Interpreting the
"graham" part of
the ciTTasvara
passages
in the krti-s of muttusvAmi dIkshitar.
(N Ramanathan)
A
traditional and very interesting
feature of South
Indian art
music is the singing of passages of
svara, in
other
words, passages made up of the svara syllables, sa ri
ga ma
pa dha and ni, as part of kalpita
and manOdharma
sangItam. I wish to draw attention to a curious
feature in
the
notation of a composition, where, below each line of the
ciTTasvara passage,
there is a different
set of svara
syllables
in the same metrical or hrasva-dIrgha format. This
will be
clear from the example given below.
In
the krti "guNijanAdinuta"{1} of muttusvAmi dIkshitar
set in
gUrjari rAga, Adi-tAla, at the end of anupallavi, the
following
svara passages are to be sung.
T-1
l4 O O
ss,s
rrgg ,s,r g,sr | g,,d
,dp, | ddpp mmgg ||
graham:rr,r ggmm
,r,g m,rg m,,n
,nd, nndd ppmm
ddp,
mg,d pmg, dg,g | gpgd
p,mg | dmg, pmgr ||
nnd,
pm,n dpm, nm,m
mdmn d,pm npm,
dpmg
ssrd
,spd spdr srgg | dnsr
gmpm | srgp dpmg ||
'
'' '' ''
rrgn
,rdn rdng rgmm
nsrg mpdp rgmd
ndpm
.
.. ... ....
....
pdns
pdrs drss grss | mgrs
,ndp | mg,p grsn ||
'
dnsr
dngr ngrr mgrr
pmgr ,snd pm,d
mgrs
We
see that there are two lines, the lower
one being
marked "graham". Today
there are two ways in which
the
`graham'
part is being rendered. In the first one the svara-
s are
rendered in their proper positions. And in the
second
method the same music is sung to a different
set of
svara
syllables. For
example, the first
svaram `ri' of
the
`graham' will be sung in the pitch of `sa' of the original
svara passage. The aim of this paper is to establish
that
the
second method of singing is the correct one.
In the sangIta-sampradAya-pradarSini (SSP)
of subbarAma
dIkshitar we find this feature in 16 songs. Of course,
in
not all
of them are both passages prescribed to be sung. In
many
only the `graham' passage is to be sung. In the SSP, in
almost every
rAga described, a lakshya gIta
(present day
lakshaNa-gIta) attributed
to vEnkaTamakhi is given which
describes its characteristics or lakshaNa. The gItam-s
in
which
the graham passages are found belong to
the following
rAga-s.
T-2
1 SuddhasAvEri (6) bhairavi
2 bhinnashaDja (7)
vElAvali
3 hejjajji (8) kEdAragaula
4 rItigaula (9) nArAyaNagaula
5 ghaNTArava or ghaNTa (10) Arabhi
Apart from these there are four kIrtana-s
of muttusvAmi
dIkshitar, one
kIrtana of ponnayya piLLai, a
disciple of
muttusvAmi dIkshitar and one prabandham of vEnkaTamakhi in
which graham
passages occur. These are in the
following
rAga-s.
T-3
rAga Commencing words Composer
bhinnashaDja SrIguruguhamUrtiki nE ponnayya piLLai
hejjajji rAmacandrabhaktam muttusvAmi dIkshitar
rEvagupti sadA vinata do
kannaDabangAla
rENukAdEvi do
gUrjari guNijanAdinuta do
bauli uddhataripujana vEnkaTamakhi
Thus there are 16 songs in 14 rAga-s in
which `graham'
passages occur. It is now our problem to investigate
what
these
graham passages are.
`graha'
in the melodic context is one of the
defining
characteristics
of jAti in the ancient period. It was
later
adopted for defining rAga too. graha is the svara
on which
compositions set
in a rAga commences. However
the term
`graham' used in the above examples has been very
clearly
explained by
subbarAma dIkshitar in the SSP{2}. While
explaining graha
as one of the lakshaNa-s
(defining
characteristics) of rAga, he says, "graha: the svara
with
which the
rAga is seized (commenced) is
the graha svara
(graha-seizing
or grasping)." While describing the lakshaNa-
s of rAga-s, for each rAga a particular svara
is specified
as graha."
