Teri gati ati agaadh

Lyrics, meaning and notation.

About this composition

Field	Details
Raga	Darbari Kanada
Form	Dhrupad, four sections
Tala	Ektal, twelve beats
Laya	Madhya

This composition is in Ektal. Chautal and Ektal both have twelve beats, but their divisions and thekas are different.

Complete lyrics, transliteration and meanings

Section	Original script	Transliteration	Meaning
Sthayi	तेरी गति अति अगाध	Teri gati ati agaadh	Your nature and ways are beyond fathoming.
Sthayi	बरनि न जात मोसो	Barani na jaat moso	I cannot describe them.
Sthayi	निरंजन निराकार	Niranjan niraakaar	Unstained, without form.
Sthayi	श्री नारायण	Shri Naaraayan	Revered Narayana.
Antara	सूर्य तू ही तू ही चन्द्र	Surya tu hi tu hi chandra	You are the sun; you are the moon.
Antara	पवन तू ही तू ही गगन	Pavan tu hi tu hi gagan	You are the wind; you are the sky.
Antara	तू ही सकल धरा हो	Tu hi sakal dharaa ho	You are the whole earth.
Antara	श्री नारायण	Shri Naaraayan	Revered Narayana.
Sanchari	ब्रह्मा तू ही तू ही शिवम्	Brahmaa tu hi tu hi shivam	You are Brahma; you are Shiva.
Sanchari	आगम तू ही तू ही निगम	Aagam tu hi tu hi nigam	You are the Agama; you are the Nigama—the sacred teachings invoked here.
Sanchari	तू ही स्वर्ग तू पाताल	Tu hi svarg tu paataal	You are heaven; you are the netherworld.
Sanchari	श्री नारायण	Shri Naaraayan	Revered Narayana.
Abhog	तानसेन के प्रभु	Taansen ke prabhu	Lord of Tansen,
Abhog	तारबे को तू ही एक	Taarabe ko tu hi ek	You alone can carry one across to deliverance.
Abhog	सुमिर सुमिर भज ले मन	Sumir sumir bhaj le man	Remember again and again; worship, O mind.
Abhog	श्री नारायण	Shri Naaraayan	Revered Narayana.

Word and interpretation notes

Gati here concerns the divine's ways or nature, not musical speed. Agaadh means unfathomable. Barani na jaat moso is an older idiom for inability to describe. Niranjan and niraakaar invoke freedom from stain and from form. Narayana is a divine name; it is not translated into a generic human addressee.

Agama and Nigama name sacred teachings. Paataal is the netherworld. Taarabe means carrying across or deliverance.

Complete documentary score

At antara 4 and sanchari 4, beats 3 and 6 contain same-pitch grace notes: (M)M and (S↑)S↑. Rearticulate the pitch within its beat; do not raise it chromatically. Parentheses mark the grace, whose vocal execution should be learned by listening.

Ektal divides 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 2: claps at 1, 5, 9 and 11; waves at 3 and 7. Every row starts at sam. The syllable row is aligned text, not an extra melodic cycle.

How to read this notation

Sa is the chosen reference pitch. Note signs used in this score:

R = shuddha Re; S = Sa; n = komal Ni; d = komal Dha; M = shuddha Ma; P = Pa; g = komal Ga.

↑ marks the upper octave and ↓ the lower octave; an unmarked note is in the middle octave.

Each separate beat position is one matra. Joined notes fall within that beat. — continues the previous sound; · is an unsung position. Padding before an entry or after a close does not add another cycle.

Parentheses mark a grace leading into the next principal note, without adding a beat.

¦ marks a phrase separation, not an octave change or extra beat.

A short hyphen between notes indicates rearticulation/gamak; it is distinct from the long sustain mark —.

Within-beat durations are exact only where specified. Learn the execution of glides, graces and inflection by listening.

Within a grouped column, spaces separate beats; letters joined without spaces share a beat. The column heading states the beat numbers.

