gramamurchanajati eng

8/13/2019 GramaMurchanaJati Eng

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GRMA MRCCHAN JTI

(Premalatha Nagarajan)

Grma, Mrcchan and Jti are technical terms that were used in the music of theancient period. These terms which were used in the ancient musical tradition are knownthrough the works like the Dattilam of Dattila and Nyastra of Bharata.These two workscould be said to have been written sometime between the 1st or the 4th century A.D. Themusical tradition described in theses works was called "gndharva". This gndharva"seems to have evolved closely after the arrival of the smagna tradition.

Dattilam explains several aspects of the gndharva tradition in a brief manner. Forinstance, aspects relating to melody, time and (musical) forms of the gndharva arementioned in this work. We could see that the same concepts are being dealt with in adetailed manner in Nyastra. Nyastra is an extensive and an exhaustive work notonly on music but also nya or naka. In the nya of Bharata's time, music not onlyformed part of the naka but was also used in the "prvaraga" which was performed

before the commencement of the drama proper. The music that was used in the nakawas helpful in evoking the sentiment of the naka and was related to the theme of thenaka. The music of the prvaragawas gndharvaand represented the Art music ofthat period.

Many musical forms are met with in gndharva, as for instance, thegtaka varieties like"madraka" and "aparntaka" and nirgta types like "rva", "rambha" etc. In most ofthe gtaka-s, the basis for the melody/music was the jti. Further, the basis for forms suchas k, gth, sma etc. were the mrcchan-s. The aim of this lesson is to understandthese mrcchan-s and jti-s.

Mrcchan-s

Mrcchan-s are defined as the sequential order of the seven svara-s which are treatedas the bases for the melodic aspect of a song/composition. They are 14 in number. Theirnames are as follows:1. Uttaramandr2. Rajan3. Uttaryat4. uddhaaj5. Matsarkt6. Avakrnt7. Abhirudgat8. Sauvr

9. Hriv10. Kalpanat11. uddhamadhy12. Mrg13. Paurav14. Hyak

The differences among these 14 mrcchan-s were expressed on the basis of the


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intervals in the svara sequence. The interval between two consecutive svara-s wasmeasured by the unit called "rti". For example, in the mrcchan called uttaramandr,there existed an interval of three ruti-s, between the first svara namely, aja and thesecond svara, abha. The intervallic organisation of the 14 mrcchan-s is as follows:1. uttaramandr 4sa 3ri 2ga 4ma 4pa 3dha 2ni

2. rajan 2ni 4sa 3ri 2ga 4ma 4pa 3dha3. uttaryat 3dha 2ni 4sa 3ri 2ga 4ma 4pa4. uddhaaj 4pa 3dha 2ni 4sa 3ri 2ga 4ma5. matsarkt 4ma 4pa 3dha 2ni 4sa 3ri 2ga6. avakrnt 2ga 4ma 4pa 3dha 2ni 4sa 3ri7. abhirudgat 3ri 2ga 4ma 4pa 3dha 2ni 4sa

--------------------------------------------------------------------8. Sauvr 4ma 3pa 4dha 2ni 4sa 3ri 2ga9. Hriv 2ga 4ma 3pa 4dha 2ni 4sa 3ri

10. Kalpanat 3ri 2ga 4ma 3pa 4dha 2ni 4sa11. uddhamadhy 4sa 3ri 2ga 4ma 3pa 4dha 2ni12. Mrg 2ni 4sa 3ri 2ga 4ma 3pa 4dha13. Paurav 4dha 2ni 4sa 3ri 2ga 4ma 3pa14. Hyak 3pa 4dha 2ni 4sa 3ri 2ga 4ma

When we look at the order of the ruti-s in the above mrcchan-s, we observe twokinds of organisations/structures, The first structure is as follows:

First 4 3 2 4 4 3 2Second 4 3 4 2 4 3 2

(See tables 1.1 and 1.2 below)

Table -1.1 aja-grmaSa

Ni Ri

Dha Ga

Pa Ma

(4) Sa (3) Ri (2) Ga (4) Ma (4) Pa (3) Dha (2) Ni


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Table- 1.2 Madhyama-grma

Ma

Ga Pa

Ri

Dha

Sa Ni

(4) Ma (3) Pa (4) Dha (2) Ni (4) Sa (3) Ri (2) Ga

For example, in uttaramandr, the interval between the svara-s sa, ri, ga, ma, pa, dhaand ni are 4 3 2 4 4 3 and 2 respectively. In the mrcchan rajan, the interval between thesvara-s ni, sa, ri, ga, ma, pa and dha are 2 4 3 2 4 4 and 3 respectively. In this way, theorder of the ruti intervals in the first seven mrcchan-s remains the same. But thecommencing svara keeps changing in the descending order. That is, it occurs in thefollowing manner.

