The Social and Military Position of the Ruling Caste in Ancient India, as Represented by the Sanskrit Epic c2.s5.758

c2.s5.758

What says the Epic of music? Apart from war, we find that the poem teems with musical allusions. It is worth while to study these. Lyre, flute, harp, cymbals, bells, drums, trumpets, and horns are accompaniments of every peaceful scene. Dance and song go hand in hand with recitation and narration as means of amusement. Different classes of musicians, māgadhas, sūtas, eulogists, professional players and praisers, both men and women, diversify the life of the court. The chief occupation of many of these players is to make instrumental music, especially on some state-occasion, a victory or wedding. But they also sing songs to amuse the royal family, and with soft music the members of the kingly court are always awakened. We see the wearied maiden ‘sinking to sleep but clinging to her lyre,’ and the Epic poet finds nothing fitter with which to describe wretchedness than that those once ‘always awakened by music’ should be now without it.*