S-R-G-M-P-D-n-S

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Vachaspati (‘Lord of Speech’) is a recent import from the South, adapted from Carnatic music’s 64th mela scale around the mid-20th century by artists including Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan. Consequently, its Northern form is still in a state of flux, with few firm melodic conventions aside from staying within the scale’s bounds – which, despite containing a stable major triad (SGP), are sharply coloured by the curious dissonance of the rare ‘tivra Ma + komal Ni‘ sangati. Most closely resembles either ‘Yaman komal ni‘ or ‘Khamaj tivra Ma‘, although its phraseologies have no explicit ties to either of these ragas – with the swara set also approximating overtones 8-14 of the harmonic series: the foundational constituents of all resonant sound. Also see Saraswati (the same scale minus Ga, linked to the Carnatic original) and Hemavati (a ‘komal ga Vachaspati’ of similar Southern import). Also see Shankar’s other Carnatic reworkings, notably including Charukeshi, Kirwani, Malay Marutam, and Simhendra Madhyamam.

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Aroha: SRGMPDnS

Avroh: SnDPMGRS

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Chalan: variable – signatures e.g. nSGM; PDP; nDPM; MGRS; RnS; MGRS; nS (Tanarang)

–Jesse Bannister (2020)–

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“Vachaspati is still at a half-baked stage of raga-ness…Its authoritative grammar will be written only after its literature has matured. Until then, each interpretation must be accepted on its own terms, and judged only on its distinctiveness and aesthetic coherence.” (Deepak Raja)

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—Context—

Origins, myths, quirks, & more

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Vachaspati’s seven swaras present a curious balance between novelty and primality. As a relatively recent addition to Hindustani music, it presents artists with a fresh melodic canvas, largely free of established conventions or constraints – while the raga’s SRGMPDnS scale form is mirrored in overtones #8-14 of the harmonic series, the foundational constituents of all resonant sound in our universe (explanation below).

 

Despite a long Carnatic history (as melakarta #64), the raga’s Northern inception is a 20th-century phenomenon – commonly credited to the efforts of Ravi Shankar, who played it countless times in India and beyond starting from around the early 1950s. Other artists also influenced its early development: Maihar stablemate Ali Akbar Khan recorded it for All India Radio in the same decade, and Imdadkhani sitarist Vilayat Khan also took to performing it around the same time – although by the 1970s he had retitled the scale ‘Chandni Kalyan’ (‘Moonlit Kalyan’).

 

Given Vachaspati’s recent adoption and complex associative mythology, its general musical flexibility is no surprise. In many ways, the raga’s distinctive scale form provides something of a respite from the rules and stipulations of most ‘classic’ ragas: there is no clear melodic ‘competitor’ for its swara set, meaning that musicians can roam free without risking over-trespass into the territory of other forms.

 

Despite – and also because of – its comparatively unsettled melodic status in modern Hindustani music, Vachaspati occupies a paradoxical place on the concert platform – beloved by listeners, but still somewhat infrequently performed. However, it is very much a raga on the rise, absorbing fresh ideas each year, including phrases ‘rediscovered’ from Carnatic music via the growing trend of North-South jugalbandi…

 

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–Ravi Shankar (1976)–

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“My first interaction with Carnatic music was when I was 13. We all went to Madras to the home of Veenai Dhanam. I remember the steps leading up to her house…Within a few minutes I had tears in my eyes. Bala was going to join my brother Uday Shankar….Then I started visiting the Music Academy…I was already attracted to Keeravani, Charukeshi, Malayamarutam, and Vachaspati…and began to play them without any fanfare…” (Ravi Shankar)

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—Etymologies—

The raga’s name evokes a gallery of different associations. As mentioned, ‘Vachaspati’ translates from Sanskrit as ‘Lord of Speech’, or ‘God of Words’ – referring to a vivid manifestation of Vishvakarman, a Rigvedic deity described by historian Roshen Dalal as “all-seeing, four-faced, and four-armed – the creator of heaven and earth…the architect of the universe”. Fabled as the one who named his fellow gods (as well as gifting them with magic chariots and an array of divine weaponary), Vishvakarman continues to cast a presence into the 21st century and beyond – today, several Hindu traditions revere him as a particular patron of weavers, builders, and railwaymen [**check Puranic vs Rigvedic].