If for a rAga a svara other
than shaDja is
specified as graha then irrespective of what that
svara is
it has to
be placed in the position of `sa' and
sung. If
shaDja is the graha svara, then it should be placed
on the
shaDja pitch position." subbarAma dIkshitar
then draws the
attention
of the reader to a few examples of svara passages,
in
which this feature called `graha' is seen and adds, "This
manner
of singing is called graha-svaram". According to him
this
graha-svara concept is explained by gOvindAmAtya in his
work rAga-tAla-cintAmaNi and
there was a
tradition of
singing
graha-svara-s 400 years ago.
From the above account it is clear that
graham involves
a rAga
in which a svara other than shaDja
is the graha-
svara.
Now the example from the song "guNijanAdinuta" given
at the beginning of this section is based
on gUrjari rAga
which has
rshabha as the graha-svara. If
in the main
ciTTasvara passage
we replace the syllabe
`sa' by the
syllable `ri', `ri' by `ga', `ga' by `ma' and so on
we get
the `graham
passage'. This is shown below.
T-4
ss,s
rrgg ,s,r g,sr
g,,d ,dp, ddpp
mmgg
graham:rr,r ggmm
,r,g m,rg m,,n
,nd, nndd ppmm
Now
if the graham passage is
sung according to
the
first method, that is, with the different
svara-s sung in
their
normal positions then the music would be different.
If however the passage is sung according to
the second
method
the music will be the same; only the syllables of the
text will be different. In fact, in this case,
when played
on a musical instrument, no difference will
be discernible
between
the two passages.
Let
us take a few more examples. In
the following
examples too only a portion of the svara passage is
being
given.
T-5
1.
krti: `rENukAdEvi'{3} rAga: kannaDabangAla
l7 U O
d, ,m ,p ,m dd mp gg rs ds
,,
'
graham:
s, ,d ,n ,d ss dn pp mg sg ,,
In
kannaDabangAla, gAndhAra is the graha-svara. Hence
the
syllable `ga' will replace `sa', `ma' will replace `ri',
`pa' will
replace `ga', `dha' will replace `ma'
and `ni'
will replace `pa' to get the graham passage. In
the normal
svara passage
of the kannaDabangAla song,
shaDja is
functioning as the graha-svara and in it nishAda (seventh)
is omitted.
And in the
graham passage, gAndhAra
is
functioning as the
graha-svara and its seventh,
namely,
rshabha
is omitted.
Now in this song it will become difficult
or impossible
to sing the graham passage according to the first
method.
Since, if
all the svara-s are to remain
in the normal
position
we find that one new svara, namely, `ni' figures in
the `graham'
which is not there in the original.
Now the
question would be, which variety of `ni' should be
taken.
And,
even for the sake of argument if we take the `ni' to be
of the
variety belonging to the same parent mEla, number 15
or
mAyAmalavagaula, and sing it, what musical purpose would
be achieved by this as we would be deviating
from the rAga
svarUpa
of `rEvagupti'.
On
the other hand if the second method of
singing is
adopted, then
again one could ask, what purpose
would be
achieved since there is nothing musically new and
further
singing
svara syllables out of position will sound
strange.
The answer for this is that although nothing
musically new
is
achieved there is a musicological significance to this as
will be
established shortly. Let us take the other examples.
T-6
2 krti: `sadAvinata'{4} rAga: rEvagupti
O
l4 O l4
. ... . .
rg,p
,ds,rgr, sd,p g,pdpds,
graham:
gm,d ,nr,gmg, rn,d
m,dndnr,
In the rAga rEvagupti, ri is the
graha-svara.
T-7
3 gItam: `ArE tridaSaramaNi'{5} rAga: bhairavi
.
.. .. .. .. .. .. .
s, ,,
sg rg rs gg rr sr sn dn
pd nd dp mg rs
graham:d,
,, ds ns nd ss nn
dn dp mp gm pm mg rs nd
Thus
all the 14 rAga-s in which we
have compositions
containing graham
passages have for their
graha a svara
other
than shaDja.
