RMIM Archive Article "409".
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian
#
# RMIM/C Archives..
# Subject: Raga Devaranjani
# (Series on Hindustani ragas inspired by Carnatic ragas)
#
# Posted by: Rajan Parrikar (parrikar@spot.colorado.edu)
# Author: Rajan Parrikar
#
#
Namashkar.
In this week's installment of Carnatic-inspired rAgas we present
Raga Devaranjani, also known as Devaranji. It is derived from the
15th melakarta, Mayamalavagaula, which corresponds to the Bhairav
thATa in the Hindustani paramparA: S r G M(shuddha) P d N. A brief
profile of the Hindustanised version follows. We invite comments
from Carnatic folks on their version and/or recommendations of
representative recordings.
Raga Devaranjani has the peculiarity that both the rishab and
gandhAr swaras are varjya. It also comes in two primary flavours,
one with the shuddha nishAd only and the other that employs both.
It is the latter type that will be our concern here.
The aroha/avaroha set may be stated as follows:
S M, M P d (N)S"::S" (n)d P, d n d P, P M S
uuu--->meenD
A sample chalan will illuminate the features of this exquisite,
meenD and shruti-replete rAga:
S, (n')d' (n')d' S....., S M, M P, (n)d (n)d S".....,
S" (N)d, P d n d P, M (M)S
uuuu--->meenD
The madhyam and pancham are nyAsa swaras; the interplay between
the madhyam and shadaj lends the rAga a beauty all its own;
both the nishAds help supply the kaN/sparsh to the shadaj and
dhaivat as indicated; the role of komal nishAd is occasionally
strengthened in bandish for ranjakatva. Central to the rAga is the
unusual meenD from the madhyam to the shadaj. Such type of meenD is
found in some others rAgas too (eg. Khambavati of the Gwalior school -
see D.V. Paluskar's recording) but it is underscored here due to
the absence of the rishab and gandhAr. It is not possible in
to accurately convey the meenD dynamics via the written word. For
a beautiful demonstration of an analogous (interval and effect-wise,
albeit a little quick) meenD we refer you to Lata's very well-known
film number (this reference was brought to my attention by my friend
Nachiketa Sharma): O basanti pavan pAgal...Notice the handling of the
second "nA jA." The subtleties of India's musical aesthetics, its shruti
and swara-related appurtenances, came so easily to this supremely
endowed Mangeshkar girl. There is much of profit for even a student
of classical music in her output during the prime years - the 1950s -
under master tunesmiths such as Madan Mohan, Roshan, Anil Biswas,
Naushad, S.D. Burman and errr- why not say it - Shankar-Jaikishan.
The following composition quickly becomes addictive once you get
its flow. Patwardhan lists this bandish, although the version below
might differ slightly over some details. The words of the shabad
by Nanak are beautiful and bespeak his desire to cast off all wordly
attachments. For a series of discussions on Guru Granth-derived
bandishes, see the December 1997 archives of the newsgroup.
Footnote: a swara in square brackets here represents a khaTkA. It is
a very rapid one-shot intonation around a swara. In the instance
below, [n] effectively is the very rapidly intoned cluster S"ndn.
In the first aproximation, one may set [n] = n.
Warm regards,
r
*****
Raga: Devaranjani
Tala: Teental
Shabad: Guru Nanak
bhookhyo mana mAyA urjhAyo
jo-jo karma kiyo lAlach lagi
tihi-tihi Ap bandhAyo
samajh nA paDi vishaya rasa rAchyo
yash Hari ko bisrAyo
Glossary:
urjhAyo = preoccupied, entangled
jo-jo = jaise-jaise
lAlach = greed
tihi-tihi = vaise-vaise
vishaya = wordly things
rAchyo = to be attached
Key:
(1) All shuddha notes in caps (M=shuddha madhyam, m=tivra madhyam)
(2) The " and ' following a note denotes its tAr-saptak and mandra-
saptak affiliation, respectively.
(3) The grace note is enclosed in parenthesis of the type () and it
operates on the note immediately following it.
Asthaie:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Pd [n] (n)d - P P d M
bhoo.......khyo... ma....na mA.....
M - MP dP M - (M)S -(n')d' - (n')d' - S - S S
yA.... u....ra...jhA.......yo.... jo.... jo..... kar.........ma ki
<--meenD--> <--smooth--> <------smooth------>
M - (S)M - M M P P (n)d d S" S" N d d n
yo.... lA........la...cha la...gi ti...hi ti....hi A...........pa ban
<--------smooth----------> <---smooth--->
d P d (P)M P M M (M)S
dhA.................yo..............
<------smooth------->
Antara:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
M M M M P (n)d - (n)d
sa...ma....jha nA pa....Di..... vi
<------meenD------>
d d S" S" S" - S" - S" S" M" M" M" S" S" S"
sha..ya ra...sa rA........chyo.. ya...sha ha....ri ko..... bi....sa
P d (P)M M P M M (M)S
rA.............yo...................
<---------smooth-------->
*****
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian