A History of Sanskrit Literature c9.67

c9.67

Various references in the *Rigveda* show that even in that early age the Indians were acquainted with different kinds of music. For we find the three main types of percussion, wind, and stringed instruments there represented by the drum (*dundubhi*), the flute (*vāṇa*), and the lute (*vīṇā*). The latter has ever since been the favourite musical instrument of the Indians down to the present day. That the Vedic Indians were fond of instrumental music may be inferred from the statement of a Rishi that the sound of the flute is heard in the abode of Yama, where the blessed dwell. From one of the Sūtras we learn that instrumental music was performed at some religious rites, the *vīṇā* being played at the sacrifice to the Manes.