 

Fittingly for a naming-deity, Vishvakarman has gone by many other titles over time. Many such terms evoke similarly charged, conflicting sentiments – such as dhatr and vidhatr (‘establisher’ and ‘disposer’). Brhaspati, a related figure, is described in the Vedas as a wise, eloquent sage (a ‘lord of speech’), who would offer the gods counsel while carrying a stringed bow representing purity and cosmic order. And similar spellings signify the planet Jupiter in later medieval texts…

 

“An exegesis of the epithet of ‘Vachaspati’ is fraught with difficulties. This has a lot to do with the fact that the same name has often been used, at different times, for different individuals, in the Hindu mythology. So, their identities can only be established based on their respective context (say, paternity).“Fabled to have given the other gods their names as well as their divine weapons and chariots, Vishvakarman is today revered by Hindu ‘constructors’ such as weavers, builders, and railwaymen.” This part is slightly incorrect. The Vishvakarman in the Rigveda is distinct from the Vishvakarman in the Puranas. This is because not only are the two texts ascribed to different points in time in history, but also the two ‘Vishvakarmans’ themselves belong to different timelines in the universe they inhabit. The Rigvedic Vishvakarman is a composite of several ‘modern-day’ gods; This abstract, shapeless entity, as found in the Rigveda has been distributed, over time, into more well-defined, distinct personalities. The ‘Vachaspati’, note the translation, aspect of Vishvakarman has been attributed to Brahma. In fact, even the representation is a perfect match! Vachaspati, is rooted in the Sanskrit ‘Vak’, meaning speech. Interestingly, ‘Vak’ itself is an epithet of Sarasvati, the consort (or feminine counterpart) of Brahma. (Hence, the raga name Bageshri is a corrupted form of Vageshvari. Also, I see that you’ve noted that Raga Sarasvati is related to Raga Vachaspati!). During the composition of the Puranas something funny happens. The title of Vachaspati is transferred to Brhaspati, as you’ve correctly written. Meanwhile, one of the several sons of the eight Vasus (elemental entities) is named Vishvakarman upon his birth. He is the “the author of a thousand arts, the mechanist of the gods, the fabricator of all ornaments, the chief of artists, the constructor of the self-moving chariots of the deities, and by whose skill men obtain subsistence” (Ch. XV of the Vishnu Purana, translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, 1840, at sacred-texts.com). So, I would suggest that there’s no need to mention the Puranc Vishvakarman at all. You could include something on Brahma instead. Hope this helps.”

 

—Phraseologies—

Melodies, movements, characteristics…

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Given the prominent leading-tone tension of the Ma, Vachaspati’s swara set of SRGMPDnS most obviously resembles a ‘Komal ni Yaman’ (although could also be seen as ‘Tivra Ma Khamaj’). Most musicians classify it under Yaman’s Kalyan thaat, although this convention is not a ‘rule’. 

 

In Deepak Raja’s words, “the disappearance of [Yaman’s] Ga-Ni axis in first-fifth correspondence [means] the new raga has to find an alternative axis to revolve around”. Given the raga’s relative youth, there is still little consensus on which swara pair to turn to instead.

 

Hindustani music traditionally calls for the vadi and samvadi to be separated by a perfect fifth either upwards or downwards – which in Vachaspati leaves four (unordered) pairs to choose from: Pa-Re, Pa-Sa, Dha-Re, and Dha-Ga. Raja notes the use of Re-Pa, Ga-Dha and even a narrowed Ma-ni, reflecting the raga’s fluid identity.

 

Musicians explore the raga’s unique structure with a variety of approaches, derived both from knowledge of allied ragas and from analysis of the scale shape itself. The Ga and ni are ‘imperfect tones’, with no perfect fifth above them, and tivra Ma is an ‘isolated tone’, with no fifths above or below. Most renditions are uttarang-dominant (focused on the upper half of the scale), with melodies often resolving to swaras somewhere in the mid-range of the scale (Ga to Dha).

