SHANKARABHARANAM - Gayathri Venkataraghavan

Shankarabharanam is a melody that enjoys great importance universally, in almost all the systems of music, from time immemorial. Almost similar to the Major Diatonic scale, or the C Major of Western music, this raga enjoys a regal status in the realm of Indian music. Rightly has it been referred to as 'rAga rAjasya mELakaha' in the Chaturdandiprakasika. Even in the 12th Century, it was classified as a rAgAnga rAga by Parsvadeva, and it is one of the pUrva prasiddha rAgAnga ragas listed by Sarangadeva. Besides, most of the works on music have classified it as an important mELa. The rAga was very much in practice in the Ancient Tamil Music system as a sampUrNa scale known by the name paN pazhampanjuram. We have bilAval thAT of Hindustani music which corresponds to shankarAbharaNam.

The svaras are ShaDja, catushruti riShabha, antara gAndhAra, shuddha madhyama, pancama, catushruti dhaivata and kAkali niShAda. It is one of those uttama mELas having samvAdi pairs for all the svaras, like S-M1, S-P, R2-P, R2-D2 & G3-N3. It is not surprising that the rAga is so appealing to the senses and that it instantly ushers in a mood of sublimity considering that there is so much of samvAditva or consonance inherent in its structure. Also, all svaras excepting the madhyamam, are tIvra svaras. The shuddha madhyama here acts as a bridge and balances the tIvra svaras of the pUrvAnga and the uttarAnga, thus sustaining the innate sublimity of the melody throughout.

Subbarama Dikshitar states that it is the unanimous opinion of the pUrvAcAryas that shankarAbharaNam is the most superior amongst all ragas. niShAdam, gAndhAram, madhyamam and pancamam are the jIva svaras. He says all the svaras contribute equally to the rAga's rakti, though ShaDja is the main graha, amsa and nyAsa svara. He points out the 'nokku's for riShabha, gAndhAra, dhaivata and niShAda in the ascent and the 'odukkal's and 'iRakka jAru's for all the vikrta svaras in the descent. He specifies that usages such as S'DP,- S'N(d)P,- S'(d)P, -M/P(g)R,S contribute largely to the ranjakatva of the rAga.

This raga is a parent of numerous popular janyas such as hamsadhvani, Arabhi, pUrNacandrika, janaranjani, aThANa, bilahari, kEdAram, kannaDa, dEvagAndhAri, etc. The nishAdAntya, pancamAntya ragas like kuRinji and navrOj are only replicas of shankarAbharaNam, but due to the truncation, they admit of limited sancAras and are usually rendered in madhyama shruti. Nevertheless they possess their own melodic individuality. It is said that shankarAbharaNam itself, in the period of ancient Tamil music, was initially only reckoned as a madhyama mUrcana of the shuddha scale (harikAmbhOji), though it was also a paN (sampUrNa rAga). The strings of the yAzh or the harp were tuned to the svaras of shuddha scale, and when the need to play paN pazhampanjuram arose, the tonic note was shifted to the madhyama string of the yAzh and played or sung. Thus because of the limitations of the yAzh and also of the human voice, the range of the tEvArams in shankarAbharaNam was restricted to the tAra stAyi ShaDja. Later with the advent of the vINa, the rAga evolved into a wholesome sampUrNa rAga, fulfilling the requisites of a mELa.

It can be safely claimed that shankarAbharaNam is the most utilised rAga all over the world. This ghana raga would readily accommodate any kind of musical creation, be it classical, semi-classical or light, kalpita or manodharma sangIta, would suit any emotion, any tempo - viLamba, madhyama or durita. It is not surprising that there are innumerable compositions in this rAga by all composers.

calamEla of Swati Tirunal and sAmi ninnE kOri of Vina Kuppayyar are standard starters in a concert. manavi cEkkona rAdA, the padavarNam of Ponnaiah Pillai is an elaborate piece that tests the skills of a dancer. As usual with great ragas, the Tiruvarur Trinity has produced masterpieces in this raga too. Shyama Sastri's sarOjadaLa nEtri and the rare dEvi mina nEtri, the former in madhyamakAla and the latter in caukakAla provide ample testimony to the inimitable craftsmanship of this great composer.

Versatility marks the eternal quality of the compositions of Tyagaraja. shankarAbharaNam is no different. The bard has gifted the world with about 20 songs, all different in melodic structure and individuality, each outlining a different aspect of the rAga. The very popular enduku pEddhala, the philosophically advaitic and musically sublime manasu svAdhInamai, the cauka kAla masterpiece Emi nEramu, the evergreen swararAga sudhA rasa which expounds the great purpose of music, bhakti bhikshamiyyavE wherein the bard pleads to Rama to grant him devotion as alms and budhirAdu, wherein the saint moans the silly and stupid ways of the world and mariyAda gAdurA - all these kritis have only shankarAbharaNAm in common, but, what the poetry speaks of, the music underlying each of the pieces conveys in tone and with ultimate perfection, thereby rendering each of those compositions unique in raga bhAva. His other compositions include eduTa nilicitE, endukI calamu, ramA ramaNa and many others. He has also composed a number of divyanAma kIrtanas in shankarAbharaNam, of which the brisk ones like gatamOhA srita pAla and varalIlagAna lOla are akin to the western notes.

Muttuswami Dikshitar's popular akshayalinga vibhO has the same dhAtu as Tyagaraja's manasu swAdhInami in the pallavi. If the prosodic beauty in the anupallavi blends perfectly and is stunningly beautiful musically, it is due in no small measure to the great scope that the rAga possesses as to the limitless creativity of Dikshitar. His dakshiNAmUrtE in jhampa tALa is another masterpiece that testifies to his genius and wherein the music itself reveals in subliminal tone, the truth of Silence as exemplified by Lord Dakshinamurti Himself. Such is the soulful quality of the song. girijaya ajaya and sadAshivam upAsmahE bring out the highly creative Dikshitar. In these two songs, he has explored certain rare combinations spanning the three octaves. All said and done, his navAvaraNA kriti in shankarAbharaNam is a class by itself. What better way to invoke the Goddess than to just sing the pallavi lines of this masterpiece? The elevating quality of the riShabha of shankarAbharaNAm is utilized to create the effect and the presence of the Shrine itself. Dikshitar's nOTTuswara songs, numbering around 40 are all based on shankarAbharaNam and correspond to western tunes.

Other compositions that testify to the classicism of shankarAbharaNam are entanuchu of Subbaraya Sastri, mahima teliya taramA of Anai-Ayya, shankarAchAryam of Subbarama Dikshitar, dEvi jagajjanani, the navarAtri kriti of Swati Tirunal, muthukumarayyanE of Ramaswami Sivan, etc. Songs like konjam dayai, kanjamalaradu, mahAlakshmi and akhilANDa nAyaki of Pananasam Sivan, alarulu guriyaga of Annamacharya, bAgumIra of Vina Kuppayyar, ADiya pAdA of Gopalakrishna Bharathi are some of the other compositions that we get to hear in this rAga. Besides, Kshetrayya's sundasEpu and Govindaswami Ayya's mAnamE bhUShaNamu are works of great grandeur. Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar while setting the Andal Tiruppavai to music used shankarAbharaNam for the verse pullumsilambInakkAN.