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Ragas and Raginis: A Pictorial and Iconographic Study of Indian Musical Modes Based on Original Sources c8: Time Theory

Rāgas and Rāginīs: A Pictorial and Iconographic Study of Indian Musical Modes Based on Original Sources c8

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English

Time Theory

c8.1

One of the characteristic peculiarities of Indian melodies is their traditional association with particular seasons of the year, and with particular hours (watches) of the day and night. According to the Indian theory, there is some inherent quality in some rāgas which allocate them to particular season, and attune them to the peculiar atmosphere of nature prevailing during a given season, the melody interpreting the spirit of the season, and the seasonal atmosphere echoing sympathetically to the character and essence of that melody.) Very antagonistic views have been held by Indian musicians and theorists as to the validity or scientific basis of the so-called relationship between the spirit of a season and its appropriate melodic interpretation, but the theory has been handed down from a period of respectable antiquity. Curiously the earliest texts throw no light on the subject. The works of Dattila, Bharata, and Mataṅga offer no clue for this tradition. And it is not until we come to Nārada’s Saṅgīta-makaranda (a Northern text, probably datable about the 8th-9th centuries) that we come across written authority for this traditional association of melodies with particular seasons and hours of the day. It is quite possible that the assignation of rāgas to particular seasons may be older than the Saṅgīta-makaranda. The seasonal festivities are of great antiquity. The Spring Festival (with its variations for festivals assigned to special flowers e.g. Kaumudīmahotsava—the great festival of the Kumuda flower) is, as we know from ancient dramatic literature, very ancient and was accompanied by gambols at the swing (hindola), very picturesquely described by Rājaśekhara (circa 9th century) in his Karpūramañjarī (ii. 30). It is quite possible that the Vasanta and the Hindola rāgas were melodies specially associated with the spring festivals. The Hindola is the earlier melody, from which the Vasanta has been derived.¹ Some of the texts identify the two melodies as one.² The Solstice-feasts had their appropriate rituals and festivals, with appropriate music, lute-playing, the dramatic appearance of loose women, and the turn of the sun dramatized by discus-play and by mounting of the swing. “Each of the two solstice-festivities had its proper divinity and melody, and the melody of the summer solstice was accompanied by drums, to imitate thunder, while that of the shortest day was accompanied by the rattle of war-cars, representing an attack on the evil spirits of winter. The dancing girls round fire, with full water-jugs, and their singing (‘a joyous song’) were additional popular elements.”³ In this way, the Megha-rāga may have become the ‘proper melody’ of the rainy season, the Vasanta probably became the ‘proper melody’ of spring. Hindola, which, literally, means ‘the swing’, was, probably, associated with, the primæval non-Aryan ‘Festival of Swing’, and, was, later, appropriated by, and affiliated with, the ‘Dolotsava’, or ‘Dola-yātrā’, or the Jhūlana festival of the Kṛṣṇa-Rādhā cult, one of the most popular religious festivals in the North-west. Bhairava (Bhairon) was, probably, related to some festival connected with the worship of Śiva, formerly held in the month of Āsvina (September-October) but now amalgamated with the worship of Durgā (Śāradīyā Pūjā, literally the Autumnal Festival). Śrī-rāga (lit. meaning Lakṣmī, beauty, riches, the presiding deity of the harvest) may easily be connected with the harvesting season in the winter when the crop is cut, raised, and garnared. In most places in Northern India, the worship of Lakṣmī (Śrī) is timed to synchronise with the collection of the harvest in early winter. Śrī-rāga may, therefore, have been the ‘proper melody’ associated with the harvest festivals in winter. The melodies Bhairava, Hindola, Vasanta and Śrī-rāga must have

c8.2

(1) “Iti Hindolah|| Vasantastat-samudhbhavah|| Pūrnastallaksano desī-hindolo’pyesa kathyate|| 96 || Sangīta-Ratnākara, Vol. 1, p. 197.
(2) Hindolah: “Ayameva Vasantākhyah prokto rāga-vicaksanah”| Sangita-Samaya-sāra, p. 17.
(3) ‘Hindu Festivals and Fasts,’ Hastings’ Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics, Vol. p. 868b.

