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Ragas and Raginis: A Pictorial and Iconographic Study of Indian Musical Modes Based on Original Sources c6: History of the Ragas

Rāgas and Rāginīs: A Pictorial and Iconographic Study of Indian Musical Modes Based on Original Sources c6

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English

History of the Ragas

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By legend and tradition Indian music is supposed to be derived from, and have its roots in, the Vedas.¹ Let us see if the music of the Vedic age offer any materials for the rāgas. The Sāman chants appear to be melodies of three notes (tetrachord?) known as udātta (raised), anudātta (not raised) and svarita (sounded, graced). This seems to be borne out by the sūtras of Pāṇini (5th century B.C.) who defines the svarita note as an adjustment or amalgamation of the two notes udātta and anudātta.² If the Vedic chants were music confined to three notes, they were not melodies or rāgas in our sense, for a rāga must at least have five notes (pentatonic). The śikṣās (branches of the Prātiśākhyas) seem to give a different interpretation to the three Vedic notes. According to this later definition, udātta stands for niṣāda and gāndhāra, anudātta for ṛṣabha and dhaivata, and svarita for ṣadja, madhyama and pañcama.³ According to the tonic values of the notes, ṣadja and madhyama are made of 4 śrutis which is made to equate with the Vedic notes known as ‘svarita.’ The notes ṛṣabha and dhaivata are made of 3 śrutis and answer to anudātta notes, while niṣāda and gāndhāra, made of 2 śrutis, correspond to udātta. The seven notes therefore are implied in the three

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(1) “Jagrāha pāṭhyam ṛgvedād sāmabhya gītam eva ca.|”
Nāṭyaśāstra, Ch. I, Verse 17.
“Sāma-vedād dam gītam samjagrāha pitāmahaḥ |
Tadgītam Nāradāyaiva tena lokeṣu varṇitam ||”
Saṅgītamakaranda, I, 18.
(2) Pāṇini, IV. 2, 29, 30, 31 & 32:
“Uccairudāttaḥ nīcairanudāttaḥ samāhāraḥ svaritaḥ ||”
(3) “Udāttau niṣāda-gāndhārau, anudāttau ṛṣabha-dhaivatau |
Svarita-prabhavāhy ete ṣadja-madhyama-pañcahāḥ ||”

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notes of the Vedic melodies.

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There is a long standing tradition, still surviving in current musical practices, that after Vālmīki had composed his *Rāmāyaṇa*, it was set to music by Bharata himself¹ and sung by Lava and Kuśa, who were fortunate in finding as their auditor Rāma himself. We have no means of knowing the character of the melodies to which the *Rāmāyaṇa* was sung.

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It may be remarked that a greater part of what now passes under the name of classical music, at one time or other, belonged to the world of *deśi*, or folk music, and which being refined and affiliated to the rules and system of the traditional classic music have contributed to its growth and development. Materials are very scanty for tracing the processes by which rāgas evolved in their present forms, characters and classifications. It is certainly difficult to contend that the rāgas as understood to-day, had evolved and were recognized as such, at the time² when the *Nāṭyaśāstra* attributed to Bharata was compiled;³ though there would be nothing improbable in the supposition that

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(1) Rāmāyaṇa: ‘*Tam sa śuśrāva kākutsthaḥ pūrvācārya--vinirmitam*’ which a commentator explains. ‘*gāthakānām gāna?siddhaye pūrvācāryyena Bharatena nirmmitam.*’

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(2) According to Keith: “The date of that text (*Nāṭyaśāstra*) is uncertain, but we cannot with any certainty place it before the third century A.D.” (*The Sanskrit Drama*, Oxford, 1924, p. 13.)

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(3) The remarks of J. Grosset (*Contribution á l’étude La Musique Hindoue*, 1888, p. 88) are very pertinent in this connection: “We believe that the introduction of the theory of rāga is of relatively recent date, Bharata in his *Nāṭyaśāstra* no-where gives it a definition. He does not devote any *adhyāya* to the exposition of this musical element which had subsequently such an important development. Therefore in spite of the definition of rāga being attributed to our authority by W. Jones, Mohun Tagore etc., in spite of the quotations that they give as emanating from him (Bharata) and some commentators of dramas, we are of opinion that in the period of the composition of the *Nāṭyaśāstra*, the rāgas did not constitute one of the elements of the musical theory but that they were gradually substituted for the *jātis* which, however, they resembled, and, it seems, permitted a double use.”

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they may have evolved, though not known and recognized by definite names or associated with any cult, season, or particular areas of culture. In the musical data of the Nāṭyaśāstra (chapter 38) we have definite evidence of the theory of the consonance of notes (samavāditya) in the terminology used viz., vādī, saṃvādī, anuvādī, vivādī,—words which are indeed as old as the second century A.D., for, they occur in the Mahābhārata (XIV, 14, 19), which is believed to have taken their present form some time between 400 B.C. and 200 A.D. In the Nāṭyaśāstra (ch. 38, śloka 23) we have not only a recognition of the relationship between the consonant, assonant, dissonant notes, but also an allusion to a theory of the relative values of initial and terminal notes graha, nyāsa and apanyāsa (ch. 28, ślokas 80, 81).

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But these data appear to be forestalled by Dattila, a musical authority (Saṅgītācārya), who seems to be earlier than Bharata.¹

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According to the text attributed to Dattila,² vādī, anuvādī and vivādī notes are recognised and defined.

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The text of Dattila also refers, in a summary way, to the 18 jātis, or species of melodies, of which seven take their names after the seven notes. The remaining eleven are also named and described according to their component parts. Of these, seven belong to the ṣaḍja scale (grāma) and the

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(1) According to an old tradition, Dattila is supposed to be one of the five Bharatas (Nandī, Kohala, Dattila, Bharata and Matanga) who made the science of music and dramaturgy current in the world. Dattila is sometimes associated with Kohala, and they were supposed to have collaborated in a work known as Dattila-Kohalyīam. Kohala being undoubtedly an earlier authority than Bharata, who quotes Kohala, it follows that Dattila is earlier than Bharata. This view is supported by two scholars who have recently investigated into the relative positions of the early authorities on music: (i) V. V. Narasimhachary “The Early Writers on Music” (The Journal of the Music Academy, Madras, October, 1930, p 259) and (ii) V. Raghavan: “Some names in early Sangita Literature” (Ibid., Vol. III, 1932, No. 1 & 2, p. 12): “The present text (of Bharata) is later than Kohala and even Dattila”.

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(2) Published in the Trivandrum Sanskrit Series. No. CII.

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rest to the madhyama scale.

