Antam Sanskar | Funeral Ceremony

Sabad 1
Rag Asa
Of the thirty-one principal rags in the Guru Granth Sahib, Rag Asa has been designated the fourth place in the sequence. Under this rag, the Bani of six Gurus and five Bhagats is recorded from pages 347 to 488 of the Guru Granth Sahib. It includes one hundred seventy Sabads by Guru Nanak Sahib, fifteen by Guru Angad Sahib, forty-eight by Guru Amardas Sahib, thirty by Guru Ramdas Sahib, one hundred eighty-eight by Guru Arjan Sahib, one by Guru Teghbahadar Sahib, thirty-seven by Bhagat Kabir, five by Bhagat Namdev, six by Bhagat Ravidas, and two each by Bhagat Dhanna, and Baba Farid. Guru Nanak Sahib revealed the greatest number of Sabads in this rag.

In Gurmat Sangit (Sikh Devotional Music), Rag Asa (a musical mode) is incredibly significant. The melodious notes of this rag can be heard everywhere in the land of Panjab. Every morning, the golden rays of dawn stream together to the sweet melody of ‘Asa Ki Var.’ When the redness of every evening is gradually absorbed in the lap of nature, the melodious notes of this rag sing the praises of ‘So Dar.’

There are many prevalent forms of Rag Asa. In earlier times, ragis sang this rag in various angs (styles), such as Pahari ang, Bilaval ang, Kalian ang, and Kaphi ang. Four other forms of Rag Asa are also included in the Guru Granth Sahib, such as Rag Asa Kaphi, Asavari Sudhang, Asa Asavari, and Asavari.

Rag Asa is not commonly sung in Hindustani music, and there is little information about this rag in musicology texts. Another rag similar to this is Rag ‘Mand,’ and both are based on folk tunes. While the same notes are used in both Rag Asa and Rag Mand, since they are rendered differently, they form distinct rags.

Rag Asa is devotional in nature. Darbari ragi (court musician) and poet of the state of Patiala, Master Bhai Prem Singh, writes in ‘Ratan Sangit Bhandar’ that Rag Asa is obtained from a combination of Sirirag, Rag Megh, and Rag Maru. This rag falls in the category of sandhi-prakash rags, which are sung and played during mornings and evenings. This is an utrang vadi rag.

Rag Asa is Panjab’s famous and melodious rag. Long before Guru Nanak Sahib’s time, the famous ‘Tunde Asraje Di Var’ (an ode to the maimed king Asraj) was also sung in this rag. The Bani of the Bhagat contributors of the Guru Granth Sahib, who predate Guru Nanak Sahib, is also written in this rag. Hence, Rag Asa was prevalent even before the arrival of Guru Nanak Sahib. Folk legends, songs, stories, and tunes sung and narrated in Rag Asa were extremely pleasing and popular. Due to its unique qualities, outside of the kirtan tradition, Rag Asa is still dominant in folk music, classical music, and cinema.

Sri Vimalkant Rai Chaudhary described two forms of the Rag ‘Asha’ in Hindustani music. In one form, notes Re, Ga, Dha, and Ni are komal (flat), and in the other form, Ni is flat, and the jati (class) is aurav-sharav. This second form of Rag Asha is closer to the Rag Asa prevalent in Gurmat Sangit (Sikh Devotional Music). The form accepted by the Rag Nirnayak Committee is as follows:

Description of Rag Asa
That: Bilaval.
Svar (notes): All shudh (natural).
Varjit Svar (forbidden notes): Ga and Ni in aroh (ascending scale).
Jati (class): aurav-sampuran.
Vadi (prominent note): Ma.
Samvadi (sub-prominent note): Sa.
Aroh (ascending scale): Sa, Re Ma, Pa, Dha Sa (tar saptak - upper octave).
Avroh (descending scale): Sa (tar saptak - upper octave) Ni Dha Pa, Ma, Ga Re Sa Re Ga Sa.
Mukh Ang/Pakar (main part): Re Ma, Pa, Dha Sa (tar saptak - upper octave), Ni Dha Pa Ma, Ga Sa Re Ga Sa.

Singing Time
The first quarter of the morning (dawn) and the evening (dusk).

Sabad 4
Rag Gauri
Of the thirty-one principal rags in the Guru Granth Sahib, Rag Gauri (a musical mode) has been designated the third place in the sequence. Under this rag, the Bani of five Gurus and three Bhagats is recorded from pages 151 to 346 of the Guru Granth Sahib. It includes forty Sabads by Guru Nanak Sahib, thirty-nine by Guru Amardas Sahib, one hundred fifteen by Guru Ramdas Sahib, four hundred sixty-two by Guru Arjan Sahib, nine by Guru Teghbahadar Sahib, one hundred forty-three by Bhagat Kabir, one by Bhagat Namdev, and five by Bhagat Ravidas.

