Explanation for 'SaDja'

[Horst Lasic]

S Krishna wrote:
> As far as I can tell,"ShaDja-first note" here is the prevalent way in
> which music is taught now( and possibly then), but what is this "fourth
> note" thing? In this case, I think "panCama" would be the base
> note...i.e. panCama-1,dhaivata-2,niShAda-3,ShaDja-4...was there a
> time/reason when panCama was the base note? I know that there are rAgas
> in Carnatic music where all the notes are between the mandara sthAyi
> panCamam and the madhya sthAyi panCamam- "navarOj" is a good example of
> this, I think- this is atleast the impression I got after listening to
> deekshitars "hastivadanAya" and a rendering of bhadrACala rAmadas's "nee
> samkalpamu eTuvaNtidO ghana", but then is navarOj an ancient rAga? I
> think it is of more recent origin....So, can anybody please tell me as
> to what is being refered to when he says "SaDja is the fourth note"?

In *A Descriptive Catalogue of the Sanskrit Manuscripts of the Government
Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras. By the Late M. Seshagiri Sastri. Vol.
I, Vedic Literature, First Part. Madras 1901.* on page 76, there is explained
that there are seven notes in the chanting of the sAmaveda and that these
seven notes correspond to the notes of the gamut of Hindu music in the
following way:

prathama ..... madhyama
dvitIya........gAndhAra
tRtIya.........RSabha
caturtha.......SaDja
pancama........dhaivata
SaSTa..........niSAda
saptama........pancama

Then, there are quoted two verses of the nAradazikSA:

yaH sAmagAnAM prathamaH veNor madhyamaþ smRtaH
yo *sau dvitIyo gAndhAraH tRtIyas tv RSabhaH smRtaH
caturthaH SaDja ity AhuH pancamo dhaivato bhavet
SaSTo niSAdo vijñeyaþ saptamaþ pancamaH smRtaH.

I hope, this is of any help
Horst Lasic