T-8
The graha-svara-s of these are:
rAga graha- rAga graha-
svara svara
1. SuddhasAvEri pa
8. rItigaula ni
2. bhinnashaDja ri
9. ghaNTArava dha
3. hejjajji ma
10. bhairavi dha
4. rEvagupti ri
11. vElAvali dha
5. karNATabangAla ga 12. kEdAragaula ni
6. gUrjari ri 13. nArAyaNagaula ni
7. bauli ma 14. Arabhi ni
The songs presented in SSP cover in all
192 rAga-s and
out of
these there are 23 rAga-s which have for their
graha
a svara
other than shaDja. Apart
from the
14 mentioned
above,
the other 9 are:
T-9
rAga graha- rAga graha-
svara svara
1. chAyAgaula ni
6. AndhAli pa
2. gaula ni 7.
nArAyaNi ga
3. malahari dha
8. pUrvagaula ni
4. kannaDagaula ni
9. dESAkshi ga
5. madhyamAdi or
madhyamAvati ma
In
other words we do not come across in SSP
instances
of
graham passages for songs in the above 9 rAga-s.
Note: In the above list the graha prescribed
for bauli in
the
rAga-lakshaNa in the appendix part of CP is shaDja. But
earlier texts
like sangItasudhA and
caturdaNDIprakASikA
mention
madhyama as the graha and this is seen in the graham
passage
in the SrIranga-prabandham.
Now in singing the graham passage in a
song, the graha
of the
particular rAga will have to be sung in the
position
of shaDja
and the other svara-s in the
positions of the
subsequent
svara-s; if dhaivata is the graha in a rAga, then
dha
should be sung in the position of sa; ni in the position
of ri;
sa in the position of ga and so on. This means
that,
instead of
shaDja, dhaivata is the
svara which will
be
identified
with the tonic.
In the SR{6} and earlier texts the term
aMSa was used to
denote
the tonic. But in SSP and the CP-anubandha, graha is
the term
consistently used and the
term aMSa is
almost
absent. In CP, rAga-s are classified with respect
to their
graha-svara, e.g. rAga-s having shaDja as graha are
put in
one
group, those having rshabha as graha are put in
another
group and so on. Thus graha was the term which
came to
be
used to convey the sense of tonic. Of course in
the system
of the present day there is no question of any
svara other
than
shaDja being the tonic and hence all rAga-s have shaDja
as graha
and, as seen above, in the rAga
bauli too, the
graha
has changed from madhyama to shaDja. but designating a
svara other than shaDja as graha indicates a
tradition not
belonging
to the modern period but to a period more than 400
years ago as pointed out by subbarAma dIkshitar.
He refers
us to a
text "rAgatAlacintAmaNi", written 300
years ago,
which he
says discusses this concept of graha
in detail.
This work
in telugu written
by pOluri gOvinda
or
gOvindAmAtya
as subbarAma dIkshitar refers to him, discusses
the placing of different graha-svara-s in
the position of
shaDja in the context of the derivation of
mUrchanA-s from
grAma-s. He
does not discuss this aspect
of graha while
describing
the lakshaNa-s of rAga-s.
This passage in rAgatAlacintAmaNi (RTC){7}
forms part of
the
description of the methods of deriving mUrchanA-s. After
describing one
method of deriving
mUrchanA-s the author
gives the method "according to the view of
others". it is
quite apparent
that both these methods are
based on the
description
found in SR. SR too, after describing one method
of
deriving mUrchanA-s, refers to another "according to the
view of
the others". We shall take a look at the
discussion
in SR
before continuing with RTC.
