Sangita Ratnakara

Sangita Ratnakara Sanskrit manuscript, verses 1.1.1-1.1.4.

The Sangita-Ratnakara, literally "Ocean of Music and Dance", is one of the most important Sanskrit musicological texts from India.[1] Composed by Sharngadeva in the 13th century, both Hindustani music and Carnatic music traditions of Indian classical music regard as a definitive text.[2][3] The author was a part of the court of King Singhana II (1210–1247) of the Yādava dynasty whose capital was Devagiri, Maharashtra.[4]

The text is divided into seven chapters. The first six chapters, Svaragatadhyaya, Ragavivekadhyaya, Prakirnakadhyaya, Prabandhadhyaya, Taladhyaya and Vadyadhyaya deal with the various aspects of music and musical instruments, while the last chapter Nartanadhyaya deals with dance. The medieval era text is one of the most complete historic Hindu treatises on the structure, technique and reasoning on music theory that has survived into the modern era in many manuscripts, and a comprehensive voluminous text on ragas (chapter 2) and talas (chapter 5).[5][6][7]

The text is comprehensive synthesis of ancient and medieval musical knowledge of India.[8] The text has been frequently quoted by later Indian musicologists in their music and dance-related literature. Significant commentaries on the text include the Sangitasudhakara of Simhabhupala (c. 1330) and the Kalanidhi of Kallinatha (c. 1430).[9]

Content

The text is a Sanskrit treatise on Sańgīta, or music-related performance arts tradition.[10] Sańgīta is stated by the text as a composite performance art consisting of Gita (melodic forms, song), Vadya (instrumental music) and Nrtta (dance, movement).[11][12]

The 13th-century Sangita Ratnakara classifies Sangita into two kinds: Marga-sangita and Desi-sangīita. Marga refers to the classical techniques taught by Bharata in Natya Shastra. Desi Sangita refers to regional improvisations that may not follow the classical rules and structure for the music and performance arts.[13][14]

The text has seven chapters:[15]

  1. Svaragatādhyāya (sound system)
  2. Rāgavivekādhyāya (raga)
  3. Prakīrņakādhyāya (performing practice)
  4. Prabandhādhyāya (compositions, poetic meter)
  5. Tālādhyāya (tala)
  6. Vādyādhyāya (musical instruments)
  7. Nartanādhyāya (dance)

The first chapter has eight sections. It opens with reverential verses to the Hindu god Shiva, who is called the "embodiment of sound, sung about by the entire world" and the one delighting according to the Vedas.[16] The author pays homage to his ancestors, then to ancient scholars such as Bharata, Matanga, Dattila and Narada, as well as major gods and goddesses of Hinduism in first section of the first chapter. In the second section, there is hardly any mention of music or dance, rather Sarngadeva presents his metaphysical and physiological beliefs, as well as credits the origin of music to the Samaveda.[16][17] He presents musical topics and definitions of musical concepts starting with section three of the first chapter, with frequent mentions of Shiva and the Hindu goddess Saraswati.[16]

According to Sarngadeva's verses 27-30 of the section 1.1, song is everywhere, in the cry of a baby, in the beats of nature, in the pulse of life, in every human act of Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha.[16][18] The sections 3 through 8 of the first chapter describe nada (sound), svara (tone), sruti (microinterval), gramas (primary scales), murcchanas (derivative scales), varna (color), jati (mode), alankara (embellishment), giti (singing styles), meters and other basic musical concepts.[17][19]

The text mentions 253 ragas in chapter 2,[20] while chapter 5 presents all classical (marga) and 120 regional Talas.[21][22]

