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This raga is attributed to Guru Nanak, who developed it
from a Punjabi folk tune. It does not appear in the Ragmala nor does it seem to be a
classical raga today. Possibly it has been reserved purely for Gurbani Sangeet. Majh was
the setting for compositions by Guru Nanak, Guru Angad, Guru Amar Das, Guru Ram Das and
Guru Arjan. This is a regional raga of Manjha- the central portion of
the Punjab-and is sung in the afternoon. Here Guru Nanak has given an account of social,
cultural and religion conflict between the Hindus and the Muslims in his age. Guru Arjan
has composed the calendar- Barah Maha-in this raga. He
has dwelt on the characteristics of different months, and the importance of water and
milk in the agricultural economy of the punjab. Metaphorically these two things
respectively signify that man without devotion and kindness is no good at all.
Aroh : Sa Re Ma Pa Dha Sa
Avroh : Sa Ni Dha Pa Ma Ga Re Sa
Vadi : Ma
Samvadi : Sa
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Introduction
:
The raga is sung to describe the lacerations of a beloved in the memory of his/her
lover. The shabad of Guru Arjan 'mera maan lochey.... is the best example to describe the depth of
this raga. The notes used in this raga are:
Arohi (ascending scale) - sa re ma pa ni sa (omitted notes are -ga, dha)
Avrohi (descending scale) - sa ni-(soft note) dha pa ma ga-(soft note) re sa
The vadi (most popular) note is 're' and samvadi (second most popular) note is 'pa'.
Raga Majh is sung at the third part of the day i.e., from 12 noon to 3 p.m. The
season
of its recitation is rainy (varsha) i.e., during July and August.
This raga is not listed in any of the Ragamala (there are 11 of such Ragmalas
available
in the Indian musical circles) including the Ragamala listed at the end of Guru Granth Sahib. It
is
believed that this raga was formed/invented by the Sikh Gurus.
In Guru Granth Sahib it has hymns from pages 94-151 (157 pages).
The Composers:
The composers of bani (hymns) in this raga are:
Gurus:
- Guru Nanak Dev
- Guru Angad
- Guru Amardas
- Guru Ramdas
- Guru Arjan Dev
Bhagats:
There is no Bhagat bani in this raga.
The structure:
The sequence of the structure of compositions in this raga are:
Gurubani:
- Shabads (4 padas)
- Shabads - Ashtpadis
- Specialist compositions titled 'Baramah' and 'Dinrein'
- Var
The word 'Shud' is written at the end of the var.
Matrix
VISUAL ANALYSIS
Count of the use of Managals:
Complete Mool Mantar = 1 at page 93
Ik-ongkar Satnam Kartarpurkh Gurprasadh = 1 at page 137
Ik-ongkar Satguru Prasadh = 4 at pages 109, 132, 133, 136
Placement and count of rahau verse/s:
The (chaupada) shabads have no rahau verse/s in them except one shabad
on pages 96-97 which has four rahau verses in it.
The ashtpadis of Guru Nanak, Guru Amardas and Guru Ramdas have one rahau verse in
each
one of them placed after the first padas. The rahau verses in the ashtpadis of Guru Arjan are as
follows:
- First and third ashtpadis have a rahau verse placed after the first padas.
- Second and fourth ashtpadis have no rahau verses.
- Fifth ashtpadi has one rahau verse placed in the beginning of the ashtpadi.
The two specialist compositions, Baramah and Din rein, have no rahau verses in
them.
Diversified headings/subheadings used in this raga:
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Page no
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Heading
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Page no
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Heading
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94
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Raga Majh chaupadas
Ghar 1 Mehla 4
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96
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Majh Mehla 5 Chaupadas
Ghar 1
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Composers Structure of Bani
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Padas
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Ashtpadis
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Specialist
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Chts
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Specialist
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Var
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Sloaks*
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Gurus
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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8 (padas)
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untiled
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Titled
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Nanak
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1
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1 (27
pauris)
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45
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Angad
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15
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Amardas
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32
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6
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Ramdas
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7
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1
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2
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Arjan Dev
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43
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5
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Baramah
(14 pds)
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Dinrein
(4 pds)
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* Sloaks are included in the var. *Comment 'shud' is recorded at the
end
of var
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Excerpts taken from:
Guru Granth Sahib: An Advance Study
Dr Sukhbir Singh Kapoor
Vice Chancellor World Sikh University, London
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