Learned today that Dhrupad ... comes from dhruv + pad ... a pad sung with dhruv or rest (very slowly) from the video below. Ustad Nasseruddin Saami seems very well read on history and music and worth learning from. I have heard him once before and was superbly impressed by his singing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF__Jlrnv90).
A Dhrupad has at least four stanzas, called Sthayi (or Asthayi), Antara, Sancari and Abhoga. The Sthayi part is a melody that uses the middle octave's first tetrachord and the lower octave notes.[7] The Antara part uses the middle octave's second tetrachord and the higher octave notes.[7] The Samcari part is the development phase, which holistically builds using parts of Sthayi and Antara already played, and it uses melodic material built with all the three octave notes.[7] The Abhoga is the concluding section, that brings the listener back to the familiar starting point of Sthayi, albeit with rhythmic variations, with diminished notes like a gentle goodbye, that are ideally mathematical fractions such as dagun (half), tigun (third) or caugun (fourth).[8] Sometimes a fifth stanza called Bhoga is included. Though usually related to philosophical or Bhakti (emotional devotion to a god or goddess) themes, some Dhrupads were composed to praise kings.[6][8] The term denotes both the verse form of the poetry and the style in which it is sung.[5] It is spiritual, heroic, thoughtful, virtuous, embedding moral wisdom or solemn form of song-music combination.[6][7] Thematic matter ranges from the religious and spiritual (mostly in praise of Hindu deities) to royal panegyrics, musicology and romance.
According to Wikipedia is a Sanskrit name, derived from the words dhruva (immovable, permanent) and pada (verse), a combination that means "pillar". It could either mean that the song is moving slowly, or immovable ... or it is praising the "immovable" lord ... both seem good conjectures. But the second makes more sense, because there are some fast dhrupads as well.
More from Wikipedia on Dhrupad as of Aug 2020:
Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music, Haveli Sangeet and also related to the South Indian Carnatic tradition.[1][2] It is a Sanskrit name, derived from the words dhruva (immovable, permanent) and pada (verse), a combination that means "pillar". The roots of Dhrupad are ancient, and it is discussed in the Hindu Sanskrit text Natyashastra (~200 BCE – 200 CE).[3][4] It is also described in other ancient and medieval Sanskrit texts, such as chapter 33 of Book 10 in the Bhagavata Purana (~800–1000 CE), where the theories of music and devotional songs for Krishna are summarized.[4]A Dhrupad has at least four stanzas, called Sthayi (or Asthayi), Antara, Sancari and Abhoga. The Sthayi part is a melody that uses the middle octave's first tetrachord and the lower octave notes.[7] The Antara part uses the middle octave's second tetrachord and the higher octave notes.[7] The Samcari part is the development phase, which holistically builds using parts of Sthayi and Antara already played, and it uses melodic material built with all the three octave notes.[7] The Abhoga is the concluding section, that brings the listener back to the familiar starting point of Sthayi, albeit with rhythmic variations, with diminished notes like a gentle goodbye, that are ideally mathematical fractions such as dagun (half), tigun (third) or caugun (fourth).[8] Sometimes a fifth stanza called Bhoga is included. Though usually related to philosophical or Bhakti (emotional devotion to a god or goddess) themes, some Dhrupads were composed to praise kings.[6][8] The term denotes both the verse form of the poetry and the style in which it is sung.[5] It is spiritual, heroic, thoughtful, virtuous, embedding moral wisdom or solemn form of song-music combination.[6][7] Thematic matter ranges from the religious and spiritual (mostly in praise of Hindu deities) to royal panegyrics, musicology and romance.
Singing oneness!
 from the video below. Ustad Nasseruddi...){kind=link}
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