Raag Jaitsri- SearchGurbani.com

Gurbani Raag Jaitsri

Jaitsri does not appear in the Ragmala nor is it found in the modern literature on the subject. Bhatkhande gives,Jait-Kalyan but this is not to be confused with the above. However, jaitsri does appear in a 17th century classification, but not in later ones. Guru Ram Das, Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadur composed 30 hymns, a var and several slokas to this raga. Today raga Jait is found under the Marva thata and is assigned to the evening hours. A mood of gentle quietness and mystery pervades this raga. The texts describe the meditative thoughts of a devotee who has surrendered himself to his Guru and Lord. Raga Jait has two forms and the second includes some elements from Sin Raga and perhaps this is nearest the original Jaitsri.

Aroh : Sa Ga Ma Pa Ni Sa

Avroh : Sa Ni _Dha Pa Ma Ga Re Sa

Pakar : Sa, Ga Pa M'a Dha Pa M'a Ga,M'a Ga Re Sa Vadi : Ga

Samvadi : Ni

Because of the two different ways of singing this raga, melodic patterns are not fixed

Introduction :

According to Norther school of Music this raga is classified as a ragini. It is made up of a mixture of Dhanasri, Dhani and Sri ragas.

This raga is not included in the Ragamala listed at the end of Guru Granth Sahib.

The scale and notes of the raga are as follows:

Arohi (ascending scale) - sa ga ma pa ni sa

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

The vadi (most popular) note is 'ga' and samvadi (second most popular) note is 'na'.

This raga is sung at the third part of the day i.e., from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. The season of its recitation is winter (shisher) i.e., during December and January. In Guru Granth Sahib it has hymns from pages 696 - 710 (15 pages).

The Composers:

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

Gurus:

Guru Ramdas
Guru Arjan Dev
Guru Tegh Bhadur

Bhagats:

Ravidas

The Structure:

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

Guru bani:

Shabads (2,3,4 padas)
Shabads-Chhants'
Var

The word 'Shud' is written at the end of the var. For the explanation of this comment please refer to page.

Bhagatbani:

Shabads (6 padas)

Matrix

VISUAL ANALYSIS

Count of the use of Managals:

Complete Mool Mantar = nil Ik-ongkar Satgur Prasadh = 10

Placement and count of rahau verses:

In Guru Ramdas's six shabads listed in Ghar 1, there is a rahau verse, without numeral '1', placed at the end of the first padas of the shabads. In further five shabads listed in Ghar '2' there is no rahau verse in them.

In Guru Arjan's 13 shabads, there is a rahau verse in all of them, with numeral '1' with them, and the rahau verses are placed at the beginning of the shabads.

In Guru Tegh Bahadur's 3 shabads the rahau verse with numeral '1' are placed in the beginning of the shabads.

In Bhagat Bani there is one shabad of Bhagat Ravidas, which has rahau verse with numeral, and is placed in the beginning of the shabad.

Diversification of headings and subheadings in the raga:

*Page number*	*Heading/Subheading*
696	Jaitsiri Mehla 4 Ghar 1 Chaupadas
703	Jaitsiri Mehla 5 Chhant Ghar 1
704	Jaitsiti Mehla 5 Ghar 2 Chhant
710	Jaitsiri Bani Bhagta ki
	No name of a Bhagat in the title; the name of Ravidas appears in the last tuk.

Composers Structure of Bani

	Padas					Ashtpadis	Specialist		Chts	Specialist	Var	Sloaks*
Gurus	2	3	4	5	6	8 (padas)	untiled	Titled
Ramdas				11
Arjan Dev	11		2						3		1 (20 Pauris)
Tegh Bahadur	2	1
Bhagats									-
Ravidas					1

There is no var in this raga
Chts = Chhants

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