Importance

Sańgītaratnākara is a very important text and this is evident from the fact that many commentaries were written on it. The famous ones are Sańgītasudhākara of Simbabhūpāla and Kalānidhi of Kallinātha. Sańgītaratnākara is to a great extent a compilation of the information found in earlier works like Nāţyaśāstra, Dattilam, Bŗhaddēśī, Sarasvatī-hŗdayālańkāra-hāra and is greatly influenced by the commentary of Abhinavagupta on Nāţyaśāstra. On the other hand, the work made a great impact on almost all the writers in the subsequent period. Thus it forms a useful bridge between the ancient and the medieval periods. Śārńgadēva called himself Nih,śańka i.e., `doubtless'. He also names a stringed instrument as Nih,śańka-Vīņā and Dēśī-tala as Nih,śańka-tāla. This book is a great landmark in the history of Indian Music.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Rens Bod (2013). A New History of the Humanities: The Search for Principles and Patterns from Antiquity to the Present. Oxford University Press. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-19-164294-4.
  2. ↑ Reginald Massey; Jamila Massey (1996). The Music Of India. Abhinav Publications. pp. 42–. ISBN 978-81-7017-332-8. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  3. ↑ Rens Bod (2013). A New History of the Humanities: The Search for Principles and Patterns from Antiquity to the Present. Oxford University Press. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-19-164294-4.
  4. ↑ S.S. Sastri (1943), Sangitaratnakara of Sarngadeva, Adyar Library Press, ISBN 0-8356-7330-8, pages v-x
  5. ↑ Rowell, Lewis (2015). Music and Musical Thought in Early India. University of Chicago Press. pp. 11–13. ISBN 978-0-226-73034-9.
  6. ↑ S.S. Sastri (1943), Sangitaratnakara of Sarngadeva, Adyar Library Press, ISBN 0-8356-7330-8
  7. ↑ Emmie Te Nijenhuis (1974). Indian Music: History and Structure. BRILL Academic. pp. 6–7. ISBN 90-04-03978-3.
  8. ↑ Ezra Gardner Rust (1996). The Music and Dance of the World's Religions. Greenwood. pp. 64 with note 525. ISBN 978-0-313-29561-4.
  9. ↑ Emmie Te Nijenhuis (1974). Indian Music: History and Structure. BRILL Academic. pp. 6 with footnote 37, 54. ISBN 90-04-03978-3.
  10. ↑ Harold Powers (2001). Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell, ed. The New Grove dictionary of music and musicians. Oxford University Press. pp. 87–90, context: 69–166. ISBN 978-0-19-517067-2.
  11. ↑ Tarla Mehta (1995). Sanskrit Play Production in Ancient India. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 221–222. ISBN 978-81-208-1057-0.
  12. ↑ Sures Chandra Banerji (1989). A Companion to Sanskrit Literature: Spanning a Period of Over Three Thousand Years. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 753–760. ISBN 978-81-208-0063-2.
  13. ↑ Hema Govindarajan (1992). The Nāṭyaśāstra and Bharata Nāṭya. Harman Publishing. pp. 18–21. ISBN 978-81-85151-57-1.
  14. ↑ Amanda J. Weidman (2006). Singing the classical, voicing the modern: the postcolonial politics of music in South India. Duke University Press. pp. 239–240.
  15. ↑ Nicholas Cook; Mark Everist (1999). Rethinking Music. Oxford University Press. pp. 330–332. ISBN 978-0-19-879004-4.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Sarngadeva, Translated by Ravindra K Shringy (1978), Saṅgīta-Ratnākara of Śārṅgadeva: Sanskrit Text and English Translation with Comments and Notes. Vol. 1, Ed: Sharma Prem Lata, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 9788121505086, pages iii-viii, 1-14, 40, 51, 62, 79
  17. 1 2 Howard, Wayne; Shringy, R. K. (1983). "Sangita-Ratnakara of Sarngadeva: Sanskrit Text and English Translation with Comments and Notes. Vol. 1: Treatment of Svara.". The Journal of Asian Studies. Cambridge University Press. 42 (4): 1003–1004. doi:10.2307/2054840.
  18. ↑ C. Kunhan Raja (1945), Sangitaratnakara of Sarngadeva, Vol 1 – Chapter 1, Adyar Library, pages 5-6
  19. ↑ C. Kunhan Raja (1945), Sangitaratnakara of Sarngadeva, Vol 1 – Chapter 1, Adyar Library, pages 6-9, 45-175
  20. ↑ Lewis Rowell (2015). Music and Musical Thought in Early India. University of Chicago Press. pp. 12–13. ISBN 978-0-226-73034-9.
  21. ↑ Lewis Rowell (2015). Music and Musical Thought in Early India. University of Chicago Press. pp. 212–213. ISBN 978-0-226-73034-9.
  22. ↑ Sander van Maas (2009). The Reinvention of Religious Music. Fordham University Press. pp. 190 note 28. ISBN 978-0-8232-3057-0.

Further reading

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