c8.3

been the oldest primary rāgas, originally borrowed from the season festivals. The relation of Mālava-Kaiśika (Mālkaus) to a particular season is difficult to explain. Pañcama was originally associated with Autumn and was later replaced by Mālava-Kaiśika. Someśvara is the earliest authority to codify the tradition of allocating the six rāgas to the six seasons. According to this authority, quoted in *Saṅgīta-darpaṇa* (1) Śrī-rāga is the melody of the Winter (2) Vasanta of the Spring season (3) Bhairava of the Summer season (4) Pañcama of the Autumn (5) Megha of the Rainy season and (6) Naṭa-nārāyaṇa of the early Winter.¹

c8.4

The allocation of the six rāgas to the six seasons was never perhaps an invariable injunction and the practice must have varied time to time throughout the ages. Thus, according to the *Saṅgīta-kaumudī*, Vasanta is to be sung during the period between the festival of Śrī-Pañcamī (now identified with the festival of the worship of the goddess Saraswatī) and the great festival of Durgā, and Mālava belongs to the months between the festival of Indra up to the time of the worship of the Regents of the Four Quarters. Various authorities have given varying suggestions for the seasons for the melodies, certain practices are proper to certain regions, and the singers should honour local or regional practices.²

c8.5

(1) “Śrī-rāgo rāginī-yuktaḥ śiśire gīyate vudhaiḥ|
Vasanta sa-sahāyastu vasantarttou pragīyate|| 27 ||
Bhairavaḥ sa-sahāyastu rtou grisme pragīyate|
Pañcamastu tathā geyo rāginya saha śārade|| 28||
Megha-rāgo rāginībhir-yukto varśāsu gīyate|
Naṭa-nārāyaṇo rāgo rāginya saha hemake|| 29 ||
Yathecchayā vā gātavyā sarvvarttusu sukha-pradāḥ|| 30
Yathecchayā vā gātavyā sarvvarttusu sukha-pradāḥ|| 30
Iti rāgānām rtu-nirnayaḥ| Iti Someśvara-matam”|
Quoted in *Saṅgīta-darpaṇam*, Calcutta Edition, p. 75.

c8.6

Although the six rāgas are assigned to six different seasons, there is no immutable rule, or prohibition to sing any of them in seasons not assigned to it. As the last line suggests, ‘singers have the option to sing any of the rāgas in all seasons, for the sake of pleasure.’

c8.7

(2) “Śrī-Pañcamim samārabhya yāvat-Durgā-mahotsavam|
Tāvad Vasanto gīyata prabhāte Bhairavādikaḥ||

c8.8

Whilst associated, on the one hand, with the seasons, the rāgas are also related to specific hours of the day, or night. Each rāga is connected with a special mood, or passion, and it is therefore fitting that each melody should also have a special time appropriate to it. Considerable mystic significance is ascribed to the singing of a particular rāga in its appropriate hour and some music scholars have recently discovered some physiological basis in the structure of the rāgas which seem to offer some rational explanation for assigning particular melodies to particular hours.

c8.9

It is in the *Saṅgīta-makaranda* that we find, for the first time, a classification of melodies according to their proper hours for singing. In this text, melodies are divided into solar or daytime rāgas, and lunar (*candramāṃsja*) or nocturnal rāgas. According to this text (Ch. III, 10-23), the time-table of the melodies is indicated below:

c8.10

Morning melodies: Gāndhāra, Deva-gāndhāra, Dhan-nāsī, Saindhavī, Nārāyaṇī, Gurjarī, Vangāla, Paṭamañjarī, Lalita, Āndola-śrī, Saurāṣṭreya, Jaya-saksikā, Malhāra, Sāma-vedī, Vasanta, Śuddha-Bhairava, Velāvalī, Bhūpāla, Soma-rāga.

c8.11

Noon-day melodies: Śankarābharaṇa, Pūrva (?), Valahamsa, Deśī, Manoharī, Sāverī, Dombulī Kāmbhojī, Gopī-kāmbhojī, Kaiśikī, Madhu-mādhavī, Vāhuli (two varieties), Mukhārī, Maṅgala-kauśika.

c8.12

Madhyāhne tu Varāṭyādeh sāyam Karṇāṭa-nātayoh|
Śri-rāga-mālavādestu gāne doso na vidyate iti||
Indra-pūjām samāsādya yāvad-dik-devatārccanam|
Tāvadeva samuddiṣṭam gānam vai Mālavāśaryam||
Evamtu vahudhā-cāryyair-gāna-kālah samīritah|
Yasmin deśe yathā ṣiṣṭar-gitam-vijñas-tathācaret”||
Saṅgita-Kaumudi (quoted in S. M. Tagore’s
Saṅgita-sāra-samgraha p. 112).