 

Ravi Shankar’s renowned 1976 recording is laden with long, rhythmic taans, often concluded with repeated tihai loops of MPDnD and MPDnS. His improvisatory launchpoints vary – Ma and Pa are used prominently throughout, with descents taking paths such as MGRSn, MPMGRS, and RSn SnD PM. He tends to ornament or bend into Ma (e.g. G/M~\G or P\M~/P), and often takes ‘scalar’, rhythmically dense routes in faster passages (e.g. SRSn SnDn DPDP MPM and MPM GMG RGR S).

 

Shivkumar Sharma’s santoor interpretations tend to ascend without Re, as SGMPDnS, and can descend without Ma, as SnDPGRS. His live rendition with Hariprasad Chaurasia turns to Ga as a focal point, with phrases such as GRSn, GMP (Dn)S~ and GSRn SP nPGSG M. There are even shades of Kalavati in some of the more rhythmic passages (e.g. PDnSG).

 

Raja notes that vocalists Amir Khan and Jagdish Prasad also exclude the Re and Dha in ascent, and that Amarnath Mishra’s sitar rendition takes a similar stance while also borrowing from Saraswati (SRMPDnS) with phrases such as SRMR, SRMP, and MPMR. Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande draws contrast from tone-skipping phrases such as S\n\PnS, G MGM GRS n.

 

Musicians continue to experiment, and Vachaspati shows few signs of ‘settling’ – something amplified by its popularity in recent North-South collaborations, which has reintroduced ‘new’ ideas from the raga’s ancient Carnatic past. Perhaps, like Charukeshi, another recent Southern import, it will inevitably be defined by the unique freedoms of its scale more than by its repertoire.

 

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—Abhirang: Swar Arpan demo (2020)—

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“The most important aspect of the Yaman-to-Vachaspati transformation is the disappearance of the Ga–Ni axis in 1st-5th correspondence: without the shuddha Ni, the new raga has to find an alternative axis to revolve around. Treatments tend to explore several alternatives [Re–Pa; Ga–Dha; Ma–ni], without being able to settle down with any of them. Such experimental uncertainty is even evident in the renderings of musicians of great stature, reflecting the current stage of the raga’s evolution…” (Deepak Raja)

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—Listen—

A brief selection of superb renditions

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–Kushal Das & Shashank Subramanyam (2017)–

• North-South duet (10m): An intriguing sitar-venu jugalbandi from Darbar‘s stage at the 2017 Ravenna Festival in Italy, with two contrasting instrument timbres combining to showcase multiple facets of the raga’s free-roaming melodic potential (also hear more of the same concert: as well as Subramanyam’s sublime solo rendition):

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[Carnatic alapana, e.g. 6:08] DDD(DD) DnDDD (DPG)DnDD, D(SDSn) n(DnD)D D, GnD D(PmP)P, P(MPDPDP)P P, PP GPPnPP P, PP PMPPMPPM… G(PMP…) R(PMP…) S(PMP…), n(PMP…) D(PMP…) G(PMP) R(PMP) S(PMP) D(PMP) S(PMP) D(PMP)G PP, nPPG nPPGRSD D(nD)P DnSRGPD SRGSR…

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–Ravi Shankar (1971)–

• Maihar sitar (5m): A concise performance from Shankar’s Nov 1971 appearance on the Dick Cavett Show, accompanied by Alla Rakha on tabla – followed by a fruitful discussion on the intermixing of raga and narcotics (“I request my listeners be in clear mind, as I like to make them high myself…”):

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[motifs, e.g. 1:01] S(n) S(n), S(G)RGMP D(nD) (D)PMP, MP (M)GMP, (DPMPDnSn)S, D(nD) (DPM)P, (M)G (P)M (P)P, PMG RGR, R(SR)G, S(n) S(n), S; (SR)G RG, GMP…

