Sangeet Parijat

This book was written by Pandit Ahobal ji in 1650. Which was translated into Persian language by Pt. Dina Nath ji. This book is considered a great book of its time. Pandit Ahobal ji was the first musician who created a new method for determining the position of notes on Veena in Sangeet Parijaat.

This book starts from Mangala Charan. It has a total of eight chapters - Swara, Gram, Murchchhana, Swara-Vistara, Varna, Jati, Time and Raga Episode. There are total 500 verses in Sangeet Parijaat. The eight chapters are as follows:-

1. Swara Chapter:- In this chapter, the origin of sound from the combination of wind and fire and its two types have been explained. In Swara and Shruti, the swaras have been described as the Shruti of the snake and its kundli. 22 Shruti are divided into 5 types. Sa-Ma have been called Brahmins, Re-Dha have been called Kshatriya and Ga-Ni have been called Vaishya. Then the colors and tastes of the notes are explained.

2. Gram Chapter:- Pandit Ahobal ji writes in his book Sangeet Parijat, "The group of notes (Swars) is called gram, and it is the basis of Murchhna. Pandit Ahobal ji also considers three gramas - (1) Shadja gram (2) Madhyam Gram, (3) Gandhaar Gram. Pt. Ji considers Shadja Gram to be the best among the three Grams. The raga is dependent on two Grams, Shadja and Madhyam. It is said about Gandhar Gram that it resides in heaven only, Not on earth.

3. Murchhna Chapter: - Regarding Murchhna, Pt. Ahobal ji writes that when the notes of the gram go up and down, it is called Murchhna. Fainting depends on the gram. At that time only two grams were in circulation. Every gram has 7-7 stupors. Pandit Ahobal ji has only described the Murchhans of Shadja village. Completely abandoned the murchhna of Madhyam and Gandhar gram.

4. Swara Expansion Chapter:- In this chapter, Pandit ji writes the definition of Swara in this way, “Those which automatically attract the attention of the listeners are called Swara. These seven notes are as follows – Shadja, Rishabh, Gandhar, Madhyam, Pancham, Dhaivat and Nishad. Pandit ji believes in two types of vowels – pure and distorted. After this, the creation of 4220 vowel groups by the combination of seven vowels has been explained.

5. Varna Chapter:- In this chapter Pandit ji says that the act of singing is called Varna. These are of four types: permanent, alphabet, ascending alphabet, descending alphabet and communicative alphabet. Pandit ji writes about Alankar: The group of vowels in sequence is called Alankar. Ragas are decorated with these Alankars. Pandit ji tells many types of Alankars, like Mridu, Nand, Som, Bindu, Greev, Veni etc. A total of 56 Alankars have been mentioned, 7 from permanent varna, 12 from ascending, 12 from descending and 25 from Sanchari varna.

6. Caste (Jati) Chapter:- In this chapter, the seven pure jatis Shadja, Rishabh, Gandhari, Madhyama, Panchami, Dhaivati, Nishadi have been briefly introduced. Without this, the gamakas like vibrated, sprung, twisted etc. have been explained.

7. Time Chapter:- In this chapter Pandit ji has told about the establishment of notes on the Veena. Next, five types of songs have been described, and their characteristics have been explained. Pandit ji also writes the singing time of popular ragas of his time like the singing time of Ramkali, Todi, the first hour of the day. Bhairavi, Mukhari and Lalit can be sung all the time.

8. Raga Chapter:- In this chapter Panditji writes that many ragas have been sung but I have described only 125 ragas. In this chapter, Pandit ji mentions the thaats but does not put the ragas under the thaats. Without this, Pandit ji also mentions ascending, descending, planets (Grah), degrees (Ansh), Murchhna etc.

This book is much related to modern music; hence the music world can never forget this precious gift of Pandit ji.