The upaveda of the Sama Veda — also called Gandharvaveda (the Veda of the celestial musicians) or simply Sangita Shastra. Sangita is the integrated triple of geet (vocal), vadya (instrumental), and nritya (dance) — these three are considered inseparable in classical Indian thought. Below: the seven swaras with their devata + chakra correspondences, the 22 shrutis, the 72 melakarta and 10 thaats, the four instrument families, key texts from Bharata to Venkatamakhin, and the connection of music to mantra and meditation.
Vocal music. The primary component. In Sanskrit thought, geet is the source of all musical art — the voice (kantha) is the original instrument, and all material instruments are imitations or extensions of vocal expression. Sama Veda’s recitation is the earliest geet.
Scope — Khayal, dhrupad, dhamar, tarana, thumri, dadra, ghazal, bhajan (Hindustani) | varnam, kriti, javali, padam, tillana, ragam-tanam-pallavi (Carnatic) | bhajan, kirtan (devotional).
Instrumental music. Divided into the four classical families (catalogued below). In classical theory, vadya is subordinate to geet — the instrumentalist’s mastery is judged by how closely the instrument approaches vocal expression (gayaki anga). The veena was specifically designed for this purpose.
Scope — Solo recital, jugalbandi (duet), thematic suite, sawal-jawab (call-and-answer), accompaniment to vocal.
Dance. Bharata’s Natya Shastra distinguishes nritta (pure rhythmic dance), nritya (expressive narrative dance), and natya (full theatrical drama). All three are part of sangita in the classical sense. See also the dedicated Natya Shastra page for the 8 classical dance forms.
Scope — Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Mohiniyattam, Odissi, Sattriya — and folk forms in every Indian region.
The saptaka (“set of seven”) is the Indian octave: Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni — and back to Sa on the next octave. Each swara has a sutra-defined source (a body-part that produces it, or an animal cry it resembles), a devata, and a chakra correspondence used in meditative listening (svara-sadhana).
Source — “Born from six” (shad-ja) — six body-parts (nose, throat, palate, chest, tongue, teeth) collaborate to produce it. The base note from which all others derive their relative pitch.
Devata — Agni — the fire-deva
Chakra — Muladhara — root chakra (red, prithvi element)
Source — “Bull” — said to resemble the lowing of a bull (or the second note of cuckoo song).
Devata — Brahma — the creator
Chakra — Svadhishthana — sacral chakra (orange, ap element)
Source — “That which is brought by the throat-and-the-Gandhara region” — said to resemble the bleating of a goat.
Devata — Sarasvati — goddess of speech + music
Chakra — Manipura — solar plexus chakra (yellow, tejas element)
Source — “The middle one” — the central note of the saptaka. Said to resemble the cry of the crane (krauncha).
Devata — Mahadeva — Shiva
Chakra — Anahata — heart chakra (green, vayu element)
Source — “The fifth one” — produced when air strikes five places (nasal, throat, chest, palate, tongue). Said to resemble the kuhu of the cuckoo.
Devata — Vishnu — the sustainer
Chakra — Vishuddha — throat chakra (blue, akasha element)
Source — “The wealthy / fortunate one” — said to resemble the neighing of a horse.
Devata — Ganapati
Chakra — Ajna — third-eye chakra (indigo)
Source — “That which sits in (the upper region)” — said to resemble the trumpeting of an elephant.
Devata — Surya — the sun
Chakra — Sahasrara — crown chakra (white / multi-coloured)
Within one saptaka (octave), Bharata’s Natya Shastra divides the pitch-space into 22 shrutis — the smallest perceptible pitch-intervals. Each of the seven swaras occupies a specific number of shrutis: Sa=4, Re=3, Ga=2, Ma=4, Pa=4, Dha=3, Ni=2. Total = 22.
Different ragas locate their swaras on slightly different shrutis. This is why two ragas that look identical on paper (same Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni) can sound completely different in skilled performance — the master is hitting different shrutis. The shruti system is what distinguishes Indian classical music from the equal-tempered Western tradition; it preserves natural just-intonation intervals.
The 22 shruti names (Bharata, NS 28.21-22): Tivra, Kumudvati, Manda, Chhandovati, Dayavati, Ranjini, Raktika, Raudri, Krodhi, Vajrika, Prasarini, Priti, Marjani, Kshiti, Rakta, Sandipini, Alapini, Madanti, Rohini, Ramya, Ugra, Kshobini.
Bharata Muni · ~200 BCE - 200 CE
The foundational text of all Indian performing arts. 36 adhyayas, ~6000 sutras. Adhyayas 28-33 are dedicated to music: theory of swara, grama, murchana, tana, jati, alankara; vocal and instrumental categories; rhythm (laya, tala); aesthetic theory (rasa) as it applies to music.
Dattila · ~3rd c CE
A compact musical treatise of 244 verses. Possibly the earliest standalone musical text (separate from Natya Shastra). Defines the seven swaras, the two gramas (Shadja-grama and Madhyama-grama), and the murchana modes.
Matanga Muni · ~5th-8th c CE
The text that introduces the term “raga” for the first time. Bridges the older marga (universal) music of Bharata with the deshi (regional) music of the post-Gupta period. Matanga lists 30+ ragas and their characteristics.
Sharngadeva · 13th c CE (Devagiri court of Yadava king Singhana)
The most comprehensive medieval musical encyclopedia. 7 adhyayas: svara-gata (svaras), raga-vivekadhyaya (ragas), prakirnaka (miscellaneous), prabandha (compositions), tala (rhythm), vadya (instruments), nartana (dance). Covers ~264 ragas. The bridge text between marga, deshi, and the emerging Hindustani-Carnatic split.
