CHAPTER - III

GENERAL STUDY OF
SANGITA RATNAKARA
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itself and the last one for dance. The adhyaya s are on swara, raga , prakirnaka,
prabandha, ta.la , vadya and nritha.

SWARAGATHADHYAYA
'Swara' chapter is divided in to eight divisions known as prakaranas.

Padartha Sangraha Prakarana:

It contains, the history and intention of the author, the sources that helped
the author to write such a work etc After the prayer to the Almighty God,
Sarangadeva describes about his genealogy.

Life History:

The author Sarangadeva worked in the court of King Immadi Devaraya

of Devagiri, Deccan. His father, Sodala deva, was a Kashmiri Brahmin who had
migrated to the South and taken service under the king. Sarangadeva was an
uncommon prodigy. He was a scholar and poet in Sanskrit. He was well
acquainted with all the literature on music in Sanskrit and Tamil. He was a
master of not only the theory but also of Practice. Music was so much a part of
himself that he fathomed it to its core and brought to the surface all the gems that
lay imbedded in the deep. His has haul, doubtless was a Ratnakara, a pearl
(diamond) mine.

Bindotpathi Prakarana:

The second section Bindotpathi prakarana deals with such subjects as

sound, God' creation of world, human body, types of human feelings, emotions
etc. Combining vedantha, ayurveda and yoga he explains the genesis of the
human body. Human beings acquire the power of speaking, seeing, touching,
feeling etc. from the sky. Nadagives birth to sruthi. Sruthis give birth to
7 swaras shadja, rishabha, gandhara, madhayama, panchama, dhaivata and
nishada. Association of the sound of different animals with the swaras shadja,
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rishabha etc. are discussed. After sruthi is produced, a loving enchanting and
pleasing sound called 'swara'. Swaras are of 4 kinds vadi, samvadi, anuvadi &
vivadi. There are 5 sruthi jathis like Deepta, Ayata, Kamna, Mridu and Madhya.
He classified the 22 sruthis in to the above mentioned five jathis. At the end of
part I of the work, S.D has quoted swara prastharas. The first part contains the
basic i nformation in sangita. The ordinary swaras are mentioned in chapter V.
Four kinds of ordinary swaras are named as kakali - ordinary, antara ordinary,
shadja ordinary and madhyama ordinary. Kakali ordinary and shadja ordinary are
related to Nishada because in this state, Nishada neither remains at its original or
basic place nor does it acquire the place of its preceding note shadja. Like wise
in between gandhara and madhyama is Antara 'ga'. After singing s, kakali and
Dhaivata should be sung in that order in rising pitch. Similarly, after singing
madhyama, gandhara and rishabha should be sung.

It is sure that each and every component of these swara groups are the
integral part of the Raga formation in Indian music. Sarangadeva mentions about
the embellishments in music like Varna, Tana, Alankara, Gamaka, Kaku and
Sthaya in detail.

Sarangadeva has described kaku as one of the varieties of sthaya in

context of music. The word 'chhaya' has been used as synonym for kaku. It is
related to Swara, Raga , Anya Raga , Desi, Kshetra, Yantra respectively. If a
particular note of a raga acquires a subdued but distinct tonal shade by leaning
towards another note, it is called swara kaku.

Raga Kaku:- Phrases and idioms already enriched with swatakaku and arranged,
in such a manner that it establishes the Ragas own unique personality.

Anya Raga Kaku:- Showing shade of another raga. The remaining three ie,
yantra kaku, Desa kaku, khetra kaku are related to the tonal colour depending on
cultural background and pronunciation habits of a performer.

Desa Kaku: Regional versions or varieties of ragas.

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Kshetra Kaku: The uniqueness of each musician's voice affects the rendering
of raga and gives different tonal colour.

Yantra Kaku: Typical tonal quality of sound produced by different instruments

like vTna, flute etc.

Sarangadeva has defined sthaya as a component or part of a raga. In

Sanskrit 'stha' means 'to stay'. Sthayas are the essence of ragas from which the
ragas can be identified. Sarangadeva has mentioned 96 varieties of sthayas under
prasidha, Aprasidha and misra categories.

Sarangadeva describes elaborately about the genesis of human

em bodiment, formation of embryo vegetation etc. 'Ojas' is the essence of vitality
and action of the body. Much of the explanations seems to be based on Susruta
and Charaka with minor variations. Various instruments and the physical organs
are related to each other with their respective functions. Mind and intellect
(buddhi) are responsible for self-consciousness.

There are 3 kinds of gunas such as satwa, rajas and tamas. The body is a
composite of the five great elements (Maha boothas) and has acquired their
qualities. Sound is the faculty of hearing; There are five types of motion viz,
upwards, downwards, contraction, linear movement and expansion from air.
Amongst the ten modifications of air (breath in the body), 'priina' which is the
most important one is situated below the root of the navel and operates through
the navel and the heart, the mouth, the nostrils and causes the verbalisation of
speech. 'Apana' is stationed in the anal region and the genitals, waist, legs,
abdomen, the root of the navel, the groin, the thighs and the knees. 'Vyiina'
dwells in the eyes, ears, ankles, waist and the nose. 'Udiina' abides in the hands,
the feet and the joints of limbs Samiina pervades the whole body. It is running
through the seventy two thousand nerve channels of the body accompanied by
the digestive (fire).
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According to Ayurvedic theory, the sensory perception takes place

because of the fact that the senses as well as the sense objects are basically made
out of the same material and so there is a correlation between them. From fire
(the body acquires) sight, from bile-digestion, lustre, wrath, sharpness, heat,
vigour, splendour, valour and intellect. Like wise from water (it derives) the
sense of taste, relish, coolness, viscidity (snigdhatha - S.D interprets it as
sweetness of speech) fluidity, perspiration, urine etc as well as softness; and
from the earth(it acquires) the sense of smell, odour, stability fortitude and
heaviness, beard, hair, nails, bone and such other hard materials.

