Marco Polo, in the thirteenth century, calls it “Cambat.³ According to Col. Todd, the proper Hindu name of the city, was Khambavatī, ‘the city of the pillars.’ The inhabitants write it Kambayat. It is spoken of as a flourishing city by Mas’udi who visited it in 915 A.D.’ Ibn Batuta (14th century) speaks of it as a very fine city, remarkable for the elegance and solidarity of the mosques and houses built by wealthy foreign merchants. ### [c7.27](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.27) (1) The melody may have come from an ancient aboriginal tribe known as the Takkas (Tāks, or Tauks of later times) who occupied portions of the Panjab in early times and who are believed to have given the name to the ancient city of Taksa-śilā (Taxila) and of Attak (Attoc). See “Early Turanians: Takkas” (Cunningham, A S Reports, Vol. II, 1862-65, Simla, 1871, pp. 6-11). ### [c7.28](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.28) (2) “Khyāte’smin grāma-ratne kakubha iti janaih sādhu-samsarga-pūte” (Fleet’s Gupta Inscriptions, No. 15, p. 67). ### [c7.29](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.29) (3) Marco Polo, Yule’s edition, 1875, Vol. II, p. 389. ### [c7.30](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.30) The melody does not appear to find its place in the \*Saṅgīta-makaranda\*, nor in the \*Saṅgīta-ratnākara\*, nor even in the \*Saṅgīta-samaya-sāra\*, and is mentioned for the first time in Locana Kavi’s \*Rāga-taraṅgiṇī\* (c. 14th century). ### [c7.31](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.31) The rāgiṇī Hijeja \[Hejujji\], an imported melody, now affiliated with Indian rāgas, is also believed to have been so called after the name of a city in Persia.¹ ### [c7.32](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.32) ¹ In Persia, \* \* \* “the modes are chiefly denominated like those of the Greeks and Hindoos, from different regions or towns; as among the pardahs (maquams=rāgas), we see Hijāz, Irāk, Isfahán and among the shóbahs, or secondary modes, Zabul, Nishapur, and the like. In a Sanskrit book, which shall soon be particularly mentioned, I find the scale of a mode, named Hijeja, specified in the following verse:—\*Māmsagraha sa nyāso’ c’hilo hijejastu sāyāhne\*. The name of this mode is \*not Indian\*; and if I am right in believing it a corruption of Hijāz, which could hardly be written otherwise in the Nagari letters, we must conclude that it was imported from Persia.” ‘On the Musical Modes of the Hindoos’ by Sir William Jones, (S. M. Tagore’s Reprint, 1882, pp. 134-135). ### [c7.33](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.33) Of other examples of the Sanskritization of names of non-Indian or non-Aryan melodies, the most important is Velāvalī. In its original form, which we find twice mentioned in the \*Abhilāṣārtha-cintāmaṇi\* (Ch. 66, 67), it is \*vela-ūllī\*, apparently a Dravidian word. Toḍi, sanskritized as Tuḍikā (Toḍikā), is originally derived from Tuḍḍī. Āśāvarī, and Dhannāsikā (Dhanāśrī), meaningless as Sanskrit terms, probably conceal within their modern forms, their original non-Aryan names. Similarly, ‘Bhāvanā-pañcama’ mentioned as an upa-rāga in \*Saṅgīta-ratnākara\*, is a respectable form of Khammāj rāgiṇī), to be distinguished from ‘Khamvātī’, (see notes on Plate CXIV) is first described by Śāraṅga-deva as ‘Khambhā-itī’ (Vol. I, p. 212) and, then under the respectable name of ‘Stambha-tīrthikā’ ‘the sanctified water from the pillar.’