In SR, SArngadEva speaks of the derivation
of different
mUrchanA-s
from a grAma by shifting the tonic; this
accords
with the
practice detailed in earlier texts
like NS and
Datt.
madhyasthAnasthashaDjEna
mUrchanArabhyatE'grimA ||
adhastanair nishAdAyaiH shaDanyA mUrchanAH
kramAt |
SR
1,4,12cd-13ab
The
above verse pertains to the derivation
of the
mUrchanA-s
of shaDjagrAma. The first mUrchanA starts on
the
shaDja of the middle register.: sa ri ga ma pa dha
ni. The
subsequent six
mUrchanA-s start on the nishAda
and other
svara-s situated
below this shaDja. That is, the
second
mUrchanA starts on the nishAda in the mandra-sthAna:
ni sa
ri ga ma pa dha. The third mUrchanA starts
on dhaivata in
the mandra-sthAna. And the last mUrchanA begins
on rshabha
in the
mandra-sthAna.
Similarly
SArngadEva describes the
procedure for
deriving the
mUrchanA-s of the
madhyamagrAma. The first
mUrchanA starts
on the madhyama-svara of
the middle
register,
and so on.
madhyamadhayamam Arabhya sauvIrI mUrchanA
bhavEt ||
shaDanyAs tadadhO'dhaHsthasvarAn Arabhya
tu kramAt |
SR
1,4,13cd-14ab
After
this, SArngadEva speaks of another
method of
deriving mUrchanA-s
which he attributes to the
view of
others
(parE).
shaDjasthAnair nyAdyai rajanyAdyAH parE
viduH ||
hAriNASvAdikA gAdyair madhyamasthAnasaMsthitaiH |
shaDjAdIn madhyamAdIMSca tadUrdhvaM
sArayEt kramAt ||
SR
1,4,14cd-15cd
In
this method the second mUrchanA (called rajanI)
and
other mUrchanA-s are obtained by placing
nishAda, etc. on
the
position of shaDja; for the second mUrchanA, nishAda is
to be placed on shaDja, and shaDja and other
svara-s moved
up.
Once nishAda takes the place of shaDja, shaDja will move
up so
that the interval of
ni-sa as existing
in the
shaDjagrAma, namely four Sruti-s will be maintained.
Thus
shaDja
will not move to the position of rshabha, but it will
become
an independent second svara.
Similarly in the case of the
madhyamagrAma, the second
mUrchanA is
derived by placing gAndhAra in
the place of
madhyama
and moving madhyama to the second position, pancama
to the
third and so on.
In this method of deriving mUrchanA-s the
tonic is not
shifted
from one pitch level to another but is stationed at
the
same position. It is only the intervals that are shifted
by
bringing different svara-s to occupy the position of the
tonic. Whereas
in the more
ancient method, by
taking
different svara-s as tonic, the tonic got shifted
to lower
and still
lower pitch levels, in the present
method, the
tonic remains
stationary and shaDja is
also identified
permanently with the tonic. That is, shaDja is always
the
first note, rshabha the second, gAndhAra the third,
and so
on. But
in the second method mentioned by SArngadEva, though
the
tonic remains stationary, it could be shaDja or
rshabha
or any
note. The first, second and
modern positions are
illustrated
below.
T-10
I
sa-mUrchanA 4-s- 3-r- 2-g- 4-m- 4-p- 3-d-
2-n
ni-mUrchanA 2-n- 4-s- 3-r- 2-g- 4-m- 4-p-
3-d-
dha-mUrchanA 3-d- 2-n- 4-s- 3-r- 2-g- 4-m- 4-p-
II
sa-mUrchanA 4-s- 3-r- 2-g- 4-m- 4-p- 3-d-
2-n
ni-mUrchanA 2-n- 4-s- 3-r- 2-g- 4-m- 4-p-
3-d-
dha-mUrchanA 3-d- 2-n- 4-s- 3-r- 2-g- 4-m-
4-p-
Modern system
sa-mUrchanA 4-s- 3-r- 2-g- 4-m- 4-p- 3-d-
2-n
ni-mUrchanA 2-s- 4-r- 3-g- 2-m- 4-p- 4-d-
3-n-
dha-mUrchanA 3-s- 2-r- 4-g- 3-m- 2-p- 4-d-
4-n-
(In the modern method, nishAda-mUrchanA
cannot strictly
be
called so, since the first svara is always shaDja. Hence
the practice
of calling different scales by
the mUrchanA
does
not exist now.)