The constitution of the physical body of a creature is considered from

three different points of view viz the medical, the physical and the metaphysical
respectively known in Ayurveda as dosha prakrithi, Bhouthiki prakrthi and
Mahaprakrithi. The seven types of the satwika and rajasika and three types of
tamasika constitution respectively are described metaphorically through the
symbolic names of Brahma, Indra, Yama etc. The embodied human beings are
provided with nine canals for the elimination of bodily impurities. S.D. goes on
describing about the details of human anatomy through the scheme of vedanda.
Sarangadeva has written another book particulary meant for Anatomy and
medicine.

Nada Prakarana

Section 3 was dedicated to a discussion of facts like nada, sruthi and swara,
jathi, kuladevata & rishi. The production of Nada in the human body, 22 sruthis,
sarana, sruthi jathis, suddhavikritha swaras, birth place, rishi, devata, chandess
metre& rasas of swara are also dealt with. As mentioned earlier human
embodiment is the instrument of voice production. Now the detailed treatment
of voice begins. Though 'Nada' and 'Brahman' are two words representing two
different concepts, the words 'Nada Brahman' is a compound word representing
a single concept of Brahman who manifests as Nada. Nada, the primordial
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sound having Ether or Akasa as its base, is the subtlest of all elements and
proceeds from them in the order of manifestation. Nada is the source of sruthis,
letters and words etc on w hich the conduct of worldly affairs is based on.
According to puranic mythology. Brahma, Vishnu, Maheswara represent the
3 aspects of the manifestation of Brahman in to the p henomenon of 3 aspects of
the universe, viz creation, preservation and destruction. T he fusion of these th ree

"Sakthi" is the creative power of Brahman. T his energy is also called 'Nada' or
'Sabda'. In this section he describes about the 10 psycho p hysical centres ie, the
chakras. The foundation cycle (Adhara chakra) is si tuated between anus and
genitals. It resembles a lotus with four petals. In the centre of t he foundational
cycle lies the creative power of t he supreme being, called kundalini. T he second
centre swadhistana situated at the root of the genitals resembles to a six -
petalled lo tus. He says t hat one who meditates upon this stainless lotus
swadhistana is freed immediately from all his enemies such as karna, krodha,
Lobha, Moha and Aharnkara the root of all self centered sins of worldliness .. T he
next centre is the manipuraka chakra that resembles a ten petalled lotus located
around the navel. Manipuraka chakra is also called nabhisthana. T he fourth is
the anahata chakra with 12 petals which is considered to be the place of
worshiping Lord Siva in the form of 'Orn'. Anahata Nada (unrnanifest) is
associated with t his centre which is considered to be the pulse of life. Visuddhi
chakra is the psycho-p hysical centre with 16 petals called the cycle of purity. It
is situated in throat-larynx and is known as the abode of the goddess of learning.
The sixth is t he Lalana chakra with 12 petals situated in the back of the neck.
The psyc ho-physical centre is called the Aajna chakra is the cycle of supreme
command having 3 petals located in between the two eye brows. The s th is the

manas-chakra is t he cycle of mind h aving six petals. T he next is t he

somachakra, located above the manas-chakra with 16 petals enshrining
the 16 phases of the moon. The 10th and last chakra resembles thousand
petalled lotus w hich is known as Sahasrapatrachakra. T he t housand
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petals stands for the symbol of infinity. This centre is neither physical, psy­
chophysical nor psychological as it leads the consciousness beyond the
limitations of time, space and causation. The meditation of chakras is related to
the cultivation of music. 'Sushumna' is the name given to the central most nadi
and the whole body is the network of nadis. But here in this context nadis have a
special significance in the science of yoga. The first 3 nadis are too important
viz sushumna with Vishnu as its presiding deity and it leads to the pathway of
liberation. It is established in the centre of life source brahmagrandhi and 'ida'is
situated on the left and 'pingala' on the right. They are called sun and moon
respectively. Sarangadeva relates the seven tones to seven different places
located in the body right from the brahmagandhi. These places roughly
correspond to the psycho physical centres. The line of thought connecting
musical sound (ahata nada) to the yogic experience of anahata nada already
existed in his time. The section concludes describing about the value of music
for enjoyment (bhakthi) and for enlightenment (mukthi). Sangita is the only
means of fulfilment of dharma, ardha, kama & moksha. Music is truly a
universal language and therefore is capable of being used as a medium not only
of aesthetic experience but also of spiritual experience.and here ends the Second
section .

Nada 1s of 5 kinds like Atisukshma, Sukshma, Pushta, Apushta and

Krithrima. In 'Nada' the letter 'Na' represents the vital force and 'da' represents
the fire. Thus the interaction of vital force and fire is called 'Nada'. In practice
Nada is three fold ie, mandra in the heart, madhya in the throat and Tara in the
head. Madhya (pitch) is the double of mandra and Tara is the double of Madhya.

Nada is further distinguished into 22 varieties produced by 22 upward

Nadis each of the heart, throat and cerebrum. He relates not only the sruthis but
also the swaras to the Nadis. Eg: shadja having 4 sruthis is attached to 4 nadis
and the place of pronunciation is the throat.
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Experiment with Vinas

The number of sruthis has been varified and demonstrated to be twenty

two by an experiment with 2 vTnas viz Achala VTna (Invariable) and chala vTna
(variable). Both of the vTnas are identical each having 22 strings. The invariable
one s erve s as the standard for evaluating the mo d ifications brought out by the
vina strings. In this process when four steps were covered i t was known as
chatu sh sarana .. The string movements imply lowering of the sapta swaras by one
sruthi respectively. The resulting srutis may be compared with the standard pitch
of the invariable vTna.