c8.13

The following version is offered in Locana Kavi’s *Rāga-taraṅgiṇī*, on the authority of Tumburu:

c8.14

Śri-Pañcamim samārabhya yāvatsyāt śayanam Hareh|
Tāvad-Vasanta-rāgasya gānamuktam maniṣibhih||
Indutthānam samārabhya yāvad-Durgā-mahotsavam|
Prātar-geyastu Deśākho Lalitah Paṭa-mañjarī|| Poona Edition, p. 12.

c8.15

After-noon melodies: Gauḍa and the derivatives therefrom. Nocturnal melodies: Śuddha-nāṭa, Salaṅga, Naṭī, Śuddha-varāṭikā, Goula, Mālava-gauḍa, Śrī-rāga, Aharī, Rāmakṛti, Rañjī, Chāyā, Sarva-varāṭikā, Dravatikā, Deśī, Nāgavarāṭikā, Karṇāṭa, Haya-gauḷī.

c8.16

Singing melodies in hours not appropriate to them are discouraged and this text asserts that, ‘melodies are liable to be killed if sung during in-appropriate hours, and whoever listens to them (at wrong hours) courts poverty and shortens his span of life.’ Exceptions are made on the following occasions viz., marriages, gifts, and hymns to deities when, singing unassigned melodies, excepting Bhairavī, does not amount to an offence.¹

c8.17

In the *Saṅgīta-ratnākara*, the theory of assigning times, or hours to the melodies is not alluded to, or discussed. Nevertheless, the hour and the season for singing most of the grāma-rāgas, and some of the Deśī rāgas are casually indicated. Curiously, although the Megha-rāga is described, its appropriate season, or hour is not indicated. The following time-table is derived from the text of Śāraṅga-deva:

c8.18

| First watch of the day (Winter) | Śuddha-Kaiśika, Bhinna-Kaiśika. |
| First watch of the day (Summer) | Bhinna-Pañcama, Madhyama-grāma-rāga, and Śuddha-pañcama. |
| First watch of the Noon-time melody (Rains) | Ṣaḍja-grāma-rāga. |

c8.19

(1) “*Rāga-velā-pragānena rāgānām himsako bhavet* | *Yaḥ śṛṇoti sa dāridrī āyur-naśyati sarvadā*|| 24 || *Vivāha-samaye dāna-devatā-stuti-samyute* | *Avelā-rāga-mākarnya na doso Bhairavīm vinā*”|| 26 *Saṅgīta-makaranda*. (G.O.S. XVI, p. 15).

c8.20

According to *Saṅgīta-mālā*, attributed to Mammata, Vasanta, Rāmakirī, Gujjarī and Surasā can be sung at all times without any offence :

c8.21

“*Vasanto Rāma kirīca Gujjarī, Surasāpica* | *Sarvasmin gīyate kāle naiva doso’ bhijāyate*”|| cited in Tagore’s *Saṅgīta-Sāra Saṃgraha*, p. 113.

c8.22

First watch of the day (Autumn .. .. Bhinna-ṣaḍja. Early part of the day .. Śuddha-ṣaḍava, Bhinna-kaiśika-madhyama. Second watch of the day .. .. .. .. Gauḍa-kaiśika-madhyama. During the noon .. .. Gauḍa-pañcama (summer), Gauḍa-kaiśika (winter), Hindola (spring) and Takka-Kaiśika. During the afternoon .. Vesara-ṣaḍava, Mālava-pañ- cama, Souvīra and Takka (Rains). Last watch of the day .. Bhoṭṭa, Mālava-kaiśika (winter), Travaṇā. First watch of the Bhinna-tāna, Śuddha-kaiśikaevening .. .. .. madhyama.

c8.23

The day and night are divided into 8 parts or watches (praharas, or yāma), each of the duration of three hours each.

c8.24

Locana Kavi (1375-1400 A.D.) in his Rāga-taraṅginī cites two different traditions, one ancient, based on the authority of Tumburu, another of later times (arvācīna) probably based on the practices current in his time. Morning melodies .. .. Deśākha, Lalita, Paṭamanjarī Vibhāṣā, Bhairavī, Kāmoda, Guṇḍakarī. Morning-time melody .. .. .. Varāḍī. Evening melodies .. .. Karṇāṭa, Mālava, and Naṭa.

