Available Online at http://www.recentscientific.

com
International Journal of
CODEN: IJRSFP (USA)
Recent Scientific
International Journal of Recent Scientific Research Research
Vol. 10, Issue, 10(B), pp. 35266-35269, October, 2019
ISSN: 0976-3031 DOI: 10.24327/IJRSR
Research Article
THERAPEUTIC ASPECTS AND SCIENCE BEHIND RAGA CHIKITSA
Shambhavi Das
Music Therapist, Music Guru in Surdemy Music School, & Hindustani Classical Vocalist
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24327/ijrsr.2019.1010.4068

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Article History: Raga chikitsa is one of the ancient manuscripts which deals with the therapeutic effects of the ragas.
th Before some decades, the ancient Indian classical music maestros affirmed that, ragas influence
Received 4 July, 2019 emotions of human being by changing the resonance of the human body. By survey, it has been
Received in revised form 25th observed that no schemes have been demonstrate in this field. Therefore, in the light of discussion,
August, 2019 this paper is a single step which aims to discover the science behind the phonetics of the raga and its
Accepted 18th September, 2019 effects on the nerve system. The paper further discusses about the rationality and science behind the
Published online 28th October, 2019 ancient ways of alternative medicine, i.e. raga therapy, which is the need of the day since current
advances in technology and rising workload on human beings is accompanied by stress. This paper
Key Words: demonstrates several detailed researches on influence of Indian classical ragas structure on human
Indian music therapy, Raga healing, raga, body while person is listening and experiencing emotions in it by capturing EEG signals.
emotions, EEG, brain signals.

Copyright © Shambhavi Das, 2019, this is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.

INTRODUCTION Raga and Related Healing Aspects

Locke ones said, “A sound mind in the sound body is short Raga and Emotion- In Indian classical music, raga is
but a full description of a happy state in the world.” performed at a set time of the day or season with the intention
of evoking specific moods within the listener and self like
Music is the gift of God to mankind. It is a drug without side theatre and paintings, which are closely related medium of
effects. Music has frequently been used as a therapeutic agent communication. The English word ‘emotion’ is derived from
from the ancient times. Art of music is the foremost and the French word emouvoir, which means ‘move’. Indian music
important art among the 64 ‘Lalit Kalas’. From the very is based on the melodic mode (raga) structures within the
beginning, musical art served as a treasure to people’s culture, rhythmic cycles, hence, these two forms of music may demand
traditions, civilizations, humanism and other aspects of life. It qualitatively different cognitive engagements. Each raga is
is a well-known fact that Music is a kind of yoga system conventionally assigned to a corresponding rasa/emotion is
through the medium of sonorous sound, which acts upon the known consistently evoke a certain emotion. The artist exploits
human organism and awakens and develops their proper his/her creativity and elaborates melodic framework to bring
functions to extent of self-realization. This is the ultimate goal out the rasa or emotion.Emotions are not just what are
of Hindu Philosophy and religion. Melody is the key-note of displayed. In psychology, an explicit separation is made
Indian Music. The 'Raga' is the basis of melody. Various between the physiological arousal, the behavioral expression
‘Ragas’ have been found to be very effective in curing many (affect) & the conscious experience of an emotion (feeling).1
diseases.
Numerous brain systems responsible responses and there are
Music therapy is well established in the west as a profession, specific systems for different basic emotions. The part of the
with notable success, but here the music is used only to treat brain which is most commonly associated with emotions is
the handicapped people, children with autism, learning or amygdala. There are three parts of the pre-frontal cortex that
communication difficulties or emotional and behavioral issues are connected to amygdala that is thought to be responsible for
such as aggression in kids, the goal generally being the emotions. These parts of the brain are: the dorsolateral, the
improved study behavior, social acceptance and improved medial, and the orbitofrontal cortex. These parts are thought to
social communication. regulate decision making, and negative emotions.2

*Corresponding author: Shambhavi Das

Department of CSE AITS Rajampet
 International Journal of Recent Scientific Research Vol. 10, Issue, 10(B), pp. 35266-35269, October, 2019