S R G M P D Nuttaramandr-4- -3- -2- -4- -4- -3- -2-

N S R G M P Drajan-2- -4- -3- -2- -4- -4- -3-

D N S R G M Puttaryat-3- -2- -4- -3- -2- -4- -4-

P D N S R G Muddhaaj-4- -3- -2- -4- -3- -2- -4-

M P D N S R Gmatsarkt-4- -4- -3- -2- -4- -3- -2-

G M P D N S Ravakrnt-2- -4- -4- -3- -2- -4- -3-

R G M P D N Sabhirudgat-3- -2- -4- -4- -3- -2- -4-

Since the first mrcchan namely, uttaramandr begins on madhya sthna aja, thesuccessive mrcchan-s begin on mandra nida, mandra dhaivata etc. respectively. Thegroup of the seven svara-s found in the above said seven mrcchana-s such asuttaramandr etc. is called "ajagrma". Thus, a Grma could be defined as a collectionof the seven svara-s namely, aja, abha, gndhra, madhyama, pacama, dhaivata andnida.

ajagrma - ajagrma refers to the collection of the seven svara-s namely, aja,


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abha, gndhra, madhyama, pacama, dhaivata and nida, each encompassing aspecific number of ruti-s. Thus

aja has an interval of four ruti-s. (Four ruti-s here refers to the size the Interval thatseparates aja from its previous svara, namely, nida.)

abha consists of three ruti-s,gndhra consists of two ruti-s,madhyama consists of four ruti-s,pacama consists of four ruti-s,dhaivata consists of three ruti-s andnida consists of two ruti-s.

The commencing svara-s of the seven mrcchan-s are sa, ni, dha, pa, ma, ga and rirespectively. In these seven mrcchan-s having the svara-s of the ajagrma, thecommencing svara-s alone change but the intervals between the svara-s remain fixed. Animportant aspect which we have to note is that in Dattilam and Nyatra, to indicate the

svara-s, the names, aja, abha, gndhra, madhyama, pacama, dhaivata and nidaalone are used and not their other names such as sa,ri, ga, ma, pa, dha and ni.

The method of deriving mrcchan-s by changing the commencing svara-s, asmentioned above and at the same time keeping the intervals between the svara-s constantis called "Graha bhda" (Modal shift of Tonic) today. It was only through this method themrcchan-s were derived from the grma-s.

MadhyamagrmaThe fundamental intervals of the ruti values in the seven mrcchan-s sauvr etc. are

4 3 2 2 4 3 2. This is called the Madhyamagrma arrangement of svara intervals. The

seven mrcchan-s of this grma are organised thus.M P D N S R GSauvr-4- -3- -4- -2- -4- -3- -2-

G M P D N S RHriv-2- -4- -3- -4- -2- -4- -3-

R G M P D N SKalpanat-3- -2- -4- -3- -4- -2- -4-

S R G M P D Nuddhamadhy-4- -3- -2- -4- -3- -4- -2-

N S R G M P DMrg-2- -4- -3- -2- -4- -3- -4-

D N S R G M PPaurav -4- -2- -4- -3- -2- -4- -3-P D N S R G MHyak-3- -4- -2- -4- -3- -2- -4-

Even though the seven svara-s, namely, sa ri ga ma pa dha ni exist in both the grma-s(aja and madhyama), the order of their ruti intervals differs. Therefore the structure ofthe mrcchan derived from one grma is not obtained from the other.


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Gndhragrma:Apart from these two grma-s, another grma is found mentioned in Dattilam. However

there is no reference to this in Nyastra. In Dattilam too, there are no details regardingthe mrcchan-s derived from it. But we get information about the names of themrcchan-s and the ruti intervals of svara-s from texts like Nradyik and the

Sagtaratnkara of rgadva.The names of the seven mrcchan-s of the Gndhragrma are:1. Nand 2. Vil 3. Sumukh4. Citr 5. Citravat 6. Sukh 7. lp

The structure of the gndhragrma as given in Sagtaratnkara is-4-g-3- m-3- p-3- d-4- n-3- s-2- r (Please see table 1.3 below)

Table- 1.3 Gndhra-grmaGa

Ri Ma

Sa

Pa

Ni Dha

(4) Ga (3) Ma (3) Pa (3) Dha (4) Ni (3) Sa (2) Ri

More details on the Gndhragrma are found in the work calledSarasvatihdaylakrahra also called as Bharatabhya, written by Nnyabhpla.

As mentioned earlier, the mrcchan-s were the basis for k, gth, sma and for someother musical forms which were derived from the smagna and the chanting of othervda-s. Further apart from the seven svara-mrcchan-s, there also existed somemrcchan-s, which were devoid of one or two svara-s and were called tna-s; these alsoformed the basis for the musical forms.

ava-tnam:When one svara is omitted from a mrcchan, then it is called avatna. In thegndharva tradition, there were specific rules about the omission of the svara-s. Theserules differed for the mrcchan-s of the aja and madhyama grma-s.avatna -s from ajagrma mrcchan

In the ajagrma mrcchan-s, to bring about avatna-s (the tna-s wherein onesvara is omitted), any one of the notes- aja, abha, pacama or nida can be omitted.

Thus in each of the mrcchan-s, uttaramandr etc., when any one of the above said four


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svara-s is omitted, 28 mrcchan-s (7x4=28) are obtained.avatna -s from Madhyamagrma mrcchan

To bring about avatna-s, in the madhyamagrma, any one among the three svara-s namely aja, abha and gndhra can be omitted. Thus in the seven mrcchan-s,when these three svara-s are omitted, 21 avatna-s are obtained. For example, when

abha is omitted in the mrcchan sauvr, the tna that we get is "sa ga ma pa dha ni".