c8.25

The remaining melodies can be sung at any time, except that the melodies Naṭa, Gauḍī, Varāḍī, Gurjarī, Deśī are forbidden during the early part of the day, and that Bhairavī and Lalita should not be sung in the afternoon. Further exceptions are offered during the night after the tenth watch. Lastly, it is asserted that on the stage, and under royal command, singing a melody at inappropriate hours does not amount to an offence.¹ The author sums up the authority

c8.26

¹ “Daśa-daṇdāt-param rātrou sarvesām gānamiritam| Ranga-bhūmau nrpājñāyām kāla-doso na vidyate”||

c8.27

(1) “Daśa-daṇdāt-param rātrou sarvesām gānamiritam| Ranga-bhūmau nrpājñāyām kāla-doso na vidyate”|| of Tumburu by suggesting that the melodies appear pleasant and attractive when sung in appropriate hours, and that the rules have been framed on the basis of the structure of the notes.¹

c8.28

II. Bhairava belongs to the hour before dawn (*brāmhe muhūrte*); Rāmakirī to the time of the first flush of the dawn; Velāvalī, to the early morning. Then comes Subhagā (?). After the early morning come Toḍī, Saṃkarā, and Varādī. To the third watch of the day belongs Āśāvarī. To the noon belong Kāphī and Sāraṅga. Naṭa and Mālava are to be sung during the afternoon. The evening is the time for Gaurī. At the beginning of the night, Kalyāṇa should be sung, and Kedāra should be sung late at night. Karṇāṭa belongs to the second watch of the night, while, Ādanā belongs to the third watch. Sourāṣṭra is assigned to the afternoon, Pañcama to the morning, while Mallāra belongs to the hours of the cloudy sky.

c8.29

Puṇḍarīka Viṭṭhala, does not treat the topic separately. But in his *Rāgamālā*, and *Sad-rāga-candrodaya*, he indicates, —the appropriate time for each of the rāgas described by him, and from these indications the following time-table has been derived:

c8.30

| Early Morning Melodies | .. Śuddha-vaṅgāla, Karṇāṭa-van-gāla, Mallāra, Vasanta, Madhu-mādhavī, Kāmbhojī, Suhavī. |
| Sunrise Melodies | .. Śankarābharaṇa, Turuṣka-Toḍī. |
| Morning Melodies | .. Toḍī, Lalita, Bhairava, Bhairavī, Tuḍikā, Vibhāṣā, Gurjarī, Pañcama, Gouṇḍakriti, Dhannāsī, Deśākṣī, Nārāyaṇa-Gouḍa, Velāvalī, Madhyamādi, Bhupālī (?), Sāverī, Hindola, Sāmanta, Vahulī. |
| Noon-tide Melodies | .. Śuddha-nāṭa, Sālanga-nāṭa, Deva-kriti, |

c8.31

(1) *“Yathā kāle samārabdham gitam bhavati rañjakam|* *Atah svarasya niyamād rāge’pi niyamahkṛtaḥ||* *Rāga-taraṅginī,* Deśikāra. Afternoon Melodies .. Vāhulī, Sāraṅga, Jayata-śrī. Sunset Melodies .. Gauḍī, Revaguptī, Śrī-rāga, Kāmod, Ābhirī, Travaṇī, Kalyāṇa, Śuddha-Gauḍa, Devakri, Sālaṅga-nāṭa (?), Karṇāṭa. Evening Melodies .. Kalyāṇa, Śrī-rāga, Guṇa-karī, Kāmbhojī, Gauḍa, Drāviḍa-Gauḍa, Sourāṣṭrī, Chāya-nāṭa, Sāmanta, Pāḍī, Nāda-rāmakriyā, Varālī, Ravaṇa, Jijāvanta (Jhijhint), Hamira-nāṭa, Sāverī, Vihāgaḍa Nocturnal Melodies .. Kedāra. Melodies suitable for all hours¹ .. Mukhārī, Kurañjī, Rāma-kri, Vaṅgāla, Āśāvarī (?), Prathama-mañjarī, Deva-gāndharā, Mālava-śrī, Bhairavī, Saindhavī, Naṭṭa-nārāyaṇa, Hijeja, Śuddha-varāṭī, Deśī, Paraja-Vaṅgāla, Śyāma, Takka, Mālaśrī.

c8.32

The Śuddha-nāṭa offers some difficulties. In the *Sadrāga-candrodaya* (p. 18) it is assigned to the middle of the day² while in the *Rāgamālā* (p. 22), it is assigned to the evening.³ Likewise, Bhūpālī, considered as an evening melody in current practice is assigned in the *Sadrāga-candrodaya* to the morning.⁴ Similarly, Bhairavī regarded as a morning melody (*prabhāte*) in the *Rāgamālā* is assigned to all hours in the *Sadrāga-candrodaya*.⁵

c8.33

(1) ‘Sadā,’ ‘satatam,’ ‘nityam,’ śāśvad, ‘sadāhar-niśim,’ ‘divā-niśam,’ ‘anavarata-nāda’.
(2) “Syāt śuddha-nāṭo’hani tūrya-yāme”|| *Sadrāga-candrodaya*, p. 18.
(3) “Sandhyāyām tuja-mārge sāradi hayagati rājate śuddha-nāṭah”,| *Rāga-mālā*.
(4) “Bhūpālikā prātarasou vigeyā”|| *Sadrāga-candrodaya*, p. 19.
(5) “Sadā Bhairavikā geyā”|| Ibid.

