Hazrat Inayat Khan now focuses on the mysticism to be seen in the music of India. The previous post in the series is here.

India has preserved the mysticism of tone and pitch discovered by the ancients, and its music itself signifies this.

The Indian music is based upon the principle of the raga which shows it to be akin to nature. It has avoided limitations of technique by adopting a purely inspirational method.

The ragas are derived from five different sources: the mathematical law of variety, the inspiration of the mystics, the imagination of the musicians, the natural lays peculiar to the people residing in different parts of the land, and the idealization of the poets; these made a world of ragas, calling one rag, the male, another ragini, the female, and others putra, sons, and bharja, daughters-in-law.

Raga is called the male theme because of its creative and positive nature; ragini is called the female theme on account of its responsive and fine quality. Putras are such themes as are derived from the mingling of ragas and raginis; in them can be found a likeness to the raga and the ragini from which they are derived. Bharja is the theme which responds to the putra. There are six ragas and thirty-six raginis, six belonging to each raga; and forty-eight putras and forty-eight bharjas which constitute this family.

Each raga has an administration of its own, including a chief, Mukhya, the key-note; Wadi, a king, a principal note; Samwadi,i a minister, a subordinate note; Anuwadi, a servant, an assonant note; Viwadi, an enemy, a dissonant note. This gives to the student of the raga a clear conception of its use. Each raga has its image distinct from the other. This shows the highest reach of imagination.

The poets have depicted the images of ragas just as the picture of each aspect of life is clear in the imagination of the intelligent. The ancient gods and goddesses were simply images of the different aspects of life, and in order to teach the worship of the immanence of God in nature these various images were placed in the temples, in order that God in His every aspect of manifestation might be worshipped. The same idea has been worked out in the images of ragas, which create with delicate imagination the type, form, figure, action, expression and effect of the idea.

Every hour of the day and night, every day, week, month and season has its influence upon man’s physical and mental condition. In the same way each raga has power upon the atmosphere, as well as upon the health and mind of man; the same effect as that shown by the different times in life, subject to the cosmic law. By the knowledge of both time and raga the wise have connected them to suit each other.

There are instances in ancient tradition when birds and animals were charmed by the flute of Krishna, rocks were melted by the song of Orpheus; and the Dipak Raga sung by Tansen lighted all the torches, while he himself was burnt by reason of the inner fire his song produced. Even today the snakes are charmed by the pungi of the snake-charmers in India. All this shows us how the ancients must have dived into the most mysterious ocean of music.

To be continued…