A Comparative Study of Some of the Leading Music Systems of the 15th, 16th, 17th & 18th Centuries c2.86

c2.86

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