Gurbani Raag Bhairav :SearchGurbani.com

SearchGurbani.com

Gurbani Raag Bhairav

Bhairon was an important raga at the time of Guru Nanak and has continued to retain its significance and popularity. Bhairon (not to be confused with Bhairavi) appears in the Rdgrnala as husband of Bhairavi and four other rdginis. Today it is the head rdga for one of the ten thatas. The Rdga Sdgara, a treatise of circa 8th century, describes this rdga as awe-inspiring and as expressing the "fulfilment of the desire of worship." Mesakarna (1509) calls this morning melody of the autumn season one of awesome grandeur. Performed before sunrise, this raga was used by Guru Nanak, Guru Amar Das, Guru Ram Das, and Gurft Arjan for 99 hymns.

Aroh : Sa Re, Ga Ma Pa Dha, Ni Sa

Avroh : Sa Ni, Dha Dha Pa, Ma Ga, Re Re Sa

Vadi : Dha

Samvadi : Re

The vadis are performed with a slow, wide vibrato which may begin with the vadi itself or the highest limit to which it will extend. In descent the vibrato must begin with upper limit. Otherwise Bhairon has few characteristic phrases.

Introduction :

According to Indian Schools of music this raga is also a very old, melodious and popular raga. It is known as Janak raga of Bharav thaht. In the opinion of Pandit Ravi shankar, this raga imparts morning invocation expression. Ustad Hafees Ahmed Khan also believes that Bhairav represents the mood for prayers and invocation. It is masculine but tender in nature. Pandit Jitendra Abhishekhi feels that Bhairav being a morning raga imparts an energetic mood as morning symbolises energy.

This raga is mentioned as the first major raga in the Ragamala listed at the end of Guru Granth Sahib.

The scale and notes of the raga are as follows:

Arohi (ascending scale) - ni sa ga ma dha ni sa re

Avrohi (descending scale) - sa ni dha pa ma ga re sa

The vadi (most popular) note is 'dha' and samvadi (second most popular) note is 're '.

This raga is sung at the fourth part of the night i.e., from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. The season of its recitation is winter (sharad) i.e., during October, November. In Guru Granth Sahib it has hymns from pages 1125- 1167 ( 43 pages).

The Composers:

The composers of bani (hymns) in this raga are:

Gurus

Guru Nanak Dev
Guru Amardas
Ramdas
Guru Arjan Dev

Bhagats:

Kabir
Namdev
Ravidas

The structure:

The sequence of the structure of compositions in this raga are:

Gurubani:

Shabads (2-6padas)
Ashtpadis

Bhagatbani:

Shabads (3-6 padas)
Ashtpadi

Matrix

VISUAL ANALYSIS

Count of the use of Managals:

Complete Mool Mantar = 1 at page 1125
Ik-ongkar Satgur Prasadh = 16

Placement and count of rahau verses:

All shabads (except two shabads: one on page 151 and second on page 1153, where rahau verse are at the beginning of the shabads) have numbered rahau verses placed at the end of the first padas of the shabads.

In the Bhagat Bani, except the first shabad (page 1157), where the numbered rahau verse is placed in the beginning of the first pada, an all other shabads it is placed at the end of the first padas of the shabads.

Diversification of headings & subheadings in this raga:

*Page number*	*Heading/Subheading*
1125	Raga Bharav Mehla 1 Ghar 1 chaupads
1128	Raga Bharav Mehla 3 chaupadas Ghar 1
1153	Bharav Ashtpadia Mehla 1 Ghar 2
1155	Bharav Mehla 5 Ashtpadia Ghar 2

Composers Structure of Bani

	Padas					Specialist	Ashtpadis	Specialist	Chts	Sohle**	Var	Sloaks*
Gurus	2	3	4	5	6	Titled	8 (padas)
Nanak Dev			7	1			1
Angad Dev
Amardas			15	4	2		2
Ramdas			7
Arjan Dev	2	1	51	3			3
Tegh Bahadur
Bhagats
Kabir	3	1	11	2	1
Namdev	2	6	1
Ravidas	1

* 1 Shabad=9 Padas; 2nd Shabad=28 Padas.
** Please also check the counting of shabads+ashtpadies

Excerpts taken from:
Guru Granth Sahib: An Advance Study
Dr Sukhbir Singh Kapoor
Vice Chancellor World Sikh University, London

Printed from http://searchgurbani.com/raags/raag_bhairav