A Comparative Study of Some of the Leading Music Systems of the 15th, 16th, 17th & 18th Centuries c2: Foreword

A Comparative Study of Some of the Leading Music Systems of the 15th, 16th, 17th & 18th Centuries c2

Language: English

Foreword

c2.1

These short commentaries of the Sangeet Granthas of the past ages form a very valuable contribution to the music literature of modern times. In these the author has left behind a smooth path for a student of the past history of our music through the labyrinth of the ever changing system of Rag-Raginis. Indeed, had it not been for the late learned Prof. Bhatkhande's persistent application to the study of the old literature on the subject with a definite aim at solving the diverse and therefore mysterious and baffling methods of explanation of a common topic with which it is filled perhaps the history of our music of the past centuries would have remained oblivious to us today. Ever since the time of the Sangeet Ratnakar our music had been going through a process of reformation as it were. The old system of Grama-Moorchhana-Jati was abandoned and gave place to the Raga-Ragini or the Janya-Janak (Thata-Raga) theory. In Northern India the Mahomedan rulers proved to be great patrons of music and dancing. They brought with them their own music which, as it always happens in this country, was assimilated into the then Hindu music. New melodies, new styles of interpretation, new types of songs, new Talas were introduced. Thus today we have got what we know as Hindustani music which is a beautiful monument of the fusion of Hindu and Islamic Culture.

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In the midst of this reformation a few Granthas expounding the system of music in vogue in their respective times were written. Two of these, Ahobala's Sangeet Parijat and Somnatha's Ragavibodh had already been published when Prof. Bhatkhande took up the study of the Granthas. This does not however mean that they were understood by anybody. In their anxiety to link up the ancient system of music with that current in their own days the authors of these Granthas have rendered themselves difficult to understand. E. G. Somnath explains his music scale in terms of Shrutis as the ancients did. As to what was his exact interval of the Shruti he is mum. He bases his theory on a chromatic scale which is current today in the south as Mukhari and describes his flats and sharps with reference to this scale. In the north even perhaps at Somnatha's time a diatonic scale had already been adopted as the standard scale. Ragavibodh was therefore difficult to the northerners to understand. Similarly Ahobala dutifully accepts the Shrutis and Moorchhanas of the ancients and describes them in elaborate details in the Swaradhyaya. When however he comes to the Ragadhyaya he quietly selects from the Swaradhyaya whatever had a practical bearing on the music current in his time and throws the rest of the bundle overboard.

c2.3

Even the facts that Somnatha's standard scale was like the Mukhari scale of the Karnatak system of music and that Ahobala's standard scale was like the Kaphi of the Hindustani system of music were hardly discovered before Professor Bhatkhande's commentaries on these Granthas, namely Raga-vibodha-Praveshika and Parijata-Praveshika came out. At least there is no record to prove it.

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Under such circumstances it was but natural that the literature of our music of the past should have remained unattended to so long.

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These articles deal with over a dozen Granthas and give enough information which makes it quite easy to understand them. Some portion of this book has already appeared in print in "Sangeeta" the Journal of the Morris College of Hindustani Music, Lucknow. But unfortunately the journal having ceased to appear after the fifth issue the rest of this book remained unpublished until the late Mr. Bhalchandra Sitaram Sukthankar the editor and publisher of the Kramik Pustak Malika thought of bringing the whole series out into a book form. This volume was half way through the press when unfortunately Mr. Sukthankar fell ill and died in April 1940. The printing was taken up again a few months ago. Coming, as it is, from the pen of the foremost authority on the subject, it need hardly be added that this book will prove a very interesting and enlightening study.