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We have also, a classification of melody-types according to the number of notes used, into three classes known as pentatonic (oḍava), sextatonic (khāḍava) and septatonic (sampūrṇā). Both Dattila and Bharata, therefore, give us all the ingredients or materials for the structure of a melody.

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In fact Bharata, following Dattila, classifies the melodies under the name of jātis (species). These he classifies under two modes or scales (grāmas), the ṣaḍja-grāma and madhyama-grāma. Under these two modes (grāmas) Bharata enumerates the 18 jātis of melodies, the same as given by Dattila (See Anppendix 1 and 2).

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According to Mataṅga (an authority who comes next after Bharata), the jātis generate the grāma-rāgas with the use of the tonic-initial the predominating or aṃśa note.¹ Mataṅga gives the following definition of jāti: “The jātis are born out of the initial notes and śrutis (microtones). Hence they are called jātis, from which is born (that is to say, from which begins) the consciousness of flavour that is jāti. In the alternative, by reason of the birth of all kinds of melodies, jātis are so-called.”[²] The same author expounds the 18 jātis enumerated by Bharata, with somewhat greater elaboration.

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¹ Br̥haddeśī (T. S. S. No. XCIV, p. 65).

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² Ibid., p. 55-56.

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In the next chapter (29), Bharata indicates the rasa (passion) and bhāvas (sentiments) of each of the jātis and what jātis should be employed to interpret a particular sentiment.

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Bharata’s jātis, therefore, for all practical purposes provide the genus out of which the rāgas have been derived although Bharata does not actually use the term rāga. In fact Mataṅga asserts that “he is including in his work informations on such subjects as “courses of rāgas” with their marks and characteristics,—matters which have not been dealt with by Bharata and other sages”³

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³ “Rāga-mārgasya yad rūpam yan noktam Bharatādibhiḥ | Nirūpyate tadasmābhir lakṣaṇa-samyutam” || Br̥haddeśī (p. 81).

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That the rāgas, associated with the modes (grāma)

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were in existence already before Bharata summarised them in his sections devoted to music, is proved by sifinificant allusions in the *Harivaṃśa*, (which is regarded as a supplement to the *Mahābhārata*) and is ascribed to about 300 A.D.¹

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¹ The date 200 A.D. has been assigned to the *Harivaṃśa* on the ground of the occurrence of the word *dināra*. See Hopkins, *Great Epic of India*, p. 387; Winternitz, *A History of Indian Literature* (Cal. Ed. Vol. I, 1927, p. 464) remarks "We may assume that it did not come into existence very long before the 4th century A.D." R. G. Bhandarkar (*Vaisnavism*, p. 36) assigns it to "about the third century of the Christian era."

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In more than one passages, *grāma-rāgas* are referred to and it is very likely, these *grāma-rāgas* were of the types indicated by Bharata. In the 89th chapter of the Viṣṇu-parva in connection with a water carnival, various musical and dramatic representations are described in the *Harivaṃśa*. The women of the descendants of Bhīma sang various songs.

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"O king! the skill required to perform a fraction of the forms of the different varieties of the six *grāma-rāgas* (modal melodies), in their fine and subtle classifications (*jātis*), can only be attempted by human beings with great difficulty" [ch. 89, 82].

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According to a different reading, the first passage in the quotation would refer to eleven varieties (*ekādaśa avayava*) of modal melodies answering to the eleven composite modes referred to in Dattila [Appendix 1].

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(Chapter 93, verses 23, 24):

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"Thereafter, the women of the Bhīma tribe sang Chālikya songs in the melody of Devagāndhāra,² sweet to the ear like nectar, and pleasant to the ear and a delight to the mind."

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² It is surprising to find, here, a reference to the well-known melody of Deva-Gāndhāra (Deo-Gāndhā). [See Notes on Plate LXLI]. It is a derivative of the archaic *grāma-rāga* known as Bhinna-ṣaḍja.

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"Then they sang songs beautifully, having for their subject the Descent of Gaṅgā in the *grāma-rāgas* which

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went up to Gāndhāra (grāma), with the grandeur of beautiful notes, pierced (viddham) and elaborated (āsāritam)”.

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“The grāma-rāgas referred to above, it may be assumed, were identical with the grāma-rāgas described in the Nāṭya-śāstra. Only the latter describes the grāma-rāgas appertaining to two grāmas viz. ṣaḍja and madhyama, while the passage of the Harivaṃśa alludes to rāgas belonging to the gāndhāra-grāma. As some ancient authorities have explained, the last named grāma (scale) was obsolete amongst men and were current in celestial practices. In fact, one text suggests that according to Nārada, the ṣaḍja-grāma has grown out of the terrestrial regions, the madhyama-grāma from the ethereal regions, and the gāndhāra-grāma from the celestial regions, and not from anywhere else.

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Anyhow, the grāma-rāgas of Bharata are referred to and described in the Nāradīyā Śikṣā,¹ under the names of “Niṣāda-Khāḍava”, “Pañcama”, “Madhyama-grāma”, Ṣaḍja-grāma”, “Sādhāritam”, “Kaiśikam”, and “Kaiśika-madhyama’. The two last named melodies are described as follows:

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¹ Nāradīyā Śikṣā (Sāma-vedīya) edited by Satyavrata Sāmaśramī, Calcutta, 1890. Popley (The Music of India, page 14) suggests that it was “probably composed between the tenth and twelfth century”. Considering that its rāga system corresponds very nearly to that of the Kudumiyamalai inscription, the data, if not the text of the Narādīya Śikṣā, must be earlier than the 7th century and considering the fact that it only refers to seven melodies, while the Pañcatantra refers to thirty-six, the former must be earlier than the Pañcatantra.. Kielhorn suggests that some of the Śikṣās are not earlier than the date of Patañjali (2nd century B. C.) “That the Śikṣās in verse were in existence when Patañjali composed his great commentary on Kātyāyana’s “Vārtikas” seems to me very probable. The Indian Antiquary, May 1876, p. 143., foot-note. M. Rama Krishna Kavi (‘Literature on Music,’ Journal, Andhra Historical Research Society, Vol. III, 1928-29, pp. 20-29)) believes that the Nāradīyā Śikṣā, or, at least, the view of Nārada, the traditional author of the Śikṣā, is quoted by Bharata in Chapter 34. He is therefore inclined to place the musical data of the Nāradīyā Śikṣā earlier than Bharata.

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“After expressing the Kaiśika (V) in the presence of all the notes, where (the melody) terminates in the madhyama, there arises “Kaiśika-madhyama” (VI) where the Kākalī (?sharp Niṣāda) is seen and the pañcama predominates. Kaśyapa calls it “Kaiśika”, born of the “Madhyama grāma” (VII), (11th śloka).

