Understanding and remembering the melakarta ragas

This is a sequel to my previous post. This post is predominantly a consolidation of many of the theories we earlier discussed. So a quick glance into my previous posts on Theory of Music would help.

Remembering mela names:

 

Please refer to Wikipedia article for the melakarta raga table: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melakarta

Shuddha Madhyama – Ka Se Ga Cha Ma Ya

Ka indicates Kanakangi, the first raga in first chakra. Se indicates Senavati , the first   raga in netra chakra. Similarly below verse helps in remembering the first raga of the 6 prati  madyama groups.

Prati Madhyama – Sa Ga Dha Shya Kaa Su

• In order to find the mela number (assuming we have the name of the raga), use the Katapayadhi Sankhya. Choose a raga, pick the first two syllables of the raga name. Pick the corresponding number closest to the sound of the syllables from below table. Reverse the numbers to arrive at the mela number

e.g. Dheerashankarabarana where Dhee and Ra are the first two syllables

Dha (closest to Dhee) – 9

Ra – 2

Reverse it to get the mela number of the raga i.e. 29^th

Finding out the scale of a mela:

 As mentioned earlier, there are only 6 combinations of R & G and 6 combinations of D & N:

(a)  R1 G1, R1 G2, R1 G3, R2 G2, R2 G3, R3 G3

(b)  D1 N1, D1 N2, D1 N3, D2 N2, D2 N3, D3 N3

 S & P are constants for all 72 melas and the first 36 melas are with Shuddha Madhyama (M1) and next 36 melas are with prati madhyama (M2)

 In order to arrive at the murchana i.e. scale  (arohana – avarohana) of each mela, one should first know the chakra of the raga.

Every chakra repeats the following order of D & N within the 6 ragas in the chakra:

S R G M P D1 N1 S

S R G M P D1 N2 S

S R G M P D1 N3 S

S R G M P D2 N2 S

S R G M P D2 N3 S

S R G M P D3 N3 S

If we remember this, the only two other swaras left are R & G since we know S & P are constants and if the raga is one among the first 36 it would have a M1, if not an M2.

R & G will be as follows:

1^st and 7^th chakra:  R1 and G1

2^nd and 8^th chakra: R1 and G2

3^rd and 9^th chakra:  R1 and G3

4^th and 10^th chakra: R2 and G2

5^th and 11^th chakra: R2 and G3

6^th and 12^th chakra: R3 and G3

7^th chakra ragas are the prati madyama equivalent of ragas in 1^st chakra. Similarly the other parallels mentioned above are Shuddha & Prati Madhyama equivalents.

Just divide the raga by 6. If the mela number is divisible, the quotient would be chakra in which the raga falls into. If there are remainders, then quotient+1 is the chakra number and remainder represents the place of raga within the chakra.

Let us use an example and find out the scale of Shanmukhapriya, the 56^th mela.

S – Constant

R – This raga falls in 10^th chakra (56/6 = 9 is the quotient and 2 would be the remainder. Hence 10^th chakra and the raga is in 2^nd place of 10^th chakra) So R2

G – falls in 10^th chakra . So G2

M – falls in second group of 36 melas. Hence M2

P – Constant

D – second raga within the chakra. So D1

N – second raga within the chakra. So N2

Therefore the scale is S R2 G2 M2 P D1 N2 S

S N2 D1 P M2 G2 R2 S

But as always, practice makes perfect. So keep munching these thoughts in your brain and try this exercise on every mela that you come across.

References:

 Sri K.V.Narayanamurti sir (www.narayanmurti.com)

Dr Vasanta Madhavi’s book on Theory of Music

Thanks Wikipedia

Melakarta Ragas – Chakras

Understanding the mela ragas – I

 

In order to understand the structure of each mela raga, it is essential to know the different swaras that form the basis for these ragas. The mela ragas are also divided into twelve groups or chakras which are basis for finding out the scale of mela raga.

 

Etymology of Swaras and Chakras

 

Swaras:

 

Sa -Shadja : Shad means 6 in Sanskrit. Shadja meaning produced jointly by six organs of the body

Ri -Rishaba – Rishaba in Sanskrit means bull. Bulls are yoked in twos for agricultural operation, which may be the reason for indicating number 2

Ga- Gandhara – There is uncertainty on the etymology of this swara. Gandhara was a kingdom in Mahabharata. Mahabharata has several mentions of this musical note

Ma -Madhyama – Meaning centrally located

Dha- Dhaivata – Divine or pertaining to divinity, the Lord

Ni- Nishada – Nishada again was a kingdom (in vedic period) of courageous Nishada tribes . Guha of Ramayana and Ekalavya of Mahabharata, King Nala are popular Nishadas

 

There are Rishaba  & Dhaivata have 3 variants namely.  For the ease of reference let us call them R1, R2, R3 and D1, D2 D3.

 

Shuddha Rishaba/ Dhaivata–  Shuddha means pure

Chatusruthi Rishaba/Dhaivata – Chat meaning 4

Shadsruthi Rishaba/ Dhaivata – Shad meaning 6

 

Similarly, Gandhara has 3 variants –

 

Shuddha Gandhara (G1)

Sadharana Gandhara (G2) – Sadharana means common

Antara Gandhara (G3) – Antara means inside/inner

 

Nishada also has 3 variants :

 

Shuddha Nishada (N1)

Kaisiki Nishada ( N2) – Kaisiki means very fine line hair

Kakali NIshada (N3) – Kakali means low sweet tone

 

Madhyama has 2 variants:

 

Shuddha Madhyama (M1)

Prati Madhyama (M2) – Prati means opposite or counter

 

 

It is also quintessential to know about the chakras which classify the 72 ragas into 6 groups. The chakras are named after the things they represent, so it is quite easy to remember the names.

 

1.Indu chakra : Indu means moon in Sanskrit

2.Netra chakra : Netra meaning eyes.This indicates our two eyes

3.Agni chakra : 3 divya agnis as per Hinduism (Fire, Lightning and Sun)

4.Veda chakra : 4 Vedas Rig , Yajur, Sama, Atharva

5.Bana chakra : 5 banas (arrows) of Hindu God Manmatha which are Lily, Lotus, Jasmine, Ashoka flower, Mango Flower

6.Ritu chakra: 6 seasons as per Hindu calendar viz. Vasantha (Spring), Grishma (Summer), Varsha (Rainy), Sharad (Autumn), Hemant (Winter) , Shishir (Winter & fall)

7. Rishi chakra : Representing the sapta (seven) rishis – Vasistha, Bharadvaja, Jamadagni, Gautama, Atri, Visvamitra, and Agastya . Though there are several versions of the Sapta rishis

8.Vasu chakra – the eight Vasus , the attendant deities of Gods Indra /Vishnu. Agni (fire), Prithvi (earth), Vayu (wind) , Antariksha (space), Aditya (eternal/sun), dyaus (sky),chandramas (moon), nakshatrani (stars)

9. Brahma chakra – representing 9

10. Disi chakra representing the 10 directions (N,E,S,W,NE, NW, SW,SE,Akash (sky), Padal (nether)

11. Rudra chakra – rudra represents number eleven

12.Aditya chakra- representing 12 Adityas (Aṃśa, Aryaman, Bhaga, Dakṣa, Dhātṛ, Indra, Mitra, Ravi, Savitṛ, Sūrya or Arka, Varuṇa, Yama)

 

Let us call the chakras as 1^st chakra, 2^nd chakra and so on. In our next post, we will see how to arrive at the raga using the above chakras.