Chatush sarana 1 (four fold string movements)

No:of strings 4 7 9 13 17 20 22 No:of srutis Result

demonstrated

Swasthana s R G M P D N

1 st movement no effect

2nd movement G N 4 g&n coincide

with r & d

3 rd movement R D 6 r&d coincide

with s&p
4th movement M p s 12 m,p&s
coincide
with g, m & n

Ragas in Indian Classical Music Anupam Mahajan. pg-28.

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The merging of ga & ni with ri & d ha in the second movement and ri &
dha with sa & pa in the third are quite right. But in the 4th movement sa, ma &
pa fuse with 'ni', ga and ma. The merge of ma & pa with ga & ma also is correct.
But how does 'sa' merge with 'ni' since t he 'sa' string was fixed to produce the
lowest possible tone that could be audible.This is a matter of doubt.. T he fourth
movement cannot be prac tically demonstrated on a vina of 22 strings because
there is no other string proceeding the first one, on which 'sa' is placed in the

third movement and also there is no lower tone possible. T he 'sa' can be
conceived to have merged with the 'ni' of a still lower octave. T he difficulty is
only about the limitation of the equipment and not wit h the demonstration.

Sruthis give rise to swaras. T he standard notes of s hadja grama are

created out of th e 22 sruthis using t he sruti intervals 4, 3 & 2 to constitute seven
notes called sa, ri, ga, ma, pa, dha and ni. Several resemblances are given by
Sarangadeva to distinguish sruthi & swaras.

Eg: (1) Reflection of a thing in t he mirror.

(2) Pot made out of the material 'mud'.

T he significance of t he swaras are given as follows

(1) Shadja:- The progenitor of the six other notes or it is produced by t he 6

organs of the body viz nostrils, throat, palate, breast, tongue and the teeth.

(2) Rishabha:- It is so called because of its capacity to appeal to the heart

quickly. It is strong enough as a bull among the herd of cows.

(3) Gandhara:- It holds musical speech. The grammatical derivation of

gandhara is 'Gandharayate iti - gtindhtira '. Also some says it is so called
because it delights gandharvas.
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(4) Madhyama:- So called because it is in the centre of the seven notes

having three on either side.

(5) Panchama:- Fif th from the fundamental note. Another interpretation is

that it is produced from t he 5 th place.

(6) Dhaivata:- Dhaivata is socalled, being brought about by the sruthis of

the 'posterior tone'and it is to be discerned by sensitive minds.

( 7) Nishada:- The word is derived from th e Sanskrit root ni + sad, and means
to come to a rest. Nishada is the last note of the saptaka.

Sarangadeva speaks of seven suddha swaras and 12 vikrita swaras. The

kaisika is referred to as sadharana. The notes have been assigned particular
colour, caste, deity, rasa etc. Sarangadeva talks about a sadharana gandhara and
a kaisika nishada which were actually a sruthi greater than sudha 'ga' and sudh a
'ni' respectively. ie, 3rd sruthi from 'r' is sad harana ga and 4th sruthi from 'r' is
antara of like wise, 3rd s ruthi from dhaivatha is known as kaisika 'ni' and 4th
sruthi from dha known as kakali ni.

Sarangadeva and ot her old lakshanakaras consider kakali 'ni' and antara
'ga' as vikritha swaras. Eventh ough Sarangadeva mentions many vikritha
swaras in swara prakarana, in mu rchana prakarana he mentions only kakali and
antara as the reason of mu rchana bhedas.

Swara system since the period of Sarangadeva

Sarangadeva's swaragathadhyaya is a detailed chapter on Sruthi and

swaras. The swaras are grouped into Suddhaswaras & vikritha swaras. In sangita
Ratnakara, the list of Suddha & Vikritha swaras is as follows.

1) Kaisika nishada (2) Kakali nishada (3) C hyutha shadja (4) Achyuta Shadja
(5) Suddha shadja (6) Suddha rishabha (7) Vikritha rishabha (8) Suddha
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gandhara (9) Sadharana gandhara (IO) Anthara gandhara (11) Chyuta

madhyama (12) Achyutha madhayama (13) Suddha madhyama (14) Madhyama
grama - Trisruthika Panchamam (15) Madhyama grama vikritha chathursruthika
Panchama (16) Suddha panchama (17) Suddha Dhaivatha (18) Vikritha
chathursruthi dhaivatha (19) Suddha nishada.

Among the 22 Sruthi are can see how the above mentioned one are
crodified.

Sruthi Suddha Swaras Vikritha Swaras

I. Kaisika Nishada

2. Kakali Nishadha

3. Chyuta Shadja

4. Suddha Shadja Achyuta Shadja

5.

6.

7. Suddha Rishabha Vikritha chatur rishabha

8.

9. Suddha Gandhara

10. Sadharana gandhara

11. Anthara gandhara

12. Chyuta madhyama

13. Suddha madhyama Achyuta madhyama

14.
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15.

16. trisruthika panchama

(Madhyama grfuna )

17. Suddha panchama

18.

19.

20. Suddha dhaivata Chathur Sruthika dhaivatha

(Madhyama grfuna)
21.

22. Suddha nishada

When Suddha swaras are added to the above list they become shadja
grama. All the other swaras are vikritha swaras. Thus there are 12 vikritha
swaras in total. But in these, five cannot be taken into account, because some
swaras occupy the same (Sruthi) sthana of other swaras and cannot be identified.
This is exemplified by the following chart.