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The next available evidence of the currency of the grāma-rāgas is furnished by the inscription of Kuḍumiyamālai¹ in the Pudukkottai State (Southern India), written in characters of the seventh century. Though not designated as such, seven different varieties of melodies are given in the form of notations namely: (i) Madhyama-grāma (ii) Saḍja-grāma (iii) Sāḍava (iv) Sādhārita (v) Pañcama (vi) Kaiśika-madhyama (vii) Kaiśika, which seem to correspond to the grāma rāgas given in the Nāradīyā Śikṣā the text of which should, therefore, be considered as earlier than the seventh century.

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In editing this inscription P. R. Bhandarkar¹ remarks: “It is clear that the seven rāgas of this inscription did not exist in the time of Bhāratīya Nāṭya-śāstra. When they came into existence is not known, the present inscription being the earliest record.” There is no doubt that these seven rāgas, even if they existed at the time, are not indicated in the Nāṭya-śāstra. But a glance at the seven melodies will show that they are identical with the seven melodies described in the Nāradīyā Śikṣā, quoted and translated above. In the last named text their compositional forms are verbally described, while in the inscription their “skeleton notes are given for the benefit of students” (śiṣyahitārthāya kṛtaḥ svarāgamaḥ). Excepting two viz. ‘Pāncama’ and ‘Kaiśika’, none of the others in their names seem to suggest any of the rāgas known in later texts. There is no doubt that here we have the rāgas in their nascent stage, crudely described with reference to their salient notes, long before they came to be associatd with any season, region, or cult, and assumed proper names.

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It will be convenient to consider here, a curious reference to the so-called thirty-six rāgas in the Pañcatantra (dated about the fifth century, being anterior to A.D. 570).

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(1) P. R. Bhandarkar: “Kuḍumiyamālai Inscription of Music”, *Epigraphia Indica*, Vol. XII, 1914, p. 266.

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In the tale of "Ass as Singer",¹ the ass inspired by the beauty of the night expresses a desire to sing, and, being exhorted by his friend the jackal not to sing, boasts of his knowledge of the musical science as will appear from the following extract:

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"O! sister's daughter! Look here. It is a very clear beautiful night. I am, therefore, going to sing. Well then, in what melody (rāga) must I sing? * * * * What? Don't I know how to sing? Listen, I will tell you of the theory. It is thus. There are seven notes, three scales, twenty-one grace modes, forty-nine melodic improvisations, three units of time, three voice-registers, six ways of singing, nine emotions, thirty-six variations of the melody (varṇa); and forty minor melodies are known. Thus, the mode of singing will embrace all the 185 parts of song, pure as gold."

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The word actually used in the last passage is varṇa which cannot be taken as equivalent to rāgas. On the other hand, in the first passage, the term rāga is actually used in the sense of a song being set to a particular melody. This would certainly suggest that more than one rāga, in the sense we understand to-day, had come into existence and were current in practice. Whether they were still in the stage of grāmarāgas, or had been recognized and labelled by proper names it is impossible to say from the data of this allusion to the science of music in the Pañcatantra (5th century). From the above reference it is difficult to say,—if the six rāgas and thirty-six rāgiṇīs, popular in North India, had been evolved by that time. The passage refers to thirty-six classes altogether.

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We now come to an important text, recently come to light, and known as Bṛhad-deśī by Matanga-muni,² which, though fragmentary, throws a flood of light on the history of the rāgas. As its name implies it is a comprehensive (Bṛhat) treatise on deśī or folk-music, current on the earth, as distinguished from the mārga or celestial music, cur-

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(1) Book V, Tale, Vol. II, Harvard Edition, by J. Hertel, 1908 p. 271-72.

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(2) Published in the Trivandrum Sanskrit Series (Vol. XCIV., 1928.)

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rent in the heavens.

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After devoting a chapter to the *Jātis*, Matanga devotes a special chapter to the *rāgas*. Indeed, it is in this chapter of the *Bṛhad-deśī* that we first come across the word “*rāgas*” as understood in all later literature on Indian music. In the history of the *rāgas*, *Bṛhad-deśī* is, therefore, a very important landmark. Chronologically, the work stands between the *Nāṭyaśāstra* of Bharata, and the *Saṅgita-makaranda* of Nārada, that is to say, some time between the 4th and the 7th century.¹

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Matanga regards *rāgas* as one of the seven classes of songs (*gītis*) current in his time. He cites Yāṣṭika, an earlier authority, according to whom the *gītis* were of five classes: *śuddha*, *bhinna*, *vesara*, *gauḍa*, and *sādhārita*. At the time of Matanga, the *gītis* were of seven varieties.² (1) *śuddha* (2) *bhinnaka* (3) *gauḍika* (4) *rāga-gīti* (5) *sādhāraṇī* (6) *bhāṣā-gīti* (7) *vibhāṣā-gītis*. The *rāga-gītis* are fourth in Matanga’s list (*rāga-gītis-caturthikā*). He defines the various classes of *gītis*, and describes *rāga-gītis* as follows: “Attractive note compositions, with beautiful and illuminating graces are known as *rāga-gītis*. Where the four *varṇas* (probably the four characters of values of duration, ascent, descent, and movement) are met with in

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(1) According to V. Raghavan, Matanga cannot be earlier than the 9th century, while Ram Chandra Kavi seems to assign to him an earlier date, on the basis of an alleged reference by Matanga to Rudrata, who is not the great rhetorician of the 9th century. According to a quotation given by Kallinātha who cites Matanga as quoting Rudrata )*Saṅgita-Ratnākara*, p. 82), V. Raghavan is of opinion that Matanga’s *Bṛhaddeśī* cannot be earlier than the 9th century. Ram Chandra Kavi (“Literary Gleanings”, *Journal, Andhra Historical Research Society*, Vol. III, 1929, nos. 2, 3, 4 at pages 200-206 takes Rudrata cited by Matanga, as Rudrācārya, the protégé of the kind Mahendra Vikrama, referred to in the Kudumiyamālai music inscription (7th century). (See the discussion of the date in V. Raghavan’s paper “Some names in early Sangīta Literature”, *Journal of the Music Academy, Madras*, Vol. II No. 1 & 2, 1932, p. 19, 25-26). Having regard to the archaic nature of the

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(2) Published in the Trivandrum Sanskrit Series (Vol. XCV., 1928).

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data relating to rāgas cited in Bṛhaddeśī, it is difficult to assign it to a period as late as the 9th century. a graceful combination that is known as rāga.”