Section / layer	1–2 · sam	3–4 · wave	5–6 · clap	7–8 · wave	9–10 · clap	11–12 · clap
Sthayi 1	`R —`	`R —`	`S S`	`n↓ S`	`R d`	`— n↓`
Syllables	`te —`	`ri —`	`ga ti`	`a ti`	`a gaa`	`— dha`
Sthayi 2	`R —`	`R —`	`S S`	`n↓ S`	`S S`	`— S`
Syllables	`te —`	`ri —`	`ga ti`	`a ti`	`a gaa`	`— dha`
Sthayi 3	`M↓ M↓`	`P↓ —`	`d↓¦ n↓`	`S n↓`	`S —`	`S —`
Syllables	`ba ra`	`ni —`	`na jaa`	`aa ta`	`mo —`	`so —`
Sthayi 4	`n↓ S`	`— R`	`— g¦`	`·M M`	`PM P`	`— P`
Syllables	`ni ran`	`— ja`	`— na`	`·ni raa`	`a-a kaa`	`— ra,`
Sthayi 5	`M —`	`M-M Pn`	`S↑ S↑S↑`	`g g`	`M R`	`n↓ S`
Syllables	`shri —`	`i-i naa-a`	`aa a-aa`	`raa aa`	`aa ya`	`a na`
Antara 1	`M —`	`P d`	`— n¦`	`nn S↑`	`n S↑`	`— S↑`
Syllables	`su —`	`rya tu`	`— hi`	`tu-u u`	`hi chan`	`n dra`
Antara 2	`n S↑`	`R↑ R↑`	`— R↑¦`	`S↑R↑ g↑M↑`	`R↑S↑ R↑`	`R↑ S↑`
Syllables	`pa va`	`na tu`	`— hi`	`tu-u u-u`	`hi-i ga`	`ga na`
Antara 3	`M —`	`M P`	`P P`	`M Pn`	`S↑ —`	`S↑ —`
Syllables	`tu —`	`hi sa`	`ka la`	`dha ra-a`	`aa —`	`ho —`
Antara 4	`M —`	`(M)M Pn`	`S↑ (S↑)S↑`	`g g`	`M R`	`n↓ S`
Syllables	`shri —`	`i-i naa-a`	`aa aa-aa`	`raa aa`	`aa ya`	`a na`
Sanchari 1	`S —`	`S d`	`— d`	`nS↑ nn`	`M P`	`P P`
Syllables	`bram —`	`ha tu`	`— hi`	`tu-u u-u`	`hi shi`	`va ma`
Sanchari 2	`M M`	`M P`	`— P¦`	`MP n`	`P g`	`g g`
Syllables	`a ga`	`ma tu`	`— hi`	`tu-u u`	`hi ni`	`ga ma`
Sanchari 3	`R↑ —`	`R↑ S↑`	`— S↑¦`	`d n`	`—M P`	`— P`
Syllables	`tu —`	`hi svar`	`— ga`	`tu u`	`—pa taa`	`— la`
Sanchari 4	`M —`	`(M)M Pn`	`S↑ (S↑)S↑`	`g g`	`M R`	`n↓ S`
Syllables	`shri —`	`i-i naa-a`	`aa aa-aa`	`raa aa`	`aa ya`	`a na`
Abhog 1	`S —`	`S S↑`	`— S↑`	`S↑ —n`	`d nS↑`	`nS↑ —`
Syllables	`taa —`	`na se`	`— na`	`ke —e`	`e e-e`	`prabhu —`
Abhog 2	`R —`	`R R`	`R↑ R↑`	`R↑ —`	`— —S↑`	`R↑ n`
Syllables	`taa —`	`na se`	`e na`	`ke —`	`— —pra`	`bhu u`
Abhog 3	`n —`	`S↑ S↑`	`— S↑`	`nS↑ R↑`	`S↑ d`	`n P`
Syllables	`taa —`	`ra be`	`— ko`	`tu-u u`	`hi e`	`e ka`
Abhog 4	`S↑ S↑`	`d n`	`P g¦`	`g M`	`R —`	`S S`
Syllables	`su mi`	`ra su`	`mi ra`	`bha ja`	`le —`	`ma na`
Abhog 5	`S —`	`SS S↑`	`— S↑S↑`	`g g`	`M R`	`n↓ S`
Syllables	`shri —`	`i-i naa`	`— a-aa`	`raa aa`	`aa ya`	`a na`

Sam, section order and returns

There is no separate pickup. The first sung syllables te, su, bram and taa fall on sam in the first rows of their respective sections. The written sequence contains five sthayi cycles, four antara cycles, four sanchari cycles and five abhog cycles: 216 beat positions in total. Do not omit the second sthayi opening or the second Tansen line in the abhog; their melodies differ.

Sing all eighteen rows in order. The final abhog Sa occupies beat 12; the opening sthayi Re can return on the next sam.

Learning sequence

Speak the sixteen poetic lines and identify the four-section structure before singing.
Count Ektal without replacing it with the Chautal theka. Learn the two sthayi opening variants separately.
Establish the lower-register third sthayi row, then the higher antara register.
Read sanchari and abhog as composed sections in their own right, not optional improvised extensions.
Compare the same-pitch grace figures in the antara and sanchari refrains with the plainly repeated notes in the sthayi. Keep their pitch unchanged and fit the grace inside the beat.
Traverse the full sequence and return to the refrain on sam with a teacher.