Gauri is a rag of serious nature. Thus, the Guru has used this rag to reveal compositions related to thoughtful subjects like mind, consciousness, intellect, soul, death, liberation, etc. The compositions ‘Bavan Akhari’ and ‘Sukhmani’ are also revealed under this rag.

In Gurmat Sangit (Sikh Devotional Music), Rag Gauri is of great significance. This rag contains the highest number of Sabads recorded in the Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Arjan Sahib, while referring to Rag Gauri, says that the human-bride (seeker) can become graceful while singing Rag Gauri only if they enshrine the Divine-Husband in their heart and live by and make the eternal Wisdom (Guru) their adornment:
gaüṛī rāgi sulakhṇī je khasmai citi karei.
bhāṇai calai satigurū kai aisā sīgāru karei. -Guru Granth Sahib 311.

Gauri is an old rag. In the old Hindustani texts on music, it is also written as Gori, Gauri, Gavri, or Gauri etc. There are twenty-two prevalent forms of this rag, each considered to possess a distinct and independent structure. In these, there is always some element of the principal rag (Gauri), due to which they are also known as ‘ragang-rag’ of Gauri or ‘types of Gauri.’

In the Guru Granth Sahib, ‘Gauri’ appears as a principal rag as well as a mixed rag in eleven different forms. These mixed forms are as follows: Gauri Guareri, Gauri Dakhni, Gauri Bairagan, Gauri Cheti, Gauri Dipki, Gauri Purbi, Gauri Purbi Dipki, Gauri Majh, Gauri Malva, Gauri Mala, and Gauri Sorath.

‘Gauri’ is one of the five songs (Shudha, Bhinna, Gauri, Baisra and Sadharani) recorded in ‘Sangit Ratnakar Granth.’ It has two forms, ‘Gauri’ and ‘Ohati.’ ‘Gauri’ is a musical composition where the notes of its rag are rendered in a manner designed to be pleasing to the listener’s mind. Its tempo should remain uninterrupted across mandar saptak (lower octave), madhya saptak (middle octave), or tar saptak (upper octave); it should be pleasing to the ears, and it should also be famous in the Gaurav/Gaur region (an area between East Bengal and Orissa).

With reference to ‘Ain-i-Akbari,’ Dr. Kirpal Singh expresses two views regarding the origin of this rag: first, the origin of this rag could be in Bengal, and second, Gauri (Shiva’s wife) could be the creator of this rag. Thus, it can be inferred that this rag may have originated in Bengal.

In the rag-ragini system, there are different views regarding Rag Gauri. In Hanuman school and Bharat schools, this rag is considered to be the ragini of Rag Malkauns. According to Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha as well, Gauri is a ragini. Its that is Purbi, jati (class) is aurav-sharav, and it also has a component of Sirirag. In the ‘Ragmala’ recorded in the Guru Granth Sahib, Gauri (Gavari) is the ragini of Sirirag:
bairārī karnāṭī dharī. gavrī gāvahi āsāvarī.
tih pāchai sindhavī alāpī. sirī rāg siu pāṁcaü thāpī. -Guru Granth Sahib 1430.

Rag Gauri is sung and played in different angs (styles). According to Bhai Avtar Singh and Bhai Gurcharn Singh, Gauri is a rag sung through ‘Bhairav’ and ‘Purvi’ angs. According to Prof. Tara Singh, Gauri is sung in four different ways. The first is in Bhairav that and sampuran jati, the second is in Bhairav that and aurav-sampuran jati, the third is in Bilaval that and sharav-vakar sampuran jati, and the fourth is in Purvi that and vakar-sampuran jati. According to Dr. Gurnam Singh, Rag Gauri can be sung in seven ways. The first is in Purvi that and aurav-sampuran jati, the second is in Purvi that and vakar-sampuran jati, third is in Bilaval that and sharav-vakar sampuran jati, fourth is in Bhairav ang and aurav-sampuran jati, fifth is in Purvi that and aurav-sharav jati, sixth is in Bhairav that and vakar-sampuran jati, seventh is in Bhairav that ​​and sharav-sampuran jati. The contemporary Rag Gauri from ‘Bhairav that’ had also been accepted by the fourteenth-century author poet Lochan. S. Gian Singh Abbottabad and Dr. Kanwaljit Singh have only mentioned the Rag Gauri of Bhairav ​​ang. Rag Nirnayak Committee also accepted the Rag Gauri of Bhairav ang, whose description is as follows:

Description of Rag Gauri
That: Bhairav.
Svar (notes): Re, Dha (komal - flat), the rest of the notes are shudh (natural).
Varjit Svar (forbidden notes): Ga and Dha in aroh (ascending scale).
Jati (class): aurav-sampuran.
Vadi (prominent note): Re.
Samvadi (sub-prominent note): Pa.
Aroh (ascending scale): Sa Re (komal - flat), Ga Re (komal - flat), Ma Pa, Ni Sa (tar saptak - upper octave).
Avroh (descending scale): Sa (tar saptak - upper octave) Ni Dha (komal - flat) Ma Pa, Dha (komal - flat) Pa Ma Ga, Re (komal - flat) Ga Re (komal - flat), Sa Ni (mandar saptak - lower octave) Sa.
Mukh Ang/Pakar (main part): Ma Dha (komal - flat) Pa, Dha (komal - flat) Ma Pa Ma Ga Re (komal - flat), Ga Re (komal - flat) Sa Ni (mandar saptak - lower octave), Sa.

Singing Time
The first quarter of the night.

Sabad 6
Rag Ramkali
Of the thirty-one principal rags in the Guru Granth Sahib, Rag Ramkali (a musical mode) has been designated the eighteenth place in the sequence. Under this rag, the Bani of six Gurus, four Bhagats, and three Gursikhs (a Sikh who follows the Guru’s way) is recorded from pages 876 to 974 of the Guru Granth Sahib. It includes one hundred sixty-six Sabads by Guru Nanak Sahib, seven by Guru Angad Sahib, ninety-one by Guru Amardas Sahib, six by Guru Ramdas Sahib, one hundred sixty-eight by Guru Arjan Sahib, three by Guru Teghbahadar Sahib, twelve by Bhagat Kabir, four by Bhagat Namdev, and one each by Bhagat Ravidas, and Bhagat Beni. Bani ‘Sadu’ revealed by Baba Sunder and ‘Ramkali Ki Var’ by Bhai Balvand and Bhai Satta are also recorded under this rag. Compositions of ‘Sidh Gosti’ and ‘Oankar’ by Guru Nanak Sahib, and ‘Anand’ by Guru Amardas Sahib are also revealed in this rag.

Ramkali is an old and famous rag. The names Ramkriti, Ramkriya, Ramgiri, Ramkari, and Ramkeli are also found to be used for this rag. It has an important place in the rags sung in the morning. This is a rag of compassion. This rag has been specially adopted by the Nath-Yogis. The contributors to the Guru Granth Sahib, while having a dialogue with Nath-Yogis or Sidhs, have also revealed most of their compositions in this rag. ‘Sidh Gosti’ revealed by Guru Nanak Sahib under this rag, is an example of that.

In the Guru Granth Sahib, Sabad is considered to be more important than rag. Rag is the means through which all-pervasive IkOankar is to be enshrined in the heart. Referring to Rag Ramkali in the Guru Granth Sahib, Guru Amardas Sahib states that if by singing this rag, the all-pervading IkOankar dwells within, only then should one be considered to be adorned: rāmkalī rāmu mani vasiā tā baniā sīgāru. -Guru Granth Sahib 950.

In the Guru Granth Sahib, another rag named Rag Ramkali Dakhni is also recorded under Rag Ramkali. This rag is available only in Gurmat Sangit (Sikh Devotional Music); it is not found in Hindustani or Carnatic music.

Scholars have differing opinions about Rag Ramkali. In the Bharat school of thought of Hindustani Music, it is considered to be a ragini of Rag Hindol, and in the Hanuman school of thought, it has been considered to be a ragini of Srirag. Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha has considered it to be an aurav-sampuran ragini of Bhairav that.

Bhai Avtar Singh and Bhai Gurcharn Singh have mentioned three different forms of Rag Ramkali. First is aurav-sampuran, in which Ni komal (flat) and Ma shudh (natural) are used. In the second one, both Ni are used. In the third one, both Ma, and both Ni are used. Pa is vadi (prominent note) and Sa is samvadi (sub-prominent note). The third form is more prevalent. S. Gian Singh Abbottabad, Dr. Gurnam Singh, and Rag Nirnayak Committee have described this rag as follows:

Description of Rag Ramkali
That: Bhairav.
Svar (notes): Re and Dha komal (flat), both Ma, both Ni, rest all are shudh (natural).
Varjit Svar (forbidden notes): Re (in aroh - ascending scale).
Jati (class): sharav-sampuran (some scholars believe it to be sampuran-sampuran).
Vadi (prominent note): Pa.
Samvadi (sub-prominent note): Re.
Aroh (ascending scale): Sa, Ga Ma Pa, Dha (komal - flat) Ni Sa (tar saptak - upper octave).
Avroh (descending scale): Sa (tar saptak - upper octave) Ni Dha (komal - flat), Pa, Ma (tivar - sharp) Pa Dha (komal - flat) Ni (komal - flat) Dha (komal - flat) Pa, Ga Ma Re (komal - flat), Sa.
Mukh Ang/Pakar (main part): Dha (komal - flat) Pa, Ma (tivar - sharp) Pa Dha (komal - flat) Ni (komal - flat) Dha (komal - flat) Pa, Ga Ma Re (komal - flat) Sa.