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Of the seven classes of gītis, sub-divisions are enumerated. Thus ‘śuddha’ (cokṣa), and ‘bhinnaka’ have each five varieties, ‘gauḍas’ three varieties; ‘rāgas’ are of eight varieties and ‘sādhāraṇas,’ of seven varieties; ‘bhāṣās are of sixteen kinds and ‘vibhāṣās, of twelve kinds. The eight varieties of rāgas went by the name of (1) Takka, or Taku (2) Sauvīra (3) Mālava-pañcama (4) Khāḍava (5) Voṭṭa-rāga (6) Hindolaka (7) Takka-Kaiśika.¹

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¹ “Taku-rāgaśca Souvirastathā Mālava--pañcamaḥ| Khādavo Voṭṭa-rāgaśca tathā Hindolakaḥ paraḥ|| 314 Taka-kaiśika ityuktastathā Mālava-Kaiśikāḥ| Ete rāgāḥ samākhyātā nāmato muni-puṅgavaiḥ”|| 315, Brhad-deśī, p. 85.

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Here then we have the first enumeration of eight of the earliest rāgas known by name. Some of them may have been derived from the 18 jātis described by Bharata.

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That the ‘bhāṣā’, ‘vibhāṣā’ and sādhāraṇa gītis,’ were later related to and amalgamated with the rāga system appears to be suggested by the names given to these gītis.

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Thus the ‘sādhāraṇa gītis’ bear six names (1) Śaka (2) Kakubha (3) Harmāṇa-pañcama (4) Rūpa-sādhārita (5) Gāndhāra-pañcama (6) Ṣaḍja-kaiśika. (Appendix 3).

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Even from the time of Bharata, the melodies were used and they naturally developed in association with the different sections of the body of a drama. Thus, in a passage of Bharata quoted by Matanga (Bṛhad-deśī, p. 87), it is laid down that the madhyama-grāma melodies should be used in the mukha (opening of the drama), the ṣaḍja-grāma melodies in the pratimukha stages (progression), the sādhārita melodies in the garbha (development) stages, and the pañcama-jāti melodies for the vimarśa (pauses) and so on.²

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² Brihaddeśī, p. 87. This passage cannot be traced in the published text of the Nāṭya-śāstra.

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It is from this point of view that the 18 jātis of melodies are assigned by Bharata (Ch. 29, 1-4 verses) their rasa values, that is to say, their appropriateness for particular passion, sentiment, or atmosphere of feeling, with reference to particular situations in the plot of a drama ("tat pravṛtte rase kāyaṃ gānamgeye prayoktṛbhiḥ," Ch. 29, verse 11.) This is made clear by the more elaborate descriptions of jāti melodies or gītis given by Matanga who, while describing the component notes of each gīti, mentions the rasa, or the flavour of sentiment appropriate to each, and the place in the body of the drama where a gīti can be appropriately introduced. And it is very probable that the rāga-gītis, were first distinguished from other classes of gītis (e.g. Śuddha, Bhinna, Gaūḍī), on account of the rasa—quality, the power of evoking emphatic and clearly differentiated sentiments, or qualities of feeling.

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The only other comment which the text of Matanga calls for is that it represents a very early stage in the development of the rāgas, when Kakubha, destined to be pushed to a subordinate position as a rāgiṇī, later on, figures as a major melody, to which several minor melodies (bhāṣās) are affiliated. At this stage, Bhairava, which was later derived from Bhinna-ṣadja,¹ an ancient jāti-rāga, had not yet come into existence. Unfortunately the successive developments are not supported by documents as there is a considerable gap between the text of Matanga and the next landmark.

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¹ Sangita-ratnākara, Vol. 1, p. 191: "Iti Bhinna-sadjah| Bhairava-stat-samudbhavah Dhāmśo mānto ripa-tyvktah prārthanāyāṃ samasvarah"|| 81.

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In the well-known encyclopædia known as Mānasollāsa or Abhilāṣārtha-cintāmaṇi,² by Someśvara which we owe to a royal author, there are two chapters devoted to music and music data. The work was composed in 1131 A.D. by king Someśvara, son of Vikramāditya of the Western Cālukya dynasty, who had their capital city at Kalyāṇī (Kalyān).

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² Portions of Abhilāṣārtha Cintāmaṇi have been printed and published in the Mysore Oriental Publication Series, 69, 1926, and in Gaekwad’s Oriental Series No. 28, Vol. 1, 1925. But the published portions do not include the chapters on music. The informations here cited are borrowed from a Ms. in the collection of the Bhandarkar Research Institute, Poona.

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As an authority on music, the Prince is mentioned by Śārṅgadeva in his work.¹ He was also the author of a special treatise on music entitled Saṅgīta-ratnāvalī which is known only by references in other works.² The discussion of rāgas is confined only to the first 80 verses in the chapter in the encyclopaedia devoted to music, but the chapter does not contain any reference to the system of rāga-classification, which is attributed to Someśvara in the Rāga-darpaṇa, (Appendix 8) and other works; probably, the system was set out in the Saṅgīta-ratnāvalī.. The topic is introduced by tracing the rāgas indirectly from the Sāmaveda. 'From the jātis the rāgas were ascertained. From the rāgas came the bhāṣās, and then the vibhāṣās, and the antara-bhāṣikās.³ According to the author, Deśī-rāgas derived from the names of regions, have been current in his time, in popular and beautiful forms.⁴ "The rāga develops by hearing, and the mind is always pleased and elated by it, therefore they are called rāgas; I am proceeding to recite them by names."⁵ Then, the author gives a catalogue of the different classes or types of rāgas, apparently current in his time. Thus, the five śuddha rāgas are stated to be: (1) Śuddha-ṣāḍava, (2) Śuddha-pañcama, (3) Śuddhasādhārita, (4) Śuddha-kaiśika-madhyama, (5) Śuddha-kaiśika. The names of the five Bhinna-rāgas are: (1) Bhinna-ṣaḍja (2) Bhinna-tāna(?) (3) Bhinna-kaiśika-madhyama (4) Bhinna-pañcama (5) Bhinna-kaiśika. The three Gauḍas are: (1) Gauḍa-pañcama, (2) Gauḍa-kaiśika-madhyama, (3) Gauḍa-kaiśika. The rāgas proper are said to be eight in number : (1) Ṣāḍava, (2) Voḍda-rāga, (3) Mālava-pañcama (4) Takka-kaiśika, (5) Sauvīra, (6) Mālava-kaiśika, (7) Hindola, (8) Taka.¹ Of Sādhāraṇa melodies, seven names are given: (1) Narta, (2) Śaka, (3) Kakubha, (4) Harmāṇa-pañcama, (5) Rūpa-sādhārita, (6) Gāndhāra-pañcama, (7) Ṣaḍja-kauśika.