1. Vikritha ri Suddha ri

2. Achyuta ma Suddha ma

3. Madhyama grama chathur Madhyamagrfuna trisruthika

Sruthika panchama panchama

4. Madhyama grama trisruthika

panchama Suddha shadja
5. Achyutha shadja Suddha shadja
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This is different from Sarangadeva's Suddha vikritha· theory. In. the

theory of Sarangadeva also the deviation from gramajathi system is obvious. In
gramas other jathis originated as a result of modal shift of tonic. In the works
that came after Sangita Ratnakra, modifications are seen in the names of swaras.

I. Chyuta shadja came to be called chyuta shadja nishada.

2. Chyuta madhyama became Chyuta madhyama gandhara

3. Madhyama grama trisruithika panchamam became chyuta panchama

madhyamam

Converting chyuta shadjam into chyuta shadja nishadam can be regarded as

the first step involved in establishing shadja in to the grahaswara of all the
scales. With drawing from grama system, our music found new roots in the
tradition based on one swara.

Since graham is a characteristic of jathi. Bharatha had regarded graham

& Amsa swaras as synonymous. At the time of Matanga, they had different
meanings. Matanga claimed that the form of raga is determined by the swaras
Amsa and Vadi. This is supported by Parswadeva. Subbarama Dikshitar points
out the opening swaras as graha. But if any swaras except a shadjam is described
as graha, it means that the partiular swara should be the basic note for singing.

Graha passages2 : is a system in the tradition of improvised music. In this, a

composistion is sung a with a particular swara passage and then it is sung a with
another set of swaras. Eg: In a composition of Muthu swamy Dikshitar in Gurjari
Raga. Anupallavi 's end portion begins in the following manner. (a) The part
sung as graha passage is shown below.

2
Courtery to the paper 'Traditional Indian theory and practice of music and dance
(pg. 77) of Dr.N. Ramanathan.
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(a) s s s, r r g g, s, r g, s r g s s d d p d d p p m m g g

(b) r r, r g g m m, r, g m, r g m s s n n d n n d d p p m m

This improvisation is seen in many geetham or lakshya geethas. Some

examples are given below.

1) Gita in Suddha Saveri

2) Gita in Bhinna Shadjam

3) Gita in Khandaravam or khanta

4) Gita in Hejjujji

5) Gita in Velavali

6) Gita in Narayanagoula.

In the sangita sampradaya pradarsini written about 300 years ago.

23 ragas are mentioned that have accepted swaras other than shadja as graham.
They are given below.

Raga Grahaswara

Suddha Saveri p

Bhinna shadjam r

Hejjujji m
Revagupathi r

Karnata Bangala g

Gurjari r

Bouli m

Rithigoula n
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Khantarava d
Bhairavi d
Velavali d
Kedaragoula n

Narayana goula n

Arabhi n

Chhaya goula n

Goula n

Malahari d
Kannada goula n

Madhyamadi m

Andhali p
Narayani g

Poorva goula n

Desakshi g

In Sangita Ratnakara, amsaswara refers to tone note. Tonic note is named

'graha' in S. S. P. and Ch.Dp. In chaturdandi, ragas are clarified as ragas with
'sa' as graha & 'ni' as graha etc. After the period of Sarangadeva, the scheme of
melas came in to existence. Then all ragas had to be based on the seven swaras in
the order of sa ri ga ma pa dha ni and it was strictly followed. Music composers
introduced the new method while preserving old theories

Grama miirchana krama tana prakarana

This section covers details of 3grama, murchanas, krama, suddha tana, kuta
tanas, prastharas, khantameru and the nashta and uddishta etc. In the 3 grama,
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the panch ama swara, if located in its fourth sruthi makes shadja grama, if
established on th e sruth i just below it makes the madhyama grama. Dhaivata of
shadja grama has 3 sruthis. 'd' is that of madhyama grama and has 4 sruthis.
Next he defines murchanas and its kramas. The ascending and descending
movement of th e seven notes in the successive order is called the murchana.
There are seven murchanas from each of the 2 grama. The names and structure
of the murch ana are given in another context. The preciding deities and 'krama'
for the murchanas are also described.

Uddishta:- Literally the note series indicated that Sarangadeva has also
given the procedure for finding out the serial number of a given note series by
khantameru.

Nashta:- Literally means the missing note series. Nashta is the name given
to the note series, the tonal form which is lost sight of and requires to be
discovered with the help of the note series indicator.

According to Sarangadeva, 'Gandharva' is an ancient name which came to

be called as Marga later. Gana is the counter part of Gandharvam, later known as
desi (regional) music which is liberal and rich in variety (Chapter-I .Pg.4).

Sadharana prakarana

The section 5 starts with 2 fold sadharanas. Swaras are divided into 4 like
kakali, ant ara, shadja and madhyama. Sarangadeva opines that the vikrita swaras
are 12 in number.

'sadh arana' is the term meant to refer to overlappingswaras. 'Sadharana' is

applied to swaras as well as to jathis. The jathi sadharanas are mentioned in
vnth section. The 'swara sadharana' is fourfold namely kakali sadharana
(overlapping of kakali), Antara, sadharana (overlapping of antara), shadji
sadharana ( overlapping of shadja) and madhyama sadharana ( overlapping of
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madhyama). The overlapping of madhyama is definitely restricted to madhyama

grama. The overlapping (sadharana) kakali occurs between nishadha & shadja
and over lapping of antara is similarly conceived between gandhara and
madhyama.

