This raga appears in the Ragmala as the first ragini of Sin Raga. In the Mesakarna. Ragmala (1509), which is almost the same as that of the Guru Granth Sahib, the first ragini of Siri Raga is given as Vairati. However, modern sources do not give Bairari nor Vairati but Barari and Varari as well as Varati are . listed. Kaufmann believes that all of these names refer to the same raga, Barari. Whether this is the same as the old Bairari is open to question. The possibility always exists that Bairari was a regional tune. It was used by Guru Ram Das for six short hymns and by Guru Arjan for one. The performance time for Bairari is during the evening hours and it is currently assigned to the Marva thata. It resembles Purva Kalyan, the main difference being the use of Pa which is strong in Bairari and weak in Purya-Kalyan. Popley places Bairari in the same group as Siri Raga and this would agree with the Ragmala.
Aroh : Ni Re Ga Pa, M'a Ga, M'a Dha Sa
Avroh : Sa Ni D ha P'a, M'a Ga, Pa Ga, Re Sa
Vadi: Ga
Samvadi: Dha |
Introduction :
Raga Berari comes from Marwa Thath. It is mentioned as a consort of Raga Malkaus in Berari Sarsut, a consort of raga Basant in Shivmat, a consort of raga Pancham in Kalinath-mat and a consort of raga Bhairo in Hanumat The mood of this raga is very tender and compassionate.
In the Ragamala listed at the end of Guru Granth Sahib it is mentioned as a consort of raga Sri.
The scale and notes of the raga are as follows:
Arohi (ascending scale) - sa re ga pa ma ga pa dhi ni sa
Avrohi (descending scale) - sa ni dha pa ma ga re sa
The vadi (most popular) note is 'ga' and samvadi (second most popular) note is 'dha'.
This raga is sung at the third part of the day i.e., from 12 noon to 3 a.m. The season of its recitation is winter (sharad) i.e., during October, November. In Guru Granth Sahib it has hymns from pages 719- 720 (2 pages).
The Composers:
The composers of bath (hymns) in this raga are:
Gurus
- Guru Ramdas
- Guru Arjan Dev
Bhagats:
There is no bhagat bani in this raga
The Structure:
The sequence of the structure of compositions in this raga are:
Gurubani:
Bhagat bani:
There is no bhagat bani in this raga
Matrix
VISUAL ANALYSIS
Count of the use of Managals:
- Complete Mool Mantar = nil
- Ik-ongkar Satgur Prasadh = 2
Placement and count of rahau verses:
All shabads of have a rahau verse in them, they have numerals and the verses are placed in the beginning of the shabads.
Diversification of headings and subheadings in the raga:
Page number |
Heading/Subheading |
719 |
Raga Berari Mehla 4 Ghar 1 dopadas |
711 |
Raga Berari Mehla 5 Ghar 1 |
Composers Structure of Bani
|
Padas |
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|
l |
|
Ashtpadis |
Specialist |
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Chts |
Specialist |
Var |
Sloaks* |
Gurus |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
8 (padas) |
untiled |
Titled |
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|
|
Ramdas |
6 |
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|
|
|
|
|
|
Arjan Dev |
1 |
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Excerpts taken from:
Guru Granth Sahib: An Advance Study
Dr Sukhbir Singh Kapoor
Vice Chancellor World Sikh University, London |
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