THE KALEIDOSCOPIC SWARA

A millipede can scarcely walk, if asked to recollect the sequence its 1000 feet follow-CvB

Pta Kishori Amonkar is quite particular about methodical study of our shastras, particularly those by Bharatamuni, Narada, Panini & Sharangdev. As promised in the last post, her findings and beliefs have been summarised by us, in tabular form, for convenience. How useful these pointers are practically in music today, is anybody’s guess. We have already written about departures made by Masters such at Pt. BSJ... Pt Bhatkhande and Pt Ratanjankar were never for these straight-jackets. The latter wrote in Bhatkhande’s Biography: “It is a general notion among people that our Hindu music is an ancient and very important branch of knowledge. It is not intended here to run this down as an erroneous notion..But the question that arises in our mind is: is there any connection between the theories of those texts and the art we consider today as music? We may have read the granthas and even understood them, and yet if there is no connection between today’s music and the music propounded by granthas...why bother to study the granthas? This question is asked by many, and...it is difficult to give a satisfactory answer...”

One of the greatest contemporary teachers (Missus’s teacher, also representing Gwalior) Pt. Ramashray Jha generally prefers to go along with the swar-prayoga of the times: for instance the relatively recent treatment of Bhimpalasi as a separate angg rather than as part of Dhanashri angg is appreciated by him..

Nevertheless it’s important to know these rules, observed more in breach than in compliance today. Anyway...Abraham Lincoln was once asked by a friend to offer comments on his book on occult. That was a tough one, for Lincoln did not share the enthusiasm for the black sciences. So he wrote: “It’s just the sort of thing that will be liked by people who like that sort of things...”

SWARAS AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS AND MOODS:

SWAR	SHRUTIS (Narada)	ETYMOLOGY	BHAV OR MOOD	OTHERS
Shadj	-	Gives birth to six swaras	vir, adbhut	Born in devkula, chhanda anushtubh, in nature, call of peacock
Rishabh	Shikha and Deeptimati	Taurus- dominant amongst other swaras, quick	Raudra	Born in rishikula, chhanda gayatri, in nature, call of chataka
Gandhar	Riddhi and Niwari	Gaan-rupa-dharita	Karun	Born in devkula, chhanda trishtubh, in nature, call of the calf
Madhyam	Hira, Sarpsaha, Vibhuti	The centre-piece of the saptak	Hasya/ ananda	Born in devkula, chhanda bruhati, in nature, call of a crane
Pancham	Malini, Chapala, Bala, Sarwaratna	Fifth in the saptak	shringara	Born in pitrakula, chhanda pankti, in nature, call of kokila (cuckoo)
Dhaivat	Shanta, Diklini, Hrudayonmalini	Buddhiman	Beebhatsa/ gambhir	Born in rishikula, chhanda ushnik, in nature, call of a frog
Nishad	Visarini, Prasuna	Finality	insistently karun	Born in asura-vansha, chhanda jagati, in nature, call of elephant

Terminology : (we have omitted the simple words in sanskrit)

Chhanda: metre: each chhanda has a fixed number of syllables and steps (charanas). For example, the following line of gayatri mantra goes: तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं /भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि/धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात्- i.e. 8/8/8 or 3 steps of 8 syllables each. The concerned swara is supposedly best suited for such a chhanda. Therefore there are 7 chhandas: गायत्री, उष्णिक, अनुष्टुप, बृहती,पंक्ति, त्रिष्टुप and जगती... (interested readers may see srijangatha.com)

Rasas: Vir= valiant, adbhut= wonderment, raudra= wrathful, karun= showing pathos, hasya/ananda= happiness or bliss, shringar= exciting erotic passion (closest we could find), beebhatsa= grotesque

RAGAS AND MOODS:

BHAV OR MOOD	RAGAs
vir, adbhut	Ahir Bhairav, Darbari
raudra	Durga, Khat, some Nat mishrit
karun	Bhinna Shadja, Khambawati, Asawari, Bageshri, Kaunses
hasya and ananda	Kedar, Basant
shringara	Nat, Bahar, Hindol...karun shringara: bageshri, rageshri, bhimpalasi
beebhatsa or gambhir	Gunkali, Bhairav, Kaunses
insistently karun	Shivranjani, jaunpuri
Vairagya/ Surrender	Yaman

DASHALAKSHANAS:

These are components enhancing and accentuating raga mood. For example in case of Yaman:

LAKSHANAS	EXPLANATION	RELEVANT SWARA
Graha	Commencement	Nishad
Ansha	Swargroups and templates enhancing mood, normally meant for Madhya-saptak	-
Taar	Upper swar limit for raga, beyond which there are chances of rasabhanga (remember one Pta Parveen Sultana?)	Gandhar, Pancham
Mandra	Lower notes which do not supposedly enhance mood (belief not followed in Pt BSJ e.g in his Bhimpalasi, to great effect)	Gandhar
Nyaas	Concluding swaras	Shadj
Apnyaas	Swaras preceding nyaas	Shadj, Gandhar, Pancham,
Sanyaas	A composition has 4 parts: ashthaayi/antara/aabhogi/sanchari- Sanyaas is the link between the first two
Vinyaas	Swara granting impetus or motion to swara plans	Rishabh, Teevra Madhyam
Bahutwa	Abundance	Shadj, Rishabh, Gandhar, Pancham,
Alpatwa	Swara only glancing the chains, not being repeated	Teevra Madhyam, Dhaivat
Antarmarg	Swara used in an unconventional manner imparting what Pascal called ‘classic beauty arising from strangeness in proportion’

 

We’re not sure, if an artiste decides to abide by these rules, she or he can  sing effortlessly! 