Raga and time-theory- Much importance is attached in Indian developed to 3 tones (one main tone and two accents viz., one
Classical Music to the connection between musical modes or higher (uddatta) and one lower (anudatta), and svarita. This
ragas and the periods of the day. Westerners recognize that was done to accentuate the words, since the text was of primary
certain musical works can represent morning, midday or night, importance. The Yajur Veda, which mainly consists of
but they have never tried to define the intervals by which they sacrificial formulas, mentions the "veena" as an
are characterized, and they find it quite natural to play them at accompaniment to vocal recitations during the sacrifices. By
any hour. But Indian musicologists do not approve of it: ragas this time, the chants had evolved to two main notes with two
of the night should be played at night, and those of dawn at accents, which formed the first concept of the tetra chord (4
dawn. Then only we can fully understand and enjoy them note chord). Three more notes were added to the original tetra
without effort, because we ourselves change according to the chord, resulting in the first full scale of seven notes. These
hour; and the day. According to them, “Played at times other original seven notes used in reciting the Sama-Veda became
than those which they represent, ragas can, for a moment, the first ragas and, it later became known as the Kharaharapriya
change the course of Nature. Musicians playing in day time the raga of the Carnatic (South Indian) system of music5.
ragas of night, have been seen to appear gradually surrounded
A lot of people argue that music can be used as a tool for
by intense darkness.
relaxation but not therapy as it cannot mend broken bones.
Origin and background of Raga Chikitsa Even if this is true, relaxation is of course, the source and solve
of all the diseases and this is proved scientifically.
“We cannot prescribe a raga like a medicine or drug” says Dr.
Suvarna Nalapat, “Music therapy is all about interrelationships, Researches, even the doctors are now recommending mental
communication and narrative medicine involving compassion wellbeing, mindfulness and positive thinking, meditation for
and love.”Raga concepts and its forms uniquely belongs to relaxation to cure any dangerous diseases. Disease, whether the
Indian musical heritage and it will continue to spread love, life-ending one, is the result of poor lifestyle, mental tension,
compassion through its existence. stress, and of course lack of relaxation. Scientifically, it has
been trending that any disease, be it cancer or hepatitis, is just
Mr. B.K.S. Iyengar’s comprehensive definition of Yoga is
the cause of some degeneration in our body which can be easily
significant in this context: “Yoga is the rhythm of the body, the
cured by proper lifestyle and mind-makeup. Every disease is
melody of the mind and the harmony of the soul, creating the
first captured in the mind before occupying the body.
symphony of life.” Similarly, there hasbeen a hoary tradition in
Therefore, they say that all the diseases are psychosomatic or
India of music as a holistic therapy for human ills, with
psychological, thus it is essential to music to step in to relax,
emphasis on the spiritual dimension. As the body’s natural
pacify and heal the mind first and then body.
rhythm is tuned to the rhythm of music and the mind is tuned to
the melody of music, harmony and peace of the soul result. General talk on why raga music is more therapeutic than
That is why Indian classical music is often referred to as “Nada other music?
Yoga3.
Music in India has great potential in this study because Indian
Exploring the Philosophical and Musicological literature of music is melodic and has somewhat different pitch perception
Ancient India various terms like Akshara, Sabda, Om, Pranava, mechanisms. Western classical music which is based on
Udgitha, Nada, Para Brahma, Nada Brahma, Dhvani, Shruti, harmonic relation between notes versus the melodic mode
Swara, Sangeeta, Raga, Raginis etc., are respectively found in (raaga) structures in the Indian Classical Music System (ICM)
Sacred Vedas, Upanishads, Tantras, Epics, Puranas, and within the rhythmic cycle music may demand qualitatively
different classical musicological texts. Hypothetically, these different cognitive engagement. The analysis of EEG data to
have been discussed or used in context of/for sound and are determine the relation between the brain state condition in the
considered likely to be the precursor of, what is known to us as presence of ICM and its absence would therefore be an
Music today.4 interesting study. How rhythm, pitch, loudness etc. interrelate
to influence our appreciation of the emotional content of music
Ms. Sonia Parikh in her book, ‘Bhartiya Sangeet
might be another important area of study. This might decipher
dwarachikitsa’ quotes that: Dr. Umesh Joshi in his book
a technique to monitor the course of activation in the time
‘Bhartiya Sangeet ka Itihaas’, states that in Copper age
domain in a three-dimensional state space, revealing patterns of
(Taamr-Yug), when the people got ill, they were treated by the
global dynamical states of the brain.6 It might also be
Dravidians through musical tunes and chants for a few days,
interesting to see whether the arousal activities remain after
instead of drugs and pills. Consequently, the patients got
removal of music stimuli.
normalized with even better health and physical systems. This
statement has also been verified in the books, ‘The Enchanting There are a few unique aspects of raga music which may be
Power of Music’ by Mr. Dowaskiremla and ‘The Health & considered more therapeutic and recommended for healing.
Music’ by John Flocks. However, there is a scarcity of rational researches in the field,
whereas, west music has been researched and has gained pretty
According to Sakuntala Narasimhan in “Invitation to Indian
much authenticity. But there are various unique elements in
Music”, p.12. - History of Indian music dates to 3rd and 2nd
raga music or Indian music which can be considered as the
millennia BC i.e. the period of Indus valley civilization,
medium of more explorations and analysis and further for
references to Indian classical music can be found in the Vedas.
healing.
Four in number: Rig-Veda, Sama-Veda, Yajur-Veda &
Atharva-Veda. The oldest, the Rig Veda, dates to about 4,000 Home-concept: Indian music is a modal music or based on One
B.C. It was recited initially in a monotone and then later base note system, having Sa as the base note. We set a specific