Varna alankara prakarana

The section 6 contains the description of varna (tone patterns). Varnas are
fourfold as sthayi, arohi, avarohi and sanchari. And he had explained a number
of alankaras, more than those mentioned in earlier works. Alankara are tonal
embellishments. According to Bharata Alankara is said to be a specific
arrangement of tone patterns. There are 63 alankaras, according to S.D while
Bharata describes only about 33. Alankaras based on Stayi varnas(steady tone
pattern) are Prasannadi, prasannantha, prasannadyanta, prasanna madhya,
kramarechitha, prasthara, prasada. Prasanna means clear or lower(mandra) here .
Prasanna-0; Higher note-#.

1. Prasannadi: long sweep from bottom to top.If the two lower tones are
followed by one higher tone it is known as Prasannadi (00#).

2. Prasannantha: descending Jaru which is the reverse of prasannadi.The

higher note comes first and it is followed by two lower notes (##0).

3. Prasannadyanta: The higher note is placed in between the two lower ones
(0#0).

4. Prasanna madhya (#0#).

5. Sanchari: sa ri sa Isa ga ma sa Isa pa dha ni

This is in three sections of prasannadyanta. It is kramarechita alankara.

6. Prasthara: sa ri sa - sa ga ma sa

All section end in tana 'sa'

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7. Prasada: Begin and end alike with octaves sa ri sa - sa ga ma sa sa pa dha

m sa.

Alankaras based on arohi varnas are 12 m number. Viz Vistirna,

Nishkarsha, Bindu, Abhyucchhaya, Hasthita, Prikhita, aksipta, Sandhi­
pracchadana, Udgita, Udvahita, Trivarna and Veni

Like this there are 12 kinds of avarohi varnas and 25 kinds of sanchari
(circulatory) varnas

By the time of Sarangadeva the name kampa ( of Natya siistra) and its
varieties had acquired the name gamaka

Tana: 'Tana' in Sanskrit means 'tanana' ie, to spread or develop. Tanas

are connected with murchanas. Ascending and descending movements of swaras
arranged in regular order is called murchanas. Suddha tana, Kuta tana ,Misra
tana ,Vakra tana etc are some important types of tanas.Tanas help to develop the
ragas.Various expressions could be introduced in ragas by using tanas Suddha
tana -orderly seqence of swaras (sr-gm-pd-ns)

Kuta tana-Zig-zag motion of swaras.(sr-gr-gm-dp)

Misra tana -combination of the above mentioned two.(sr-gm-pm-dp)

Vakra tana -Similar to kuta tana but the swaras are not used in serial
order. (rs-gr-mg-pm)

Jathi Prakarana

In section 7 Sarangadeva mentioned about the suddha jathis, vikritha

jathis, vikritha samsargaja jathis, lakshanas of jathis, treatment of individual
jathis and prasthanas. The jathis are dealt with in one chapter and the ragas in
another. This is enough to make it obvious that raga system had been fully
developed by the time of Sarangadeva.
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Suddha jathis are those which are named after the saptha swaras (standard)
and have one of these notes as the final note (nyasa) after which they are
named. They are considered the primary j a.this ie suddha j a.this. The suddha ja.this
become vikrita jathis (modified). When they differ in their characteristics except
in the rule for the final note. The formation and structure of the vikritha j a.this
have been mentioned in the first chapter. The thirteen lakshanas of jathis are fol­
lowed as thrayodasa lakshanas for ragas by Sarangadeva. The graha, amsa, tara,
mandra, nyasa, apanyasa, sanyasa, vinyasa, bahutwa, alpatwa, antaramarga,
shadava, audava are also explained. (I chapter pg 35) In the end of this section
the author is trying to bringout the importance and the value of jathi songs.
Section 8 starts with kapala and kambala.

Kapala Gana : Kapalas originated from the suddha j a.this. The ragas of the
parent jathis bear a resemblance to their respective kapalas. Eg. Arshabhi -
Kapala:- The fundamental and semifinal note is rishabha, the final note is
madhyama g, n, p & d are rare, shadja is very rare and that which has 8 kalas is
related to Arshabhi.

Kambala gana: Where the initial note, the fundamental and the semifinal
note is panchama, r is profuse, s is the final note and 'm', 'd' and 'g' are rare -
these lakshanas are of kambala. It was originated from pancharni jathi.

Then he describes the githi lakshanas such as Magadhi, Ardha magadhi,

Sambhavita, Pruthula. Ardha magadhi is only a modification of magadhi. After
describing the details of the githi, the chapter I entitled 'Treatment of Swara'
comes to an end.

The chapter II contains the Discernment of ragas entitled as Raga

vivekadhyaya .
 168

RAGADHYAYA

This chapter is divided i_n to 2.

1. Viveka prakarana :

The first section consists of Grama raga upa raga , raga bhasha,
vibhasha, antharabhasha.

Grama ragas are of 10 kinds viz Upa raga - Desi raga - Bhasha, Vibhasha,
Antara bhasha, Raganga, Bhashanga, Kriyanga, Upanga.

2. Ragangadi Nirnaya Prakarana

Bhasha ragas (25)

Gandharva valli, Kachchelli, Vara valli, Nishadini, Travara, Madhyama,

Sudha, Dakshinantya, Pulindika, Tumbura, SShadja Bhasha, Kalindi, Lalitha,
Srikarthika, Bengali, Gandhari, Saindhavi, Bahya, Bahya Shadava, Vedavati,
Bhavani, Vibhavani, Revagupth, Tarodbhava, Panchama Shadava.