Subhankara · 15th c CE
A medieval Hindustani-leaning treatise. Important for documenting the post-Sharngadeva development of raga theory and the influence of the Sufi musical tradition on Indian classical music.
Venkatamakhin · 17th c CE (Tanjore court)
Foundational text of modern Carnatic music. Venkatamakhin systematised the 72 melakarta — the parent raga grid that organises every Carnatic raga by its scalar combinations of komal (lowered) and shuddha (natural) swaras. Modern Carnatic teaching still uses Venkatamakhin’s mela framework.
Somanatha · 17th c CE
Carnatic-tradition treatise contemporaneous with Venkatamakhin. Treats raga theory, tala, and the relationship between music and the rasas in detail.
Ahobala · 17th c CE
Hindustani-tradition treatise. Important for documenting the development of khayal and the consolidation of the gharana system in early Mughal-era classical music.
Indian classical music split into two major systems after the 13th century — Hindustani in the north (influenced by Persian + Sufi traditions through the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal courts) and Carnatic in the south (developing through the Vijayanagara and Tanjore courts under purely indigenous lineages). Both systems share the same swara theory; they organise their ragas differently.
Venkatamakhin’s 17th-c framework organises every Carnatic raga as a derivative of one of 72 “parent” (mela) scales. Each mela is a 7-note ascending and descending scale (sampurna) using specific combinations of the 12 swaras.
Organising principle — Two chakras of 6 melas each, 6 categories per chakra (Indu, Netra, Agni, Veda, Bana, Rutu, Rishi, Vasu, Brahma, Disi, Rudra, Aditya).
Example — Mayamalavagaula (mela 15) — the first mela taught to Carnatic beginners. Sankarabharanam (mela 29) — equivalent to the Western major scale.
V. N. Bhatkhande’s early-20th-c classification organises Hindustani ragas under 10 parent “thaats”: Bilawal, Kafi, Khamaj, Bhairav, Asavari, Marwa, Kalyan, Poorvi, Bhairavi, Todi.
Organising principle — Each thaat is a 7-swara scale; every raga is classified by which thaat’s scale-pattern it most resembles.
Example — Yaman (Kalyan thaat) — the evening raga taught first to most Hindustani beginners. Bhairavi (Bhairavi thaat) — the typical closing raga of a concert.
Each raga is traditionally associated with specific times of day, seasons, and emotional rasas. Performing a raga at its proper time (samaya) is considered to enhance its rasa-evocation.
Organising principle — Time-of-day (prahar) + season (ritu) + dominant rasa.
Example — Bhairav — early morning, vira-rasa. Yaman — evening, shringara-rasa. Malhar — monsoon, shringara-rasa. Bhairavi — early morning closing or evening final piece, karuna-rasa.
Bharata classifies all instruments into four families by the physical principle that produces sound (Natya Shastra 28.1). This four-fold classification is the world’s earliest systematic organology — predating the Sachs-Hornbostel classification (1914 CE) by ~1700 years.
Principle — Sound produced by the vibration of stretched strings. Either plucked (vitata), bowed (avanaddha-tata in some classifications), or struck.
Major instruments
Principle — Sound produced by the vibration of stretched skin (charma) over a resonating chamber. The rhythmic foundation of all music.
Major instruments
Principle — Sound produced by the vibration of an air column inside a hollow tube. Played either by direct blowing or via a reed.
Major instruments
Principle — Sound produced by the vibration of the solid body of the instrument itself, without strings, skin, or air-column. The oldest class — every clap and stamp belongs here.
Major instruments
Classical Indian music begins from the doctrine that the universe is nada(vibration). The opening of the Sangita Ratnakara: “nada-tanum anisham shankaram” — Shiva whose body is sound. Music is therefore upasana (worship) and the singer’s sustained note is a meditation on the cosmic Anahata-nada.
Each chakra has its bija mantra (Lam, Vam, Ram, Yam, Ham, Aum). In the table above, each swara is also linked to a chakra. Singing the saptaka mindfully — from Sa upward — is a way of activating the chakras from muladhara to sahasrara.
The Sama Veda is the original musical text. Rig Vedic verses are set to specific gana (chant melodies) using a basic 5-note scale. The seven swaras of classical Indian music descend directly from Sama-gana. This is why Gandharvaveda is the upaveda of Sama Veda specifically.
Every raga is designed to evoke a specific rasa (aesthetic emotion). Bhairav evokes vira, Yaman evokes shringara, Malhar evokes the joy of monsoon, Bhairavi evokes karuna. The performer’s success is measured not by virtuosity alone but by rasa-utpatti (the actual evocation of the rasa in the listener).
Hindustani music is organised by gharana (lineage): Gwalior, Agra, Jaipur-Atrauli, Kirana, Patiala, Banaras, Mewati. Carnatic music is organised by parampara (teacher-line): the Tyagaraja shishya-parampara, the Muthuswamy Dikshitar line, and the Syama Sastri line are the three main Carnatic streams.
Tyagaraja (1767-1847), Muthuswamy Dikshitar (1775-1835), and Syama Sastri (1762-1827) — born within a few years of each other in Tiruvarur (Tanjore district). Together they composed thousands of kritis that form the core Carnatic repertoire today. Their compositions cover ~250 ragas.
Tansen (16th c, Akbar’s court). Bhimsen Joshi (Kirana gharana). Kishori Amonkar (Jaipur-Atrauli). Bismillah Khan (shehnai). Ravi Shankar (sitar). Allah Rakha + Zakir Hussain (tabla). Hari Prasad Chaurasia (bansuri). Each is a living link to the unbroken parampara.
The Sangeet Natak Akademi (founded 1952) is the national-level body for music and the performing arts. The ITC Sangeet Research Academy (Kolkata) preserves the gurukula-style training of Hindustani music. The Music Academy (Chennai) plays a similar role for Carnatic.