History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v3.c51.91.2

v3.c51.91.2

According to the Sāmavidhāna-brāhmaṇa (I. 1. 8 and 14) these notes (also called *svaras*) are seven, viz. kruṣṭa, prathama (1st), dvitīya (2nd), tṛtīya, caturtha, pañcama (or mandra) and antya (last) or atisvārya.²⁵⁹¹ Sāyaṇa explains that the seven svaras named above are arranged in a descending scale, though from the words first, second and so on one is apt to suppose that they are in an ascending scale. Sāyaṇa further states that these seven svaras are also called yamas.²⁵⁹² In the Nāradīya-śikṣā (Benares Sanskrit series) the seven svaras are stated to be prathama, dvitīya, tṛtīya, caturtha, mandra, kruṣṭa and atisvāra (1. 12). The kruṣṭa is the highest note and comes before prathama in many texts. The same work (III. 5) mentions the seven classical notes, ṣaḍja, ṛṣabha, gāndhāra, madhyama, pañcama, dhaivata and niṣāda (which are indicated in modern India as *sa ri* or *re ga ma pa dha ni*). The Nāradīya-śikṣā then (V. 1-2) tries to establish a correspondence between the seven ancient names of the notes of sāma chanters and the seven notes of classical times by stating that the seven sāman notes mentioned (from prathama onwards) are respectively the same as the notes produced on the Indian *vīṇā* (lute) called madhyama, gāndhāra, ṛṣabha, ṣaḍja, dhaivata, niṣāda and pañcama. Pandit Sātavalekar (Introduction to the edition of the Sāmaveda p.