Auuva-tnam:The tna-s that are obtained by omitting two svara-s from the mrcchan-s are called

Auuvatna-s. In the mrcchan-s of the ajagrma, the svara-s, aja and pacama orabha and pacama or gndhra and nida can be omitted together. In this way, whenthree kinds of svara-pairs are omitted respectively in each of the mrcchan-s, we get 21mrcchan-s. For example, in the mrcchan uttaramandr, when the svara-s abha andpacama are omitted, we get the auuvatna -sa ga ma dha ni.

In the case of madhyamagrma mrcchan-s, to obtain auuvatna-s, the svara-s thatare to be omitted are abha and dhaivata or gndhra and nida . For example, in the

sauvr mrcchan, on omitting the svara-s, gndhra and nida, we get the auuvatna,sa ri ma pa dha. Thus in the seven mrcchan-s, 14 (7x2=14) auuvatna-s are obtained.In total, 35 (21+14) auuvatna-s are obtained from both the grma-s. In this way 84 tna-s (49 avatna-s and 35 auuvatna-s) were in vogue in the gndharva tradition.

Till now we looked into the structure of the mrcchan-s and the ava auavatna-s(mrcchan-s omitting one or two svara-s). Further there was also a practice of using oneor two svara-s in a melody in addition to the seven svara-s in the mrcchan-s. Theseadditional svara-s were called "Sdhraa Svara-s"

Sdhraa Svara-s:

The term "sdhraa" means common. To explain this, there is an analogy from seasongiven in the Nyastra. When there is a change in season, as for instance, when thewinter begins, it is cool when one sits in the shade (of a tree) and when one sits in the opensunlight it feels hot. At this time of the year it cannot be said that the winter has totallygone or the summer has fully arrived. This period of time is called the "kla-sdhraa".

That is it is a time common to both summer and winter. With regard to music, in themrcchan-s an additonal svara sounds in between two svara-s. For example, in theajagrma mrcchan, in the four ruti interval existing between aja and nida, theadditional svara, kkalinida can occur. The position of kkalinida would be two ruti-shigher than the ajagrma-nida and two ruti-s lesser than the position of aja. Thiskkalinida has a larger interval than the grmanida and is placed within the region of

aja itself. Even then, it is considered as a variety of nida and not aja becausekkalinida occurs only when the grmanida is a weak note. In the same way, anothersdhraasvara called the antaragndhra occurs in between gndhra and madhyama.

This gndhra is two ruti-s higher than the grmagndhra and two ruti-s less thanmadhyama. (See table 1.4)


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Table- 1.4 Sdhraa svara-skk-ni Sa

Ni Ri

Dha Ga

ant-ga

Pa Ma

The two sdhraa svara-s kkalinida and antaragndhra occur in both the grma-s. The following points are to be noted regarding these.1. The number of svara-s that should normally occur in a mrcchan is seven. Thosesvara-s that occur in addition to these seven are the sdharaasvara-s.2. The sdharaasvara-s are not individual svara-s, but are assigned names from theseven svara-s only. That is kkalinida is a variety of nida and antaragndhra is avariety of gndhra.3. A sdhraasvara occurs in a mrcchan only when the respective grmasvara is weak.

Thus in a mrcchan when the gndhra is weak, there is a possibility of the occurrence ofantaragndhra.4. The sdhraasvara is a weaker note that than the grmasvara; hence it cannotbecome the commencing svara of a mrcchan.

The mrcchan-s discussed above can be described as svara phrases or scales ofvarious kinds. The interval of any particular svara would not change in the mrcchan-sbased on the grma. On the other hand, the commencing svara changes. For example,see the mrcchan-s

uttaramandr - 4sa 3ri 2ga 4ma 4pa 3dha 2ni;rajan - 2ni 4sa 3ri 2ga 4ma 4pa 3dha.In the two mrcchan-s mentioned above, we can see that the interval between any

two svara-s is constant. But the commencing svara of uttaramandr is aja whereas ofrajan it is nida. Therefore both the scales are different.

4 3 2 4 4 3 22 4 3 2 4 4 3

The difference between the two scales lies in the variation between the intervals of thesvara-s. Generally, two methods are followed in deriving different scales from an existingscale.

Method-1 Mrcchan or the method of Modal Shift of TonicIn this the intervals of the individual svara-s do not change; but the commencing svara-s


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change.

Method -2 Fixed tonic method-The commencing svara is constant but the intervals between the svara-s change. For

example, the scale of akarbharaa is as follows

sa ri ga ma pa dha ni sab b s b b b s[Note: b- big interval; s-small interval]

In order to derive the scale of kharaharapriy from this, the interval between ri-ga shouldbe decreased and the interval between ga-ma and ni-sa should be increased. Thus thekharaharpriya mela would be

Sa ri ga ma pa dha ni sab s b b b s b

Today this phenomenon is known as replacing the antaragndhra with

sdhraagndhra and kkalinida with kaiikinida.

