RAG MALA/ਰਾਗਮਾਲਾ
In A.D. 1583, a Mohammedan poet by the name of Alim wrote “Madhva Nal Sangit” describing the love affair of Madhava Nal with his beloved Kam Kandala. This work consisted of 353 stanzas of four to six lines each. Rag Mala in AGGS is a part of the above work from sixty third to seventy second stanzas. The account of this story also appears in the tale 91 of Chirtro Pakhyan of Dasam Granth.
AGGS is written in 31 modes of music. The Rag Mala in AGGS describes about 17 of these Raags, Raginis and their subdivisions as sons and daughters of these Ragas. Each Raag is accompanied by five sub-ragas, much like their spouses, along with 8 meters, as their sons, which the musicians sing. By the sunrise they sing, the “Bhairou Raag” along with five more sub-ragas in an accompaniment. First they sing Raag Bhairvi, then Bilawali, second, along with Punia, third, and Bangli, the fourth. Then the fifth sub-raga of Aslekhi, ragini, is sung. These are just the five sub-ragas of Raag Bhairou.
Pancham, Harkh and Disakh are sung next, followed by Bangalam and Madhu Ragas. They are all repeated once more along with Bilawal as the eight shoots of Raag Bhairou. Other Ragas follow similarly. The Ragas mentioned here do not correspond to the Ragas in AGGS. It should be understood that:
A. Rag Mala is NOT Gurbani.
B. It is not clear how and when it was included in the sacred AGGS.
It further raises few questions;
- How many Sikhs know about the number of Raagas used in AGGS?
- How many Raagis know about these Ragas and sing the Gurbani in the Ragas it is supposed to be sung as written?
- How does reading it affect one’s spirituality, how ever it educates one about the Ragas IMHO?
- If Mundavani is the seal placed by Guru Arjan to AGGS then why Guru Gobind Singh broke the seal by adding his father’s Bani and his Sloke # 54 in response to his father’s Sloke # 53 on page 1429 of AGGS.
The above should not be viewed as contentious since the inclusion of Raag Mala has done no harm. On the contrary one learns something about Ragas, through their inclusion and they broaden one’s perspective on music a bit. Hopefully all the Gurbani of AGGS is sung in the modes of music it is written.
Virinder