We see in the above illustration that there
is a lot in
common between method II and the modern system,
namely the
tonic remaining stationary. In fact, if we substitute
sa,
ri, ga
etc. for 1st, 2nd and other svara-s present in method
II. the
modern nomenclature results.
Coming
to RTC{8}, we find that the author describes the
method II
of SArngadEva in detail.
The description is
briefly
outlined here:
The
first mUrchanA is
formed by placing
madhyasthAna-shaDja first and
madhyasthAna-nishAda
towards
the end. Then instead
of starting on
mandrasthAna-nishAda etc.
(mandra-dhaivata,
mandra-pancama etc.), the remaining six
mUrchanA-s
are
formed by placing
madhyasthAna-nishAda,
dhaivata,
pancama, madhyama, gAndhAra, rshabha,
successively as the first svara. That is, in the
first
mUrchanA: sa ri ga ma pa dha
ni, [place
nishAda
in the place of shaDja, shaDja
in the
place
of rshabha, rshabha
in the place
of
gAndhAra,
gAndhAra on madhyama,
madhyama on
pancama,]
pancama on dhaivata and
dhaivata on
nishAda. In this way the svara-s nishAda
etc. are
placed as graha-svara-s (emphasis mine)
on shaDja
etc.
without the intervals of the
seven svara-s
shaDja, rshabha etc. being altered. Now
the second
mUrchanA starting with nishAda is
obtained. In the
same way the five remaining mUrchanA-s
have to be
obtained. The other mUrchanA-s, viz. `dha
ni sa ri
ga ma pa', `pa dha ni sa ri ga ma', `ma pa
dha ni
sa
ri ga', `ga ma pa dha ni sa ri' and `ri ga ma
pa dha ni sa' are similarly formed.
The derivation of mUrchanA-s from the
madhyama-grAma by
the
same method is explained next by gOvindAmAtya.
What is important in the above discussion
is the use of
the word `graha-svara' by the author. This usage,
which is
seen in
SSP{9}, seems to have had a long tradition. Thus even
a few centuries ago the term `graha' seems to
have denoted
the
svara functioning as the tonic.
In
the post-SR period, with the emergence of the mEla
system, it is
firmly established that all the
rAga-s are
based on the
seven svara-s in the order shaDja, rshabha,
gAndhAra, madhyama,
pancama, dhaivata and nishAda,
with
shaDja identified with the stationary tonic. Even
then the
lakshaNa-s of
rAga available in the post-SR texts
do not
present
a changed picture but exhitbit a transitional
stage
where
part of the old definition is retained and part of the
new system
is introduced. Let us take a
few examples of
rAga-s and
see how they have been defined in
the various
texts
and especially with respect to the graha-svara.
a) rEvagupti:
T-11
Texts{10} graha- varjya-
svara svara
1. sangItaratnAkara (rEvaguptA) ri
2. sadrAgacandrOdaya ri sa & pa
3. rAgavibOdha ri sa & pa
4. svaramElakalAnidhi ri ma & ni
5. sangItasudhA ri ma & ni
6. caturdaNDIprakASikA ri ma & ni
7. sangItasArAmrta (rEvagupta) ri ma & ni
8. caturdaNDIprakASikA (appendix)ri ma & ni
9. sangItasampradAyapradarSini ri ma & ni
10. sangrahacUDAmaNi sa ma & ni
In this rAga we see that from SR to SSP
every text has
uniformly
mentioned `ri' as graha, but as far as the svara-s
to be
omitted are concerned there
are differences among
texts.
While SR does not prescribe any svara to be
omitted,
two
texts mention shaDja and pancama to be omitted, and the
remaining prescribe
madhyama and nishAda. But if
we take
this
scale, as starting from rshabha and the svara-s
shaDja
and
pancama as the ones to be omitted. i.e., varjya-svara-s,
then it
will be as follows.:
ri
ga ma (pa)
dha ni (sa)
(Note: the varjya-svara-s are in
brackets)
If
we transform this scale into the
modern system,
placing
shaDja on rshabha, we get:
sa
ri ga (ma)
pa dha (ni)
This
is the scale mentioned in modern works
like SSP
and
San.cUD; that is, `sa ri ga pa dha'.
