ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>R&#256GM&#256L&#256</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279<i>R&#256GM&#256L&#256</i>, lit. a rosary of <i>r&#257gas</i> or musical measures, is the title of a composition of twelve verses, running into sixty lines, appended to the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib after the <i>Mund&#257va&#7751&#299</i>, i.e. the epilogue, as a table or index of <i>r&#257gas</i>.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the course of the evolution of Indian music, many systems came into effect, prominent among them being the &#346aiva M&#257t&#257 , said to have been imparted by Lord &#346iva; who is accepted as the innovator of music; the K&#257l&#299n&#257tha Mata, also called the K&#7771&#7779&#7751a Mata, which has its predominance in Braj and Punjab and is said to have been introduced by K&#257l&#299n&#257tha, a revered <i>&#257ch&#257rya</i> of music; the Bharata Mata which has its vogue in Western India and was propounded by Bharata Muni; the Han&#363m&#257na Mata ; the Siddha S&#257rsut Mata ; and the R&#257g&#257ra&#7751ava Mata. A large number of <i>r&#257gm&#257l&#257s</i> pertaining to these and other systems that developed are, with some variations, traceable in such well-known works on Indian musicology as <i>Gobind Sa&#7749g&#299t S&#257r, Q&#257n&#363&#7749 Maus&#299k&#299, Budh Park&#257s Darpa&#7751, Sang&#299t Binod</i> and <i>R&#257ga D&#299pak&#257</i>. With the exception of the S&#257rsut Mata which subscribes to seven chief <i>r&#257gas</i>, all other systems acknowledge six chief <i>r&#257gas</i>, thirty (in some cases thirty-six also) "wives" or <i>ragi&#7751is</i> and forty-eight "sons" or sub-<i>r&#257gas</i>; each <i>r&#257ga</i> having eight "sons." Thus each system includes eighty-four measures which itself is a mystic number in the Indian tradition, symbolizing such entities as the 84 <i>siddhas</i> or the 84,00,000 <i>yon&#299s</i> or species of life. Though the details concerning the names of "wives" and "sons" differ in each <i>ragm&#257l&#257</i>, the chief systems, broadly speaking, have only two sets; one including Sir&#299, Basant, Bhairav, Pañcham, Megh and Na&#7789 N&#257r&#257ya&#7751, as in the &#346aiva and K&#257l&#299n&#257tha systems; and the other including Bhairav, M&#257lkau&#7749s, Hi&#7751&#7693ol, D&#299pak, Sir&#299 and Megh as in Bharata and Han&#363m&#257na systems. In some systems, the <i>r&#257gas</i> have, besides "wives" and "sons", daughters"and "daughters-in-law" as well. The chief <i>r&#257gas</i> are <i>&#347uddha</i>, i.e. complete and perfect, while the &#8220wives" and "sons" are i.e. mixed, incomplete and adulterated. Each of the six principal <i>r&#257gas</i> relates itself by its nature to a corresponding season.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The <i>r&#257gm&#257l&#257</i> appended to the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib is not much different from the others, and, by itself, does not set up a new system. This <i>r&#257gm&#257l&#257</i> is nearest to the Han&#363m&#257na Mata, but the arrangement of <i>r&#257g</i> as in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib is nearer to the &#346aiva Mata and the K&#257l&#299n&#257tha Mata which give primacy to Sir&#299 R&#257ga. The only system wherein occur all the <i>r&#257gas</i> and <i>r&#257gi&#7751&#299s</i> employed in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib is Bharata Mata. In the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib no distinction has been made between <i>r&#257gas</i> and <i>r&#257gi&#7751is</i> and all the measures employed have been given the status of <i>r&#257gas</i>, each one of them recognized in its own right and not as "wife" or "son" to another <i>r&#257ga</i>. In practice over a long stretch of time, <i>gurmat sa&#7749g&#299t</i>, i.e. Sikh music, has evolved its own style and conventions which make it a system distinct from other Indian systems.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There being no indication to this effect in the caption, the authorship of <i>R&#257gm&#257l&#257</i> has been the subject of controversy; more so the point whether it should form part of the recitation of the Holy Text in its entirety. The composition is not integral to the theme of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, and it has little musicological or instructional significance. Yet it is entered in the original volume of the Holy Book prepared by Gur&#363 Arjan and preserved to this day in descendant family at Kart&#257rpur. By consensus, <i>R&#257gm&#257l&#257</i> is taken to be part of the Sacred Text and with rare exceptions, notably at Sr&#299 Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t, it is included in all full-scale recitations of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. The <i>Rahit</i> <i>Mary&#257d&#257</i>, manual of Sikh practices, issued under the authority of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar, recommends that the reading of the Holy Book be concluded with <i>Mund&#257va&#7751&#299</i> or <i>R&#257gm&#257l&#257</i>, depending upon local practice, but in no case should the Holy Volume be calligraphed or printed excluding this text.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> &#346abad&#257rath <i>Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib</i>. Amritsar, 1964<BR> <li class="C1"> Ashok, Shamsher Singh <i>R&#257gm&#257l&#257 Nir&#7751ai</i>. Amritsar, n.d.<BR> <li class="C1"> Kohli, Surindar Si&#7749gh, <i>A Critical Study of Adi Granth</i>. Delhi, 1961<BR> <li class="C1"> Macauliffe, Max Arthur, <i>The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors</i>. Oxford, 1909<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">T&#257ran Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>