Karhale

Rag Gauri
Of the thirty-one principal rags in the Guru Granth Sahib, Rag Gauri, a musical mode, is designated the third place in the sequence. The Bani of five Gurus and three Bhagats under this rag is recorded from pages 151 to 346 of the Guru Granth Sahib. This 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 Ji, one by Bhagat Namdev Ji, and five by Bhagat Ravidas Ji.

Gauri is a rag of serious nature. Thus, the Guru has used it 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. Twenty-two forms of this rag are prevalent and are considered to have distinct and independent structures. These forms always contain some element of the principal rag (Gauri), which is 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 please 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 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 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, annd the 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 only mentioned the Rag Gauri of Bhairav ​​ang. Rag Nirnayak Committee also accepted the Rag Gauri of Bhairav ang, which 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.