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S. N. Ratanjankar But how are we going to systematise it? What systems are we going to adopt? We know that our music in the past was highly systematised and that the system adopted was the best for its needs. I would even go further and say that the system adopted by some of our old Shastra writers would be found suitable even for the classification or systematisation of our own music. The putting on a different suit of clothes does not change the individual clothed, and similarly, though there may be, and are changes in the music as it is now, from what it was then, there is no such fundamental alteration in it as to make the modern music an essentially different thing. It is, therefore, necessary, in my opinion, to consider the system or systems adopted by our old Shastra-writers in order to construct a good workable system for our present music. Though the external appearance of our music has to some extent changed, yet, the frame work, to my mind, appears the same. This is apart from the pride one feels for what is one's patrimony. Then again by studying the ancient texts, we can also restore some of the Ragas, which were formerly popular, but have ceased to be in vogue and can correct the method of singing some melodies which are at present incorrectly sung. The principal changes which have taken place, are either as regards the names of the Ragas, or the notes used in them, or as to the Thatas to which they are to be assigned; or perhaps some of the ancient graces and "Gamaks" have lost their ancient forms and so forth but in the main the substratum of our music is undoubtedly the music of the past, and that being so, a study of the past music, in my opinion, is essential. All art, as we know from experience, is progressive, and the Music of today will be the music of the past in a few years more. But the study of any art is incomplete without the study of the progress which it has made, which again is of material assistance in the study of the art as it exists. It is rightly observed that in order that a body of artists who represent any particular art should really be proficient in it, they must be well-versed in the fundamental principles of it. In the present moment, unfortunately, most of our professional artists are not learned in the science of music and the theorists are not well-versed in the art. I am only speaking of my part of the country. This state, however, is happily passing away, and the Indian nation is now taking a great interest in the subject. It is to be expected that at no distant future we shall have people who combine in themselves both the art and the science of Music and then the progress we make will be both rapid and stable.

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Having so far tried to show the importance of the study of the ancient sanskrit books, I shall now come to the second question, namely, the subject matter of the study. Before taking up the consideration of this question, I may here point out that the Sanskrit works I have selected for consideration almost all belong to the period when the country was under the influence of the Mohammedan rulers The Granthas belong, as will appear, from the title of this series, to the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th centuries

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The number of treatises on Indian Music which are still extant will go over a hundred, and these lie scattered all over the country Intending students will find a list of the works extant in the famous book on Indian Music by Captain Day, the reports of the Poona Gayan Samaj, and the catalogue of the Granthas of the Bikaner library by the late Rajendralal Mitra I have already mentioned in the first part of Hindustani Sangeeta Paddhati at pages 192-195, the names of the music works which I came across during my travels The libraries of Bikaner, Mysore and Trivandrum contain the most valuable collections of Music books I am informed that there is a decent collection of Music Manuscripts in the Nepal library too, but I have not been able yet to get access to it Still we can get at nearly fifty to seventy-five treatises on music from libraries I have mentioned above I mention hereunder the treatises which are available in each of the libraries above referred to

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In the Library of His Highness the Maharajah of Bikaner there is a large collection of Sanskrit works on Music I give the names of some of them below:

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1 संगीत सूत्र 2 रत्नाकरटीका —,—सिं० भू० 3 स० राजरत्नकोश 4 अनूप स. रत्नाकर 5 स० अनूप विलास 6 स० अनूप्रांकुश 7 संगीत विनोद 8 संगीत वर्तमान 9 स० अनूपराग सागर 10 संगीतोपदेश 11 श्रृंगार हार 12 स्वरमेल कलानिधि 13 हृदय कौतुक 14 हृदय प्रकाश 15 स० कल्पतरु 16 राग विबोध 17 रागमाला

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18 राग ध्यान 19 राग काव्यरत्न 20 सकौर्ण राग 21 गमक मंजरी 22 स० मकरंद 23 सं. मुक्तावली 24 नृत्याध्याय 25 मुखादि चाली 26 रागमाला (पुंडरीक) 27 रागमंजरी—,, 28 नर्तन निर्णय—,, 29 स० रा० चंद्रोदय ,, 30 संगीत शरीर 31 स० सार नृत्याध्याय 32 स्वराध्याय भाषा 33 मुरलीप्रकाश 34 संगीत पारिजात 37 हनुमन्तरगिविभाषा 42 सं० दर्पण-हिंदी 38 सं० रामकौतुक 43 रागमाला 39 सं० उपनिषत्सार 44 संकीर्णरागाध्याय 45 रत्नाकर टीका (कल्लनाथ)

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The following Sanskrit works will be available in the Government Oriental Library, Mysore.