35267 | P a g e
Shambhavi Das., Therapeutic Aspects and Science Behind Raga Chikitsa

shruti or scale in accordance with Sa. Sa defines different five and maximum seven notes and that toobound with the
octaves, pitches, location of other 6 notes and so on. Sa has pattern and rule of ascend and descend. The repetition of these
many names: base-note, unison, tonic note, or the adhaar-swar, selected notes make the raga a unique feature. It’s like, among
Shadjam, Swarit, etc. Therefore, Sa provides home or stable, the 12 notes (7+5) in an octave, one is served a handful of
fixed platform to the music. Raga music incorporates a basis, a sound frequencies and instructed to recite for an hour. The
stable platform in which one finds refuge and stability of mind. basic set of tones and tone-relationships used in North Indian
Certain satisfaction, belongingness, relief dwells in the concept classical music from which ragas are derived are the 12-tone
of Swarit or Sa which makes the listener and musician feel that octave divisions.8 For instance, we are served with S, G, m, P,
‘we need to return home’. Each interval is a tone defined by the D, n, N, these notes omitting re while heading up; ascending
ratio of its fundamental frequency with the tonic, or ‘root’ note with shuddha N and descending with the komaln. We name it
and is termed as tonic interval. The “major” intervals are the raga Khamaj. The repetition renditions keeping in mind the
shuddhswaras or the natural notes namely, second, third, sixth, rules of ascend-descend, structure, and chalan goes like this: S,
and seventh while the “minor” intervals are the komalswaras GMP, GMRS, G M P D n D P, M G, P M G R S… n D M P D
(flat) positions of the same tones. (Tonic interval names used in M G, G P M G S G… S M, S P G M G P, n D n P D N S, S N D
NICM, frequency ratios, sizes in cents in Just intonation and N S, R S n D P D N D S… PDMP S… PDMP R n D P S and so
12-tone equal temperament (12-TET) tunings.7 on…
Psychologically, we all spend ample of time and money Revolving and traversing around a few fixed set of frequencies
building homes because returning home is an essential factor in only, abiding by the sound structure (Chalan) is a great healing
our lives. Our brain and mind is conditioned to settle on stable aspect. These structured set of notes (Swar-sanchaar) make the
place, even after it gallivants the whole day, months or years. specific characteristic tunes that provide belongingness and
We do not forget our home while traveling in fact, we miss the intimacy after a while. We familiarize and get intimate with
home after excess of travelling. Because the home provides us those structures of sounds and our body cells starts reacting for
the base, stability, space, where we sustain, rest, sleep, work, good. Especially, a competent musician and his extempore
clean, amidst of all the freedom, routine and regularity. unlimited abilities of improvisation makes one travel into the
Similarly, SA is a fundamental note which works as a home blissful world. It is known fact that specifically structured
where the musical tunes, tones or micro-tones find refuge. Why sounds, like in our ragas, stimulate the brain cells. The
do we find peace and power in chanting mantras? Because we characteristic pattern of notes in every raga depending upon the
primarily use the base note SA on AUM and the nearby semi- transition of aaroh-avroh (ascend-descend), vadi-samvadi
notes nikomal or rekomal. We majorly stick to the adhaarswar (Stressed/frequent notes), nyas-swar (sustained note), swar-