Now
if we try to derive the
scale according to
the
prescriptions
given in svaramElakalAnidhi, sangItasudhA etc.
we get
the following:
ri
ga (ma) pa
dha (ni) sa
This, when transformed into the modern
system, will be
as
follows:
sa
ri (ga) ma pa (dha)
ni
But
`sa ri ma pa ni' is not the scale of rEvagupti as
detailed in
these texts. sangItasudhA
itself, while
describing the AlApana elaboration of rEvagupti,
mentions
only
the five svara-s shaDja, rshabha, gAndhAra, pancama and
dhaivata.
This means that many of the texts
inherited the graha-
svara
prescriptions from earlier works, but when it came to
mentioning the
varjya-svara-s they followed contemporary
practice.
This is reflected in the following examples too:
b)
bauli:
T-12
Texts{11} graha- varjya-
svara svara
1. svaramElakalAnidhi ma pa
2. sadrAgacandrOdaya (bahuli) ma
ga & ni
3. rAgavibOdha sa ma & ni
4. sangItasudhA ma ni
5. caturdaNDIprakASikA ma ma
6. sangItasArAmrta ma ma
7. caturdaNDIprakASikA (appendix)sa ma&ni(ArOha)
8. sangItasampradAyapradarSini ma
ma&ni(ArOha)
9. sangrahacUDAmaNi sa ma&ni(ArOha)
In
the case of bauli, the
confusion in the
post-SR
period is
even more glaring.
caturdaNDIprakASikA and
sangItasArAmrta take
madhyama as graha and overlook
the
obvious
contradiction when they prescribe madhyama itself as
the varjya-svara. The lakshaNa given in
sadrAgacandrOdaya
and
sangItasudhA is meaningful only when considered
against
the
background of method II of mUrchanA derivation, as shown
below.
ma
pa dha (ni)
sa ri (ga)
When transformed into the modern system,
the scale will
read:
sa
ri ga (ma)
pa dha (ni)
In fact, as pointed out earlier,
sangItasudhA makes it
clear that
bauli with madhyama as graha and
nishAda as
varjya is
the same as bauli with
shaDja as graha
and
madhyama as
varjya. rAgavibOdha presents the
lakshaNa as
seen in
modern practice. All the other works agree with
the
scale
mentioned by the rAgavibOdha.
c)
madhyamAdi or madhyamAvati
SSud
and CP{12} prescribe madhyama as graha and rshabha
and dhaivata as varjya-svara-s. This scale,
when projected
through
method II of mUrchanA-derivation will be:
ma
pa (dha) ni sa (ri)
ga
When transformed into the modern system,
it will be:
sa
ri (ga) ma
pa (dha) ni
and this
is how it is found
to exist in
present day
practice.
However
in the appendix on rAga-s in CP
and in
SSP,
though the graha-svara mentioned is madhyama, the
varjya-
svara-s
are given as gAndhAra and dhaivata. This is
because
these
two works followed the earlier works while prescribing
the graha-svara-s, but
have based the
prescription of
varjya-svara-s
on the contemporary practice.
Thus
we see that in the post-SR period there
is much
confusion in
the texts. Though
the mEla system
has
established itself,
defining rAga-s in terms of
varying
graha-svara-s has not been dispensed with. The description
of rAga-s
are directions based on the
older system of
varying
graha-s, while instructions regarding varjya-svara-s
are based
on the new system
which has shaDja
as the
permanent graha.
But the fact remains that the
mode of
describing rAga-s
was, some centuries
ago, based on
different svara-s being placed on a fixed tonic.
This gave
way to the modern system, where shaDja is identified
with
the
tonic.
Now
the `graham' passage of svara-s mentioned in
the
songs
listed above, reflects a return to the older practice.
