Historical Development of Indian Music: A Critical Study c8.39

c8.39

600-400 B.C. is an epoch-making period and it can be said to be an age of renaissance. At the advent of the classical period there evolved a new type of music, known as *gāndharva*. It was constructed out of the materials and principles of the Vedic music, *sāmagāna*. Bharata of the second century A.D. has traced the traditional link between the music, *vaidika* and *laukika* i.e., *sāmagāna* and classical *gāndharva*, in connection with the compilation of his *Nātyaśāstra*. Music was an indispensible adjunct of ancient Sanskrit plays. The *gāndharva* type of music was considered as sacred and celestial like the Vedic music and so it was known as ‘*mārga*’. The term ‘*mārga*’ suggests the idea of searching (‘*mṛg—anveṣaṇe*’) and collecting, i.e., *mārga* connotes the idea that most of the materials of the Vedic music were searched for and collected (*saṃgṛhīta*) and then applied to the classical *gāndharva* type of music. The practice of the Vedic music became gradually obsolete, as it did not suit the taste of the progressive people of the classical society.