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1 अभिनयदर्पण 8 संगीत मकरंद 2 अभिनयमुकुट 9 अभिनयप्रकरण 3 अभिनवभरतसार 10 रत्नाकरव्याख्या 4 आदि भरत 11 संगीत लक्षण 5 संगीत दर्पण 12 संगीतसमयसार 6 भरतसार 13 संगीतलक्षणदीपिका 7 संगीत चूड़ामणि 14 स्वरप्रस्तार 15 स्वरमेलकलानिधि

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The following Music granthas will be found in the Palace Library at Trivandrum.

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1 अंगहारलक्षण 8 रसाणर्वसुधाकर 2 नाट्यग्रंथ 9 संगीत चिंतामणी 3 नाट्यवेदविवृत्ति 10 ,, चूड़ामणि 4 नृयरत्नाकर 11 संगीत सुधा 5 बालरामभरत 12 ,, सुधाकर 6 नाट्यवेद 13 सप्तस्वरलक्षण 7 भावप्रकाश 14 स्वरतालादिलक्षण

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The following will be found in the Central Library at Baroda:

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1 संगीत रत्नावली 3 स्वरमेलकलानिधि 2 संगीत रसकौमुदी 4 संगीत मकरंद

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I am informed there are some more lately acquired by the Baroda Government.

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The following are the treatises available in the Library of His Highness the Maharaja of Kashi.

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1 संगीत रत्नाकर 6 रागसावली 2 संगीत रघुनंदन 7 रत्नाकर टीका सिं० भू० 3 सं० रत्नाकर स्वराध्याय 8 उक्दे गुपा-(पर्शन्) 4 संगीत सारावली 9 नघमाते आसफी (पर्शन्)

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The following are the Sanskrit works available in the Tanjore Palace Library:

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1 संगीत सारामृत 2 „ मुक्तावली 3 रागरत्नाकर 4 अभिनयदर्पण 5 अष्टोत्तरशतताललक्षणं 6 तालप्रस्तार 7 ताल लक्षण 8 ताल दीपिका 9 रागप्रस्तार 10 तालदशप्राणदीपिका 11 राग लक्षण 12 दतिल कोहलीयम् 13 संगीत मकरंद 14 चत्वारिंशच्छत राग निरूपणम् 15 संगीत दर्पण 16 सं० रत्नाकर

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The Government Oriental Library at Madras has the following

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1 नृत्ताल पुराण 2 राग विशेष 3 संगीत दर्पण 4 „ रत्नाकर 5 संगीत सारसंग्रह 6 स्वरमेलकलानिधि 7 संगीताभ्याय 8 कोहल रहस्य

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The following works are supposed to have been acquired for the Royal Asiatic Library at Calcutta, by Mahamahopadhyaya Harprasad Shastri:

c2.26

1 रागविवोध 2 गान्धर्ववेद 3 रागकुतूहलमणि 4 संगीतसंग्रह 5 संगीतविधानिदान 6 संगीतकल्पलता 7 संगीत रघुनन्दन 8 आनन्दजीवन 9 सोमेश्वरमत 10 गीतगिरीशकाव्य 11 संगीत रसोप्युदी 12 संगीतसार 13 गीतसार 14 भरतगानशास्त्र 15 सामप्रकाश

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Having so far given a list of the works which are extant on the subject, and having also stated where they are available, I shall now mention the titles of such of them as have been already printed and published

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1 संगीत रत्नाकर 2 भरतनाट्य शास्त्र 3 स्वरमेलकलानिधि 4 रागविवोध 5 चतुर्दण्डिप्रकाशिका 6 संगीत सारामृत 7 संगीत मकरंद 8 सद्रामचंद्रोदय 9 रागतरंगिणी 10 संगीत पारिजात 11 हृदयकौतुक 12 हृदयप्रकाश 37 हनुमन्तमगविभाषा 42 सं० दर्पण-हिंदी 38 सं० रामकौतुक 43 रागमाला 39 सं० उपनिपत्सार 44 संकीर्णरागाध्याय 45 रत्नाकर टीका (कल्लनाथ)

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The following Sanskrit works will be available in the Government Oriental Library, Mysore.