c8.34

Rāmāmatya, without commenting on the topic, indicates the appropriate hours for some of the melodies in his *Svara-kalā-nidhi* (Ch. V) from which the following time-table has been derived:

c8.35

Early morning: Mallārī, Velāvalī, Sāverī. Morning: Lalita, Dhannyāsī, Nārāyanī, Karnāta-Vangāla, Vasanta-Bhairavī, Bhūpalī. Former part of the day (*pūrva-yāme*): Deśākṣī, Baulī Gauṇḍakriyā. Afternoon: Śudda-rāma-kriyā. Latter part of the day (*paścime-yāme*): Naṭī, Sāraṅga-naṭa, Bhairavī, Karnāta-gauda, Hejujji Madhyamādi, Revaguptī. Fourth or last part of the day (*carame-yāme*): Sāmanta, Śuddha-Vasanta, Kedāra-Gauḍa, Nāda-rāma-kriyā, Pāḍī. Evening: Mālava-Gauḍa, Śrī-rāga, Kambhojī, Rīti-Gauḍa, Saurāstra, Sung at all hours (*sarva-yāme*): Varālī, Mukhārī Mālava-Śrī, Hindola, Sāmavarālī, Nāgadvani, Soma-rāga, Ghaṇṭārava, Bhinna-ṣadja.

c8.36

A peculiar suggestion is that Bhairavī should be sung during the latter part of the day, which seems to mean, the afternoon.¹

c8.37

¹ “*Sampūrno Bhairavī-rāgah sanyāsah śamśako matah*|| Sadja-grahas tathā geyo yāme’hnah paścime ca sah”|| 25 || Svara-kalā-nidhi, Aiyar’s edition, p. 35.

c8.38

Somanātha (1609 A.D.) in his *Rāga-vivodha* (Ch. V) devotes ten verses to the time-theory which we cite here from the translation given in Mr. M. S. R. Aiyar’s Edition (Madras, 1933 p. 27):—“The Timings of the Rāgas.”

c8.39

“7-10. The Rāgas beginning with Śaṅkarābharaṇa should be sung at daybreak; the Rāgas beginning with Jaithaśrī, in the morning; the Rāgas beginning with Toḍi, in the dawn; the Rāgas beginning with Goṇḍa, in the noon;

c8.40

(1) “*Sampūrno Bhairavī-rāgah sanyāsah śamśako matah*|| *Sadja-grahas tathā geyo yāme’hnah paścime ca sah*”|| 25 || *Svara-kalā-nidhi*, Aiyar’s edition, p. 35.

c8.41

MĀLAVĪ (MĀLAVA-GAUḌĪ RĀGINĪ)

c8.42

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.

c8.43

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.

c8.44

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.

c8.45

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.

c8.46

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.

c8.47

the Rāgas beginning with Bahulī, in the afternoon; the Rāgas beginning with Saurāṣṭra, in the evening; the Rāgas beginning with Suddha-nāṭa, in the dusk, and the Rāgas beginning with Karnāṭa, in the night. And finally the following Rāgas may be sung always:—Mālā-śrī, Dhavala, Mukhārī, Rāmakriyā, Pāvakā, Saindhavī, Āsāvarī, Gāndhāra, Māravī and Paraja. The above-mentioned Rāgas deserve to be sung successively in their respectively appointed times.”

c8.48

In verses (37-166) further indications are given as to rāgas to be sung at different parts of the day, or night.