For instance:
1. In
the krti `guNijanAdinuta' in gUrjari rAga, in
the
normal passage
the svara-s are sung as is done
in modern
practice, where
shaDja coincides with the
tonic. In the
`graham' we
have a return
to method-II of
mUrchanA-
derivation
seen above, i.e. the graha-svara is placed on the
tonic,
and the subsequent svara-s renamed back to what
they
would
have been in the rshabha-mUrchanA.
2. In the krti, `rENukAdEvi', in kannaDabangAla
rAga, the
`graham' passage
returns to the
older position where
gAndhAra
is the graha and its (gAndhAra's) seventh i.e.
the
rshabha
is the varjya-svara.
3. In
the krti `sadAvinata'
in rEvagupti rAga,
the
`graham'
passage returns to the older position where rshabha
is the graha and its fourth (pancama) and
seventh (shaDja)
are the
varjya-svara-s.
Similarly in the case of other songs too
we can see the
principle behind the graham passages. And it is
also clear
that
`graham' svara passage can figure only in those
rAga-s
whose
graha (as in older tradition) is some svara other than
shaDja.
Finally,
the `graham' singing must have been
part of
the
system five or six centuries ago, but then the
question
arises why composers in the last two hundred years
should
have
incorporated graha-svara passage also. The only
answer
to this question seems to be that the composers
might have
been fascinated by the older method of deriving
scales and
this
SAstrIya feature must have influenced their prayOga{13}.
------------------------------------------------------
Notes
1 SSP Part-1, pp.234-236
2 SSP Part-1, sangIta-lakshaNa-sangraha
p.28
3 SSP Pt.1 pp.217-218
4 SSP Pt.1 pp.212-213
5 SSP Pt.1 pp.466-467
6 aMSa
was one of the ten main
melodic characteristics
defining
a jAti. From its various roles
defined in
detail
in NS, Datt., etc., it could be
inferred that
the
aMSa functioned as the tonic. In the
jAti-s, the
scale as such is never described. It is
only classified
according
to the grama to which it belongs. The
grAma
conveys
the intervals of svara-s
taken. aMSa, the
fundamental or the tonic note, will
determine the scale
within the grAma.
7 RTC pp.74-76
8 RTC
p.75; the text is somewhat corrupt, and hence the
account is not very coherent.
9 SSP Part-1, sangIta-lakshaNa sangraha
p.28
10 SR 2,2,100cd-101ab; SRC pl16; SMK 5,57; RV
4,9;
SSud v.778,p.190; CP 5,79; SSar p.88; SSP
p.211;
anubandha to SP p.8, v.9; SanCuD p.95
11 SMK 5,31; SRC p.16; RV 4,19cd; SSud p.179;
CP 5,36&88;
anubandha to CP p.9,v.16; SSP p.252;
SanCuD p.94
12 SSud p.205; CP 5,36&86cd-87ab; anuba. to
CP p.12,v.14;
SSP Pt.2,p.648
13
a) Dr
R Sathyanarayana has discussed in the article "Sri
Mudduswami
Dikshita: musicologist", in the Journal of
the
Indian Musicological Society,
vol.7,no.4
(Dec.1976), pp.23-31,
Baroda, 1976, the subject
of
graha-svara with reference to the graha-svara passage
occurring in a krti by muttusvAmi dIkshitar
set in the
rAga
rEvagupti. Although the conclusion of the author
is that "in other words, the music is
identical in both
cases
whereas the names of the
notes employed are
different
in each case" (p.30), this does not go with
some
of the earlier statements
like that "rEvagupti
seems to have been chosen by the composer
to illustrate
the
principles of modal shift of tonic
(grahabhEda)
which
yields two tAna-s, one of which is
the rAga
itself, while the other is the
ni-derivative" (p.29).
There
are not two scales as Dr
Sathyanararyana has
suggested; rather the same scale is
defined differently
by
two theoretical systems
belonging to different
periods in history.
b) Dr S
Seetha has also presented a
lecture-demonstration
on this graha-svara feature in the krti-s
of muttusvAmi
dIkshitar, under
the title "Grahabheda in
the
Compositions of
Dikshitar", during the
annual
conference of the Music Academy, Madras
1986. The paper
is not yet published.