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1 अभिनयदर्पण 8 संगीत मकरंद 2 अभिनयप्रकट 9 अभिनयप्रकरण 3 अभिनवभरतसार 10 रत्नाकरव्याख्या 4 आदि भरत 11 संगीत लक्षण 5 संगीत दर्पण 12 संगीतसमयसार 6 भरतसार 13 संगीतलक्षणदीपिका 7 संगीत चूडामणि 14 स्वरप्रस्तार 15 स्वरमेलकलानिधि

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The following Music granthas will be found in the Palace Library at Trivandrum.

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1 अंगहारलक्षण 8 रसाणर्वसुधाकर 2 नाट्यग्रंथ 9 संगीत चिंतामणी 3 नाट्यवेदविवृति 10 ,, चूडामणि 4 नृत्यरत्नाकर 11 संगीत सुधा 5 बालरामभरत 12 ,, सुधाकर 6 नाट्यवेद 13 सप्तस्वरलक्षण 7 भावप्रकाश 14 स्वरतालादिलक्षण

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The following will be found in the Central Library at Baroda:

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1 संगीत रत्नावली 3 स्वरमेलकलानिधि 2 संगीत रस्कौमुदी 4 संगीत मकरंद

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I am informed there are some more lately acquired by the Baroda Government.

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The following are the treatises available in the Library of His Highness the Maharaja of Kashi.

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1 संगीत रत्नाकर 6 रागसारावली 2 संगीत रघुनंदन 7 रत्नाकर टीका सिं० भू० 3 सं० रत्नाकर स्वराध्याय 8 उक्दे गुषा-(पर्शिन) 4 संगीत सारावली 9 नघमाते आसकी (पर्शिन)

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The following are the Sanskrit works available in the Tanjore Palace Library:

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1 संगीत सारामृत 2 ,, मुक्तावली 3 रागरत्नाकर 4 अभिनयदर्पण 5 अष्टोत्तरशतताललक्षण 6 तालप्रस्तार 7 ताल लक्षण 8 ताल दीपिका 9 रागप्रस्तार 10 तालदशप्राणदीपिका 11 राग लक्षण 12 दतिल कोहलम् 13 संगीत मकरंद 14 चत्वारिंशत् राग निरूपणम् 15 संगीत दर्पण 16 स० रत्नाकर

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The Government Oriental Library at Madras has the following

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1 नृत्य पुराण 2 राग विशेष 3 संगीत दर्पण 4 ,, रत्नाकर 5 संगीत सारसंग्रह 6 स्वरमेलकलानिधि 7 संगीताध्याय 8 कोहलरहस्य

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The following works are supposed to have been acquired for the Royal Asiatic Library at Calcutta, by Mahamahopadhyaya Harprasad Shastri:

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1 रागबोध 2 गांधर्ववेद 3 रागचंद्रिकामणि 4 संगीतसंग्रह 5 संगीतविधानिदान 6 संगीतकल्पलता 7 संगीत रघुनंदन 8 आनंदजीवन 9 सोमेश्वरमत 10 गीतगिरीशकाव्य 11 संगीत रसकौमुदी 12 संगीतसार 13 गीतसार 14 भरतगानशास्त्र 15 सामप्रकाश

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1 संगीत रत्नाकर 2 भरतनाथ शास्त्र 3 स्वरमेलकलानिधि 4 रागबोध 5 चतुर्दंडिकाशिका 6 संगीत सारामृत 7 संगीत मकरंद 8 सद्रगचंद्रोदय 9 रागतरंगिणी 10 संगीत पारिजात 11 हृदयकौतुक 12 हृदयप्रकाश 37 हनुमन्तगविभाषा 42 सं० दर्पण-हिंदी 38 सं० रामकौतुक 43 रागमाला 39 सं० उपनिषत्सार 44 संकीर्णगाध्याय 45 रत्नाकर टीका (कल्लनाथ)

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The following Sanskrit works will be available in the Government Oriental Library, Mysore.

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The following Music granthas will be found in the Palace Library at Trivandrum.