c8.49

In the *Saṅgīta-darpaṇa* (c. 1625 A.D.), the following time-table of the melodies is indicated:

c8.50

| Morning (3 hours from day-break)¹: | Madhumādhavī, Desākhya, Bhūpālī, Bhairavī, Velāvalī, Mallārī, Vallārī (? Vangālī), Soma Gurjjarī, Dhanāśrī, Mālavaśrī, Megha-rāga, Pañcama, Deśakārī, Bhairava, Lalita, Vasanta. |
| Morning (after the first watch): | Gurjjarī, Kauśika, Sāveri, Paṭa-mañjarī, Revā Gunakirī, Bhairavī, Rāmakirī, Saurāṭī. |
| Day-time (after the third watch): | (Gauḍī), Trivanā, Naṭṭakalyāṇa, Sāranga, Natta, Naṭas (all varieties), Karnāṭī Ābhīrikā, Vada-haṃsī, Pāhāḍī. |

c8.51

None of the melodies is specially assigned to the evening hours, but it is generally asserted that ‘these melodies (that is to say, the last group assigned to the hours after the third watch) are pleasant to hear up till mid-night.’² “The melodies are to be sung at appropriate hours, following ancient traditions, except that in performances under royal com-

c8.52

(1) “*Prātarārabhya praharam yāvadityarthah*” (S. M. Tagore’s note, in his edition of *Saṅgīta-darpaṇa*, p. 73).
(2) “*Ardha-rātrāvadhi-jñeyā ete rāgah sukhapradāh*”

c8.53

mand, time is of no consideration.¹

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In an excellent paper² read before the Fourth All-India Music Conference at Lucknow (1925), Pandit V. N. Bhatkhande, expounding the time theory of rāgas, has pointed out the two-fold division of the rāgas into (i) Pūrva rāgas i.e. rāgas fit to be sung between mid-day and mid-night and (ii) Uttara rāgas i.e., rāgas fit to be sung between mid-night and mid-day. The significance of this classification with reference to the time theory is thus explained by him: “Now it will be observed that in the case of rāgas falling under the first division (Pūrva rāgas) the vādī note will be one of the following notes: sa, ri, ga, ma, invariably, and that in the case of the rāgas falling under the second division (Uttara rāgas), the vādī note will be one of the following notes: ma, pa, dha, ni, sa. The whole scale for this purpose is supposed to be made up of two “Aṅgas,” (parts), namely, the Pūrvāṅga, and the Uttarāṅga. The Pūrvāṅga extends from ‘Sa’ to ‘Pa’, and the Uttarāṅga from ‘Ma’ to ‘Sa’. In other words, then, in the case of the Pūrva rāgas, the vādī note always falls within the Pūrvāṅga and in the case of the Uttara rāgas, the vādī note always falls within the Uttarāṅga. From this you will see, that the proper location of the vādī note will enable you to determine whether a particular rāga is to be sung between mid-day and mid-night, or between mid-night and mid-day.”³ The relation of the time to be assigned to the Pūrvāṅga rāgas inter se is determined on another principle deduced from the structure of the rāgas. For this purpose rāgas can be divided into three groups: (i) Group taking sharp-ri, -ga, and -dha. (ii) Group taking flat-ri, and sharp-ga and -ni. (iii) Group taking flat -ga and -ni.⁴

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(1) “Yathokta-kāla evaite geyāḥ pūrna-vidhānataḥ|| Rājajñayā sadā geyā na tu kalam vicārayet”|| 26 || (Ibid, p. 74).

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(2) ‘The Modern Hindusthānī Rāga system and the simplest method of studying the same’ published in the Report of the Fourth All-India Music Conference, Lucknow, Vol. II, 1895, pp. 114-147.

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(3) Ibid, p. 134.

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(4) “Ri-ga-dha-tīvrakā rāga varge’ grime vyavasthitāḥ| Sandhi-prakāśanāmānaḥ ksiptā varge dvitīyake|| Trtiye nihitāḥ sarve ga-ni-komala-maṇḍitāḥ||”

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It will be seen that the rāgas belonging to the first group, are sung between 7 P.M. up to mid-night, and between 7 A.M. and mid-day. While the rāgas of the second group are sung between the 4 P.M. and 7 P.M. and 4 A.M. and 7 A.M. These correspond to Pūrva-rāgas to be sung in the evening, the Uttara-rāgas to be sung in the morning. They are designated ‘Sandhi-prakāśa’ rāgas (i.e. melodies which unify the two other groups). For the rāgas, belonging to the third group, come between the first and the second group.¹

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Thus, the vādī note will determine whether a rāga belongs to the Pūrva, or Uttara group, and an analysis of the note-structure will determine during what quarter of the day or night, a particular rāga is fit to be sung. Another determinant element is offered by the use of the note sharpened ‘ma’ (tīvra madhyama). “Most of the rāgas taking a tīvra ma in their construction are rāgas assigned to the period between sunset and sunrise. The note Madhyama (f), therefore is looked upon as an ‘Adva-darśika’ or guiding note.² This function of the note ‘ma’ (f) is very picturesquely illustrated by Vyankatamakhi in his Catur-daṇḍi-prakāśikā: ‘Just as by a drop of curd, a jar of sweet milk is converted to the quality of curd, so by the introduction of the note ‘ma’, a Pūrva rāga melody is turned into an Uttara-rāga melody.”³ Pandit Bhatkhande cites Pūrvī and Bhairava; Kalyāṇa and Bilāwala as practical illustrations of this principle. Thus, the

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[Report of the Fourth All-India Music Conference, 1925, Vol. II, p. 134.]