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–Further Recordings–

• Shivkumar & Rahul Sharma (6m): Rahul told me it “has been a favourite since I heard my father’s Colors of 100 Strings CD”
• Sanika Kulkarni (9m): live in Mumbai, supported by Swanand Kulkarni on harmonium and Aashay Kulkarni on tabla
• Sabri Khan (9m): a concise, crystal-clear sarangi rendition (“played to bring out shantha…without a trace of karuna“)
• Ashwini Bhide-Deshpande (15m): lively bandish with a lighter melodic character, which de-emphasises Re and Ma
• Ravi Shankar (23m): from an all-night concert at New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine, with Alla Rakha on tabla
• Shiv-Hari (26m): filmed in 1997, capturing both maestros in full flight while highlighting their distinct sounds and ideas
• Vijay Koparkar (45m): a more soothing interpretation than most from the khayal star (also a metallurgical engineer)
• Remember Shakti (63m): Hari’s bansuri is recoloured by John McLaughlin‘s rich guitar harmonies (titled Mukti: ‘liberation’)
• Budhaditya Mukherjee (85m): ideally suited to the fierce plucking-hand techniques of the Imdadkhani sitar lineage

• Carnatic Origins •

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—Ragam Vachaspati (mela #64)—

(L. Subramaniam)

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–All ragas of Carnatic origin–

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• 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

Double: rR | gG | mM | dD | nN

Thaat: 10 | 32 | Enclosed | Inexact

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

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

Symmetries: Mirror | Rotation | Palindr.

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Aroha: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

Avroh: Audav | Shadav | Sampurna

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

Samay: Morning | Aftern. | Eve. | Night

Murchana: Bhup. | Bihag | Bilaw. | Charu.

Raganga: Bhairav | Malhar | Kan. | Todi

Construction: Jod | Mishra | Oddball

Origin: Ancient | Carnatic | Modern

Dominance: Poorvang | Uttarang

Prevalence: A-list | Prachalit | Aprach.

• Prakriti: Thaat #9

–Proximate Forms–

Yaman = ‘Vachaspati shuddha Ni‘

Khamaj = ‘Vachaspati shuddha ma‘

Rampriya = ‘Vachaspati komal re‘

Madhukant = ‘Vachaspati komal ga‘

Jansammohini = ‘Vachaspati no Ma‘

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

–Swara Geometries–

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• Core form: S–R–G–M–P–D–n–S

• Reverse: SRgmMdnS

• Negative: 2-2-2-3-3 (e.g. Tivrakauns)

• Imperfect: 3 (Ga, Ma, ni)

• Detached: 2 (Ma, ni)

• Symmetries: mirror (R—d)

• Murchanas: Charukeshi set

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• Quirks: ‘tivra Ma, komal ni‘ (rarest pairing) • ‘maximal‘ (swaras are optimally ‘spread out’)

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–Global Translations–

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• Carnatic: Vachaspati (mela #64)

S-R₂-G₃-M₂-P-D₂-N₂-S

• Jazz: Lydian b7 (‘Overtone’)

1-2-3-#4-5-6-b7-8

• Pitch classes (‘fret-jumps’):

0-2-4-6-7-9-10-0

(2–2–2–1–2–1–2)

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o • o • o • o o • o o • o

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–Around the World–

Known as the ‘Lydian Dominant‘ in jazz-inclined traditions, Vachaspati’s basic scale follows an aforementioned subset of the harmonic series (overtones #8–14: or, if octaves are ignored, just the sum of the first 14). Hear this sequence in action – first in its original ‘pure-tuned’ form, then in its ‘12-tone equal temperament’ approximation:

[overtones audio]

Given this vibrational primality, the scale is evident in any instrument designed around ‘separating out’ different partials from the series – including the didgeridoo, the jaw harp, and the ‘overtone singing‘ traditions of Tuva and beyond (although lower-pitched partials tend to dominate: SGPn). And the tanpura’s characteristic droning sparkle arises from the action of its ‘jawari’ bridge, which is subtly curved to accentuate higher overtones as the string’s vibration ‘grazes’ it.