If the same kharaharapriy scale had to be derived from the akarbharaa scale,according to the ancient method, i.e., without changing the intervals of the svara-s, thecommencing svara should be made abha instead of aja. (See tables 1.5a and 1.5bbelow)

Table- 1.5a Modal Shift of Tonic Method

akarbharaa s r g m p d nKharaharapriy n s r g m p d

Table- 1.5b Fixed Tonic method

akarbharaa s r g m p d nKharaharapriy s r g m p d n

Thus the modern method of scale-derivation differs from that of the ancient. Themethod adopted in the ancient period is referred to as the mrcchan or the grahabhdamethod while the modern one is referred to as fixed tonic system.

Two more aspects have to be mentioned about the mrcchan-s of the gndharvatradition. They are:

1. Mrcchan-s of one grma can be derived from the other. For this, the pacama ofthe ajagrma is to be lowered by one ruti and the madhyamagrma thus

results. (See table 1.6a below)


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Table-1.6a Conversion of aja-grma to madhyama grma: Method-1

Sa

Ni Ri

Dha Ga

Pa Pa Ma

Yet another method is also mentioned in treatises. In this method the gndhra ofthe ajagrma is increased by two ruti-s and is re-named as dhaivata, then thatmrcchan would become a madhyamagrma mrcchan. In other words, when the

gndhra with two ruti-s increased becomes dhaivata, the succeeding svara-s,namely madhyama pacama etc. would become nida, aja etc. in that order. (Seetable 1.6b below)

Table-1.6b Conversion of aja-grma to madhyama grma: Method-2Sa (Ma)

Ni (Ga) Ri (Pa)

Dha (Ri) Ga

Ga (Dha)

Pa (Sa) Ma (Ni)

2. In the same way, if a mrcchan of madhyamagrma had to be converted toajagrma, dhaivata should be lowered by two ruti-s and named as gndhra. Ifdhaivata is named as gndhra, then the following svara-s namely nida and aja wouldbe called madhyama and pacama. (See table 1.7 below)


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Table-1.7 Conversion of Madhyama grma to aja-grmaMa (Sa)

Ga (Ni) Pa (Ri)

Ri (Dha) Dha (Ga)

Dha

Sa (Pa) Ni (Ma)

There are two methods of converting the svara-s of the ajagrma into the svara-s of

madhyamagrma. In the first case, paacama is lowered by one ruti and the svara-s ofmadhyamagrma are thus obtained. In the second case, gndhra is increased by tworuti-s and renamed as dhaivata; the svara-s following gndhra (i.e., madhyama andpacama etc. ) are treated as nida and aja etc. and thus the svara-s ofmadhyamagrma are obtained. The difference between these two methods lies in theposition of aja. In the first method aja lies in its own position and in the secondmethod, the svara madhyama falls in the position of aja. This method seems to havebeen used in the playing of v.

Playing Tna-s on the V:Two methods have been described for playing the avatna-s and auuvatna-s.

(mrcchan-s wherein one or two svara-s are omitted) on the v. According to the firstmethod, the svara which is to be omitted, has to be tuned to the pitch of the neighbouringnote. This is called "prava". In the second method, the svara which has to be omitted isto be avoided while playing the v. This is called "nigraha". Thus prava and nigraha arethe methods of playing avatna-s and auuvatna-s on the v. The v of thegndharva period appears to have been a type of Harp or an instrument resembling they.

JTILike mrcchan-s, jti-s also form the basic melodic structures of musical forms. Unlike

mrcchan-s (which are based on the three grma-s), jti-s are based on two grma-s

(aja and madhyama) only. Jti-s are eighteen in number. They are:

1. j2. rabh3. Gndhr4. Madhyam5. Pacam6. Dhaivat


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7. Naid8. ajdcyav9. ajakaiik10. ajamadhyam11. Gndhrdcyav

12. Madhyamdcyav13. Gndhrapacam14. Raktagndhr15. Kaiik16. Krmrav17. ndhr18. Nandayant

Jti means a "class". Each Jti did not denote an individual melody or melodic type butencompassed several melodic types. The description of the various sub-jti-s constitutinga jti-class was given through a number of characteristics of lakaa-s. Ten characteristics

are specified in Nyastra and Dattila.1. Graha2. Aa3. Tra4. Mandra5. Nysa6. Apanysa7. Alpatva8. Bahutva9. ava10. Ouuva

Before going into these characteristics, we should understand the svara patterns ofthese jti-s. As stated earlier, all the eighteen jti-s were classified under the two grma-s.

The jti-s of the ajagrma are:

1. j2. rabh6. Dhaivat7. Naid8. ajdcyav9. ajakaiik

10. ajamadhyam

The other jti-s (serial numbers 3, 4, 5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18) belong to themadhyamagrma. The first seven jti-s namely j, rabh, Gndhr, Madhyam,Pacam, Dhaivat and Naid were based on the names of the seven svara-s and hencewere called "Svarajti-s" or "Nmasvarajti-s".

Svarajti-s were of two kinds, namely uddhjti and viktjti. The eleven jti-s apartfrom the seven svarajti-s, i.e., ajdcyav etc., were called viktsasargaj jti-s.