Here are ten vibhashas

Paurali, Ma.lava, Kalindi, Devara vardhini, Pallavi, Bhasava Lalitha,

Kiranavali, Parvathi, Srikanthi and Ma.lava Panchama.

Antara bhashas

Sanka. Adya, Valita, Janaka.

Prak Prasidha Ragas

34 Ragas in which 8 are Raga ngas. (Which existed before Sarangadeva)

(1) Sankarabharana (2) Ghantarava (3) Hamsa (4) Deepika

(5) Reeti (6) Poornatika (7) Lather (8) Pallavi

 169

Bhashangas (11)

Gambhesi, Vehar, Khashika, Utpali, Golli, Nandan tari, Nerlotpali, Chhaya,

Tarangini, Gandhara gathika, Ranja.

Kriyangas (12)

Bhavakri, Vibhavakri, Sivakri, Maruvakri, Trinetrakri, Kumudakri,

Danukri, Ojakri, Indrakri, Nagakri, Dhanyakri, Vipayakri, Poornati, Devala,
Kurinjika.

Adhuna prasiddha ragas (Current ragas of Sarangadeva -13 ragas)

(1) Madhyamadi (2) Malavasri (3) Thodi (4) Bangali

(5) Bhairavi (6) Vararti (7) Gurjari (8) Goudi

(9 ) Kalahala (10) Vasantha (ll)Dhanyasi (12) Desi

(13) Desakshi

Adhuna prasiddha bhashangas (9)

Dombakri, Asaveri, Velavali, Prathama Manjari, Adikamodika,

Nayadwani, Suddha Varatika, Natta, Karnata Bangala.

Kriyangas:

Ramakri, Gundakri, Devakri antarabhashas.

Sarangadeva defines grama but he neither explained clearly the connection

between the grama and jathis nor gave the proper way to understand the swara
system.. The raga chapter is explained in detail in the fifth chapter.
 170

PRAKEERNAKADHYAYA

Chapter III called prakeernakad hyaya contains d ifferent facts such as

vaggeyakara lakshanam, gand hara swaradi lakshanan, gayaka lakshanam, etc.
There are 4 kind s of voices such as khahula, narata, bombaka and misraka. Then
he goes on describing the characteristic features of voice . The excellence of
sareera and its blemishes (d oshas) are also explained. Then S.D d efines the
'kampa' ie the shake of tone. Gamaka, according to Sarangad eva is the musically
delighted shakes of tones. The gamakas are of 15 kind s such as Tiripa Sphuritha,
Kampita, Lina, Andolitha, Vali, Tribhinna, Kurula, Ahata, Ullasitha, Plavitha,
Humphitha, Mudrita, Namitha an d misra. The definition of sthaya is given as an
organic component of raga . 96 sthayas are enumerated by S.D. It is a limb of a
raga and rests on a tune other than sanyasa and vinyasa. The d ifferent kind s of
alapthis are Raga alapthi and Rupaka alapathi..

In the 3 rd section ie Prakimakad hyaya , he defines the 'vrind a' lakshanam

(of gayakas & instrumentalists). Gayana bheda, sabd a bheda , sarira lakshana,
gamaka, sthaya, alapthietc are d ealt with.

'Kutapa'is a group of musicians, d ancers or actors. Different kind s of

instruments are dealt with .. Section IV comprises the prabandhas. The geetha
classification such as gand harva & gana have been mentioned . Gana which is
composed of d hatus and angas is called nibad ha. Alapthi being free from the
structural limitations is known as anibadha. 'Nibadha' has 3 names VIZ

prabandha, vasthu and rupaka. Praband has are divided into 4 sections VIZ

udgraha, melapaka, d hruva and abhoga. In between d hruva and abhoga a section
called 'antara' was introduced in addition to the 4 sections. The classification of
prabandhas has been given. Also literary alankaras such as 'gana' etc has been
described . The Raga kad amba prabandha is of 2 kinds Nandyavrta and svastika.
Nandyavarta is composed of 4 vrittas set to four ta.la s and is in a series of ragas.
 171

Svastika is the double of it. It has 4 vrttas eight tala s and eight ragas. The
chapter ends with explaining the blemishes of gitas.

TALADHYAYA

Detailed information about tala is given in chapter V. Chapter VI gives

exhaustive information about the musical instruments. The Taladhyaya begins
with Tala sabda niruthpathi and tala swaroopa Niroopanam. Then the lakshnasa
of marga tala s are given. After that Deshi tala s are explained with prasthara
lakshana, prasthara sankhya nirupanam, laghu meru, guru meru, plutha meru,
samyoga meru etc. After this Vadyadhyaya commences. Different kinds of
vinas, vina lakshana etc are explained. Vadya s are of 10 kinds namely chanda,
dhara, kaikuti, kangalam, vasthu, drutam, gaja leelam, dandakam, uparivadya
kam and pakshirutha. Dhathus are also classified in to 5.

VADYADHYAYA

yadyas meant particularly for supporting vocal music 1s called

geethanugam. Then S.D. describes the 'vadana krama' nirupanam. Some raga
ngas such as Madhyamadi, Bangala, Bhairav, Varati, Gurjari, Vasantha,
Dhannasi, Desi, Desakhya and Bhashangas such as Dombakri, Prathama manjari,
Kannada and Kriyangas such as Ramakrithi, Goudakrithi, Devakrithi and
Upangas such as Bhairavi, Chhaya N atta, Bahuli Ramakri, Malhar, Kamata
Gouda, Turnshka gouda, Dravida gouda and Lalitha are given. The chapter ends
with the Ghana Vadya Lakshanam.

