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.: