Sarasāṅgi

Sarasāṅgi is the 27th mēḷakarta¹ in the sampūrṇa mēḷa system² . It is the third raga in the fifth chakra³ (Bāṇa chakra). This rāga was known by the name Saurasēna in the asampūrṇa mēḷa system⁴ . The svaras⁵ occurring in this rāga are ṣaḍja, chatuśruti riṣabha, antara gāndhāra, śuddha madhyama, pañchama, śuddha dhaivata, kākali niṣāda⁶ . Its ārōhaṇa ⁷ and avarōhaṇa ⁸ are

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

This is not a very ancient rāga and finds mention in treatises of the 18th century and later. It corresponds to Raag Naṭbhairav of Hindustani music. It is equivalent to the Harmonic Minor scale of Western music. It is a mūrchanakāraka mēḷa ⁹ .

It gives rise to two other rāgas through the process of grahabhēda or modal shift of tonic, namely Dharmavati from madhyama and Chakravāka from pañcama. It is a tristhāyi rāga, that is, it can be sung in all three octaves. Gāndhāra, madhyama and niṣāda are rāgachāyā svaras¹⁰ . Besides ṣaḍja and pañcama, gāndhāra, madhyama and niṣāda are nyāsa svaras¹¹ . G-N are vādi-samvādi12 svaras.

It can portray rasas¹³ like karuṇā (compassion), hāsya (joy) very effectively, just as it can convey the feeling of devotion or bhakti bhāva.

Some of the signature phrases of this rāga are

Footnotes

1 A derived rāga which has notes only from its own parent rāga.

2 Parent rāga

3 Auḍava- A scale with 5 notes- Pentatonic. Sampūrṇa- A scale that has all 7 notes. Auḍava-sampūrṇa is a scale with 5 notes in ascent and 7 notes in descent.

4 Notes

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

The above table gives you information on the notes as they are referred to between Sa on the middle octave to the Sa on the upper octave. It needs to be interpreted based on the Raga and its scale formation as given above. In the table given above, there are notes that use the same frequencies but, are spelt differently. For example, Rishaba 2 is equal to Gandhara 1, Dhaivata 2 is equal to Nishad 1. However, because of the ornamentation (Gamakas) most often the notes are not portrayed as it is played out on the Piano. There is a certain distortion in the frequencies making it difficult to identify the actual notes involved in the Scale formation.

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.