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1 अंगहारलक्षण 8 रसाणवसुधाकर 2 नाट्यग्रंथ 9 संगीत चिंतामणी 3 नाट्यवेदविवृत्ति 10 ,, चूड़ामणि 4 नृत्यरत्नाकर 11 संगीत सुधा 5 बालरामभरत 12 ,, सुधाकर 6 नाट्यवेद 13 सप्तस्वरलक्षण 7 भावप्रकाश 14 स्वरतालादिलक्षण

c2.50

The following will be found in the Central Library at Baroda:

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1 संगीत रत्नावली 3 स्वरमेलकलानिधि 2 संगीत रसकौमुदी 4 संगीत मकरंद

c2.52

I am informed there are some more lately acquired by the Baroda Government.

c2.53

The following are the treatises available in the Library of His Highness the Maharaja of Kashi.

c2.54

1 संगीत रत्नाकर 6 रागसारावली 2 संगीत रघुनंदन 7 रत्नाकर टीका सिं० भू० 3 सं० रत्नाकर स्वराध्याय 8 उक्दे गुषा-(पर्शं) 4 संगीत सारावली 9 नगमाते आसंकी (पर्शं)

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ed out of the ancient Swaras I may quote here what my learned friend Dr. Prabhakar Bhandarkar of Indore has to say about the difficulty of determining the relative pitches of the Swaras used in the Sama-Veda. He says "From Sangeeta Ratnakara I Chap v P, 58, and the Naradi Shiksha, it would appear that a "Rig" was chanted in mono tone, a "Gatha" in two notes, and a Sama in three notes, a scale of four swaras seems also to have been used, and was called Swarantara In what relations of pitch the notes stood in the last three cases, it is impossible to say. We are also ignorant of the stages by which the three notes of the Sama chant rose to the number seven, nor can we say with any certainty what relation these seven notes bore to the well known seven notes of the later music The former were named Krishta, Prathama, Dwitiya, Tritiya, Chaturtha, Mandra and Atiswara It is certain that these are in descending order of pitch, but in what exact relation, it is impossible to say Moreover, the names of the Sama notes, seem to have varied from time to time and in different parts of the country The enumeration and notation by the first seven numerals is more modern" (Vide P 162 Indian Antiquary July, 1912)

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In order to obtain, if possible, more information about the exact pitch relations of the Sama swaras, I personally visited Benares and consulted there such learned Samavedis as Wamanacharya, Bapat Shastri, Ganesh Guru and others, but I am sorry to say that they were unable to give any satisfactory explanation I understand, however, that a lot of research work on this subject is going on in the southern presidency where, it is said, a more intimate knowledge of the Sanskrit granthas exists For myself I have already confessed that I am unable to throw any light on the Sama scale just at present In any case I suppose, it would not be of any practical use to enter into the subject of Sama music for the study of our present music

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The Granthas with which I propose to deal in this series, as being, in my opinion, necessary for such study will be

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We shall for a moment take it for granted that the first thirteen of these relate to the music of Northern India, and the remaining five to the music of the Southern presidency. It is well-known that there are two distinct systems in the country. The Northern system is known as the Hindustani system, and the Southern is called the Karnatic system. I am not an expert in the Southern system but I have studied it sufficiently to know something of that system. I am of opinion that a student who follows the Granthas Chaturdandi-Prakasika and Raga Lakshana will not find any difficulty in acquiring a fair knowledge of the Southern system.