² Names which had no chance to put on respectable garbs of Sanskrit names, are exemplified in Chevāṭī, ### [c7.34](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.34) ² The familiar rāgiṇī known under the popular name of Jhinjhotī (jhijhit) has for its Sanskrit equivalents: ‘Jijāvanta’ ‘Jhinja-vatī. Likewise, Māru, a prākrta word has Māravikā as its Sanskrit form. ### [c7.35](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.35) (1) In Persia, \* \* \* “the modes are chiefly denominated like those of the Greeks and Hindoos, from different regions or towns; as among the pardahs (maquams=rāgas), we see Hijāz, Irāk, Isfahán and among the shóbahs, or secondary modes, Zabul, Nishapur, and the like. In a Sanskrit book, which shall soon be particularly mentioned, I find the scale of a mode, named Hijeja, specified in the following verse:—\*Māmsagraha sa nyāso’ c’hilo hijejastu sāyāhne\*. The name of this mode is \*not Indian\*; and if I am right in believing it a corruption of Hijāz, which could hardly be written otherwise in the Nagari letters, we must conclude that it was imported from Persia.” ‘On the Musical Modes of the Hindoos’ by Sir William Jones, (S. M. Tagore’s Reprint, 1882, pp. 134-135). ### [c7.36](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.36) (2) The familiar rāgiṇī known under the popular name of Jhinjhotī (jhijhit) has for its Sanskrit equivalents: ‘Jijāvanta’ ‘Jhinja-vatī. Likewise, Māru, a prākrta word has Māravikā as its Sanskrit form. ### [c7.37](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.37) Golli¹ Kaccoli, Geranjī and various other non-Aryan names, which should provide, for our philologists, new and rich fields of research. ### [c7.38](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.38) Some of the names are derived from their associations with the season, and seasonal rites, or ṣaturnāliās. To this class belong the Megha-rāga, the melody of the rains, Vasanta, the melody of the spring, the Hiṇḍola, associated with the Swing Festival, and the Śrī-rāga, associated with the harvesting season. The text of \*Saṅgīta-Sudhā\* (early 17th century) alludes to the traditional association of this melody with Lakṣmī, the goddess of Fortune. ‘As it is known to all, it brings fortunes.’² Prathama-mañjarī (lit. ‘the first shoots’) probably borrows its name from its association with early spring. Other melodies associated with the spring and the summer are, Cūta-mañjarī, (lit. ‘the Mango-blossom’), Āmra-pañcama (‘the mango with the fifth note’). ### [c7.39](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.39) The ancient sub-divisions of the rāgas into a sub-group of Kriyāṅga rāgas, have left their traces on some of the melodies—e.g. Guṇakriyā=Guṇakirī (Guṇa-kelī); Rāma-kriyā=Rāma-kirī, Rāma-kri (Rāma-kelī); Nāda-rāma-kriyā=Nāda-rāma-kri; Devakriyā=Devakri; Śiva-kriyā=Śiva-kri.³ When music, and rāga-gītis, originally associated with the stage and the drama, derived assistance and prestige from the cults and cult-worships, the melodies borrowed some more new names. Thus, Bhairava, and Bhairavī (probably associated generally with the Bhīrava clans) became the medium of singing solemn hymns to Śiva. Kedāra (a name of Śiva), Śaṅkarābharaṇa (‘the ornament of Śaṅkara’) and Hara-Śṛṅgāra (‘the passion of Śiva’), are apparently names given by devout Śaiva worshippers. Ghaṇṭā-rava, (lit. ‘the voice of the bell’) is apparently associated with the worship ### [c7.40](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.40) (1) Golli is sometimes met with in the form Gaulī from which the transition to the Sanskrit name Gaurī (to be distinguished from Gaudī) is easy. ### [c7.41](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.41) (2) “Atha Śuddha-rāgāḥ Śrī-rāgāḥ: 1: \*\*\* Vīre rase’sau viniyojaniyo Lakṣmī-pradaḥ sarva-jana-prasiddhaḥ”: 130. \*Saṅgīta-Sudhā\*, Journal, The Music Academy, Vol. III, Nos. 1, 2, 1932, p. 37. Śrī-kanthī, now obsolete, is another melody associated with