[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Architecture and art](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art) › [A Comparative Study of Some of the Leading Music Systems of the 15th, 16th, 17th & 18th Centuries](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.bhatkhande-comparative) › c2.60 # A Comparative Study of Some of the Leading Music Systems of the 15th, 16th, 17th & 18th Centuries c2.60 A Comparative Study of Some of the Leading Music Systems of the 15th, 16th, 17th & 18th Centuries c2.60 - **Language:** English ### [c2.60](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.bhatkhande-comparative.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. - [Previous: c2.59](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.bhatkhande-comparative.c2.59) - [Next: c2.61](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.bhatkhande-comparative.c2.61) - [Up: c2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.bhatkhande-comparative.c2) ## Linked texts (2) - [Saṅgītaratnākara](https://indike.org/pramana/in.art.sangita.sangraha.sangitaratnakara) — Śārṅgadeva, Sanskrit - [Nāṭyaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.art.natya.natyasastra) — Bharata, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.bhatkhande-comparative.c2.60](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.bhatkhande-comparative.c2.60) · Pramāṇa