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¹ "Rudrato Nānya-bhūpālo Bhoja-bhū-vallabhastathā|| Paramārdi ca Someśo jagadeka-mahīpatiḥ"|| Saṅgīta-ratnākara.

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² See discussion in the editor's Introduction to Bhāvaprakāśana (G O.S., Vol. XLV, 1930, pp. 73-74). A work called Saṅgīta-ratnāvalī by Soma-rāja-pratīhāra was announced for publication in the Gaekwad's Oriental Series, years ago.

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³ "Sāma-vedāt svarā jātāḥ svarebhyo grāmosambhavah| Grāmebhyo jātayo jātā jātibhyo rāga-nırnayah||1|| Rāgebhyaśca tathābhāsā vibhāsāśc āpi sañjātastathāivā antara-bhāsikā||2|| Abhilāṣārtha-cintāmani

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⁴ "Deśī-rāga***deśa-nāma-samudbhavāḥ| Pravartante vinodesu sāmpratam sumanoharāḥ"||3|| Ibid.

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⁵ Rāgaḥ pravardhate śrutvā rajyate mānasam sadā| Tena rāgāḥ samākhyātā nāmatastān vravīmyaham||4|| Ibid.

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The author then gives a series of verses describing the structure of the following melodies : Śrī-rāga, Soma-rāga, Mālava-kauśika, Harṣa-purī(?) Hindola, Deśi-Hindola, Bhairivī, Mahlāra, Sāverī, Valiti (? Vahuli), Vaṅgāla, Karṇāṭa-Vaṅgāla, Gurjarī, Saurāṣṭrī, Pun-nāṭa, Kaiśiki, Śuddha-varāṭī, Karṇāṭa-varāṭī, Drāviḍa-varāṭī, Śuddha-naṭī, Megha-rāga, Āhirī, Chāyānaṭī, Toḍi, (?), Dullī-Toḍī, Vahlānā, Vahuri, Velā-ullī, Chāyā-velā-ullī, Cundī, Haṃsa, Kham-bhārī, Kāmoda, Siṃhalī-Kāmoda, Deśanaka (? Deśākhya), Danthibhi(?), Kolāhala, Saindhavī, Dāṃva-kṛti, Rāmakṛti, and Nuṇḍa-(? Tuṇḍa)-kṛti. This is an interesting list and helps us to realise that many of the melodies had come into existence of a century before Śārṅgadeva wrote his treatise. The different varieties of Toḍis are of interest. The original form of the name Velā-ullī, apparently an aboriginal melody, later sanskritized into Velāvalī, also deserves notice.

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Unfortunately, the successive developments are not supported by documents, as there is a considerable gap between the text of Matanga and the next landmark.

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The text of Saṅgita-makaranda, the next available record of the history of the rāgas, though bearing testimony to the considerable development that has taken place bet-

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(1) Sādavo Voda-rāgaca tathā mālavā-pañcamah
Taka-kauśika-sauvīra Tathā mālava-kauśika||9||
Hindola-taka-rāgasca ityastau rāgā-bhavantyasu
(? ami)||10||. If we compare this list with the 8 rāgas catalogued by Matanga (ślokas 314-315, at pp. 84-85), we find that they are identical.

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Sangita-makaranda by Nārada.

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ween the fifth and the eleventh century,¹ is very poor in actual musical data. Beyond giving some important lists of names of rāgas the text does not offer any descriptions of the melodies mentioned. Nārada, the author of this work, (not the mythical sage associated with the early legends of Hindu music), for the first time, perhaps, gives us an elaborate enumeration and classification of rāgas as known to the Northern system at the time of its composition. The author in fact gives two stages in the development of the classification. (Appendix 4).

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But the most important data, furnished by this text, is the origin of the distinction between rāgas and rāgiṇīs. Here, we have for the first time a classification of the melodies into masculine and feminine groups, thus initiating the differentiation between rāgas and rāgiṇīs. In fact, Nārada gives three classifications, viz., Masculine melodies (pum-liṅga-rāgāḥ), Feminine melodies (strī-rāgāḥ) and Neuter melodies (napuṃsaka-rāgāḥ). The principle of classification is according to the character of the feeling (rasa)

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(1) On the basis of a reference to Mātrgupta, a contemporary of Śilāditya partāpśila of Mālava (A. D. 550-600), Mr. M. R. Telang the Editor of Saṅgīta-Makaranda by Nārada (Gaekwad's Oriental Series, No. XVI), ascribes this text to a period between seventh and the eleventh centuries. Mr. Telang in discussing the date omits to consider the bearing of the word Turuska, as the melody Turuska-tundī (=Turuska-Todī?) is twice mentioned (p. 16, 18), suggesting a contact with Mussulman music which is believed to have taken place about the time of Āmīr Khusru, the court-poet of Sultan Alau-d-dīn Khiliji (1290-1360). The connotation of the word Turṣka as such would not necessarily imply the Moslem invaders of the eleventh century. For, Kalhana (11th century) in his Rāja-taraṅginī uses the word to refer to the Kuṣāna Kings who came from Central Asia (Turkestan=Turuska-deśa). It is doubtful if the word could have been applied to the Hunas, the nomad hordes, from Central Asia which poured into India in 455 A. D. 'The land of the Turuskas' is actually referred to in seventh century. (Bāṇa's Harṣa-carita, Cowell & Thomas' Translation, London, 1897, p. 290). So that the name Turuska-Todī, would not, necessarily, imply a contact with the Mussulmans, and may stand for a Kuṣāna melody like the Śaka-rāga.

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evoked by the melodies. Thus it is laid down that in interpreting feelings or sentiments of passion, admiration or heroism, the masculine melodies should be employed. In interpreting feelings of love, humour, and sorrow, the feminine melodies should be employed. In interpreting feelings of terror, abhorrence, and peace, the neuter melodies should be employed.¹ Matanga, as we have seen, indicated the emotive values of the major melodies described by him. Unfortunately, none of these figures in the list given in the Sangīta-makaranda, and we have no materials to compare the rasa values of melodies prevailing during the respective periods represented by Matanga and Nārada. The latter prefaces his list of the three sets of rāgas, with the remark that the names given by him represent the principal melodies whose numbers are incalculable and vary in different regions.² So that we cannot take his enumerations as exhaustive. He gives a list of 20 masculine rāgas, 24 feminine rāgas, and 13 neuter rāgas.