Lakṣmī. ### [c7.42](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.42) (3) In an intermediate stage, the names of Kriyāṅga melodies take the forms of Guṇa-kṛti, Rāma-kṛti, Deva-kṛti, and so on. ### [c7.43](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.43) in the temple. Kānaḍā came to be associated with the cult of Kṛṣṇa (Kānar, the Hindī-prākṛta form of Kṛṣṇa). The more significant example of a melody associated with Vaiṣṇava worship is the Naṭṭa-Nārāyaṇa (the ‘Dancing Viṣṇu’). ### [c7.44](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.44) Many flower appear to have lent their names to old melodies:—Kusuma (flower), Kamala (lotus), Nilotpalī (blue lotus), Utpalī (lotus), Kumuda (lily), Kaumadakī (appertaining to the lily), Kuraṅga-mālikā (the deer-flower), Mālati (jesamine). ### [c7.45](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.45) Various rāgiṇīs have borrowed names from birds and animals: Kokila (cuckoo), Māyurī (pea-cock), Nāgadhvani (the voice of the snake), Haṃsa-dhvani (the voice of the swan), Vaḍa-haṃsī (the big swan), Kurañjī-Kuraṅgī, (antelope), Vihagaḍā=Vihaṅgaḍā (the bird). ### [c7.46](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.46) Sometimes, individual musicians, princes, chiefs, kings and patrons of music, have recorded their names in melodies created by them, or varieties and innovations introduced by them. The earliest example is the name of the melody Bhāṭiyārī, (‘Bhartṛharikā’, according to the text of Saṅgīta-Sudhā \[early 17th century\]. It is traditionally derived from Bhartṛhari, the famous prince-poet, the author of the Śatakas, who is believed to have lived in the middle of the seventh century. ### [c7.47](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.47) Of master musicians naming melodies after their own names, the typical example is that of the three masters patronised by Raja Mān Thomar of Gwalior, each of whom contributed one variety of mallār, called after them, Bukshoo-ki-mallār,” “Charjoo-ki-mallār,” and “Dhondee-ki-mallār.” The “Bāhādurī-Toḍī” is named after Sultan Bāz Bahadur of Mālwā, (1556-1570) who became their later patron. ### [c7.48](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.48) The Sharqī kings of Jaunpur (1394-1479 A.D.) were patrons of art and architecture. The popular melody still current under the name of ‘Jaunpurī Toḍī’, originated from that area. ### [c7.49](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.49) With the name of Miyān, Tānsen, the famous Court-musician of Akbar, are associated two melodies: ‘Miyān-ki-mallār’ and ‘Darbārī’. Likewise ‘Vilāskhānī-Toḍī’ has been ascribed to Vilās Khan who has been identified as one of the sons of Tānsen. ### [c7.50](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.50) The Sanskrit names and their prākṛta and Hindī variations as well as their vulgarized forms have led to some confusion as to the identity of the names of the melodies and their proper designations. These variations have been given, as far as possible, in the descriptive notes on the Plates. But some of the parallel names may be cited here by way of illustrations: Bhairava=Bhairon; Varāṭī=Varāḍī; Deśākhyā=Desākh; Deśī=Deś; Āśāvarī=Āswāri; Mallārikā=Malhār, Malār; Gūrjjarī=Gujrī; Deva-Gāndhāra=Deo-gāndhār; Travaṇā=Trapaṇā, Trivanī; Triveṇī Hāmvīrī=Hāmmīr; Aḍḍānā=Ādāna. ### [c7.51](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.51) Bungling copyists have contributed their share to the confusion of names. Thus Paṭa-mañjarī, before it emerged in its present form, passed through the following stages, Prathama-mañjarī (Saṅgīta-makaranda, p. 19), Phala-mañjarī, Prati-mañjarī (Rāgārṇava). ### [c7.52](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.52) An example of deliberate transformation