c2.60

The readers will perhaps be surprised to see that among the Granthas I propose to deal with, the names of the Natya Shastra of Bharata and Sangita Ratnakara do not appear. I have omitted them for a very good reason. I do not deny their importance, but as far as I am aware no modern scholar has successfully solved the knotty problems and questions that face a student who wishes to make a scientific study of these ancient works. I know there are some works dealing with them, but they do not satisfy me. Attempts are often made to prove that the scale used by Bharata and Sharangdeva is exactly the same as the one used by our present musicians. The modern theory of Harmonium too, by some clever interpretation, of what I call misinterpretation, is sought to be unearthed from the ancient Sanskrit works. Ancient Murchhanas, Jatis, and Ragas are boldly placed before the public for acceptance in their new garbs. Though it must be stated that these have upto now failed to impress those who have devoted some of their time to the study of the Shastras. I have therefore studiously avoided entering these controversial matters in these studies and have selected those Granthas only which I may expect to find unmarred to me to be of great practical importance. I do not, for a moment, insinuate that the attempts to solve Bharata and Ratnakara that I mentioned above are deliberately mischievous. We may say they are perfectly honest. But as they fail to satisfy the crucial test I have preferred to omit the consideration of the two ancient treatises on this occasion. I may mention here that there is a great difference of opinion among our modern scholars themselves as to the question whether or not the shruti was a fixed unit. Some scholars say it was, others deny that. Needless to say, the definition of Shuddha scale hinges on the solution of this question. We all know that the Ragas of Ratnakara are defined in terms of the Murchhanas and Jatis, and there would remain indefinite so long as the Shuddha scale remains unsatisfactory and indefinite. So that, until there is a consensus of opinion as to the right value of a Shruti and until it becomes possible to determine the Shuddha scale of Natya Ratnakara, the two works are bound to remain sealed books. These two books, therefore, in my opinion, go outside the sphere of study of the ordinary music student and enter that of the research scholar. Reverting then to the list I have already mentioned, I shall deal with the Granthas therein named. About these there is a tolerable amount of certainty and also not much difference of opinion. I do not suggest that the music of those books is the same as that of Ratnakara or of Bharata, but these treatises are likely to throw considerable light on the music we sing and play today.

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The great difficulty which a student of Natya Shastra and Ratnakara meets with at the very outset is that of correctly locating the positions of the Shrutis and the Swaras of those two ancient treatises. In the absence of a satisfactory solution of these, the remaining portions of the treatises remain perfectly unintelligible. The Gramas, Murchhanas, Jatis and the Ragas, have all to be evolved, as we know, from the Shuddha and Vikrita Swaras which again depend upon their Shrutis. The positions of those Shrutis and Swaras, therefore, require to be placed beyond all reasonable doubt. It will perhaps not be out of place here to indicate how the difficulty for the student arises while attempting to study the Natya Shastra. I do not think it is anywhere disputed now that the Shruti Swara arrangement of Sharangdeva is essentially the same as that expounded by Bharat. If we then are able to arrive at any satisfactory conclusions as regards Bharata's Shrutis and Swaras of Sharangdeva. We are told by our research scholars that Bharata lived in the 5th century A D and that Sharangdeva wrote his Ratnakara about the middle of the thirteenth century A D. We shall not dispute these dates. The great question before us is, what does Bharata say about his shrutis and Swaras, in the Natya Shastra. Fortunately for us, Bharata has very lucidly explained his Shrutis and Swaras at P 304, Chap 28 of his work the Natya Shastra. But while doing so, it will be interesting to go through his explanation. But while doing so, it will be useful to constantly bear in mind the following two or three important rules generally followed by careful research scholars while interpreting ancient texts

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(1) The mind has to be kept entirely free from any preconceived ideas or theories

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(2) No statements or assumptions should be made which are not strictly warranted by the text in hand.

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(3) In the interpretation of ancient texts the directions given by the author himself as a guide for interpretation must be strictly adhered to. It will not be permissible to take a guide what subsequent writers have said on the st With these important cautions in mind, we shall now approach the subject of Bharata's Shrutis and Swaras.

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To begin with, says the author: "मध्यमग्रामे श्रुत्यपकृष्टः पंचमः कार्यः । पंचम श्रुत्युत्कर्षपकर्षायदन्तरं मार्दवादायतत्वाद्वा । तत्प्रमाणश्रुतिः In fact, in this small sentence he lays down the definition or rather the measurement of his Shruti. He takes it for granted that his learned readers are practical musicians, who know the difference between the Panchama of his Shadja Grama and that of the Madhyama Grama. With that assumption, he further explains his method of fixing the Shrutis of his scale. The Sanskrit passage may be translated thus: "In the Madhyama-Grama, the 'Panchama' is lowered one shruti. This lowering of the Panchama to obtain the Madhyama Grama 'Panchama' or the raising of the Madhyama Grama 'panchama' by one shruti to obtain the Shadja Grama 'panchama' is the measure of a shruti."