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(1) According to an anonymous writer, (Leader, October, 1925), some ancient authority (not cited) the use of the notes Ri (d) and Pa (g) are forbidden early in the morning. According to him, the prolonged use of Ri at that time produces fatal results and that of Pa damages the teeth.

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(2) “Madhyamenānurūpena yato’ sāv-adhva-darśakah||” [Report, Fourth Music Conference, Vol. II, p. 131.]

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(3) “Katāha-sambhṛtam kṣiram kevalam dadhi-vindunā| Yathā sam-yojyamānam tu dadhi-bhāvam prapadyate|| 65 Tathaiva pūrva-melāste madhyamena mi-samjnikāh| Kevalenāpi sam-yuktā bhajantyuttara-melatām”|| 65 Catur-daṇḍi-prakāśikā, Poona Edition, p. 24.

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Bhairava *ṭhāṭ* can be changed into the Pūrvī *ṭhāṭ* by the substitution of *tīvra madhyama* for *Śuddha-madhyama*. So, we find that the melodies of the Bhairava group e.g. Bhairva, Yogiyā, Vibāsa, Gunakarī etc., take the *Śuddha-madhyama* and are sung in the morning; while those belonging to the Pūrvī group, viz., Śrī, Gaurī, Jeta-Śrī, Puriyā-Dhānesvarī, Mālavī, Travanī, use the *tīvra madhyama* and are sung in the evening. The *Sandhi-prakāśa rāgas*, assigned to the period of time which represents the junction (*Sandhi*) of the day and night, use both the *madhyamas*; one group is sung just before sunrise (e.g. Lalita, Pañcama, Bhāṭiyārī, Rāmakeli etc.) while the other group, (Pūrvī and its cognates) are sung just after sunset.

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It follows, therefore, as a result of the analysis of the note-structure of the *rāgas*, that "Rāgs taking both Ri and Dha komala, Rāgs with both Ri and Dha Tīvra, or Ga and Ni Tīvra, and Rāgs containing both Ga and Ni Komal, will succeed, one after the other, in order of time."¹

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Since, *rāgas* connote different and differentiated states of feelings, or emotive flavours (*rasas*), Indian theorists lay great stress on their relative difference in note-structures, corresponding to their relative emotive significances. A correct apprehension of the form of an individual *rāga*, therefore, involves an accurate understanding of its differences from cognate and other forms of related *rāgas*. The grouping and classification of *rāgas*, according to some principles or other, have, therefore, provided important chapters in all ancient text-books. These principles have varied from time to time, and have led to a bewildering variety of catalogues, groups, and classifications. For the purpose of convenient comparisons, we have set out a large variety of groups, or classifications in tabulated forms, arranged as far as practicable in a chronological sequence in the Appendices, (a list of which is summarised on the page opposite). It is not always possible, without accurate informations as to the note-structures of *rāgas* current at different periods of evolution, to discover the principles on which *rāgas* have been grouped, or classified. Various principles of

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(1) S. N. Karnad: "Time Theory," Report of the *Fourth All-India Music Conference*, Lucknow, 1925, Vol. II, pp. 202-08, at p. 205.

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grouping have been evolved and followed during a long course of evolution which can be usefully studied in the Appendices.

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The earliest classification of the rāgas has been based on the number of notes used in their structures, according to which they fall under (1) Oḍava (five-notes), (2) Khāḍava (six-notes), and (3) Sampūrṇa (seven-notes) classes, or types. Dattila, the earliest musical authority of some reasonable authenticity, gives another principle of classification (later followed by several text-writers). He catalogues the melodies under 18 jātis (species) of which seven are named after the seven notes and the remaining eleven according to their component notes. This is followed by Bharata, who basing the classification under jātis, evolve from the jātis, a group called grāma-rāgas, which are generic rāgas themselves, derived from the jāti-rāgas. As the two groups of rāgas are classed under two grāmas (scales), seven under ṣaḍja-grāma, and eleven under Madhyama-grāma, they came to be designated as grāma-rāgas.