Nevertheless, for the one who thirsts for musical consummation, mrugamarichika or Mirage is the reality!

YE 'SA' THA KI MANDRA SAPTAK KA 'NI'? MUSINGS OF A MILLIPEDE, WORM WITH 1000 SWARAS, THAT MAY BECOME A BUTTERFLY OR A BAT HAAA!

RAAG BHAIRAVI: REALM OF DEATH

............THAT LIES BEYOND THE VAITARNI
 

 “Death is only the beginning; afterward comes the hard part.” – Jed Rubenfeld, The Death Instinct

Each raga aspires to become Bhairavi, but none can reach that point when on the mortal plains...CvB

We plan to write something on Bhimpalasi and Bhairavi…the chelli and the akka of Hindustani…this entry in the blog continuum is but a trailer intended to whet the appetite of the reader hopefully, and the writer…we shall have occasion to revisit the topic…’not wholly and in full measure, but very substantially’, he, he, he..

Bhimpalasi-…the plaintive afternoon raga which became inseparable from Kumarji’s psyche during his mortal phase at Dewas…the threadbare shade under the blazing palash  defying bravely the burning afternoon Malwa sun… and Bhairavi…the akka of the musical Universe…

Bhimpalasi resting in the Palash shade on a hot summer afternoon in Dewas. Kumarji told son Mukul that he'd never be proficient in Bhimpalasi, unless he spent a lifetime of contemplation under that shade...

Bhairavi first today: Panditji, that is BSJ has gone on record stating that though Bhairavi is the richest, it is basically meant for bhajan or thumri  or the like…He says nobody attempts to launch into a full-scale exposition or a khayal  in Bhairavi…why this cold-shoulder I sayyy...?

For the record, here is a Bhairavi in detail, blessed by none other than Menuhin-from none other than our idol Ustad AHJK…it's a bit abridged on the fore, but in a teen-tal, not dadra or kehrwa

                                                                                                                                          Anyway… when the writer’s ear was ripening as a toddler, Dad prophesied that first he’d learn to appreciate Bhairavi, being a sampoorna raga, then Darbari, then Shivranjani, then Bhimpalasi etc etc…In fact he had a thumb rule for novices to Classical trying to recognise the raag of a song: if it just insanely and unbearably beautiful it has to be Bhairavi..tat twam asi...aso…

By and by one unlearnt Dad and came around to Ashok Razdan's view that all music is great.... especially Puriya Dhanashri, Kirwani, and Madhuwanti....but Dad stuck to his position...

But the above two observations fly in the face of the first…we find it inexplicable if the Richest of the ragas is left to sit as a mendicant outside the edifices of Malkauns or Darabari…did not  Panditji sing jo bhaje hari ko sada always and always always sportingly as a consolation cherry to top the cake…?

(on bhajani theka)

The explanation IK offers is simply that láffaire Bhairavi has to be taken in the spirit of the Hindu reincarnation cycle. The mendicant Bhairavi sitting outside the life temple marking its fringes is but THE empress of Death-realm…tip-of-the iceberg of Death, which in essence is Life…what sounds like a charming thumri -the said cherry on the cake- in this world obtains its rightful place...is the staple diet of, the next world...

Vindication of this view (he, he, he...) comes from the fact that when the Golden Record containing sounds from the Earth was compiled by NASA in 1977, for being placed on the Voyager's inter-stellar journey to eternity, it was Raga Bhairavi sung by Surashri Kesarbai Kerkar that rubbed shoulders with creations of Beethoven and Mozart and Louis Armstrong ..

There are no khayals in Bhairavi in the mortal world, for Bhairavi belongs in the Other World- be it jannat or dozaqw…Ustad AHJK’s sitar recital was but a trailer conceived by an ethereal being closer to Allahtala than us. Whoever does that is a step closer to the brahman  than others. Jabrail, tells us that on judgement day, one has to relive the holy and the despicable moments of one's life and here at 1.00 we find shades of Malkauns and at Khamaj...at....When we land in the Other World one day, we shall be welcomed by the strains of Ustad Bismillah Khan’s Bhairavi…Entertained by Panditji’s Vaikunthicha Raya...hopefully he shall enthrall the writer and his dad with a night long khayal in Bhairavi...

Fulfilled by a 3-hour merukhand in Bhairavi by our compatriot Ustad Amir Khan of Indore

And put to sleep by one of the representatives of that kaleidoscopic phenomenon jo bhaje hari ko sada

(on teen-taal)

Simply put: we all feel Bhairavi is the Mount Everest of Indian Classical, but it is in fact the baton that Death will hand over to the brand new Other Life…Bhairavi is the Cuckoo call of the Universe we all shall see one day…when we have crossed the mythical river Vaitarni that runs between the two territories, Life and Death....and that is why Bhairavi is played at the end of a maifil- for that is where it belongs in the living world- and it demonstrates the shape of things to come...and hence it is a truncated version only...!