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निदर्शनं तासामभिव्याख्यास्यामः ।

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Translation.—"The following examples will clearly indicate the position of the shrutis."

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यथा द्वे वीणे तुल्यप्रमाणतप्युपवादनदण्डमूर्च्छने षड्ज ग्रामाश्रिते कार्ये ।

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Translation.—"First let the vinas having wires, instruments of playing, wooden frame, and murchhanas be made of identical quality and let them both be tuned to the Shadja Grama scale." (Evidently he expects readers to know how to do it).

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Now,

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तयोरेकतरस्यां मध्यमग्रामिकीं कृत्वा पंचमस्यापकर्षे श्रुतिम् ।

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Translation.—"Set one of the two Vinas to Madhyama Grama by lowering its 'panchama' one shruti only." (The reader as a practical musician is expected to know the lowered 'panchama').

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तामेव पंचमवशात् षड्ज ग्रामिकीं कुर्यात्

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Translation.—"The next step is to make this Madhyama-grama-vina a Shadja-grama-vina, not by restoring the lowered 'panchama' to its original pitch, but by taking it as a real Shadja-grama 'panchama' of four srutis." (In other words the author wishes the reader to lower all the other swaras of the scale, namely सा, रे, ग, म, ध, नि,

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Thus, एवं (सा वीणा) श्रुतिरप कृष्टा भवति ।

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Translation.—"The whole Madhyama-grama-vina after this would be lower than the other untouched shadja-grama-vina by one sruti."

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पुनरपि तद्देवापकर्षात् ।

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Translation — "By repeating the same operation (i.e. by lowering the new madhyama-grama-vina 'panchama' one sruti and accepting the same as shadja grama 'panchama') the result would be

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गांधारनिषादवन्तौ स्वरौ इतरस्या धैवतर्षभौ प्रविशतः द्विथुत्यधिकत्वात् ।

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Translation — "The swaras 'Gandhara' and 'Nishada' would coincide with the 'Rishabha' and 'dhaivata' of the Shadja-grama-vina because they are only two srutis higher in pitch than the 'rishabha' and 'Dhaivata'"

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पुनस्तद्देवापकर्षाद्धैवतर्षभौ प्रविशतः पंचम षड्जौ प्रविशतः त्रिश्रुत्यधिकत्वात् ।

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Translation — "Another similar operation and the 'dhaivata' and 'rishabha' of the 'Chala Vina' will enter, that is, will coincide with the 'panchama' and 'Shadja' of the untouched vina the distance between them being only three srutis (We know that according to all ancient writers the 'dhaivata' and 'rishabha' are only three srutis higher than the panchama and 'Shadja' respectively) तदत्पुनरपकर्षात् तस्यां पंचमं मध्यमषड्जा इतरस्यां मध्यम गांधार निषादवन्तः प्रवेशयति चतुः श्रुत्यधिकत्वात् ।

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Translation — "One more repetition, and the 'panchama' 'Madhyama' and 'shadja' of the chala-vina will coincide with 'madhyama' 'gandhara' and 'nishada' of the 'achala-vina,' the distance between the two sets of swaras being only four srutis"

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एवमनेन निदर्शनेन द्वैामिक्यो द्वाविंशतिः श्रुतयः प्रत्यवगन्तव्याः ।

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Translation — "This illustration will clearly show the twenty two srutis of the two gramas the author expects the reader to locate the srutis and Swaras in the light of this explanation.)

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If we assume our interpretation of the text to be correct it will appear that Bharata's reasoning is quite lucid and at the same time sufficiently simple The following observations will make Bharata's view more clear. To begin with, Bharata says, that the two vinas are first to be tuned to the shadja grama scale We will say there are only seven wires to represent the seven notes of the scale on each of the two vinas Evidently then, seven wires are to be tuned to the seven correct notes of the shadja grama scale I have already said that Bharata pre-supposes in his reader a perfect knowledge of the 'panchamas' of the two Gramas and an ability to tune the vinas according to the directions he proposes to give When one of the vinas is to be made Madhyama gramic, all that he means is that the wire representing the 'panchama' in the shadja grama is to be slightly loosened so as to make it produce the 'panchama' of the madhyama, all other notes remaining in their original positions The second direction of the author is most important He directs the madhyama gramic vina to be verted again into a shadja gramic vina, but he wants this to be done not by restoring the 'panchama' to its original pitch, but by accepting the changed 'panchama' as a proper 'panchama' for the new shadja gramic vina. Now we know that this can be accomplished only by lowering all the other notes of the vina by one sruti and that is what Bharata says will be the result. He says

