Now, there are four semi tones or komal svars viz. for re , ga , dha and ni ; there is one acute tone or tīvra svar viz. for ma. Added to the pure seven notes the count now becomes 12 and this again reflects the symmetry of the sun-signs. All the present day rāgas are based on the selection of 7, 6 or 5 notes out of these 12. And in an Indian classical music composition you can go up the scale in one rāga and come down the scale in another. Here it is called the āröha and the avaröha.

The twelve svars outlined above are based on a finer scale of sounds called the shrutis literally translated as ‘inner sounds’. In the first shlöka of ‘Sangītratnākar’ [40], a 13^th century exposition on music Śarangdeva says :-

brahmgranthi+jamaruta+anugatinā cittain hrtpañkaje
sūrīnām+anu+rañjakah shrutipadam yo ayam svayamrājate

 The anāhat chakrā is located in the hrdaya, the heart. anāhat means that which is unbroken. This shlöka says that the ‘life-force’ or prāna – vāyu is like a small tight knot that arises from Brahman, the Unknown. This enters the human body through the nābhi or the navel and rises undifferentiated to the inner core of the heart, the citta. This is the pranava ( p`Nava ) [41] or the collection of shrutis. Interestingly, shruti has two meanings.

1. i) In terms of music it means the smallest discernible interval of pure sound. They are 22 in number [42]. These shrutis can be played on the dhruva veenā, an instrument with 22 strings, but they are too many to sing through the kantah, the throat – also the place of the viśuddhi chakrā. The shlöka says that in the heart of adept musicians the shrutis blossom as the twelve-leafed lotus of svars or notes. These twelve notes shine through the vocal chords as thousands of rāgas, each having its own time of singing during the day or even seasons. These are based on a very elaborate system of grāms, mūrchannās that later gave birth to thāths.
2. ii) In terms of speech, shruti means mantrās, inspired within the enlightened mind of the rishīs, the ancient wise men. These shrutīs descended as direct knowledge into their heightened senses as they meditated upon the mysteries of the Universe. This is the shrutipadam of the shlöka and it is how the Vedas originated. It is almost as if Brahman, the Unknown found a way, a window down through their sahasrāra or the crown chakra, into their mana ( mana ) or consciousnesses. From here the unbroken shruti finds voice via the vocal chords and the mouth cavity in the elaborate system of phonemes, letters, words etc.

Interestingly of the 22 shrutis in the Indian music system [43] only one name röhinī is common with the names of the lunar constellations [44]. This is in the division of the musical note dhaivat. The lunar constellation röhinī which is now in Taurus was the vernal or spring equinox in 3000 B.C. This shift is due to the precession of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun and this larger circle takes 25200 years to complete. Thus every 900 years approx. the zodiac shifts by one lunar-sign. It takes 2200 years approx. to shift by one Sun-sign. The fundamental note of the musical scale is at present in shadaj but it was not always so. In 3000 B.C. the fundamental note was six shrutis earlier in dhaivat. In fact the name shadaj itself means ‘born of the sixth’ [45]. Thus every 1000 years approx. the traditional vocal music gharānās or families are to correct the fundamental by one shruti to compensate for the precession of the Earth.