 

The ‘equally-tempered’ version of the sequence also turns up across disparate global genres, spanning rock instrumentals (Joe Satriani’s Flying in a Blue Dream) and jazz harmonisations (Tommaso Zillio’s Mixolydian #4) to video game soundtracks (Jun Ishikawa’s Sand Canyon 1 from Kirby’s Dream Land 3) and pop songs from the 1960s (Left Banke’s Pretty Ballerina) to the 2000s (Regina Spektor’s Pavlov’s Daughter).

 

Classical composers have explored it, notably including Alexander Scriabin (his famous Mystic Chord approximates ‘Vachaspati no Pa‘: SRGMDnS), Claude Debussy (e.g. the early sections of L’isle Joyeuse, and bars 35-40 of La Mer), and Béla Bartók (e.g. the closing passages of Cantata Profana: in fact, some title it the ‘Acoustic Scale’, coined by theorist Erno Lendvai in his Bartók analysis) – and, more recently, in the choral works of Eric Whitacre (Cloudburst). It also forms the core of several jazz standards, usually in a ‘secondary dominant’ function (e.g. the D7#11 chord near the start of Take the A Train), but sometimes as a head melody in its own right (e.g. Sonny Rollins’ Blue Seven).

 

However, the scale’s most famous showcase is undoubtedly Danny Elfman’s Simpsons Theme, which even mirrors Shivkumar Sharma’s tendency to omit Re in ascent (main melody in sargam: S, GMDP, GSDM P, MMMPn, SSSS – also seasoned with dashes of the Whole-Tone Scale, a.k.a. Sehera: MGRS GRSn RSnd SndM). Elfman, in turn, drew plenty of direct inspiration from Hoyt Curtin’s 1962 Jetsons Theme (which shuffles a similar SGMP motif between multiple keys). [n.b. On rewatching some old Simpsons classics in early 2024, I couldn’t help but notice that a very brief snippet of sitar in the episode ‘Marge in Chains’ also sounds a lot like Vachaspati, possibly a Ravi Shankar rendition [S4 E21 @ 9:40]: it definitely contains the SRGMP swara sequence, but the uttarang is absent…].

 

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—Simpsons Theme (USA)—

(Danny Elfman, 1989)

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“Matt Groening…showed me a pencil sketch of the opening of The Simpsons – it felt very retro and crazy, [compared to] what I remember growing up on. I told him, ‘If you want something contemporary, I’m not the guy for that. But if you want something like a crazy Hanna-Barbera that never was, then I think I’m the right guy.’ I literally wrote the piece in the car on my way home from the meeting, in my head. I ran down to my studio and within a couple of hours, I wrote all the parts on a multi-track. Then I sent the cassette back to Matt, and I think I got a call the next day saying, ‘Yeah, that’s it!’…I didn’t know that I’d actually be hitting a jackpot. I didn’t expect anybody to see The Simpsons. I didn’t think it would last more than one season…I did it purely for fun. That silly moment would become this major defining moment in my life…” (Danny Elfman)

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• Tanpura: Sa–Pa (+ni)

• Names: Vachaspati, Vachaspatee, Wachaspati, ~Chandni Kalyan, ~Champakali

• Transliterations: Hindi (वाचस्पती)

—More—

Further info: links, listenings, learnings, etc

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• Raag Vachaspati: For more on the raga’s unfolding history, read Deepak Raja’s aforementioned essay (“The most important aspect of the Yaman-to-Vachaspati transformation is the disappearance of the Ga–Ni axis in 1st-5th correspondence. Without [Yaman’s] shuddha Ni, the new raga has to find an alternative axis to revolve around. The [Hindustani] treatment of the raga tends to explore several alternatives [Re–Pa, Ga–Dha, Ma–ni], without being able to settle down with any of them…”) – as well a brief overview from Ocean of Ragas, and personal reflections by raga-inclined fusion composer Michael Robinson (“Vachaspati brings to mind the magnificent abstract paintings of Kandinsky…an extremely unusual melodic shape, which lends itself to fantastical melodic and rhythmic explorations”).

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• Header audio: Sitar jor by Kushal Das (2017)
• Header image: ‘Balarama, Subhadra, & Jagannath in the Temple at Puri’, oil painting from Orissa (c.1880-1910)

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