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Whatever may have been the basis of the subsequent development, the six rāgas enumerated in the Sangīta-makaranda formed the earliest group and was made the foundation of the earliest mythology of the melodies. The earliest legends ascribe to Śiva, or Naṭarāja, the origin of the science of music and dramaturgy. Śiva the cosmic dancer, is known as the arch-dramatist, and the whole of the Nāṭya-śāstra (embracing singing, dancing, and dramatic representations) is derived by ancient legend from this great-god (Mahā-deva). According to this legend, the rāgas are said to have been derived from the union of Śiva and Śakti (female energy),—Pārvatī, or Giri-jāyā. From the five faces of Śiva at the beginning of his dance (narttā-rambhe) came out the five rāgas:—Śrī-rāga, Vasanta, Bhairava, Pañcama, and Megha, while the sixth rāga, Naṭa-

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(1) ‘Raudre’ dbhute tathā vīre pum-rāgaih parigīyate| Śṛingāra-hāsya-karuna strī-rāgaisca pragīyate||62|| Bhayānake ca vibhatse śānte gāyannapumsake| Sangīta-makaranda, p. 19.

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(2) Evam pradhāna-rāgāh syur laksanoktam yathā-kramam||50|| Anantāh santi sandarbhāh nānā-deśyāh prakīrtitāh| nārāyaṇa came out of the mouth of Pārvatī (Giri-jāyā), the daughter of the Himālaya when she performed the elegant lāsya dance.¹

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One is inclined, not without some diffidence, to place the text of the *Pañcama-sāra-saṃhitā*,² attributed to Nārada, after the *Saṅgīta-makaranda*. It has some archaic features, particularly in the peculiar absence of the Bhairava rāga.³ On the other hand, the allusions to names of some rāgas which distinctly bear the impress of later times (e.g. Koḍā, Kānoḍā, Sindhuḍā, Āsāvarī, Māhārāṭi etc.) tend to pull the date of the text towards a period, centuries later than the *Saṅgīta-makaranda*. This apparent contradiction may, perhaps, be explained by the fact that the melodies mentioned in this text were current, as suggested by the author, in an area embracing some parts of Rajputana, Guzerat, Cutch and the regions near the sea,⁴ that is to say, surviving in a small area, long after other developments had overtaken other musical centres of Northern India. The text evidently relates to musical theories prevalent in the North, at the time, and belongs to a period, when out of the large mass of floating melodies, six had been selected as major melodies

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(1) *Śiva-śakti-samāyogād rāgānām sambhavo bhavet* *Pañcāsyāt pañca rāgāḥ syuḥ ṣasthastu Girijāmukhāt*||9|| *Sadyo vaktrāttu Śrīrāgo vāmadevād vasantakaḥ*| 10 *Aghorād bhairavo ‘bhūt tatpuruṣāt pañcamo’ bhavat*||10|| *Īśānākhyād megha-rāgo nāṭyārambhe Śivādahūt*| *Girijayā-mukāllāsye naṭa-nārāyaṇo’ bhavat*||11|| *Saṅgīta-darpaṇa*, Calcutta Edition, p. 72.

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(2) There are several Mss. of this work. The quotations here given are based on a Bengali Ms. (No. 716), in the collection of the Baṅgīya Sāhitya Pariṣad, Calcutta. The copy of this text, made by one Vaiṣṇava Vairāgī, is dated 1700 Śakāvda=1778 A. D.

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(3) This state of the melodies, namely Bhairava omitted, while Bhairavī is included, also occurs in the rāga data furnished by the *Nāṭya-locana*.

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(4) *“Meroruttarataḥ pūrvve paścime dakṣine tathā*| *Samudra-kacchape deśās tatrāmiṣām pracāraṇā*|| *Bhārate yaśca-bhū-bhāgaḥ pāramparyyopadeśataḥ*| *Rāgaḥ ṣaḍ atha rāgiṇyaḥ ṣaṭ-triṃśat khyātimāgatāḥ*| *Pañcama-sāra-saṃhitā*, Ch. III, *Rāga-nirṇaya*.

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RĀGINI SĀRANGI

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the *Goths*, the *Vandals*, the *Suevi*, the *Burgundians*, the *Alani*, the *Huns*, the *Franks*, the *Saxons*, the *Thuringians*, the *Rugians*, and the *Heruli*. The names of these tribes are familiar to the reader, but their origin, their migrations, and their settlements are involved in the deepest obscurity. The most probable opinion is that they were all of German or Scythian extraction, and that they had been driven from their native seats by the pressure of the Huns, a formidable nation of Tartars, who had crossed the Volga and the Tanais, and were advancing with rapid strides towards the frontiers of the Roman empire.

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The first of these nations that crossed the Danube was the *Goths*. They were divided into two great branches, the *Visigoths* or Western Goths, and the *Ostrogoths* or Eastern Goths. The Visigoths, under the conduct of Fritigern, implored the protection of the emperor Valens, and were permitted to settle in the province of Thrace. But the perfidy of the Roman governors, and the insolence of the Roman soldiers, soon provoked them to rebellion. They defeated the imperial armies, and Valens himself perished in the battle of Hadrianople.

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The death of Valens was followed by the accession of Theodosius, who, by his wisdom and valour, restored the discipline of the Roman legions, and compelled the Goths to accept a peace, which was rather a truce than a permanent settlement. The Goths, however, remained in the heart of the empire, and their presence was a constant source of danger and alarm. They were no longer the rude barbarians who had first crossed the Danube; they had learned the arts of war and the policy of the Romans, and they were ready to take advantage of any opportunity to assert their independence.

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The reign of Theodosius was the last period of the glory of the Roman empire. After his death, the empire was divided between his two sons, Arcadius and Honorius. Arcadius reigned in the East, and Honorius in the West. The division was fatal to the interests of the state. The two brothers were weak and indolent, and they were governed by their ministers and favourites. The Goths, under the command of Alaric, took advantage of the weakness of the government, and invaded Italy. They besieged and took Rome, and the eternal city, which had for so many centuries been the mistress of the world, was plundered by the barbarians.

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The fall of Rome was a shock to the whole civilized world. It was the end of an era, and the beginning of a new and darker age. The Goths, after the death of Alaric, retired from Italy, and settled in Gaul and Spain, where they founded kingdoms which were destined to last for several centuries. The Vandals, under the command of Genseric, crossed into Africa, and established a powerful kingdom, which for a time threatened the security of the Mediterranean. The Franks, under the command of Clovis, conquered Gaul, and laid the foundations of the French monarchy. The Saxons, under the command of Hengist and Horsa, invaded Britain, and established the kingdoms of the Heptarchy.

