Begada

Bēgaḍa is a bhāṣāṅga janya1 of the 28th mēḷakarta2 Harikāmbhōji. It is a vakra ṣāḍava- sampūrṇa3 rāga. The svaras4 occurring in this rāga in ascent are ṣaḍja, chatuśruti riṣabha, antara gāndhāra, śuddha madhyama, pañchama, chatuśruti dhaivata. Kaiśiki niṣāda occurs in descent5. Kākali niṣāda, which is an additional note that is not present in its parent rāga Harikāmbhōji, is seen in some phrases. Its ārōhaṇa6 and avarōhaṇa7 are

In terms of Western notes, if C is taken as the base, then the scale is

It is not a very ancient rāga and finds mention in treatises of the 18th century and later.

It is a rakti rāga or a rāga which pleases instantaneously.

Madhyama, dhaivata, niṣāda are rāgachāyā svaras8. Besides ṣaḍja and pañcama, gāndhāra and madhyama are nyāsa svaras9. G-D, R-D, M-N2 are vādi-samvādi svaras (consonant notes).

It can portray rasas10 like hāsya (joy), vīra (valour), adbhuta (wonder) and śṛṅgāra (romantic) very effectively, just as it can convey the feeling of devotion or bhakti bhāva. The usage of kaiśiki niṣāda is helpful in bringing out karuṇā (compassion) rasa.

Some of the signature phrases of this rāga are

Footnotes

1 A derived rāga which has other notes in addition to the notes of its own parent rāga.

2 Parent rāga

3 Vakra-Ṣāḍava- A scale with 6 notes- Hexatonic, but not in their usual order. Sampūrṇa- A scale that has all 7 notes. Vakra ṣāḍava-sampurna is a scale with 6 notes not in the usual order in ascent and 7 notes in descent.

4 Notes

5 There are 16 varieties of svaras in Carnatic music. They are

6 Scale in ascent

7 Scale in descent

8 Notes which most effectively bring out the mood of the rāga

9 The landing notes for elaboration in various stages during improvisation.

10 Emotions or moods.