About Vedanta
Vedanta is a studio album of Dhrupad vocal music performed by Wasifuddin Dagar and Ustad Mohi Baha’uddin Dagar. The brothers represent the 19th generation of the Dagar family, a lineage associated with the Dagarbani style of Dhrupad. The album was released in 2007 under the label Sense World Music in CD format.
The recording focuses exclusively on Rag Malkauns, a pentatonic raga traditionally performed during late night or early morning. The album comprises five tracks that document a structured Dhrupad performance. The sequence begins with Alap, an unmetered improvisational section that establishes the raga’s tonal framework. This transitions into Jor, a rhythmic exploration split across two tracks, where the artists introduce subtle pulse while maintaining the raga’s meditative character.
The final two tracks present composed sections known as bandish. The first, Pujan Chuli Mahadev, invokes Lord Shiva through a slow, deliberate exposition. The second, Shankar Girija Pati, accelerates the tempo while retaining the raga’s gravitational pull. Both compositions adhere to the Chautal rhythmic cycle, a 12-beat structure typical in Dhrupad.
Wasifuddin Dagar and Ustad Mohi Baha’uddin Dagar perform without instrumental accompaniment beyond the tanpura, a drone instrument that sustains the tonal center. The recording captures the intricate microtonal inflections and extended breath control characteristic of Dagarbani Dhrupad. The album’s title, Vedanta, references the philosophical school of Hindu thought, though the liner notes do not explicitly link the performances to specific Vedantic themes.
The 2007 release marked one of the few commercially available recordings by the Dagar brothers as a duo. Sense World Music, a label specializing in traditional and fusion music from the Indian subcontinent, distributed the album internationally. No live performance or alternate versions of this recording have been documented. Additional details about the recording location, session musicians, or production personnel remain unverified in available sources.