SA which mollifies the mind, and body. People subtly compose samudaye (Phrases of notes), etc. when sung or played
the mantras on the base note so that its connects us to the repeatedly, evoke a certain emotion because they vibrate at a
omnipresent while praying or meditating. certain level.
On the contrary, the European music culture which is adopted Repeatedly listening to the correct ragas produces sound
in many countries, comprises of the harmonized music, i.e., vibrations which passing through the nerves (which have the
harmonization/syncing the different chords at a time in same most connections in the body) produces contractions and
piece. Jumping from on chord to another might lack stability, relaxations in specific muscle, nerve, and chakras linked to the
and belongingness. affected part. The contraction occurs when the musical impulse
is received; the relaxation occurs between two impulses.
Indian rhythm system also enriches the ‘home-concept’
During the contraction, blood is squeezed out of the affected
through returning on the Sam (x), or the first beat of the tala.
part and during relaxation, blood from the neighboring part
Sam is the stress-point or the ‘weight-beat’ in every single
flows in. The blood flow release appropriate energy flow to the
musical piece, which is attained regularly after every longer or
affected parts which helps in the healing process.
shorter voyage of the full avartan/cycle. It can also be
characterized as ‘tension-resolution’ state as said in the west Ornamentation: Indian classical music comprises of certain
music. Tension is when we wander throughout the talavartan, unique style, mannerism of singing which is hardly found in
and resolution is returning to the sam. We find the listeners the other musical cultures. The purpose of the mannerism or
nodding their heads in bliss on the sam, which is an ‘aha’ mechanism of note-treatment (Swar-lagaav) is to enhance the
moment for them. aesthetics and prospective mood of the raga. These
ornamentations are: Kan, khatka, murki, meend, jhatka,
Spiritually, meditation is said to be more effective when we
gamak, zamzama, khanak, and so on. These elements add
return to watching our subtle breath or ‘pran’ or ‘adhaar’ even
invariably to the songs if used favorably keeping in mind its
after mind wanders hither and thither within thoughts and
nature and temperament. For instance, meend or the glide
memories. We should not repress our mind from generating
journey from one note to another is used for enhancing the
thoughts as it’s the work of the mind, but we must return to
seriousness or serenity of a raga or song therefore, it is used in
accentuate on the focal breath whenever it is recalled.
raga bhairava, Todi, Ahirbhairav,puriyadhanashri more
Gradually, frequent reminders of breath-watch make us stable,
frequently than in the playful ragas like khamajorkafi.The
tranquilized and we reach less-thoughts zone to no-thought
individualistic ornamenting styles sometimes, change the voice
zone. That’s how the transcended sages and saints attain the
or tones of the singers. Therefore, we find the numerous
advanced stages of realization.
varieties of voices in the Indian music paradigm compared to
Repetition of the same set of sound frequencies: Another
the other music world. We have Chithra singing high-pitched;
essential aspect of Indian ragas is rendering ‘a set of selected
shubhaMudgal with a soprano voice on G#; Indian music
sound frequencies’. Every raga consists of selected minimum
35268 | P a g e
 International Journal of Recent Scientific Research Vol. 10, Issue, 10(B), pp. 35266-35269, October, 2019