PRABANDHADHYAYA

The Section 11 ends with a description of prabandhas. Varieties of

prabandhas, treatment of prabandhas and peculiar factors that give novelty to the
prabandhas etc are dealt with. Numerous varieties of prabandhas are described in
 172

terms of corresponding ta.las. Chandas(metre) is another important factor for the

in numerable varieties of prabandhas. Most of the Prabandhas are set in desi
ragas. The pancha taleswara prabandha in which the five margi tala s were used
is an exemption .

Regional influence on ragas

The history of our music reflects the variety of ragas that evolved out of
the varied regional and racial influences. The ragas Maiava, Andhri, Gurjari,
Kamboji, Bangali, Pulindika, Takka, Kousika, Chevati etc are examples of this
fact. 'Botta' raga took its origin from the tribal music of Bhotta desa. 'Takka'
souveera, ma.lava kousika etc are as old as grama ragas. According to the theory
of matanga, Sarangadeva also made an offering of Botta raga at the feet of Lord
Siva the Himalaya Deva. Ragas like Botta, Vesara, Souveeri etc are madhyama
grama ragas. India had established economic, trade and cultural relation with
countries like Tibet and other neighbouring regions. This intermingling might
have contributed to the shaping of these ragas.

Sarangadeva has referred to territorial division as under:

1. Sauviri Sindh (Now in Pakisthan)

2. Saurashtra Kathiawar

3. Gandhar Country lying between India and Iran

4. Kambhoj Northern part of Afganisthan

5. Sindhu North states of the river Indus

6. Dravid South of river Krishna

Kuntal North of cho.la state of Hyderabad

7.

8. Viderbha
Kanada
Kinwa Varat
 173

9. Panchal Territory falling between the Ganga

and the Yamuna

10. Laat Southern Gujrat

11. Gaur North Ben gal

12. Gurjar Gujrat

13. Konkan Konkan

14. Maharashtra Maharashtra excluding Vidarbha &

Konkon.

15. Andhra Andhrapradesh

16. Hameer Mewar were Hameer ruled

17. Chola Territory bounded by the river Kaveri

and southern part of Mysore

18. Malya Part of Mysore up to Travancore

(south ofNalya mountain)

19. Malar Malwa with capital Ujjain

20. Ang Eastern part of Ganga

21. Vang Eastern Bengal

22. Kaling Orissa and the territory south of

the river Godavari

23. Abheer Upper part of Gujarat arid the land

lying on the north of river Tapthi.
 174

Suddha Saptaka

According to Sarangadeva it was sn raga but several pandits like

Loch ana, Srinivasa & modern practitioners of Hindustani music etc takes the
nishada murchana of sa grama (kaphi) ie Bilaval as basic scale .The influence of
Persian and western music&instruments paved the way for this change.If the
suddha vikrita theory of the ancients were interpreted and understood correctly
as intented by the author, the confusion may become solved. Pundarika vittala of
16 th century shifted the traditional suddha stanas of R,G.D & N to one stana
below and named it as suddha swaras.Then the old suddha swaras became vikrita
forms of the respective notes.

Evolution of Grama ragas in to Melas

(Development of raga system after Sarangadeva)

Naradi Siksha refers to ga grama and this only confuses us to think

wheth er this work written before Natyasastra. The 3 grama have respective
duties such as Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara. Murchanas are evolved from
th ese grama and the basic murchana in each case was the one that started from
the swara name of the grama. Thus in 'sa grama', 'uttaramandra' was the
murchana that starts from sa and souviri was the first murchana of ma grama
which starts from ma. In 'ga' grama the first murchana from 'ga' is Narada*.
Frequencies of 3 grama are given below.

s R G M p D N

sa grama 1 10/9 32/27 4/3 3/2 5/3 16/9

ma grama 1 10/9 32/27 4/3 40/27 5/3 16/9

ga grama 1 16/10 6/5 4/3 40/27 8/5 9/5

 175

The notes r, g, d, and n of the ga grama were re-discovered in the rishabha

muchana of sa grama. Shadja and sudha ma of 'ga grama' also occurred in sa
grama. The only note left out was the reduced panchama (40/27). Gandhara
grama, incorporated in the ma grama. Where as the 'ni' miirchana of shadja
grama gave our sankarabharana and the 'ni' miirchana of ma grama gives the
exact major diatomic scale with sruthi 5/3

The 'ma grama' paved way to the possibility of ragas taking both the
madhyamas. Eg: Lalit (H.M) Hamir Kalyani incorporating the g & n of s grama .
Kharakharapriya incorporating the g & n of g grama.

The modern kharaharapriya raga approximately corresponds to the

samagana the earliest scale of India. The six sampiirna melas mentioned before
Venkitamakhi are Kharaharapriya (22), Th6di(8), Kalyani(65), Hari Kamboji
(28), Natabhairavi (20), Sankarabharanam (29).

In 'Sangita Sara' Vidyaranya (14th century 1320-1380) speaks of melas

and enumerates the ragas under 2 categories, melas and janyas. There were
fifteen melas of Vidyaranya and he classified 50 janya ragas also.. But the next
work Raga tharangini of L6chana Kavi mentions 2 categories of ragas primary
& derivatives. He mentions 12 thattas and 75 janya ragas under them.

Ramamatya in his swaramela kalanidhi (1550) mentions 20 melas and 64

janya ragas against the 15&50 those of Vidyaranya .Rama matya antiquated the
method of deriving ragas from the grama miirchana jathi system and raga ragini
parivara system. S6manadha and Venkitamakhi were influenced by his melas
and hence it is considered to be a land mark on the history of music.