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As has been pointed out, “Songs (gītis) have been sung long before the rāgas as such were formulated” (Fox-Strangways). By the time of Matanga, the songs, or melodies (gītis) were grouped under seven classes of which the fifth, viz. the rāga-gīti was the most significant, the group of melodies being recognised by the name of ‘rāgas’. They were seven in number, some having proper names derived from the names of early tribes, or from ancient culture areas. As new melodies were discovered or accepted they were affiliated to one or other of these seven rāga-gītis, which were regarded as root-rāgas, and the new melodies were accepted as bhāṣās or derivatives of the root-rāgas, or major melodies. As other new melodies were discovered, or evolved,—they were accepted as bibhāṣās (derivatives of bhāṣās) and as bhāṣāngas, kriyāngas, and rāgāngas. The relation of rāgas and bhāṣās and bibhāṣās are akin to the later classification of rāgas and rāginīs.

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We have another system of classification, into śuddha and vikṛta jātis (species) according to the use made of śuddha (pure, natural, normal) notes, or vikṛta (chromatic) notes. This is referred to both in Bharata (Kāvya-mālā edition, p. 308) and in the Saṅgita-ratnākara (Poona edition p. 74-76).

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Somewhat akin to this classification,—is another classification of rāgas into ‘Śuddha’, ‘Sālaṅka’ and ‘Saṅkīrṇa’. A Śuddha rāga was understood to represent a melody which follows its own individual structural form, without carrying the suggestion of any other melodies. Sālaṅka sometimes called Chāyā-laga, carrying the ‘shadows’, or reflections of other melodies) rāgas are those compounded of two distinct rāgas. It is a ‘mixed’ melody, a compound, or an amalgam of two rāgas, a ‘hybrid’. In Rāga-taraṅginī, a chapter is devoted to describing the component modes of hybrid melodies. Some masters e.g. those in the course of Mān Thomar, specialised in evolving new types of hybrid melodies by combining well-known modes. This combination of melodies is technically called ‘crossing of modes’ (rāga-śaṅkara). Hence, a mode derived by crossing more than two melodies can be known as saṅkīrṇas (cross-breeds). This principle of classification survives in the Nāṭya-locana, which cites 44 melodies of the Śuddha type, 16 of the Sālaṅka type, and 22 of the ‘Sandhi’ (probably an equivalent of Saṅkīrṇa) types.

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Then followed the principle of classifying the rāgas according to structural affinity, or resemblance of note-structure. This sometimes involves grouping of similar melodies under one group, or genus, a group of rāgas. The Northern and Southern systems followed different methods, if not, different principles of classification.

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When we come to Nārada’s Saṅgīta Makaranda, we have the beginning of the Northern system, in which the major rāgas are treated as ‘masculine’ melodies and minor melodies are treated as ‘feminine’ melodies, affianced, or affiliated to the major melodies. Thus Nārada gives two different schemes, in the first of which he enumerates eight major melodies with three minor melodies assigned to each, and in the second, he enumerates six major melodies with six minor melodies (female rāgas) assigned to each, the earliest enumeration of the traditional “thirty-six rāgiṇīs.”

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The Northern and the Southern systems of classification, originaly, involved no fundamental difference of principles. In the Southern system, the derivative melodies were called ‘janyas’ or derivatives of the major melodies which were called janakas or ‘fathers’ (later called melakas, or unifiers). In the Northern system, the minor melodies were picturesquely called ‘wives’ of the major melodies, and the later derivatives, designated as sons (putras), just as in the Southern system the ‘janyas’ are in the position of the sons of the ‘janakas’ (the fathers).

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The Northern system is followed in the following texts: (1) Sangīta Makaranda (Appendix 4), (2) Sangīta-ratnamālā (Appendix 5), (3) Mānasollāsa (Appendix 8), (4) Rāgārṇava (Appendix 12), (5) Rāga-sāgara (Appendix 11).

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The Southern, or the Carnatic system is followed in the following texts: (1) Sangīta-ratnakara (Appendix 9), (2) Sangīta-taraṅginī (Appendix 16), (3) Svaramela-kalānidhi (Appendix 17). (4) Rāga-Vivodha (Appendix 20), (5) Caturdaṇḍi-prakāśikā (Appendix 24), (6) Sangīta-sudhā.

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In the Southern system, the secondary, or minor melodies (janyas) are formed, principally, by using in a new combination five or more of the notes used in the primary, or major rāgas (janaka), variations being obtained from the primary rāgas, by omitting certain notes in the ascent, or descent.

Linked texts (13)