heritage has Asha Bhonsle on one hand and Begum Akhtar on CONCLUSION
the other with totally different tonal quality, styles and singing
mannerism. A body in vibration tends to force vibrations similar to its own
in bodies within the effective range of its waves, whether the
ICM is monophonic or quasi monophonic. Well trained artists latter body be initially at rest or already in motion. Every living
can highlight a definite rasa by altering the structures of being is in a constant state of vibration throughout its life.
musical presentations such as stressing on specific notes, Sound perception converted into impulses take the form of
accents, slurs, gamakas or taans varying in tempo etc. emotions which result in specific sensory and motor reactions.
Musicians as well as ardent connoisseurs of music would agree Sensory and motor reactions as mentioned above can only be
that every single note can convey an emotion. Many produced at will by sounds of known dimension. These sounds
experiences a ‘chill’ or ‘shiver down the spine’ when a of known dimensions are musical notes which have been
musician touches certain note or sustains of a note. The meter selected different systems of music and have been ascertained
system is again quite complex. Indian rhythm &meter system is to produce pleasant or beneficial effects in persons who
one of the most complex systems compared to other meters appreciate that particular system.
used in world music. Film music, which has been influenced by
music from all over the world, is much more popular in the Reference
current times.9 1. Z. khalili, M.H. Moradi, “Emotion detection using brain
and peripheral signals”, Biomedical Engineering
Ornamentations make the compositions and voices special and
Faculty, Amir Kabir University of Technology, Tehran,
unique. Some of the Indian musicians by default or innately,
Iran, Proceedings of the 2008IEEE.
have these ornamentations in their throat, which make them
2. www.serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node 333
more popular a singer. The khanak in their voice quality is
3. https://www.eambalam.com/samaagama/featuredarticles
developed by birth by imitating, learning, or listening to the
/fa_feb2013.pdf
Indian music since childhood.
4. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/27751/
Scientific Researches &Analysis in this Field 10/10_chapter%204.pdf
5. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/27751/
The earliest of these was conducted by Balkwill and Thompson
10/10_chapter%204.pdf
(1999) where they asked 30 Western listeners to judge the
6. Alicia A Wieczorkowska, Asoka Kumar Datta, Ranjan
expression of 12 Hindustani ragas intended to express anger,
Sengupta, NityanandaDey, Bhaswati Mukherjee (2010)
joy, peace, and sadness. They found that despite being
“On Search for Emotion in Hindustani Vocal Music”,
culturally unfamiliar, listeners were sensitive to the intended
Adv. in Music Inform. Retrieval, SCI 274: 285-304,
expression of the ragas. A similar study was conducted by
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
Chordia and Rae (2008) in which they studied emotional
7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC441514
responses to five ragas on a scale of six emotions – happy,
3/#B34
peaceful, sad, longing, tense, and romantic. While their results
8. Tonal hierarchies in the music of north India. Castellano
also suggested that ragas do consistently elicit specific
MA, Bharucha JJ, Krumhansl CLJ Exp Psychol Gen.
emotions that are associated with musical properties, they also
1984 Sep; 113(3):394-412.
indicated that the primary predictors of emotion of ragas are
9. http://blood-pressure.imedpub.com/music-and-its-effect-
pitch-class distribution, pitch-class dyad entropy, overall
on-body-brainminda-study-on-indian-perspective-by-
sensory dissonance, and note density. The multiple regression
neurophysical-approach.php?aid=7607
analysis conducted to determine the most important factors and
their total predictive value revealed that these features in
combination explained between 11% (peaceful) and 33%
(happy) of response variance. However, none of the studies
have elucidated the role of any specific tonic interval. To
summarize, while the studies described above have clearly
confirmed that distinct ragas elicit distinct emotions, they have
used as stimuli the introductory section of ragas namely, the
alaap. None of them have investigated the emotions
experienced during the gat of ragas. Consequently, there is
little information about the complex interplay of rhythmic
regularity and tempo in predicting the emotion experienced for
gat of ragas.

How to cite this article:

Shambhavi Das., 2019, Therapeutic Aspects and Science Behind Raga Chikitsa. Int J Recent Sci Res. 10(10), pp. 35266-35269.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24327/ijrsr.2019.1010.4068

*******

35269 | P a g e