Singing Time
The first quarter of the day.

Sabad 7
Rag Gujari
Of the thirty-one rags in the Guru Granth Sahib, Rag Gujari (a musical mode) has been designated fifth place in the sequence. Under this rag, the Bani of four Gurus and five Bhagats is recorded from pages 489 to 526 of the Guru Granth Sahib. It includes seven Sabads revealed by Guru Nanak Sahib, nine by Guru Amardas Sahib, eight by Guru Ramdas Sahib, and thirty-five by Guru Arjan Sahib. Among the Bhagats, there are two Sabads uttered each by Bhagat Kabir, Bhagat Namdev, and Bhagat Trilochan, and one Sabad each by Bhagat Ravidas and Bhagat Jaidev.

The age-old famous Rag Gujari is considered special and suitable for singing compositions of devotional sentiments. Infused with karuna ras (the aesthetics of compassion), musicians have considered the nature of this rag to be of karuna (compassion).

Some of the earliest and ancient musicology texts describe this rag. However, scholars have differing views regarding its origin. According to some, this rag originated in Gujarat, which is why it was named Gujari. According to others, this rag was composed by Mrig Naini, the Gujari queen of Maharaja Man Singh Tomar of Gwalior. However, due to the lack of any concrete evidence, scholars consider these views to be mere speculations.

According to the Guru Granth Vishvakosh, “Its original source is considered to be the folk songs of the Gujjar caste. Members of the Gujjar caste have been specifically residing in Panjab and its adjoining territories. That is why this rag has become prevalent in this area. This rag is sung in the morning in all seasons.” In the Guru Granth Sahib, apart from the titles of Rag Gujari, the mention of the term ‘Gujari’ in this line also seems to indicate the same: gūjarī jāti gavāri jā sahu pāe āpaṇā. -Guru Granth Sahib 516.

Nine forms of Gujari are available in ancient musical texts: Maharashtra Gujari, Dakhan Gujari, Dravidian Gujari, Uttara Gujari, Saurashtra Gujari, Mangal Gujari, Ramkali Gujari, Bahula Gujari, and Syam Gujari. However, in the Guru Granth Sahib, only Rag Gujari is mentioned, though none of its other forms are. In Ragmala, Rag Gujari is considered to be a ragini of Rag Dipak. It is described as:
kāmodī aü gūjarī saṅgi dīpak ke thāpi.1. -Guru Granth Sahib 1430.

Pandit Lochan and Hirdai Narayan Dev considered Rag Gujari to be born from Gauri that. But the form of Rag Gujari prevalent nowadays is considered to be a form of Tori that and is called Gujari Tori. Rag Gujari is formed from the varjit (forbidden) note Pa in Rag Tori. The jati (class) of this rag becomes sharav-sharav, which is the main difference between Tori and Gujari.

Gujari is an utrang pradhan rag. It is mostly played between the middle and the upper octaves. Otherwise, this rag is sung in all three octaves.

The form of Rag Gujari, which is considered authentic by almost all the scholars of Gurmat Sangit (Sikh Devotional Music), and is accepted by the Rag Nirnayak Committee, is as follows:

Description of Rag Gujari
That: Tori.
Svar (notes): Re, Ga, and Dha are komal (flat), Ma is tivar (sharp), and the rest of the notes are shudh (natural).
Varjit Svar (forbidden notes): Pa.
Jati (class): sharav-sharav.
Vadi (prominent note): Dha.
Samvadi (sub-prominent note): Re.
Aroh (ascending scale): Sa Re (komal - flat), Ga (komal - flat) Ma (tivar - sharp) Dha (komal - flat), Ni, Sa (tar saptak - upper octave).
Avroh (descending scale): Sa (tar saptak - upper octave) Ni Dha (komal - flat), Ma (tivar - sharp) Ga (komal - flat) Re (komal - flat), Ga (komal - flat) Re (komal - flat) Sa.
Mukh Ang/Pakar (main part): Dha (komal - flat), Ma (tivar - sharp) Dha (komal - flat), Ni Dha (komal - flat), Ma (tivar - sharp) Dha (komal - flat) Ma (tivar - sharp) Ga (komal - flat) Re (komal - flat), Re (komal - flat) Ga (komal - flat) Re (komal - flat) Sa.

Singing Time
The second quarter of the day.