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uddh and Viktjti-s:As mentioned above, uddh and viktjti-s are the varieties of a svarajti. That variety

of the svarajti is called uddh, which has the svara after which it is named, as its aa,graha, nysa and apanysa; the nysa not occuring in the tra-sthna and when it has all

the seven svara-s (pra). For example, if in the svarajti called j, the svara aja is theaa, graha, nysa and apanysa, and when aja does not occur as the nysa in thetra-sthna and also when it is sampra (having all the seven svara-s), that variety ofjjti is called the uddh variety of j. If any one of these conditions are changed (inthe graha, aa), it is called the vikt variety. For example, in j, instead of aja, ifgndhra is the graha or aa or apanysa or if nida is omitted, then it is called thevikt variety of j. An important aspect that we should note here is that excepting forthe condition that the nysa should be the svara after which it is named, all the otherconditions such as graha, aa, apanysa and pr atva may change while forming avikt-jti . That is in both the uddh and the vikt varieties of j, aja would be thenysasvara.

Characteristics of Jti-s.1. Graha

Grha refers to the svara with which a melody commences. Normally, while speaking ofthe characteristics of jti-s, only the aasvara is indicated; the aasvara-s are thegrahasvara-s too. For instance, in the j jti, aja, gndhra, madhyama, pacamaand dhaivata are fit to be the aasvara-s. These svara-s are also the grahasvara-s. Incase a svara which is not an aasvara becomes the graha, then it is indicated separately.For example, in the nandayant jti, the aasvara is pacama, whereas the grahasvara isgndhra and not pacama. And hence in the description of nandayant-jti aa andgraha are separately mentioned.

2. AaAa is the svara on which the beauty of the song depends. The samvd and anuvdsvara-s of the aasvara are prominent/principal svara-s. The range of the melody in theupper register is determined by the aasvara. Thus aa has many characteristics.

Among all the characteristics of a jti, aa plays a dominant role. The scale or thesequence of svara-s of a jti is determined only by the aasvara. For example, in thej jti (since it is a jti of the ajagrma), of the five aasvara-s, namely, sa, ga, ma,pa and dha, if aja is the aa, then its scale would be thus:

4sa 3ri 2ga 4ma 4pa 3dha 2ni.

If gndhra is the aa, then the scale is

2ga 4ma 4pa 3dha 2ni 4sa 3ri

If madhyama is the aa, then the scale is4ma 4pa 3dha 2ni 4sa 3ri 2ga

In the same way, in the paacam jti, which belongs to madhyamagrma, whenpacama is the aa, the scale would be

3pa 4dha 2ni 4sa 3ri 2ga 4ma


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Therefore aa is said to be an important characteristic of a jti.

3. TraTra denotes the upper limit of the range of the melody of a jti. Generally, the fifth

svara from the aasvara is called the tra. But in works other than Nyastra andDattila, instead of the tra being the fifth svara from the aa, the fifth svara above theaa svara in the tra-sthna. It should not exceed the fifth svara and at the same time, itis not necessary that it should extend upto the fifth svara. For example, in the jjti, ifaja is the aa, then the fifth svara from aja, that is pacama would be the tra svara.

Thus it (the melody) should not extend beyondpacama but it need not necessarily extendupto pacama. According some ancient scholars the upper limit for melodic movementwas the aa-svara in the tra-sthna or the tra-sthna-pacama.

If in a jti, one or two svara-s are omitted, then while calculating the tra svara, theomitted svara-s are also to be counted. For instance, in the dhaivat-jti, either abha or

dhaivata could be an aasvara. A ava variety of this could be obtained by omittingpacama. If abha is the presiding aa, then the fifth svara from the abha in the traregion, namely, tra-dhaivata is the trasvara or the upper limit of the melody. In theava variety of dhaivat, where pacama is omitted, when determining the trasvara, thesame (pacama) should be included. Hence even when pacama is omitted, only the tra-dhaivata will be the trasvara or the upper limit of melody.

4. MandraMandra indicates the svara up to which the melodic movement can descend. There are

three conditions for rendering the melodic movement in the mandrasthna.1. the range up to the aasvara.

2. the range up to the nysasvara3. the range extending up to abha or dhaivata beyond the nysasvara

5. NysaNysa is the svara on which the gta or the song finally concludes.

6. ApanysaApanysa is the svara on which a section of a song concludes.

7. AlpatvaAlpatva denotes the svara which is rendered weak in a melody. A svara could be

rendered weak in two ways. 1. Laghana, 2. Anabhysa

1. LaghanaLaghana means skipping a svara by just touching it.

2. AnabhysaAbhaysa means doing an action again and again or frequently. Anabhysa means

doing an action infrequently. The svara which is not handled frequently is a kind of alpatva.


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For example, in the madhyam jti, gndhra is the alpasvara. And in the rabh jti,pacama is an alpa-svara.

Further, the svara which is being omitted in a jti, is usually the alpa-svara of the jti inits sampra form. For example, in the madhyam jti, gndhra is the alpasvara. Toobtain the ava form, gndhra is to be omitted. Again in the rabh jti, pacama is

an alpa-svara. And in this jti, aja is omitted to get the ava variety and aja andpacama are omitted for the auuva variety. Although aja is not mentioned as an alpa-svara, since it is not one of the a-svara-s it could be taken to be weak.,

However in case, the avasvara (svara to be omitted) happens to be the samvd-svara of one of the aasvara-s and when that particular aa-svara is the presiding one,then that avasvara should not be omitted. For instance, jjti has five aasvara-s,namely, sa, ga, ma, pa and dha. In this jti, nida can be omitted to bring about theava variety. But when gndhra serves as the presiding aa, nida, whichis the samvdsvara to gndhra, should not be omitted.

