A Raga should not mean but just be

Generally, when I sing an aprachalit raga, people ask me what are the constituent elements (in terms of ragas or angs involved) in it because they cannot understand it.

You don’t have to understand a raga to be able to feel and experience it. It is not meant to mean anything so long as you respond to it’s form, design and flow. Great masters of yore have deliberated upon the constituent elements of aprachalit ragas, the angs involved, how much of each ang is involved, what angs are of primary and secondary importance and a thousand other aspects.

We need to open our hearts to some of these aspects and experience them, feel them and let them envelop us.

It is of no use to ask for their grammar. Grammar is for teachers. For the musician and the listeners, the sum effect of the aprachalit raga matters.

The beingness of the raga is only to be felt and experienced. If both the musician and listeners are able to do that, that forms the “meaning” or the beingness of the raga. Hence I said, a raga should not mean but Be. You let the raga happen to you, making a difference deep inside you where the true meanings are!