Historical Development of Indian Music: A Critical Study c8.32

c8.32

Now, what were the notes of the Vedic gānas? We know from the Brāhmaṇa, Śikṣā and Prātiśākhya that the sāmagānas like grāmegeya and araṇyegeya, etc., were sung with different numbers of Vedic notes, prathama, dvitīya, tṛtīya, caturtha, mandra, atisārya and kruṣṭa. These Vedic notes were in downward movement (avarohaṇa-krama), whereas the notes of the classical music were in upward movement (ārohaṇa-krama). While discussing the structure of the melodic ambit of the primitive music, Prof. Schneider says that the upward extension of compass is a late product historically. In early Greek music too, we find the same downward movement of the notes in the pentatonic forms or scales. Dr. Winternitz is of opinion that there must once have existed a fairly large number of Saṃhitās, which originated in different schools of priests and singers, and which continued to be handed down. Many of these collections were nothing but slightly diverging recensions—śākhās or branches of one and the same Saṃhitā. The Prātiśākhya of the Sāmaveda, Puṣpasūtra and the Nāradiśikṣā state that the followers of the recensions like *Kaṭha*, *Taittirīya* and *Āhvāraka* and the *Sāmaveda* practised the *sāmagānas* with only the first note; the followers of the *Ṛgveda* used in their songs, first, second and third notes; the *Kauthuma* recensions used two notes only and some of the singers used in their songs, four, five, and six and seven notes. In fact, all the seven notes were used in the Vedic music, and it is interesting to note that these seven notes were also used by the pre-historic Indus people.