The sound a is the seed of creation. But this sound is not only the acoustic root of creation; as the acoustic root of creation, this sound controls the entire musical scale. For example, sya/khya (śad́aja – according to the Yajurveda it can also be pronounced kharaja, but it must be borne in mind that kha is pronounced as a cerebral letter, that is, it is not pronounced like the kha of the ka varga); re/r (rśabha – it can also be pronounced rkhabha, however the kha is not pronounced like the kha of the ka varga); gá (gándhára); má (madhyama); pá (paiṋcama); dhá (dhaevata); ni (niśáda– it can also be pronounced nikháda but again this kha is not pronounced like the kha of the ka varga). So even though this a sound secondarily controls the musical scale, it is the principal controller of śad́aja sound. We use the sound sya as the first letter in the musical scale or sa-re-gá-má (do-re-mi-fa). It must be kept in mind that if this sound is protracted, it does not become the second sound á, but rather a closed a, that is, the pronunciation will not become like a á-á-á-á; it will be somewhat like the north Indian style of pronouncing a; in other words, somewhere between aya and á. Singers (gáyak-gáyakiirá-the word gáyiká is incorrect) will be benefited if they pay some attention to this specific aspect of pronunciation. Since a is the acoustic root of the sound śad́aja, the first step in the study of music is the letter a. The western octave – do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, do – arises out of the same conventions; however, here the first note, śad́aja (do), is repeated and included in the scale. As a result, in the Indian tradition, we call the musical scale the surasaptaka, that is, the combination of seven forming one, and in the western tradition it is the octave, that is, the combination of eight forming one.

In any case, Sadáshiva arranged these sounds to form the musical scale, which is both acoustics and rhythmic phonetics. Thus in the cultivation of music we cannot forget Sadáshiva. A little while ago I said that sound has colour. We can also call this colour varńa or rága. The word rága comes from adding the suffix ghaiṋ to raiṋj; it means “to dye, to colour”, or the state of dyeing. By putting sounds together with different permutations and combinations, Shiva created newer and newer acoustic rága and organized them into a system. In this way He created six rágas and thirty-six rágińiis. When considered from this point of view, Sadáshiva’s contribution was unbounded. For this reason, He is called nádatanu [music personified] in the Vedas. Of course, in human society it was Maharśi Bharata who spread these rágas and rágińiis throughout the learned community. These rágas and rágińiis are altered in accordance with the difference in their states of contraction and expansion. However, when considering Indian music, they are chiefly divided into two branches–one is related to the region north of the Vindhya mountains, that is, the land of the Aryans, and the other is related to the region south of the Vindhya mountains, or the Deccan peninsula. The style of the land of the Aryans we call Hindustani music in the spoken language and the style of the Deccan region we call Carnatic.

Today and in the future as well, many new rágas and rágińiis can and will be created. No stoppage should be allowed in this matter. I have also created a few new rágas and rágińiis in Prabháta Saḿgiita⁽¹⁾. However, I have yet to name them.

Footnotes

(1) A body of 5018 spiritual and psycho-spiritual songs composed by Shrii P.R. Sarkar (Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti). –Trans.