S-gG-m-P-d-N-S

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Created by Agra vocal master Jagannathbuwa Purohit ‘Gunidas’ around the late 1940s, Jogkauns is usually summarised as ‘Jog plus Chandrakauns’ (SgGmP; mdNS). However, the raga originally arose from his earlier ‘Kausi/Kaushi‘ framework, described by Milind Malshe as “a modified Chandrakauns: add a touch of Pa, a nyas on shuddha ma, and also a touch of komal ni, and you get Kaushi” (to my ears, Kaushi may also draw from Daraskauns: an Agra-specific form of Pancham Malkauns). He taught it to his foremost disciple Kumar Gandharva in the form of two now-famous bandish (Sughar Bar Paayo & Peer Parayi). A few years later, Gunidas reworked the same bandish into a fresh melodic form, drawing more influence from Jog in poorvang – and renamed it ‘Jogkauns’ at the suggestion of B.R. Deodhar (although mysteries persist: see analysis below). The new raga soon found widespread acclaim via the renditions of his illustrious vocal students (e.g. Manik Varma, Jitendra Abhisheki, Yashwantbua Joshi, C.R. Vyas), spreading into instrumental genres too (e.g. Nikhil Banerjee, Vilayat Khan, Imrat Khan, Shahid Parvez), and now standing as of the most popular modern creations in the entire canon. Described by Parrikar as “a harmonious blend of Jog with the Kauns-ang“, most artists feature touches of komal ni in looping avroh phrases such as PdndPm (see melodic summary). Compare to the nearby Nandkauns and Jogeshwari Pancham, and to other Gunidas creations such as Swanandi and Jaun Bhairav – and see my article What does ‘Kauns’ mean? A brief survey of all known Kaunsi ragas.

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Aroha: e.g. SGmdNS

Avroh: e.g SNdPm, GmgS

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Pakad: e.g. GmdPm; PdNdPm; GmgS

Chalan: e.g. SGmPm; m(S)gS; GGm; Gm(N)d; dN; NS; SNS; (N)d; PdNd; mPmGm; m(S)gS (Parrikar)

• Usually conceptualised as a low-high ‘Jog + Chandrakauns’ split (SgGmP; mdNS) – with the ma-Sa axis used to ‘pivot’ between them

• Pa is often weaker in aroha to emphasise the Chandrakauns elements (e.g. GmdNS), but may be used in looping uttarang motions such as PdNdPm – and descents tend to conclude with Jog’s signature Gm(S)gS

• Many artists feature touches of komal ni, often in the phrase PdndPm, but sometimes in the manner of Jog (GmgS, nSgS) – and a few include ornamental flourishes of shuddha Re (e.g. SG(RG)m)

• Inherits a lunar connection from Chandrakauns, blended with Jog’s evening sentiments

–Omkar Dadarkar (2018)–

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“Jogkauns is a masterpiece of musical thought: all the pieces conforming to one another and to an organic whole…one of the greatest melodies of the 20th century…Gunidas’ key insight was to base his melody in Malkauns…modern rasikas will say that it is based in Chandrakauns – but in those days, what we now refer to as Chandrakauns was a novelty…” (Rajan Parrikar)

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—Context—

Origins, myths, quirks, & more

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Prof. Milind Malshe’s 2021 article The Relationship between Raag Kausi and Raag Jogkauns provides more context on the interwoven evolution of these two forms. In his words, “What I’m going to say here may be known to some people of my generation…But I have found that many younger disciples of mine are not aware of the facts…I hope the following will be useful”. Here are his main points:

• Kausi and Jogkauns are distinct ragas: both created by J.P. Gunidas, with Jogkauns having developed from the Kausi framework. Kausi (also spelt ‘Kaushi/Kaunshi’) is described as “modified Chandrakauns…add a touch of Pa, a nyas on shuddha ma, and also a touch of komal ni, and you get Kausi”.
• Gunidas taught Kausi to Kumar Gandharva: who was the first to popularise it (“Kumarji was the first to receive it from Jagannathbua in the late 1940s…with two bandishes, Sughar bar paayo & Peer parayi…and for some time, he was the only recipient…”). Gandharva later developed his own compositions.
• A few years later, Gunidas developed Jogkauns: adapting the same pair of bandish, and based in his Kausi framework, but with a different melodic approach (“slightly simpler: with Jog in the poorvang and Chandrakauns in the uttarang”). The ‘Jogkauns’ name was suggested to him by Prof. B.R. Deodhar.
• Gunidas then taught Jogkauns to his students: who quickly brought the new raga to widespread popularity (e.g. Manik Varma, Jitendra Abhisheki, Yashwantbua Joshi, C.R. Vyas, Ram Marathe) – with most performers singing the original bandish pair, along with a few new compositions.

Despite Malshe’s excellent summary, mysteries remain. For example, did Gunidas have any intention of renaming his raga until Deodhar suggested the ‘Jogkauns’ title? i.e. Did he consider it to be an ‘updated form’ of Kausi, or a new raga in need of a fresh name? Vaibhav Mukadam and others suggest that Gunidas may have forgotten the finer details of his original Kausi after Gandharva departed, implying that his later modifications may have been inspired by having to reinterpret it from partial memories (n.b. see Ali Akbar Khan’s Chandranandan for another ‘created, then forgotten, then reanimated’ raga).