8. Bahutva

That svara which is very strong in a melody is called Bahutva. A svara becomes strongby two ways/methods - 1. alaghana, 2. abhysa.

alaghana: This refers to a svara not being skipped.

abhysa: this refers to the use of a particular svara more frequently.All aasvara-s in a jti and their samvd svara-s are "bahutva" in nature.

9. avaWhen a melody consists of six svara-s, it is called ava. The svara that is omitted is

called among the seven svara-s, is called the avasvara.

10. AuuvaWhen a melody consists of five svara-s, it is called auuva. The two svara-s that are to

be omitted to make a jti ava are called auuva-svara-s.It cannot be said that one or two svara-s are omitted in all the eighteen jti-s. For

example, jti-s like ajakaiik, madhyamdcyav, krmrav and gndhrapacam arealways complete (sampra). They do not have the ava and auuva varieties. On theother hand, ndhr and nandayant can be rendered in the ava form by omitting onesvara, but do not have the auava varieties.

Nextly, as seen in the case of mrcchan-s in the jti-s too sdhraa-svara-s like

anatara and kkali occur. The treatises mention that madhyam, pacam andajamadhyam are the three jti-s in which sdhraa-svara-s figure. However in jtoo we come across the kkali-niada occurring.

Till now, we looked at the details of mrcchan-s and jti-s. These details are based onthe descriptions available in Bharata's Nyastra (28th chapter) and Dattila's Dattila.In the period later to these works, changes took place in describing the concepts ofmrcchan-s and jti-s. These changes are known to us through Mataga's Bhadd,


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Abhinavagupta's commentary on Nyastra and rgadva's Sagtaratnkara. Nowlet us look at the changes that took place in the concepts of mrcchan-s and jti-s in thelater period.


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GRMA, MRCCHAN, JTISecond stage in the History

MrcchanIn the first stage of the history, mrcchan was explained as an ordered arrangement of

the seven svara-s. Later it was projected as a arrangement of seven svara-s in ascent aswell as descent. The method of deriving one mrcchan from another was described.In the next stage, another method has been described to derive the mrcchan-s. By

this method, in order to obtain the nida mrcchan from the aja mrcchan :-normally the nida mrcchan commences from the mandrasthna nida. But here,nida is placed on the position of aja and aja on the position of abha. Since theinterval between nida and aja is of four ruti-s, abha is moved a little from itsposition, thereby increasing the interval between aja and abha from three to four ruti-s. Then aja is to be placed on the position of abha. [See Table 1.8 below.]

Table-1.8Derivation of mrcchan -s: Ancient Period

20 21 22 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

s r g m p d n

n s r g m p d

d n s r g m p

Derivation of mrcchan -s: Medeival Period

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

s r g m p d n

d n s r g m p

pd

n s r g m

This method of deriving mrcchan-s is known to be widely found in the medievalperiod. The commencing svara of each mrcchan was termed as the "grahasvara". Sincenida was placed on the position of aja iteself, we come to learn that the pitch of thetonic note was not altered and had been established in the same position. In other words,the concept of altering the tonic note had changed. It seems that it was by this method,the lakaa-s of rga-s were described till the 15th and 17th centuries A.D. In some of thecompositions of Muttusvmi Dkita, to the ciasvara passages, we find an alternativeciasvara passage based on the concept of the ancient grahasvara. For example, thesongs commencing "gunijandi nuta", in the rga gurjari and "ruk dvi" in the rgakaaa have such svara passages with two versions. These passages can be seen in thenotations given in Sagtasampradyapradarini of Subbarma Dkitar.

The mrcchan-s were classified into the following four varieties.1. uddh2. sntar (sa + antar)3. sakkali (sa + kkali)


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4. sakkalyantar (sa + kkali + antar)uddh mrcchan - refers to the mrcchan-s of the grmasvara-s alone. Thus itincludes the mrcchan-s of the aja and madhyama grma-s.sntar mrcchan - in this mrcchan, the grmagndhra is substituted with theantaragndhra.

sakkali mrcchan - in this mrcchan, the grmanida is substituted with thekkalinida, which is a sdhraasvara.sakkalyantar mrcchan - in this mrcchan, the grma gndhra and the grmanida are replaced by antaragndhra and kkalinida respectively.

In the two grma-s put together the total number of uddh-mrcchan-s is (7+7) 14.Thus in the same way, there are fourteen mrcchan-s under each category thus making atotal number of 56 mrcchan-s. The following are to be noted in the above mentionedfour kinds of mrcchan-s:1. There are no sdhraasvara-s in the uddh mrcchan-s.2. In the musical tradition that we saw earlier in the first stage, the sdhraasvara was anadditional svara to the grmasvara. That is, the sdhraasvara occurs in a mrcchan,

where a weak gndhra or nida exists. But here we see that the grmasvara iscompletely replaced by the sdhraasvara.In the same way, in the sakkali and sakkalyantar mrcchan-s, the grma gndhra

and nida are replaced by the sdhraasvara-s. Another important aspect to be pointedout here is that in the gndhra mrcchan, (a mrcchan in which gndhra is thecommencing svara) if antaragndhra occurs, then it can become the commencing svara.In the earlier tradition, a sdhraasvara could never function as a commencing svara.