is offered in the name Madhuma-vatī (Rāga-sāgara) which subsequently figures as Madhu-mādhavī, associated with Kṛṣṇa (Mādhava). ### [c7.53](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.53) The study of the names, as we have seen, yields important data for the origin and the history of the rāgas. But, they have also their practical uses in correctly apprehending the identity and rasa-values of fundamentally different rāgiṇīs, current under similar or analogous names, and liable to be confused by novices and untrained musicians. We have in current practices a group of identical or analogous names which under misleading designations stand different and generically distinct melodies, different in structure, and in emotional significance, which must be carefully distinguished from each other. Under misleading similarity of names, pairs, or groups of melodies embody different personalities, with widely different rasa-values. ### [c7.54](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.54) In the illustrations, and in the descriptive plates, these pairs of "opposites", masquerading under similar names have been juxtaposed, and their different pictorial portraits have been exemplified. It will be sufficient to cite here the groups of the analogous names: thus Toḍī (Plate XV) and Tuḍī (Plate XXI) represent differing conceptions Kānoḍā, wife of Dīpaka (Plate L) is different from Kānoḍā, wife of Mallāra (Plate LI): Rāmakirī, wife of Bhairo (Plate XXXII) differs in conception from Rāmakirī, wife of Mālava (Plate XXXIII), Fig. A), and also from Rāmakeli, wife of Karṇāṭa (Plate XXXIII, Fig. B): Deśākh (Plate XXXIV), Deśī (Plate XLIII) and Deśakāri (Plate LXXV) represent different melodies; two different melodies are indicated under the analogous names of Lalita (Plate XXXVI) and Lalitā (Plate XXXVII, Fig. D); the verses and pictures illustrating Kedārikā (Plate XLVI) and Kedārī (Plate XLVII) offer divergent portraits; Naṭa (Plate XLIV), Naṭikā, Nāṭa (Plate XLV) and Naṭṭa-nārāyaṇa (Plate LXXIX) embody divergent personifications, and differing emotive values; Sāvirī (Plate LXLVI) and Sāverikā (Plate LXLVII) under analogous names conceal different identities.¹ ### [c7.55](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7.55) (1) In a series of articles published by the author in the Bengali journal Sangita Vijñāna-Praveśikā (Vaiśākh Āsādh, Śrāvaṇa 1341) Calcutta, the topic has been elaborately discussed. ## Linked texts (11) - [Saṅgītaratnākara](https://indike.org/pramana/in.art.sangita.sangraha.sangitaratnakara) — Śārṅgadeva, Sanskrit - [Nāṭyaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.art.natya.natyasastra) — Bharata, Sanskrit - [Bṛhaddeśī](https://indike.org/pramana/in.art.sangita.prachina.brhaddesi) — Mataṅga, Sanskrit - [Archaeological Survey of India Reports (1862–1887)](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.archaeology.asr) - [Mahābhārata](https://indike.org/pramana/in.lit.mahabharata.vyasa) — Vyāsa, Sanskrit - [Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.epigraphy.corpora.cii) - [Saṅgītasudhā (Raghunātha)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.art.sangita.sangraha.sangitasudha) — Raghunātha 1589, Sanskrit - [Bhāvaprakāśana](https://indike.org/pramana/in.art.natya.bhavaprakasana) — Śāradātanaya, Sanskrit - [Saṅgītasamayasāra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.art.sangita.sangraha.sangitasamayasara) — Pārśvadeva, Sanskrit - [Saṅgītamakaranda](https://indike.org/pramana/in.art.sangita.prachina.sangitamakaranda) — Nārada, Sanskrit - [Rāgataraṅgiṇī](https://indike.org/pramana/in.art.sangita.raga.ragatarangini) — Locana Paṇḍita 1706, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.gangoly-1935.c7) · Pramāṇa