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to each of which five or six minor melodies are related and assigned.) According to this text, the major melodies, or rāgas proper, come in the following order: "First comes Mālava, the king of the rāgas, then comes Mallāra, and after it comes Śrī-rāga and then Vasanta, Hindola and Karṇāṭa coming next,—these are the rāgas known by fame, and they are dressed as males."¹ We have, here, for the first time, the minor, or the derivative melodies designated as the 'wives of the rāgas' (rāga-yoṣita) and the word 'rāgiṇī' is used in the text, for the first time. They are assigned to their appropriate rāgas in a scheme given in Appendix 13.

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This would be a convenient and appropriate place to notice the rāga data offered by the unpublished manuscript of the Nāṭya-locana, a compendium of dramaturgy of somewhat uncertain date, not earlier than the ninth century and not later than the thirteenth.² The rāgas enumerated in this text, offer some peculiar features, which suggest an early stage. They belong to a time, when the distinction between 'male' or 'female' rāgas had not come into existence. It purports to cite 44 rāgas, of which eight are stated to be śuddha rāgas, sixteen of the sālamka class (chāyā laga), and twenty-two are said to be sandhi rāgas.³ In the muti-

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(1) Ādau Mālava rāgendrastato mallāra-samjñakah|
Śrī-rāgastasya paścāttu vasantastadanantaram.||
Hindolaścāthakarṇāṭa ete rāgāḥ prakīrttitāḥ|
Purusa vastra-bhūṣādhyā rāgāḥ sat Mālavādayah.|| Ibid.

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(2) The work seems to survive in a single Ms. in the collection of the Asiatic Society of Bengal No. III, E. 158. As it quotes Anargha-rāghava (c. 850) the upper limit of the date cannot be earlier than the ninth century. Its lower limit can only be inferred from the list of rāgas which it enumerates and which include some very archaic names, e g. pañcama-mālava, śuddha-nāta, sālamka, mādhavārī, sāverī, vicitrā and himakīrika. It does not mention Bhairava the absence of which suggests an early date.

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(3) It is not clear what class sandhi rāgas represent. It may mean miśra or sankirna (mixed type). Perhaps it corresponds to the jāti-sādhāraṇa of Bharata who calls it 'sandhi' or 'twilight of the rāgas'. (See Fox-Strangways' Music of Hindosthan, p. 138-139). Alternately, sandhi-rāgas may mean rāgas suitable for singing at lated text available, some of the names cannot be read and accurately deciphered. The first group of eight consists of:—Pañcama-mālava, Mādhavārī, Hindola, Mālasikā, Velā-vali, Toḍi, Gāndhāra, and Naṭa. The second group consists of: Lalitā, Bhairavī, Bhāṣa, Vasanta, Gurjjarī, Koḍā-Deśākh, Deśa-Varāṭī, Vicitrā, Gauṇḍa-kirī, Varāḍī, Mānavatī, Vāṅgala, Karṇāṭa, Rāma-Kirī, Sālaṃka, Navanāṭa, Deśākh, Nṛpa-mālava. The third group consists of:—Mallāra, Pathamañjarī, Dhanāsikā, Karṇāṭī, Hemakirīkā, Savarī, Divāḍī, Khamvāvati, Takka, Kāmoda, Devakirī, Laungirātī (?), Moṭaki, Bhallāta, Vāheḍī, Gunakirī, Kokīrikā, Madhukarī, Gauḍī and Anunī(?) (Appendix 6).

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The list undoubtedly includes many archaic and obsolete melodies which did not survive in later times. The absence of Bhairava provides an additional archaic feature, while the presence of Bhairavī in the list suggests that the Bhairava came into existence later and was related to Bhairavī, already in existence.

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We have a very interesting corroboration of the existence of some of these melodies at last some time prior to the tenth century in the archaic Bengali songs of the Buddhist mystic of the Sahajiyā sect, by name Siddhācārya Luipā, whom Haraprasad Sastri, associating with Dīpaṃkara Śrī-jñāna, places in the tenth century,¹ while Benoytosh Bhattacharya believes Luipā lived about 669 A.D.² Each of these songs collected under the name of Caryācarya-viniścaya, bears on the heading of each song, the name of the melody in which it is required to be sung. The following names of rāgas are indicated: Paṭamañjarī, Gauḍā, Gavaḍā (Gauḍa), Aru, Guñjarī (? Gujjarī), Deva-krī, Deśākh, Bhairavi, Kāmod, Dhanasī, Varādī, Valāddī, Mallārī, Mālasī, Mālasī-Gavuḍā (Mālava-Gauḍa), Kahnu-Guñjari, Vaṅgāla, Śīvarī Śavarī (Sāverī). Nearly all of

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¹ Hara Prasad Sastri: Bauddha Gān O Dohā, Calcutta, 1323, Introduction, p. 15-16.

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² Benoytosh Bhattacharya: An Introduction to Buddhist Esoterism, 1932, p. 69.

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the five sandhis, ‘intervals’ of the five portions of a drama, cp. “Viniyukto garbha-sandhau śuddha-sādhāritobudhaih”. (Saṅgita-ratnākara, part i, p. 157).

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these melodies are cited in the *Saṅgīta-makaranda*.

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A very interesting reference to the uses of melodies in connection with rituals is furnished by the rules as to the consecration of the *Nava-patrikā* ('a new plantain shoot', symbolizing the great goddess) laid down in the *Kālikā-purāṇa* in connection with the initiatory ceremonies of the Durgā-cult, the great autumnal festival (*śāradīyā-pūjā*) still current in Bengal. The rules and the formulas for the consecration are not set out in the printed edition of the *Purāṇa*, and have been borrowed, here, from a manuscript in the possession of a professional priest. The ritual consists of bathing and consecrating the 'new shoot' by waters from eight different sources collected in eight different jars. As each jar of water is poured over the shoot, it has to be accompanied by singing a particular rāga, with specified manner of drum accompaniment, together with the recitation of *mantram* invoking the auspicious influences of eight different gods and celestial beings:

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"The Lustration of the New Shoot: It should be placed in the court-yard of the house and then consecrated by bathing with waters from the eight jars.