Thus by the arrival of these four kinds of mrcchan-s, we observe a wide deviationfrom the music tradition that we dealt earlier (the first stage). Moreover sinceantaragndhra and kkalinida can function as the commencing svara-s and grma

gndhra and nida being omitted, the antaragndhra or kkalinida mrcchan-s ofthe ajagrma would not represent the ruti-intervallic arrangement of the ajagrma.For instance, in the antaragndhra mrcchan of the ajagrma intervallic arrangementchanges as shown below.uddh-mrcchan 4sa 3ri 2ga 4ma 4pa 3dha 2nisntar-mrcchan 4sa 3ri 4ga 2ma 4pa 3dha 2ni

This intervallic arrangement 4-3-4-2-4-3-2 is same as the svara intervals of themadhyamagrma. Thus, among the 56 mrcchan-s, the mrcchan-s consisting ofantaragndhra and kkalinida diverge from the aja and madhyamagrma-s. Hencethe development of the concept of 56 mrcchan-s indicates the distortion of the grmasystem.

uddhatnaIn the earlier part of the lesson we learnt that 84 tna-s are derived from the two grma-

s in the works like Nyastra and Dattila. In the later period, in texts likeSagtaratnkara, these were called as uddh-mrcchan-s. Further in Bhadd andSagtaratnkara these tna-s were given the names of yaja-s (sacrifices). For example,of the 28 ava tna-s of the ajagrma, aja was omitted in a few.1. agnihmam


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2. atyagnihmam3. vjapyam4. as

Likewise, the following are the five aavatna-s of the madhyamagrma, wherein ajais omitted.

1. svitr2. ardhasvitr3. sarvatpatra4. ditya5. anmaya

It is also said that a singer who sings these tna-s, would be bestowed with the fruit ofthe corresponding sacrifice.

KatnaMrcchan-s were described as seven svara forms presented through ascending and

descending forms (rhaa and avarhaa). Different forms were derived from these

mrcchan-s by permuting the seven svara-s in many ways. Among the varieties thatresulted from the permutations the variety that had the seven svara-s in order was called"krama". The variety that in which the svara sequence was not in order was called"katna". For example, the permutation "ri ga ma pa dha ni sa", derived from the aja-mrcchan was called krama; and the variety "ri ma ga pa dha ni sa" was katna. If onesvara was omitted from a mrcchan, then it was called ava; if two svara-s wereomitted, then it was called auava; if three svara-s were omitted then it was calledsvarntara; if four svara-s were omitted, then it was called smika; if five svara-s wereomitted, then it was called gthika. And if six svara-s were omitted from a mrcchan, thenit is called rcika.

In each mrcchan, katna-s consisting of seven or six or five or less number of

svara-s were computed. Thus from a mrcchan with seven svara-s, say, for instance theaja-mrcchan, 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1= 5040 katna-s are obtained. Of these theordered varieties starting with sa, ri, ga, ma, pa, dha and ni, namely the seven varietieswere called "krama". The remaining 5033 are katna-s. If we take into account themrcchan-s starting from other svara-s and also those incorporating antaragndhra andkkalinida thousands of such forms would result.

The krama and katna-s are computed in a logical order, which is called "prastra".Through prastra, one can compute tna-s containing svara-s ranging from one to seven.For example, if seven svara prastra is derived from the grma svara-s, we get 5040 ka-tna-s from the aja mrcchan of the ajagrma. The method of finding the prastrafrom the serial number of the tna is called naha; finding the serial number of a particular

tna from a given prastra is called uddhiha. For instance, finding the fifth prastra in aseven svara prastra is naha. In the same way, finding the serial number of aprastra, namely, "ni dha pa ma ga ri sa", is uddhiha. A table containing numbers tocalculate naha and uddiha is found in texts like Sagtaratnkara. This table is called"khaamru". Works like Sagtaratnkara speak elaborately on katna-s and mru,although they had existed in the periods of Mataga and Abinavagupta.

Sdhraasvara-s


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In the second stage, apart from antara and kkali svara-s, a few more sdhraa svara-s were specified for the mrcchan-s. This new sdhraa was called kaiikisdhraa.Kaiikisdhraa

Through this sdhraa, new sdhraasvara-s are formed in between gndhra andmadhyama, and nida and aja. The kaiikisdhraa that takes place between nida

and aja is called ajasdhraa and the one that occurs between gndhra andmadhyama is called madhyamasdhraa.ajasdhraa

In this nida moves one ruti above from its position and at the same time ajamoves one ruti below from its position.

22 1 2 3 4 5 6ni (ni) (sa) sa

this nida with three ruti-s is called "kaiikinida" and the aja with one ruti less iscalled "cyutaaja".

MadhyamasdhraaAs in the case of ajasdhraa, here the gndhra moves up by one ruti and

madhyama goes down by one ruti.