S6manatha (1906) in Raga Vibodha mentions 23 melas and he classified

76 janya ragas under them. In all these treatments there was not a rule or
distractive character for being a mela. Many janya ragas were given the status of
melas. Ahobala in his sangita parajatha classifies his melas in to purna - shadava
 176

- audava. It is based on 7 suddh a swaras, Varjya ragas can be found as melas in

Chaturdandi Prakasika & Sangita Saramrutha. Pundarika Vittala was another
link in between this evolution. Till 13 th century th is nebulous concept of mela
continued. In the middle of 18 th century kanakangi - Ratnangi paddathi was
mentioned for the first time in sangrah a ch udamani. This grandha incorporated
the idea and evolution of mela concept and the 72 mela scheme with krama
sampurna aroh ana avarohana and other rules and regulations emerged. Among
those who think of a scheme of melas, the priority sh ould be given to S6manadh a
since he formulated a scheme of 960 melas based on 7 sudh a swaras and 15
vikritha swaras. Venkit amakh i was indebted to Somanadh a for this idea. He
could understand the lat ter's difficulties and hence h e took the 12 swaras and 4
duel swaras and introduced 72 mela scheme. In the 13 th century th e author of
Meladhika Laksh anam' propounded a scheme of 4624 melas by taking 24
sruthis. After all th ese struggles 72 krama sampurna mela system was ultimately
adopted as the basis. C hilappath ikaram and Sangita Ratnakara are the two epics
in the long history of Indian music . In Tamil music at first there had been 11000
scales but at last th ey were crodified in to 103selected pans. Sarangadeva was
followed by a number of eminent writers like Ahobala, Ramatya, Somanadha,
Govinda Deekishither, Venkitamakhi, Tulaja, Govindach arya.

References of certain ragas in puranas

Chakravaki (Brh addarma purana) - a dasi raga of Mallara

Rupavathi - Ragini of Gandh ara

Thodi, Bhairavi, Sankarabharana, Varati - Occur in the early works like

Sangita Ratnakara

The ragas figure in the sampiirna mela paddhathi - Can be seen in Sangita
Ratnakara Sangita Samayasara.

Vetavali, Samantha, Desakshi and Ramakriya - Sangita Makaranda

 177

The 72 melas continued without a complete nomenclature even till the

time of the Sangita Saramrutha (1735 AD). It seems that a scholar after Tulaja's
period enunciated the kanakambari - phenadyuthi nomenclature. The names of
some melas were however bodily changed in this later kanakambari
nomenclature. Bhairavi mela were re-christened as Harikedara goula.

Three printed editions of S.R have been printed till now.

1. The earliest edition of S.R was brought out in 1879 by Kaliveera vedanta
vageesa and Sarada prasada Ghosha from Calcutta. This book contains
only the swaradhyaya and is accompanied by the commentary of Simha
Bhiipala.

2. In 1896 & 1897 two volumes of S.R was brought out by Mangesh
Ramakrishna Tilanga. The first volume contained the chapters from I to V.
The second volume comprised the remaining 2 chapters. This is a valuable
edition because it is complete and also contains the commentary of
Kallinatha.

3. The entire text with 2 commentaries of Kallinatha and Sirnha Bhiipala is

edited by Pandit. S Subramanya Sastri and pubhshed in 4 volumes. The
first volume comprised the I chapter, the second volume - the second, third
& fourth chapters; the third volume - the fifth and the sixth chapters, and
the fourth volume - the seventh chapter.

The revised edition of volume III of Sang1ta Ratnakara was prepared by

Smt.S. Sarada grand daughter of the editor, Pandit S. Subramanya Sastri. Pandit
K. Ramachandran Sarma has added the indexes and detailed contents and helped
in the correction of the proof. The volume III comprises the 5 & 6 adhyaya s
with the topics ta.la and vadya respectively. After a long time the edition was
done by Adyan Library and Research Centre in 1986.
 178

Commentaries on Sangita Ratnakara

S.R is the only work on Sangita that has to its credit· more than one
commentary. M. Krishnamacharian in his book "History of Classical Sanskrit
Literature" mentions about seven commentaries. Simha Bhiipala, Kesava,
Kallinatha, Hamsa Bhupala, Kumbhakarna and Ganga Rama are the authors of
the six commentaries. The name of the sixth commentary is 'chandrika' but the
author is not known.Simha Bhupala's "Sangita Sudhakara" is the earliest
commentary. In the introduction the author explains about the necessity of such
a commentary. He states that the whole system of music expounded by Bharata
and others had been shattered before the period of Sarangadeva, and it was
Sarangadeva who consolidated it and now he (Simha Bhiipala) is trying to
make it easy for the use of people. It is clear that both Simha Bhiipala and
Kallinatha feel that it is a big responsibility to connect the lakshana of S.R with
the contemperory lakshyas. kallinadha's "kalanidhi" gives valuable references to
contemporaneous practice. In the raga chapter of 'kalanidhi' he cites a number
of examples from contemperory practice to bringout the non conformity of the
lakshya of his time to the lakshana of grama ragas. Though Vidyaranya
belonged to the same Vijayanagaram empire of which kallinatha was a citizen, it
is strange that he does not refer to Vidyaranya whose system of melas had
already been propounded. R amakrishna kavi in the Bharata Kosa states that
Ramamatya is the grandson of kallinatha. (Bharata Kosa Pg. 550) But
Ramamatya' s Swaramela kalanidhi does not mention kallinatha. It is strange that
kumbhakarna, the author of "Sangita raja" was noticed as a commentator of
Sangita Ratnakara. Though the book was larger than that of Sangita
Ratnakara,, bulk of the content is the elaboration of the former..

Ganga Rama's commentary" Sangita sethu "was in Hindi. The work is

more of a transalation, though some independent observations are made.