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"After singing the Mālava-rāga, with drum accompaniment of 'victory', pouring from the jar filled with water from the (river) Ganges, (the following words to be recited): 'Om! Let the Gods Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara sprinkle Thee with this first jar filled with water from the celestial Ganges'||1||

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"After singing the Lalita-rāga, with accompaniment of the drum *dundubhī*, pouring from the jar filled with rainwater, (the following words to be recited): 'Om! Let the devoted celestial Winds (*Marutaḥ*) sprinkle Thee, O! Thou goddess of the Gods! with this second jar, filled with water from the Clouds'||2||

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"After singing the Vibhāṣa-rāga, with accompaniment of the drum *dundubhī*, pouring from the jar filled with water from the river Sarasvatī, (the following words to be recited): 'Om! Let the Vidyādharas sprinkle Thee, O! Thou the Best of the gods! with this third jar, filled with water from the Sarasvatī'||3||

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"After singing the Bhairava-rāga, with drum accompaniment in the 'Bhima-measure,' pouring from the jar filled with water from the Sea, (the following words to be recited): ‘Oṃ! Let Śukra and the other Lokapālas descend and sprinkle Thee with this fourth jar, filled with water from the sea’||4||

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“After singing the Kedāra-rāga, with drum accompaniment proper for the lustration of Indra, pouring from the jar filled with water mingled with pollens of lotuses, (the following words to be recited): ‘Oṃ! Let the Nāgas (the snake-gods) sprinkle Thee with this fifth jar, filled with water fragrant with pollens from lotuses’||5||

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“After singing the Varāḍī-rāga, with accompaniment of the blowing of the conch-shell pouring from the jar filled with waters from the water-falls, (the following words to be recited): ‘Let the Himavat (Himālaya), the Hemakūṭa and other Mountains sprinkle Thee with this sixth jar filled with water from the Cascades’||6||

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“After singing the Vasanta-rāga, with accompaniment of the ‘Five Sounds,’¹ pouring from the jars filled with waters from all the sacred pools, (the following words to be recited): ‘Oṃ! Let the Seven Sages (Ṛṣis) sprinkle Thee O! Thou Goddess of the Gods, with this seventh jar filled with waters from all the sacred pools of the Holy places’||7||

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“After singing the Dhanāsī (Dhanā-śrī)-rāga, with drum accompaniment of ‘victory,’ pouring water from the jars filled with pure consecrated water, (the following words to be recited): ‘Oṃ! Let the Vasus sprinkle Thee with water from this eighth jar. I adore Thee! Goddess Durgā, with accessions of eight sacred and auspicious influences!’||8||

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[Ritual for the Worship of Durgā, as enjoined in the Kalikā-Purāṇa].

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(1) ‘The Five Sounds’ (pañca śabda) is probably the same as the ‘Five Great Sounds’ (Pañcamahā-śabda) which an Imperial Sovereign is entitled to use as the Royal insignia of his office. According to a text cited in the Prabandha cintāmaṇi (Tawney’s translation, p. 214), they represent five kinds of music emanating from metal, throat, drum, vīṇā, and bugle. The matter is discussed by Grouse (Indian Antiquary, Vol. V, p. 534), Pathak (Ibid, Vol. XII, p. 96) and recently in the Journal of the Bombay Royal Asiatic Society 1933.

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The reading of the text suggests that words are to be preceded by singing of the rāgas. Very probably, what is intended is that the priest should sing the words of the eight invocations in the melodies prescribed for each, with the specified accompaniment in each case. The Kālikā-purāṇa, one of the minor purāṇas, is of uncertain date, but must belong to a period prior to the currency of the Durgā-pūjā as an established cult in Bengal about the tenth, or eleventh century, to which date this text may be approximately assigned.

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The next important text is that attributed to king Nānyadeva who is supposed to be a prince of a later branch of the Rāṣṭra-kūṭa (Karṇāṭa) dynasty and who, according to Jaysāwal¹, reigned in Mithilā between 1097 and 1133 A.D. His capital was at Simarampur (modern Simraon) now lying within the border of Nepal. Professedly written as a commentary (bhāṣya) on Bharata’s Nāṭya-śāstra, his work Sarasvati-hṛdayālaṃkāra² is in a way an independent

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(1) Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society, Vol. IX, pp. 200-310; Vol. X, pp. 31-46. Mr. R. C. Mazumdar in his article ‘Nānya Deva of Mithila,’ (Indian Historical Quarterly, Vol. VII, 1931, p. 679), discusses his date. Following Sylvain Lévi, Mazumdar accepts 1037 A. D. as the date of his accession, and suggests that Nānya Deva must have died before 1154 A. D. Manmohan Chakravartty in his ‘History of Mithila during the Pre-Mughal Period (Journal, Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. XI, 1915, pp. 407-433) discusses the position of general culture during the period. The other outstanding musical composition of the time is Jagaddhara’s Sangita-Sarvasva and the chapters dealing with music in Jyotirīśvara’s Maithil Encyclopædia, Varna-ratnākara.

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(2) The work survives in a unique Ms. of 221 folios in the Collection of the Bhandarkar Oriental Institute, Poona, No. 111, 1869-70, catalogued under the title Bharatabhāṣya. It is an incomplete Ms. with the 16th and 17th chapters missing. Each chapter ends with a Colophon. The terminating Colophon runs as follows: “Iti mahā sāmantādhipati dharmāvalauka Śrī-man-Nānyapati-viracite Sarasvati-Hṛdayālaṃkāra Bharata-vārtike vācikāṃśo sastho kadhyāya samāptah.” We are indebted to Ramchandra Kavi who discovered the work and drew our attention to it. By the courtesy of the treatise as he has introduced much new matters not touched by earlier authorities, the grāma and jāti rāgas being very fully treated. The treatise stands between the Bṛhad-deśī and Sangīta-ratnākara, the date of which are anticipated in this work. Nānyadeva derives most of his materials from Nārada, Yāṣṭika, Kaśyapa,¹ and Matanga, the last two of whom are profusely quoted as important authorities. He remarks: "How could people of lesser intelligence succeed in swimming across the ocean of melodies which such early exponents of rāgas as Matanga and others failed to cross,"² meaning thereby that it is impossible to describe the melodies exhaustively. Yet he devotes two long chapters (sixth and seventh) in describing the lakṣaṇa (structure), the ālāpaka (improvisation), and the rūpaka (notation) of numerous melodies current during his time. In each case, the definitions of Kaśyapa and Matanga are given followed by the notation for each melody. Following Matanga, he gives the various classifications of melodies (Appendix 6). He divides gītis under five instead of under the seven groups given by Matanga (Appendix 3). He uses the word root-rāgas (mūla-rāga) for the major melodies (mukhyā) which are so called "because of their extremely soothing qualities."³ He uses a new term called 'Svarākhya rāgas', i.e., melodies which take their names according to the notes (svara) e.g. the grāma rāgas such as Ṣaḍji, Ārṣabhī, Dhaivatī, etc. A similar term used in Deśākhya rāgas, i.e., melodies which borrow their names from the country, province, or region of their origins.⁴ They are five in number, and, are classed as Upa-rāgas: Dākṣiṇātyā, Saurāṣṭrī, Gūrj-

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