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“ एवं सा वीणा श्रुत्यपकृष्टा भवति । ”

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Translation.—When the Chala-vina is thus made shadja gramic the pitch of 'Sa' will be three srutis, that of 'ri' will be six srutis, of 'ga' eight sruti and so forth. By repeating this process another series of srutis namely, two, five, seven, eleven, fifteen, eighteen, twenty will be discovered. But the 'ga' and 'Ni' of the Chala vina will now coincide with the 'ri' and 'dha' of the achala vina. On another repetition of the same process, the swaras 'sa', 'ma', 'pa' of the chala vina will coincide with the 'ni', 'ga' and 'ma' of the Dhruva or achala vina.

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It will be readily conceded, I suppose that the process so elaborately described by Bharata will be possible only if the Sruti interval remained the same all through the octave. According to Bharata then, the sruti was a real unit of measurement in determining the ratio between the several Swaras. In other words, the ratio of the first to the second sruti was equal to the ratio between any two consecutive srutis. There are twenty two srutis in all and if we take the starting point to be the sruti of 'ni' in the lower octave, and as equal to 1, then the twenty-second sruti, that is of the higher 'ni' would be 2. There being twenty-two equal intervals between the higher and the lower 'ni' each interval would be equal to the twenty-second root of 2.

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I do not claim any originality for this explanation of Bharata's srutis. The view was submitted before the first All-India Music Conference by a learned scholar of my part of the country, namely the late Mr. V. V. Phadke, retired first class subordinate judge, in the year 1916. The view appeals to me, and I have therefore, thought it proper to place it before my readers. The late Pandit Abraham of Tanjore also read a paper before the first All-India Music Conference at Baroda on the srutis of Sharangdeva Pandit, and showed that no scale in which the srutis were taken as unequal could under any circumstances be accepted as Sharangdeva's shuddha scale. The Pandit's paper is now printed and published, and I shall not write about it here.

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The chief object of these articles is to place before the readers a comparative analysis of the different Sanskrit works on Indian Music written at different times, in order that such comparison should help in the determination of a suitable system for our present Hindustani Music.

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In dealing with the Sanskrit texts, I propose, as I said before, to give in each case the following details —
(1) The name and place of the author, so far as can be traced
(2) The probable date of the work
(3) The explanation of the Srutis and Swaras as explained in the treatise
(4) The Thatas, if any, used for the classification of the Ragas
(5) The Janya Ragas and their classification under the Thatas
(6) General remarks

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In some cases charts showing the positions of the Srutis and Swaras will be given for ready reference

Linked texts (14)

Saṅgītaratnākara — Śārṅgadeva, Sanskrit
Nāṭyaśāstra — Bharata, Sanskrit
Rasārṇavasudhākara — Siṃhabhūpāla, Sanskrit
Bhāvaprakāśa — Bhāvamiśra 1550, Sanskrit
Abhinayadarpaṇa — Nandikeśvara, Sanskrit
Svaramelakalānidhi — Rāmāmātya 1550, Sanskrit
Cuḍamaṇi — Sanskrit
Saṅgītasudhā (Raghunātha) — Raghunātha 1589, Sanskrit
Saṅgītasamayasāra — Pārśvadeva, Sanskrit
Saṅgītacūḍāmaṇi — Jagadekamalla Pratāpacakravartin, Sanskrit
Saṅgītamakaranda — Nārada, Sanskrit
Saṅgītapārijāta — Ahobilasūri 1600, Sanskrit
Rāgavibodha — Somanātha 1584, Sanskrit
Hṛdayakautuka — Hardayanārāyaṇa 1642, Sanskrit