9 10 11 12 13ga (ga) (ma) ma

The gndhra on the 10th ruti is called sdhraagndhra and the madhyama on the12th ruti is called cyutamadhyama.

We should not assume that the kaiikisdhraa occurs in both the grma-s. While the

ajasdhraa occurs in both the grma-s, the madhyamasdhraa occurs only in themadhyamagrma. The reason behind is this. When madhyama is lowered by one ruti inthe ajagrma, the interval of pacama increases to five. In the grma system, the intervalbetween any two svara-s could be a maximum of four ruti-s and a minimum of two.

Therefore madhyamasdhraa cannot occur in the ajagrma.

JTINow let us see the changes that took place in the concept of jti-s in the second stage.

Details regarding the occurrence of kaiikisdhraa in mrcchan-s and jti-s are notclearly found in the musicological texts. However Abhinavagupta says thatkaiikisdhraa occurred in jti-s like, kaiiki and ajakaiiki, when dhaivata and abha

were weak notes.In ancient texts, ten characteristics were mentioned for the jti-s. The terms samnysaand vinysa were mentioned as varieties of nysa. Further the term antaramrga was alsoused. These three terms are mentioned as separate characteristics of jti-s inSagtaratnkara, thus bringing the total number of characteristics to 13.

nysa: It refers to the svara on which a song/melody ends.apanysa: It refers to the svara on which the first section of a song ends.


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samnysa: It refers to the svara on which the first section or a portion within it ends. Thisportion is called as vidr. Vidr refers to the melodic part of a song.While apanysa refers to the svara on which the first vidr ends. The svara

which is sanysa should not be the vivd svara of its aasvara.vinysa: This may be the aa-svara or any other svara which is not vivd to the

aa-svara. Further the vinysa would be the svara on which a word (in thetext of the song) occurring within a vidr would conclude.Antaramrga: This refers to the melodic movements formed by the varied combination of

the svara-s. This involves handling of alpa svara-s, that is weak svara-s, inthe middle, without using nysa and apanysa. This is generally seen inviktjati-s alone.

Apart from the above mentioned 13 characteristics, a few terms are not mentioned inthe lakaa-s (description) but have been used in the course of explaining the jti-s. Nowlet us study them.

Mrcchan

The term mrcchan generally refers to the svara organisations that formed the basesfor the melody, being different from jti-s which also formed the melodic bases for songs.Let us now see how this term `mrcchan' has been used in the context of jti. InBhadd and Rtnkara, each of the jti-s is specified a particular mrcchan. Forexample, it is said thus: 'the mrcchan commencing with dhaivata in the jjti'. Butthe relation between this and the jti is not stated. Generally trasvara (the upper limit ofthe range of the melody) is mentioned for the jti-s; but the lower limit (in the mandraregion) has not been mentioned accurately. From the statement 'the mrcchancommencing with dhaivata for jjti' we can infer that the melody can extend uptodhaivata in the mandra region.

In Sagtaratnkara, after the description of each jti, a song is illustrated. In all, there

are 18 songs for 18 jti-s.These songs are not found in Nyastra and Dattila, but areseen in works like Bhadd and Sarasvathdaylakrahra of Nnyadva. Afundamental question arises here. Each jti is a class that has many members orsub-varietiesunder it. Each variety could individually form the melodic basis for a song. Forinstance, jjti has many varieties within it. In one aja could be the aa and in theother gndhra. A very fundamental question arises here. On which member jti is the jti-song given in notation based?

With respect to the songs set to svarajti-s, the songs can be taken to be based on theuddh variety and in the case of others they must have been based on one of thesasargaj-jti-s. These jti-songs were set to tla-s like caccatpua and pacap(apitputraka). The text of these songs is in saskta language and in praise of iva. For

example, the commencing words of a song in jjti set to the tla pacap is asfollows:i] xxVvE [tambhavalala nayanmbujdhika]

The music (melody) for this song seems to have been tuned in the period when the jtisystem came to an end. Because in the course of describing the jti prior to giving thenotation of the songs, works like Bhadd and Sagtaratnkara mention names ofrga-s that resembled the jti-s. Probably, to preserve the music of the jti songs, themusic of the equivalent rga must have been quoted. These jti songs are called


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"Jtiprastra" in Sagtaratnkara and "Jtigta" in Abhinavabhrat.

The jti songs were considered to be endowed with spiritual value, similar to thesmavda. It has been said that one who sang the jti song would be rid of many sins. Ithas been stressed that like smavda, the music and the text of these are not to be

changed. In this way in the second stage of the jti-s, we come across the followingchanges:1. Addition of three more characteristics to jti-s and thereby making them 13.2. Use of the term "mrcchan" in the description of a jti3. Composing of jtiprastra -s or jti songs.

In this way, we find the decline of the grma, mrcchan and jti system. After thisperiod we find that the rga-s were treated to be the melodic bases for songs. A questionthen arises whether the rga-s too were based on the grma-mrcchan system. In thebeginning, as described in lakaagrantha-s from Bhadd and Sagtaratnkara, rga-swere considered as the janya-s of jti-s. But in due course, this connection between the

rga-s and jti-s gradually ceased. In the same way, the svara-s which were the bases forthe rga-s, came to be described in terms of uddha-vikta svara-s and not on the basis ofgrma-s.

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