--------------------------------------
Explanation of Diacritical
Marks
For the non-english words, the Roman
letters have been
adopted to
serve the purpose
of diacritical marks
to
represent the
Indian script. The following table
is self
explanatory.
a
A i I
u U r
e E
ai
o O au
m H
k
kh g gh
n c ch
j jh n
T
Th D Dh
N t th
d dh n
p
ph b bh
m
y
r l v
S sh s
h
-------------------------
Abbreviations
NS nATyaSAstra
Datt dattilam
SR sangItaratnAkara
RV rAgavibOdha
SPar sangItapArijAta
RKau rasakaumudI
SDar sangItadarpaNa
SRC sadrAgacandrOdaya
RTV rAgatattvavibOdha
CP caturdaNDIprakASikA
SSar sangItasArAmrta
SSP sangItasampradAyapradarSinI
SanCuD sangrahacUDAmaNi
---------------------------------------
Bibliography
[ Note
: Following is
the list of
works from which
references have
been actually cited in the articles.
If
there are two editions of the same text, then
the citation
is from
the one listed first. The other one
if used for
citation
would have been specifically mentioned. ]
caturdaNDIprakASikA
of vEnkaTamakhi
ed. pt.Subrahmanya Sastri,
T V Subba
Rao, T L
Venkataramayyar,
Madras Music Academy, Madras 1934.
dattilam
of dattilamuni
ed. K
Sambasiva Sastri, Sri Setu Prasadamala
Series XIV,
Tiruvanantapuram,
1930.
nATyaSAstra
of bharatamuni with commentary of
abhinavabh-
AratI
by abhinavaguptAcArya,
vol.IV
(Ch.s28-37) ed. M Ramakrishna Kavi and J S Pade,1964.
Oriental
Institute, Baroda.
rasakaumudI
of SrIkaNTha
ed. A N
Jani, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1963
rAgavibOdha
of sOmanAtha, ed. S.Subrahmanya Sastri,
Adayar,
1945.
sadrAgacandrOdaya of puNDarIka viTThala, ed. Ganesa Sarma,
Bombay
1912.
sangrahacUDAmaNi
of gOvinda ed. by Pt.S.Subrahmanya
Sastri,
Adyar
Library, 1938
sangItapArijAta of ahObala pub. by R S Gondhalekara, Pune.
1898.
sangItaratnAkara of SArngadEva with the commentaries
kal-
Anidhi
of kallinAtha and sangItasudhAkara of simhabhUpAla,
a) vol.I - ed. Pandita Subrahmanya Sastri
revised by S
Sarada, 1992
b) vol.II- ed. Pandita Subrahmanya Sastri
revised by V
Krishnamacarya, 1959.
sangIta-sampradAya-pradarSinI
of SubbarAma dIkshitar, Pt. 1
&
2, Vidya Vilasini Press, Ettayapuram, 1904.
sangItasArAmrta of tulaja, ed. S.Subrahmanya Sastri, Music
Academy,
Madras, 1942.
sangItasudhA of raghunAtha nAyaka, ed. P.S.Sundaram
Ayyar
and
S.Subrahmanya Sastri, Music Academy, Madras, 1940.
svaramElakalAnidhi of rAmAmAtya, ed. M.S.Ramaswami
Ayyar,
Annamalai
University, Chidambaram 1932.
-----------------------------------------
T-10A
Viewing
the modern rAga-s as derived in terms of the three
stages
of mUrchana described in T-10
I
SankarAbharaNa -s--r--g-m--p--d--n
kharaharpriya --r--g-m--p--d--n-s
tODI --g-m--p--d--n-s--r
II
SankarAbharaNa -s--r--g-m--p--d--n
kharaharpriya --r--g-m--p--d--n-s
tODI --g-m--p--d--n-s--r
Modern system
SankarAbharaNa -s--r--g-m--p--d--n
kharaharpriya --s--r-g--m--p--d-n
tODI --s-r--g--m--p-d--n