 

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–’Kausi’: Kumar Gandharva (~1950?)–

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—Phraseologies—

Melodies, movements, characteristics…

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[coming soon]

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—Parichay demo (2021)—

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“The core of Jogkauns may be encapsulated in the following prayogas: SGmPm, m(S)gS, GGm, Gm(N)d, dN, NS; SNS(N)d, PdndmPmGm, m(S)gS; Notice the powerful role of shuddha ma – and komal ni can come along occasionally, bringing a frisson of delight, in phrases of the type: Pdnd(P)m. Shuddha Re is alpa, and may appear as a kanswar, as in SG(R)Gm…” (Rajan Parrikar)

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—Listen—

A brief selection of superb renditions

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–Veena Sahasrabuddhe (2016)–

• Gwalior khayal (20m): a well-filmed excerpt of the late vocal queen rendering an alap and vilambit bandish, interspersed with interview clips as part of a feature for Hariprasad Chaurasia’s Vrindaban Gurukul project – with the harmonium‘s sustained tones accentuating the raga’s scalar dissonances:

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[bandish, e.g. 9:42] Gm, S/m(gmgS) S(N) N\d N, (g)SGm, (SmG)m/S S N\d d, d(Pdm) P(dm) mG(mG), m(Gm) g(mS), S(Nd) N g\S(NS); Gm, S/m(gmgS) S(N) N\d N, N, (g)SGm…

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–Manju Mehta (2011)–

• Maihar sitar (12m): an alap–jor–jhalla and gat in vilambit rupak with Ravindra Yavagal on tabla, lit by thousands of diya mud-lamps at Karkala’s Sri Venkataramana Temple (“she began with the soul-stirring night melody Jogkauns…[her] delineation of this majestic raga imparted an idiosyncratic flavour to its melodies, albeit within the traditional context of peerless vintage compositions like Sughar Bar Payo and Pir Parayi…”):

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[lehra, e.g. 6:53] m(GmG) P m, m, (m)Gm (m)g S, d(SNS) S(NS), d N S, S, g(S), G, Gmd, m(GmG) P m, m, (m)Gm (m)g S…

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–Further Recordings–

• Veena Sahasrabuddhe (10m): an AUTRIM pitch-graph (Gunidas: “I will not let you go, as the pain of separation is unbearable…”)
• Irshad Khan (20m): filmed on surbahar, showcasing the instruments extraordinary pitch-bending capabilities close-up
• Rashid Khan (29m): singing a famous pair of bandish over luscious sarangi and swarmandal (Sughar Bar Payo & Pir Parayi)
• Shahid Parvez (35m): his divine meend and ornaments bring out the raga’s Kaunsi flavours in an extended alap–jor–jhalla
• Vasantrao Deshpande (43m): R. Patwardhan: “I have been yearning to listen to this masterpiece for over two decades…”
• Ajay Pohankar (44m): the Gwalior-Patiala fusioneer presents a pair of compositions in vilambit ektal and drut tintal
• Girija Devi (51m): “Appreciate the effort and focus on each word and each note; not just singing, but worshipping the song…”
• Rajan & Sajan Mishra (58m): a 2018 Budapest concert, with Nihar Mehta on tabla and Sumit Mishra on harmonium
• Kala Ramnath (65m): compositions in vilambit ektal and madhya chautal, with the late Subhankar Banerjee on tabla
• Nikhil Banerjee (89m): a 1975 concert with Jnan Prakash Ghosh’s tabla (featuring hints of a Pilu-like murchana in alap)

• Classifiers •

Explore hidden inter-raga connections: swara geometries, melodic features, murchana sets, ragangas, & more (also see the Full Tag List):

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Swaras: -4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10+

Sapta: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Poorvang: SRGM | SRG | SRM | SGM

Uttarang: PDNS | PDS | PNS | DNS

Varjit: Re | Ga | Ma | Pa | Dha | Ni

Thaat: 10 | 32 | Enclosed | Inexact

Chal: All-shuddha | All-komal | Ma-tivra

Gaps: Anh. | Hemi. | 3-row | 4-row | 5-row

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Aroha: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Avroh: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Jati: Equal | Balanced | Av.+1 | Av.+2

Samay: Morning | Aftern. | Eve. | Night

Construction: Jod | Mishra | Oddball

Origin: Ancient | Carnatic | Modern

Dominance: Poorvang | Uttarang

Prevalence: A-list | Prachalit | Aprach.

• Prakriti: (none found)

See all shadav ragas which omit Re

–Proximate Forms–

Vardhini = ‘Jogkauns komal ni‘

Devata Bhairav = ‘Jogkauns add re‘

Jogiya = ‘Jogkauns re-for-Ga‘

(n.b. these are just ‘scalar similarities’, with nothing particular implied about phraseological overlap)

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–gG–m–P–d–N–S

• Reverse: SrGmPdDS

• Complement: SrRMDnS

• Imperfect: 3 (ga, Pa, Ni)

• Detached: none

• Symmetries: none

• Murchanas: (none found)

–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: ~Gangeyabhushani

S-G₂-G₃-M₁-P-D₁-N₃-S

• Jazz: Dromos

1-b3-3-4-5-b6-7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-3-4-5-7-8-11-0

(3–1–1–2–1–3–1)

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o • • o o o • o o • • o o

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• Tanpura: Sa–ma (+dha)

• Names: Jogkauns, Jog Kauns

• Transliterations: Hindi (जोगकंस)

—More—

Further info: links, listenings, learnings, etc

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• Raag Jogkauns: [coming soon]

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• Header audio: Khayal elaboration by Rampur-Sahaswan vocalist Rashid Khan (2005)
• Header image: Jagannathbuwa Purohit ‘Gunidas’ (right) with his student C.R. Vyas (Hindustan Times)

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